To continue the top five things I love about this wonderful city: 3. French Quarter (Vieux Carré) On our second day, we got up early to grab some more - ehem - beignets at Café Du Monde and ended up just walking around the French Quarter after breakfast. I loved this time of the day as there were relatively fewer tourists on the streets and we got to explore the many interesting sights, shops, and architecture around the area. I don't know what it is about the French Quarter that entices people. It's not the cleanest. At night, it can be full of drunk people. Some streets have a funky smell. And yet, I find it so beautiful, and quaint, and interesting. 4. Mississippi River Cruise We try to take a cruise in every city we go to as a way to relax and see the city from a different perspective. In NOLA, we took the Daytime Jazz Cruise aboard the Steamboat Natchez. In true steamboat style, we cruised down the mighty Mississippi River and enjoyed the afternoon relaxing and having a few drinks onboard. And because we're in New Orleans - the home of Louis Armstrong - what's a daytime cruise without some live jazz music playing. And finally...
Where else in the world can you take the time off to eat some awesome beignet and drink iced coffee while listening to a live music?
* * * Read: First part of our New Orleans trip. For more pictures from our trip, do check out our US Gallery. Enjoy!
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As soon as we arrived in NOLA, honestly, I had doubts. Definitely the city underwent major changes post-Katrina. Have I built it up so much in my head for all these years only to be disappointed? Will Von enjoy it as much as I did 15 years ago? As soon as we started walking around the French Quarter, all the wonderful memories from my 21st birthday came back to me and soon found myself in love with the same city, and with the man that I love to boot. 5 things to love about NOLA: While there are too many things to love about the city, I will try to list down my top 5: 1. Glorious, glorious food! As soon as we had checked-in at our hotel, our first order of business was Café Du Monde along Decatur Street. I waited 15 years to try their Beignets and Café Au Lait again, and I couldn’t wait for another hour. What can I say. Extreme happiness. We arrived there just before lunch and naturally, had to wait in line for no more than 30 minutes. Many people say it’s a tourist trap because of the long lines, but for good reason. Counting all the beignets we ate throughout the duration of our trip, including Café Du Monde's competitor, Cafe Beignet, we had a grand total of 18. Seriously, I thought we ate too much beignets that time. But as soon as we left, I regretted not eating more. Hmm... I wonder if there’s any place in NOLA that sells bad beignets. NOLA is also the home of world-famous Creole cuisine and although I’m not a fan of Gumbo and spicy foods, I did enjoy other NOLA favourites like po'boys and awesome seafood dishes. We decided to try Deanie’s Seafood Restaurant, just across our hotel Courtyard Inn by Marriott at Iberville in the French Quarter, and everything we ate was yummy! Softshell Crab Po'Boy and Barbecue Seafood Pasta - yummy! If you're a fan of the movie Chef, you would know that NOLA is one of the cities mentioned in the movie with a great food scene. It really is! 2. Ghost Tours Being an old city in the US, New Orleans has seen its fair share of tragedies such as massive fires, Yellow fever epidemic in the 1800s, and most recently, Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Along with its history of being populated with convicts and pirates upon its establishment, no wonder it is considered the most Haunted City in America. But this is also the reason why tourists flock to this charming city. The thrill of joining Ghost tours, visiting old cemeteries, and staying in haunted hotels. Eek! While we passed up on visiting a cemetery, and we're too scared to stay in a haunted hotel (I had to cancel a couple of hotel reservations after reading reviews about ghostly sightings!), we couldn't pass up on joining a Nightly Ghost Tour. I joined a Ghost Tour during my first visit but it was still thrilling to join one this time as it was also Von's first time. Some of the stories were also new to me and definitely gave us the creeps! The most famous haunted house in the French Quarter - the LaLaurie Mansion, the home of some of the most atrocious stories about slavery and torture; The house of Jacques St. Germain - the legendary New Orleans vampire - the house that inspired Anne Rice to write about Lestat. To add to the city's charm, we also visited a few days before Halloween so the spooky decorations were in hyper mode. * * * Read: Last part of our New Orleans trip. For more pictures from our trip, do check out our US Gallery. Enjoy! Hello, we're back and we have loads of stories to tell! The past three months were crazy hectic - some good, some not so much. To recap the highlights: * We went on a two-week vacation to the Philippines. * We celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary at Plantation Bay, Mactan, Cebu. * Baby Mira is finally baptized. * I was diagnosed with Acute Vestibular Neuritis on my left ear and spent a good amount of time at the hospital. * The Embassy welcomed Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter Cayetano (and tons of other hectic activities). * Elise started with (summer) school - yey! * Started planning baby Mira's first birthday - yey again! So yeah, given all those happenings, I didn't have the chance to update our blog since January. Please bear with me as I'm excited and eager to share all our stories. :) * * * Let me begin by telling you about my recent tour of the gorgeous Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh. During SFA Cayetano's visit, the Embassy spouses handled the parallel program for the SFA's wife, Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano, who visited with him. One of the activities included a tour of the Princess Nourah University, arranged by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Being a women's university, not everyone is able to visit this university, our spouses included, so I was thankful to have joined this tour. This University is magnificent and the tour a definite eye-opener. We only had a couple of hours for the tour so our visit was limited only to the Central Library, Medical Sciences Building, and the University Gymnasium. Such a shame that we were only able to visit these three buildings as Princess Nourah spans 800 HECTARES! (In comparison, the total land area of my Alma Mater UP Diliman is 493 hectares so picture double UP.) I read somewhere that Princess Nourah is the largest women's university in the world. First stop, the Central Libray - what can I say, it's a researcher's dream! Upon entering the building, one is greeted with this stunning lobby. No words to describe it, just this: I thought it was a simple tour of a beautiful library, but truly the most impressive part about the tour was the demo on the automated book circulation. From any floor of the 8-storey library, a student can just summon a book with some computer clicks - and voila! And returning it is just as high-tech - with the conveyor belts and all. Throughout the demo, I can't help but compare the library to the "door warehouse" in Monsters, Inc. This library is only one of three libraries in the world with this system. The library can also hold 5 million books and currently has 2 million. Everyone from our group was utterly impressed.
In the University Gymnasium, we saw their Olympic-size swimming pool and indoor track. Interestingly, the lady who conducted the tour of the gymnasium was probably no more around 5'3", and introduced herself as the team captain of their women's basketball team. We even saw them as they were practicing. Honestly, I was amazed to see Saudi women dressed in sporty clothes playing basketball. I would have never pictured them this sporty. While traveling between the buildings, I can't help but admire the sheer size of the university and the beautiful Arabian architecture. Princess Nourah also has an 11-kilometer, driverless monorail inside the campus - whut?! (And there I was, reminiscing my UP Ikot/Toki days.) Due to the limited schedule, we were not able to visit the monorail stations, but I'm sure it must be impressive as well. Driving around the university, I couldn't help but feel jealous that these facilities are available to Saudis only. To make my pangs of jealousy worse, I learned that studying here is free as well. I long for the day when Filipino students can have access to ultra-modern facilities like Hanako and the fully automated Library, among others.
That being said, I still think Filipino students kick ass and are top-notch and can compete in any arena outside the country despite what we are given. Just imagine the possibilities when we have all these at the tip of our fingers! * * * Read: My other articles about our diplomatic life here in Riyadh: Beyond Malls: Exploring Riyadh... with Kids! Pinoy Fiesta in the Kingdom Welcome to the Kingdom The Start of our Diplomatic Journey Also, do check out our Saudi Arabia Gallery for more pictures of Princess Nourah University and from around Riyadh. Thanks! Given the cooler weather and that Mira is now a bit older and easier to bring along, we're finally going out of the house and exploring Riyadh more. The challenge is to find interesting places where we can also bring the kids, aside from malls. So far, here are a few we have visited:
Wadi Hanifah The Wadi Hanifa (Hanifa Valley) in the Nejd Region, runs for a length of 120 kilometers, cutting through the city of Riyadh from northwest and southeast. From what I gathered, it used to be a wasteland until the Ar Riyadh Development Authority turned it into a nature reserve. We visited on a weekend and really didn't know where to start our sightseeing or what to do. There were many families plopped down on the ground having a picnic, but since we have not yet grown accustomed to this culture, we just walked around. We saw a park with some inflatable balloons, but there were A LOT of families there, we were not really in the mood to join the crowd. Maybe we can visit next time when there are less people and we can also try crossing the bridge (of the dam?). Red Sand Dunes, Thumama I really enjoyed this one! After the New Year's, we joined some colleagues from the Embassy for a morning trip to the Red Sand Dunes. We decided not to bring Mira anymore since we didn't know if there was anywhere we could leave her with Ate Vangie. We left our meeting place at around 630AM. The sand dunes were only about thirty minutes away from our town of Irqah, but it was still necessary to arrive there early to take advantage of the cool morning air. The trip was a great breather from the city. During the drive, I enjoyed the scenic desert views and rock formations. Again, I was reminded that we were in the Middle East. Upon arriving in the area, I was a bit disappointed there was litter everywhere. Pretty sad that it is not well-maintained. However, once you drive farther out and up, the sand dunes become cleaner and you are left with these magnificent desert views. Pretty surreal. We rented two bikes for 30SAR per hour each, with Elise riding with Von. The drive was fun alright, but I was still very cautious as I didn't wanna end up tumbling down the sand dunes. And yes, in case you haven't noticed, too: no abaya! Yey!
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Oftentimes, I see comments describing Riyadh as a boring city. Yes, I do miss the cinemas and the nightlife... occasionally. But I find that the city has also a lot to offer culture-wise. We have yet to visit the other big parks scattered around the city, the famous Edge of the World, the Saudi National Museum, the modern skyscrapers with amazing views such as the Kingdom Tower, the heritage villages, the horse and camel races... the list goes on. Given that the country remains closed to tourists, I remain grateful we were given the chance to live here, and experience the very unique Saudi culture. * * * Read: My other articles about our diplomatic life here in Riyadh: Pinoy Fiesta in the Kingdom House-Hunting in Riyadh: Fantasies and Realities Welcome to the Kingdom The Start of our Diplomatic Journey Also, do check out pictures from around Riyadh in our Saudi Arabia Gallery. Thanks! During our third wedding anniversary last year, the husband and I agreed to go on a short weekend trip out of town. As usual, he let me plan the trip. I didn’t have a hard time choosing where to go since I really wanted to go back to Sonya’s Garden Bed and Breakfast in Alfonso, Cavite. The first time I visited Sonya’s was in 2008, during an event with the U.P. Women in Law, my organization from law school. Our event was held at night and I thought the place looked enchanted and magical. The first time I stayed here overnight was in 2010, with some girl friends from law school. We had a wonderful weekend getting away from all the stress. I was dying to go back to this place this time with my husband. The worsening traffic in Tagaytay these days didn’t discourage us from going. Thanks to Waze, we took the Silang route and completely avoided the congested Sta. Rosa road. The route took us directly to the Tagaytay rotunda. We passed by Ayala Mall Serin, so I thought we would encounter traffic there. Surprisingly, we didn’t. We left QC at around 12:30 noon. We arrived at Sonya’s at around 3PM. Not bad, I think, considering it’s a Saturday. The check-in was hassle-free since I have already booked through their website. The weekend rate is P3,500/pax for a twin-sharing room. This includes one full breakfast and one dinner/lunch fare. Web reservation requires full payment. There is an additional small web admin fee when booking through the website, which was fine with me.
Our cottage had one queen bed, one day bed and one sofa. The room was big, I’m sure if we had bought Elise and Ate Vangie, we would have been fine there. As expected, there was no AC in the room. It had a ceiling fan, and one desk fan. But no worries. The chilly weather more than sufficed. The capiz windows opened to the forest outside. After checking our cottage, we just roamed around and checked out the little nooks and crannies of the estate. A lot of things have changed since the last time I came here. They now have a bakery, and a store selling unique pieces of furniture. One thing that got us curious was the Proposal Garden. It's a nice, secluded spot, away from the restaurant where I guess you can pop the question? But wouldn't that be too obvious once your girlfriend sees that you have reserved a table here? Hehe. Later that evening, we decided to get an early dinner. Another great thing about staying in Sonya's: the food! No surprises here. Sonya’s is famous for its fresh salad, complete with its signature salad dressing. Von liked it so much that he had two servings, a compliment to Sonya's since he's not really a salad-person. To me, my favorite for the night was the bread and assorted spreads. We were given five spreads: white cheese, peppercorn, anchovies, olive pate, and the pesto basil. Oh my, I think ate about six pieces of rolls as I kept on spreading the pesto basil and anchovies on my bread. I wanted to eat some more, but I couldn’t as I knew the entrée was yet to come.
After dinner, we just decided to stay in our cottage and chill rather than venture out to Tagaytay proper. There is no TV in the room, but every cottage has a mini-library of books. Knowing this, we brought a laptop and movies for us to watch. After getting massages at the in-house spa, we just snuggled up in the evening with some chips and drinks and watched a movie. I know this isn’t a grand, romantic thing to do, but with a toddler in the house, this has become a rare treat for us. In the evenings, we just usually end up watching Elise’s favorite movies or we just fall asleep altogether due to exhaustion from work. This time, our movie marathon went uninterrupted, until when I told my husband I was already sleepy. Hey, can’t blame me, the cool Tagaytay breeze was lulling me to sleep! Come morning, I was ready for more glorious food! For breakfast, I was surprised that it is now buffet, unlike my last visit when the breakfast was also served per table. The breakfast spread consisted of eggs, chicken adobo, fried rice, daing na bangus, paired with the perfect hot chocolate. Very traditional and Filipino, which I liked. I also loved the fruits and the mango salsa, so refreshing! Overall, the price for a one-night stay in Sonya’s may be a bit steep, but when you think about it, the 7k includes room accommodation, lunch/dinner for two and breakfast for two. The lunch/dinner set costs P600/pax for day guests while the breakfast set costs 400/pax. So it’s like we just paid P2,000 for our meals, and P5,000 for our room, which rate is comparable to other hotels in Tagaytay.
Overall, it was a great anniversary weekend with my husband. We felt so relaxed and recharged. I love exploring new places, but at the same time, I also appreciate going back to comfortable favorites. Sonya’s will always be on top of my favorite places to visit when in Tagaytay. Last May 16, we went home to the Philippines for a quick two-week vacation for Von's Oath-taking ceremony and Signing of the Roll of Attorneys. Despite the very busy schedule, we managed (more like, I insisted) to visit Tagaytay and/or a beach at least once (since we will surely miss the beach while in Riyadh). We did manage to squeeze in one day after all the errands and happenings were done and over with. Breakfast at Antonio's, Tagaytay During our second week, we stayed at my parents-in-laws' house in Indang, Cavite, which is like thirty minutes away from Tagaytay (lucky!). I personally love Tagaytay, despite the heavy traffic and overcrowding nowadays due to commercialization. Still, it's one of my favorite places to go to outside Manila because of the 1) chilly weather; 2) quaint restaurants; 3) magnificent view of the Taal Volcano; and 4) it's our wedding destination so it will always have a place in my heart. :) On our way to Club Punta Fuego in Nasugbu, Batangas, we took the Tagaytay-Nasugbu route and dropped by Breakfast at Antonio's for a quick breakfast. I'm a HUUUUGE breakfast person and admittedly a big, BIG FAN of the breakfast buffet at Bag of Beans. Still, I wanted to try something new and was widely curious about the good reviews of Breakfast at Antonio's. I must admit I was hesitant to try the place given our disappointing experience last year at Balay Dako (which is part of the Antonio's group of companies). Upon entering, I asked for a table at the open deck so we can enjoy the cool Tagaytay breeze. Unfortunately, we were told that the open deck was currently undergoing renovation, so we were seated inside the Main Hall, which still has a view of the volcano. The open windows also allow some breeze to get in. Von ordered the Eggs Benedict, while I ordered the classic pancakes since I was sharing them with Elise. I ordered additional eggs done over easy and bacon - because we don't have bacon in Riyadh!!! Haha. Von raved about his Eggs Benedict, and I thought they were good, too, while Elise very much enjoyed her pancakes. The portions were huge! But I made sure we finish everything (because they were pricey), except for the caramelized fruits on my plate which I could no longer finish as I was so full! If I could return here without a toddler in tow next time, I would probably order one of the more exotic items on the menu like the Roesti, which sounds so yummy based on the description. Overall, it was a good breakfast experience. But admittedly, it's still short of the breakfast buffet at Bag of Beans. My standard will always be BoB's hot chocolate… mmm... After breakfast, we headed straight to Club Punta Fuego in Balaytigue, Nasugbu, Batangas. Day Tour at Punta Fuego We were invited by a friend for an overnight stay in Club Punta Fuego. Unfortunately, due to the hectic schedule, we were available only for a day tour. I was surprised upon checking Google Maps that Punta Fuego is still a good two hours away from Indang. There's a shorter route passing through Ternate, but we took the Tagaytay route since we planned to stop by at Breakfast at Antonio's. The road to Punta Fuego is so picturesque and relaxing. We have passed here before going to Canyon Cove, but Punta Fuego is much farther and the roads got more winding and steeper in some portions. Upon arriving, we registered at the Main Club and were given tags for identification. The day tour fee is P1,000/pax, P450 of which may be consumed with their in-house restaurants. We were not charged for Elise.
From the Main Club, we could see the gorgeous infinity pool but we weren't really much into it since there are plenty of pools in Riyadh. We were here for the beach! The registration staff suggested we go to Terrazas but it was a twenty-minute drive using our private car. She also suggested going to the lower beach which was closer to the Main Club. We decided to check out the lower beach and just go to the Terrazas after lunch. The registration staff confirmed that we need not pay another entrance fee if we decide to move to Terrazas. At the lower beach, there were no cabanas, beach chairs, or beach umbrellas. Just some trees, rocks, and sand, that's it. (Unlike in Terrazas where cabanas may be rented for the day). Here, we just found a space under some tree shade, lay our beach towel on the sand, and just started swimming! It's not the most comfortable, maybe that's why there were only a few people. The beach is great, not rocky as I'd expected. Elise enjoyed making sandcastles, and playing with "mud spa", haha. The water is clear blue and not too deep so it's perfect for kids. I enjoyed the "rawness" of the place, if you can call it that since the multi-million peso houses of the club members were just behind the beach, hehe. Around lunchtime, we packed up and moved our stuff to the Turtle Pool beside the lower beach area. There's also a restaurant conveniently located beside the pool area, Il Jardinero, which serves good Italian food (albeit a bit pricey). After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Turtle pool. The pool was surprisingly warm and I thoroughly enjoyed soaking my aching body and swollen arms and legs in it, hehe. We decided to scrap going to Terrazas altogether as we found it already inconvenient. Besides, the lower beach had a great view as well, and there were no people around so we got to enjoy the place to ourselves. I guess this is also the benefit of having many swimming options in Punta Fuego, the visitors were well-distributed and there were no crowds (to be fair, we also went there on a Monday so the weekend crowd would have all left). The whole afternoon was well-spent. I know we could have gotten more value for the entrance fee if we had also tried the pools at the Main Club and beach at the Terrazas, as well as took advantage of the other facilities of the resort like the Kids' playroom, Mini-Theater, Spa, etc. But with a toddler in tow, and being 28 weeks pregnant, I just wanted to avoid every bit of walking. I also wanted to spare Von from lugging our stuff around. We were there to de-stress and enjoy our last couple of days in Pinas and I was pretty satisfied with what we got at Punta Fuego. On the way home, I couldn't resist stopping over at Bag of Beans to buy my favorite blueberry cheesecake for takeaway. We visited the one in Twin Lakes - my first time in this branch. I found this branch so beautiful - with the white interiors and the ever-relaxing view of the volcano.
* * * If you love Philippine beaches and enjoyed reading this article, do check out my blog post on wonderful Bohol and pictures in the Philippines Gallery. Enjoy! After a day of relaxation at our resort, it's time to visit the famous attractions which Bohol province is known for. Bohol Travel Buddy I got the number of Bohol Travel Buddy from another travel blog and texted them immediately. Unlike some who did not even bother to respond to my query, they called me right away. I liked that. Upon learning of their rates, I decided to book a car for 8 hours, instead of availing the tour packages per person. The rate is for P2,2000, inclusive of gas and exclusive of the museum fees and the Loboc Lunch Cruise. I made the computations in my head and the difference in the amount wasn’t really that big, only a couple of hundred. Plus, we had the whole car to ourselves so we weren’t very self-conscious about our belongings and the space, and we were able to design our itinerary the way we wanted it. Come morning of Day 2, Kuya Kim, our driver, showed up very early at our hotel - a few minutes even before our agreed time of 8AM. I was immediately impressed, we were not even finished with our breakfast yet. He was pleasant enough. He just gave us bits and pieces of information about the places we would pass, and he left us alone when we wanted to sleep. We decided to go to Chocolate Hills first thing in the morning, and we were surprised to find out that it was still a good 2 hours away from Bellevue, whoa! He also took care of our tickets at Loboc Lunch Cruise. Plus, he was very pleasant in taking our pictures! I would definitely recommend him and Bohol Travel Buddy! Bohol Countryside Tour Our planned itinerary consisted of the following:
We visited the Chocolate Hills first, since it is the farthest and you can pass by all the other locations on the way back. Finally got to see the famous chocolate mounds. One thing was, I wasn't prepared at all for the climb to the viewing deck! Gosh, I seriously need to wok on my cardio! I almost didn't want to reach the top anymore but seeing Von carry a 15-kilogram Elise pa motivated me to go on. The Chocolate Hills is indeed beautiful, but you only spend a few minutes here to take pictures and selfies. The biggest surprise for me was the Bilar Man-Made Forest. I thought “it's a 2-kilometer man-made forest of mahogany trees, so what was supposed to be so special about it?" Going to Chocolate Hills, we fell asleep in the car and Kuya Kim woke us up to tell us that we were passing through Bilar Man-Made Forest. I was like... WOAH! The giant trees prevented sunlight from coming in and there was a faint fog as it was early morning. The place looked enchanted, I felt like I was in Twilight! (Seriously, thats what I thought of while we were there). Haha. The highlight of the trip for me was the Loboc River Cruise. I have taken cruises in Perth, Miami, Bangkok, Corregidor, and I must say, the Loboc Rriver cruise can give these cruises a serious run for their money. Although the boat is definitely not as big or as modern as the Wonderful Pearl in Bangkok, the experience itself was amazing. Traversing the Loboc River was literally a breath of fresh air, as you are surrounded with trees, forests, and more trees. Traversing the river, we also saw local children swimming in the river, swinging in the baging, and having a grand time, which is a nice contrast from the techie babies I see in malls, hehe. Before the boat turned back, we stopped and docked beside a barge where a group of local musicians continuously played for passing guests. We alighted from our barge and joined the ladies playing their guitars, while the other guests joined the dancing. Tipping is, of course, expected. Overall, I found the layout of the docks very organized. As I've said previously, Kuya Jim secured our cruise tickets so we skipped the lines for the walk-ins. Mind you, the food was regular, the usual Filipino buffet, so don't expect too much. But the overall experience surely makes up for it.
Eskaya Resort Von was also invited by a friend who owns the luxurious Eskaya Resort also in Panglao for a day tour. I've heard about it and knew it was an expensive resort so this might be the only chance to visit the place so I readily agreed. We decided to visit the resort on our third day. Eskaya is so beautiful! We were shown the different kinds of villas, and was so impressed with each one of them. I was blown away with the Balai Datu Villa which costs a whopping P100K per night, and comes with your own infinity pool overlooking the ocean. We got Swedish massages as well from their in-house spa, the Handuraw Spa, which was sooo relaxing. I was blown away when I saw the spa room with a view of the ocean. The grounds of the resort is massive so guests are guaranteed privacy. Developments were still undergoing, still, I can see the beauty of the place. Maybe we can hold our 10th year wedding anniversary renewal of vows here? Haha.
* * * One thing I noticed about Tagbilaran, the capital city of Bohol, is how clean the streets are. Overall, I was impressed with how the local government has handled the influx of tourists. The places we visited were mostly clean, organized, with no tourist traps or anything. The attractions we visited were definitely family-friendly. Elise could not stop raving about "Bohol Bohol". Can't wait to go back and maybe we can try the Bohol Bee Farm next time as well as the adventurous attractions in Danao. * * * Read: Part 1 of our Bohol family adventure. For more pictures from our trip, do check out our Philippines Gallery. Enjoy! The first time I visited Bohol was in 2014 for a work-related function, so I didn’t have time to explore the province. We stayed at Bohol Bellevue then which I loved so much that I promised I would bring Von and Elise there the next time. Last year, we finally went on a family vacation and spent 4 glorious days also in Bellevue. I didn’t fill our schedule with too much activities so we that we can just relax in the resort and swim. Bohol Bellevue Resort This is my second time to stay at Bellevue Bohol and I still much pretty loved the place. During my first visit, I stayed in the West wing with a view of the town, whereas this time, we were upgraded to an ocean view room in the East wing, yey! The upgrade came with a trade-off. The positive of course was the gorgeous view of the beach. The downside was, the singing of the band can be heard from here at night. They only stopped at around 1030PM. A minor inconvenience for us, but it would have been annoying for guests who want some quiet time. The resort is located in Pangalo, quite far from the famous Alona Beach. The Doljo beach in front of the hotel is gorgeous, but it’s not ideal for swimming in the afternoon because of the low tide. So Elise just enjoyed making sandcastles. The resort makes up for it with the gorgeous infinity pool, though. Gorgeous, right?! The daily breakfast buffet at Lamian Restaurant was excellent. It had a lot of Filipino and Western options. My only gripe with the location of the hotel is that it's far from the local eateries so we ate at Lamian for lunch or dinner most of the time. The food was good (especially the pork humba), but definitely more expensive, although the portions are ideal for sharing. I was also excited to lean that there is a kids’ playroom in the resort, beautifully decorated with an ocean mural. It had a lot of clean and challenging toys, which kept Elise busy for some time. Tempting as it was to stay in the resort the entire time and just chill and relax, one cannot go to Bohol and not visit the other attractions which the province is famous for.
* * * Read: Part 2 of our Bohol family adventure. For more pictures from our trip, do check out my Philippines Gallery. Enjoy! Last part of our trip to Western Australia last April 2016 * * * On our last day, our flight was at 10PM so we still had the whole day to tour Perth and the neighboring town of Fremantle. We took the HOHO Bus Tour again and completed the rest of the bus tour. We didn’t alight anymore at the other stops in order to catch our ferry cruise at 11AM. From the bus, we got to see more of Perth’s beautiful attractions like the Museum and Art Gallery, Crown Plaza, and the rest of the enormous King's Park. Perth is such a beautiful city, hayyy... CHARMING FREMANTLE After the HOHO bus tour, we boarded the Ferry Cruise to the town of Fremantle, the neighboring city of Perth and a major Australian port city. I've read somewhere that you can't visit Perth without also visiting Fremantle, it's supposed to be like "twin cities", so that piqued my interest. Fremantle Prison The Tram took us to see the charming spots around Fremantle such as the WA Maritime Museum and the Cappuccino Strip. The highlight of the Tram tour was the visit to Fremantle Prison. Built in the 19th Century and used up until 1991, it is now part of the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage List. We were only given 10 minutes to explore the place, so we only visited the entrance and the lobby and saw a few displays, but it was enough to give me the creeps! There is a scheduled tour inside the prison and even a nightly ghost tour. Even if we could stay in Fremantle overnight, I would probably pass this up. After the tour, the driver dropped us off at the Fishing Harbour for lunch where we ate my favorite Fish and Chips (again!) at the popular Cicerello’s. After lunch, we walked around the area for a bit while waiting for the Tram to pick us up. We especially made sure to visit the beachside so we can say, “Hey, we’ve touched the Indian Ocean!”. Fremantle was definitely super charming. I would compare it like this: if Perth was Manila, Fremantle would be Tagaytay. You go here on weekends, eat at quaint cafes and artisan shops, visit the beachside, chill... definitely my kind of town.
We returned to Perth at around 5pm, got our luggage from our hotel and took the bus to the airport. So hassle-free! In every trip that Von and I take, there's always the nagging feeling that we should have brought Elise believing she will also enjoy the sights and experiences. But couple time is just as important, too, right? Besides, we can always go back to OZ with Elise and visit the eastern area next time. Maybe drop by New Zealand as well and visit Hobbiton? SO MUCH planning and saving up to do. Haha! * * * Read: Part 1 and Part 2 of our Perth experience. For more pictures from our trip, check out our Australia Gallery. Enjoy! Second part of our trip to Western Australia last April 2016 * * * After Von’s conference, we had one more day to explore the city via the Perth Explorer Hop On-Hop Off (HOHO) Bus. The HOHO Bus tour can be purchased separately, but we purchased this online as part of the Triple Tour from Captain Cook Cruises, which included: 1) a bus tour around Perth; 2) a round-trip ferry ride from Perth to Fremantle; and 3) a tram tour around Fremantle. The tour can be availed of within 48 hours. The HOHO is a great way to explore Perth without your own transportation. The Bus Tour starts at Barrack Street Jetty Riverside Drive, but one can get on the bus at any of the designated stops. We sat on the open top deck and enjoyed the cool autumn wind on our faces. Given our limited time, we did not have the chance to alight at every stop but sitting at the top deck gave us a great view of the Swan Bells, the Swan River, the Downtown skyline, as well as the other stops. Perth Mint Since we cannot alight at every stop, I asked Von where he wanted to go. I suggested going to the Perth Mint which contains a gold and mint exhibition which Western Australia is known for. Although he wasn't excited at first, he was sold when he learned that there would be a gold-pouring demonstration, saying that this might be our only chance to watch one. When we got there, we had a good few minutes to walk around the shop before the next scheduled tour began. Of course we didn’t buy anything because shopping for jewelry and gold wasn’t on our to-do list, haha! According to their website, as one of Western Australia's largest exporters, the Perth Mint distributes some $18 billion worth of pure gold, silver and platinum bullion bars and coins to investors in more than 100 countries annually. During the guided tour, our guide told us about the history of gold mining in Australia, in particular, in Western Australia. As expected, the gold-pouring demo was awesome, and unexpectedly nerve-wracking. Too bad cameras are not allowed inside the museum. The museum was also interactive. I got to lift a real gold bar (which was heavy!), and we found out our worth in Australian Gold. Awesome! King’s Park Due to the schedule of the Perth Mint tour, we missed the last schedule of the HOHO Bus, so we just boarded one of the free CAT buses to King’s Park. Free bus ride, so amazing! The King’s Park is one of the largest inner city parks in the world, even bigger than New York’s Central Park. It overlooks the city and has an amazing view of the Perth CBD and Swan River below. Lemon-scented gum trees line the Park’s main road – Fraser Avenue. So picturesque! King’s Park gave me such a good vibe I could picture our family moving here to Perth and enjoying the trees, the greenery, and the scenery during the weekends. As it was close to nighttime, we just sat at a bench and enjoyed the view and visited a few Memorials before catching the bus back to our hotel. The next day, our last day, our flight was at 10PM so we still had the whole day to complete the rest of the HOHO Bus Tour around Perth and as well as a quick tour around the neighboring town of Fremantle. * * * Read: Part 1 of our Perth experience and Day trip to Fremantle. For more pictures from our trip, check out our Australia Gallery. Enjoy! |