Archive for 2017

Hey girls! I'm finally back on track. Before I share my newest blog post, I just want to apologize for the lack of updates on my blog and Youtube. Been so busy this September as I finally started to attend blog events as well as been out most of the time lately thus lacking time to update my blog or even film reviews. But hey, I'm finally back on track as I started this month's blog post on my travel to Baguio last August.

Last August 22 – 24, 2017, we decided to come back for a vacation again at Baguio City, Philippines. Baguio which located in the province of Benguet, is known to have a coolly climate because of its geography. It’s basically located in the northern part of the Philippines, up in mountains of Benguet. I’ve been to Baguio a few times already and I always miss the weather, food and the places there, the reason I’ve been going to Baguio for at least once a year.

From Manila, travel time took for about 5-6 hours (from Victory Liner, ordinary bus) with 2 stop overs in Tarlac and Pangasinan. I love traveling on a weekday since it’s hassle free and there are less people traveling with you.

We arrived in Baguio at around 2 pm and immediately checked in at our chosen Transient House. I honestly forgot the name of our transient house but I found it at Airbnb LINK HERE (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/19149148). It’s located at TG Home Builders in KM3 Marcos Highway (If commute, you can ask the driver to drop you off here). The room we got are good for 3 guests priced for Php683 per night (2 nights = Php1,366) though I think they increased the price as they included cleaning and service fee which they didn’t have when we booked it last July. Anyway, I do recommend the place since it’s cheap and the room was so HUGE! I think 4-5 persons would fit the room though of course, the room is only good for 3 guest. There is another sofa, a huge cabinet for your clothes, a cable TV, table and 2 chairs and veranda for fresh air. The restroom was clean and it is equipped with cold and hot shower. Also, the pillows and bed sheets were fresh and clean. Kudos to that! By the way, I chose this room because of the veranda and the huge window which I usually close because it’s too cold! Haha So if you want a decent place to stay in and sleep in Baguio (if you’re not that choosy), I highly recommend booking here! The owners and staff were so friendly and smiling every time. As in! J

Since it was still early and I was awake for 24 hours at that time, we decided to just rest for a while and sleep until 7 pm.

For dinner, we decided to dine at the famous 50’s Diner located at the Military Cutoff Road (there’s another one at the Session Road). Every single time I go to Baguio, one of my go-to places to dine is at 50’s Diner but I never got the chance to dine here since it’s always jam packed! Haha Good thing, we went here on a Tuesday night and there were only few customers around. At one point, we even got a chance to have the place all to ourselves! Haha

After dinner, we already went back to our place and decided to sleep early. Early means at 12am. Haha

We woke up at around 7 am the next day and went immediately to the Vanilla Cupcake Bakery located at the famous dainty, girly and cutesy hotel in Baguio, the Kamiseta Hotel. How I wish I can afford to stay here even for a night. Haha It’s weird that we decided to have our appetizers here before actually have our heavy breakfast/lunch. Place is very girly and suits my taste! Since we came earl, glad that we have the place all to ourselves again!

Next, we had a heavy early lunch at Kung Jeon (known as Korean Palace) near Camp John Hay. It’s a Korean Buffet for only Php399! Yay! They also offer FREE picture taking with their Korean costumes.

We went to Bell House and Bell Amphitheather also in Camp John Hay for a walk and photo taking. Photos maybe a bit gloomy since it was rainy that day. I’ve been here last November and came back to appreciate the history and beauty of this place.

This time, I had a chance to walk into the History Trail which is a nice place to hike. Though I’m not able to finish the trail because I was already so tired of walking. haha

Next, we went to the Diplomat Hotel which is known to be an abandoned structure suited at the top of Dominican Hill. It was already raining hard when we get there so it was the right timing for ghost hunting. The place was so foggy when we get there and it reminded me of Silent Hill movie. Was it really haunted? I’ll let you know on my separate blog post.

After exploring the corners of the Diplomat Hotel, we came back to our transient house to rest for a bit. At around 8pm, we went to Session Road to look for a place to dine and we saw this Japanese restaurant located at the ground floor of some building along Session Road. We had our dinner at newly opened Zushi Me which offers Japanese cuisine.

After dinner, we explored the Harrison Night Market and tried the famous street foods there. No photo though since it was raining that time and I’m just too lazy to bring out my camera.

That night, we slept a bit late, around 1am maybe as we just laid back and chill at our room. Woke up early the next day and check out at around 10am. We had out breakfast at Sbarro in SM Baguio since it’s nearer to Victory Liner. Also, we went to the Market to buy pasalubongs then to Victory Liner.

Arrived at the terminal earlier than expected. By 1pm, we bid our goodbyes in Baguio as we head back to Manila. Travel time was just 4 hours plus 1 hour traffic in Manila. Haha

Below are the vlogs/video compilation (on my Youtube channel) of my day 1 &2 at Baguio:

By the way, I’ll be posting separate blogs about the food and place experience on the next posts so please stay tuned for that. And if you have any suggestions on what other places and restaurants to go in Baguio, I would highly appreciate that. Thanks for reading! J

I love travelling! Who doesn’t? But being a busy girl with different priorities in life, I rarely travel in a year. Honestly, I’ve only been to one beach just a year ago (Blog post about my first beach experience here) and I always say that I want to travel to other places this year.

Why I was Disappointed at First.

Finally, my friend and I decided to look for cheap beach accommodation last April at Metrodeal and found a nice and affordable villa at Puerto Galera called Amihan Del Sol or formerly known as Amihan Villa. We already booked for May 16-17 last April 9 so I was kind of disappointed when they called me regarding canceling the date we chose a week before our supposed booking date. They told me that the dates we chose were already full booked and they had a slow internet connection so they received the notification or email from Metrodeal late as well. Honestly, don’t know what happened since we confirmed the booking a month before that and so they should have informed us about that much earlier. We already planned our schedules last April and even filed our leave at work. I kept on insisting that we already filed our leave and our schedule was already set but seems like they left us no choice but to book our stay on a different date. Why are we the ones adjusting instead? Maybe it was because we paid for a cheaper price at Metrodeal? I don’t know but I was so excited for this trip so imagine my disappointment when we had to wait for another 3 weeks for this. We re-booked it this June which I think is also a great time to hit the beach since it’ll be easier for us to commute and there will be few people around.

The Trip.

Last June 6-7, 2017, we finally made it to Puerto Galera!!! My friend and I met at Araneta Bus Port in Cubao and rode a bus from Goldstar going to Batangas Pier. It took us 3 hours to get to Batangas Pier since I think the bus we rode was driving so slow. At Batangas Pier, there were people waiting for passengers outside the bus and based from what I read, you must not talk to them as they “fixers” who will help you but will ask for money in return or something like that. We trust our instincts and followed the people in front of us until we found the Minolo Shipping Lines counter and told them that we will be going to “Amihan” two-way-trip. Fee was Php600 with free shuttle service included. We waited for about 15-20 minutes near the gate/terminal since the security just told us to wait without giving any time.

Inside Minolo Shipping Lines

Travel time going to Muelle Port took us 1 hour. It was first time riding “the boat” so I was scared at first. The ride was a bit bumpy and hot inside since they closed most of the windows to avoid the water coming inside. I wasn’t prepared for this ride and I haven’t slept yet, haven’t eaten breakfast nor lunch and was dehydrated already since I had no time to buy another water.

View at Muelle Port

At Muelle Port, we immediately saw the MSL shuttle at the right side and told them we were going to Amihan. We were joined by another 6 people also going to Amihan in the shuttle. By the way, the shuttle we rode was a L300 van. It took us 15-20 minutes before arriving at Amihan.

Best Accommodation.

Amihan Del Sol is suited at the top so we had to take the long hike just to be able to get there. I must admit, going up added up to my tiredness so good thing they gave a glass of iced tea (welcoming drinks) upon reaching the villa. Ms. Gemma along with their staff warmly greeted us. The reception area is located at the 2^nd floor as well the dining or common area. We rested for about 5 – 10 minutes while enjoying the nice view outside. Then we handed our voucher and ID and we're ready to check-in.

Our room was located at the 2^nd floor left side which I’ve been crossing my fingers to get this room as I believe it has the BEST view for me. We were HIGHLY IMPRESSED on how HUGE the room was for 2 persons. It has a queen/twin size bed, a TV with cable, air condition, lamp shades, lots of electric sockets, large cabinet, toiletries, towels, huge CR with shower and a bathtub, 2 small windows, a huge window with ocean view and a balcony. What more could you ask for?

The view you'll see right outside our room. (Balcony view)

I immediately went in for the bed as it was so relaxing. Took some to take selfies since I spotted a good place to take selfies beside the window. Haha

It was 3pm already and we decided to rest for a bit while we ordered lunch from their menu. Surprisingly, their menu was affordable for me.

Here’s what we ordered for lunch:

Sweet N’ Sour Fish Php 229

“Catch the day fish, served with rice”

Vegetable Curry Php199

“Mixed vegetables cooked in coconut milk and curry paste”

It was around 5:30 – 6pm when we decided to go down to see the beach. The staff advised us that not to stay that late since there are no lights in the area. We went down from Amihan, turned right and walked at the highway. Just look for the rope on the left side of the road and you’ll see the way to the beach. We walked for about 3 minutes on a trail and it was a bit dark since it was nearing sunset. The trail was okay though we were a bit scared since we’re 2 girls walking alone.

Entrance/Exit to/from Aninuan Beach

Aninuan Beach is Paradise!

Then we saw the beautiful Aninuan beach. Can’t believe that we have this place all to ourselves because no one, as in NO ONE was there except us. The sea and sky was so perfect. We took some photos though we didn’t swim since the waves was high and a bit scary for us. We were 2 girls who doesn’t know how to swim and alone in a beach so we’re kind of worried for our safety since there are no life guards around. Though this is such a perfect place to swim, sit, unwind and/or explore. The beach is so quiet and relaxed.

During the night time, we took our time in the Amihan pool while waiting for our dinner. Honestly, I’m not a fan of night swimming since I always get cold easily. But Amihan’s pool is warm and relaxing at night. We hang out at the pool for 30 minutes until til they called us for our dinner.

By the way, you can order you dinner at Amihan before 7pm only. Here’s what we ordered for dinner:

Tasty Amihan Chicken Php169

“Only at Amihan! This chicken was trapped in paprika, calamansi juice and spices found here in Mindoro. Sautéed and topped with Bermuda Onion Rings.”

Cordon Bleu Php299

“Fillet of chicken filled with ham, cheese and herbs served with French fries and salad on the side”

After dinner, we slept at around 9-10pm and woke up at 5am. I wasn’t able to witness the sunset since I was too sleepy to get up early. We went down the beach at around 7am for a quick dip at the beach.

The Next Day.

And again, we were alone for a while until a group came to swim too. We swam for a bit, took photos then went back to the villa since it started to rain. I didn’t bring my umbrella since I didn’t expect that it would rain.

At the villa, we had the time to swim at the pool while waiting for our breakfast. I love their pool as it is big and it has a nice picturesque view.

By the way, here’s our complimentary breakfast:

Tocilog Php160

“Sweet Pork, fried rice and egg”

Coffee

After breakfast, we just went back to our room to take a bath, prep our things and relax. By the way, Ms. Gemma was so kind enough to call Minolo Shipping Lines Shuttle for us to pick up at our desired time.

While waiting, I took photos and videos of the place. Also, the perfect time to take selfies!!!

We asked to be picked up at 12:45 pm and at around 1pm, we were called already since the shuttle is already waiting for us outside. By the way, I wanna thank Ms. Gemma and the staff of Amihan Del Sol as they were so warm, very accommodating and friendly. J

Travel time from Amihan to Muelle Port was 10-15 minutes. At Muelle Post, we paid P10 for terminal fee and then we waited for the next available boat for about 15-20 minutes. It’s kind of weird that it only took us 45 minutes going to Batangas Pier. From Batangas Pier, we were looking for Goldstar Bus going to Cubao Alimall but there was none. The closest one is from DLTB Co. Bus going to Cubao Kamias. It was already 6pm when we arrived at Manila which is rush hour already and we had to pass by EDSA. It was 7:30pm already when I asked the driver to drop us off at the nearest provincial bus stop which is in Boni. Anyway, I got home at by 9pm already.

The Experience.

The whole experience was FUN and EXCITING since it was my first time commuting to a place I’ve never been to. The travel going to Puerto Galera was long, hard and tiring on my part since I didn’t have sleep during that time and I’m not that prepared for a trip. I anticipated that our travel time would be fast so I didn’t bought foods and more water that’s why I felt to uneasy during the trip.

While our stay at Amihan Del Sol is the BEST and the villa itself is very homey. The place is very beautiful, relaxing and quiet. The staffs were friendly and very nice to us. Despite the troubles we had during the booking, I think they exceeded our expectations when it comes to accommodation. (Though still I think they should improve on their bookings). And the foods are affordable and the servings were huge!!!

Going up at Amihan Del Sol.

Aninuan Beach which is the nearest beach in Amihan Del Sol is PARADISE!!! It was peaceful and the view is so relaxing. I Though I didn’t get the chance to explore the place and swim on the beach that much. There’s still lots of things I want to do and places I want to visit in Puerto so I will come back to this place this year, for sure J