happy steps

After listing Punta Bulata as one of my dream destinations in Negros Island, we finally had our date with this white sand beach resort last week. As with all travel tales, the trip to the place itself was part of the experience. Since we rode in our trusty van with Dad as the driver, we had the liberty to bring more stuff. While we were busy packing up, sis’ hubby teased us that we were bringing half of the house. LOL. Yup we brought the rice cooker, kitchen knives, pots, plates and other utensils plus all sorts of food for our overnight stay. We left home at about 8AM, dropped by few minutes at the meat shop and the nearby convenience store.

Punta Bulata is situated in the municipality of Cauayan, about 152 kilometers far from the city of Bacolod. Going there, you have to pass by Pontevedra, Hinigaran, Binalbagan and other municipalities.

Sugarcane plantation with Mt. Kanlaon in the background
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Nothing beats hitting the road with your own car. The convenience and comfort are just some of the pluses especially if you’re going to visit another province with your family. In our case, we always travel with our trusty van, loading it onboard an interisland vessel or barge when we visited another island. We’re just glad we bought a vehicle that’s big enough to accommodate our things (and food!) for the trip. This is why some travel bugs find many ways to buy their own vehicles too. At least, with your own car, you can go easily go places with the road becoming a familiar friend.

Most car owners on a budget got their vehicles from used car outlets or through car loans. For those whose cars still needed to be paid off, they can consider car refinance options to get better loan terms such as a lesser monthly payment and lower interest rate. I’ve been browsing the rateGenius online marketplace where borrowers and lenders meet to get the best funding opportunity such as car refinancing. Hmmm…travel bugs could find some good deals here to refinance their cars so they can happily go on their next trip with more budget for gas and meals.

Thailand is a not only an exotic and interesting place with its majestic temples, ancient ruins and modern buildings; it’s also a place of non-stop shopping. Everywhere you look – in the busy sidewalks, inside huge trendy malls and crowd-filled markets – anytime of the day (and night), you’d always find something to lure the shopper in you.

The Thais are very artistic and creative with their well-crafted bags, accessories, décors which are great for souvenirs and gifts.

Decorative vases and table pieces

Knitted goodies!

I want that bag please…

R-jed posing with some ladies accessories

These Thai bags are the usual pasalubongs and gifts for friends

Photos taken at the Chiang Mai night market. Thanks to dviewfinder.com for some of the pics.

With our recent trip from Manila, Mom and I brought along with us some fragile items – few small appliances and a big-sized hot and cold water dispenser which she won in a raffle draw at the recent SM Sucat 3-day sale. Good thing, the guys at the condo helped us with packing up the appliance items properly in a box. At the Cebu Pacific check-in counter, we informed the staff that there were fragile items inside so it would be properly labeled. I’m glad they were not damaged during the flight and arrived here safe and sound.
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Ever since I’ve started this blog on my own domain, I’ve spent considerable amount of time browsing over the net for a Wordpress theme that would fit the concept of my blog. So far, this template is great, though it would be tempting sometimes when I go through some websites offering free WordPress themes and there I go, thinking if I would have a new template again or not.
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Other than seeing breathtaking natural landscapes and going to beach resorts, there are other options for tourists to enjoy their trip. It really depends on one’s preferences and interests. For the sports lover, the beaches and mountains are great outdoor experiences. And what about the movie buffs? I bet they would enjoy touring around and visiting the sites where some popular movies were filmed. This is one of the New York City attractions that movie enthusiasts would definitely love to experience. They can ride onboard the CitySights double decker bus and visit the apartment used in Friends, the Cosby townhouse, the restaurant in the movie Spiderman, locations from The Interpreter, Rescue Me, The Apprentice and many more movies and shows.

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Here’s another island paradise for me… Lakawon, a small island strip of white sand off the coast of Cadiz Viejo in Negros Occidental. Personally, I think it got its name from the Cebuano word “lakaw” meaning “to walk” since you can spend just a day touring the island which is relatively small in size.

These photos sure bring back some wonderful memories of our family escapade to this laid back resort few years back.

We rode a small speedboat to get to the island. Here’s how Lakawon looks like from afar.

Enjoying the sand with Tony, Leen, Anzel and R-vin

Travelling baby R-jed

Dad and Mom with the ‘Tres Marias’ – Ck, Cy and Dy

Going home… bye Lakawon! *sob*

Just some infos:
Location: Cadiz Viejo, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental
Travel time: About 1 hour and 30 minutes from Bacolod city to Cadiz Viejo

I was sorting out my old files when a dusty computer printout took my attention. It was a hardcopy of an email from my professor in Leeds. Aside from the techie stuff, he also gave a bit of an idea about how his family was doing and a little info about the place where he is. Every time he replies to some of my technical queries (he was my adviser on my research study), I would always imagine him to be doing lectures and getting busy with teaching. Having an email from faraway Leeds in the UK made me wish that time that I could travel someday to my professor’s place.
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My European vacation dream is still very much alive. Hmmm… aside from visiting my big sis and cutie sis in Finland and Prague respectively, I am also thinking of hopping by to other nearby countries such as France. This country is known not just for fashion and romance but for having interesting architecture and beautiful landscapes as well.

Tourist attractions in France include the world famous Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, Arc De Triomphe, Centre Pompidou… and so much more! Continue reading »

Rushing to the airport to catch a flight can sometimes be stressful. We know we need to be prompt and check in at least 2 hours before takeoff, but most trip preparations are done in a rush especially if there are last minute things to do. And if you live miles away from the airport, the more you should be prepared so you can check in early. I remember Mom and I used to spend a night in the airport, dozing off while sitting uncomfortably in the benches, when we had an early 5 AM flight. We decided it was best to be there the night before, instead of rushing from our place to the airport early the next day.
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I’ve already heard our neighbors and friends talk about the restaurant and spa in Talisay. Our family had actually dined once in their restaurant which is now moved to another location within the compound beside the main building. Aside from their spa facilities, they also have some cozy rooms for rent. Photos were taken during our community’s Christmas party last year.

Going on a cruise and getting a breathtaking view of the ocean is one relaxing option for a vacation. Whether you go for a Caribbean or South Asian cruise, being at sea is a romantic venue for couples and a fun place to be for families and groups. When booking for a cruise, it’s good to take advantage of cruise specials to get the most out of your vacation budget and save some for your next dream destination.

I’ve been browsing over some luxury cruise packages at Cruise Locators. I like their Baltic Cruise package from Stockholm to Copenhagen which features the fascinating city of St. Petersburg where the Hermitage Museum is, one of the world’s largest museums. The cruise starts at Stockholm and includes Tallinn, Helsinki, Visby and finally disembarking at Copenhagen.

Photo credits for the St. Petersburg Cathedral: CruiseLocators.com

You can’t miss this big globe within the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) outdoor complex especially at night when it reflects the changing of different colors of light every few minutes. I enjoyed watching it amidst the groups of shoppers rushing to catch any of the late night buses passing by.

This landmark symbolizes the size and advancement MOA represents being the third largest shopping mall in the world.

Preparing for travel not only needs planning out your schedule (especially asking a leave from your boss) and arranging your trip itinerary. Going on a trip also needs financial planning and budget. For international trips, you have to consider financial requirements for visa, travel taxes, insurance and show money. Though it’s good to save and plan ahead for a scheduled trip, there will be cases where travel is urgent and needed but the funds are low. For a group tour, more budget is needed for the trip.

This is why some travel bugs go for loans and other means of financial help. Getting the best deal from the many lending companies can be sometimes a dilemma. For those who opt for mortgages, whether it would be residential mortgages from an individual borrower or commercial mortgages from a business establishment, they can do a study in choosing what works for them from online mortgage guides which provide valuable information such as interest rates, fixed rate mortgages, current account mortgages and more. Choosing the best mortgage deal is important when it comes to financing for your travel plans.

Despite the heavy dark clouds looming above the sky, Mom and I were able to catch a breath of fresh air at the rooftop of the Amvel Mansions Condominium Tower 2 in Parañaque. We enjoyed the great view of the surrounding districts and nearby establishments including ongoing road constructions and some foliage and even a lake.

Nearby establishments such as the SM Sucat buildings (center and rightmost) and the Avida Towers (left)

Happysteps.net is almost 7 months now. I can just remember when I first thought of having a travel blog and thinking of a domain name that suggests fun and adventure. Thanks to Techxplore for helping out in the techie stuff such as domain registration, installing WordPress and changing the blog theme.

Being a newbie in the blogosphere is a challenge, and when it comes to having your own domain, it’s best to consult the experts and do some research such as reading some web hosting faq where you gain more ideas and learn more about web hosting basics on topics such as domain registration, bandwidth, disk space, site maintenance, and more. It also helps to hop on to other blogs and hearing from what others had to say. Truly, knowledge becomes more useful when shared with others.

Aside from natural and historical tourist attractions in Manila, who would have thought that a mall would also be on my list of must-see places to visit during my stay there? Well, I’ve been reading and hearing lots of raves about the SM Mall of Asia (MOA), and of course, considering it IS one huge work of architecture, I just had to include it in my itinerary. Too bad, we can only go out during evenings since we had a hectic daytime schedule, but nevertheless off we went to MOA for three consecutive evenings to buy important home décors and accessories. Despite our limited time, here are some photos taken at the MOA:

The view from across the Main mall façade

Inside the Main mall: the curved ceiling reminds me of outer space vehicles

A shopper sitting comfortably beside the fountain

The walkway in-between the Main mall and the Entertainment mall

By the way, MOA is so huge you need to have at least a day (or even more) to explore what it has to offer.

Some of the reasons for travel and going places are not only for sightseeing but for attending important events as well – concerts by your favorite artists and stars and must-see shows such as boxing matches are big tourism attractions too.

This year, another big sports event to watch out for by boxing fans is the upcoming rematch of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya who did one of the richest boxing fights last May 5, 2007 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Arena in Nevada. Where will the September rematch be this year? According to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, the site could be at the 27,000-seat Home Depot Center or the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, though other venues are interested to host this big event. The fight would also be on HBO pay-per-view for those who can’t travel all the way to see it live.

For those who are big fans and plan on watching the rematch live where the action is, just remember that those Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Oscar De La Hoya tickets are selling hot, so it’s best to buy them before they will be sold out. Being a boxing fan, I bet this would be another show Dad would be looking forward to watch on TV.

Arrived safe and sound from Manila today! Whew…thank God, Mom and I were able to catch the 8:25 AM Manila-Bacolod Cebu Pacific flight given the limited time of preparation for the trip.

Anyway, it’s good to come home to the newly opened Bacolod-Silay airport. I’ve been in this airport before, during my flight to Manila but didn’t have the chance to take a photo of the building though. Here’s a view from across the road.

The government is proud that this new domestic airport is of international standards, and compared to the old Bacolod airport, it has better facilities and bigger parking spaces.

What I like most are the covered passageways when boarding the plane. No more going down the tarmac and climbing the high steps of the plane during boarding.

The surfacing of low-cost carriers in the airline business is a great blessing to travel bugs traveling on budget. Flying became affordable because of these carriers. A lot of us were able to travel by air to visit family, see friends, and of course enjoy the sights we might not have seen before. In a country like ours consisting of many islands, my family would usually travel by sea because back then air travel is expensive. But now things have changed.

When our local airline, a low fare carrier started their “low fare, great value” strategy, their ‘Go’ fares would raise questions like quality of service and reliability of this mode of travel. But their secret in offering lowest fares does not lie on that. Take note that usually low-cost carriers’ quoted fares are still exclusive of taxes, insurance and fuel surcharge. Somehow, when you add these up, the fare is still lower.

Then when this airline announced their international flights, dad, mom and I took this airline’s first flight to Thailand. We need some travel insurance here. Searching for insurance such health, travel,Commercial Insurance or any insurance can be done online and you can even ask for quotes to find the best; just like the Autonet Business Insurance agent that offers free quotes online.

Anyway, once in Thailand, we were able to experience the Royal Flora Festival in Chiang Mai and travel up the hill to see their temple in Doi Sutep. We were not only able to tour the amazing sights of ‘Amazing Thailand’ but most of all visit my bro and his wife, sis and family, and also my friends. But when you have goods in transit, better get a commercial insurance. Don’t take risk.

A summer evening; I walk past the window,
Baby’s crying; someone’s cooking dinner;
There’s laughter on the TV
Someone’s learning the violin.
How at home, it heals
At times like this, I feel that…
I would like to live like anybody else
In one place
And I could be happy and fulfilled
In one place…

One Place
Everything But The Girl

There are lots of songs about home and ‘One Place’ is one of my favorites from EBTG (Everything But The Girl). It has a cool beat and wistful melody and the pensive lyrics are so apt for those who travel a lot and missing their homes while on the road.

While I always appreciate the different sights and experiences when going to other places, these trips also make me value more the place where I come from, and that’s home.