Safety Video (Have to share this)

Thomson Airways Safety Video 2009

HB's Independence Day Weekend

Me, Bex, Carmie, Hazel and Karen in Palm Beach, Batangas.

My Macau and Hong Kong Trip Top 10

Thanks to Cebu Pacific's 50% off promo in December 2009, we were able to book our trip to Macau. Since I knew my travel mates this time were all "essential" staff--well let's just say that they're always busy, I decided to take everything into my own hands (meaning everything from hotel booking, the detailed itinerary, budget estimate for transport, food, museum fees, etc.) and all they needed to do was show up at the airport. They just needed to pack their bags and bring their precious dollars.

After landing at the Macau International Airport around 10:20pm, we changed some USD to HKD to spend for taxi fare and possibly dinner that night. Before this gets any longer, here's my Top 10:

1. Sights - particularly the enchanting Ruins of St. Paul and the Macau Tower. By the way, it's better to go first to the Macau Museum before going to the Ruins. There's a portion in the museum where they explain what the different sections of the Ruin's facade represents (which is very interesting). Special thanks to Lonely Planet's suggested walking tour of Macau :)

2. Metropole Hotel - The hotel is walking distance to Leal Senado, Senado Square, St. Dominic's Church, the Cathedral, the Ruins of St. Paul and the beautiful Lisboa and Wynn hotels. Good restaurants are located near the hotel. My requests for very late check-in (between 10-11pm) and for 2 twin beds were both accommodated. These requests were made upon booking with agoda.com. We were very pleased that they took note of these. Our first two nights were spent in Macau, a night in Hongkong and back for another night in Macau. Metropole was kind enough to keep our luggages while we were in Hong Kong which was a big relief for us. Highly recommended.

3. Shuttle bus service -- Metropole Hotel and The Venetian -- We availed of the free shuttle bus service of Metropole and Venetian. Very convenient. Tipid pa sa transpo :)

4. The jaw dropping grandeur of The Venetian where we also watched Cirque du Soleil's ZAIA!

5. Churches of Macau

Sto. Domingo Church - after a few steps from Senado Square, it would be difficult to miss this yellow church with green shutters. Built in 1828, Sto. Domingo Church remains to be one of the most beautiful churches in Macau.

Macau Cathedral - Originally built in 1576, the Cathedral has gone through a couple of restructuring. This is where we joined the Portuguese language Sunday mass in Macau.

St. Anthony Church (Sao Antonio Macau) - a good 10 minute walk from the Ruins, the church is believed to be the very first one in Macau.

That was four churches (including the Ruins). My friend Alfie commented "It's like doing the Visita Iglesia in Macau!"

6. 11 degree chillness in Macau - We caught the last few days of winter. We didn't need the hotel aircon. We needed a heater. That's how cold it was. But we loved it!

7. Shopping - We had fun shopping for bags, souvenirs, shirts, food and anywhere there was a sale!

8. New World First Ferry - For our trip to Hong Kong, we used the NWFF. Although there was a "lost in translation" episode with the NWFF staff (we asked where we should buy the NWFF tickets, they pointed to the left, when it was actually on the right), it was a pleasant ride.

9. Hong Kong Disneyland and the Sunny Bay MTR line - The main purpose why we went to Hong Kong was to visit Mickey Mouse and the gang...and we were not disappointed. Sunny Bay MTR pa lang, pwede na! (It was raining when we were there and most of the mascots were no where in sight, except for Buzz Lightyear)

10. The delicious BBQ chicken wings at the Starliner Diner in Tomorrowland (Hong Kong Disneyland). Fingerlooking good!!!



More pics here.



GO TEAM CANADA!! !

Aja Aja FIGHTING!

From 2327: CEBUPACIFIC would like to inform you that your booking is on hold. Please settle payment through our Call Center at +6327020888 or by visiting the ticket office near you. Thank you!
10 November 2009
8:59 AM

Remember the recent Piso Fare promo from Cebu Pacific? Just before typhoon Pepeng was to hit Metro Manila?

30 October (email around 3:30pm): Cebu Pacific Air announces their Piso Fare promo, booking starts now until 2 November (or until the 100,000 promo seats are sold out) for travel from 15 June 2009 to 30 September 2010.

Planned with friends. Until one friend decided to book something tomorrow. Nothing booked.

31 October (around 3:30am): I booked a round trip travel for 2 for 2010. But the system could not authenticate my credit card (I tried thrice and kept getting an error message). After another try, the message showed that I should change my method of payment. Choices were Credit Card (does not work), Bancnet/Megalink (okay but...), BDO (not convenient for me), Metrobank (perfect!). The website led me to another page saying that blah blah blah is your confirmation number, that I can pay over-the-counter at any Metrobank branch or by phone or online (as long as I have an account). It also asked me to tick a box with my mobile number (ticked) for communication purposes. It also mentioned that the booking will be put on hold but I have to pay before 11:59PM today or else the booking will be canceled. Fine. Will just pay later. So happy!

31 October (6:00am): Brown out. No power. No internet.

All along I was waiting for Cebu Pacific to send me the Reference number which I will use to pay the bill. They asked for my mobile phone, right? None came.

31 October (6:00pm) (Still no power. No internet): I call Cebu Pacific's Call Center

Me: I booked a flight for MNL-___-MNL for 2010 (details given), but I have not received any reference number that I assumed will be sent via my cell phone. (I told him my story that their system would not accept my credit card which I have used to pay CP in the past). Your system asked me to choose another payment method and I opted to pay via Metrobank.
(in between he'd ask for my name, if I made the reservation and if I'm the traveller)

CP Call Center Agent: Ma'm, pag promo fare po, hindi applicable ang payment via Metrobank. Dapat po ang pinili nyo yung Bancnet/Megalink.

Me: Whaaaaaaat? (nagtaas na ang boses ko). E di sana, pag ganyang promo, hindi nyo sinasama yan sa choices, o kaya e merong nakalagay na dapat gamitin ang Bancnet/Megalink...Kahit meron na akong confirmation number?

CP Call Center Agent: Confirmation number lang po iyon, hindi pa po bayad. Pag bayad na po tsaka lang po siya magiging final. (Me: oo nga naman)

Me: So anong gagawin ko?

CP Call Center Agent: Kailangan nyo po uling mag-book ng panibago.

Sa loob loob ko, hindi mo ba alam kung gaano kahirap magbook sa inyo? At kung gaano kabilis maubos pag ganyang may promo? Pero hindi ko na sinabi sa kanya.

Me: Ok (sabay bagsak ng telepono). Naririnig ko pa siyang nagsasalita, pero dahil sa inis ko, naibaba ko agad tuloy.

Dahil nga brown out, we went to our Tita's house to spend the night and at the same time, to use their computer and internet and book again the same flight.

Lo and behold, when I typed in our preferred schedule, it showed "No promo seats available." I was thinking, maybe for these dates only. How about other dates. Same. How about to another country. Same. Only then did I realise, ubos na ang alloted promo seats :(

Lungkot kame.

On Monday during lunch, all my friends were happy because they were able to book flight for BKK, HKG, etc. Ako, wala ako maishare. *sulk*

Tanggap ko na. Tanggap na namen. Next time na lang.

Tapos I got the text :) Please see above for the text message from Cebu Pacific.

They did not cancel my booking (good thing I did not cancel the booking). The Call Center Agent asked me if I still want to use the booking. Sabi ko yes, as long as the amount will be the same as when I booked it. He said he will check. After putting me on hold for more than 10 minutes, he came back and said "Yes." He asked for my credit card number. I was put again on hold so he could have my card authenticated. Yun nga ayaw. So he said my other option was to pay at the nearest CP ticketing office. Nearest was Robinson's Galleria. So after having lunch, I went to Galleria to pay for the ticket. If you pay at the ticketing office, you'll be asked to pay for the airport tax, which I did.

I walked back to the office with the piece of paper (e-ticket) and a smile on my face. Wheeeeee!!!

My Vietnam Top 10

1. Ho Chi Mihn City (HCMC) is a challenging place to cross the street (imagine 100+ motorcycles--throw in a couple of Innova taxis and even big trucks---at night) coming in from your left and right. CHALLENGING! But after a few days of crossing the streets of HCMC, you'll notice that they do make extra effort not to hit you. Just walk and ignore them (good luck!)

Taken on our way home from a trip.

2. I learned to count in Vietnamese from 1 to 10 (from my new friend, 4 year-old, Chiqui).

That's Pam, Chiqui, Aivy and me. Darrell took the picture.

Chiqui is Darrell's niece (based in HCMC)

3. Lost in Translation story --- On our way to the Mekong Delta (My Tho & Ben Tre), the tour bus made a stop at a gas station. We decided to go down to buy some chichiria. It was raining (just a quick downpour) that time. When it was my turn to pay, thinking that it's healthy to do some small talk with the lady at the cashier, I asked her, "Does it rain here everyday?" A simple question really. Not realizing that Vietnamese are not that adept with the English language, she replied, with confusion all over her face, "Huh?" So I repeated my question, this time slowly and hopefully clearly. She finally replied (in a hurried manner) "Yes, over there" pointing to the rain outside. So not to insult her or anything, and also for my or rather our safety (are familiar with the word "kuyug"?), I just politely replied, "Ahhhh. Thank you" and walked away. *grin*

4. Highlands Coffee. They said Trung Nguyen is the Starbucks of HCMC. We, unfortunately, weren't able to go to any of their cafes. We saw a lot of Highlands Coffee around HCMC. Having worked for more than 10 years serving Pacific countries, I thought Highlands carried Papua New Guinea coffee. I was wrong. Highlands Coffee is actually Vietnamese-owned and only serves the finest coffee grown in Vietnam. What we actually love about Highlands Coffee (particularly the branch near our hotel, Pham Ngu Lao cor. Nhuyen Thai Hoc Sts.) were the free use of wifi and laptops (they had around 4 laptops for customers) and the nice view on the second floor where we people-watched (e.g., bikers, taxis, street crossers, overnight buses, pirated Lonely Planet books, etc).

5. Phan Lan Hotel. Clean rooms, hot and cold water, aircon and electric fan, ref, cable TV, free use of their desktop computer with wifi, friendly staff, great service, affordable rates. If you're not the "choosy" type, the hotel is Highly Recommended.

I got to use their wifi (using my mobile phone) and would sometimes get wifi signal from the neighboring hotel *cool*

Entrance going to Phan Lan Hotel.

Highly recommended.

6. Lido Health Spa. Darrell's favorite part of the trip *grin*

7. FOOOOD! For the first 3 days, since we had a tour bus to catch at 8:00am, our breakfast was mainly western like omelette, pancakes, plus Vietnam's famous iced coffee (brewed black coffee with condensed milk), etc., because we thought they're the fastest to be prepared. There's actually a number of restaurants beside Sinh Cafe (the tour company)--like Gon Cafe, Cappuccino (where we ate breakfast while waiting for the bus to to take us to our next destination). Darrell had pho bo for breakfast during our first day (he couldn't wait). Btw, Vietnamese people do eat pho bo for breakfast (lunch and dinner even). We also had our share of pho bo (beef noodle soup served with almost bottomless mint, cilantro, basil, lime, bean sprouts, and sliced chili peppers for that added uummpph) at Pho 2000 (where Bill Clinton ate pho some years back), Pho 24, Than Noi, and at the street food beside Ben Thanh Market. My favorite would be the beef stew noodles at the pho restaurant at the corner of Pham Ngu Lao and Do Quang Dau Sts. *tummy happy*

That's Pam and me. Obvious na happy kame sa food namen, diba?

8. Sinh Cafe. What better way to see HCMC but to join a tour to see and learn more about Vietnam. Sinh Cafe tour fee includes use of aircon bus (clean), a tour guide (friendly), and free bottled water at every trip.

9. The Sights. Our first day, we joined the Mekong Delta Trip (My Tho and Ben Tre). According to Wikipedia.org, "the Mekong River is one of the world's major rivers. It is the world's 10th longest river and the 7th longest in Asia. From the Tibetan Plateau, it runs through China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam."

It took us 2 hours to travel from HCMC to the province of My Tho. From the port, we rode a motorized boat to the small islands (Ben Tre) on the Mekong River. Included in our itinerary were a visit to orchards, a bee-keeping farm, a place where they manufacture coconut candies, and also where they make rice paper (we were able to taste samples). Free lunch and merienda of fresh tropical fruits while listening to traditional music were included in the tour. We also got to ride on a horse drawn carriage -- Vietnamese style (with matching cone-shaped straw hat). It was a different experience.

Cost: VND180,000 (roughly around P480) (includes boat trips and Vietnamese lunch and merienda)

Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels

For our second day, we booked ourselves for the Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels Tour. Another 2 hours of bus ride brought us to the Tay Ninh. It is said that the temple was "built on 9 levels that represent nine steps to heaven at which you will see a prayer session at noon. Caodaism is a Vietnamese religion with its philosophy based on Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Christianity. Its tenets include believing in one God, the existence of the soul and the ability to communicate with the spiritual world." Btw, we also stopped by a Handicapped Handicrafts store.

After 15-20 minutes at the Cao Dai Temple, we proceeded to Cu Chi to see the Ben Dinh Tunnels, famous for its network of tunnels where the Vietnamese used as their kitchen, accommodation, meeting place, weapon factory, hospital during the Vietnamese-American War. We were first shown a documentary film about the war, its heroes, and the history of the tunnels. Impressive and also made me want to read about Vietnam's history. Interesting!

Cost: VND 140,000 + VND 75,000 (for the entrance fee to the tunnels) (P570++)

Ho Chi Minh City Tour

Included in the tour were:

Giam Lam Pagoda (and around China Town): Built in 1744, believed to be the oldest in the city. Very serene, a good place to relax and meditate.

Binh Tay Market: We were not able to shop, since we only stayed there for 15-20 minutes. We just agreed that if we want to buy something from Binh Tay, we'll just come back the next day.

Thien Hau Temple: Said to be the most active in Cholon in HCMC.

Another Handicapped Handicraft store in HCMC:

Reunification Hall: Built in 1966. Old, grand, beautiful, but old. We thought it was extra hot that day, but I guess it was just that the whole building was not well ventilated and we had a lot of stair climbing to do to move from one area to another inside the building. Should have brought an extra shirt. (Entrance Fee: VND 15,000)






Notre Dame Cathedral: Said to be built between 1877 and 1883. It's quite old, but seem to be well maintained. We weren't able to get in because there was an ongoing mass but we heard mass there the next day (Sunday). English mass is held once a week, 9:30am on Sundays.

General Post Office: French-era post office just accross the Notre Dame Cathedral. Impressive interiors!

War Remnants Museum: The museum displays war relics and photos that will surely break your heart. I must admit that I couldn't look at the pictures of victims of the war. Depressing place for me.
Tour Cost: VND 140,000

10. SHOPPING!!!!

At Ben Thanh Market (your one stop shopping place in HCMC) -- for souvenirs, North Face and Kipling (some said that all NP and K items in Ben Thanh are originals (overruns, rejects), its just that you have to look for the better made ones, particularly how the logo was sewn); Coop Mart - you should buy pho bos in packets (great for pasalubong); on De Tham and Pham Ngu Lao Streets - souvenirs, silk sleeping bags and (higher quality) shirts than in Ben Thanh. Ahh, Pam and Aivy bought some nice bags and trousers. Good buys!

It was a good, enlightening trip (and cheap too). Would love to go back!

Special Thanks to Kuya Paul, Ate Jennifer and Chiqui =)




More pics here.