Category: Asia
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Ishigaki is Japan’s best-kept ‘sun, sand and surf’ secret
If you haven’t heard of Ishigaki before, neither had we – until the day we impulsively bought tickets to that southernmost of Japanese islands. Typing ‘Everywhere’ on Skyscanner had yielded direct flights from Hong Kong to an unknown Japanese-sounding destination: Ishigaki. “Japan is always a good idea,” we thought, and hit ‘PAY’. These situations can…
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The Ultimate Guide to Cebu for Travellers, written by a Filipino
Cebu is a gateway to some of Asia’s greatest tropical adventures Manila’s southern sister is nothing like her. Cebu is older, prettier and more relaxed. She doesn’t even speak the same language. Manila’s tongue is that of the northern Tagalog minority – the country’s official language despite having only 17 million native speakers. Cebuano, on…
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Canggu Diaries: Seeking out Bali’s Unesco Heritage Sites
In this post: Bloopers video in Jatiluwih Itinerary (flexible!) Impulsive cycling through the rice terraces + other adventure options Tanah Lot temple + market shopping DON’T BUY CIVET / LUWAK COFFEE Unesco chasers Since it was Joyce’s first time in Bali, and I hadn’t properly checked out the island’s Unesco Heritage Sites before, we thought…
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Canggu Diaries – The Day I Woke Up at 1.30am for a Sunrise Hike to Mt Batur
A continuation of Canggu Diaries – Yeni arrives in Bali Writer’s Note: I had just received some very frustrating news during the writing of this post, hence the slightly angsty tone. Apologies in advance for the crankiness! Day 2 – Kadek, the villa’s housekeeper who comes and does her duties at random times of her choosing,…
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Canggu Diaries – Yeni arrives in Bali
Disclaimer: This post is a purely personal writing exercise Day 1: June 3, 2017 I want to write this before I forget. Last night I arrived in Bali from Hong Kong in a seemingly endless string of flights. Yesterday’s was particularly unpleasant because my seatmate on the plane, a young mainland Chinese man (at least…
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Destination Wedding: Aguirre-Cahen French-Filipino Beach Nuptials
February 25, 2017 – Scroll down to download MC script and / or Bride and Groom Questionnaire It took me a total of four flights and three changes to make it to Mayen’s wedding a couple of weeks ago in South Palms Beach Resort, Bohol. I was supposed to fly in with my ex, but the airline…
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Chiang Mai’s Best Elephant Tours – Elephant Jungle Conservatory
Diary of a day spent with the elephants in one of Chiang Mai’s jungle conservations Plus a comprehensive list of Chiang Mai’s best elephant tours in the end The elephants made sure I would never forget that day. The scrapes and bruises all over my legs rendered me unable to do anything remotely physical for weeks afterwards,…
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Chiang Mai Temple Tour x WÖLSCH Watches
February 10, 2017 – We decided to do the major temples of Chiang Mai all in one go. More than halfway through it, we were so tired from walking under the powerful sun we took a massage break at the Old Medicine Hospital. The latter is actually a massage school where you can get good quality no-frills services…
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Gallery Vask: If Manila had 3 Michelin stars, this would be it
I never knew Filipino fine dining existed, until meeting Gallery Vask‘s degustacion menu Having scanned through the other reviews, I thought to add my own two cents to the literature out there, since several of the others sound little better than press releases. Premise When I heard that the 39th among Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants was…
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Food Trip + Easy Hike: Tagaytay & Mount Talamitam
We combined a Tagaytay food trip with a short excursion to burn off the calories! Distance: ??km – I don’t know why the Mountaineers over here never give precise information on trail lengths, but my estimate would be 7km up and down. Duration: 3 hours up and down Difficulty: Easy Admittedly, hiking in the Philippines is far…
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