tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-168300392011-07-08T03:26:19.821+07:00...it's not just where we go or what we do, it's being together at these places and experiencing new things together that's really the heart of the adventure...chinnoreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-7962340559765210172008-05-24T00:58:00.001+07:002008-11-14T00:45:08.238+07:00

The week after our Phuket holiday, we were once again at the beach. This time it was Koh Samet for a farewell party for one of our friends here in Bangkok. It was but an overnight trip but I could fairly say, this was a more relaxed vacation than Phuket. For one, we were booked at a resort with a private beach (Moo Baan Talay Resort) so shuttling Jianna to and from the beach or the pool was

chinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-45441227698706568342008-05-23T23:31:00.001+07:002008-11-14T00:45:08.675+07:00

Summer is over but it's still worthwhile to chronicle vacations past, specially with a new member of the family in tow.During the Holy Week, JM's family came over and we headed to the famed island of Phuket in the south of Thailand. Phuket has many beaches, the most popular of which is Patong. But Patong is a bit too cosmopolitan, crowded with bars and hundreds of hotels and hostels. We chose

chinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-52588974017814122582007-11-04T22:40:00.000+07:002008-11-14T00:45:08.909+07:00

I was back on the beaten path again recently, this time traveling with a new companion - our little Jianna. We went home to the Philippines for a 2 1/2 week vacation, just the two of us. Ooh, how I dreaded the 3-hour plane rides, but my worry was in vain. She was a very well-behaved little girl, save for one incident in the toilet when I tried to change her nappy and she cried and screamed so

chinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1172810439486865982007-03-02T11:39:00.000+07:002007-03-07T11:04:25.143+07:00

"Babymoon," it's how some people refer to the mid-pregnancy vacation that couples take before the baby arrives - kind of a last hurrah (see BabyCenter.com).We had our babymoon last weekend at our favorite beach destination, Koh Samet. We had originally planned it for the week prior to that but since it was going to be a long holiday weekend for most people in celebration of the Chinese New Year,

chinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1161404563215078802006-10-21T11:20:00.000+07:002006-11-12T10:07:32.660+07:00

Blame it on the wifey swallowing the moon (*wink*wink*)More stories to come on The Other Side

chinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1155893167859157942006-08-18T16:00:00.000+07:002006-08-30T20:15:54.173+07:00

A holiday came rolling in once more so JM and I headed to Hua Hin, about 300km south of Bangkok. It's considered to be the oldest beach resort in the kingdom and one which is said to be more popular among the Thai people than other beach resorts. It's a very historic place. It is where the first beach hotel, the Railway Hotel (now known as Sofitel) was built where scenes in the movie Killing

chinnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1147687289045467052006-05-15T16:29:00.000+07:002006-06-23T14:48:45.473+07:00

Well, it's official - JM and I have masochistic streaks in us. And I more. Here's why.On Thursday night (May11), we found ourselves stuck in a bus for 11 hours. It was supposed to be a pretty comfortable ride - the roads were perfectly paved, the seats were reclining so we should be able to sleep well, right? Wrong. The airconditioning got so cold late in the night and the vent above me was

chinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1146640713018983182006-05-03T13:20:00.000+07:002006-06-06T16:03:08.003+07:00

Sukhothai is the old capital city of Thailand. It is divided into two sections - New Sukhothai and Old Sukhothai, the latter being the old capital city where the historical park is situated. The historical park contains ruins of the old palace and temples.We took a late-night bus (11PM, but left at 11:30) on Friday evening from the North and Northeastern Terminal Station in Mo Chit. It was a 6-

chinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1145348003790783842006-04-18T14:41:00.000+07:002006-05-03T16:31:53.763+07:00

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary much like we celebrated our first christmas - quiet and low-key. I know for a fact JM had asked around my friends what could be a possible anniversary gift for me and he had been given sugggestions as going out of town or out of the country. But since we are based out of the country and we always go out of town on the many Thai holidays, it was but

chinnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1145345157421170612006-04-18T14:07:00.000+07:002006-05-03T16:37:42.243+07:00

I visited this place in 2004 with two girl friends as I was in search of a perfect date place for my parents. When I saw the cottages and the garden, I knew I'd found the right place. However, things didn't go as planned as my parents decided to skip it and preferred to spend all their days and nights in Manila with their kids. But to myself I swore I was going to spend a night here with my

chinnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1140264269687830142006-02-18T18:38:00.000+07:002006-04-18T00:51:08.486+07:00

The nights in Chiang Mai were peaceful and relaxing. I sat at the balcony of our room allowing different sensations to take over me - the warmth of the coffee, the coolness of the night wind, the sweetness of the saxophone music wafting from the lobby...heavenly...We've always loved going to the spa and I told JM I wanted a totally relaxing vacation this time, not the kind that has you running

chinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1139992232736123842006-02-08T15:07:00.000+07:002006-02-18T20:17:21.476+07:00

I know this is kinda late but I will post it anyway so as to have a written memory of this event.On Christmas day, JM and I went to The Farm at San Benito with his family. It's a totally relaxing sanctuary two hours from Manila. The Farm is well-known for its holistic approach to wellness so they serve only healthy food (read: raw vegetarian food) so before checking in we stopped by a Jollibee

chinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1134527788295709852005-12-14T09:35:00.000+07:002006-03-03T20:42:19.910+07:00

After almost 8 months of discovering new places as part of our extended honeymoon, we have finally been able to bring ourselves to the beach. Last Saturday, we once again crammed our backpacks to bursting capacity and traveled to Koh Samed, an island in the south of Thailand facing the gulf. It was going to be a brief vacation as we wanted to be home by Monday, a holiday, to get some rest before

chinnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1133862880505993092005-12-06T16:06:00.000+07:002005-12-09T08:33:59.926+07:00

We spent the long weekend in Siem Reap in Cambodia where the Angkor Wat is located. It was a grueling 13-hour trip, including all the stops. The first three hours were fine, what with the perfectly paved roads of Thailand. But after we crossed the border in Poipet, it was 6 hours of muddy rough roads amidst rice fields and narrow bridges that constantly seemed to be on the brink of breaking down.

chinnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1132046501874536302005-10-29T16:03:00.000+07:002005-11-23T17:46:12.850+07:00

We had what could be the most relaxing trekking tour last weekend. It was another long weekend for us since Sunday was the death anniversary of the former King Chulalongkorn (the kid in the story of Anna and the King), so we booked an overnight trekking tour to Kanchanaburi via a travel agency in Khao San.We started our day at 5:30 in the morning for the scheduled 7AM pick up at Khao San only to

chinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1132041007631687372005-08-19T14:18:00.000+07:002005-11-24T14:39:55.960+07:00

People who knew we were spending our long weekend in Singapore wondered why we opted to spend it there. There are a lot of beaches and resorts as it is here in Thailand that we haven't been to so why go off to another country. I left last Friday with much excitement because it was my first time to be in Singapore with JM. We each have been there on separate occassions, but being together would

chinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1127567118630351812005-05-05T14:33:00.000+07:002005-11-24T14:43:53.230+07:00

May 3, 2005We're in the UK now and are taking things real easy. It's such a relief to finally hear a more familiar language, English, that is and to speak an even more familiar one, Ilonggo, with my sister.When we arrived the other day, we merely had a brief rest and quick dinner of rice and tapa(!) at my sister's place before going off to Cambridge where I discovered a possible career

chinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1127507238749236792005-05-02T02:21:00.001+07:002009-09-26T12:33:54.044+07:00

April 29, 2005 2:40AM (Phil time)We're in Paris! And we've seen the Eiffel! Well, from afar that is. We've just arrived at our hotel and are taking a breather from the long walk from the subway station. I didn't know there was a nearer station, literally across the street from our hotel so JM and I agonized in a long walk with our heavy luggage in tow. But we did get some good sleep last night.

chinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1127499989260896612005-04-29T00:53:00.000+07:002005-10-21T16:21:21.653+07:00

April 27, 2005 3:30PM (Phil time)Imagine not having taken a bath in 2 days, not having been able to wash your hair in 2 days. Gross! That's exactly how I'm feeling right now. My hair feels icky, my body feels icky. Although I've washed my face, splashed water on my upper body and had a change of clothes, nothing will ever beat a thorough scrubbing.We're now at our hotel in Munich but we couldn't

chinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1127421624278114522005-04-28T03:18:00.000+07:002005-10-21T15:03:27.330+07:00

April 26, 2005 2:55AM (Phil time)We have left Venice and are now almost in Vienna. We took an overnight train but didn't upgrade to a couchette since it would cost us a whole lot to do so. But since there were only the 2 of us in the compartment, we merely lifted the armrests and stretched out onto the seats. I guess we were pretty comfy except that the lumps where the seats joined resulted in

chinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1127419784304116332005-04-26T02:42:00.000+07:002005-10-14T13:56:59.730+07:00

April 24, 2005 8:55PM (Phil time)We are now in Venezia! Just got to our hotel after getting lost in a maze of streets. We actually never got the exact address of our hotel, but thanks to my mapping trainings we found the hotel with a bit of help from a very friendly restaurant owner too!The moment I saw the exterior of the hotel, I actually felt myself cringe. One, in fear that it would look

chinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1127156079418863532005-04-23T01:24:00.000+07:002005-10-08T22:21:41.186+07:00

April 22, 2005 2:00PM (Phil time)We are now on our way to Florence aboard the intercity train. It's quite warm on the train so I am finally able to wear a thin blouse. We're now traversing through mountains and the scenery, though mostly greens, is beautiful. There are also these trees that look almost white from their blooms. The environment is just so serene, I think I 'll fall asleep.Aprill 22

chinnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1126956698252385592005-04-20T17:49:00.000+07:002005-10-09T16:57:30.480+07:00

April 20, 2005 9:30PM (Phil time)We're in Rome now. And we're currently seated at a cafe overlooking the Piazza Navona. We've visited quite a number of places already. My feet ached, my stomach grumbled but it seems I can go walking on and on and taking pictures endlessly. We haven't even rested since we got off the plance so I don't know where all my energy is coming from.First thing I noticed

chinnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16830039.post-1126951593332048882005-04-20T16:51:00.000+07:002005-10-14T14:35:45.923+07:00

April 20, 2005 2:00AMWe're on the plane bound for Rome now! I had just finished my 2nd plane meal in a span of 5 hours. Wierd thing is I had pork on the plane to Bangkok and chicken on this plane but there seemed to be no difference in the taste. I'm gonna try to get some sleep now.April 20, 2005 11:50AMWe should now be less than an hour away from Rome. The trip wasn't that bad, we just slept

chinnoreply@blogger.com0