Rolandito's BAKASYONISTA

Back in Hawaii - Quick trip to O'ahu island before Covid

2020-10-22T20:15:00.004-07:00

We wanted to get away from the cold weather and the first thing we thought about is one of our favorite islands. Guess where?

O'ahu island. So to O'ahu island we went. And this was on the cusp of the Covid pandemic surge so it was a quick trip.

Let me show you virtually what we did in the island for five days.

To give you a background, we flew out of SFO to Honolulu in the middle of February and there was already news of Covid spreading around the world. SFO's check in counters were eerily empty on that day.

I'll update this blog when I get a chance this weekend.

~rl

Pinoy in Paris - My Unforgettable visits to the Musée du Louvre

2020-07-11T22:25:00.113-07:00

It is always a joy to visit the Louvre. My first two visits to the museum were quick and rushed. I did learn my lesson so on my third visit to Paris, I set aside one day just for the Louvre. It was such a wonderful experience!

Let me show you a glimpse of what it is like inside and some select art works at the museum.

I got to the museum just 10 minutes after its opening time but there were lots of people already queued up for the security check. I was doing a leisurely walk on Champs Elysees earlier that morning before I went to visit the Louvre to kill time. However, seeing the long line that early made me realize I should have gone straight to the museum from the hotel instead.

[read my Paris blog, November 2018]

Not caring about the long lines, I lingered in front of this iconic I. M. Pei designed Pyramide du Louvre and imagining what it was like to unveil this large metal and glass pyramid in front of critical eyes around the world. For me, it was an instant hit. I love it! It compliments the Baroque buildings adding a contemporary element to the entire complex. It is also a great focal point.

Luckily, the lines went fast and I was at the museum lobby ticketing in no time. It had been over ten years since the last time I was at the museum and I have a faint memory of how truly wonderful this lobby is. I lingered here once again but this time I made sure I admired every inch of the interior and taking as much pictures as I could while imagining its design process.

You can picture the museum building is U-shaped since it used to be one of the royal's palaces before it got turned into a museum. From the museum lobby there are three entrances, one for each wing - the Denon entrance which leads to the Denon wing and the Richelieu entrance which leads into the Richelieu wing and then the Sully entrance to the Sully wing. I love how the natural lights create these amazing colors.

Armed with this electronic audio guide that the museum rents out for a small fee, I carefully planned my day at the Louvre and decided to take the Denon entrance.

The museum is huge so careful planning is crucial and I knew that six hours were not going to be enough time to see the entire collection on display. The first on my list that day was the Sculptures of Europe.

The sculpture on the left is called Le Temps Découvrant la Vérité et Les Arts by Honore Pelle. The one on the right is called Apollon Vainqueur Du Serpent Python. The sculptor is not indicated in the plate but it does say that it is Italian in origin and dates back to early 8th century. I found it challenging to take this photo because of the natural lights from the windows behind the sculptures and flash photography is not allowed. These sculptures are not necessarily my favorites but I was drawn to them because of their exquisite details.

Here are the sculptures by Michelangelo and I can say they are my favorites. The one on the left is called L'Esclave Rebelle and the one on the right is called L'Esclave Mourant. Compared to the other sculptures in the museum, these Michelangelo sculptures look unfinished and yet they are evocative and intriguing.

Here is another view of Michelangelo's sculptures. I had seen another popular male nude sculpture made by Michelangelo called David during a previous trip to Florence and I can see similarities among these masterpieces. His exquisite creations showcase the male body beautifully and represent that we are created in God's image.

On the same floor as Michelangelo's sculptures, another favorite of mine is the Aphrodite, known as the Venus de Milo sculpture. I learned that it was unearthed in 1820 on the island of Melos. I had a challenging time taking this picture because of the thick crowd gathered around it and it never thinned out.

Another one of my favorite sculptures is the Winged Victory of Samothrace or Nike of Samothrace. I learned that it was created around 190 BC and it was unearthed in the 1800s by Charles Champoiseau on the small island of Samothrace in Greece. I love that this sculpture was put in this part of the museum so that it becomes a focal point when coming up the stairs.

I always see a big crowd gathering around this celebrated sculpture during my visits to the museum. Looking at the sculpture on all sides, I could see the perceived movement in the way the draped dress is flowing and how the wings are angled.

Here is another view showing different parts of the dress and the left wing.

Here is another view where shadows help emphasize the movement.
I've seen this sculpture a couple of times but I don't remember seeing it from different sides. Seeing this beauty from all possible sides gave me more appreciation of this masterpiece.

Here is an iPhone view with some museum goers included in the background.

Not far from the Winged Victory of Samothrace is the fully packed Room 711 where, possibly the most important art work in the world, La Gioconda is on display. The portrait painted by Leonardo Da Vinci is popularly known as The Mona Lisa. It is the smaller painting on the right side of the picture below.

It is actually easy to find in which room the Mona Lisa is located despite the massive and labyrinth-like museum the Louvre is. Just follow the folks walking fast to the point of running. More often than not, they are tourists in Paris who are just going to be in and out of the museum. How do I know? I was one of them many years ago. There is even an MIT study that keeps track of visitor behavior inside the Louvre where it shows that there are visitors who only see the more popular art works in the museum and the Mona Lisa is one of them.

It was overwhelming at first because seeing the Mona Lisa upclose seemed like an impossible task judging by the amount of people inside Room 711. However, if you linger and just stand among the crowd, you can slowly inch your way to the front without resorting to elbowing fellow museum guests. Just remember that people stand behind the velvet rope.

I learned that the model is thought to be someone named Lisa Gherardini who was the wife of a Florentine merchant named Francesco del Giocondo - that is why the La Gioconda title. The first time I saw the Mona Lisa, I did not expect it to be that moderate in size. I had imagined it to be a huge painting that almost covered the wall where it is hanging. How could a painting this size have captured the hearts of everyone who had seen it, including mine? It must be her quintessential smile!

Zooming in on the Mona Lisa. This was my third time to see the Mona Lisa and the experience was as good as the first one.

Also on display in Room 711 is this huge painting called The Wedding Feast at Cana by Paolo Veronese. If you are not familiar with the Biblical story, this was where Christ was invited to a wedding feast and where he turned water into wine. Of course, the painting seems to depict more of a fashionable Venetian wedding scene than the Biblical one. I see similarities to the artist's art work housed at the Galeria dell'Accademia in Venice called The Feast at the House of Levi in terms of the level of detail depicted in the painting.

Here is another painting by Leonardo Da Vinci called The Virgin Of The Rocks which is on display in the adjacent room from the Mona Lisa. In the painting, the Virgin Mary, Christ, John The Baptist and archangel Gabriel are bathing in a rocky landscape. I learned that this painting was first conceived as the central panel of an altarpiece for the chapel of the Brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception at the church of San Francesco Grande in Milan in 1483. However, this painting was rejected by the Brotherhood which allowed Louis XII to acquire it. There is another painting hanging at the National Gallery in London of the same title also painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. That version in London was the replacement painting for the chapel.

I was fortunate to have seen the painting's version hanging at London's National Gallery. There are notable differences between the two paintings but the more obvious ones include a very visible halo on the Virgin Mary, a staff with Christ and also a halo, angel wings on archangel Gabriel and a halo on John The Baptist. I see why this was the obvious choice for the church in Milan. I guess it is more chapel-appropriate than the version hanging at the Louvre?

[read my London blog, June 2017]

Here is another painting by Leonardo Da Vinci that I found compelling called Saint John The Baptist which is in the same room as The Virgin of the Rocks.

This painting is called The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne which is also in the same room as the other paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci.

There were a couple more of his paintings in the room but they were super popular and there were people congregating around them all the time. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot of time and I still had a lot more paintings I wanted to see.

The next painting that I enjoyed seeing was the July 28 (1830) Liberty Leading People by Eugene Delacroix. It is in room 700 which is also near the Mona Lisa. I learned that this painting was inspired by the Paris revolt of July 28, 29, and 30 in 1830 which overthrew the last Bourbon King of France, Charles X. This is the reason why, if you look closely enough to see, the painting evokes a multitude of emotions.

Here's a painting in the same room called The Raft Of The Medusa by Theodore Gericault. I learned that it was inspired by the 1816 wreck of the French Royal Navy frigate's off the coast of Senegal. The raft contained 150 soldiers who were left behind due to the shortage of lifeboats. Only ten soldiers survived the 13 day journey on the sea. I couldn't imagine the hardship, the desperation and horror during their ordeal. The artist depicted all the emotions in the painting as if he was there himself.

I was immensely enjoying every bit of my visit and it was more enriching than before thanks to the museum's ever reliable audio guide's information which includes commentaries from museum curators and art experts. I absolutely recommend renting one while at the museum to get the most out of your visit.

Here's what Room 700 looks like. So many paintings, so little time, and too many art lovers in one room.

The nearby Room 702 was also crowded and for very good reasons. One popular artwork in the room is this painting by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres called La Grande Odalisque. The title means "harem woman". I learned that this painting was commissioned in 1813 by Caroline Murat, who was Napoleon's sister and the queen of Naples at that time.

Another painting by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres that I enjoyed is this portrait of Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière. There are two other portraits - one of Caroline's father's and another one of her mother's. All three were painted by the artist Ingres.

An enormous painting also hangs in the same room 702 by Jacques Louis David called The Coronation of the Emperor Napoloeon I and the Crowning of the Empress Josephine in Notre-Dame Cathedral on December 2, 1804. I find this painting impressive not only because of the details included in the canvas but also the fact that this is like a photograph of the grand event itself. It is like history and art at the same time.

Speaking of Empress Josephine, here is a portrait of hers by Pierre Paul Prud'hon called L'Impératrice Joséphine one year after her coronation. I learned that the Empress had not produced a child as an heir for the emperor during this time. It must have been a difficult time for her and I saw it in the painting.

Another section that I immensely enjoyed, also near the Mona Lisa, is the Galerie d'Apollon or the Apollo Gallery. The rich details of this room is enough to amaze anyone visiting this section of the museum.

It is an entire room that was designed in 1661 by architect Louis Le Vau and built for the glory of King Louis XIV. The room is decorated with paintings depicting a world illustrated by the myth of the sun god Apollo.

Here's a painting of King Louis XIV on one side of the room.

The focal point of the room's theme is the god Apollo. Here's a painting of Eugene Delacroix called Apollo Vanquishing the Serpent Python on the middle of the room's ceiling.

As if this section is not lavish enough, this room also showcases the mesmerizing crown gems and personal jewels of the French queens.

These are precious necklace and earrings of Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma and the second wife of Napoleon.

After almost four hours of museum time, I decided to break for lunch and to give my tired back and feet a break. I have never eaten at any of the museum's cafes or restaurants because I was only in and out during my previous trips there.

There are several choices when it comes to dining at the museum. The Mollien, Goguette, or the Comptoir du Louvre. Since I was on a tight schedule, I decided to get something quick at the Comptoir du Louvre which is located near the main ticketing lobby under the Pyramid.

The Comptoir offers sandwiches and cafe style food from Paul Cafe. For my quick lunch, I decided to get this chicken salad combo which consisted of the salad, an orange soda and a choice of dessert of lemon bar. I just sat on a bench dotting the lobby of the museum. That was a delicious and quick lunch and I was once again ready for another round of art tours and a lot of walking and standing.

To continue with my museum day and to budget my remaining hours at the Louvre, I skipped the rest of the paintings on the first floor and I went straight to the second floor of the Sully wing to see the works of Georges De La Tour. If you have seen the movie Le Divorce starring Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson where a painting called Saint Ursula plays a role in the plot, you have probably heard the painter's name. In any case, the Louvre has several of De La Tour's painting on display at Room 912. One of my favorites is a painting called The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds. Let me see if you can figure out who is the cheat and who is the one being tricked in painting below.

Here are the rest of his paintings. One of the things I find about the artist's theme is the illumination of the characters faces using a single source of light. The painting below is called The Adoration of the Shepherds. The illumination from the candle light highlights the holiness of the birth of Christ.

The painting below is called Saint Sebatian Tended by Saint Irene. The light heightens the heavy emotions in the painting.

The painting below is called Saint Joseph The Carpenter. Here, the light accentuates the intimacy between father and son.

The painting below, and one of my favorites, is called The Penitent Magdalene. The light here exaggerates the feelings of a repentant heart.

Nearby at Room 917, the art works of painter Jean Antoine Watteau are on display. I had not heard of nor seen works of the painter before my last visit to the Louvre, however, I found his work refreshing and they gave me a feeling of lightness. The painting below is called Pilgrimage to the Isle of Cythera.

The paintings below are called Diana at Her Bath (left) and the small format paintings are called Two Cousins and Faux Pas.

Also nearby at Room 940 are more paintings by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Some of them are bordering on erotic just like the painting below called The Bather, known as the Valpinçon Bather. It was painted in 1808.

Twenty years later, the artist painted the painting below called Small Bather. Similar to The Bather but with more detailed background.

The next painting is called The Turkish Bath and was painted in 1856 but modified in 1862. I learned that this painting commissioned by Prince Napoleon around 1848. The painting was delivered in 1859, however it was returned because it had shocked the empress. The painter continued to rework his picture and this is why the 1862 modification date.

On the same floor but on the Richelieu wing is the Galerie Médicis housing twenty four big canvases painted by the artist Peter Paul Rubens between 1622 and 1625 and show episodes of the queen's life with themes from ancient mythology. I learned that the paintings were originally housed in the Luxembourg Palace which was home of queen Marie de Médicis. This room is great because it has seats in the middle perfect for admiring the paintings while seated.

Also nearby at these erotic paintings but with Biblical or mythological subjects. The one on the left below is called The Baptism of Christ by Cornelis Van Haarlem. The one on the right below is called The Demigod Hercules and Omphale, Queen of Lydia.

Also on the same floor are these religious themed painting. The one below on the left is called The Last Supper by Frans II Pourbus. The one on the right is called Altarpiece of the Lamentation of Christ by Joos Van Cleve.

This painting, a little naughty and playful, is called Presumed Portrait of Gabrielle d'Estrées and Her Sister, the Duchess of Villars painted in 1594. There was not an artist indicated but the Fontainebleau School is on the description. The more I look at this painting, the more it grew on me. I can say it is now one of my favorite paintings at the Louvre!

Of course, I spent lots of time at the Museum Store. I bought a fridge magnet, a couple of postcards and coffee book table.

Even with an entire day's worth of museum time, I was still unable to see all the sections of the museum I wanted to see. Nevertheless, it was a great joy and experience to have spent many hours admiring the arts at the Louvre during this visit.

I hope to be able to visit the museum again in the future.

~rl

Pinoy on a layover - 11 hours in Singapore

2020-06-30T21:11:00.039-07:00

I was traveling back to Manila using my airline miles so I took the best possible route my miles could get me. The only catch was that it included an eleven-hour stopover in Singapore.

Fear not because I had done long layovers in SG before. Let me show you how I spent this eleven hours worth of stopover.

I was flying back to San Francisco from Manila on Singapore Airlines when I stopped in Singapore for this layover. My quick trip to Manila to be with my family to celebrate my mom's birthday had just ended.

For this trip, I used my miles to fly. If you had used miles to fly before, and in my experience, you probably know that the flights being offered are not the ideal ones. Good luck if you are accustomed to flying non stop or direct. This trip wasn't going to cost me anything so I couldn't be choosy. The best route I could find was flying on Asiana from SFO to Manila and then flying on Singapore Airlines for my Manila to SG leg to connect to a United Airlines flight from SG to SFO.

I was just in Singapore in May 2019 for a trip with my mom and siblings. In addition, a recent business trip to India in September 2019 allowed me to be back in Singapore on a long stopover en route back to the States. These were the reasons why I knew exactly how and where I was going to spend my long layover in Singapore - The Gardens by the Bay. While I've been to the Gardens, however, my time there was mostly spent inside the domes of the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. There are a lot more to see and experience within the outdoor Gardens and I had intended to discover that in this layover.

[read my Singapore blog, November 2018]

Since I had done this before, I followed the same play book from my layover from four months earlier and took the MRT. I took the East West line (green line) and transferred at Expo for the Downtown line (blue line) and got off at Bayfront station. That took me directly to the Marina Bay Sands in just an hour. The Gardens By The Bay is just across the avenue from the hotel.

[read my Singapore Layover blog, December 2019]

I saw from the pedestrian bridge connecting Marina Bay Sands and the Garden what looked like a million eggs floating on the Dragonfly Lake.

These floating objects were not there the last time I visited the garden a few months earlier. This was unexpected and was not part of my plan but I got closer to check it out anyway.

I found out that these floating objects are ovoids of light and are part of a digital art installation called #futuretogether by TeamLab. The ovoids emit colored lights that go off and then fade slowly sort of like mimicking the timing of the heart beat. The lights change when there is movement and the lights resonate out to the other ovoids and to the trees nearby. The lights are not obvious because of the daylight and I am assuming they are more visible in the dark.

The ovoids have different sizes and while most of them are floating on water, some of them are on land a few yards from the lake as well.

Here's a picture I took a few months earlier. We had tickets to the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest that is why we had to skip the OCBC Skyway. However, I made a mental note to check it out the next time I had a chance.

Here's a picture I took while I was falling in line to the entrance to the elevator that will take me to the OCBC Skyway. There is a small fee to go up the Skyway.

Here's what the tree trunks look like from the ground. The Supertrees look huge from the ground. It was from this angle that I started appreciating the sheer number of plants living on the facade of the trunks of the Supertrees.

Here's what the trunk's interior look like. It is amazing how the plants made the structures less industrial. This was where I took the elavator up to the starting point of the Skyway.

Here's the starting point of the Skyway. The view from there gives you a different perspective of the Gardens.

Here are the tops of the Supertrees. I do not know if the plants are supposed to grow all the way to the top. If they do, they would cover the entire structures making them look like nature has taken over the man made Supertrees.

This is the view from above. Though I had seen the Garden from above before from one of the balconies of the Marina Bay Sands hotel rooms, the view from the Skywalk allows for a much closer viewing and better appreciation of the Garden. I wonder how big the team is taking great care of the entire place because the Garden seems well tended from what I had seen from the Skywalk.

Here's the mid point of the Skyway. I had read somewhere in the Garden that the Supertrees capture sunlight and convert it to electricity which is used around the Gardens in its lighting, water pumps, and even the electricity used in the Garden's office. This is done via photovoltaic cells on top of the trees.

Here's the view of the city from the trees. I learned that there are two other groups of Supertrees in the Garden - the Silver trees and the Gold trees.

Here's the end point of the Skywalk.

Here's the detail of the trunk before I exited. The varieties and the selection of the plants they used to cover the facade is incredible.

Stairways to the exit.

View from below.

I mentioned earlier that there are other clusters of Super Trees in the complex. I do not know if their functions differ from the other but these Super Trees are smaller in size compared to the ones in the Super Grove. The picture below is the Silver Super Trees located near the covered domes.

Later that day, I chanced upon a maintenance going on in the Golden Super Trees cluster at the other end of the Gardens.

I must have spent over two hours admiring the Super Grove Super Trees. My stomach reminded me that it was a good time to break. Time for a good lunch. I walked back to the food court of Marina Bay Sands called Rasapura Masters. I decided to get this super tasty traditional Malaysian food called Nasi Lemak (with fried fish fillet) from a food stall called Home Kitchen.

I continued my walk around the Gardens. I honestly do not know how I got to this part of the Gardens. I just followed where the Supergrove is and then just continued walking around.

There is a covered area in the Gardens near the Supergrove where visitors can sit down and rest. The name of this place is not indicated on the Garden map.

While resting, I enjoyed the views through the big holes that serve as windows to see birds and rock formations.

I continued my walk and my feet took me to this area dotted with palm trees called The World of Palms.

I continued walking and I got to an area called Understorey.

This place focuses on what goes on under the canopy of the trees such as decomposition, animals living on the topsoil, and plants thriving under the shadows below the trees.

My random walks got me to this Food Hall which was great timing because I needed to break and sit down.

The Food Hall has great selection of food. The dining hall has natural lights. I decided to get a cup of Americano from Cafe Coco.

This Floral Clock is located near the Flower Dome.

Everything was starting to look monotonous looking at plants for several hours. To counter that, I love how the planners of the Gardens created these canopies along the paths. They don't only provide shade from the Singapore heat but also breaks the monotony.

I finally got to the Secret Life of Trees area. I thought I already a lot about trees? I actually learned a few new things about trees by reading through the information displays in the section.

This is pertified wood from Indonesia. Do you know what is a petrified wood?

I was surprised to see these cacti in the Gardens. This area is called the Sun Pavillion.

I finally got to the other end of the Gardens and the Children's Garden.

Next to it is the Adventure Trail. This part of the Gardens includes interactive and physical activities for the kids.

I imagine that this place gets packed with kids on the weekend. Since I got here on a Thursday, I had the trail all to myself.

More activities to test one's balance and strength.

Here's another one that requires physical activity.

I walked all the way back to other side of the Gardens near the Dragon Fly Lake.

I got to this brook that creates relaxing rippling sound of running water.

Here's what the brook looks like. The surrounding is Zen-like.

Here's another view of the Supergrove from the Chinese Garden.

I got to the Malay Garden and I stopped here for a needed break.

I must have walked over ten miles on an off around the Gardens. This time also allowed me to think about my train ride back to the airport for my Singapore to San Francisco flight.

I got back to Changi Airport with ample time. I was secretly impressed with myself at how my timing had been impeccable. I was even able to squeeze in a little tour of Changi Airport. The first airport attraction I checked out was this Crayola Bumboat.

Bumboats are used in the Malay archipelago to transport goods from ship to shore. For this attraction, the bumboat has wooden plates in which different popular Singapore attractions are engraved on them. You can get a souvenir copy using the crayons and paper available for free. I chose The Jewel.

I didn't have to walk far for the next airport attraction because the Orchid Garden is just next to the Crayola Bumboat.

I learned that the garden has 700 orchids of 20 varieties. The colors of the orchids represent in the four elements of the Earth - white for air, blue and purple for water, red and orange for fire and brown for Earth. Some of the orchids seem to be scented as well.

Another attraction I saw inside the same terminal is the Enchanted Garden.

Yes, it is yet another garden. You'd think that after spending several hours at the Gardens by the Bay and then the Orchid Garden I'd be all tired seeing plants? I had thought so too. However, with an open mind, I actually enjoyed checking this one out.

It has almost the same type of plants in the Gardens by the Bay (I think) but this one has something extra like this big glass sculptures that showcase mosaic designs and stained glass petals.

Of course, these attraction have the passengers in mind by adding these curvaceous seats.

I actually went to see The Jewel before I went to my assigned airport terminal because the The Jewel is outside of the terminals.

I had seen The Jewel twice already during previous trips to Singapore.

In any case, seeing The Jewel for the third time was still magical.

All in all, I was pretty happy about how I spent my layover time in Singapore. Until the next layover!

~rl

Pinoy in Taiwan - A relaxing time tasting tea

2020-06-27T10:30:00.027-07:00

When we were in Taipei for a visit, we went to the highland towns of Maokong, Shenkeng and Shiding for a relaxing time and to sample tea.

Let me take you on a virtual tour what it is like visiting these places and enjoying sampling teas.

My mom, sis and I decided that we'd take it easy and relax on our last full day in Taipei. Nothing is more relaxing than a day tasting and learning about teas and Taipei is a great place to do just that. To save time and to make it easy for the three of us, we decided to take a guided full day tour instead of going to different tea points of interest on our own. Our tour included a ride on the Maokong gondola to get to the highlands surrounding Taipei.

[read my Taipei blog, January 2019]

It was raining that day which added to the relaxing mood of the day.

The ride itself was relaxing because of the views down below. Foliage, mist, fog and rain. When Mijo and I first visited Maokong ten years ago, the gondolas or cable cars were out of service so we took the bus to go to Maokong. It was not as relaxing as riding the gondola.

[read my Jiufen blog, January 2019]

There are cherry trees around the Maokong station and they were in bloom that time. It was such a pretty sight. I made a mental note that cherry blossoms happen earlier in Taipei and maybe it is worth another visit in the future.

Near the Maokong Station is the Tea Promotion Center. I've been to wine tastings where it included the wine making process as part of the tastings. Same with the probiotic drinks, soda, tequila and coffee tastings I've been to. I had immensely enjoyed each tasting trip so I knew I was going to enjoy this tea education.

The center provides free samples of an oolong tea called Tie Guan Yin which has hints of toasted rice and has a sweet finish. The smell of loose leaf tea fills the entire center. The aroma was sweet and heavenly!

The Center also has a small exhibition area showcasing tea making now and then. Like this basket that was used to bake tea to reduce the moisture of the tea to improve its flavor and aroma.

The equipment below is called a withering stand. This was used to dry the tea indoors.

Here is a sample of a loose leaf green tea.

The center also showcases modern equipments used in processing tea nowadays.

Here is a panning machine that dries the leaves to reduce the moisture and to stop the fermentation process in the leaves resulting to better aroma and flavor.

A short drive from the Tea Promotion Center is a picturesque street called Shenkeng Old Street.

It is a street with old Taiwan architecture. Lots of lovely shops, restaurants and cafes. We were told by our guide that this place is a great place to sample tofu - stinky, savory or sweet. They have them in Shenkeng Old Street. Our guide was helping us sample unique food and snacks as we strolled along the street.

A beautiful temple wall.

Retail therapy is king here. They sell lots of cute souvenirs as well.

I like the red and gray bricked buildings. I also love the details of the street pavement.

Speaking of tofu and snacks, I found it a challenge to choose which sweets to get. We had already sampled stinky tofu by the time we got to Shenkeng Old Street because of our visits to the Shilin night Market. We were pros already so it was not scary at all to sample them again.

Here's a sweet snack that I sampled and loved - black sesame seed snack.

Here's another snack that I enjoyed - sweet soy bean curd. It is kind of a tofu but with a gelatinous consistency.

Here's our stinky tofu snack. Yummy!

We finally sat and had a quick and light lunch of tofu with mixed seafood and streamed bamboo. It was delicious. We were told that bamboo is another specialty of Shenkeng Old Street.

Our next destination was Shiding Old Street which is a short drive from Shengkeng Old Street. This time we went inside Fongchun Tea shop to sit down and sample tea.

The tea shop is very pretty and the sweet aroma of tea welcomed us. I could see the steaming pots of water from afar and I could hear the gentle clinking of tea cups being arranged on a table nearby.

Since we were in a small group, we were ushered to a private room at the back of the shop. The room has lots of natural lighting and a view of the creek down below. When we got there, the table was already set up for tea tasting.

For this tea tasting, there were lots of wares on the table. I've been to other tea tastings before and it was not this elaborate. I got curious right away what I would be learning from this experience.

Our tea educator has a tea pot next to her and she has different cups that will be used for brewing the tea, a pot for pouring the tea, a strainer, a bowl used for dumping the used tea leaves, another bowl for dumping extra tea, a bamboo spoon for getting tea from the container, tea cups for serving the tea, and a bamboo serving plate for measuring tea. I hope all those wares are dish washer safe because these are a lot of tea accoutrements to wash by hand.

The first step was taking in the aroma of the tea leaves. I took a whiff. There was a hint of sweetness in the scent of the loose leaves.

Our tea educator also warmed our tea cups in preparation for the tea sampling. This was necessary so that the temperature of the water from the pot to remain the same during tea sampling. This was also to rinse the tea cups.

Here's the tea cup where the tea will be brewed in. Notice the lid? For the first brew, the brewing time was quick. This process was also to 'awaken' the tea leaves. This is the step where the tea flavor is controlled by the length of brewing time.

Our tea educator then poured the brewed tea into a tea pot with a strainer for serving. And then, the tea is poured from that tea pot into the individual cups.

From the individual cups, we each poured its contents into our small bowls. The first brew is noticeably light in color. We first smelled our tea and then we went ahead and sampled the tea. The taste was delicate and mild.

We paired our tea tastings with these sweets made of dried fruits, coconuts, nuts and rice flour.

For the second brew, the brew time was much longer. The tea leaves expanded in size after the first brew and the leaves were noticeably larger in size. The same procedure - brew the tea but for much longer, pour the brewed tea into the tea serving pot with a strainer, pour the tea into each individual tea cups, and then we each pour the contents into our own small bowls for tasting.

The color is much deeper compared to the first brew. The flavor also changed to a more potent taste and texture. We were told we can do another round of brewing using the same leaves until there is no more flavor extracted from the process.

That was such an enlight-tea-ning experience!

After such an enjoyable and educational tea tasting, we walked across the street to check out Shiding Old Street. We were told that Shiding used to be an agricultural area specializing in tea and camphor. Later on during the Japanese Era, it turned into a mining town.

Nowadays, there are tofu, tea, blacksmiths, and souvenir stores dotting the old street.

A short drive away is the Bagua Tea Plantation. Rows and rows of tea bushes cover the hill side. It is like carpeting the entire landscape with lush green plants. It was a pretty sight!

I wonder if they accept volunteers during leaf harvest? I'd volunteer in exchange for tea immersion classes. Sign me up please!

The best teas, we were told, are from the young leaves of the tea plant.

Our last destination in this guided tour was the picturesque Thousand Island Lake. What a view to cap our enjoyable and educational tour of the tea!

My mom, sis and I truly had a relaxing, fun, and educational trip to sample tea. I hope to explore more of Taiwan's tea someday.

~rl

Pinoy in Taiwan - A fun visit to Jiufen and Shifen

2020-06-22T20:27:00.029-07:00

I was back in Taipei with my mom and sister to celebrate my mom's birthday. Part of the vacation was a fun day trip to the towns of Shifen and Jiufen.

Let me take you on a virtual tour of the two towns.

Our trip to Jiufen and Shifen was an independent tour on a comfortable tourist bus. The tour company buses people to Jiufen but we were left on our own to visit the sites when we got there. It was a convenient way to get to both places versus doing it on our own via trains and taxis. The tour company's pickup point happened to be next to the Ximen train station on the other side of Zhonghua Road which was close to our hotel. The tour buses at the pickup point was also clearly marked so it was hard to miss it. I sat on a window seat and saw some great views on our way to Jiufen.

[read my Taipei blog, January 2019]

This bay is picturesque. I could tell that we were going high up judging from the sceneries outside of my window. Since we took the morning tour, we got to Jiufen when the morning coastal fog was just about to clear.

The old Jiufen town where most of the stores and sites are located are high up on a hill. We had to walk up and take the stairs. We knew this and we had planned for it. My sis and I were traveling with my mom so we had to pace ourselves. Kudos to my mom because she's such a sport. She did it!

I was glad we did our climb at a leisurely pace because we were able to checkout the cute little stores and tea shops on our way up.

There are calligraphy souvenir shops along the way. They also have friendly staff who answered all my questions including what the Chinese characters mean in English.

After what seemed like several hundred steps, we reached an intersection decorated with red lanterns. We were visiting Taipei during the Lunar New Year so I do not know if these lanterns were on display because of the occasion.

Jiufen has this nostalgic feel. It was like I was transported back in time. It was also interesting to hear my mom's opinions and her observations about how great of an idea to have preserved these buildings and architecture that made Jiufen unique and picturesque.

The swarm of tourists came in waves. The streets in Jiufen were crowded for the most part. It was a challenge taking a picture of the stairs.

However, if you wait patiently, there could be times when the streets would be practically empty for a few minutes until the next group of tourists arrive. We went to Jiufen on a Saturday. I wonder if the other days are less crowded?

There were also pockets in Jiufen where it is more crowded than the others. The streets are narrow and some of them are winding so it is also easy to get lost. Thanks to Google maps, we were able to trace our way back all the way to the tour bus with ease.

The main part of the visit to Jiufen for me was to sample the town's popular taro balls. Our tour bus guide mentioned a couple of stores and one of them was Grandma Lai's.

This was where my sis, mom and I rested while snacking on delicious taro balls.

The taro balls are sweet and they are served cold or warm. Of course, we had to try both variations.

The cafe had two main areas - the kitchen or place where they make the food and the dining area where people seat down and eat.

At first, I did not know where to order because there were several tables inside the store. I was also distracted because of the commotions at the cafe especially inside the busy kitchen. The process of making the taro ball dough was open for everyone to see.

Seeing the process of making the taro ball made me appreciate all the more the snacks that we were about to sample. It felt like I was also part of the process even though I wasn't. It looked like the process is a special family secret passed down from several generations. I wish I had more time to spend watching the busy kitchen.

They had other snacks available but we opted to try only the taro balls. I'll definitely try their other snack offerings next time.

If you take time to look for them, the town is dotted with lots of cute street arts and posters like this one.

I also enjoyed browsing through cute souvenirs with whimsical designs like these little fridge magnets.

Luckily, we passed by a post office. A great souvenir that I give myself is a postcard to self.

Our next destination was Shifen.

I saw these airborne sky lanterns when we got off the tour bus. This made me really excited about lighting lanterns. That was going to be the last event in this trip.

First, we saw the Shifen waterfalls which is on the other side of town. We crossed this suspension bridge on the way to the waterfalls.

And then we leisurely walked for about 20 minutes with pretty sceneries.

We finally reached the waterfalls. Funny how the tourists were just in and out of the area. Just like us, they were probably so excited for the sky lanterns.

We had some time to kill so we decided to break for lunch. There were restaurants near the waterfalls serving delicious Taiwanese dishes.

We decided to get this very tasty Taiwanese noodles. It tasted like a Filipino pancit noodles with a Taiwanese twist.

There is this area also near the waterfalls that is dotted with sculptures and this clock tower. I don't really know what this area is called.

We finally left the waterfalls site and walked back to the tourist bus to go the the other side of town - to Shifen old town.

We finally reached the Shifen old town for a sky lantern experience. I do not know for a fact if the sky lanterns have any cultural significance to Shifen or to the area. Sky lanterns were used in the past to convey messages during wars or to send prayers to God.

There is a small fee to get a lantern. First, we picked a color. Each color has a meaning - red for health and peace, blue for career, yellow for money and wealth, purple for studies, orange for love and marriage, green for vigor, white for future, magenta for popularity, and pink for happiness. Multi-colored lanterns are also available.

My sis and I picked red. There was a time when I used to much ink to write my message on the lantern and my texts ran and blotted. Don't use too much ink on the lanterns. And remember that each lantern has four sides. My sis took care of two sides, I put my birthday wishes for my mom on the other two sides.

After the ink of our messages dried, one of the staff of the lantern company placed an object in the middle of the lantern and it smelled of kerosene.

Don't forget to pose of a photo op. People release the sky lanterns on the train tracks. Why on the train tracks? I do not know the significance of that.

Up, up and away. We lingered in the area to watch people release their lanterns. It was actually fun to see families, couples, groups of friends with happy and hopeful faces release lanterns.

Here's the lantern my sis, mom and I released for my mom's birthday wishes. I am imagining this area would look different at night with the lanterns floating like the stars in the sky. I first witnessed something like that years ago in Thailand during the Loy Krathong celebration. It was magical!

[read my Loy Krathong blog, December 2012]

Here's the lantern we released to celebrate my mother's birthday. I looked up the sky until I couldn't see the lantern anymore.

There was a time when people cleared the train tracks though I do not remember if a train actually ever passed by.

I saw several cute Shifen street art on our way back to the tour bus to take us back to Taipei's Ximen district.

Overall, our trip to Jiufen and Shifen were funfilled at the same time relaxing. We truly enjoyed it!

~rl

Pinoy in Taiwan - Back in Taipei for an enjoyable visit

2020-02-15T18:50:00.044-08:00

I was back in Taipei with my mom and sister to celebrate my mom's birthday. Though I had been to Taipei before, this trip was even more enjoyable than the first time. We even had time to see Jiufen in this trip.

Let me take you on a virtual tour of the sites and landmarks in the city.

We stayed in the Ximen or Ximending district of Taipei. We also stayed here when Mijo and I visited Taipei for the first time in 2010 and we liked the location and it being central to a lot of things including the Ximen train station.

[read my Taipei blog, April 2010]

This neighborhood has changed and it has become trendier judging by the hip shops and cafes dotting this now vibrant shopping district.

One of the tourist attractions in the area is the Red House theater. It used to be a market place but it is now used to promote culture and creative activities.

The neighborhood is also home to this iconic and Instagram worthy street art. I had to go take this picture early in the morning when the crowd was thin.

Had I waited long enough, the crowd would have gotten thicker especially when the stores start opening their doors.

After the sun sets, the district is inundated with the young, beautiful and the hip to shop, eat or just to walk around.

This is also where the Ximen night market comes alive.

While I had stayed in Ximending district during my first trip to Taipei over ten years ago, I had not been to the Ximen night market. It must be a new addition to the neighborhood? In any case, I am glad that there is now a night market in this area.

Just like in any night markets, they sell lots of things there - food, drinks, clothes, accessories, housewares, etc. This night market covers several blocks and not situated like a long straight line just like Shilin. You have to criss cross and turn left and right to see all the stores and food carts available.

Of course, a stinky tofu food cart is part of the mix. My mom, sis and I did not try this particular stinky tofu. Though my mom was game to sample it. I love her!

Covid made the news for the first time when we were in Taipei and it was not a big deal yet because it was local to Wuhan at that time. Nevertheless, there were people already wearing masks in the crowd.

My mom, sis and I tried this tasty onion pie by Yilan. I don't remember the location of this particular food cart and I think the carts move around anyway in the duration of the night market. The good thing about traveling with my mom and sis is that we got to share the food among the three of us. This meant we had more room to sample more food. The best part was my sis and mom love to sample food as much as I do.

I think the base is similar to other Taiwanese or Shanghainese pancakes I've had where the dough is savory and has onions or scallions. These are served as cakes instead and smothered with hoisin or oyster sauce.

We did find the stinky tofu to sample. The smell was scary but the first bite took all my fears aways.

We also found this sweet potato ball cart for our dessert.

We washed down all our savory food samples with a sweet milk tea. We found Xing Fu Tang to be our favorite in this trip. The city is dotted with Xing Fu Tangs. We found several XFT at the Ximen night market. You could tell XFT milk teas are good judging by the long lines in front of their stores.

The aroma of brown sugar, tapioca and other ingredients fill the air near their stores as if it is an invitation to go and sample a milk tea.

I really enjoyed their milk teas. The ingredients seem simple but the combination of flavors is simply amazing!

Here's another location of Xing Fu Tang which can also be found at the Ximen night market. The long queue at that time of the night!

The following morning, the street was empty and quiet like nothing happened the night before. There were a few food carts that remained but they are serving Xiao Long Bao (XLB), pork buns, and other dishes that are eaten in the morning in Taipei. I could see a few tourists snapping pictures of the area and people buying breakfasts.

I tried the pork XLB. One order included eight pieces of XLB which is perfect for sharing with my mom and sis.

I also bought one order of pork bun.

Here's what my morning food haul looked like that morning. They were all tasty and quite delicious.

We pre-booked a city tour and we were picked up from our hotel right after our breakfast. The first site in our tour is a photo op at the North Gate.

We were told that there was once a wall that surrounded the old city and this gate was part of that wall in the 1800s during the Qing dynasty. There are others like this in Taipei but this particular is the only one that retained its style.

Even the door shows the tests of time.

Our next destination was a beautiful memorial dedicated to Taiwan's former President Chiang Kai Shek called the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial.

We were taking the tour on the eve of Chinese New Year and unfortunately, the memorial was closed that day. We could only walk around the premises of the complex but not inside the hall.

It looks like we came in through the side gate. We were told that stairs have eighty nine steps which is the age of Chiang Kai Shek when he died.

The surrounding landscaping and foliage are a good refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city. There were joggers and walkers in the complex.

Here's what the front of the memorial looks like.

Here's what's inside the hall. I took this black and white picture during my trip to Taipei ten years ago with Mijo.

Our next destination was the Xingtian Temple. We were told that the temple is dedicated to the god of business folks Guan Yu.

We were told that the temple is a center of a set of beliefs combining the elements of Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism. It is located Zhongshan district of the city but they have other Xingtian temples located in Taipei.

Even though there were a lot of devotees inside the temple the day we visited, it felt peaceful and relaxing being there with them.

Since we were in the area, our tour guide did a drive by with a photo op at the Grand Hotel. The hotel was built in 1952 but underwent several renovations and expansions to its present day size. We were told that Nonoy Aquino, Bill Clinton and other famous people had stayed there before.

Another landmark in the Zhongshan district is the Martyrs' Shrine. This site is dedicated to the Taiwanese people who died during the wars of the 20th century including the war Xinhai Revolution which overthrew the China's last dynasty and created Taiwan or Republic of China.

The complex is big and it consists of a main gate, an area for parades or marches, another gate which serves as a portal to the shrine, a terrace with reliefs and the shrine itself. I was impressed with how the entire place looks new.

Here is the relief of the Guangzhou Uprising. This was going to be the 10th uprising in Guangzhou but it was thwarted. Even though the uprising failed, it led to a trend of nationwide revolts which ended the Qing government's regime and the birth of the Republic of China.

On the opposite side wall, is the relief of the Battle of Shanghai.

Here are the massive doors of the portal to the shrine. Red and gold are the dominant colors here.

Here is the shrine.

Here is the view of the gate from the shrine. The brown lines on the floor are markings from the sole of the guards from years of marching from the shrine to the gate and back. There is a changing of the guard every hour but we did not see that because of timing issues.

Our next destination was the National Palace Museum. There are two locations and this is the Northern branch. Mijo and I have been there before but we were in and out of the museum because we went there as part of a tour. My mom, sis and I visited as part of a tour so it was again an in and out sort of thing. I think this museum deserves a couple of days visit as the museum houses massive number of items from the Qing dynasty.

We went to see their exhibition at the time called A Garland of Treasures. The exhibition featured small precious craft from the Qing Dynasty. The pieces below are hairpins, collar and head bands made from pearls and precious stones.

Since we were being whisked from one section of the museum to another, I was not sure if I was looking at an item from the exhibit or from the museum's permanent collection. One of my favorites is a painted pottery figure of Standing Lady from the Tang Dynasty.

Here is the back of the figurine.

Another one of my favorites is this concentric ivory balls.

Here is the ball upclose. The details and the design are awe inspiring. I was trying to imagine how this was made and for how long?

Here is a carved coral in the image of the planetary deity Kuixing.

Here is one of the vases in this section showcasing revolving porcelain vases. A revolving porcelain vase consists of two vases - an inner and an outer vase.

I wanted to see the paintings but there was not enough time to linger at the museum. Because of the that, I decided to just send myself a postcard with one of the more famous paintings at the museum.

Here is the view of the museum gate from the museum balcony.

One evening, even though we were tired touring and site seeing around the city, we managed to conjure strength and will to go to the Shilin Night Market. I had been to this night market before but I do not remember it being this crowded.

Our first food conquest was these delicious Xiao Long Bao by Taiwan Xiao Long Bao.

Here are the XLBs upclose. These were very filling which was a problem since we were going to continue with our food conquest.

Our next food conquest was these sweet and tasty rice cakes by Champion Rice Cakes. The rice cakes were made on demand and served fresh from the rice steamers. We had to wait for a few minutes for our rice cakes.

The preparation seems like a lot of work for such a small thing. There were using several rice cake steamers at the time so their setup looked like an assembly line. It was mesmerizing to see. The wait was all worth it because they came out so delicous. The rice cakes came in three variation - sesame, peanut and coconut.

There were more food that I wanted to try but we got full right away.

We found this milk tea place but the name is in Chinese so I won't be able to tell you.

What I can tell you is that they serve this decadent Lava Pure Boba Double Milk. It was so good!

Sweet food galore but I had to say no to myself too many times.

They sell lots of items at the night market. These pins are interesting. If you are in the market for one of a kind pins, they sell them at the night market.

This store called Good Logo sells stylish clothes at reasonable prices. Since I already ate a lot that evening, I didn't look cute and looked plump in all the clothes that I tried on.

No visit to Taipei is complete without going up to the observation deck of the Taipei 101 building and see Taipei from above.

For a perspective, Taipei 101 is truly one of the tallest skyscrapers, not just in Asia, but in the world. Even San Francisco's iconic Transamerica Pyramid is tiny compared to Taipei 101.

I have been up there before with Mijo but I don't remember seeing all these Instagram perfect displays before.

One thing that has not changed is this amazing city view from the observation deck. I tried so hard to figure out where the Ximending district is located but with no luck.

My sis, mom and I were snacking on Big Tom's mango freeze while enjoying the city views.

Another Instagram worthy display is the Fumeancats.

To stabilize the building during an earthquake or strong winds, they installed this damper on the very top of the building. I actually felt little movements while taking pictures in this area.

There is a food court in the basement of the building but we did not eat there.

We got around the city using the efficient and clean MRT.

The MRT also goes all the way to the Taoyuan International Airport from the city center. There were trains every couple of minutes so the turnover is pretty fast. Passengers are not shoulder to shoulder even though lots of people use it.

There are even antiquities on display like this water drain built in Qing dynasty that was unearthed during construction of the subway.

I also enjoyed their playful and fun posters sending a reminder to passengers to give way and give space.

The MRT crowd during a ride.

I especially enjoyed this specific mural.

Here's the mural upclose.

Another thing I would like to mention in this blog is the proliferation of snacks in Taipei and how unique some of them are.

Which one to choose?

It was my first time sampling a bubble milk tea cake. If you like milk teas, you'll relate to the tast of this cake. It was truly tasty!

This cream puff was also one of my favorites. They are quite addicting!

Lots of different kinds of cold beverages.

There was one breakfast when we tried a KFC breakfast. They have unique offerings like this delicious congee and egg custard pie.

Another favorite of mine was a lunch of fishball soup with a serving of sticky rice.

It is always fun to visit Taipei. Lots of things to do, to see and lots of unique food to sample. I hope to be able to visit again in the future.

~rl

Pinoy on a work trip - Enjoyable experience at United Club at LHR

2020-01-19T09:22:00.009-08:00

I had only been to the United Club Lounge at Heathrow International a couple of times because of work trips. Nevertheless, I had an enjoyable experience each time I went.

Let me take you on a virtual tour of the lounge.

The both times I was there, I was flying back home to San Francisco. It was a little before noon time the first time I was there. The lounge is big but it did not seem like that at first because the lounge was packed. It was early in the morning the second time I was there and there were even more passengers enjoying the amenities.

[read my London blog, January 2019]

At the other lounges, I would try out the different types of seats available until I find one that I consider the most comfortable one. I was not able to do that at the United Club in Heathrow because there were not a lot of available seats each time I was there. I made a mental note that maybe the next time I travel for work to London I'll try leaving London in the afternoon and that time may not be as popular as the morning schedule.

[read my United Airlines blog, January 2019]

I tried checking out the washrooms and there was a long line as well. I decided to check out the selection of magazines and they have a good selection. I picked up a travel related magazine so I could have something else to read during my 10 hour flight back to SF.

Here's the bar. It was early in the morning when I took this photo and that is probably why there were only two passengers by the bar.

They have a good selection of British style breakfast, beans, sausages, eggs, etc.

They also have a good selection of healthy and light food like fruits and yogurt.

For those who does not want to eat a lot, they have a selection of cured meats and cheeses.

And of course, coffee and tea.

For my late morning flight, I chose a veggie sausage, a meat sausage, small pieces of ham and bacon and a bagel.

For my early morning flight, I had a full breakfast since I couldn't eat breakfast at the hotel at that time.

I hope that I get to travel again for work to London via United Airlines and when I do, I'll try my best to check out more of the lounge's amenities.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed and was fully satisfied with what I experienced at the United Club lounge. It was truly an enjoyable experience!

~rl

Pinoy on a work trip - Enjoyable experience at United's Polaris Lounge at SFO

2020-01-18T15:07:00.007-08:00

I have been to the United's Polaris Lounge at SFO International several times because of business trips and I always have an enjoyable experience every time time I go.

Let me take you on a virtual tour of this award winning lounge.

The times I flew for a work trip and if the airline I was flying was United or a member of the Star Alliance group, I made it a point to go to the airport early not only so that I didn't miss the flight but also to have enough time to check out the United Polaris lounge at San Francisco International airport (SFO). It is located in Terminal G and it is on the right side as soon as you pass the security checkpoints.

The lounge is huge and split into two floors. The first floor includes seating areas and the shower suites. The second floor has the buffet area, the bar, a separate dining room and more seating areas. The first floor has this area that I'll call The Study because it reminds me of a library complete with shelves, chairs with desks and the silence there is deafening.

The Study is where I stayed right after enjoying the meals upstairs. This area is quieter and usually has less crowd compared to the other seating areas and perfect for catching up on work or reading a book while waiting for boarding time.

The Study also has an area for refreshments, fruits and snacks so there is no need to go upstairs to pick up something to drink or munch on.

The main floor is upstairs and this is where the buffet is located. This section also includes more seating areas. I love that there are lots of natural lighting. And when the blinds are pulled down in the afternoon, natural lighting still comes through the blinds which is great.

I took this picture of their buffet during an afternoon flight. They were offering light lunch such as salads, soups, pastas, California rolls, meat dishes, etc.

There was also a time I was there early in the day because my flight was leaving in the morning so the buffet was serving breakfast such as croissants, eggs, sausages, fresh fruits, etc.

The hot beverage section has a good selection of coffee and tea.

There are more seating areas near the buffet and here's what it looks like.

On the other side of the same floor upstairs, there is an area called The Studio. It has more seating areas with tables and chairs more suitable for group meetings.

Or just watching the planes taxi in and out of the gates with a view of SFO's control tower.

The Studio also has snacks and refreshments available.

Also near the buffet is the bar. How could I forget the bar?

Downstairs near the area I call The Study is The Shower Suites. I had lots of time in one of my trips to check out the Shower Suites even though I didn't need a shower.

I've been to other business class lounges before and I like the layout and the size of the shower rooms in Polaris. It gives you more privacy and with ample size for my carry-on and for moving around. They have towels from Saks Fifth Avenue and they have one Ghirardelli chocolate on the counter as an added sweet touch.
Great attention to detail!

Also on the same floor, they have areas designed for lounging and resting complete with a bottled water, eye masks and slippers. Just don't forget to set an alarm in case you take a nap so you don't miss your flight.

Another thing I love about the Polaris lounge is their Dining Room. It is a separate area from the buffet area where you can sit down and order meals and drinks like you do at restaurants. I also like to eat at the Dining Room because the serving is just perfect - not too big, not too small.

Even though there are always lines at the Dining Room, it always goes fast. A couple of times I was there in the mornings, I only needed to wait for less than 5 minutes. The afternoons seemed to be less crowded. I noticed the natural lighting right away.

One time, I ordered this refreshing drink called Just in Thyme which is a Balvenie Doublewood double malt cocktail with lemon, blueberry and thyme syrup.

I also sampled this delicious rosemary shrimp dish.

This double chocolate Skillet cookie is the best cookie ever.

Another time during a morning flight, I sampled their tasty dimsum.

During an afternoon flight, I tried their delicious apricot tarte tatin with peaches with vanilla ice cream.

Another time, I sampled their tasty crab cake and soup of the day.

Also their mango pudding with hot tea.

I always enjoy going to the Polaris lounge at SFO. For me, it is five stars quality with friendly service, very well designed lounge, clean facilities and delicious food and refreshing drinks.

~rl

Pinoy on a work trip - Enjoyable experience aboard United Airlines

2020-01-12T21:35:00.016-08:00

I recently flew on United Airlines from San Francisco to London for a work trip for a total flight time of a little over 10 hours, and then back.

Let me take you on a virtual tour what it is like inside a United Airlines flight with all the comfort of a business class cabin.

Only aisle seats were available when my flight was booked. I was not surprised about that because I was flying on a Friday morning and London flights from SFO seem pretty popular for both business and leisure travels. The aisle seats for this configuration is not a problem anyway since they also have access to the aisles without bothering a seatmate.

[read my SFO Polaris lounge blog, January 2019]

The configuration also allows for ample space to store personal items especially electronics such as phones and handheld devices. Electrical outlets are also near the desk area which makes it convenient for charging devices.

[read my London blog, January 2019]

Since the seats are a little offset, it allows for having a foot rest infront while seated or lying flat for sleeping. The chairs also recline mechanically. Because of the seat configuration, the leg space may be a little small for tall passengers. I actually prefer this configuration over the other United Airlines flights I've been on going to London.

Here's a seat configuration in one of my previous flights going to London where the seats are all aligned. I had to bother my neighbor every time I went to the lavatory. I am not sure if this is an older seat configuration.

Another thing I liked about my recent United Airlines flights was the free toiletry bag. It could be reused to carry toiletries for weekend trips.

Here's what they used to give away in my previous Business Class flights to and from London. There's just too limited use for a tin can, in my opinion. So I am happy that I got a real toiletry bag in my recent trip.

The inflight entertainment includes many new movies and music. As always, I used this opportunity to try out good non mainstream music while I read my book.

Now for the inflight meals. They were serving two kinds of red wine vintages - a 2013 Malbec by Bodega Catena Zapata and a 2014 Medoc wine by Chateau Greysac. Thanks to the flight staff, they let me try both wines.

I paired the Malbec with the warm nuts.

They served this tasty Thai style lemon grass shrimp with papaya and mango salad.

For the main, I chose this delicious seared turbot with wild rice and veggies.

For dessert, I chose a pie and a brownie.

I paired the dessert with a 2014 port called Churchill's.

For arrival dining service, they were serving this tasty caprese omelet.

[read my LHR United Club lounge blog, January 2019]

They were using the same plane and configuration for my London to San Francisco flight. The difference were this toiletry kit and the food offerings. The toiletry contents are similar to the one I got from the San Francisco to London flight.

They were serving this well balanced Bourgogne wine called Cote de Beaune-Villages.

I always look forward to munching on these warm nuts paired with a red wine.

For starters, they were serving this tasty salad and meat pate.

For the main, I selected this delicious seared salmon with veggies.

I paired these select decadent pieces with the same port wine by Churchill's.

I tried their snack offering of cheese, fruits and crackers.

For the pre arrival meal, I sampled their warm and patty filled sandwich.

All in all, the flight was comfortable and I really liked the seat configuration because it made me feel I had privacy while having enough space I need for reading and relaxing while flying. This flight was a few notches better than my previous United Polaris flight experience.

I can't wait for my next United Airlines business class flight.

~rl

Pinoy in London - Back in the city for work and a bit of site seeing

2020-01-11T14:40:00.030-08:00

I was back in London for a quick work trip. Because of family commitments, I couldn't extend the trip beyond two extra days.

I was able to see London despite of the time constraints. It still was an enjoyable trip.

This trip was like the Bangalore trip I had right before this one. Abrupt and last minute. This was the reason why I couldn't plan my itinerary outside of my work hours properly.

[read my London blog, October 2018]

I flew with United Airlines this time and it was a very pleasant flight. The good thing about flying into London Heathrow is that it is only a little over 10 hours of plane ride away from San Francisco. For freebies, United gave this cute goodie bag during the flight. I am not sure if this is something they're doing now because they used to only give out small tin cans with the toiletries in it. I like this goodie bag better because a bag is more practical and can be reused many many times unlike the tin can which has very limited ways for reuse.

[read my United Airlines blog, January 2019]

Even though I had flown into Heathrow airport many times and three times in the last three years, I always forget the very long walk I have to take to get out of the airport and to the transportation lines. That walk must be longer than a mile! I would perspire by the time I reach the train platforms.

[read my London blog, June 2017]

I love London's public transport and they made the London Heathrow (LHR) airport easily accessible to and from the city. San Francisco International (SFO) is also easily reached via the Bay Area Rapid Train (BART). There was a time when Mijo and I traveled on a personal trip to London and we literally did a train-to-airport-to-train by hopping on a BART train from our neighborhood in the city to get to SFO and then from Heathrow to the London borough of Westminster via the London underground.

The ride to Paddington station from the airport is roughly 15 minutes.

I can never get tired of this view!

This time the Hilton Paddington hotel was selected for me as my temporary home for this trip. The hotel is connected to the station via this small shopping area with lots of options for dining and shopping.

I arrived early and I couldn't check in to my hotel room right away so I decided to walk around the city while there was still day light. I was going to meet up with my childhood friend B later on the day. I got off Leicester Square station and had planned to walk from there all the way to the Southbank.

I had done this Golden Jubilee Bridges walk before but on the other side. This bridge is actually a set of three parallel bridges. One railway bridge and two foot bridges. The footbridges are on the sides of the railway bridge. This is why there are two completely different views. Both views are equally picturesque.

This side has this view - the Thames River, the London Eye, and the Big Ben.

I always enjoy a stroll around the Southbank especially during the weekend. There is an air of easiness and relaxation.

There was a Christmas Market up already this early in the season.

I love it!

There were a lot of families with young kids having fun!

And of course, the view is picturesque no matter what time of day I am there. One of my favorite skyscrapers in London is One Blackfriars, which is the glass building that has a boomerang shape in the picture below. Because of its shape, the building has a different look depending on the time of day because of the way the light is reflected off the building.

Even though I had no plans of buying anything, perusing through these used books and prints gave me a very London feel. I was browsing through the books and trying to think if these titles are available in my little neighborhood bookstore in San Francisco. There were times I felt like I was judging London readers based on these selections of books.

I finally reached Tate Modern to see the Olafur Eliasson exhibition but the only tickets available that day were for 5pm onward. I was going to meet my friend B later that afternoon so I figured it was not meant for me to see the art exhibit.

Fortunately, the museum currently has these massive sculptures by Kara Walker on display in its main hall. This one is called Fons Americanus. It is inspired by the Victoria Memorial (in front of the Buckingham Palace) and presents a story of the African diaspora and a statement about slavery. It explores the intersection of the histories of Europe, America and Africa and uses water as its key theme.

The other sculpture is a shell grotto. I didn't see an inscription written anywhere near the sculpture so I do not know if this was part of the Kara Walker installation.

After my visit to the Tate Modern, I decided to finally walk on the Millennium Bridge. I had been to London many times but I have never been or walked on the Millennium Bridge. If you had seen the Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince movie, you'd probably remember this bridge. There was a moment I stopped and tried to feel the wobble but no wobble.

The St. Paul Cathedral is on the other end of the bridge so I decided to walk to the cathedral. Taking photos is not allowed inside and I knew that. I just went inside to escape the cold weather and get myself some needed rest and break.

I went to get a quick bite at Paul Cafe which is near the cathedral. I had eaten at a Paul Cafe in their other London and Paris locations before so I had an idea what I'd get. I had an artichoke salad and but got carried away with the dessert of lemon tarte and raspberry macaron. Mind you, these sweets are a bit larger than the normal sizes I'm accustomed to. I only had a small slice of each and then brought the left over back to the hotel. I didn't want to waste these tasty treats.

I went back to the hotel to finally check in and to freshen up. I took a short nap and then waited for my friend B to meet me up at the hotel to go have dinner. She suggested to go to a Filipino place called Romulo Cafe on Kensington High Street.

Coincidentally, I had been to a Romulo Cafe in Manila before and I loved the food they serve. This made me even more curious to check out their London location. They sat us right away and served us these warm pandesal as soon as we got there. Apparently, you can buy pan de sal for take away at this restaurant and this is exactly what B did.

We decided to get the following: shrimp paste bagoong fried rice, chicken sisig, grilled stuffed squid and smoked fish tinapa spring rolls with cider vinegar. Everything was super delicious and it was truly Filipino but with a British twist!

For desserts, we decided to get the banana fritters turon with toffee sauce and sans rival coated with coursely ground nuts. Even though I saw my friend B a year ago in London, I still had a great time catching up with her over Filipino dinner. I was going to see her and her husband J later on this trip.

Monday morning arrived and the Hilton Paddington was serving a familiar breakfast selection of eggs, grilled tomatoes, beans, sausage and toast. They leave an entire carafe of coffee on the table. They have an omelet station and a good selection of fruits.

As always, I love the English style orange marmalade!

Monday ended and my first day at work was a success. Since I cannot tell you what had transpired at work, I can only tell you about my daily evening strolls in London. I can also tell you about my dinners and the live theatre performances I saw that week. The sun went down after 4pm during the month of November so 6pm looked dark like it was already very late at night.

I went back to the hotel to drop off my work stuff. Like my previous work trip to London, I decided to do another 'after office hours walk' around the city on Monday evening. After a quick bus ride from Paddington to the Marble Arch, I decided to walk from there on Oxford Street.

From there, I walked a couple of big blocks to The Selfridges department store to get my shopping list checked off.

My shopping list wasn't a lot but I had in my list some tea for family and there is no better place for that but at the Food Hall of The Selfridges.

Since I was in the area, I decided to get dinner inside the department store at a place called Brass Rail. I had a light dinner of tuna melt with a cup of chicken soup. The food was good but I couldn't finish the dinner because I think I was more tired than hungry.

Tuesday went by so quickly and it was another prolific day at work. I was going to meet my friends B and J at Covent Garden for drinks and dinner after work. Since I had time to kill before our planned meeting time, I decided to drop by an eclectic record store called Fopp. My plan was to get off at Picadilly Circus and walk on Shaftesbury Avenue to Fopp.

I made it to Fopp and was able to find the CD that I was looking for and another one my friend D wanted me to get for her. It was drizzling that night with a bit of wind making it extra challenging to use my umbrella. From Fopp, I walked on Earlham St. and got to this cute intersection called Seven Dials.

My leisurely walks brought me to this well lit alley called Conduit Court. I am not sure if it was lit because of the Holidays or it is always like this? It leads to another equally cute street called Floral Court.

I finally made it to Covent Garden! I was secretly happy about all the different sights that I stumbled into during my walks that evening.

My friends B, J and I grew up in the same neighborhood outside of Manila but they now live in London. I saw them a year ago when I went to London for another work trip. Mijo and I also saw them a couple of years ago when we visited London on a personal trip.

B, J and I decided to go to Buns and Buns to get something light for dinner. I ordered this very tasty Passion Fruit by Drake drink and then we shared an order of crispy calamari and then we each ordered a bun. I ordered the truffle and mushroom bun. B and J ordered pork belly buns. It was a very delicious and light dinner.

We continued our catching up while leisurely walking to Chinatown. I had never been to London's Chinatown before that evening. The place is crowded even though it was raining. The lanterns hanging above us made the scene extra festive despite the cold and the damp feeling.

B and J wanted to have desserts at a Filipino ice cream parlor called Mamasons. I didn't ask what's with the name but I thought it is kind of catchy and quite easy to remember.

I didn't expect for an ice cream place to be crowded on a cold night. We were there for a long time and I noticed the turnover was pretty quick because groups would come and go. Business is doing well and I'm so happy for them. We ordered what is called bilog or ice cream filled sandwiches or pandesal. The flavors are ube and black coconut. They were both extra delicious!

Wednesday felt long and I could feel the exhaustion taking over my body. I decided that evening maybe a good time to see a musical or live theatre. That night was my chill night.

I decided to see Only Fools and Horses at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. The musical is based on a popular British sitcom of the same title. Even though I didn't grow up in London, the musical made the punchlines easy to understand that even I was able to get most of them so that was great. Some references to the French and Italian languages were also used in the jokes so my little European language skills came in handy. The play was so good and entertaining that it kept me awake the entire time.

I went to Duck and Waffle Local for dinner which is near the theatre. I decided to get their... duck and waffle. That was so predictable of me, wasn't it? I must tell you though. It was so good I'll try to go back here and bring my friends B and J if I get to go back to London for work.

Thursday also felt long. The good thing was that I had a full night of sleep the night before so I had reserved energy for my city stroll on Thursday night. Carnaby Street in SOHO was having a lighting ceremony that night so I went to check it out.

They even had a live DJ playing festive Holiday songs and also the latest pop songs. Too bad my friend B and J were not available because they would have enjoyed this event.

Even the adjacent streets near Carnaby also had their festive lights on.

For dinner, I went for simple and unassuming Italian comfort food at Spaghetti House near Carnaby St.

Finally, Friday arrived and it was going to be the last day of my official work duties. The day felt long and the week longer and I felt exhausted. However, I didn't want to waste my Friday night so I decided to take it easy and saw Woman In Black at the Fortune Theatre. It was my first time to see a suspenseful plot on a live theatre. That was a great play and managed to keep everyone on our toes. It was that scary!

For dinner, I went back to Paddington and found a restaurant near the hotel called Il Gusto. I had a light meal of minestrone soup and bruschetta paired with a house wine of Chianti Classico while trying to fill out my post cards. Like the other evening, I was more tired than hungry.

I extended my stay for two more days to take advantage of the weekend so that I could spend one more day with my childhood friends B and J and also to see some part of the city that I haven't seen before.

Since I was going to be paying out of pocket for my accommodation during that weekend, I wanted a budget hotel near the Hilton. I checked out of Hilton right after breakfast and then checked in to a more modest hotel called Rose Park also in the same Paddington area.

This place is only one block away from the Paddington station and the surroundings look like the place was miles away from the train station. The great thing about that boutique hotel was that they checked me in right away. This gave me extra time before I meet up with my friends B and J later that morning.

After I checked in and left my luggages at my hotel room, I took the underground to go to Westfield Shepherd Bush because that was where I was going meet up with B and J. I got to the mall early so I was able to walk around the mall to check it out. People seem like they were already in the festive mood for some Holiday shopping.

B, J and I went to Oxford and spent the entire rainy afternoon there. I'll try to write a blog about my trips to Oxford when I get a chance. We had a late dinner at Jollibee back in London. I had a great time with them. Even though this work trip was only for one week, I got to see them on two evenings and the entire Saturday.

Sunday arrived. The breakfast at my modest hotel was also simpler compared to my breakfasts at the Hilton. This continental breakfast was enough to last me until noon.

It rained all day Saturday but Sunday was sunny and fair.

I had planned to walk around SOHO that day. The Sunday scene was peaceful and very quiet.

I did a similar Sunday walk a year ago around Picadilly Circus. This is where I did mental notes about stores, restaurants and hotels for the next trips, if there would be any.

I even saw restaurant called Tortilla that is not only Californian, not only San Franciscan, but Mission District of all places.
Mission District burrito rocks!

I love these streets. I remember I had lunch with a colleague around this area and this street looked different during the week with crowd in it.

I saw the Jamie musical a year ago and I loved it. I noticed that they have a new lead actor different from when I last saw the musical.

My walk took me to the National Portrait Gallery. In my many travels to London, I had not been to this museum until this trip. So I made sure to give myself enough time to see the collections.

This museum houses portraits of prominent British from several centuries ago to the present time like portraits of Shakespeare, Sir Isaac Newton, famous royals, dukes, writers, scientists, showbiz, etc. Of course, my favorites are the Tudors and Queen Elizabeth I.

And guess whose portrait made it to the museum? Everybody's favorite pop singer?

I went to the nearest Pret-a-Manger for a late lunch. I ordered a salmon salad, a split pea soup and a cup of fruit.

I also tried, for the very first time, minced pie. I didn't know it was really good and sweet. I had originally thought it was a savory pie. I think they are only available during the Holiday season.

I dropped by the National Gallery just because it is next door and I had time to kill after my late lunch. That was just the second time I visited the museum. The gallery where Van Gogh's works are displayed, as always, was packed with art lovers.

I also brought home a Van Gogh magnet for the fridge.

Outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, there was a Christmas Market.

Too bad because I just had lunch about an hour ago. I very much wanted to try these pancakes but I was still full. I couldn't buy anything either because there was not any more room left in my luggage.

I walked back to Leicester Square and I couldn't help but admire these Christmas lights. It is true what they say about London during Christmas season. That Christmas time is a magical experience because of the city goes out of its way to show the Holiday spirit.

I heard about the angel lights on Oxford St. from my coworkers. Unfortunately, those lights were not going to be lit until one week after I leave.

Fortunately, the Christmas market just opened that evening.

I feel lucky to have seen these markets while I was there. Too bad I couldn't bring these goodies with me because I wasn't sure if they travel well.

For dinner, I wasn't really hungry but I didn't want to go back to the hotel and then look for something to eat around there. Good thing I found this place called Wok to Walk selling chow meins to go.

Even though it wasn't late yet, the thin crowd in the subway was a tell tale sign that it was Sunday night and my trip was winding down.

The following day was a Monday and I took an early Heathrow Express train back to the airport.

Even though only I saw the city mostly at night, I still managed to enjoy this work trip. As always, I love going to this city. Until the next time, London!

~rl

Pinoy in SG - What to do on a 10 hour layover in Singapore?

2019-12-10T18:14:00.011-08:00

I was traveling from India on business when I had a long stop over in Singapore on my way back to San Francisco. That's enough time to enjoy the city and the country's world class airport.

Let me show you what I did during that long layover.

I landed at Changi International airport on an early Saturday morning en route to San Francisco during a business trip to Bangalore and the layover was going to be for ten hours. Luckily, Singapore is a great city to visit even with just a few hours to spare.

[read my Bangalore blog, November 2019]

Even though I had just visited Singapore a couple of months earlier with my mom and siblings and their families, there are so much more things that I still wanted to do or see in the city. One of them is the free Singapore Tour from the airport. Unfortunately, the time slot that was ideal for my schedule was already booked.

[read my Singapore blog, July 2019]

Luckily, my friends from high school D and L are available to meet up for lunch at the Rasapura Masters at the Marina Bay Sands. I had been there several times and I liked it. After I freshened up at the Silver Kris lounge, I was ready to meet up with my friends.

[read my Silver Kris Lounge blog, Nov 2019]

The great thing about Changi is that it is connected to the city center via the clean and very efficient MRT train system. All I had to do was hop on the East West line (green line) and transfer at Expo for the Downtown line (blue line) and get off at Bayfront station. That would take me directly to the Marina Bay Sands in just an hour.

I was hoping that I was a little early to the Marina Bay Sands foodcourt or the Rasapura Marters so that I could take more pictures of the area. However, my friends got there before I did which was also great because it gave us more time to catch up. Since they are the savvy ones when it comes to Singaporean food, I let them decide what to order. We had pan fried noodles with shrimp, fish ball noodles and a Nasi Lemak combo. What a feast!

For desserts, we ordered the Singaporean coffee called kopi. We paired them with varieties of Mysore Pak that I brought from my trip to Bangalore. The lunch alone took around four hours and the time was not enough to spend with my friends.

As if our bonding time was not enough, we decided something all three of us have never done before - to take the Sampan Ride. The ride was a very touristy and bordering on the kitschy sdie. Honestly, I was not surprised to hear the both my friends have not been on that ride. But they were both sport to join me in the ride.

This is what the sampan looks like. This is also what we would have looked like. Too bad there was nobody we knew who would take out picture from that angle! For the next time, perhaps?

That is where the boat turns around - under the Rain Oculus.

This is what the Rain Oculus looks like upclose. This picture does not do justice to the structure and to the manmade falls because the sheer volume of water falling is insane. It would have drenched us if we had gotten any closer.

I couldn't believe that over four hours have passed. Time truly flies when you're having fun. I had to say my good byes to them and then jumped on the MRT to get back to the airport with enough time to a little sight seeing at Changi.

I had seen The Jewel in my previous trip to Singapore. The Jewel is a huge manmade water falls and tropical forest with fresh smelling orchids in the middle of Changi. It was newly opened then so it was packed with visitors and locals alike. Maybe there would be less people a few months after its opening?

Beautiful hanging planters near The Jewel. It is unfortunately that people are too in a hurry to see The Jewel that these beautiful decorations are usually left unnoticed.

The fresh scent of the plants and orchids inside The Jewel fills the entire complex. I sat there for a few minutes admiring this engineering marvel and also resting my tired feet.

I wanter to enjoy the amenities at the Silver Kris Lounge before my flight back to San Francisco so I decided to not linger much longer at The Jewel and to head back to my departure gate. On my way to the gate, I chanced upon a couple of art exhibits at the same terminal. One of them is called China Lit and it consisted of lights in concentric circles which symbolize the dynamism and energy that is happening today in China's major cities.

Another art exhibit is called Flora Inspiration which are two big marble sculptures by artist Han Bai Yu which symbolize Singapore as Garden City.

I had a little over an hour to enjoy the amenities at the Silver Kris. I wrote a separate blog regarding my wonderful experience at the lounge.

[read my Silver Kris blog, November 2019]

All in all I think that I spent my ten hours well - ate very tasty food, go to hang out with my friends from high school, saw The Jewel and got to enjoy the amenities at the Silver Kris.

~rl

Pinoy on a work trip - Enjoyable flight experience on Singapore Airlines

2019-12-07T19:01:00.086-08:00

I recently flew on Singapore Airlines from San Francisco to Bangalore with a layover in Singapore for a total flight time of a little over 20 hours, and then back.

Let me take you on a virtual tour what it is like inside a Singapore Airlines flight with all the comfort of a business class cabin.

I got a window seat for all the legs of my trip - SFO to SIN, SIN to BLR, BLR to SIN and then SIN to SFO. Even though the type of planes that I flew were not the same, the seat configurations are almost similar because they only have four Business Class seats per row. I think that is generous. Even the middle seats had access to the aisles so you do not have to disturb your seat mate when getting up.

[read my Silver Kris lounge blog, Novermber 2019]

The seats are wide so I had some wiggle room. The back rest is folded forward manually to change the seat into bed mode and you have to step out to the aisle to do this. The catch is that you can't just wake up and push a button to get into a semi seated position. You have to get up and step out to the aisle to undo the bed and manually redo the seat.

[read my Bangalore blog, Novermber 2019]

There is a separate seat belt when the seat is in bed mode and that felt so much more comfortable versus other business class beds so that is a plus for me. The bed also has less bumps compared to other airlines and the bed is firm which is what I prefer.

The design is generous in desk space for magazines, book or laptop. Lots of leg room too. There's a foot stool on the side. I had to sit diagonally to rest my legs while sitting down. This is because the seats in this configuration are all lined up instead of being a little offset.

For the inflight entertainment during my SFO - SIN leg, lots of movies to choose from but I wanted to read my book instead. I enjoyed their music selection and got to try out lots of good new non mainstream music.

These great noise cancelling headsets made listening to music even better while reading.

I always love these lightly scented hot towels that they pass before serving the meals.

For the wines, they were serving two Bordeaux wines and another Bordeaux style from Sonoma county. I decided to try their 2016 Bordeaux by Clarendelle. It was well balanced and it went well with my meals.

I always love these warm nuts.

They had several sets of lunch to choose from which includes meats, vegetarian, poultry and seafood. I chose the seafood. For the appetizer, I got this tasty seared scallops with shrimp, tomatoes and fennel.

For the main, I got this delicious grilled halibut with spinach and potatoes.

For dessert, I got this decadent passion fruit mousse cake paired with this green tea blend called Silver Moon by TWG.

I asked about the toiletry bags and I was told that they do not have those because all the toiletries should be available inside the lavatories and they are well stocked or frequently replenished.

For my snacks while reading, I was craving for something salty.

After a few hours, they served dinner. I chose this fresh peach salad with roasted fennel, walnuts and cheese paired again with the same Bordeaux wine from lunch.

Next was this tasty pan seared sea bass fillet with vegetable stew.

For dessert, it came with this delectable lemon food cake.

I decided to sample another TWG tea called Vanilla Bourbon red tea. This is what I liked about this flight. I got to sample great teas that I normally don't drink at home.

The configuration of the seats for my SIN - BLR leg of the trip is a bit different than the SFO - SIN because the foot rest is directly infront so that means no more diagonal seating. The seat seemed not as wide though. Same Singapore Airlines ultra friendly and attentive service. Since the flight was only a little over four hours, I did not try their flat bed.

I decided to pair these warm nuts with a Rumba cocktail which is a concoction of rum, pineapple juice and 7-up. Perfect!

For dinner, I was not really hungry because they fed me a lot during my SFO - SIN leg. However, I took this opportunity to try out their Indian dishes. For appetizer, I decided to get their very tasty Chettinad rice cake.

For the main, I got this meal bursting with flavors called Thanjavur prawn curry.

For dessert, this simple yet decadent coconut jaggery cheesecake. My flight from SFO all the way to BLR may be almost 24 hours but it was comfortable.

For my BLR - SIN flight, I was flying at one o'clock in the morning. Even though I had eaten dinner at the Bangalore airport's lounge, I worked all day earlier and had gone to the airport from the office directly so I was more tired than hungry. After I had a sip of this refreshing mango lassi, I just dropped to my seat and fell asleep right away. This was unfortunate because I wanted to try the other meal offerings I had not tried in my previous flights.

For my SIN - SFO flight, I decided I was not going to miss the meals. Here was the welcome champagne drink.

The previous flight, I tried their Bordeaux wine from Clarendelle. For this leg, I decided to try their other Bordeaux wine by Chateau du Taillan. Another well balanced wine!

I decided to get their antipasto.

For the main, I sampled their delicious lamb navarin.

For the dessert, I chose their delectable baked lemon tart paired with a chamomile tea by TWG.

I tried a different snack set this time. I chose their crackers and cheese and then their artisan chocolates with a mandarin orange.

For breakfast, I had fresh fruits and croissant with coffee and fresh OJ.

I decided to try their Congee. It was super delicious!

And it came with a dimsum set.

I had flown on Singapore Airlines several times but in their economy cabin and I had a great time. Now that I experienced flying in their Business Class cabin, I could say that it was one of the flights where I was most well rested. It was a very comfortable trip and the service was ultra friendly and the food super delicious. It was a five star experience!

~rl

Back in Bangalore - Exploring more of the city

2019-11-30T16:37:00.020-08:00

I was back in Bangalore for a couple of grueling weeks for work. This trip came up abruptly that is why I couldn't properly plan the site seeing part of this it and ended up staying in city most of the time.

In the end, I got to see more of BLR and got to know more about this vibrant city.

I've had the opportunity to travel to Bangalore for the first time in 2016 for work. It allowed me to travel to other places in India and to see Taj Mahal and Amber Fort to name a few.
That trip was amazing!

[read my Bangalore blog, September 2016]

For this year, I had another chance to go to Bangalore for work. The only catch was that the trip preparation was abrupt and that did not allow me to plan the trip well so that I could squeeze in a side trip. Because of that, I decided to stay in Bangalore the entire two weeks instead.

The great thing about going back to India is that I like going there. I also had an idea how long the air travel was going to be so I was able to psyche myself and that made the air plane ride less of a drag.

Thanks to the superb service at Singapore Airlines and for making the 20+ hours of air travel not only comfortable but also enjoyable.

[read my Singapore Airlines flight blog, December 2019]

I stayed at the Leela Palace hotel for the entire two weeks. The hotel is huge. My first impression of the hotel? Never ending hallways. I remember walking through long hallways and turning left or right many times right after check in. I couldn't wait to get to my room. When the flight is that long, however comfortable the air travel maybe, the first thing on my mind is to get out of my clothes.

Thanks to the Leela Palace for this welcome snack! I was going to learn in my stay at this hotel that they do try to make your stay there feel like you are in a palace. And I think they are successful with that. From the food, to the service and every bit of detail are carefully thought of with the guests in mind.

I arrived in Bangalore on a Friday night to give myself a couple of days to unwind and to allow for my body to get accustomed to the time change. The following morning, the only plan I had in mind was to get a proper breakfast. I headed right away to the buffet breakfast which was part of my stay at the Leela Palace. The breakfast is served at The Citrus restaurant.

The hotel's breakfast did not disappoint because it was such a feast and quite fitting in a palace hotel setting. There was a time in the beginning of this trip that it took me a while to figure out which Indian dish I was going to eat for breakfast.

They serve Western, Indian and some Asian breakfast dishes. I was going to find out later in the trip that the selections of dishes change everyday. I made a mental note that I would try to eat Indian food throughout this trip.

They were serving Gulab Jamun for dessert that day. I made a mental note that I had to make room for this.

They have a selection of Western pastries. During work week, I took a pastry to go as my snack at the office. I also took a banana and an apple with me to the office. I think we were not supposed to take food with us but oh well.

For my breakfast, I was helped by the hotel's staff in this selection. They might have over done it because they gave me three types of dosas to sample and I couldn't finish them all. Remember, I also had to make room for the gulab jamun for desserts.

Since I didn't have plans that morning, instead of going back to bed because of major jetlag, I decided to do a self tour of the beautiful hotel. I started with the hotel lobby and the hallways. I learned that the hotel was built in 2001 in the style of the Royal Palace of Mysore. It has over 300 luxurious rooms mostly with balconies. There is a mall inside the hotel complex called The Collonade which features cafes and stores selling Indian brands.

There was a beautifully laid out rangoli in an area of hotel's lobby to celebrate the harvest festival. Because the rangoli was made of millions of petals, the hotel lobby smelled of fresh flowers. It was heavenly!

Here's the rest of the hotel lobby pictures. It truly felt like I was staying in a palace. The hotel wifi is available in this area as well. Many hotel guests sat around here to work and check on their emails in their shorts and flipflops. I worked from this area a couple of times during this trip.

My next self tour was the exterior of the hotel. This was the first thing I saw when I got out of the taxi from the airport. This area is where hotel guests get picked up and dropped off.

There was one time while waiting for the company car to pick me up, I waited next to this basin with flowers. The attention to detail of the hotel managers is amazing!

One hotel service that I truly enjoyed was their yoga session every 6am Monday through Saturday. The practice lasts for an hour and ends around 7:15 to 7:20 -ish. This schedule was perfect because it is right before I prepare for work in the morning and before breakfast. Don't forget to apply mosquito repellent before yoga because the entire wall facing the pool opens up and there are mosquitoes in the Bangalore weather.

During my commute from the hotel to the office, I took pictures from inside the company car when the traffic is slow. It is always easy for me to romanticize watching the hustle and bustle of the locals and the day to day life in Bangalore is no exception.

Locals walking, riding the bus or tuktuk getting to their place of work or market or back to their homes. For this trip, I've taken a tuktuk ride to go to the nearest mall from the Leela Palace hotel.

Here's a sight that I saw many times during my two week stay in the city because this toy vendor was in the service car took to go to the office almost every day.

Since I cannot tell you what transpired in this trip regarding work, I can tell you about the delicious lunches I had at the office cafeteria. I stayed true to my goal that I would only eat Indian food during my stay in Bangalore. This chicken biryani was my favorite. It was also the first time I sampled a dessert called Mysore Pak. I was going to be sampling this Indian sweets again on my travels to Mysore in the middle of this trip.

There was one time the entire team took a mid-morning break and walked to a nearby Chai Point to enjoy a cup of chai tea. Everyone had the same idea because it was crowded when we got there. I can't help but notice how young and vibrant the Bangalore workforce are. It is actually a reflection of our team in Bangalore.

The entire team also went out on a Friday night to a brew pub nearby the office called the Prost Brew Pub. It is inside a midrise building but on the higher floor so we had to take an elevator to get there. On the ground level, there is a selection of restaurants called Kitchens @ Mahadevapura but I was told it is for take out orders only.

After we got off the elevator, the brew pub's host walked us to our table. We passed by this full bar our way to the roof top.

The place is huge. They have an indoor and outdoor area. The outdoor part is on the roof top.

Here's the view from the rooftop. Bangalore is huge and sprawling.

The team pre selected this so I could taste the beer offerings in the brew pub. I am not a beer drinker but I appreciate tasty drinks like these. Thanks to my Bangalore-savvy colleagues for picking this brew pub because I had a pretty great time. Thanks team!

I stayed in Bangalore for the weekend so I made plans to explore the city and see the places that were not part of the tour the first time I went to Bangalore a few years back. The first in my list of places to see was the Indian Music Experience.

The Indian Music Experience is a museum and a learning space about Indian music. It is a well curated collection of artifacts that showcases Indian music and its origins and many influences, its development and many more. I learned lots of information in this visit.

The first stop is the theatre showing a short documentary about the origins of music and then focuses the subject into Indian music. It is very well written, entertaining as well as educational. The length of the film is just right.

The next section is the Contemporary Music section. This is the part where I connect with Indian music so I am glad that they made this section one of the first ones in the order. Lots of hands on and user experience in this section. Lots of areas to listen to all types of contemporary Indian music - Rock, World, Indie, Electronic, Pop, etc. There are tuktuks that serve as private listening booths.

There are theories that Indian classical music originated from many sources such as folk melodies and ritual chants from temples. These origins are explored in this section - Origins of Music. Like in the previous section, there are playable sample ritual music and dances such as Bhajan-Kirtan, Kathakali, Kootiyattam, Bharatanatyam, Manipuri, Sattriya, and many more.

It further investigates the conventions of Indian classical music. There are two main types of classical music and they believe these music evolved separately. Karnatik music is the main classical tradition of south of the country and Hindustani the rest of country. These music differ from each other on the presentation, composition, instruments and many others.

Speaking of instruments, here are the different instruments used in Indian classical music. It shows how rich and diverse India's tradition is when it comes to music. These instruments are also the product of India's assimilation of styles from West and Central Asia.

This section showcases the big name stars, composers and singers in India's music and film industry through the years.

These legends have created something lasting for the next generations to see or to listen.

There are a lot more sections and details that I couldn't include in this blog. I'd visit that place again if I get another chance to go to Bangalore in the future.

Here's my little short story to share during my visit to IME - I love IME.

I forgot to mention earlier that from the hotel it took me almost an hour to get to IME because both the hotel and the museum are on the opposite ends of the city. From IME, it took me another 40 minutes to get to my next destination - the National Gallery of Modern Art. Unfortunately, taking photos is not allowed inside the museum so I have nothing to show you except these photos of the museum's facade.

For lunch, I went to yet another end of the city. I've always wanted to see the Phoenix Marketplace Mall and I thought that that early afternoon was a good time. I walked around the mall at first and then I found this small tea shop where I bought a pack of loose leaf tea.

And then I found this fast food place in the middle of mall called Cha by Tata Tea. I ordered a lunch set called Kheema Palav which is ground chicken with potatoes and green beans. It was delicious and very spicy. It came with a glass of ice tea and three pieces of bread rolls.

I strolled some more and got to the mall next door called VR Bengaluru mall. It is smaller than the Phoenix Marketplace mall, however, it looked more upscale.

This was also where I found the I Heart BLR sign.

The mall also has an IMAX theatre, though, I was not keen to see a movie that day.

For coffee and desserts, I went to Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters which is next door to a Starbucks. I thought I'd go for something local.

The following day was a Sunday and I've pre-arranged a tour of Mysore, a guided tour of the Royal Palace and the city's 100 year old market. I'll write this one as a separate blog one of these days.

The following week went so fast because it was all about work which I cannot share here. For lunches at the office, I especially liked this paneer biryani lunch sets.

The week was winding down and I was also getting ready for the trip back to the States. First thing in my list was to get Kaju Katli for co-workers, friends and family. I asked around our office in Bangalore and they agreed that Anand Bakery makes great sweets. So to Anand Bakery I went. Luckily, there is one near and within walking distance from the Leela Palace.

I think I overdid this one because I had to rearrange my luggage to make room for these goodies.

I was bummed when I couldn't plan a trip to more famous destinations like Jaipur, Mumbai or Kerala for this business trip. But thanks to that, I was able to stay in Bangalore the entire two weeks and have gotten to know the city even more. The more I got to know the city, the more it grows on me. It is truly a vibrant city.

I hope I'll get another chance to travel to India and explore more of its wonderful cities that I haven't been to.

Thank you BLR, I heart you.

~rl

Pinoy on a work trip - Enjoyable experience at Singapore Airlines' Silver Kris lounge

2019-11-16T23:08:00.006-08:00

It was my first time to be at Singapore Airlines' Silver Kris lounge at Changi International and I had a relaxing and an enjoyable time.

Let me take you on a virtual tour of the business class lounge.

I was flying from Bangalore to Singapore on four hour flight. The layover in Singapore was for eleven hours before my next flight to go back home to San Francisco.

[read my layover in SG blog, December 2019]

There are two entrances: one for the First Class passengers and, unfortunately, that wasn't me; and another one for Business Class passengers and , fortunately, that was me. I followed the second sign.

This was my first glimpse of the lounge. I had planned on meeting a couple of friends back in highschool who now live in Singapore so I needed to freshen up before the meetup. Thankfully, the Silver Kris lounge at Changi International airport has the right amenities to let me do that.

Here's a pano shot of what the washrooms with showers look like at the lounge.

It has soap, shampoo, towels, shaving creme, comb and other bath necessities.

After the relaxing shower, I headed back to the buffet area to get coffee and something light since I was going to have a lunch meet-up with friends from high school.

The buffet area was serving breakfast and it was already busy with other passengers getting something to eat.

I decided to get the bite sized pancakes from the self serve pan cake maker, a croissant and egg. I figured this should be enough food to last me a couple of hours before my lunch meetup with friends from high school. I was thinking to do a tour of the lounge later that day before my flight back to SF.

[read my layover in SG blog, December 2019]

After my lunch meetup that went for many hours, I had to get back to the airport just in time for my 6:30pm flight back to SF. I had just the right amount of time to head back to the lounge and check it out since I was not able to do it earlier that day. I started to survey first the wines. The great thing about lounges is that I get to sample the wines as if I was at a winery. I sampled all the red and they're all good wines!

The next thing I surveyed was a section in the buffet called the Malay Kitchen.

I didn't want to eat a lot so I decided to try a dish called Sambal Soto and it was so tasty!

I also sampled each dish from the Malay Kitchen. I only took sample servings since I know they will feed us a lot of food at the flight later on. These dishes are so good!

Just like the wines, I took this opportunity to try out these special teas from TWG. This time, I was sampling each tea as if I was at a tea house. TWG teas are truly great quality teas!

I opted for these sweet longans for dessert. There are so many foods I could have tried but my time was limited.

They have an excellent selection of magazines. They also have a rack of equally excellent selection of newspapers on another shelf.

The lounge has a variety of different chairs suited for different purposes. It looks like this one is well suited for a group setting.

While the other seat configuration are suited families and couples.

Sometimes it comes with a view of the terminal. At this point, I was thinking that this lounge is impressive and it was designed with the passengers' comfort in mind and also to make them feel special.

I was making mental notes that I need to rediscover this lounge the next time I get a chance to travel via Singapore Airlines.

I hope that I get to travel again via Singapore Airlines and when I do, I'll try my best to check out the lounge even more.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed and was fully satisfied with what I experienced at the Silver Kris lounge. It was truly a five star experience!

~rl

Back in Manila - A weekend of eating and relaxing.

2019-08-01T16:20:00.002-07:00

Mijo and I were in Manila for a short stay - before we flew to Boracay and after the family trip to Singapore. In that short stay, we ate and ate a lot and saw a really good live theater.

We always have a great time when in Manila!

We were fortunate to have spent a Saturday in Manila during our very short stay there because we got to go to the Salcedo Village farmer's market. Mijo and I enjoy going there because we get to sample as many food as we can eat.

[read my Manila blog, June 2014]

It is a farmers market where one can buy fresh produce and at the same time cooked food are sold there. Food, snacks, hot meals, desserts, sweets, Western food, Filipino food. Indian and Middle Eastern food as well.

Salcedo Village is not only a place where people work in but more and more people live there too with the proliferation of new condo developments in the area. I think this is the reason why the market is always packed and crowded. Bring enough cash with you because some vendors do not accept credit cards.

[read my Manila blog, January 2013]

Mijo and I would eat food, in any order, when we are in Salcedo Village Farmers market. Sweet first, and then savory, and then sweet again, and then savory again. What ever we see and if we like it and still have room for it, we'd get it.

A purist foodie probably won't approve how we approach this whole Salcedo Village farmers market food scene. Because of how the taste buds change depending on the intensity of the flavors, others might eat less flavorful food first and then gradually moving to the next intense flavor and also sampling savory dishes first and the sweet ones last. The great thing is that Mijo and I don't consider ourselves foodies. We just like to eat good food, that's all.

The way we did this was the just exact opposite. We sampled random food that was completely unrelated and tastes quite differently.

As an example, we started with this super tasty soy bean curd or locally called taho. Although this would be considered a designer version in terms of its price, the taste is very close or as good as the ones sold in the streets.

And then we sampled this delicious seafood paella next.

Next was this corn on the cob just off the grill and slathered with margarine and sprinkled with sea salt. It is locally called inihaw na mais.

We washed down the food with this super refreshing coconut water or locally called buko juice.

We rested for a bit. Walked around the market for a bit and then we started sampling random food again. Next in our list was this tender juicy chicken barbecue.

And then this hearty and chunky arroz caldo. This arroz caldo was different from the one I'm used to. This one was soupy with generous serving of chicken meat and vegetables.

How could I not have a sample of these?

Locally called suman, a few of them are salty but they are generally sweet and made from sticky rice or cassava. Think of Mexican tamales but with a Filipino twist.

Later that day, we took it easy and decided to see a live theater production by Repertory Philippines called The Dresser.

I was not familiar with the who's who of the local theatre scene in Manila but I saw the name Audi Gemora as one of the cast members. I had seen him in a play years ago during a school field trip as Joseph the Dreamer.

The play was very well acted. It was a great production overall.

My visit to Manila won't be complete without going to Mary Grace Cafe for breakfast and getting my favorite dish called bangsilog. I am salivating just writing about this. I went to their location at Greenbelt 2.

Mijo and I went to Century Mall in Makati for the first time and found this place called Overdoughs selling sweet snacks. We tried this fried dough with a matcha dip. It was so addicting!

We also had a light meal at a restaurant called Mesa Filipino Moderne located on the ground level of Greenbelt 5. I tried this refreshing watermelon shake.

This fish lumpia has layers and layers of tastiness. We also tried their modern style and reduced chicken and pork adobo.

We also had time to shop for coffee to bring back with us to the States. The coffee sold at Little Farmers Coffee Brim are good.

It was our first time to dine at Katherine's Cafe. We've heard good things about it from family and friends but it was only during this trip that we've had the chance to eat there.

I ordered this puttanesca pasta and it was al dente and molto bene. I would order this again.

I also sampled Mijo's order of shrimp pasta. It was equally tasty as well.

For Mijo, no trip to Manila is complete without a brunch at Wildflour. I always order their Golden Juice whenever we go there. It is refreshing, earthy and very full bodied. It contains orange, pineapple, carrots, ginger and turmeric.

I was told that Cronuts is one of the more popular pastries there. I am not surprised because it is really good. It reminds me of malasadas sold on Waikiki Beach.

Mijo ordered this Chorizo Fundido.

I ordered their signature breakfast plate of eggs, potatoes and homemade sausage. The sausage has hints of anise and was very good.

For traditional Filipino snacks, I found this vendor selling kakanin. These are starchy sweets either made from rice or cassava.

It was a difficult process to narrow down my choices to four. These were my kakanin selections. From left to right:
bibingka cassava, pichi pichi, bibingka malagkit and maja blanca.

This delicious lunch at Ilonggo Grill only cost us $3USD.

Having tea and coffee at Figaro, our favorite place for unwinding.

My friends from highschool took me to Bo's Coffee in Quezon City. It was my first time at Bo's Coffee.

Mijo's favorite - Banana Leaf's sticky rice.

It is always a joy to be in Manila.

Mijo and I love the Manila food scene. Lots to choose from, lots of variety. It is also evolving. We always find new restaurants and new ways of serving traditional dishes.

Until the next time, Manila!

~rl

Back in Boracay - Relaxing stay in the island

2019-07-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

A beach vacation doing nothing was something Mijo and I have been craving for and Boracay island is a place we wanted to go back to. That is just what we did when we went back to Manila.

It was such a relaxing trip and I wouldn't mind doing it all over again.

Mijo and I arrived in Manila on a Saturday morning. After a full day's time to settle in at my mom's house, Mijo and I were up for our next destination - a short trip to Boracay island.

[read my Boracay blog, May 2014]

We got to the airport three hours early. Just as we thought we were early, everyone got there early as well judging by the lines going inside the airport for check in.

The lines went fast thanks to the Cebu Pacific Airlines' automated check-in. We were flying on a morning flight with the thought of getting to the island early to spend more time there.

The flight to Caticlan airport from Manila is just less than an hour. We still needed to take a 10 minute van ride from Caticlan airport to the ferry station.

In case you didn't know, Boracay island was closed for several months of hiatus from tourists and visitors to allow for the cleanup of the island and for it to heal naturally. It was reopened to the visitors recently but with a catch. The local government has installed checker at the ferry to ensure that any visitors going to the island has proper hotel reservations. I am assumming this is to limit who goes in and out of the island.

I had to take a picture of this ferry schedule out of Boracay to make sure that Mijo and I give ourselves enough time to leave the island and get to Caticlan airport for our flight back to Manila.
The ferry ride from Caticlan to Boracay island was a short 20 minute ride.

Mijo and I have been to the island three times and during those times we have either pre-arranged our airport-hotel transport via a travel agency or one of my brothers took care of logistics during our trip with the entire family. Because of this, I have not really been directly involved in getting procuring any tickets to get to the island.

This time, I was the one who bought the tickets without any help from anyone. I never thought it would be this difficult and it would involved this many legs and a variety of forms of transport - an airplane ride to Caticlan airport, a van ride from the airport to the ferry terminal, a ferry ride to the island and then a tricycle ride to the hotel.

We finally reached the Two Seasons Hotel and this view of the sea. The hotel is located in a part of the island that is called Station 1. The quality of the sand in Boracay island is considered by many to be the best anywhere. However, many consider the quality of the sand in Station 1 to be more fine and more white than anywhere in the island and I can confirm that that is true. Mijo and I were pretty happy with our choice of hotel.

Since the hotel couldn't check us in right away, Mijo and I decided to walk on the beach to get the needed vitamin sea.

The sand felt like flour on my feet, the sun and the sea breeze felt so relaxing.

We kept on walking and walking until we reached an area in the island called D'Mall. It is located in Station 2 going toward Station 3.

This is the part where we decided to have lunch. We found this restaurant called Pamana. We are not sure if this restaurant is the same as the Pamana restaurant we've been to in Makati.

We had a delicious lunch of seafood.

Afterward, we headed back to the hotel to check in and then we took a nap outside by the beach on the lounging chairs provided by the hotel with this stunning views.

There was a peanut vendor walking on the beach selling packs of freshly cooked peanuts for snacks.

It was cloudy that afternoon so the sunset was blocked by this group of comulus clouds. The sunset was still romantic and beautiful despite of the clouds.

We were still full from the lunch earlier, so we decided to go back to D'Mall to grab a dessert of lemon tart and coffee from Lemoni Cafe. We haven't been in the island for a full day and yet we felt like we've been there for a while. The day was absolutely relaxing.

The next morning was looking like it was going to be another relaxing day. The hotel row is on the western side of the island so there were no sunrise views. It was low tide that morning so there were more parts of the white beach exposed that morning.

The restaurant was serving Filipino and Western breakfast in the buffet table. I opted for a light breakfast of Filipino congee or locally called lugaw or arroz caldo and a cup of coffee.

Mijo and I have been to the island many times but we've never explored on foot the part where Diniwid beach is at. We thought spending the late morning strolling on the beach going beyond Station 1.

Mijo and I followed a trail by the cliffs to go to the other side of this hill.

I had originally thought the trail was going to be challenging and but it was at all difficult once we got there. The only catch was the trail was a little slippery at times so please be very careful when you go there.

I imagine this little blowhole was part of a small cave created by years and years of erosion caused by the waves. It provided me a great frame to compose this shot of a boat and the water.

This part of the trail was slippery and got us a little wet.

Behind the blowhole is a grotto of the Virgin Mary. I didn't investigate what is the significance of the grotto in that place but it looked like people go there frequently judging by the fresh flowers adorning the place.

We finally reached Diniwid. It is a quiet and secluded beach. There were only a handful of tourists on the beach when we got there.

The next time Mijo and I are in Boracay, I'll go back to Diniwid with a good book, a botte of wine and a beach blanket for a party for two. We learned that there are a couple more beaches north of Diniwid and I hope I get to explore those beaches if there is another chance to travel to Boracay in the future.

We took a tricycle to go to D'Mall to continue our relaxing stroll. It was actually a nice slow ride through places in the island we haven't seen before. We passed by the City Mall and the Fairways and Bluewater hotel.

We were back at D'Mall after that relaxing tricycle ride. Mijo, my family and I were in Boracay in 2014 and this place was very crowded at that time. We also thought it may be because we were there during the week so there were more tourists from outside the Philippines versus local tourists at that time.

We actually enjoyed this scene with less people because we actually were able to explore the stores and the shops. We enjoyed checking out the shops especially those selling souvenirs, flip flops and beach wears.

I didn't ask around what these blue sails are but they are pretty next to these coconut trees and while sand beach.

The sand just feels so good on my feet.

We were back in Station 1 and at the hotel to meet up with my cousin who lives in Malay, a city in the mainland near Caticlan.

After our delicious lunch with my cousin, we napped by the beach and then we were greeted with this scenery.

Finally, the clouds cleared a little bit to show us this picturesque Boracay sunset.

It not like there is anything metaphysical about sunsets, but the folks on the beach at that time stopped and stared as if they were under a spell. Everyone, including Mijo and I, was savoring every bit of that fleeting moment.

Two Seasons hotel was a small but cute boutique hotel. I forgot to take a picture of their modest rooms but I did take photos of the other areas. The best part of this hotel is the beach front and the hotel staff's friendly service.

Here's the lobby and the sofa for guest waiting for their loved ones to get ready.

Here's what the ornate ceilings look like.

Here's what the hallway looks like.

Here's what the hotel restaurant looks like.

Here's what beachfront looks like.

Another breakfast of Filipino selection and a cup of coffee on our 3rd day.

Fresh mangoes, pineapple and watermelon for desserts.

We checked out on our third day. But before that, we had time to do another stroll on the beach.

The sun was out early that day.

However short our trip to Boracay maybe, it was sweet. The government's efforts to clean up this island was successful and commendable. I hope to go back to the island again in the future to explore its other equally beautiful beaches.

~rl

Back in Singapore - A week of fun with family

2019-07-06T17:54:00.005-07:00

Singapore is one of those cities that I just keep on visiting and not get tired of it. My mom, sis, Mijo, my brothers and their families and I visited Singapore for a week of family bonding and fun.

I haven't even gotten far writing this blog and I already want to go back!

Our trip to Singapore took three years to happen because of many different reasons and one of them is the fact that it is awfully challenging to get the schedule of all 11 people in sync. The story ended well because it did happen and it looked like everyone had a wonderful time especially the kids in the family.

[read my Singapore blog, January 2012]

We flew out of Manila International's T3 airport via Singapore Airlines which is a terrific airline to fly with. There are also privileges and attraction discounts that come with a Singapore Airlines boarding pass. Check the airlines website for details.

During check-in, each of us was given this red sticker which I assume is a way for the airport staff to easily spot SG air passengers in case there is a delay getting through customs and immigration. I was secretly hoping for a minor incident during our departure just because I was curious what this sticker could actually do.

The flight from Manila to Singapore is about 3 hours. We landed on a Thursday a little before noon at Changi Airport's terminal 2. On our way to the immigration we passed by the Orchid Garden. This garden showcases hundreds of orchids from several varieties and of many colors. The garden is designed to have orchids of different colors to represent the elements of nature - Earth, air, fire and water.

We stayed at a hotel near the Farrer Park MRT station during our stay in the city. Since we arrived in Singapore on a midday it was already in the afternoon by the time we settled in to our hotel. The first thing in our list was lunch. We walked to the Hawker center in Little India for a quick late lunch.

Mijo opted for an Indian fare of chicken tikka massala and lamb biryani. I chose the Hainanese chicken with garlic bok choy. I didn't taste Mijo's food but mine was flavorful. I paired it with a cold milky drink with bobba and jellies. The rest of the family ordered Singaporean dishes.

Singapore can be brutally humid and hot that by merely walking for a minutes would make me sweat profusely. During breaks from our walks after lunch, I hydrated with this refreshing iced tea from Kopi and Tarts.

We decided to pay the Merlion Park a visit afterwards. While my family has been to the city before, only Mijo, my mom, sis and I have been to the Merlion Park years ago. That day, however, the giant statue of the Merlion, which is the entire point why people go to that park, was shrouded in scaffolding and it looked like renovation was going on.

The view from Merlion Park, however, is stunning. We were there at dusk and the breeze in the area was relaxing so we decided to linger and watched the tourists come and go and soaked in the sceneries. The light at dusk also created flattering views of the skyline around the park. I was able to take these shots of the Opera house while resting.

Here's a shot of the Marina Bay Sands at night.

Fret not because on our last day in the city, the scaffolding covering the Merlion was removed for a perfect Merlion Park photo-op to the entire family's delight.

Since we were in the area late enough for dinner, we decided to cross the Esplanade Bridge and have a light bite at Makansutra Gluttons Bay. The place was lively and packed with office workers when we got there.

Mijo and I decided to share this order of chicken satay and paired it with a lime drink. The chicken satay was delicious and the extra spiced peanut sauce made sure there are additional flavors. It is interesting that it took us about 15 minutes to make a decision which dish to get from a variety of stalls. I guess I was more tired than hungry?

On our 2nd day, we decided to spend the entire Friday at Universal Studios hoping that that day was going to be less crowded compared to going there during the weekend.

For breakfast, we decided to get a quick bite to eat at McDonald's. We know that the McDonald's brand is present worldwide and they add a local twist to the menu wherever they are. This is why we were curious to know what makes McDonald's in Singapore different from the rest of the world.

The first thing I noticed is this electronic kiosk for ordering food. There are four steps. Step 1: Place an order and take a table locator. Step 2: Key in the table locator. Step 3: Pay. Step 4: Take a seat and the servers will bring the order to your table.

I decided to go local and tried their red rice porridge which was very tasty and has layers and layers of flavors - mushroom, ginger, nutty, sweet and salty. It is actually a healthier alternative because it is multigrain and has a lower fat content than their usual Western breakfast. I wonder how popular is this item among locals and tourists?

After breakfast we took the MRT all the way to Harbourcourt station and planned to transfer to the Sentosa Express. By the way, if your credit card has the contactless icon, you may be able to use it as a ticket at the MRT. Just tap and go.

Everyone couldn't wait to get on the monorail for a fun filled day. The monorail is a different system and it is not part of the MRT so it requires a separate round trip ticket.

Photo-op with the iconic Universal Studios globe.

I had only been to a Universal Studios once many years ago in Southern California. Because of this, I didn't know what to expect in this trip back to a theme park. The first thing I noticed was the humidity and the hot weather. I was hoping that the lines to the rides were going to be short and the wait even shorter.

Cool off eating this delicious snacks of flavored ice mixed with coconut jellies, sweetened beans, corn and milk.

Watching Elmo's TV Time inside an air conditioned theater was a treat. My mom and I would have stayed there longer if only we had not been with our family.

King Julien's Beach Party Go Around is another ride that I enjoyed. Aside from the short lines, there was breeze in this part of the park.

There were pop up performances happening around the park. There may be a schedule of these performances and meet and greet. This one was a meet and greet slash dance performance of the cast of Madagascar.

Here's another pop up performance and photo-op with Marilyn Monroe and other Holywood stars.

I thought we were going to be drenched in the Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chace ride. Thank God this water falls is just a teaser. The water stopped as soon as our car got near. I couldn't imagine my mom getting soaking wet in this ride and my sis and I getting blamed for it.

There were other rides that we enjoyed at the park but didn't or couldn't take a picture because of lighting constraints or too much shaking and movement like in the Transformers ride and Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure. There were rides like the Ancient Egypt Treasure Hunters jeep ride that maybe considered a meh by everyone but it was relaxing to me.

All in all, we had a full day of fun and entertainment. I think my siblings, my sisters-in-law, my nephews and my niece would be better at telling you about their Universal Experience. I'll add a link here if they decide to write a blog about it.

There is a small hawker center near our hotel in Farrer Park. I had this fried fish, okra dish and rice with a side of fish sauce for dinner. It was simple yet it is packed with flavors!

After a restful 2nd night in Singapore, we set aside our 3rd day to see the Gardens By The Bay, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. Like the rest of my family, this was the first time I was going to see these attractions.

For breakfast, we wanted something quick that is why we went to the nearest KFC. Like McDonald's, KCF adds a local twist to the menu. This time I tried their Rice Porridge. I've had many rice porridge before so I can say that this one is not bad for a fast food version.

We took the MRT and got off at Bayfront station. That station has exits going to the mall, to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and going outside toward the Gardens. Just follow the signs.

Here's an art display at the Bayfront station by artist Lee Wen called When The Ship Comes In to commemorate Singapore's connection to the ships and sea. It would be interesting to know how many works of art such as wall art and sculptures are on display in the entire MRT system and then see them all. Maybe in the next trip?

This is one of the bridges leading to the Gardens.

Here is a picture to give you a bird's eye view how these attractions are situated by the bay. The two structures on the left side that look like shells are the Forest Cloud and the Flower Dome. These structures are massive upclose. The Gardens by Bay and the manmade Supertrees are on the right side of the photo. This view was taken from the Marina Bay Sands hotel.

The Gardens By The Bay is huge and there is no fee to go in. Since it is outdoors, you'll be subject to the elements. Remember, the weather is hot and humid not to mention it could rain at any moment. I recommend bringing a bottle of water and pacing yourself. There are carts like this one dotting the area selling refreshments for a fee.

There are also rest areas like this one where you can rest your tired feet and aching back while enjoying a relaxing breeze. There were some folks showing off their yoga skills while resting. I tried going in and got flat on my back to rest for a few minutes. Remember to take your shoes off.

These structures are called the Supertrees. These manmade 'trees' and the entire garden were designed with sustainability in mind and recycle energy, waste, water, soil and other resources. The trees can capture sunlight and convert it to electricity using photovoltaic cells placed on top of the structures.

Even though the supertrees are manmade, the maturing plants and creeping vines help balance the industrial feel with natural foliage and greeneries. I can't wait till the giant supertrees are covered entirely with vegetation.

Our next destinations were the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. We decided to get the combo tickets to save.

This was my first glimpse of the Flower Dome. There is air conditioning inside the dome. The refreshing scent of what seemed like a million flowers greeted us as soon as we stepped inside the indoor conservatory.

This place is massive! The first thing that came to mind was that it looks like a botanical garden that got enclosed in an irregularly shaped glass and steel facade. I learned that it is called a cooled conservatories. I saw nine gardens containing diverse plants and trees that are native of California, Southern Africa, Australia, South America and Southern Europe. California poppies, olive trees, baobabs, lavenders and herbs and succulents of different kinds are also planted there.

Channeling my Georgia O'Keefe wannabe alter ego.

In the Flower Field, they were having a new exhibit called Tulip Mania at the time we visited. These exhibits change every time.

Lovely yellow tulips!

Our next destination was The Forest Cloud. This is a separate building and it requires a separate ticket to go in. This 35 meter water fall was the first thing we saw when we got in the conservatory. The structures here are man-made, and like the Supertrees, the maturing plants made of orchids and ferns growing around made the place feel less industrial.

Our goal here was to head to the elevator which would take us all the way to the top of the falls and then work our way down by descending via the trails serpentined around the falls.

On our way to the elevator, we passed by an orchid garden having different floral scents. There are samples of orchids with varying scents and intensity of aromas that are placed in glass containers. I didn't know that orchids can be this fragrant.

There was a long line to the elavator but it went fast. This is the view of the water falls from the very top. I was very careful not to drop my phone. I could barely see the crowd down below.

And then we worked our way down via these mist-filled trails called the Cloud Walk. I love the smooth curvy lines created from the shape of the building. It seems to me that the shape of the building is like a sea shell.

This place is not just massive, it has height as well. It is truly impressive. How do you clean the glass of the facade if the building is this big and the shape is irregular? And how often is it cleaned?

This area through the walk is the Crystal Mountain, there is this exhibition on mineral formations. I think of this as 'the cave' in the forest.

Amazing place! I like the design of the facade where there are no sharp corners. I love its wavy organic shape. The trails below the Cloud Walk is called the Treetop Walk.

At this point, I didn't know where the rest of the family went.

This is the view from below. Before we exited, we passed by the Gallery, the Theatre, and a Secret Garden.

Just in case you're wondering, they stamp your hand with this so that you can step outside to go on a break, get snacks or drinks and then come back inside for more.

This is what the Gardens and the domes look like at night. The wider and shorter of the two domes is the Flower Dome. The narrower but taller is the Forest Cloud. This view can be seen from the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

Speaking of Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Mijo and I decided to stay here for one night since we were already in the area. We thought since the family was going to be at the Gardens the whole day, it would be a great idea if we have a place we could crash in case my mom or any of the family members get tired while site seeing.

This what the hotel lobby looks like from above. The hotel has three towers and connected by a common podium at the base of the buildings. The complex is huge.

There is a mall at the back of the hotel but the lobby also has stores inside.

Our room came with two double beds and a balcony. The room is spacious and has a feel of any modern hotel.

The bathroom is also spacious and has good toiletries provided for the guests.

This is the view from one of the windows at the hotel.

One of the hotel amenities available for guests is called The Skypark. It is a viewing deck and comes with stunning views of the Singapore skyline and the harbor.

Another amenity that Mijo and I enjoyed is the Skypool, also only available to hotel guests. The Skypool is an infinity pool located on top of a structure shaped like a boat connecting the tops of the three hotel buildings.

The interesting thing is that Mijo and I decided to check the pool out early in the morning with the thought the people might not be up that early. It would be great also to see the sunrise. It was packed by the time we got there at 7am.

The mall at the back of the hotel is called The Shoppes. At the middle of the food court is a big space called the Digital Light Canvas. Here's what is looks like from above.

This is what it looks like on the ground level.

There is a man made creek inside the Shoppes which is part of a paid attraction called The Sampan Ride.

At the end of the ride is this water fall called the Rain Oculus.

After we checked in at the hotel, we all went downstairs to the food court at The Shoppes to have an early dinner. Lots of food choices at the Rasapura Masters food court. I found a stall called Fishball Noodle and then decided to get the first one on the menu.

The entrees included egg noodles topped with thin slices of different kinds of fish cakes and fish balls. The order came with a side of crunchy fish skins and a side of soup. I wasn't sure whether to pour the soup into the bowl of noodles so I ate them separately.

The next morning was a Sunday and we allotted that day to be a free day. This means that the family didn't have to travel together that day and anyone is free to do their own site seeing. Mijo and I decided to enjoy the amenities at the hotel and hung out by the Skypool.

For Mijo and I, this was lazy sunday and just having morning coffee with a view.

We also enjoyed this light breakfast by the pool.

Later that day, we checked out and left the Marina Bay Sands hotel and we were back to earth. What a free day really means is that the family has decided to make this a shopping day. For lunch, Mijo and I went to the Food Republic at City Square Mall.

Mijo ordered this chicken with spicy green sauce with a side of hot clear soup. I had a sample of his lunch so I can vouch that this tastes really good.

I ordered this fish and spicy vegetable combo with a side of spiced fish sauce. This one is super light and super tasty.

For dessert, Mijo and I shared this delectable ripe mango with coconut sweet sticky rice.

We went to this huge shopping complex called Mustafa Center. It is not only big, it is packed and crowded inside. It is like all Singaporeans decided to go to this place on a Sunday afternoon. I got several types of sweet and savory snacks for my office mates and to bring back home.

Later that day, we didn't some perking up so we went back to the City Square Mall for kopi and toast at the Toast Box.

We paired the coffee with these delicious local pastries called honey kuih bahulu from Mugiya.

And this Kaya Cheese Pancake from Mr. Bean.

The following day, the plan was to go to the places we haven't seen but are considered 'negotiables' which means we can miss them and we can go visit them when we have extra time. The rest of the family went to see and catch up with their friends who live in the city. For my mom, sis, Mijo and I we planned a leisurely walk around the city.

For breakfast, we went to this place called Coffee and Toast and had a Singaporean breakfast of kopi, toasts and chicken and beef rendang.

Since we were doing a leisurely walk, I was able to observe the signs and murals inside the Singapore MRT stations. Here are some of the interesting ones I've seen. For those who are uninitiated, the durian fruit is an acquired taste and it has this unique strong smell that is unappetizing to many.

They also have these feel good signs to brighten up one's day.

I also love how the MRT uses public spaces to showcase local arts and works of local artists. Upclose, these murals are mosaics and they are more grand in real life.

Here's another public art at an MRT station that I enjoyed. This can be found at the Cityhall station.

Our leisurely walks took us to the Raffles Hotel.

The hotel is under major renovation so we couldn't go inside to take a peek of the hotel lobby. We just settled for the hotel's facade and opeb public spaces and the hotel's souvenir store. Maybe next time?

The St. Andrews Cathedral is only a couple of blocks away from the Raffles Hotel so we decided to go there to pay a visit. Unfortunately, renovations were ongoing that day and the next day.

I took a couple of pictures outside the cathedral since we couldn't go inside.

Our walks took us back to the Merlion Park. Like what I mentioned earlier in this blog, the cover was removed and we were able to see the Merlion statue.

Since it was the middle of the day and it was so hot, we decided to go indoors and see the ArtScience Museum. Here's my failed attempt at taking a panoramic photo of the building housing the museum. The structure looks like a flower about to bloom.

Outside the building provides shade from the unforgiving sun. It was relaxing to sit next to the daffodils and enjoy the breeze coming from the harbor.

The architecture of the building is impressive creating these amazing lines everywhere you look.

There is a fee to go inside the ArtScience Museum. Thankfully, our Singapore Airlines boarding pass allowed us once again to get discount rates on tickets. One of the exhibits going on that time was Future World. The exhibition showcases immersive and interactive hitech artworks by teamLab.

Here are samples where art and technology intersect.
This one is called Universe of Water Particles.

This one is called Sanctuary.

I wasn't sure what this one is but it is part of a section called Nature.

This one as well is part of the Nature section.

This one is called Media Block chairs.

This mesmerizing one is called Crystal Universe. I could have lingered here the entire afternoon.

Here's what it looks like upclose. The colors change. The patterns also change.

It was challenging to take a photo while inside this section.

Another exhibition happening at the ArtScience Museum during our visit was called Wonderland. It is also an interactive exhibit where the participants need to follow instructions and collect clues to navigate through the maze of artifacts and collections based on the novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll.

I suggest skipping this part if you're not familiar with the novel or get familiar with the novel first to get the most out of this exhibition.

Since we were in the area, we decided to get dinner at the food court of the The Shoppes at the Marina Bay Sands. Since I haven't had a laksa in this trip, I thought this would be the perfect time for it.

Later on that night since after everyone finished dinner, my nephews, my niece and my siblings decided to see a movie at the Golden Village Cinema. For us, going to the movies is a very local thing to do and there's something immersive about it.

The next day was the day we flew out of Singapore. Since our flight was not going to leave until later that evening and our hotel was gracious enough to let us leave our luggages at the hotel, the entire family decided to do another leisurely walk this time on Orchard Road. Walking on Orchard Rd. was touristy on its own and allowed us to kill time.

We started our leisurely walk from the Orchard Road station. We got off the station and saw this artsy facade of the Ion Mall. The mall was still closed since we got there very early in the morning.

Sculptures dot the outside of the mall. This one is a sculpture in painted bronze called Doggy John by Julien Marinetti.

This other one is also by the mall. This one is a bronze sculpture called Nutmeg and Mace by Kumari Nahappan.

This mirror glass and stained steel abstract sculpture is called Red Knot by Jean-Michel Othoniel.

A few blocks from the Ion Mall is the Paragon Mall. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the name of this sculpture. The shapes of the metal sculptures remind me of Keith Haring's art.

This street off Orchard Road is called Emerald Hill. It is hard to miss because its architecture is a total contrast to the modernity that surrounds it. I learned that this place is a conservation area and it is a former residence of wealthy Peranakan community.

Here's a sample of the area's architecture which is considered Chinese Baroque.

This area is part of what is called Civic District Tree trail and is dotted with rain trees.

This life sized sculpture is called Budak-Budak by Chong Fah Cheong.

This colored polyurethane resin is called Jelly Baby Family by Mauro Perucchetti.

After lunch, we all headed to the airport to give us enough time to explore the newest Changi airport attraction called The Jewel before our flight back to Manila.

This mesmerizing structure is called the Rain Vortex and it is the tallest indoor waterfall flowing forty meters to the basement.

This area is huge and the landscaping is awe inspiring.

Even though this was my 4th visit to the city state, it is always an enjoyable and exciting time to see Singapore

Until the next time, Singapore.

~rl

Pinoy in Egypt - My unforgettable trip to the Valley of the Kings and Queens

2019-04-03T19:54:00.002-07:00

After our unforgettable trip to Luxor's East Bank the day before, we went to see the magnificent tombs of the famous kings and queens of Egpyt in the West Bank of Nile.

One unforgettable trip after another. This Pinoy was truly in travel heaven!

Our Luxor site seeing itinerary the day before was packed so were exhausted by the time we got back to our accommodation for the next few days - a river cruise boat. We were so tired that we got a full night's sleep even with a jetlag.

[read my Luxor blog, March 2019]

However, our wake up call was a little early again. Not 3am but 5am this time. We had to squeeze in our breakfast because we were picked up by our bus by 6am to start our drive to the West Bank to visit the Valley of the Kings. Not a lot of houses on this side of the Nile and I do not know if that is by design.

When we got to the complex, we were ushered to a museum while our guide secured our group tickets. I found this map of the Valley of the Kings showing all the different tombs unearthed so far.

They also have this miniature version of the Valley and it is in 3D. I learned that the tombs are numbered by KV and a number - KV1 through KV62. KV as in Kings Valley. Excavations are on-going so I expect the number might go up as new tombs are discovered.

And that 3D includes the actual diggings of the tombs so I was able to see how deep the tombs are. This also prepared us that this site seeing will include walking down and then up.

After we got our tickets and, in my case, my photo ticket, we were asked to get on these shuttles that will take us to the area where the excavated tombs are. Even though we got there early in the morning, there were already lots of tourists on site.

The land is so dry. I do not know the last time this area has seen rain. My mouth actually felt dry the moment we got to the excavation sites. I cannot imagine what this place looks and feels like during warmer months.

We all walked up to see the tombs up close. I noticed that some people were almost running. I was thinking to myself that these people might know something I don't?

Photography inside the tombs are not allowed. However, there is a ticket per photo equipment - be it a phone or a real camera. At the time, a photo ticket costs 300EGP. I figured this is what I came here for so Mijo and I decided we would only pay for one camera and it was going to be my camera. Photography is absolutely not allowed inside Tutankhamun's tomb even with a photo ticket.

There are many tombs in the complex but we were only given three tickets plus we bought an extra ticket to see Tutankhamun's tomb. We also had an hour to be on our own. So that was 4 tombs in one hour including the walk between the tombs. There were times we were just in an out of a tomb - around 10 minutes.

We decided to see KV2 Rameses IV's tomb first. I learned that Rameses IV was a pharaoh of the 20th dynasty of the New Kingdom and his reign was only around six and half years.

Since we arrived early enough, there was not a huge crowd trying to get in the tombs.

This was the first time I was seeing a tomb of a pharaoh. It was beautiful at the same time mystic. So I was walking really slowly and engrossing at the scene even though I do not understand any of the hieroglyphs etched on the wall.

I learned that these hieroglyphs usually came from a book and serve as a guide for the dead in the afterlife such as the Book of the Dead and the Book of Caverns.

We finally reached the chamber where the sarcophagus was kept. The are scenes etched on the tomb.

More scenes taken from the books to serve as guide for the dead.

At this point, I was just taking pictures of everything without really understanding the meaning of the inscriptions.

I learned that the Goddess Nut was painted on the ceiling.

Looking at this, I couldn't help but notice how the ancient Egyptians prepared for the afterlife and the richer you are, the more luxurious the tombs got.

Here's a side view of the tomb.

Mijo and I must have spent more than 15 minutes inside. That only meant that we had 45 minutes left to see the 3 other tombs.

KV62 is King Tutankhamun's tomb. Even with a camera ticket, taking pictures was not allowed inside King Tut's tomb. The tomb is not that big compared to the other tomb and it was designed like a letter J flipped horizontally. From the entrance, a corridor leads to the ante chamber and to its right is the burial chamber and the treasury. It was discovered by archeologist Howard Carter in 1922. The best part of this tour is King Tut's sarcophagus and mummy are displayed inside the burial chamber. Most of the items uncovered from the excavation are on display for conservation at the Egyptian Museum. We lingered the longest here. The left us with only less than 20 minutes to see two other tombs.

Our next tomb was KV6 or Rameses IX's tomb.

Since we were pressed with time, we were literally in and out of this tomb.

Just like the other tombs, this tomb has decorations with scenes from the Book of the Dead, Caverns and many others.

The layout is one long tomb with smaller chambers as we walked towards the burial chamber.

The corridor goes down these stairs.

At the end of the stairs is the burial chamber.

The next and last tomb we visited was KV14 or tombs of Tausert and Setnakht. We learned that Tausert was the Queen of Seti II and Setnakht was the successor of Seti II.

This tomb is located all the way at the end of the complex. This was recommended by our tour guide because of the colors that are still intact on the walls and the big burial chamber.

Everyone had the same idea because there was a line going in to the tomb.

Since we only had a little over ten minutes to see the tomb, we were literally in and out.

Nevertheless, I am still glad we went inside because it was all worth it.

A short drive from the Valley of the Kings is a place called Deir Al Bahri. For me, the highlight of the tour of the West Bank of Luxor was this visit to Queen Hatshepsut's temple.

We hopped on the shuttle to get to the main temple complex. As a background, Queen Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and wife to Thutmose II. She was the second female pharaoh. She reigned as a Pharaoh for 21 years from 1479 to 1458.

The mortuary temple is dedicated to Queen Hatshepsut and god Amun Re. It sits at the bottom of steep cliffs. The temple has three levels but only the upper two levels were open to the public when we visited. To give you a bird's eyeview, this is what the temple used to look like. I imagined it was complete with a lush garden and walls with gloriously colorful relief.

We went up the ramp from the first colonade and we got to the middle terrace which leads to the middle colonnade area.

Speaking of relief, here's a sample of a wall relief found in the temple's middle colonnade area. We learned that there are theories that the pharaohs who succeeded Hatshepsut, such as her stepson Thutmose III or his son Amenhotep II, might have had tried to erase her symbols from history judging by the cartouches and images of the queen that were chiseled off some stone walls.

Here the ramp to go to to the upper terrace where giant statues of Osirid stand next to the columns. The temple looks a little modern and kind of unique at that time with clean lines and symmetrical colonnaded terraces. The restoration of the area is ongoing.

Here's what it looks like looking out from the upper terrace.

One of the statues of Osirid in the upper terrace.

We finally reached the Sanctuary of Amun.

Here's what is left of the Chapel of Anubis on the right side of the temple. I was again in and out of this area because we were running out of time.

After that immensely enjoyable tour of Hatshepsut's temple, we were whisked by our tour bus to visit an labaster factory. We viewed a demonstration of grinding an alabaster the old fashion way. They also had an extensive collection of alabaster pieces for sale.

Afterwards, we stopped for a quick photo op at the Colossi of Memnon. We were told that these giant seated statues are of Amenhotep III.

I've learned in this trip to the West Bank of Luxor how truly important is to the ancient Egyptians. I finally connected the dots why the temples were built on the East bank of Luxor and the tombs on the west. Just like the sun setting on the west journeying through the dark and emerging victorious rising the next day, the soul of the great Egyptian rulers wanted to travel with the sun god in its journey to the afterlife.

~rl

Pinoy in Upper Egypt - My unforgettable trip to Luxor's East Bank

2019-03-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

The trip to Luxor was a trip of a lifetime. I enjoyed my Egyptian history from highschool and the trip allowed me to see that history in glorious colors.

This Pinoy was in travel heaven again!

Our wake up call was at 3am for our 6:30am flight from Cairo to Luxor via EgyptAir. We've only had arrived in Egypt from the U.S. a few hours earlier. By this time, we have not had seen any ancient Egyptian antiquities so our excitement trumped our lack of sleep.

Luxor is the modern day name of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes. Thebes, at one point, was the ancient Egyptian's capital city and was an important city for spiritual places and festivals. Thebes included important temples such as Karnak and Luxor on the East Bank of Nile and funerary places for Kings and Queens on the West Bank of Nile. The Arabs called it Al-Uqsur which is where modern day Luxor came from.

From the Luxor airport, we were picked up by our tour bus whisked us away to our first destination which was the Temples of Karnak. The picture below is a miniature version of the entire complex or the Amun Temple enclosure. At this point, I could see the complex is big but I had no idea that the tour was going to be an experience so huge that it took me a few days to absorb - all 250 acres of tall obelisks, soaring columns, and imposing statues. Since I am not an expert in Egyptian history, I'll just give you a virtual tour.

Upon our arrival at the Quay of Amun towards the entrance of the temple complex, I could feel an overwhelming sense of awe and at the same time I was starting to realize how gigantic these antiquities are as we walked along the avenue of the sphinxes. As the first antiquity we visited in this trip, it was very awe inspiring.

This is a close up of the walls in the complex. Notice how there are very little or almost no space at all in between the stones. The walls have weathered through the centuries of being exposed to the elements but I could imagine these walls were smooth and gleamed two thousand years ago.

As we passed through the first pylon, we went inside what are called chapels. There are three chapels for the Egyptian gods - Mut, Amun and Khonsu. We were told that the complex was built over the span of 2000 years beginning in the Middle Kingdom through the New Kingdom where famous pharaohs like Ramses II and Queen Hapshetsut had left their marks in the temple.

Here is the Colossal statue of Ramses II and what looked like a broken column. I heard once that Luxor is like an open air museum. I could see that while walking around the complex.

I could see lots of ruins beyond the second pylon. From afar, it looked like there are huge structures and hundreds of them. It was hard to imagine how these giant columns and walls were built using the technology at that time.

The area beyond the second pylon is called the Great Hypostyle Hall. I had to sit for a moment to take the grandeur of the scenery all in. This hall is huge and containing rows and rows of very tall papyrus-shaped columns. Everything drowned me. Not just the sheer size of the structure, but all the countless details such as the meaning of the hieroglyphs, the different times they were added and under which pharaoh.

At this point, I was feeling super excited and was taking pictures like there's no tomorrow at the same time feeling overwhelmed with all the information I am hearing. Here are samples of sunken hieroglyphs.

The late morning light also created amazing contrasting colors so I was finally understanding the very early wake up call so that we could be here while there is morning light. I was curious what would the complex look like in the afternoon light.

We were allowed to be on our own for a few minutes so I was able to return to the areas I wanted to take more pictures of. Here's an upclose look at the raised relief found in the northern part of the hall built by Seti I.

Here's one of the two 30 meter high obelisks erected by Queen Hatshepsut to honor her father Amun. There is another obelisk but it is broken. The top part of the broken obelisk is located near the Sacred Lake, also inside the complex.

This is the Eight pylon.
This complex is really big and I could see its expanse from this vantage point.

This is the Night pylon. This was the last place I saw during the few minutes that they let us wander around the complex on our own.
My brain was suddenly flooded with lots new experiences and lots of new information. Remember, this was the very first ancient Egyptian ruins that I saw. We were told that there is a very good light show at night but that part was not part of our itinerary.

We boarded our tour bus to our next destination - Luxor Temple. My first glimpse of Luxor Temple was from our tour bus looking out to Abou Al Hagag Square. I could see the First Pylon and the mosque built inside the temple. I was still reeling from information overload from the first site of the day so all I remember from this tour of Luxor Temple is that the temple was dedicated to the cult of the Royal Ka - Amun, Mut and Khonsu. Amenhotep III, Queen Hatshepsut, Tutankhamun and Ramses II all contributed to the

We walked a few yards from where our tour bus dropped us off. Here is the entrance of the Luxor Temple and the view of its First Pylon. We were told that there are supposed to be six statues of Ramses II but only five survived. In addition, there are supposed to be a pair of obelisks but only one is left standing in the complex. We were told that the other obelisk is at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

Luckily, I was in Paris in 2018 and took this picture of the Place de la Concorde without knowing the history about the obelisk in the middle of the square.

This is called the Triple Barque Shrine. It behind the First Pylon and across from the mosque. It was a shrine that Queen Hapshetsut built but had taken over by Ramses II.

This is the Great Court of Ramses II. It was hard to take photos because we arrived right after noon and the area was already packed with bus loads of tourists. I wonder how over tourism is adding to the degradation of these historical sites?

The Great Court of Ramses II is surrounded by these columns and statues so I had to take the pictures of each of its side in order to capture the entire place. This picture is looking toward Southwest.

This picture is looking towards the Western side.

This a side view of the Great court of Ramses II with a seated statue of himself.

This is the sunken reliefs on the side of the seated statue of Ramses II on our way to the

This is what is written on the lower part of the same side of the seated statue of Ramses II.

This view is towards the Collonade of Amenhotep III. I learned from our tour guide that this is an older part of the temple and was built as the grand entrance to the Temple of Amun.

This still in the Collonade of Amenhotep III but looking up.

This still in the Collonade of Amenhotep III but looking north.

This is the Sun Court of Amenhotep III which is a Hypostyle hall consisting of four rows of eight columns each.

The Sun Court leads to the Chamber of Amun. There are scenes depicted on the walls of this tiny chamber, some of them in faint colors. The chamber is small and lots of people congregating in this area so it was hard to take a photo.

This is a wall inside the Chamber of Amun. These are the first hieroglyphs I had seen in colors. I can't help but imagine how this room looked like during the peak of Egyptian empire's power.

This is a raised relief inside the Chamber of Amun.
I remember from our tour guide that this chamber was built by Alexander the Great and these reliefs depict him as a Pharoah and making an offering to the Egyptian gods.

This is the entrance to the Antechamber. At this point, it was slow moving. I wonder if there is a day or time during the week when this place is empty?

This is a sample relief inside the Antechamber. It would have been great if we could have lingered in this room to see more of the scenes depicted on the walls. Unfortunately, we spent more time waiting to get it. We were also a part of a tour group so we had to move on.

These are the walls inside the Sanctuary of Amenhotep III.

This area contained ruins and artifacts which used to be part of the temple. The ruins are each tagged with a number and description. It looks like archeologists are still going through the ruins like a jigsaw puzzle.

This is the area where the Roman built another structure but now in ruins.

We were told that the Egyptian government is trying to clean and restore the Avenue of the Sphinxes so that it connects to the Temples in Karnak. Just like in the ancient times.

We got back on the tour bus and on to our last destination for that day - a Papyrus demonstration.

So far, we've only toured sites and have not had any contact with locals. Except for our tour guide and bus driver, this was going to be the first time we were meeting a local. As part of their local customs, tea is offered to visitors. They offered us these refreshing hibiscus tea before the demonstration.

Here are the materials needed to make a sheet of paper from papyrus - a papyrus stalk, a hammer, a rolling pin, and a papyrus paper press.

A papyrus plant, which used to grow abundantly along the banks of the Nile River and was considered as sacred by the ancient Egyptian is the source of the fiber in a papyrus paper. The knife is used to peel the green bark so that the white pulp can be exposed. Here's a papyrus reed stalk.

Here's our demo. After removing the green bark, the papyrus paper expert hammered the white pulp and flattened it using a rolling pin to remove the water. The flattened pulp is then put in water for a few days to remove the excess sugar.

Here's a papyrus reed peel after it has been flattened and washed. The paper is formed by lining the pieces crisscross and placed in between carpet covers and then placed in the press for another few days to the pieces would stick together.

Here's a papyrus paper press.

Here's the finished product. Can you see the lines created where the pieces of the flattened reeds are pressed together? The bond is actually pretty strong. The texture is fibrous and thicker than the modern day paper.

That ended our tour of the East Bank of Luxor.

I was very exhausted after our first day of Egyptian site seeing - physically and mentally. Lots of historical information to process and lots of new amazing experiences to take and ponder.

I am so grateful that I was able to see these ruins in person. It gave me a new perspective on how advanced the ancient Egyptian empire was and their engineers, architects and builders were the very best at that time because what they built stood the test of time.

~rl

Pinoy in Egypt - My unforgettable trip to Cairo and Giza

2019-03-21T22:32:00.003-07:00

Mijo and I have been wanting to go to Egypt. Finally, it happened and the trip was absolutely unforgettable. Everything I read from books and seen on television were larger than life and the experience was awesome.

This Pinoy was in travel heaven!

Mijo and I saw the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum when we traveled together in London the last time. The Rosetta Stone contains texts written in three languages including Greek and Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic and this paved the way to the translation of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in to Greek. If the Rosetta Stone led to the decipherment of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Rosetta Stone enboldened Mijo and I to go on a trip to Egypt.

[read my Luxor blog, March 2019]

This was my first glimpse of Egypt. We landed in Cairo at noon and we were whisked right away to our hotel located by the River Nile. We booked this trip as a guided tour with Gate1 Travel because we want the very best and the experts (Shukran to our travel director, Neveen!) in Egyptian history and antiquities to show us around.

There were two groups for this tour. Our small group was whisked to our hotel via a tourist bus with police car escort. I later learned in the trip that we were also assigned one body guard per bus.

Here's the Mariott hotel's lovely and quiet courtyard. The hotel is located in Gezira island in the middle of River Nile in Cairo's Zamalek neighborhood.

The hotel's exquisite lobby is like a lobby of a palace. Speaking of palaces, I also learned that the hotel's main part where the Omar Khayyam casino and the lobby is located used to be the Gezirah Palace.

This is the hotel's engaging garden cafe. Since we arrived late in the afternoon, there was really no time to do any sight seeing on our own. We decided to enjoy the hotel's garden cafe and lounged there while listening to local music. Judging by the crowd at the garden cafe, it was the place to see and be seen. Guests look like monied, local celebrity or someone in politics.

The first order of business was food. We ordered this mezze with a local red wine blend called 2016 Omar Khayyam Vin Rouge. The warm pita bread went well with the different kinds of dip.

Though the pyramids were not the first thing we saw during the guided tours, I am mentioning it first in this blog because this is the highlight of the trip for me. Since I am not an expert in Egyptian history and antiquities, I'll just give you a virtual tour.

By this time, we had already seen the other sites in Egypt via a Nile cruise down to Luxor, Edfu and Aswan. The tour company saved the best for last. We went to Giza to see the Great Pyramids of Giza early in the morning before everyone got there. Though the day was sunny, the weather was freezing that time of the year.

The pyramids in the picture below are Pharaoh Khufu's on the left and Pharaoh Khafre's on the right. The pyramids are just awe inspiring from afar and upclose. The pyramids are not just tall, they are massive as well. I got into my never-in-my-wildest-dreams moments as soon as I saw this view. It is hard not to feel small and insignificant next to these structures. I used to read about these pyramids in my grade school and high school history books, and used to see them only on television and movies. And now I'm standing face to face with them? It felt like I stepped inside my books and walking along the historical landmarks. I spent about 5 minutes absorbing the moment and taking it all in before snapping this picture.

These are the entrances into the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The smaller of the entrances in the picture is where the tourists go in. What we see today, the rugged facade of brick over brick over brick, is the core structure of the pyramids. We were told by our Egyptologist guide that the pyramids used to be covered by smoothed limestone so they gleamed from afar. The limestone casing samples can be seen at the base of the pyramid in this picture.

Here's the view of the city of Giza from the Great Pyramids. I can't imagine what this view looked like thousands of years ago when Egypt was at its peak of power.

This picture was taken before we went inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Look at the size of the stone blocks. Huge blocks! As a systems designer, I am curious how these amazing monuments were built and which design principles were applied. I must say it was a fool proof design because it stood the test of time.

We were told that the construction techniques used to build the pyramids are just hypothesis and that no one really knows how they were put together. I cannot imagine how these huge stone blocks were quarried, carried from the quarry to the construction site, put them on top of each other and then added the smooth limestone casing. And that was using the technology at the time. The fact that these monuments still stand today is a testament to the quality of the design and build.

Here's a view of what it's like inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu. It is very cramped inside. If you are afraid of enclosed spaces, I recommend not going inside the pyramid because the galleries are really narrow and lots of people going in and out to see the Pharaoh's chamber up inside the pyramid.

That was an awesome experience! The tour of the Giza Pyramids was actually the last part of the tour package. And I see the point why that is so because this was the highlight of the many highlights in this Egypt tour.

Here's the side view of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. I wanted to walk the length of at least two sides of the pyramid but there was not enough time. There were demanding vendors offering camel rides for a fee. Some are selling miniature souvenir pyramids. If you say no and mean no, they will leave you alone.

Here is a view of Pharaoh Khafre's pyramid from our bus on our way to the next tour activity. We didn't get a chance to check out that pyramid. I am not sure if people are even allowed to wander around that area. The smooth limestone casing is still seen on the top part of the pyramid.

Here is a sweeping view of the Great Pyramids of Giza from afar before our camel ride. This plateau must have seen generations and generations of Egyptians and hundreds, maybe thousands, of stories to tell. Including the one about Moises and the Ten Commandments.

I don't know how to ride a horse and I had never ridden on a camel before so I didn't have any great expectations about this part of the tour. The camels were adorned with what looks like exquisitely designed carpets.

We were each assigned a camel guide. This is to direct the camel to sit, stand up and walk. To get on the camel, the camel would kneel and we were told to lean back when we get on the camel. I wasn't told exactly why that is but as soon as the camel stood up I understood why. It was actually quite dangerous had I not followed their instructions. It was also a good thing I was not the first one in our tour group to get on the camel. I had time to observe.

Sitting on the camel was scary for me because I felt like I was sitting pretty high up. Where do you hold on to? There is a hump as part of the seating structure. The camel ride was quite jerky as well which made it difficult to take selfies. I was really sure I was going to fall or get hurt in this part of the trip. Another thing to expect when riding camels - distinctive camel smell and millions of flies.

But it ended well because nothing bad happened to me, to Mijo or to any of my group tour mates. In fact, I was getting the hang of it after a few minutes of riding. I was even taking selfies and pictures. Here's a picture of my camel and my shadow. Can I take my camel home to be my pet? I hope the camels are getting the proper care and rest at the end of the day.

The next part of the trip was to see the Great Sphinx of Giza. It has the body of a lion and the head of a human. We were told that it has the face of Pharaoh Khafre. Others think that the Sphinx is older than the pyramids. No one really knows.

We came in through a temple near the Sphinx. I noticed the walls of the temple and I couldn't help but draw similarities to the walls built by the ancient Incas in Peru. Notice how there are almost no spaces in between the big slabs of stones?

Finally, after a few steps going out from the temple we were face to face with the Great Sphinx. We were told that the Sphinx faces from West to East.

Here's a side view. The nose and other details have been weathered away. We were told that this monument used to be buried under the sand. It was excavated in the 1920s.

Here's the view from the back of the Sphinx.

Here's the view from outside the complex on our way back to our tour bus.

One of the evenings, there was an outdoor Light show and sounds in Giza. It tells the story of the pyramids with background narration while the lights and sounds are synchronized. This show actually happened the night before we went to see the Great Pyramids of Giza upclose.

It was still winter when we went to Egypt. While the days maybe comfortably cool, the morning and nights were freezing. Here's the before the show started. We were seated for a long time waiting for the show to start. I could no longer bear the suspense.

Here's when the show started. The background music was very 50s era. It actually reminded me of the movie Ten Commandments. Maybe that was the effect the organizers are trying to create?

Here's the scene during the middle part of the story. By this time, it was getting to be a litte cheesy. I'd probably skip this tour if I knew what I know now.

Here's the finale of the Sound and Light show.

For a perspective, here's what the light and show venue looks like during the day. We were actually that close to the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx.

Our breakfast at the Marriot is mostly Western and some Asian.

However, there was a dessert that caught my attention. It is called Halawah. It is a sesame seed based sweet and it has this sweet nutty distinctive taste.

Another highlight of our Cairo trip was a visit to the Cairo Egyptian Museum. We were only given two hours inside the museum and half of the time was sort of a docent tour of the museum. The rest of the tour was a 30 minute time on our own.

It was overwhelming just looking at how much antiquities this museum is housing. I didn't think we were going to see a lot inside the museum with the very little time we were given.

I've seen some Egyptian antiquities in other museums like the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum in NYC so I kind of know what to expect. Nevertheless, Mijo and I were giddy like a little kid inside a candy store.

Here's one of two sides of Narmer's palette located at the Atrium in Room 43. It dates back from around 3100 BC depicting Pharaoh Narmer, also known as Menes, as the Pharaoh of both Upper and Lower Egypt. He was the first pharaoh of the 1st Dynasty - and the first in the 3000 years of Pharaonic history consisting of 170 Pharaohs ruling over 30 dynasties.

Here's a seated statue of King Chephren. Remember the Great Pyramids earlier in this blog? His pyramid was the one next to the Great Pyramid of Khufu. He is depicted here seated on his throne in smooth black diorite - a material harder than marble or granite.

Here's a statue of King Thutmosis III. He was the 6th Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty or the period of the New Kingdom.

Here's a sample of a papyrus which is 9 meters long. We saw a demonstration of how to make papyrus earlier in the trip so I could kind of relate to this part of the tour.

Here's a sample details of that papyrus.

Here's the lid of King Akhenaten's coffin. Akhenaten was the husband of Queen Nefetiti.

Here's the glass bottom of King Akhenaten's coffin.

Here's the room with the artifacts from the Amarna period.

In my opinion, the superstar artifact in the museum is Tutankhamun's chamber and all the antiquities unearthed from it. They were discovered by English archeologist Howard Carter in 1922. Earlier in the trip, we visited the site where these antiquities were discovered in the Valley of the Kings in the West Bank of Luxor.

Here is one of artifacts recovered from the rediscovery of King Tut's chamber. It is a golden canopic shrine which contained canopic jars. The box is gilded with four goddesses, one of them is Isis, with arms outstretched as a sign of protection.

Inside the canopic box are the canopic jars where the stoppers look like the pharaoh's head. These jars contained the pharaoh's internal organs.

Here's a life sized statue of King Tut's.

Here's Tutankhamun's lion throne which is inlaid with golden sheets and precious stones.

Here's a wooden box where the panels are painted scenes showing the pharaoh hunting and fighting with enemies.

Here are some figurines or shabtis. Shabtis are attendants that are supposed to serve the pharaoh in the afterlife.

Here are restorations and renovations happening inside the museum.

Here are the mummies. I don't want to scare most of you so I am not going to post the pictures of the mummies upclose.

Part of our Cairo sight seeing including a visit to a souq or market. We went to the Khan el Khalili Bazaar. I've been to the markets in Istanbul so I was curious what would be the difference between markets. The answer is they're kind of similar and yet each market is unique in their own way.

The market in Cairo is a mix of food, cafe, clothing, housewares, accessories, etc. The souq in Cairo looks more subdued compared to the ones in Istanbul. The souq in Cairo was also not inundated with tourists, which is a good thing.

It is also an open air market so natural lights come in.

Families having a meal.

I wanted to bring one back home.

I noticed there were a number of bread vendors at the market.

Finally, we stopped for a coffee break.

Mijo and I also tried the restaurant in the hotel called Omar Cafe. The food was great. We tried the local fare - mousaka, fish with rice, pea soup and bread.

The hotel is on Gezira island in the middle of the Nile River. I tried to take pictures of the river every time our tour bus passed by one of the bridges. Here's a day photo.

Here's the Nile at dusk.

And here is the Nile at night. I can't imagine how this river used to look. This river has seen many centuries of Egyptian rulers and dynasties and common people.

Since we were touring most of the time and didn't have a free time to roam around the city on our own except on the first day. I wanted to see the Cairo Tower upclose. Nevertheless, I was glad I was able to see it from the tour bus.

Here's what a small segment of Cairo's skyline.

Since I like Halawah a lot, I bought some home with us for give aways to family and for us. These were my Egyptian souvenirs.

I am so grateful to have seen the antiquities in Cairo and the pyramids in Giza. I am so thankful to the visionaries who planned and designed the ancient city and the people who helped built so that visitors like me can enjoy seeing it five thousand years later.

This was an awesome experience and truly a dream come true.

~rl

Pinoy on a work trip - Enjoyable flight experience on Lufthansa

2018-12-01T18:59:00.001-08:00

I was asked to travel for work once again but this time to our U.K. office. I flew on Lufthansa and it was an awesome experience.

Let me take you on a virtual tour what is inside a Lufthansa flight with all the comfort of a business class cabin.

For this trip, I was flying to London via Frankfurt on an Airbus 380 aircraft on business class. The configuration of this plane has six seats per row. I was able to book a seat in the middle section so that I have access to the aisle anytime without bothering my seatmate or my vice versa.

I noticed the seats in their business class is wider than the other airlines and it seemed to have longer leg room than most. The seats lay flat which is great for sleeping or resting. When sleeping, the feet rest a little towards the side so you lay flat at an angle.

Lufthansa has great selections of movies but I was more interested in reading my book during the flight. I did enjoy their in-flight music selection and that kept me company during the eleven hour plus airplane ride to Frankfurt. It was also a great way to try out new music.

Warm nuts for snacks as soon as we reached the required cruising altitude. I opted for water since I've already had alcohol at the Polaris lounge while waiting for the flight (Lufthansa shares the lounge with United Airlines in SFO).

They were serving a 2014 Medoc by Chateau Loirac and a 2014 Cape Cuvee. They let me sample both wines. Thank you Lufthansa crews!

For the appetizer, I opted for the shrimp cocktail with cucumber and micro greens.

For the main dish, I chose the brioche and herb crusted salmon. Both the appetizers and the main dish went so well with both wines.

For dessert, I decided to get their papaya and mango with chile and lime spice.

For breakfast, they were serving muesli with fruits and scrambled eggs on the side. I must say that I was very happy with the selection of dishes at Lufthansa.

For the freebie, at the time of my flight, they were giving this Bree bag which contained toiletries. The bag may be reused as a hand held device holder.

Here are the contents of the goodie bag.

Overall, the flight may not have a lot of frills compared to the other airlines. However, comfort is my number one criteria and the flight was very comfortable. I was able to sleep like a baby, ate really tasty meals, and the crews ultra friendly and helpful. Because of that, I'd rate them five stars.

Thanks Lufthansa!

Pinoy in Paris - Back to the City of Lights on a long weekend holiday

2018-10-27T15:18:00.010-07:00

I was back in Paris during a long weekend while I was in London on a business trip. However short my stay in the City of Lights may have been, it was all worth it.

It was a memorable trip comprising of long city walks and immersive art experience.

My business trip to London coincided with a U.K. bank holiday that fell on a Monday. Since our U.K. offices were closed on that day, I made plans of taking a quick trip to Paris to take advantage of the long weekend. Je voudrais voyager a Paris! Paris is only a couple of hours away from London via the Eurostar, after all.

[read my London blog, October 2018]

After I left our office at 5 p.m. on Friday, I did not waste anytime and I was back to the hotel to pack a weekender bag to catch the 8 p.m. train to Paris.

[read my Paris blog, May 2006]

The Eurostar trains leave from London's St. Pancras station. The station was super crowded with travelers that evening and I expected nothing less due to the long weekend holiday.

My train ticket was only for a regular fare but I was bumped up to a VIP class and that class comes with a meal. That was heaven sent because I was starving and had not had anything to eat. I had not eaten dinner due to time constraints because I only had an hour to prepare after leaving the office.

The main dish was very tasty and the bread was nutty and perfectly baked - chewy on the outside, soft on the inside. The wine was a French red blend from the Fitou appellation called L'Olivier de la Reze. After a couple of hours of uneventful high speed train ride, I reached Paris's Gare Du Nord around 11 p.m. Je suis ici finalmente!

Since I knew I was going to reach the city very late at night, I just picked a hotel across from the station to avoid the unnecessary challenges of extra train hops to get to a hotel. Hotel Richmond proved to be an economical, as well as practical, choice.

My hotel had free continental breakfast included in the stay. To save time on my first day, I decided to get the light breakfast enough to give me energy for my site seeing that morning. The original plan was to walk from Arc De Triomphe all the way to the Louvre and then spend the entire day inside the museum.

The Metro station entrance in Gare Du Nord is just steps away from the hotel which saved me time especially since I was only going to be in the city for a few days. Every minute counts.

I took the Metro from Gare Du Nord station to Charles de Gaulle – Étoile and got off the station with this view of the Arc De Triomphe. I've been to Paris twice before this trip and I've been to the Arc twice already but I still get goosebumps everytime I see it upclose.

On both occasions I was there, I had been there in the afternoon when it was packed with tourists. This was the first time I went there that early in the morning. There were only a few tourists in the area at that time. Here's the view of the Tomb of Unknown Soldier with a plaque of commemoration which is located underneath and on the center of the Arc.

Here are more details of the Arc with the relief sculpture of La Marseillaise on this facade. Since I've seen the Arc many times, I just wanted to see it but didn't want to linger. It was more like saying hello and goodbye to an old friend.

Of course, I had to get this picture.
I had to go to Champs Elysees to get this view. J'aime cette ville!

Even though the walk from the Arc to the Louvre in distance is less than 5 kilometers or less than 3 miles, I still gave myself an hour for the walk since I expected it to be a very leisurely walk with lots of photo snapping opportunities along the way.

Since I was there very early on a Saturday morning, the avenue was noticeably less crowded and the cafes and restaurants were visibly in the process of opening.

Because Champs Elysees was not yet crowded at that time, I had lots of room to take pictures. I had an enjoyable time admiring the facade of the apartment buildings on the avenue. There was one time during that walk that I was imagining myself looking out of one of the windows while studying my French language lessons. Maybe, someday? Je voudrais etuder Francais.

It is true what they say about window shopping in Europe. The store windows are exquisitely designed to entice people looking from the outside. Not that I had the budget nor I was in the market for a new bag, this Louis Vuitton window was a work of art.

Walking farther down the avenue, I got a little distracted and turned right on Avenue Winston Churchill. Beautiful buildings such as the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais are located on this block. Now you see why I got distracted. Here's the facade of the Grand Palais.

I've never been to this part of the city so I was glad to have seen it in this trip. Here's the facade of the Petit Palais.

The gardens around the buildings are also very picturesque. Here's the Jardin des Abords du Petit Palais with a statue of Winston Churchill in the background. The city is dotted with these pockets of greenery and makes the city look pretty and less concrete.

I got distracted even more by walking a few yards further towards the river to check out a beautiful bridge in Beaux-Arts style called Pont Alexandre III. The bridge is lined with nouveau style lamps and white gilding on the sides. There are great views of the Eiffel Tower from this bridge.

I was enjoying the walk and the views that came with it that I failed to keep track of the time. I initially estimated that it would take about an hour for the less than 5 kilometers of walk. I was so off target. I already killed an hour and I still had about 2 kilometers of walk to go. Luckily, there is a Metro in the Palais area and that line goes to the Louvre. The walk through the Jardin des Tuileries will have to wait until my next visit. Two stations later, I made it to the Musée du Louvre.

I had been to the Louvre twice from previous trips but had only spent an hour at most inside the museum during each trip - first with a friend from college and the other trip with Mijo.

Traveling to Paris alone this time, I had planned to spend the entire morning through the afternoon inside the museum. I was able to spend more time looking and engrossing at the Mona Lisa and the other works of art. It was a dream come true. I wrote about my Louvre experience in a separate blog.

[read my Louvre blog, August 2020]

I had found out that the Eiffel Tower is open late so I went there right after my extra ordinary time at the Louvre. The tower looks equally awesome during the day, as well as at night.

I had been to the Eiffel Tower twice but both times were during the day. This was going to be my first time to go up the tower at night. My plan was going perfectly fine that day until I saw the line to the tickets. It was very long. In the end, I spent a little over an hour and a half in the line. I got to the elevator by 9 p.m.

The view from up there is worth the wait. This is the part where I truly missed Mijo and wished he was there looking at the same view.
Here's the view of the 8th arrondissement and beyond. The buiding on the horizon may be the Sacre Coeur?

Here's the view of the Trocadero.
I would be taking selfies from Trocadero the following day.

Here's the view of the 17th arrondissement and beyond. I see the Arc de Triomphe. I spent almost an hour up there just immersing in the views. I didn't get back to the hotel until after midnight.

During my walks on the Champs Elysees the day before, I saw a Laduree restaurant and I made a mental note to brunch there the next day. Laduree is well known for their macarons and pastries but I didn't know they have a sit down restaurant. After a good night's rest, my energies were replenished and I was ready for my first item on the day's list - brunch at Laduree.

There is no question about the quality of food in this restaurant. Everything was superb. Take for example the bread. It was perfection and smelled freshly baked. There was no need for butter, really, but the butter enhanced the overall experience. I only take my coffee black without sugar. Nevertheless, the sugar cubes are arranged like it was ready for a close up photography.

For the main dish, I decided to get the salmon egg benedict. The serving may be tiny but it was packed with a giant taste.

Thank God that the servings are tiny so that I could make room for their French toast.

Since I was just visiting and I was going to Musee D'Orsay afterwards, it would have been a shame to have kept these goodies inside my bag the entire day. I hope that I'd be able to take Mijo for a Laduree brunch on Champs Elysees next time.

After that sumptuous breakfast, you would think I would opt for another walk on the Champs Elysees all the way to the Musée d'Orsay? Unfortunately, I didn't think that way at that moment. I was keen on saving time over burning calories and immersing in the moment. I had the Orsay and the Pompidou on my list that day and I didn't know how I'd manage to fit both in one day. In any case, I made it to the MO and spent the entire morning through mid afternoon.

I'll write a separate blog to tell you all about my over five hours at the museum.

Before the short trip ended, I wanted to see a glimpse of Pompidou so I made room on Sunday. Instead of spending five hours at the D'Orsay, I shortened it so that I can visit the Pompidou one hour before closing time and still have time for a walk by the Seine river.

Lots of picturesque views by the river and some of my favorite shots in this trip were taken from that walk to Pompidou such as the picture below. Since I had been away from California for over a week at that point, I was already missing Mijo and maybe feeling a bit home sick and the lovely walk made me miss Mijo and home all the more.

I also found this local painter selling these two Van Gogh-esque flowers with vase oil painting on canvas for a very reasonble price. They are wonderful souvenirs from Paris.

I finally reached the Pompidou with less than one hour before closing. I knew this visit to the museum was going to be an in and out sort of thing. Looking at the building alone is worth the visit.

After I got my ticket, I went straight upstairs and worked my way down.

I made a mental note about the museum store. I absolutely have to get a postcard from this museum and definitely a tote bag.

The walkways are for sure one of the attractions here. Since they put the escalator and stairs outside where the view is absolutely stunning, the designer made sure people get to see the views by making the facade and walls transparent. I love the concentric cirles!

Since I got there too late, I only got to see a couple of floors worth of arts.

The one that piqued my attention was this interactive wall art by Jean Dubuffet called Le Jardin D'Hiver. This wall art has a grotto or cave inside and like a cave, the interior has organic characteristics.

Access to areas where they have these outdoor sculptures were already closed at that time.

Here's the view of the street below from the top of the building.

Here's a stunning view of Paris from the top of the building.

Even the cafe inside the museum is artsy. I hope I'll be able to visit Paris again someday and I hope I get to visit the Pompidou with ample time to get an immersive experience.

After my visit to Pompidou, I didn't really have anything on my list to do. This allowed me to be creative and just walk around Les Halles. I've been to the neighborhood twice before but I couldn't say I am familiar with the neighborhood.

Lots of cafes and restaurants. The weather was also perfect for dining outside that day.

After a few blocks of walking, I finally decided to go to Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower while there was day light.

Seeing the Eiffel Tower again was a great way to end a great long weekend in Paris. This view was taken from Trocadero.

And a visit to Trocadero is not complete without a Chantilly Crepe.

Here's what it looks like after all the fillings are gone.

Afterwards, I was able to reconnect with a good friend from highschool E who calls Paris home. He's been living in Paris for several years now and I've been invited to join a Filipino picnic at the Ranelagh Gardens which happens to be close to Trocadero. Here's one of the food we had at the picnic called sisig. I had a great time hanging out and catching up with my highschool friend and his family and friends even for just a few hours. Maraming salamat!

The picnic was fun and very engaging that I hadn't gotten the chance to admire the pretty gardens of Ranelagh. I had to bid farewell and say goodbye to my highschool friend and his family and friends before it got dark and also to give myself time to prep for my trip back to London the following day. My walk through the Ranelagh Gardens to the nearest Metro allowed me to appreciate and enjoy the gardens. The cool breeze and the Sunday evening vibe were also tell tale signs that my trip in Paris is winding down.

My train back to London was scheduled to leave Gare Du Nord at 1 pm. the following day, on Monday. I woke up early that day so I had plenty of time between breakfast and hotel checkout. I thought to myself that this would be a great time to go the post office to send my postcards and still have time to walk around Pigalle and Montmarte.

It actually rained that morning and it was cold for an August day. Since it was a Monday, there were lots of office workers walking towards the train station.

I've always wanted a day in Paris just walking on its streets - without any site seeing agenda.

What a treat to be able to do just that. Walk around Pigalle and Montmarte. I actually don't know where one starts and ends at this point. I was just enjoying every minute of my walk.

I think that is Sacre Coeur on the background. I actually have never been there before.

Another part of Parisian life that I find so iconic is its Metro stations. The stations, in my opinion, look uniquely Parisian with its tiled walls and station names written in mosaic style. I am going to miss the sounds of the trains passing by and the foot traffic.

Finally, hotel checkout time arrived and I had to check in to my train ride back to London.

I was not in a hurry to get to the Eurostar's waiting room. As I walked, I tried to savor each remaining minute I had at Gare Du Nord and in Paris.

I don't know if I'll be going back to Paris anytime soon. But I will try my best to go back as soon as I get a chance. Au revoir, Paris!

~rl

Pinoy in London - Tour of Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studios

2018-10-24T22:39:00.008-07:00

I was back in London for work. And then I stayed for a couple of days after my official work duties so I can visit the Warner Brothers Studios where the Harry Potter Tour is located.

This is a virtual tour of the studios. Enjoy!

I visited London a year ago in May 2017 and the closest Harry Potter experience I got to was at King's Cross station where a Platform 9 3/4 is on display next to a Harry Potter souvenir shop.

[read my London blog, May 2017]

I feel very fortunate that I had another chance to travel to London this year, albeit for work. So I took that opportunity and made time
to visit the Warner Brothers Studios.

[read my London blog, October 2018]

From London, I took the London Underground to Euston station. From there, I connected to the London Overground. My weekly train pass was only good for Zone 1 and my destination of Watford Junction is outside the allowed zone so I had to pay extra to augment my ticket. The ride lasted for almost an hour. A Warner Brothers shuttle was waiting for ticketed visitors outside the Watford Junction station and the roundtrip ride is for a small fee. (I bought my tour ticket weeks in advance.)

Finally, I reached the parking lot of the Warner Brothers Studios. My ticket was timed at 6pm but I got there two hours early to give myself ample time for taking pictures outside the studios. Several life sized pieces of the Wizards Chess are on display outside. I noticed that everyone got a giddy smile on.

The fence is also covered with what looks like news articles from the Daily Prophet. For fans of Harry Potter like me, these are the kind of things we came here for.

Long lines to the bag check.

Here are hand prints of Harry, Hermione and Ron during the London premiere of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.

This huge background is great for photo ops and selfies. I think this scene may have been from the very first movie when the kids were being whisk to Hogwarts via tiny magical boats.

Afterwards, I walked through this long hallway. To make the long walk less boring, it was a brilliant idea by the Studios to use famous quotes from the movies as wall displays in the style of Marauder's Map. Of course, the tour designers made the displays big enough which is perfect for group pictures or selfies.

Finally, I reached the lobby of the Studios. There was a huge Goblet in the middle because the theme at that time was the Goblet of Fire. This display might change throughout the year depending on the theme. I got to the Studios around 4:00pm and to the entrance by 4:30pm but they let me in as soon as I got there even though my ticket was timed at 6:00pm.

My ticket came with this digital guide which has wealth of information about each section of the tour. It also has behind the scenes tidbits and commentaries from the movie makers and cast members.

There was another line beyond the ticketing gates. That didn't matter because we were admiring the Cupboard Under the Stairs while waiting for our turn to go in.

After a short video about Harry Potter's different movie posters used around the world, we were ushered to the main door of the Great Hall.

I almost whispered Piertotum Locomotor when I saw these statues of suit of armor.

These were my first glimpses of what was going to be a several hour treat. I was so happy that my smile was so wide my face hurt. I wasn't the only one having a great time. I figured, people were there because they are fans of Harry Potter. We were all giddy like little kids in a candy store.

They had on display life sized samples of the professors at Hogwarts, students in Hogwarts uniforms and the long dining table with plates and glasses.

Since the theme that time was Goblet of Fire, they had arranged the dining hall as if it was a scene in that movie installment.

After the Great Hall, we were ushered to the next section called Interior Set which showcases lots of props used in the film. Lots of props equal a very distracted Filipino Harry Potter fan. I didn't know where to start! I don't really know how the section is arranged. Nevertheless, being in the Interior Set reminded me of the feeling of seeing the Harry Potter film for the very first time. It was magical.

Speaking of the Goblet of Fire, do you remember the Golden Egg which contained the clue regarding the second challenge? This is one of the props that can be found in the Interior Set section.

Another favorite of mine is the Mirror of Erised, even though the scene in the Philosopher's Stone where the mirror was introduced for the first time when Harry saw reflections of his parents is somewhat saddening.

Here is the Gryffindor Common Room. It is interesting that there are a lot of details in this room like the wall art, the tables and charges and wall paper. I didn't pay attention to them while watching the movies but I absolutely noticed these little details while at the studio. I learned that this set took nearly three months to complete.

Here's a sample of one of the walls in Hogwarts with Portraits and proclamations. Also seen in the photo is the moving stairs. Did you know that there are about 350 portraits hanging in the walls of Hogwarts?

Here are more Portraits and in close up. I learned that these portraits are hand painted portraits of the film's crew which I think is a brilliant way to immortalize the people working behind the scenes and in the background.

Remember this Vault Door in the Philosopher's Stone and then it made another appearance in the Deathly Hallows Part 2? The craftsmanship and details of this door is outstanding.

This is the Ollivander's Wand shop and it has thousands of wands and wand boxes where each one is distinctive and one of a kind. The boxes have names of more than 4000 names of people who worked in the Harry Potter films. Want a little challenge? Look for the box with J.K. Rowling on it.

Speaking of wands, here are the wands of Harry, Ron and Hermione upclose.

I realized I have a lot of favorite apps. I actually trimmed down the props and apps that I featured in this blog.
Here's Marauder's Map. This is displayed high up on a board so I couldn't see it upclose.

This was used as a hallway in the Leaky Cauldron. It uses a Forced Perspective technique to make it look longer than 50 feet on screen.

This is the Hogwarts Doors where it appeared in the Prisoner of Azkaban. I learned that each handle, bold and latch was mechanized by the Special Effects Department.

Here's the Flying Car used by Ron and Harry and was later smashed by the Whomping Willow.

And who can forget about the Hogwarts Clock? This is huge!

Do you remember the spell that lets you access the Griffin stairwell?

One of the more popular stops in the Interior Set section is Hagrid's Hut. The crowd was thick and they were all congregating in front so it was hard to take a proper picture. It didn't help that the set is in a cul-de-sac.

Here's the interior of Hagrid's Hut. Again, there are a lot of details in here that I had never paid attention before. Unlike in the movies, I had the chance to linger here and look at this set longer.

The Potions Room looked spooky complete with mannequins resembling Professor Slughorn and Professor Snape. I learned that in the Philosopher's Stone, this room was shot on location at Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, England and this set was built for the subsequent films.

I also learned that more than five hundred peculiar jars and bottles are in the dusty shelves that line the walls of this classroom. Here's an up close look at the table in the Potion's Room. Can you spot where Felix Felicis is?

Another popular set in the Interior Section is The Burrow or the Weasley residence. I learned that this set is only a small part of the original set which stood more than 44 feet tall. I remember seeing their home for the first time and I thought it looked like a country home that is very rustic, super cluttered and crooked as though it was built by someone with no construction experience, but it was very homey.

Can you spot the magical pot scrubber?

Can you spot the magical knitting of scarf?

Adjacent to the Interior Set is the Interactive Photo and Video experience where kids can experience being on a broom and have their pictures taken with the CGI background like in the Harry Potter movies. I wanted to have my pictures taken here but I didn't see any adults doing it, so...

Remember the spell to get the broom to go up?
Up, up, up...

The next section is the Ministry of Magic. The set was huge. It was imposing and truly scary. The office facade is made of shiny red and green tiles. The Ministry sculpture they used in the films is imposing.

Afterward, I got to the Forbidden Forest. This set is also big with a matching rolling fog on the floor to create the same effect as in the movie.

Here is Buck Beak from the Prisoner of Azkaban.

I wasn't paying much attention to the trees and their huge trunks until I saw this. Amazing!

Finally, I got to the Platform 9 3/4! Though I've seen a small part of this at Kings Cross Station, seeing the entire set is a whole different experience. I must have lingered in this set for 20 minutes or too long.

The line going into the train was long. This train was used as the Hogwarts Express in the film and it is an authentic Great Western Railway 4900 Class 5972 Olton Hall 4-6-0 locomotive and coal tender.

Thankfully, there is Carriage Interior set showing what it is like to be inside the train. I learned that the actors had to imagine the sceneries out of the windows because all they saw was this green screen.

I got to the Cafe and decided to try the Butter Beer. I thought, this is part of the experience when you go to the studio tour so might as well go for it. It tasted like a mildly sweet cream soda topped with vanilla ice cream.

Next to the Cafe is the Backlot Exterior Sets. This is where the Knight Bus, Privet Drive house, Potters' Cottage and the Hogwarts Bridge are located.

The Privet Drive house is where Harry's relatives who raised him live. I learned that in the Philosopher's Stone, the exterior was filmed in Bracknell, Berkshire. It was later realized that the house will again be featured in the next films so it was decided to recreate the same street to give the production team more flexibility.

This is the Potters' Cottage in Godric's Hollow. Unlike the Privet Drive house where you can go inside and see the interior, I am not sure if you can see this cottage's interior. I didn't see any lines going in.

I learned in this tour that this is the only section of the Hogwart's Bridge that was built. The bridge was also not in the book and the script and it was the director Alfonso Cuaron's idea in The Prisoner of Azkaban to create the bridge to give Harry and Hermione's Time Turner journey more exciting.

Here's what the bridge looks like inside.

The next section is the Creatures Effects Department. This is where the design of any creature you can think of is made - the elves, goblins, owls, dragons, etc. I learned that it is done in three steps - design, moulding and application.

Looks like this is the robotics table. I would have enjoyed working here as an assistant!

Do you remember the Mandrake plant?

Finally, I made it to Diagon Alley. I can almost hear the background music in the movie when Hagrid brought Harry to Diagon Alley for the first time. I noticed that everyone had a smile on while taking the pictures.

Here's the wand store Ollivander's. I wanted to go in but it was not allowed.

Lots of recognizable stores from the movie including Gringotts Bank all the way to the end of the street. The street looks like it is not as long as the one in the movie and not as crowded. I noticed the street is made of cobbled stone.

Here is the facade of Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

As a designer of software and business applications, another section that I immensely enjoyed and appreciate is the Model Department. This is where everything is designed and conceptualized.

I wonder how big the design team is and what their design process is like? What about the deadlines? Is their work schedule dotted with sleepless nights and weeks and non stop work? What about prop malfunctions?

These are called White Card Models before the actual set construction began. They were used by the director and production designer to look at size and scale and determine camera angles. Film makers used a small camera called lipstick camera to plan shots and camera movement and get a perfect point of view.

Here's a model of Hogwart's Bridge.

Here's a model of Diagon Alley.

Here's the Hogwarts model.

Unfortunately, all good things have to end.

Lastly, the Shop is still a good deal of site seeing, at least for me. Here is a sweater of Hermione and Ron. There are sizes for kids and adults.

Here is Hermione's gown in the Goblet of Fire. This one is kids size. I didn't see an adult version of the gown.

And Bertie Bott's Everyflavour Beans. This one I bought and it does have random flavors, some pleasant and other unpleasant ones.

All in all, I had a truly great time touring the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studios. It brought smiles to everyone. I will always remember my trip to the studios every time I watch the reruns of the Harry Potter films.

~rl

Back in London - More of the City and its Boroughs

2018-10-07T10:18:00.006-07:00

I went back to London for work. I made sure that I was going to be in London and try to see London the way locals do. So for two weeks, I made time to see the city after office hours and during the weekend. It was a lot of effort but it was rewarding.

Seeing London how the locals see it made me appreciate the city even more. A bonus was seeing my childhood friends M and J once again.

I flew into Heathrow airport on a Saturday afternoon. This was to allow for one full day to acclimate to the time zone since I was going to be working starting the following Monday. After checking in to my hotel, which was going to be my home for two weeks, I had time to walk around the area and check out the local weekend scenes.

I had been to London twice before this trip so my list of things to see was not the usual touristy things. I had seen many times before the more popular landmarks like the Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, etc. For this trip, I made sure to enjoy the city the way a Londoner would.

[read my London blog, May 2017]

My first stop was Hyde Park which is a 20 minute walk from my hotel. The park was crowded. I couldn't tell if they are tourists like myself or they are locals. A first look at the park map gave me an idea how huge the park is. The goal for this walk was to see the London Mastaba.

After a few minutes of walk, I reached the Serpentine Lake which is where the floating outdoor art installation by the artist Christo called the London Mastaba was on display. The art installation, consisted of over 7,000 colored barrels and shaped like an ancient Egyptian tomb, can be seen from different parts of the Serpentine Lake. I liked how the lake reflects light to the Mastaba and at the same time the Mastaba casting its reflection onto the lake, to the delight of this Pinoy photography enthusiast!

I also found the play on colors interesting and smart. From afar, the outdoor installation looks like it is pinkish blue. However, the view up close revealed several colors. The sides have white and red and the front and back have red, pink and blue. It was the first time I had ever seen an art installation floating on water. I am glad to have seen this work of art while I was in London.

I even had time to check out the nearby Serpentine Sackler Gallery and saw an exhibit on the arts of German artist Tomma Abts.


The gallery shop also had this unique fragrance called Serpentine and it comes with grass notes and it is designed by Comme Des Garcons.

There is a part of the Serpentine Lake called The Long Water which is home to birds like swans, herons and mallards. I am amazed, and thankful at the same time, that a big city like London provides refuge to birds. This also makes the city feel less concrete, glass and steel.

Another park attraction near the Serpentine Lake is the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It is like a tiny raging river that is round shaped. The water flows from the highest point in two directions and meeting at the lowest part of the fountain forming a calm pool. I like how the water rages down and the contours and jagged design of the slides create relaxing gurgling sounds. Locals, tourists, adults and kids alike walk or run bare footed on the fountain.

I got hungry so I decided to pay Harrod's a visit and grabbed something quick to eat. On my way to Harrod's, I passed through this cute alley called Park Close. I am amazed every time I uncover these little alleys in London and appreciate the city's urban planners in converting these narrow passage ways into pleasant areas to walk through.


Inside Harrod's, I always enjoy passing through its Food Hall and browse through their selections of delicious and beautifully presented food.

I decided to get an early dinner at the Harrod's Cafe and sampled their Fish Cake and Poached Asparagus paired with their tasty Rose Tea. I was admiring their tea strainer and made a mental note to get one from a local tea shop to bring back home.


The Design Museum is one of the places that I haven't seen or been to in my visits to London. For this trip, I've decided to include it in my short list of Things To See.

The museum showcases design principles and carefully curated objects that are considered having good design. It also takes a look at the relationship of Designer, Maker and User. As a designer and maker of software applications and as an end user of a lot of things, I appreciate a good design whether it is for utilitarian or for purely aesthetics. The museum also has a wall of designs that takes a look at the timeline of major breakthroughs in design that is London-centric.



The museum was also having an exhibition showcasing the works of couturier Azzedine Alaia. The museum shop is a designer's delight. I bought a canvas tote shopping bag as a souvenir. The area where the museum is located is called High Street Kensington and it seems vibrant and a happening place but I couldn't check it out at the time so I made a mental note to go back next week after work.


Monday came and work was very busy and hectic. Since I was working from 8am till 6pm, I realized that there won't be time for sight seeing during the day. I also wasn't going to see my childhood friends M and J until a few days later. So I made an 'after office walk' plan. From the office on the way back to the hotel, I made it a point to get off at a different Underground station and walked around the city.

My first 'after office walk' was around Piccadilly Square. The last time I was here was in May 2017 and the giant digital screen had scaffolding on. It was great to finally see the building's finished renovation and the cover removed. This area is very centrally located. It is close to shops and the theatre district. I killed over two hours just walking around the area soaking in the authentic London city scene.

Since my hotel was in the Paddington area of the city, Paddington Station was my home station for my two week stay. I saw it day and night and sometimes late night. I saw it when it was crowded during rush hour and when it was empty very late at night. It is truly centrally located. Several Underground lines converge in Paddington. The station is quite big and this is the terminus for the Heathrow Express so it is perfect for people traveling for business like me. The wrought iron arches give it a pre-World War era feel.

Outside of the station under the Bishop Road bridge, there is an art installation called Message From the Unseen World which combines poetry, art and technology which is a collaboration of United Visual Artists and poet Nick Drake.


Of course, no pictures of Paddington station is complete without the iconic Paddington Bear.

The first week was a challenge because this was when I was still getting my bearings around the city. I was working long hours too so I was so spent by the time I got back to the hotel. More often than not, I was more tired than hungry. There was one time for dinner, I went to this Lebanese restaurant called Paramount and I had a light meal there. I ordered their Pea soup and Moussaka. The meal was very tasty. It was a great way to recharge after a long day.

Another one of my after work excursions was a trip to the Selfridges. In case you didn't know, the Selfridges is a department store. I used to watch a Masterpiece mini-series called Selfridges and this made me romanticize this store even though I have never been there before. Like Harrods, I heard about the Food Hall of Selfridges and that was the reason I went there.



I was particularly interested in checking out their tea selections. They have herbal tea infusions that I've never tasted before - Passion fruit and orange, English rose and elderflower, and British Mint. I decided that moment that tea will be my souvenir from this trip. I also got my mom, my sister and Mijo's daughters souvenir teas from Selfridges.

I also indulged in a little snack to bring back to the hotel. These macarons from Pierre Herme inside the store's Food Hall are one of the best macarons I've had.

I decided to see a West End show on a Thursday night. I figured, this was my 3rd trip to London but I had not seen a West End show so a live theatre either a play or a musical in this trip was going to be a treat. A quick glance at the available musicals, I noticed that I had seen most of the shows except for a few ones. 42nd Street is one of the musicals that I have not seen and it is the original musical's 2017 London revival. It is a musical about a show in America and its cast members and set during the Great Depression. It features great singing and tap dancing. The show was absolutely entertaining!

The show was held at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane.



There was another time after work where I walked from Piccadilly/Leicester Square all the way to the South Bank via the Golden Jubilee Bridge walkway. It was a pleasant evening and a pleasant walk across the Thames River.

On the other side of the Thames River is the South Bank Center. Mijo and I have walked along the South Bank before but I had not noticed the South Bank Center area during that walk. This area is a happening place where art, performances and food intersect. I made a mental note that I should explore this area if I'll ever be back to London on business or leisure.

Here are more scenes from the South Bank Center's Queen Elizabeth Terrace BBQ Bar.

I would have lingered in the area had it not been for a performance at the Shakespeare's Globe that night.

I saw a performance of Love's Labour's Lost that night and oh boy. I didn't only need subtitles, I also needed translation. The British accent was bad enough for my ears and add the old English way of speaking and you have one very confused Filipino guy. In any case, it was a great introduction of Shakespeare for me. I was going to go back to the Globe for a tour of the venue the weekend before I fly back to the States.

The weekend allowed me to see the city during the day. One of the things that I haven't done and been wanting to do was to go to the Borough Market. This was what I exactly did one weekend, to experience market day in London. I was also getting a little home sick by this time so going to a market like this one allowed me to feel at home, as if I was in San Francisco on a beautiful saturday morning.

Lots of things are on sale there. Of course, vegetables and fresh produce. Just like San Francisco, London is surrounded by farms and that's where the fresh produce comes from. The market was crowded. Some stalls are more popular than others like this truffle seller where there was a long line just to smell the truffle samples they have.

I sampled many things like cheeses, spreads, breads, drinks, etc. Unfortunately, I was going to be in London for one more week and a lot of these items don't travel well. I decided I was just going to be there to enjoy the market. Mijo would have enjoyed this more than I did.

Lots of plants that may be a fit to San Francisco's weather. I wanted to bring a pot of English Lavender so badly.

I did find something to buy like this Rose Mint tea at Tea2You and sampled an order of this paella at another stall. So tasty!


Later that afternoon, I went across town from the Borough Market to the Victoria and Albert Museum. This museum is huge. I didn't get to see all of its permanent collections, and if I did see a section, like the Paintings section, I only breezed through it. I also thought that the V&A was still having their exhibition on the late designer Steve McQueen. Unfortunately, that exhibit was over.

I came in from the South Kensington station entrance so I got in the museum through the Sculptures section. Lots of works by Rodin in this section. There were also artists sketching some of the works there.

I found it a challenge to navigate around the museum even with the help of a museum map. I don't even know how I got to the Paintings section.

The ones that caught my attention in this section was the Madonna and Child in Egypt by William Blake (left photo) and the Toilette by Charles Robert Leslie (right photo).

I stumbled into this cozy Member's Only room. If you're a member, you can enjoy the amenities provided in this room.

I did enjoy their Tapestry section. This section contains several large tapestries depicting 15th century aristocratic lives in the outdoors.

The wall on the left displays a huge tapestry depicting swan and otter hunting. The one of the left has tapestries displaying medieval falconry.

Here's the detail of one of the tapestries. The room had low light so it was a challenge to take a photo. And taking pictures with a flash is not allowed.


Another section I enjoyed was the Stained glass section.

The one on the left is an example of Flemish style stained glass. The one on the right is French style.

This is another section that I enjoyed immensely - the Miniature portraits. I needed to use the magnifying lenses, which are provided for use in this section, to see the portraits.

The section about Theatre showcases the costumes used in the more popular productions, the venue and theatres, the story, the scenes and the artwork.

I exited thru the museum's front doors so that I could take a picture of the museum facade.

Even the pavement is ultra creative. Look at the texture and contours and angles! I wonder what this floor looks and feels like when wet?

The V&A absolutely deserves another visit.

One early Sunday morning, I took a leisurely walk around London's Regent's Park. I took the Jubilee Gate entrance to get in the park. My goal was to walk from this park all the way to Primrose Hill.

The park is huge. I literally had to use Google map to find out where I was inside the park relative to where I was going. There are signs mentioning specific areas are being conserved for specific purpose. I noticed there were lots of birds in the area. This must be another area saved for conservation purposes.

The good thing is that Londoners seem to be using the park and its amenities and taking advantage of the good weather. Lots of people walking. Lots of families.

People even go boating around the wetlands in the park. I had to look at the map again to get directions.

I made it all the way to Primrose Hill. It was a lot of walking but the view of London from there is nothing short of spectacular.

Since I couldn't do any site seeing during the next work week, I've decided to take note of my lunches instead. These are the local flavors that I enjoyed for lunches or dinners. I am not used to eating alone so it was during these times that I missed Mijo the most.

This one is a Vietnamese-style noodles from Banana Tree.

This one is a seared cod from a restaurant called Cote.

This is grilled chicken with fries and rice from Nando's.

This is a chicken sandwich from Paul Cafe. They also have sweet pastries and breads.

This is a tuna salad with pea soup from Pret a Manger.

Caffe Nero is the local coffee that I enjoyed sipping during my 2 weeks of stay in London. Even though breakfast was included as part of my accommodation at the hotel, my morning splurge was a cup of Americano from this coffee chain. Their ginger cookie was perfect with my coffees.

There was one time, after work, that I got off at High Street Kensington station. I had been here a week earlier when I went to the Design Museum but I didn't walk around the area during that time.

Lots of restaurants, lots of shops and lots of people walking. And then this Philippine flag. I wonder how many Filipinos are living and/or working in London?

Even though I had a long day at work, walking around High Street Kensington gave me a jolt of energy.

That extra energy made me decide to walk all the way to the hotel via Kensington Gardens.

The gardens is where the Kensington Palace is located. The palace is also the official London residence of the British Royal Family. The palace was also having an exhibit on Lady Diana but it was already closed for the day.

The walk was very pleasant. One of the things I love about London is its parks. Imagine these parks have seen many generations of the Royal family and many generations of Londoners and visitors.

My childhood friends M and J were finally available to meet that week so I met them the following night for drinks and dinner at Pingpong Dimsum at the Westfield mall. I hadn't seen them in 20 years until last year when Mijo and I went to London for a quick vacation. M and J and I were so excited to see each other after just a year. Even though we had just seen one another a year ago in London, we had a lot of things to catch up with.

During the next evenings, since there was nothing to do, I decided to see as much shows as I could. And I was going to be more adventurous and I was not going to see something I had seen before. Earlier in the trip I saw 42nd Street. One evening, I was able to get a last minute seat that was discounted in a show called Jamie, or Everybody is Talking about Jamie at the Apollo Theatre.

It is a story about a teenage boy in Sheffield who plans to become a performer when he grows up. It was kind of in the same story line, and the same city, of Billy Elliot. The music was modern and catchy. I truly enjoyed it and I hope it makes it to the States and to San Francisco.

Here are more views of Apollo Theatre.

The next evening, I walked around the SOHO part of the city before heading to a show. Here is a mock Tudor Gazebo in the middle of Soho Square Gardens.

There was also a farmer's market on Berwick St. I even had a quick haircut at Splash Soho. Lots of bars and restaurants in this area that I can explore the next time I stay in London.

I saw the 27,467th performance of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap playing at St. Martins Theatre. It is just the world's longest running play! It is a whodunit murder mystery play. There are eight characters in the play and they are connected to each other without their knowledge. And then someone dies and the hunt for the killer commences. Lots of twists and turns.

At the end of the play, we were asked to keep the plot and the identity of the killer a secret to anyone outside the theatre. So... I cannot tell you anything.

Here are views of the facade of St. Martins Theatre before and after dark.

For over two weeks, the London underground was my transport around the city. I've learned to stand by the door and I took pictures whenever the train was not crowded.



My official two week work schedule ended on Friday so my vacation started as soon as I left the office.

That Friday night, my friends M and J joined me and we saw Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest at the Vaudeville Theatre. It is a farce set in the late Victorian London where the characters maintain a personae that is different from their true lives and this results in comic situations. The more they lied, the deeper they dug themselves into trouble. It was so good that I'd watch this again!

Here are the picture of the stage I took during Intermission and the scene outside Vaudeville Theatre after the show.

The official business had ended so I had to check out of the Paddington hotel provided for me by the company.
I checked in to a more modest hotel in Kensington for the extra days I stayed in London using personal funds. Because I paid for the next hotel and I was on a budget, it was modest compared to the work hotel. Check out and check in took the entire early morning.

Afterwards, I decided to take the bus to Notting Hill to meet my childhood friends M and J.

By this time, I had been staying in London for over two weeks and one thing I hadn't done was ride on a London bus. Subways for me are a sure thing, buses not exactly. I wouldn't know where buses would stop next, turn or go. I judged the London buses harshly because I discovered they are truly a great way to get around the city. I learned that the next stops are announced and they have great apps. Unlike the underground, I get to see the street level which was a touristy experience on its own.

Thankfully, the bus was not crowded and there were available seats on the upper deck of the bus. It was a beautiful Saturday morning so I saw a lot of cute places from my bus ride. The next time I'll be sent to London for work, I'll take the bus everywhere I'll go.



Thanks to the wonders of technology, I was able to keep track where I was headed or if I was going on the right direction. And I did reach Notting Hill unscathed and I was never lost.



A trip to Notting Hill was one of the things I haven't done in my earlier visits to London. I made sure a visit here is part of my weekend list on this trip. I did my own walking tour starting my stroll from the Notting Hill Gate station all the way to the Notting Hill Bookstore. This is where I was meeting my childhood friends M and J.

A few blocks away is the Portobello Road Market. It just so happens that M and J also have also not been to the market so we all went to check it out.

They sell all kinds of knick knacks there. I could almost hear the cute canvas tote back calling my name. I think I might find an item or two if I took time to peruse and rummage through the piles and piles of clothing and accessories.

Speaking of everything being on sale, they even sell textiles there.

I could spend browsing through these old prints and maps. I made a mental note that if ever I were to go back, I'd go back and browse some more prints.

Of course, they sell food at the market. Just follow the aroma of food.

My childhood friends M and J had better plans for lunch. We went to nearby Duke of Wellington for this delicious British fare. After walking a lot around Portobello Road, it was great to sit down for lunch and rest.

Right after lunch and the much needed rest, M, J and I continued our Saturday adventure to another part of the city where Abbey Road is located. This is to see where The Beatles took the picture they used for their Abbey Road album. When we got there, a group of people were already recreating the same Beatles pictures by crossing the street. Abbey Road is a real road with motorists and it is by no means an empty street. I actually enjoyed watching people try to endanger themselves by crossing the street and taking a picture.



Walking around Piccadilly is amazing on Sunday mornings. I shouldn't generalize all Sundays in London, but Piccadilly Circus was empty that morning. I could actually sit next to the Shaftesbury Fountain and take selfies without millions of people behind me. I immensely enjoyed my leisurely stroll that morning.

Here's what Piccadilly Circus station and the Royal Arcade looked that morning. Also empty and I loved it!

My walks that morning led me back to St. Christopher's Place which is a cute shopping and restaurant
area that is hidden from all the madness of Oxford St. I had been to the place a few days before during my after work walks and I had made a mental note that evening to go back on a weekend. And I did.

St. Christopher's Place is hidden between Oxford St. and James St. There's an alley next to H&M. Go through the alley and you'll see these decorative silver balls hanging as if to welcome you to the place.

The alley opens up to these cute clothing stores and restaurants.

And into this little plaza with a fountain in the middle. I wanted to linger in this area but I have a ticketed event later that day so I had to move on. Next time, I'll definitely have a meal here.

I continued my walk through the Marylebone neighborhood. The walk through this neighborhood was so relaxing.



Later on, I went to the Warner Brothers Studios outside of London to see The Making of Harry Potter. This pretty much took the rest of my day because there were so much to see in that place. This deserves a separate blog so I'll put together one shortly.

[read my Harry Potter blog, November 2018]

The following day, I had a ticketed tour of the Globe. Since I was going to be around the South Bank area, I went to check out St. Jame's Park. From the tube station of the same name, it was a 2 minute walk and that walk was very pleasant. If this was my walk to work, I would be less stressed.



From Queen Anne's Gate, I walked toward the Blue Bridge where I took this picture with the view of the Buckingham Palace.


Here's the view on the other side of Blue Bridge.  I am officially a fan of London and its parks!


I then hopped on the Underground to go to the London Bridge station, which is the nearest station to the Shakespeare's Globe. This was on a Monday morning and tt was still rush hour so I was rubbing elbows with office workers on their way to work to this part of town. I felt elated that I was not going to work that day but instead I was to going to site see.



From South Bank, there are great views of the London city skyscrapers. I was also admiring the irregular shapes of some buildings and loved how it added character to the London skyline.

Here's a view of The Shard.
I believe it is the tallest building in London.

A few moments later, I was at the Shakespeare's Globe. Instead of entering through the main lobby like I did when I saw Love's Labour's Lost a couple of nights before, they led me through the Globe's entrance instead. I got there a few minutes early so I had time to check out the Exhibition and the Globe theatre's earlier productions, the costumes, props and musical instruments.



We were then ushered into the side of the Globe and were told about the history of the Globe and Shakespeare and London at that time.

We were told that the Globe was constructed as close as possible to the original Globe. As an example, they used wooded nails instead of metal ones.

We then sat in front of the stage to get an idea what one would see during a live theatre performance. We were told more stories and tidbits about the Globe and Shakespeare.

It was hard to get a panoramic view of the Globe using the cameras I had at the time. Here's the best I could come up with.



Here's a view from the standing area. I think I heard from the tour guide that the performances continue rain or shine. I made a mental note to bring an umbrella when watching a performance here the next time I'm in town.

Of course, their shop is amazing! Though I don't need another canvas tote shopping bag, I managed to get another one. What I need is a bigger house to store all these tote bags that I accumulated through the years!

A bonus was a tour of the production locations of the hit series Downton Abbey - Highclere Castle and Oxford. This deserves a separate blog so stay tuned for it.

The next thing I know, I was back to where I started a little over two weeks earlier. I was heading back to Paddington Station to catch the next Heathrow Express train.

All in all, despite this being a business trip and despite Mijo not joining me, I had an enjoyable time in London. It was great to see London from a different perspective. Plus, I got to see my childhood friends M and J once again and got to hang out with them more than once and for several hours.

This trip made me love and appreciate London all the more.

~rl

Pinoy in Peru - My unforgettable travels in Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu and Puno

2018-04-16T22:01:00.003-07:00

Mijo and I have been planning our trip to Peru for years and it was worth the wait.

From its modern sites to its Inca ruins, from its ceviche to its Pisco, Mijo and I absolutely enjoyed our Peruvian journey.

Mijo and I had done research many years ago about Peru and I kept some notes from that research. The places we wanted to see in Peru are quite far from each other so the recommendation I wrote down was that we needed to fly from one city to another to save time. And that means we'd need to arrange flights and hotels and airport to hotel transfers. And then there are the ruins and Machu Picchu. We felt like in order to truly get something out of visiting these ruins, we need to get a guided tour. The amount of planning and coordination was overwhelming.

And then I saw that Gate1 Travel has trips to Peru. We've traveled with Gate1 before and we absolutely liked their service and I wouldn't mind traveling with them again. To make the story short - we went with Gate1 to travel to Peru.

Our flight stopped in Panama City but we didn't have enough time to step out of the airport. Luckily, Tocumen International Airport has enough sites and stores that kept us entertained while we were there. The airport is busy since this is Copa Air's hub so everyone coming to and leaving from Latin America converges here.

It was late at night when we arrived Lima so we couldn't really do anything that day. We met the tour company's lead guide, Rogger, and he made us feel comfortable and we felt like we are in good hands. Later during the trip, our group would coin #roggersfamily because he called and treated us like family.

The following morning, we stepped out of the hotel early to checkout the scene in the Miraflores district of Lima. Since it was early, there wasn't a lot going on. A few coffee shops were open and locals going about their business.

We walked around the block to get a feel of the area. Kennedy Park and the surrounding area seem vibrant and hip. I made a mental note of a couple of places to check out the next time we get a free time from touring. We had to get back to the hotel because our Lima city tour was going to start early.

The great thing about being in a tour group is that we didn't have to arrange anything because they do it for you. We didn't have to plan our day and we don't lose time because of not ever getting lost or waiting for a cab, bus or a train. We get shuttled from one place to another.

Our first stop in the city tour is Lima's Plaza de Armas. I noticed that Plaza Mayors or Plaza de Armas are the center of Latin American cities that I've been to and they all follow the same recipe - a part in the middle, government buildings around it and a cathedral. The picture below is the Government Palace building.

The plaza is the center of town and in the middle is a huge fountain. The plaza is clean and well kept even though tons of birds hover around the plaza. I imagine this place is where locals come and hangout in the afternoon. I wanted to checkout the cathedral but there was a mass going on and they were not letting tourists go inside and take pictures but I totally understand.

Afterwards, we walked to Basilica y Convento de San Francisco de Lima. The church is huge and the interior has a very beautiful tile work. There is a museum and catacombs adjacent to the church which we did see. Unfortunately, taking pictures is not allowed so I don't have anything to show here.

The catacombs is a good way to learn about the city and the church's history. Lots of bones in the catacombs. When I say lots, I mean a lot. I'm just saying. Ha! If you're not fond of bones, you'd probably want to skip the tour of the catacombs. And if you do decide to go, make sure to watch your head while you are down there. Our tour guide, Julia, was very knowledgeable and engaging.

We had some free time after the tour so Mijo and I decided to have a late lunch at La Mar Cevicheria. There was a long line to the restaurant and this gave us an impression that this place is the place to eat ceviche. We started with their delicious and tasty empanada. We downed the empanadas with Pisco Volador which is pisco with passion fruit. Mijo ordered Pisco Metropolitano which is pisco with lychee. Both were very good and refreshing.

We decided to get their Piqueo Popular which is a combination of
ceviche, paella, and fried seafood called jalea. The portion is huge. The food was heavenly! I was glad we decided to include a visit to La Mar during our free time.

From La Mar, we decided to take Uber and went to Larcomar Mall by the ocean. The views are amazing. The mall sits on the edge the city by the cliffs with a great view of the Pacific Ocean.

This area of the city is modern and hip which is a great contrast to the places we went to in the city tour. I found more places to eat and drink and made a mental note for the next time we are in the area.

We found a place to sit and have coffee called Juan Valdez Cafe. Good coffee!

We had another hour to rest and relax before our Night tour and dinner at Larco Museum. From my research, there are other museums in the city showcasing archeological relics from ruins dotting the country. However, I was told by our guide Julia, that the Larco Museum is the best one to see. She was right. The collection in this museum was huge and it drowned me. There were no other people in the museum in the evening except us. A private tour of the museum? That made me feel extra special.

My favorites here are the head dresses made of gold and silver; the quipu, which is a system of knotted cords which the Inca empire used to record countable information; and the Inca pottery.

We were also treated to a nice dinner after our tour. We had a 3 course dinner. This was going to be my first time to try a passion fruit (maracuya in Peru) cheesecake. It was out of this world good!

Our hotel was next to a a vibrant and hip park called Kennedy Park. We had time to stroll around the park on our last day in Peru. Hip restaurants and fashionable cafes surround the park. The park is also home to a big population of cats. Different kinds of cats live in the park.

Other than restaurants and cafes, there are also hip stores around the park. One of these stores is called Choco Museo. I saw this at Plaza De Armas during our city tour of Lima. But there was no time to check it out that day. So I was glad to see this place at Kennedy Park. At first I was sort of confused if the place is a museum or a store. I later found out that it is a store with lots of information about chocolates - history, agriculture, production and other facts.

Another place with good ceviche and good Pisco based drinks is Cafe dela Paz which is also near Kennedy Park.

Our next destination was the Sacred Valley. We flew to Cusco and then a tourist bus whisked us from the airport to a weaving demonstration in a village outside of Cusco and somewhere in the Sacred Valley. The place is like a compound consisting of smaller houses built around a center courtyard.

We were welcomed with traditional Peruvian music. Though we weren't told whether there are different styles of traditional music depending where in Peru the music is from. This is also where we ate traditional Cusco lunch of soup, quinoa, potatoes, sweet yams, beans and small slices of cuy. Cuy is a grilled guinea pig which is a delicacy in this part of Peru. After the delicious lunch, we were given a weaving demonstration using yarns made from alpaca fleece. They start from rinsing the fleece with soap made from grated yucca and natural colors found in soil and rocks and plants pigments. I was impressed with the sustainability of their ways.

Our next destination was a visit to the archeological sites of Chinchero. Since this was our very first day in this altitude, with elevation of over 12,000 feet, we were gasping for air. I noticed I got tired easily. Just going up the bus made me tired.

From the bus stop, the village of Chinchero is on an uphill. Having lived in San Francisco for many years should have given me an advantage and made this hike easy. What happened was quite the opposite. I found myself stopping and gasping for air after every ten steps. There were times I was light headed and felt I was about to pass out. This was going to be my normal hiking/walking pattern for the rest of the our stay around Cusco and the Urubamba province.

After that trek, we drove to the hotel to check-in and freshen up. But before that, we passed by this absolutely breathtaking view of the Sacred Valley. We were told our hotel is somewhere down there.

We stayed at the Aranwa Hotel and Wellness and made it our base while we were in the Sacred Valley. We had the rest of the afternoon off so I had time to walk around the hotel premises while everyone in our tour group took a nap. The hotel is very tranquil and the location is picturesque. It is nestled in the valley with the cloud covered mountains surrounding it. One word. Dreamy.

The hotel has it's own movie theatre, art museum, a chapel, a spa, a bar and a pair of alpaca for photo ops. I passed by the movie theatre a couple of times and both times I served myself a small bag of freshly popped popcorn. There was someone in our tour group who skipped a group dinner to try the hotel's spa and she said the massage was superb and truly relaxing. In the hotel's lobby showcases large wall paintings worthy of a wall space at a museum.

The following day, we were driven to the ancient Inca salt ponds of Maras. It is a series of terraced ponds that save the salty water coming out of the mountain. We were asked to try the water streaming out of the mountain by dipping a finger into the running water and tasting the water.

It was still the rainy season when we went to Peru so the salt ponds are a little watered down. Here's what the salt ponds look like during the summer when the salts are more concentrated because of less water.

Here's a sample of salt rock produced from the salt ponds. We were told that the salts produced from these ponds are second most nutrient filled salts in the world next to the Himalayan pink salts.

We were whisked away to another place called Moray where we learned about ancient Inca farming. We were told that the concentric circles that descend took advantage of the landscape and it is a technique that allowed the farming of different crops because the temperature varies as the terrace goes down.

Part of the tour was to hike down to the lowest terrace of the depressions and then hike back up. Remember that we were still in high altitude and we were still huffing and puffing because of altitude sickness. Some of the people in the group decided not to hike down. Some of us paced ourselves and slowly descended. The view from below was equally stunning.

Practicing our hiking skills to see the ancient fortifications in Ollantaytambo.

Being face to face with the awe inspiring Machu Picchu.

Walking around the plaza in Cusco.

Learning about ancient Inca architecture in Qorikancha.

A visit to an ancient site of Saqsaywaman.

Admiring the sceneries during our long trip from Cusco to Puno.

A stop at an ancient pre-Inca site in Raqchi.

Walking around the center of town in Puno.

A visit to the floating islands on Lake Titicaca.

Checking out ancient pre-Inca tombs in Sillustani.

~rl