One of my planned trips in September is a four day visit to Singapore and Malaysia. I’m so excited since it’ll be my first time going there … well, I haven’t gone out of the country a lot to begin with :) It’ll be a four day trip from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (I’ll be flying out of KL early morning on the fifth day, so it doesn’t really count). The Singapore leg will be spent more on theme parks and the usual touristy stuff but I’ll be sure to fit in some heritage destinations as well. While the Malaysian leg will be spent mostly in Kuala Lumpur and its diverse multicultural attractions. I’m planning to squeeze in a visit to a mosque, a hindu temple, and a chinese temple during my short time there. I also arranged a side trip to Putra Jaya, Malaysia’s masterplanned government complex.
Browsing the archives for the Random Things category
Travel to Asia for FREE! If you’re a frequent traveler, then you’d want to get in on this great promotion by Air Asia, a popular low cost airlines based in Malaysia (Asia’s largest budget airline in fact). Air Asia flies to almost all major airports in South East Asia and because they’re practically giving away flight tickets for free in their latest promotion, booking your flights now will be a great way to explore Asia on a budget. The Air Asia Free Seats Promotion is ongoing from May 18 2010 - May 23 2010 only with the travel period from January 3 2011 – May 8 2011.
photo by carworld
There’s no other place in the Philippines (and even South East Asia) that captures the image of an exotic tropical paradise better than Palawan Province, at least to my knowledge. Palawan is HUGE with a various destinations that will take months to fully explore. This summer, I’m set on traveling to Cuyo Town located in the middle of Sulu Sea between the main islands of Palawan and Panay. Cuyo was heavily popularized by the movie, Ploning, and Amanpulo Resort, one of the most expensive resorts in the Philippines with rates over $1000/night. Of course, I’m not rich enough to stay in Amanpulo but with 45 islands composing the town of Cuyo, there are many other beautiful islands to visit.
Thailand is best known as the “land of free” derived from the fact that it’s the only country in South East Asia that has never been colonized. With that rich culture intact, it isn’t a surprise that Thailand has become a popular international travel destination. Like most westerners, I’m also drawn to the exotic sights of Thailand since I live in a country that has had much western influence thanks to centuries of colonial rule.
photo by vtveen
Ifugao Province is best known for the Banaue Rice Terraces, one of the most recognizable landmarks of the Philippines. Though, many seasoned travelers can attest that the best view of the ampitheatre-like rice terraces isn’t actually in Banaue town but in nearby Batad. It would be great to explore both areas to see which has a better view for yourself and also go on a hunt to find out the exact view where the Banaue Rice Terraces in the backside of the PHP1,000 bill was painted. Here’s a helpful list of links when planning on visiting Batad town in Ifugao, Philippines.
Photo by asteegabo
Traveling around the world has never been easier today all thanks to travel bloggers, who have been very helpful in posting about their experiences, itineraries, and guides. I like to research as much about my trips online before traveling or even just planning. I know it’s hard and tedious work to rummage through search engines for helpful blog posts and forum threads so I hope this will be helpful. Cambodia is one of my top places to visit, I’ve always dreamed of walking through the ancient roads and pathways of Angkor Wat. If plans push through, I might finally be able to step foot in Cambodia soon, so I need to finish my itinerary ASAP.
photo by Stuck in Customs
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This is a blog post to “Internet Killed the Radio Star” over at A Moviescript Ending.
Starr mentioned about Boyce Avenue, an unsigned band who posts videos of themselves playing cover songs of their favorite artists on YouTube. They’re amazing, some of their songs are quite better than the original. Well maybe it’s because I’m biased because I find acoustic songs better than ultra pop or R&B but still, you gotta give these guys some credit.
Here’s some of their videos that I really liked:
Living La Vida Loca Viva La Vida – Coldplay
Read the rest of this entry »
Please check out my post over at ExploreIloilo.com about the Flood in Iloilo caused by Typhoon Frank (International name: Fengshen) and some links to Iloilo Flood Pictures and Videos. If you are willing to give assistance to those affected by the tragedy please visit this page for contact details of relief efforts.
- Peso to hit P25:$1 in 5 years – A presidential economic adviser made this forecast based on the increasing dollar inflows by OFWs. He seemed quite optimistic about it and said that exporters should improve their competitiveness on their own and not rely on gov’t subsidies. For me, there’s a lot more industries that will be adversely hit if the peso further strengthens to that level, which is almost half its current level. A strengthening of the peso isn’t necessarily a good thing for the economy, what investors and businessmen generally want is a stable currency because a fluctuating currency means higher risk. A higher risk will definitely turn off investors. A strengthening of the peso would also mean that the value of the dollar will decrease and this in turn will decrease foreign investments in the country (including “sunshine” industries such as Outsourcing and Call Centers) because investors would get less pesos for every dollar they invest. OFWs will also have to suffer getting less pesos for every dollar they send to the Philippines and less pesos means less spending power of OFW-dependent families and less money circulated from the spending of these families. My income from online advertising will also be affected since most advertising programs use dollar to payout publishers, too bad for me :( My take on this is that most of us has been adjusted to the level of the peso that we have now any abrupt changes will have a negative impact on a lot of industries in the economy, not just exports.
- RP’s first: Iloilo town bans, criminalizes plastic-use – This is a really good development. I hope the whole country will adopt what Santa Barbara town is doing. Even the U.S. uses paper bags for purchases instead of plastic ones.
- Power problem saddles RP | Camp Delgado PECO bill reaches P2M mark, electric bill 4 months unpaid – The high price and unreliability of power is one of the biggest problems of Iloilo, the rates is one of the highest in the country at P9+ per KW hr.. Even gov’t offices are having a hard time catching up to the high electricity bills, what more the average Ilonggo? I hope our Gov’t officials esp. will do everything in their power to uphold the best interest of their constituents.
- I’ve read in Skyscrapercity that a greenwhich branch will open Iloilo Supermart – Mandurriao branch. I’m so happy with this development since it’s just 5 mins away from my house.
In the Philippine Ilonggo dialect, ambot ah literally means "I don't know." After graduating in college, I decided to hold off pursuing my profession and embarked on a free spirited journey of adventure and self-discovery. My travels have led me to many places across the Philippine Islands and South East Asia. I don't know where this path will take me but I'm certain I'll get a lifetime of stories out of it.
