Ascertain Bliss

It's more fun in the Philippines

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:50:00 +0000

At the recent Phil. Travel & Tour Expo 2012, zestfully flagged was the newest slogan of our tourism : -
"It's more fun in the Philippines" .
True.
So still here at PTTE 2012 let me take you back to our old : -
" Wag maging dayuhan sa sarili mong bayan" (don't be a stranger in your own country).

It's easy, with all those cheap tour packages being offered left to right, all you have to do is start somewhere in our 7,107 islands you haven't been yet

Lots and lots of booths offering local tour packages at the travex. Personally thu', pre packaged tour doesn't work for me. I'm more of free spirited backpacker traveler who needs more leeway on pocket and time. I hate to be boxed with limited time and places to see. More so, I don't have much on my wallet to afford some expensive tour packages. So the trips you see here in my blog are 99% DIY (do-it-yourself).

Travel expo for me is more of availing on promo accommodations. I didn't have the chance to avail promo airfare there. I grabbed super cheap airfares on the internet. But I preferred to avail accommodations at the expo rather than on line. Cos in the past, I had experienced buying promo deals (accommodations) on line and some of them were wasted unused. Usually, these promos are limited to book outside blockout dates/weekends/holidays which exactly the time I needed these places for my family off school and work. Here at the expo they let me book on the spot, on the dates I prefer including blockout dates. Aside from the fact that expo's special promo rates are much more lower than promo on line. I'm not even talking about regular published rates here. I'm cheap. I love promo deals. haha.

This time, I was particularly scouting on Boracay accommodations. For this year, I have airfare tickets already booked. One with my brother for his birthday and another set with my husband for our anniversary. This is to say, you'll get to see more of Bora here in my blog this year.

Well, if you're going to Bora before me this year and you need some places to stay suggestions, I could refer you to my latest Bora, and from there you could browse back to other hotels at Boracay I've been to.

A flyer was handed to me from 2Go booth. Offered were reasonable passenger ship fares to Boracay and other Visayas and Mindanao destinations. hmmm, that's new. .maybe. .

There were numbers of Coron, Palawan booths but I don't have plans of revisiting that paradise this year so I didn't step- in to anyone of them. Anyway, again if you're into Coron this year, you could visit lots of Coron posts I have here and from there be linked to places I visited in Coron

I thought this was an icecream outlet. Same name of a popular Swiss icecream brand. I wonder if this resort is Swiss owned too?

Heading to Cebu? Don't ask me, cos the last time I went there, I didn't bother to avail any accommodation. I left Manila on an earliest flight, day toured Cebu and got back home before midnight. Yep => here

No airfare needed. Road trip to the north. Been there at Zoobic also - Tiger Safari, Close Encounter, Croco Loco, and lots of other adventure activities to indulge in Subic.

Extend your road trip to further north => Baguio City. Hotel Elizabeth , I haven't stayed here yet. Maybe next time. The promo rates were catchy thu'. Wish I had availed one. But didn't.

Lots of beautiful booths displays. . I only had limited time to take photos. I just enjoyed myself looking at the the creativity of each booth.

But I had more fun of availing cheap promo rates according to my family calendar. Next.next. will be the international booths offering tour packages. I know, this was Phil. Travel Expo. Let's just be happy that quite a lot of foreign countries participated cos after our own country we could now fly to our global neighbors, right?

see ya,

Phil. Travel Expo 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:48:00 +0000

daughter (behind the lens) : oops mom, i think you know that pretty woman in stripes over there. .

me: huh? who? (stripe-y woman already at her back when i turned). It happened . . that was my favorite Ms. Tweety De Leon, a.k.a. super model/celebrity of my era. See, even wealthy celeb likes to score cheap deals or was she there as endorser or owner of some travel booths? I couldn't say. .

I didn't see her, I only realized it now upon seeing those snapshots by daughter that it was her she was referring to. I'm compiling photos of my recent hauling of cheap travel deals at Phil. Travel & Tour Expo 2012 held last weekends at SMX. I went there on the first day, a Friday which I reckoned wouldn't be as tight as I expected patron queues would be on the following Saturday and Sunday.

I was almost right cos in general the flock of crowd wasn't yet crazy the time I went. Especially hotel booths. It was so breezy, I was able to avail clever ( by that I meant_ cheap with free dates ) hotel accommodation deals.

Since these booths weren't busy ( it was only me then. .), I was able to discern, dissect every details of their offers, haha. Even bargain for additional requests like early cheak-ins, non-smoking rooms and choice of beds. I was happy that even though those were promo deals, I was given the privilege to book on the spot , on dates of my choice. Including regular block-out dates like holidays and weekends. Usually, based on my personal experience, you can't use these promos on peak seasons, especially on holidays, which I hated most and for awhile stopped me for availing promo deals.

I was only 85% right in presuming that the crowd would be light that day. Cos when I went to try airline booths_ wheeew!!! crazy#*$%^&! Our flag carrier - the Philippine Airline was the blockbuster one, as always. With the massive queue, I knew I wouldn't get a chance to score even a local promo fare. I never had a chance at expos like this, ever! haha.

Check the backpackers (like me) favorite airline booths

Cebu Pacific.

Zest Air.

AirPhil.

Since I don't have the patience and courage to battle a crowd like that, I have resolved long time ago that I'd rather not sleep the whole night at home and virtually combat the internet traffics during airline promos on line instead.

International carriers weren't that crowd-heavy thu'.

Cathay Pacific : Dragon Air

Tiger Airways

ANA.

Jeju Air. first time I heard of this there.

Qatar Airways.

South African Airways.

Ofcourse a travel & tour expo wouldn't be complete without tour packages.

later.later.

and a lot more of PTAA Expo 2012.

comeback

see ya.
*updates:

*local tours and accommodations at 2012 PTAA Expo

Ayana Resort & Spa, Bali

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:03:00 +0000

After Eat, Pray, Love _ I have added in my wish list the three countries Julia Roberts had been in the movie. But ofcourse I'd go nearest first and the most practically viable, atleast from where I'm coming from ( Phils.). .

Bali, Indonesia. It's hard not to acknowledge that the mentioned movie is in one way or another boosting the tourism industry of Bali. I am a random testament to that, haha.

For instance, the 5star resort that we were staying in was offering a package named exactly after the movie - Eat, Pray, Love Bali's Package which rates range from $299++/night to $599++/night, roughly P15k to P25k (in our local currency) per night, depending on your choice of accommodation.

For this Bali trip, we went high-end, made a pass on the massively crowded Kuta beach ( which could be like the station 1 and 2 of our Boracay ) and headed to a more secluded Jimbaran beach. This is the realm of luxury hotels. We were staying at the Ayana Resort and Spa, a cliff top luxury hotel.

No doubt about the beach being perfect. In my short and limited Bali experience, I actually haven't seen any beach here that wasn't. The resort has a private beach exclusively for the guests, it's the Kubu Beach.

We stayed in a cliff villa with best feature ever _ a private infinity edge plunge pool!! Is that luxury or what??

Facilities and amenities are endless. It got lavish spa packages which mostly I haven't heard of yet before here.

Another thing that Ayana Resort is famous for is as wedding destination. It has this state-of-the-art glass paneled wedding pavilion that sits on the towering cliffs of Jimbaran Bay. This wowed me, so much so it made me wish a renewal of vows with husband_ here when we hit a lotto jackpot, haha.

Aside from in- villa dining, this resort also got astounding list of dining options. One of the most famous ever is The Rock Bar which is another flagship of the resort.

We went seafood indulging at Kisik Bar which is also another reason to enjoy a ride of the resort's unique inclinator.

Ofcourse my Bali affair doesn't end here. .I've only just begun. .

The Rock Bar @ Bali

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:43:00 +0000

It's the most romantic day of the year_ today is Valentine's Day ! Husband_ dare not to ask me where I want to go tonight (that's a warning!!!) ! Or you'll have a hair raising reply from tu mujer . Cos if you would , you would have to fly me to Bali, Indonesia and bring me to The Rock Bar !!! at Ayana Resort . please refer to the photo above:) Took this photo still with the sun a bit up.. You'll get mushy when you experience this state- of- the- nature cocktail bar at sunset. Perched at the base of the resort's towering cliff, it offers nothing lesser than a breath taking view of the glorious ocean.

I heard you asking how to get down there? ( remember the resort nestles on top of the cliff, this bar is at the base of it) It's accessible via an inclinator . Boarding the inclinator is another one of a kind you would get to experience in this cosy cliff bar. If you're not prioritized staying guest of the hotel, you would have to injure the queue which quite long cos the inclinator could only accommodate four at a time.

Okey, for those who haven't been there yet, I'll make it easy for you. Above is how gloriously pretty it is with the changing colors of the sun and the ocean. Need I elaborate more why I wanna be there tonight?

Spread the love. . .

Happy Valentine's Day lovers!!!

Fish Spa

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:40:00 +0000

Last night we had an appointment with Dr. Fish. We had a fish spa. On trips, I wanted to try it for the longest time, but everytime fish spa was available, I didn't have time. I've seen major version of it, like in one resort I had stayed in_ the fish spa was in a big man made pond. I know Manila Ocean Park has a decent fish spa, I was glad thu' to find one within the neighborhood. This was just a mini version. Fishes were in aquariums.

By now, I'm sure you know how this works. Kindah symbiosis. You feed the fish with your dead skin, the fish gets nourishment from it and in return the procedure relaxes you and leaves you a healthy expoliated skin. I'm sure there's a down side, but I'll get to that later.

Except for the youngest family member ( she had one during her school field trip in a resort ), it was basically our first time. The three of us were a bit apprehensive to dip our feet with those little monsters waiting to eat our skin! haha. We were joking around the possibility of the fish to be piranha and eat our flesh instead. haha. Husband braved it and had a foot dipped.

Up close - look how fishes swarmed into his sole. It was like they hadn't eaten for a decade!

Then my turn. I'm sharing a secret_ my most tickling spot is my foot!!! So it wasn't easy for me to let go. The spa attendant kindly suggested that I had to do it first with a heel. .

aiming for numbness so I would be able to do it easy with the rest of my feet. But it had been long minutes and I was still tickled hard. haha.

After awhile, the attendant was right, numbed with familiar sensation, I was able to do it with both my feet totally sunk. I enjoyed it. It was relaxing like a foot massage.

Older daughter took longer (than me) to dunk her feet. The fishes might have had felt her prolonged hesitation, cos initially they totally ignored her foot.

But after awhile, they became friends and ate her dead skin too. haha. The dipping time was limited, she only got to use a partial of it.

The downside of this ofcourse still boils down to sanitary condition of the spa. The risk of infection is high cos this is a shared facility. What if the previous user had skin infection and the spa staff failed to change the spa water in the tank? I actually raised this issue to the attendant of this particular spa. She assured us that the tank is regularly sterilized (to that effect). I hope so, cos among the three tanks that we used, mine was the only one looked clean with clear water. The other two were a bit cloudy.

After the fish spa, we all enjoyed a foot massage that came with the package. We checked our feet and were all happy with softer soles.

Good job Dr. Fish.

A Day Tour @ Kutang Bato

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:43:00 +0000

It was with uncertain excitement when a cousin dragged us to Cotabato City, cutting our leisure trip of Davao. I was told Cotabato City is 4 hours drive from Davao City. We left shortly after early dawn and arrived at the earliest morning. It was not so 4 hours. Cousin drove so fast I swear we made it in less than 3 hours.

And guess what welcomed our initial sight of the city? Living to the image of Cotabato ==> an armoured car (a tank) !!!. .joining the traffic as if it was just an ordinary vehicle!. .or was it really just another transportation to the eyes of the locals who are used of seeing camouflage cars on a daily basis? Must be. .

Strangely enough, the moment I stepped a foot to this city, I immediately felt like I wasn't in my comfort zone. It felt like I was in a foreign land. Not in my own country. It didn't help that the locals are actually tagalog speaking. Definitely this is a Muslim city. I was not sure if it was the armoured car or the local covered women or the fierce image that Cotabato has allover the country, but my self preservation told me to camouflage. I wanted to go around the town unnoticeable as possible. I had this weird imagination that if I would be seen differently, I would be punished, haha.

Anyway, I asked my dear cousin to first of all bring me to a store where I could buy a scarf like the ones being worn by the local Muslim women around their heads.

I had fun choosing over pretty stylish head coverings. I settled in buying ordinary scarves that I could use in my trips.

So on our next stop ( a beautiful mosque in the city), with my head already covered just like the locals, I felt I achieved my camouflaging well. Then we went to the airport, just to see , and I saw how heavily guarded it was with armed security people around, I chose not to use my camera in the airport premises.

It was nearing lunch so cousin brought us to his house here. Currently a resident cos he married a local of this city. Remember my post about the Ampatuan's mansions in Davao City? Same thing here. This another cousin resides too, near the mansion of Ampatuan here in Cotabato City. Above photo was the state of the said mansion during my visit. Again, similar to Davao's mansion, it looked abandon and unfinished.

Then we went to Notre Dame University which is the oldest college in the city. The campus was huge and looked like pretty close to a UP campus I've seen somewhere in the country but not as big as the Diliman. My cousin-in-law proudly toured us around the campus. It wasn't a tourist attraction but cousin-in-law wanted to show us where she had graduated. Ahhh. . .okey.

More driving around. There was no familiar Philippine jeepney here like the ones in the roads of Manila and other cities of our country. Instead, colored modified vans ( lite ace? ) could be seen in the roads of the city as the regular mode of public transportation.

We got off the car to check the new city hall of Cotabato City.

It looked beautifully Arabic with white high pillars.

Next we stopped at the other fortress of power in this side of the political Ph. The ARMM. ( not really in that order. I forgot which came first among all those stops we made).

This too conveyed a unique architecture of the south. Only it 's not as pinky and grand like the ARMM in Maguindanao.

We passed by a bridge, a huge one, and I saw locals spending their afternoon at the sides. Standing and sitting looking out to the sea , might be taking a fresh? ocean breeze? You know how in Manila people enjoy passing their afternoons at the baywalk? The scene looked like that.

Then to cap our day tour of the historical city of Cotabato, cousin nudged me to take a photo of this hill with houses sitting on it. Why??? Cos it's the Kutang Bato. Exactly where the very name of this city was derived. Underneath it, he added, are the kutang bato caves can be found.

So there. I'm ending this veryveryvery long (photo loaded) post of Cotabato City. And am so thankful cousin made it possible for me to experience a day in the City of Cotabato .

Memory Lane

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:16:00 +0000

Memory Lane at Tagaytay is one stop dine-shop-spa-salon place owned by the family of a local movie celebrity Jolina Magdangal. The Magdangal mom was even there during our visit, attending the cashier.

My girls fell in love with the vintage 50's/60's theme of the place. Memory Lane is seriously cottage-y /country home through and through. The girls took loads of photos of every corner.

The main house was full when we arrived at the place.

We were escorted to the annex house located at the back of the main house. I think this one is being used for private gatherings

The vintage cottage house vibe is liquefying up to here. The table linens reminded me of old country kitchen I've seen in the magazines. Foods laterlaterlater @ My 3rd & 7th Sense.

wall posted with vintage hollywood posters

vintage trinkets corner with the family-owner portrait

mini shop found at the main house

selling cd collections of the celebrity-owner

the salon which looks like just another beauty parlor in a small town. . .

is actually very city-ish according to their menu price tags.

I really thought_ the place looked so familiar and was pretty sure it wasn't my first visit. Until I found this photo taken a year or two ago. haha. Now I remember, we went there to eat breakfast but the place was still close. They are only serving lunch and dinner.

Valentine's day is up in the air, I know couples are busy googling for a place to dine. I would have had suggested this place if it's only all about it's pretty vintage thematic ambiance. But the sad news is I'm ververyvery disappointed about the food which personally I think counts a lot in a date. Until Memory Lane hasn't step up in food category, I don't think this place deserves a romantic page down your memory lane.

Superstar Virgo

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:36:00 +0000

Welcome aboard the Superstar Virgo. One of the Star Cruise's ships which sails from Singapore on to the seas of neighboring Asian countries.

If only we had this kind of cruise in our country I would have had done it earlier. Oops, just now I googled just to make sure and have to stand corrected, cos I gathered that we actually have cruise here that locally crossing our seas. It's like island hopping ( I'm personally proud of our island beaches here in the Philippines, so far they are still the best for me) only this time you get to board on a cruise ship. Maybe I'll try that one soon.

From Manila, I had to fly to Singapore to avail this cruise. We boarded at the HarbourFront Centre in Sg.

I rarely board a ship. The last before this ( if my failing memory serves me right), and the only time I experienced one was decade ago going to one of the cities in Mindanao. It was a passenger ship. It had a pool on a roof deck and a ballroom. Then nothing else. It was huge thu'.

But never as grand as this Superstar Virgo!!!!

If I would ignore the body of water surrounding this vessel, I would easily forget that I was on a ship but felt more like in one of the finest hotels instead.

More so especially inside the ship. Everything looked so "landed". . by that I meant like really forgetting that I was afloat in the middle of an ocean somewhere.

We stayed in a balcony class cabin. Apart from the obvious comforts of the room, this cabin class also went with some privileges. Like we didn't have to stress ourselves with eternity long queue of custom and check-in.

The private balcony combats the usual claustrophobic tension during the cruise one would feel in a regular closed window cabin. It was also a big treat that I needed not to go out of the room and walk long to an open deck just to breath some ocean fresh air.

It didn't stop me thu' to take a walk up in the uppermost deck.

Aside from the grand Parthenon Pool ( 2nd&3rd photos ), there was a kiddie pool for the littlest swimmers.

One could stay forever in a cruise like this and would never run out of things to do for entertainment. Duty free shopping, casino, spa, library, gym. . . . endless dots of amenities.

We caught some dance and acrobatics shows at the theater.

foods at my food blog *laterlater*

Cruise fine dining required dressing up. You know me, I travel light and didn't bring appropriate get ups. So I tweaked some and somehow abled.

These random cutees were simply adorable. Couldn't resist but to snap on them (hopes parents didn't mind)

Ofcourse this cruise is not all about offshore. Later you can drop again cos I'll share to you some beautiful places_ off the ship, that went with this cruise.

see ya.

7th High

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:46:00 +0000

Another latest attraction that tickled my fancy in Singapore was a crystallized structure afloat the waters of Marina Bay.

At night, Avalon steals the clubbing scene in this side of the planet. Sorry me, I didn't make it inside. I had to rush to the airport for my next desti. Friends have only nothing but ohhs and ahhs about the high fashion interiors of this venue. If only to see the state of the arts interiors of Avalon, I would really want to get inside next time. First of all my motherhood status has long lamed my clubber's pass and that's to admit how rare as newyear I get to go clubbing. Second of all_ I'm already a rusty old cheese, already with acquired preference to soft ocean waves whispers over the raging club music, haha.

Back home, the only night life that blinks is some random food trips in a comedy bar with my husband. Yeah, how lame. I know right? haha. Or worser_ the nights are vigilantly spend watching some reality shows on t.v. haha.
About clubbing?_ get the good rid of me! I give the floors to my teens. But the dad thinks otherwise. He still thinks of them as kids.

So last month when my 1st teen was invited to her bf's party. .

. . the whole family went. haha. Don't get me wrong, we were all got invited anyway ( or was that only because the best friend well knew, daughter couldn't attend the party w/o us, haha). The host parents are actually good friends of ours.

Was glad thu' to join daughter. I was able to check the clubbing scene in the metro.

The venue was at Sevent High in Global City. The party was particularly held at The Lounge which was privately rented for the whole night by the host.

Interesting back draft by the bar_can you spot it?

The thirsty guest couldn't be happier, apart from the sumptuous buffet, it was an open bar 'till the end.

Next door was where the raging clubbing was happening. I could hear the sounds passed through the close walls when I passed by.

It was past midnight when we called it off. Outside, the night had just begun for many who was queuing to get in.

CNY 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:24:00 +0000

I'm so fond of Chinese New Year. It's so full of many tiny bitty details which tickle my interest. But because I'm not really Chinese and no immediate family is one ( an aunt said some percentage run in our blood thu' ) I don't really celebrate it the way we do our own Jan. 1 new year. My Chinese friends keep me posted thu'. I would say I'm one of those annually loyal expectators of this grand event.
It's even bigger today (1/23/12) cos it's officially declared as a non-working holiday here in our country. Thanks to our President Noy who obviously favors his very own Chinese lineage.

As my take on this celebration, last night I took my family to a little dinner. Some Chinese inspired buffet, really cheap cos I bought it from an online voucher store, haha. With that super discounted deal, a table reserved for me was the least that I expected when we got to the place. I was actually prepared to eat without a table, even to eat standing in a corner, that kind of cheap, haha.

Apart from well accommodated table above, nothing else to rave about the dinner, so that so it made me think twice if I would share it in my food blog. If there's something to it_ it would be a post full of rants, haha. As always, best thing with my family, together we never failed to find ways to enjoy no matter how scarce resources are . We found our mini-est Chinese New Year laughters in fortune cookies.

For some mystic reason, why is that a fortune cookie always hits the one who cracks it? It never failed. Especially to my daughters who love every little word in it.

My youngest, a 12 year old adolescent got this one. It's so true of her. She's now, more than anytime, very conscious of her individuality. " Character is what you know you are not what others think you are".

My nearing debutant girl who always plays a role of a leader in her school got this cookie to say. " We teach little by what we say. We teach more by what we do but we teach most by what we are".

The dad got a push from his cookie. " A good intention that is not put into action will not achieve any good deed".

And yours truly. . your Ascertain Bliss friend here got this _ "You make people realize that there exists other beauties in the world".W the f?!! Was it coincidence or what? Don't ask my daughters. .cos that's exactly how they always describe me. and my blog.

How about you? What your cookie says? Happy CNY everyone!!!!

Raffles Hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:30:00 +0000

I marveled around the grace of Raffles Hotel, Singapore. It's colonial-styled architecture exudes no less than timeless elegance.

Dominated by whites and splashed with rich golds, the luxurious hotel is pleasantly balanced with greens. It has a number of courtyards which could easily be translated as lush tropical gardens.

You could easily forget that the hotel spans in the middle of cosmopolitan area. Well, where else in Singapore is not cosmo anyway.

It reminds me so much of our own Manila Hotel, only in so much grander scale.

We were supposed to have a high/afternoon tea at Tiffin Room but it required a prior reservation which we failed to do, about which we were offered to come back after two hours. As usual, we were always running after time, so we dropped the idea of the hight tea at the Raffles, maybe next time.

Raffles Hotel Arcade houses nothing short of luxurious international brands like Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton. Definitely not my brands, maybe in my next life, haha.

Here's a glimpse of how royal the suites of the Raffles can get. Experience it for like SGD1k and up a night.

The timeless look of the facade of the hotel goes against the modernist hotels around the metro. The history being restored way back from 1887 when it was opened. The grand hotel is being favored by known celebrities, royalty and writers.

Sonya's Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:19:00 +0000

I had this photo of Canyon Cove Beach Club taken on a boat ride in Nasugbu, Batangas months ago. My girls thought we must pay it a visit the next time.

Last, last weekend, a quick breakfast at Tagaytay with the sun beaming beach-happy to us, made us push the dad to continue our random road trip down to Nasugbu Batangas. The truth was all the while the girls and I had ofcourse a hidden agenda_ we actually included swimsuits in our daytour bags, haha.
It took us more than an hour to reach Nasugbu from Tagaytay. There was a partial road reconstruction going on along the way. Hmm. . we could smell a stench of karma there, haha.

We entered the resort and intentionally ignored the front desk. We wanted to see the place first. The reception lobby was too busy anyway to attend to us. From the open lobby we took a quick glance of the huge pool fronting the beach. All bareness. Nothing follows. That quick glance was all we needed to cut the beach day idea. Right away, we went back to the car with the dad who hadn't even yet unloaded himself and alibied to him that it was fully booked. White lie. We didn't like the resort. It looked so contrived to us. Sorry.

We decided to go back to Tagaytay. To compensate for the useless/failed Nasugbu drive, we made a stop at Sonya's Garden in Alfonso Cavite. The girls, guilty of the tiring driving task imposed to their father, thought to make up by treating him ( remember, at this time of the year, the girls' wallets were still fat from the holiday's aguinaldo ) to his favorite indulgence_ massage! Husband had the spa's signature massage for about P800 which the girls paid willingly.

Since it was my girls first time at Sonya's, they spent the waiting time (for their dad) checking each corner of the garden.

daybed

rose petals fragrance

terra-cota garden chimes curtains

Lunch done outside ( good news to my wallet, haha. actually, dining here is quite costly but soo worth it ). The girls enjoyed freshly baked goodies from the bakeshop of the garden resort. Check them at my food blog.

We also went to check their country store.

I bought a bottle of an oil-based insect repellent which I thought would be very useful on our trips.

The youngest member of the family, my budding religious daughter had her eyes on religious items, whatelse? She bought a rosary bracelet.

scented candles and soaps

so italy

pure cuteness

pure cheesy-ness, haha.

Sonya's Garden is so conducive for spending the day doing nothing but to relax. It also offers a B&B cottages. Hmmm. . wish.wish. we could spend even only for a single night here next time.

Silangang Nayon

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:53:00 +0000

I watched that uncanny flying/zipping plane crossing back and forth above the sea right infront of me.

For some minutes I watched it with blank stares.. you know like when you're too tired and your eyes mindlessly work independently off the brain, without analyzing the image. .it was like that. Then my eyes went back to work with my brain. .

. . then it dawned on me_ it was the "flying waiter" I've seen in other blogs. I didn't recognize it at first cos it wasn't colorfully dressed-up as I've seen it in blog photos. Plus ofcourse I was kindah space out that afternoon when we made a lunch stop there at Silangang Nayon on our way back to Manila.

The zipping plane transports the foods from the resort's main kitchen, to serve those guests who opted to dine in the area above the sea. Otherwise, you could imagine how tedious it would be if the waiters would manually serve the foods. They have to walk miles away, walk through the stilts bearing trays of food and drinks.

At first, we also wanted to dine in the stilts area. It was so scenic, who wouldn't have wanted to dine in the sea? Not us. .

. .but the wind was blowing stronger by the minute, then the rain fell. So we decided to occupy one of the landed huts instead.

It has a mini zoo but nothing so much to see. .

. .this iguana amused my girls thu'.

. .and the free range birds ( don't know what kind )? walking happily in the grounds near the entrance of the resort.

Silangang Nayon is in Pagbilao Quezon. It's a park and dine place. A breather for long drive trips in Quezon and Bicol. I first had a glimpse of it when we went to Pueblo Por La Playa which nestles almost right beside it
ps: foods at My 3rd & 7th Sense.

Chasing The Sands

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:53:00 +0000

With nearing to 30 Singapore labeled post I made, it wasn't just once that I was thought of as an SG resident. No. But a best friend is residing there who is making me frequent this cosmopolitan city. One would also thought with that massive numbers of blog posts I had made about SG, I must have covered this not so big country completely. Negative again. You know how this city is so "fast building". I mean my golly, one visit I saw a vacant land, then after 3 months I revisited again and holy cow! already was a giant structure standing mighty in that 3monthsago vacant land!!! That fast and mighty!!!

This year thu', there's one spot that I missed in SG. It's the Sands Sky Park.
Early on this year_ the scene was like. .

:
:
:

that was me in the middle with a tripod, running after the sunset Sky Park photo ops. .

at the ticketing with a bad news that the area was closed to the public cos of a private event happening there. .

That was my first attempt to go up to Sands Sky Park. That was in February of this 2011. .

. . and true to the spirit of reenactment. . after 6 months. . I was back to SG. . My second attempt. . .

:
:

. . again running here and there of Marina Bay Sands, see The Lion King was still up there :))

. . again at the Sands Sky Park ticketing office, we were told that there was no available slot at that time. . and I didn't have any other time to do this for the duration of that trip other than this very minute!! wtf!!

Best friend was asking me what the fuss about this Sands Sky Park?? haha. Nothing. It's just that it's one of the few latest spots I haven't been at in Singapore. Bf, who ofcourse been there countless times, laughed at my eagerness cos she thought there was nothing so special about it. In terms of view to see, she said I had seen them all on top of different observation decks we've been around in this Lion City.

Not so keen anymore about the sky view.. but I want a photo of myself _ particularly here!!! at the infinity pool with all those bright lights in the background, haha!
Well, I'll get there. .just a matter of time:)

As of my visit a couple of months ago, these are the rates. I read the rates will go up to almost $100 for New Year's celebration at the Sands.

It's beginning to feel like Christmas. .

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 02:12:00 +0000

i'm beginning to feel the season

tad late, right?

i don't know.

even with the little gift shopping i started. .

still it's coming to me a bit later than it used to be.

maybe cos i haven't received my first xmas gift yet. .

what a kid, haha.

well, hence. . i'm kindah' already into it. .

gonna start my gift wrapping today..

how about you?

hoping to be in your list. .

i'm sure you wish back.

haha.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

p/s:

to all my god children / "inaanak"

requirements to claim your gift :

1). original copy NSO birth certificate

2). original copy of baptismal certificate (ofcourse with my name as one of the "ninang")

3). preferably with souvenir photo with me during the baptism but not required

4). must be below 18 (helow, shame on you if you're already working & still digging "aguinaldo") and hasn't yet claimed more than 17 x'mas gifts from me

deadline of claiming your gift must not be later than Dec. 25 but not necessary before Christmas day.

strictly only those with complete requirements will be entertained

gifts are not transferable and not convertible to cash

personal appearance is strictly required

first come first serve

Happy Holidays!

The Cool House

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:39:00 +0000

13 days before Christmas. . parties and get together happening bi-weekly, people crowding the malls and bazaars buying gifts, and the flux of vehicles in every road of Manila at the heaviest. Well, what's new? That's so December. If you're in a cosmopolitan area, I'm sure you can relate.
Can you feel it? The pressure rising as we approach the Yuletide season.
Got a few minutes?
Escape with me. .

. . in a place to unwind and refresh. .

Back in college, a professor would always make us stared the green wall of our classroom, for like few minutes a day. He said that would refresh our tired eyes. So up to now, I practice the habit of staring green matters when my eyes get tired.
Above greens I found in the midst of the sprawling gardens of Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Everything was pretty relaxing except the scorching tropical sun. Was so relieved to find out that there's an indoor garden there_ the Cool House.

Imagine. . coming from a long walk of hectares of garden under the heat of bare sun, then enter an air conditioned, simulated rain forest garden. . is that perfectly awesome or what??

Inside the Cool House were native mountain plants of South- East Asia, arranged to simulate the vegetation of a tropical mountain forest.

exotic ferns. .

flower or fruit? can't say which. .but sure it's so beautiful. .

this one I was pretty sure _ an orchid but I doubt if anyone of you could grow one in your backyard. .

look very closely. . can you spot its pair of eyes and a nose ? I do . .look it even has a mouth open ready to snap any meat available. I think it's one of the carnivorous plants they housed there.

the mini falls at the side of the bridge with the rushing flow of water completed the feel of a rain forest. .

giant tree trunks are covered with heavy moss. .

little white orchids. .looking like there were millions of them. . the mirror reflections did the work. .

Well. .back to n o w !!! If there's any consolation, the happiest season of the year is rushing in.. .
Merry Christmas to you all!!!

Biyaheng Makulay

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:42:00 +0000

In no more than 20 minutes I had completed checking around the mall of Resorts World (Manila) and found nothing that jibed with my empty wallet.

This is so randomly fresh that if you are right here at RW right now, you'd still catch me sitting in one of the restos (sipping the cheapest cup of coffee I found, sided by a slice of cake ) here trying to come up with this post. Daughter is still busy with her photo shoot and the mom (that's me, ok?) waits, tries to kill time by talking to her imaginary virtual audience, haha.

Hmmm.. what can I share here?? I'm flipping over photos daughter had just taken an hour ago (included are those two above). I'm not sure if I'm allowed to use the raw photos here that she's gonna be using to her latest school projs. I think I could, I'm "the mother" !!! haha.

We saw colorful jeepneys _ parked and on display at the atrium of the mall.

Imagine riding a jeepney painted as beautiful as this, awesome right?

But our jeepneys are really like that. . always bursting with colors. .

That's why I think this art contest exhibit is named as Biyaheng Makulay.

Yah, they are miniature jeepneys.

Small like that!!!

Sorry, can't ride one. Worry not, the real ones are available 24/7 in every road here in P.I. You can hardly miss one.

There were entries by local celebrities like Tuesday Vargas and Donita Rose.

I particularly like the Pahiyas jeep cos it represents my favorite local festival. I frequent Pahiyas sa Quezon which is celebrated annually every month of May.

Approaching abrupt ending. .

The photographer daughter is here already and we're ready to get home.

Bye now.

p/s : sshh. .tell her not that I use her photos here, ok?
pp/s : if you'd like to catch the exhibit, go visit Newport Mall at Resorts World now.

Nirwana Resort Hotel

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:23:00 +0000

Weather is not yet the cold December we usually have by this time of the year here in the Philippines. Have you noticed it? I'm so keen about weather these days. The global climate change has intrigued me a lot. The weird exchange cycle of wet and dry seasons ( atleast us here have only two, what more if we got the common 4 seasons, that would be crazier:)) has never been so unpredictable as it is this year and the previous year.

So don't laugh at me if you saw me layering my outfits on supposedly summer season here or spending weekends on a beach during supposedly cold "ber" months.

Hence the summer feel in December, I thought a beach post could still fit in before the year ends. Thu' I don't promise that this one would be my last beach getaway this year. Matter of fact I just got an invite for a day stay in a local beach. Only I'm not yet sure if I would have time to attend to it with this busy yuletide season setting in. We'll see.

This particular beach day was a month ago. At a neighbor here in the tropics _ at Bintan, Indonesia. After an almost one hour fast speed catamaran ride from Singapore, we needed not to avail the regular coach transfer cos we had rented a car that we used around with our mini Bintan tour and finally sent us to the resort .

I was amused by the size of Nirwana Gardens. The whole resort has a total of five holiday stops. So big it housed giant animals_ it has an elephant park!!!. . to say the least.

At Nirwana Resort Hotel, we were welcomed by a musical performance and were served with welcome drinks ofcourse.

The reception lobby was relatively huge that when a friend saw my photos, she thought they were taken in an airport. See, we are third world like that, haha. Show us a a big space and we would think of it as an airport, haha.

The lobby was full of tribal trinkets on display.

The accommodation was a sweet delight.

The facade of the resort hotel buildings reminded me of our own Shangrila, Boracay. There's small similarity in architecture but Shang.Bora is more awesome in many ways.

How can you refuse to idle your day in a haven like this? I can't. . I'm weak.haha.

You notice it too?? The whole Bintan trip I wore this black top intensively, haha. At overseas getaways, we actually are so random and always travel light. Usually with no extra clothes at all. Sometimes we would decide on our next destination right on the spot. Most of the time, no extra margin to prepare for our outfits, I hate that!!! haha.

Extremely opposite of the beaches in Batam ( Indonesia also ), Bintan beaches stand mighty!!! Nirwana Resort Hotel best asset is the beach. With spanning hectares of powdery beach!!!! Best of all soooooooooooo uncrowded. Think about our white beaches in station 1,2 & 3 of Boracay, delete the images of crammed commercial establishments and the uber crowded beach goers. . then you get the image above.

What can I ask for?. . but to bring me back there. .now!!!! haha.

Noel Bazaar 2011 (part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:23:00 +0000

It's Dec.1.2011 today in P.I., only 24 days to count before the big day. For the record, let this be my first season's greetings to you : Merrieeeeeeeeeest Christmas to you all!!!!!!!!!!!.

Anyway let's continue our bazaar hauling at Noel Bazaar 2011. This reminds me to look for the stubs ( halves were given back to the patrons at WTC ) to be used as entrance tickets if they want to re-enter the same bazaar on different dates at a different venue (PICC Forum Tent).

I don't know, if the same outlets here would be exactly the ones that would be there also. But we're planning to comeback to check other booths that we missed.

pretty ballerina accessories holder.

sashay with this colorful branded overruns scarves at P200 each.

contact lens. . hmmm. .

movie star Kristine Hermosa? haha. this was so last year. Found this photo from my old album of the same bazaar. I didn't recognize her at first glance cos she was so much slimmer in person. Here she was X'mas shopping in the same bazaar. hmmm.

Going back to the present. . found my girls in a queue for what??

. . for a scoop of icecream only P10, haha.

men apparels, also selling for cheap price tags

daughter particularly liked one of these umbrellas_ the one designed as samurai spade. She didn't buy, she didn't like the . . price:)))

shorts.shorts. I'm taking a short cut to end this post. haha.
Well, go visit a bazaar now and enjoy a cheap thrills.
p/s : to our friends and family, don't worry we didn't buy gifts from here, haha. We don't want our gifts with price tags, right?

Noel Bazaar 2011 ( part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:18:00 +0000

Last leg of the "ber" months before the Christmas month comes in and as usual_ already bazaar expos are left and right around our country. I know my friends have been in and out of bazaars since the first ber month of this year, this one was only my second (at the Fort bazaar last weekend). But I've kicked myself out of the shoppaholic league long time ago. My girls are now the ones pulling me to bazaars for their cheap trips out of their savings/allowances.

This was at the Noel Bazaar 2011 at WTC. Compare to last year, the lobby was relatively under decorated this year.

Inside, the aisles weren't crowded yet cos we were early. The crowd tripled thu' after 3 hours and walking between the aisles became a struggle. The latter would be exactly our cue for ending this expedition.

Where else branded overruns sold best but here.

Definitely you can't wear them here at P.I.!!! But for those based overseas with seasons not limited to dry & wet such as ours, gooo fill-in your cart with these_ I bet they are all good buys.

Trendy shoes at P250???? Daughter wanted to buy, but they're kindah doubty? Don't you think so?

The other daughter wanted these so bad! Look ok and with quality at 50%++ off the price. .but no other size available other than size 5!!! haha. She's 7-8.

I remember during the initial year of this Noel Bazaar, most booths were all managed/owned by celebrities. They themselves were present in the store to sell. This time, I only saw few booths with the name of celebrities but their goods were lame and forgettable. Except, I think, Francis M. stall with t-shirts already popular to his fans. Or was it the other t.v. station's bazaar? Cos this one I think was by ch. 7? Whateves! haha.

Printed mini dresses at P200. My daughter didn't miss a chance to grab some of these. They were so cheap here. She was eyeing the same design ( I'm sure not of same quality) at Rustan's but her budget failed her cos it was like P1.5 k - P3.5 k there for a single dress. I think she wore one of them to school under a blazer to school today. She's going to hate me for disclosing this to you , haha.

I'm actually "bin' there done that" to those shoes and dresses. What tick me really in a bazaar like this are those organic foods and products that aren't easy to find in commercial groceries.. I'm quite serious in procuring healthy supplies for my family.

However, I, with all the nurturing spirit that envelopes me, am still weak with woman nature towards beautiful things like these intricately, elaborately designed necklaces!! haha. Love to have one of these, they are soo artsy and would definitely enliven even the simplest little black dress. As usual my wallet failed me. Given the choice of materials and the craftsmanship capitalized on each of these, well don't expect them to be cheap.

Lotsa make-up on sale for a grab. These Nyx collection grabbed my girls' attention thu'. Why? Cos they read at Sab Magalona's blog that she's using lipstick of this brand and ofcourse wanted the same piece. Fanatic! haha.

Lots and lots of goodies but I gotta run for now and cut this post here. If you're having fun with this bazaar peek, you can pay me a visit later after other posts (haha) when I re-energized myself for a part 2 of this.

Meanwhile look who scored the most ???

Not me and the younger daughter. . can you spot any proof?

Gotcha!!! That eco bag in her shoulder was loaded with trinkets. While the other daughter was happy with her single purchase.

Manila Bay Cruise

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:41:00 +0000

I availed dinner cruise for my family for P38/pax. You read it right_ thirtyeightcheapopesos!!! ( thousand consumers echoed me, I gather from the store how huge is the number of buyers who availed this promo)

I got the deal from one of the voucher stores massively mushrooming over the net. The deal was actually P188/pax, details included a 1 hour cruise over Manila Bay and a dinner plate. It was 66% off the published rate, you do the math, ok? I got P38/pax cos the store had a joining promo of P150, automatically given upon signing -up. So each of us used each one's P150 gift and only paid the balance - P38 pesos. Why not? You couldn't even buy a decent bottled water for P38 pesos in the mall these days.

No, that's not our boat.

We were on board one of Sun Cruises ferries _ the M/V Spirit. We actually spent some waiting time watching the other boat beside us, consumed by jealousy of its buffet spread, haha.

I had to constantly reminded my family : hello people, 38 pesos, no expectations pleazee!!!!

When the boat started to move, the waiters started to serve the food too. For starter, they served water-clear soup and it tasted as bland as H20 also, haha. The main dish was sooo P188 (see actual image above)_ 1 cup of rice, a piece of fish fillet and a deck of card meat. No expectation!! My girls were whispering: " mom, could we drive thru at McDo after this?", haha.

And oh, you have to buy your drink ofcourse. They were not even serving drinking water. So it was kindah compulsory.

If not only for the MOA lights. .

. . and very few hotels around the bay, the cruise was totally boring. Mostly, it was darkness that enveloped the sea. Added insult to injury was the fact that we availed the cruise right after Manila Bay area was hit so bad by the typhoon Pedring and most establisments here were somehow washed out ( this was 2 months ago).

We took the latest cruise of the night which was 9:15 pm. I guess the best time would be during the sunset which as expected was already fully booked when I did the reservations. As ever, the famous Manila Bay sunset remains to be a sight to behold.
At any rate, with P38, it's just fair to say that we got the best of this deal.

Turi Beach

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 03:11:00 +0000

After the rainy beach restricted half day at Nongsa Point Marina & Resort (Indonesia), and the sun started to be a bit friendly, bestfriend suggested that we jumped to Turi Beach which welcomes the guests and residents of the first beach resort. These two famous Batam resorts belong to the same company. Both are famous on each own right.

If you were coming from Nongsa Point Resort, there's an access walk through by the beach.

Connect the previous photo to this, can you get the picture? Our goal was to reach that jetty, can you spot it? That jetty was our landmark of Turi Beach by the sea side. Look, there was a couple walking ahead of us. The couple I assumed was also a guest of Nongsa Point M&R and like us chose to beach around Turi too.

Us walking through the walk way. It was like approximately a 15 minutes walk to Turi but it was okey cos we enjoyed the scenic view of the ocean along the way.

Entering Turi Beach, we manged to get ahead of the couple we saw previously ahead of us on the walk way. Hmm, maybe slowed down by sweet nothings, haha.

I changed my sweaty top and underneath I put on a swimsuit in case the weather continued being friendly, so we could enjoy a swim even in the pool only.

People who have been here were right_ Turi Beach got prettier (than Nongsa Point M&R) swimming facilities like the beautiful double pools behind me with an infinity one.

Ofcourse I jumped in the water right away. . only to be cut abruptly by the return of the rain. I'm okey swimming under the rain but when the water got cold. .brrrrI'm outta here!!!

When the rain ceased again, we spent the rest of the day touring around the resort.

The beach, especially during high tide was definitely not the best feature of the resorts here in Batam, Indonesia. Well, my basis was short listed thu' by only these two resorts. So, Outside Nongsa Point Resort and Turi Beach, I don't know.

But the sea was stunning, the underwater nature wealth was visibly clear even with naked eye top view. The resort facilities were also awesome.The fusion of modern and traditional room accommodations is interesting.

The Riani Wing (behind me) features Balinese accommodation with traditional teak and thatched roof. It's cheaper than the other type of accommodation in the resort.

The Tirta Wing offers modern rooms and located just right beside the Emerald pool. This is more expensive and newer than the Riani Wing.

Time to check the jetty we had seen even from a far. It said 220 meter away.

Hmmm, maybe 10 minutes walk?

Halfway there was an island bar.

From this bar you could indulge with this view.

I actually stopped here and didn't pursue getting there at the farthest end. I just let my lens worked from this end.

Lemme end this super photo loaded post here. The rest was nothing but tracing back our way to Nongsa Point Marina & Resort again.

Nongsa Point Resort

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:26:00 +0000

We arrived at Batam, Indonesia with the rain pouring-in like telling us bluntly : "go back to your origin, it's no beach day today. .stu#id!!". haha.

In which I retorted back : " hey weather, don't you think I don't know how fickle minded you are, especially with your massive changing moods these past months ?? now you rain, next minute the sun is scorchingly painful . we have so much in common, i know you so well".

We were heading to some beach resorts (maybe two resorts?) in Batam and from Nongsapura terminal, we met a resort staff for our land transfer.

We boarded one of the vintage looking service vans with us exclusively as the passengers. With this kind of weather, do you think there would be other crazy people out there who would want to beach around under this crazy weather??? No one else. . but us!!! haha.

We reached Nongsa Point Marina & Resort in a very short while from Nongsapura terminal.

The red and white villas were striking under the dim light sky. Above photo is actually just the facade of the resort facing the sea. I think this is the hotel villas. The cove is quite huge, bearing not only a hotel resort but also a golf course and residential villas mostly owned by wealthy expats. At the latter part of the day, we did visit some expat friends right in their house here. As respect to their privacy, I won't be sharing our photos here. sorry.

Another striking facility is the marina. This is ofcourse first of all a marina before a resort. The marina is of international calibre. We saw some high profile yachts (owned by high profile personalities in Asia ) resting on the berths of the marina. There was even an out-of-nowhere- galleon. See more of Nongsa Point Marina here.

While the rain controlled us to stay indoor for a while, we took our lunch at the hotel's restaurant _ the Selera. Which again, later you could jump to my food blog for the dishes.

For the mean time, let's have a mini tour of the lobby of the hotel.

Seems like a marker of the expansion of phase 2 of Nongsa Point. Attended by the president of Indonesia, sometime in the year 2009.

The white color is evidently consistent all throughout inside the hotel. It's like a white house.

In the lobby was a tribal piece - I don't know how to call this but it's like a gong or something that makes sound when hit.

After a while, the rain got tired and stopped pouring.

The beach was neat and span, but nothing stunning. For a cove this huge, I thought it was small or was it because it was high tide. I still thought of our beach coves back home in P.I. are still the best, high tide or low tide_ doesn't matter, they are still stunning.

I love the rocks that sit on the beach thu', I thought they add character to the almost lame beach.

At the pool side. At this point we were already counting on dipping in the water. .

. . but the weather wouldn't let us. For the nth time, the rain poured again like there was no tomorrow. We were actually semi-wet here and pixel-ated by the rain drops.
The weather whispering in triumph : I warned you, haven't I???
haha.

We rushed back indoor, waited for the rain to stop and went out again to explore the whole cove. The marina was gated and exclusive for the yacht owners but see here, we managed to do a little tour of that too.

Half part of the day, the weather permitted us to expand our beach day. We went to the next door beach resort => The Turi Beach.
Later here. See ya.

My Nuffnang Story

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:04:00 +0000

It's the season of Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards once again! The first one was on 2009 and glamorously held at the cosmopolitan Singapore. I'm proud to say that I was there, yees!! I won an invite to attend the first ever NAPBAS night at Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore. It was truly a night to remember but that wasn't all! Included was an all expense paid tour of the city of Singapore. Have I mentioned that everything was actually free? Airfare and hotel accommodations included. Can't stop thanking Nuffnang for that awesome experience.
And now whaaat??? The generosity of Nuffnang continuing on with the 2nd NAPBAS :

Come 16 December 2011, 500 bloggers from around the Asia-Pacific region will flock to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards 2011 in Putrajaya Marriott. The Awards aims to not only honour the region's best bloggers, but also to bring together blogger communities from across Asia-Pacific. The Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards is brought to you by Volkswagen Malaysia and Putrajaya Marriott.

Again _ now whaaat??? I wanna come and be a part of this.
Is it asking too much to grant my wish to be there. . again? I'm taking my chances, why not? First of all, my mind is not made yet to which contest option I should enter : "My Nuffnang Story" or "Nuffnang Blog Awards Here I Come" ????

Here's why :

My Nuffnang Story commenced the first month I started blogging on 2009. That week I installed Nuffnang widget in this website, was the very week the first season of NAPBAS was on going. Flashing on my side bar was the contest invite for the Uniquely Singapore. To cut the story short, I joined and won an invite. Attended the event . . and sad screwed a once in a life time chance to get connected with bloggers, with those awesome people in the blogosphere.
Going back to that year of 2009, I had just quit from my job and decided to be a stay home mom. But a woman with all her natural multi tasking talent couldn't just be a plain housewife/mom. Right moms? Back then I had just newly discovered blogging as a personal hobby and in so many ways still full of ignorance. I didn't even have a dslr yet then and was using a point and shoot camera. So when I joined the group of chosen bloggers attending the 1st NAPBAS , it was still a whole new world to me.

Can you spot me here? I bet with difficulties. haha. There I was with short hair, at the back of the woman in yellow.

The event triggered my sleeping insecure self especially when I found out that the group representing the Philippines was composed of bloggers with names I've been reading quietly at home. Omg, I thought I was the only one unknown there. So through the whole course of the event I just kept to myself and stayed in the corner. Damn my insecurity for wasting a big opportunity to connect!! Now I know.

see I was always me & myself, haha.
Everyone made connections and friends, except me. haha. I was so non-existence then, I'm sure no one remembers me.
If "My Nuffnang Story" should be all only about how many of friends made since then and how many Nuffnang events joined and how big Nuffnang earnings and how popular the blog already is now . .since then. . .well, I'm afraid I have no Nuffnang story :(.

But I'd like to thank Nuffnang for bringing -in my long lost friend back to my life. If you have time you can click to my entry for Uniquely Singapore that would remind you that this girlfriend I hadn't seen for decades then was my motivation why I wanted to win that invite to Singapore. She was based in SG. Anyway, fast forward, after the 3 days event of NAPBAS 2009 in SG, I went on to meet my best friend. Forward more, since then we keep our connection intact until to this day. Those who follow my blog could attest how frequent we see each other now. Memoirs of our trips together are all gladly posted in this blog.
My endless gratitude to Nuffnang.
Can you consider it as Nuffnang story???

Now_ " Nuffnang Blog Awards, Here I Come". I would like to attend NAPBAS 2011 cos I screwed my first chance and praying for a second chance. .cos this time I know better. After all, since then I grew two years older bloggingly speaking. I'm happy with my blog today and the baby steps it walked those two years. I subconsciously just ignored the financial perks and connection demands of blogging for that time being and simply concentrated on "me" writing. Wiser, I feel Ascertain Bliss is ready to mingle now. I wanna raise the bar and be "there". I've seen how fun Nuffnang events for bloggers. Time to get out of my comfort zone and wish to be a part those. Just right on time, NAPBAS 2011 is here and where else is the best place to jump start ?? ==> at Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards 2011 where the best of bloggers community will once again make noise over blogosphere. Already, I could feel my blood rushing with excitement. The red carpet and all that glam at the blog awards night . . . that's Oscars to bloggers! I'm also excited to tour around Kuala Lumpur and to blog about its beautiful places.

Will you take me in then. . . pretty pretty please NUFFNANG!!!

North Bintan Tour (part 3)

noreply@blogger.com (Mylene Concepcion) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:08:00 +0000

We hopped back inside the car nearing the end of our North Bintan Tour. Which tour?? I know right? re = wind = > part 1 and part 2. Seriously? you're planning to click those parts?. Don't get back to me to say I haven't warned you! haha.

I felt so relieved and pure love gushing all over my veins for our tour guide/driver when I found myself on the above photo of our next stop.. . my dear guide/driver, I forgive you and willing to forget the wasted hours we spent on those and these boring places. (*/%$#@?) eeerm, sorry wrong image. This one belongs to another tour which I'll share a post on it later. whaaaaaat??? grrrrr back.

Instead I found myself ... in the market area of my hometown???

Hello, wake-up!!! You ( yes me!! ) in Bintan, Indonesia. . not in Quezon Province, Phils. Clear?? Ok.

The tour guide pointed us to this alley and said we go check the beautiful scenery. Right away I doubted his suggestion but we went anyway.

Whattaf? The gas odor was so offensive and saw nothing but a tiny dirty boat embarking at the seaside. It was so not scenic and undeserving of a shot, hence we didn't take a single photo of the sea.

So as just to gain something out of this scorching noon in this alley to a sea, I asked my brother to take this photo of me infront of this house which I thought was the only one that had character.

We ran back to our rented car which was parked infront of these stores. I wonder which part is this of our itinerary. At this point_ we were supposed to be in a town- Tanjung Uban or in a shopping center- POO. This must be the town cos what on earth would I shop here (if this was the shopping center)??? Eggs, dried beans,dried chilies, dried fish??? I didn't get here to do my marketing for my kitchen, helow!!!

But our next and last stop was the Chinese temple, that's why I got confused. I should have had asked the guide, I know right. But I had lost my interest in this tour early on our first stop that I almost slept all the way through.

Our final stop was a Chinese Temple. Again, this one was so disappointing. Try to take the Dora (pink and red) paints of this flat structure and you get what? a rectangular structure! Forgive me, it's just that we all see how grand Chinese temples are and this one was surprisingly very flat compared to those I've seen.

In fairness it had the necessary elements which are usually present in a big temple. Only, here were small versions.

This would pass as an altar (?, don't know how is it being called in a Chinese temple) of a usual temple, even though the Buddha is of small version. .

. . but on a bigger picture, this is how it looks. Set-up in a hall. Always, the kindness of the Indonesians struck me most.Never without a sincere smile, the staff of this temple pointed to us the back door towards another temple.

Surprisingly, there was another temple on a higher ground.

This seemed to be the main temple. Not sure. No one spoke English there and neither we could understand the Chinese characters written around.

Buddhas here were larger and seemed to be more permanently looking than the first temple which at this point I assumed was a reception temple, if there's such a thing:))

Outside I saw another temple. .

. .still under construction, across two roads away and it's definitely not a Chinese temple. Most probably a Muslim mosque and definitely not included in our itinerary.

Here ends my North Bintan tour. So boring in many ways but it was still an experience I would surely have fun looking back. At the very least, I was able to collect some glimpses of this Bintan Island in Indonesia.