frequent flyer

I just booked my second flight out of the country today. Cebu Pacific announced airfare sale for trips to and from Hong Kong. I booked a trip to HK with four friends from August 21 to 23. :)

I wasn't expecting to book anything these days since yesterday's thoughts. Looking back at my March 14 post, I was looking at this HK trip as an "extra" trip, since I was really planning on going to Singapore this July. Anyway, those unplanned trips really push through. These travel buddies of mine, we were initially aiming for a trip to Singapore this July, but the airfare isn't a match for our budget, so...

Hong Kong, here we come! :) I hope we have a good time there, just as the way we had in South Korea. :)

severely itchy feet

SG on July

Barely a week after arriving from Korea and I'm planning another out-of-the-country trip with my friends. This time it's the (mer)lion city of Singapore.

We're planning to have our visit on July - the end of the Great Sale. But aside from shopping, our - of course - agenda is to see the attractions of the city and immerse in the culture as much as we possibly can. And one way to do that is have a food trip. Apparently (and luckily), food sits in the center of Singaporean culture.

I'm excited at the thought of seeing another foreign land, but this doesn't match what I felt when I was about to go to Korea. Maybe it is because of the effect of Hallyu, or because the landscape is so different from what we have.

Cebu (or Palawan) on June

My brother and his family will be having their vaykay from the States on June, and they plan to take the family to Cebu for a few days. However, I will try to persuade my brother to spend our vaykay in Palawan instead. I'd love to see the subterranean river and the powder-dust like sands of Honda Bay.

Macau/Hong Kong in August

If I could squeeze this trip in, I would! Really!

South Korea in October

Yahoo! I hope this pushes through. It would be my first autumn. :)

withdrawal symptoms

this is the difficult part after touring South Korea... the withdrawal symptoms!

It's not just that I'm afflicted with wanderlust, but I fell in love with the cities of Seoul and Busan. A week after I've come back from my travel (with friends) to the "sparkling" land, I still have images of these two cities flashing in my head. And at night, I still dream of being there. On my waking hours I still could smell the food, feel the biting cold in my skin, and hear the incomprehensible chattering of foreign tongues. I miss South Korea!

I am also in serious envy of that country - their advancement in technology, social systems, and citizens' discipline. If only our government officials were truly honorable and true to their duties... if only we Pinoys were patriotic enough... maybe this land of ours could even be in better state than theirs. We Pinoys show so much potential in intellect, talent, and diskarte. Our land is so rich in every aspect. Sadly, so far, hanggang potential pa rin tayo.

Pero hindi ko pa rin ipagpapalit ang Pinas. Manigas sila sa inggit, ako nakatira sa isang tropical paradise.Maybe this is just the effect of being plucked out of an environment that I've been in my entire life. New sights, new sounds...

What amazes me more is the (general) niceness of the Korean people. One allowed us to take the cab first in a taxi stop even though he and his friends got there first. "You are guests. We take care of our guests," he said.

In Busan, an ajumma gave back my extra 20,000 won after I mistakenly gave her 3 pieces of 10,000won bills to pay for a 3,000won pack of bread (thinking I gave her 3 pcs. of 1,000won bills - I was confused with the number of zeros), and then gave me the change to the 10,000won.

And the food... the food! Hindi sila nagtitipid sa ingredients. My friends and I found Crown Bakery, a bakeshop/cafe in Insa-dong where they serve goodies similar to those of Bread Talk. But you would say "Bread Talk, what?" if you saw their goodies. I had a pizza bread - its bread is almost twice the size of BT's and the topping is sooo thick! They used mozzarella that really forms a string when you bite off it. Isang bread lang, busog na ako. And their prices for their products are just right. Mas mahal pa ang same type of food dito sa Pinas.

Before going to SK, I was excited about the thought/possibility of seeing an actor in one of those novelas, but when I was there all I could do is wonder at the sights and think of immersing in the culture as much as I could with the little time we have there. Walang K-Pop sa utak ko. I enjoyed whatever it is before me, wherever it is I am in.

I highly recommend to anyone visiting SK to go to Busan. That city is just beautiful even in the cold of snow-less winter. Check out exhibit A: Yeongdo Park

Taejongdae Park

seoul preps II

Got my Korean visa.


Now is the time to really buy stuff I need for the trip... such as:

• hiking boots
• traveler adapter (for all those e-gadget charging needs)
• memory cards
• camcorder

... and all other things I think I need but probably won't be able to use.


I'm half-excited, half-scared. It's my first time out of the country, and me and my travel companions are doing it DIY. (The idea of restricted itinerary doesn't appeal to us.) And the first-timer me is doing most of the research and preps for our itinerary.


And we even have the guts to travel by train from Seoul to Busan - and then back to Seoul all within a day.


I hope this trip goes very well as I plan to go back to see Nami Island and the Korean Folk Village by September with my folks.


Goodluck to us.