Boracay x Philippines

The Boracay trip was just over a month ago but it definitely felt way longer than that. What better way to reminisce on the sunny beach get away than on a rainy Sunday under the covers in Singapore. Recollecting the details of the trip transported me back to Boracay and I can't wait to be back on its sunny shores again.

When it comes to beach sojourns, the typical Bali, Phuket and Krabi options will come to mind. Maldives is often referred to as THE beach destination for honeymoons and the playground for the rich. Pardon my far flung analogy but Maldives is like the evil step sister and Boracay is Cinderella - understated, but absolutely gorgeous nonetheless. 

Off we go!

Our decision to go to Boracay was a spontaneous one, Tiger had a deal and the four of us snapped us a $180 return ticket for a five nights trip half a year later. In that six months, Philippines encountered the typhoon but that kinda did not stop us from venturing to Boracay. It's common knowledge that Boracay was hard to get to, and the new Tiger route would make the trip more convenient and accessible. However, the trip was still relatively long and arduous. 

Travelling 

Travel time to Singapore from Kalibo is approximately 3.5 hours, followed by a 2 hour bus ride, 15 minutes ferry ride and a half hour van transfer to the accommodation. We were at the airport at noon for our flight and by the time we got to our accommodation, it was around 9pm. So yeah, 9 hours to get from Singapore to the beautiful paradise of Boracay. 

Tiger partnered with Southwest Tours so when you book your Tiger flight, you have the option to purchase the bus + ferry + transfer. We bought a one way trip on board, costing us 500 pesos ($15 SGD) each. Buying the ticket via Tiger was so much more convenient as it was an all-in price and we did not have to worry about forking out a separate amount for their terminal and environmental fee. If Tiger ran out of Southwest tickets on board, fret not as they have a booth outside the airport which you can still buy your tickets from. In retrospective, we should have gotten a return ticket instead, as when we purchased it separately from our hotel on the way back, we paid about $10 more per person. 

Beautiful view of Boracay greeted us enroute the bus ride 

After we got on the bus, there was quite a bit of waiting around as the tour buses needed to be filled before it could embark on the journey towards Boracay. The 2.5 hour trip also included a pit stop for a toilet break in between. I was extremely extremely impressed by the Southwest service as they had service staff with our name list at every single destination point guiding us where to go to and which ferry to board. Boracay has several Boat Stations ferries can call at, depending on which Boat Station your hotel is nearest to. Once we reached our Boat Station, they split the entire tour bus into smaller vans according to the location of our hotel so getting to our accommodation was more efficient. The whole transfer from one point to the next was easy, and surprisingly very orderly. 

Accommodation 

I've several colleagues from Philippines so we seeked their opinions on where to stay at - recommendations included Discovery Shores, Two Seasons and Blue Mango Inn. These hotels must be really popular as it was all booked out, even six months before our trip! Perhaps it could be because it was nearing the Valentines Day period or China's Golden Week. The possibility of the latter option was very high, as there were throngs of Chinese (and Korean) on the beach. 

Eventually the four of us decided on Tanawin Resort and Luxury apartment, on top the hills of Boracay. Granted the beach was not at our door step, but the amazing view made up for it. We spent five nights at Tanawin, and moved thrice, so we stayed at three different rooms. The first night was in a two-bedroom apartment, the second was in a one-bedroom and the rest of the trip was in another two-bedroom apartment. 

Breakfast with a view? Yes please! 

If you're worrying about transportation from the beach centre to Tanawin, don't worry as they have an hourly shuttle bus between the hotel and Budget Mall. The Budget Supermarket at D Mall is like THE meeting point for all hotel's shuttle buses to drop off and pick up passengers. One of the hotel's shuttle buses which came every few minutes was Fairways and Bluewater Resort - can't imagine how big the hotel is! 

Activities 

One of my favourite parts of the trip was the water activities! There are so many adventure tour guides along the beach, and we were lucky to meet Rey Plemones. 

Name: Rey Plemones

Number: 0910-360-1689 / 0917-309-9560

Email: rplemones@yahoo.com 

We split up our activities into two days. For the first day, we did ATV and Parasailing and the next day we went island hopping and did Helmet Diving, Scuba Diving and Cliff Jumping. In total, we paid approximately SGD $170 per person, which included a buffet lunch cooked by Rey's wife. They also run a food catering business.  

The ATV ride was really quite meh and skippable in my opinion. It was very safe, and different from those terrain style ATV adventures you would imagine. We rode very slowly from the top of the hill (just in front of our hotel actually) to this theme park which had an optical illusion museum. That seemed more exciting in my opinion. 

Parasailing! This was my second time doing parasailing, with the first time during our company offsite trip to Phuket. The feeling is extremely exhilarating, but i felt safe with the seat harness! 

Helmet Diving was my favourite activity! We could breathe normally with the pressure from the helmet and I didn't feel any discomfort breathing at all. Though the weight of the helmet was really quite intense on the shoulders. We were so close to the fishes and corals, it felt rather surreal. I've always wanted to learn diving, but the thought of being underwater made me feel rather claustrophobic. 

Loved that the dive master helped us take photos and videos underwater, which Rey helped to burn and send it to our hotel the very next day. 

Ariel's Point is renowned for being the cliff jumping spot in Boracay, but we opted for Magic Island instead. The locals told us that the view at Magic Island was similar to Ariel's Point and it wasn't as crowded. 

Here's me trying to be very brave. Looking down really scared me and the trick is to look ahead, not think, and just jump! And this really reminded me of this gorilla advertisement by Strip - rather uncanny resemblance! 

The best and most unforgettable food experience during the trip was at the wet market where we handpicked our dinner for the night. We chose lobsters, crabs and oysters and brought it to a stall where they helped cooked our dinner! 

Another must-try food is the Yellow Cab pizza - it was just so delicious and we had it two days in a row! 

Boracay, you were lovely and I can't wait to see you and your clear waters and sandy beaches again!

Penang

Penang is no longer the place only aunties and uncles go for weekend food sojourns - it has become a hip, cool place one can explore art, culture and of course food. I've been seeing too many friend's instagram and facebook posts on the street graffiti art and cafe scene in Penang and wanted to check it out myself. 

Just one and a half hours plane ride away, and what a world of difference Penang is. I had a luxury of staying in Penang for five days and four nights and decided to check out two areas : Georgetown city centre and Gurney Drive. 

Georgetown 

We were deciding between Yeng Keng Hotel and Hotel Penaga as both hotels were restored heritage shophouses but eventually went with Hotel Penaga. The hotel was was converted from a cluster from a cluster of 15 pre-war terraces and our room came with a balcony and the toilet had a jacuzzi tub - perfect for soaking our feet after a day's walking. 

The Lobby - Quaint, beautiful architecture with its charm retained

 

Fell in love with the tile design

Street Art 

Grab a map from your hotel lobby or download a copy from TimeOut : Street Art in Penang. While most of the graffiti art were around the same area, it was best to map out your journey from one point to another to ensure you get to see all or most of the graffiti art. 

 

 

While graffiti art hunting, visit Ben's vintage toy museum. There's an entrance fee of RM6 for adults and RM3 but it's well worth the money for a blast back to the past. Remember pinball machines, rocking horses and toy baby prams? 

Cafes 

How can the brunch queen visit a new country without checking out the cafe scene? Here's a list of cafe if you're intending to cafe hop! 

1. Cafe 55 

My favourite cafe of the trip - how can one not gush over the 3D coffee art that is so adorable? Take a look at photos others have location tagged and you will see that the barista can also do other designs such as cat, bear and pig. Thumbs up also for the scallop and angel hair pasta, the salad and the iced mocha. 

Location :

55, Lorong Stewart 

10300 Penang, Malaysia

2. Armenian House

To combat the heat, we stopped by the cafe for a smoothie. The mango and passion fruit smoothie was a thirst quencher! Armenian House is also a bed and breakfast. 

Location : 

Lebuh Armenian, Georgetown
10200 Pinang George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

3. The Mugshot Cafe 

Next to Rainforest Bakery, the cafe is famous for its bagels and yoghurt. We had the corn beef and rocket bagel which was pretty delicious accompanied with the iced mocha. I must be the happiest criminal alive in the mugshot photo! 

4. Moustache Houze

No surprises, but the cafe is moustache themed and serves cakes and drinks. The kiwi soda drink we tried was pretty refreshing. If you're heading there in a group, you can opt for a private room with a minimum spend of 80 RM. 

Location : 

No. 24, Lebuh Campbell 

10100 Pinang George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

5. Kwang Sang House 

A tailor shop turned cafe, it serves a decent set lunch meal. Priced at 16 RM, the set meal comes with a soup of the day, main course, drink and dessert. The only downside was that coffee was only served in the evening. 

Location : 

36, Leith Street, 

10220 Penang, Malaysia

Street Food 

Chulia Street : It's an entire lane of street food. Try the wonton mee and curry mee push cart store that's next to each other. 

Kimberley Street : A must try is the kway chap, it was so good that we had it two nights in a row!  The penang style char kway teow along the same stretch was also pretty tasty. 

Kway Chap Stall

Gurney Drive 

After two nights in the centre of Georgetown, we traveled to the Gurney Drive area and stayed at The Northam All Suites. Despite it being a rather dated hotel, it was very affordable and the size of the room and the view compensated for it.

The room was huge and at 50sqm, it was probably five times bigger than your average shoe box sized hotel room in Singapore at half the price. We paid around $100 a night and it came with a living room, a toilet, the king sized bed with an ensuite bathroom with two huge mirrors, showering facilities, toilet and a jacuzzi tub. 

What wowed me away was definitely the view. 

Beautiful view from the 35th storey 

The view from the infinity pool is pretty amazing too. 

Northam Beach Cafe : Just opposite our hotel at Gurney is an inconspicuous looking building, but when we reached the place it was streaming with people. Think of your East Coast Lagoon type of sea front dining. The fried oyster omelette is a must try if you're up for it. The rojak is also different from the Singapore type we're used to - the Penang style rojak is made up of fruits like jackfruit, coconut and guava served with thick prawn paste sauce. 

If you've the luxury of time during your trip to Penang, Gurney Drive would be a lovely area to visit. There are two huge shopping centres there, Gurney Paragon and Gurney Plaza. It's a twenty minutes walk away from the hotel I stayed at, so perhaps might not be a good option if travelling with the elderly or very young children. But if you find your way to Gurney Paragon, you must visit Ben's by BIG. It's the same company which started Plan B and Plan B Journal in Kuala Lumpur. 

We also gave Miam Miam (just next to Ben's) a try but personally, Ben's will be a better choice.  

With such a rich culture, it's no wonder why Georgetown is one of UNESCO's Heritage Site. If you're heading up to Penang soon, get your hipster on! 

Vietnam

My life motto is 'have money, will travel' and this year, I've been blessed to be able to step foot in foreign soil and discover what other countries have to offer. There is something exciting in being in an unfamiliar environment, exploring new cultures, tasting new food and seeing the world with a fresh pair of eyes. There is so much out there, and as cliche as it might sound, travel is the only thing you buy which makes you richer.

Whenever I travel, the very first resource I go to for tips will always be blogs and since friends have been asking for recommendations, this blog will serve to chronicle the adventures I've been on. 

During my birthday week in May this year, three friends and I took a week long trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. We navigated from Hanoi to Halong Bay, onwards to Sapa and back to Hanoi. 

Try vietnamese coffee
Eat by the roadside
Do visit Sapa and do a homestay! 

Hanoi - Old Quarters 
For the first night, we stayed at New Vision Hotel and spent the afternoon wandering around this new town. What was striking was the number of motorbikes on the road, and after the end of the trip, we were all pretty good at navigating through the traffic. 








Tip: Tony, the manager of Sinh Cafe (116 Hang Bac Street) helped us to book our train tickets and hotel accommodations at Sapa.  



Halong Bay

We went on a 2D1N cruise at Halong Bay and it was just lovely to be out at sea. The lack of internet connectivity was a welcomed, refreshing change as we spent the night lying on the deck, seeking out for shooting stars and having heart to heart talks. 



We visited Sung Sot cave which was also called Surprising cave. The funnest part of this cave expedition was trying to look for rocks which resembled animals. 





We climbed up what seemed like thousands of steps and was greeted with a view like this. It was breathtaking. 





The view was breathtaking, we climbed up what seemed like thousands of steps and was greeted with a view like this. 

Sapa 
Sapa was my favourite part of the trip. We took a nine hour Harry Potter style sleeper train which was surprisingly comfortable. 

Tip: Book a bus ticket from Lao Cai to Sapa from your travel agent prior to arriving at Lao Cai instead of booking when you arrive. The touting was bad, we heard the locals charging tourists an exorbitant prices just for a 40 minutes trip up the mountains to Sapa.
  




View of Sapa from our accomodation which we found out we were cheated after we checked with our travel agent back in Hanoi. We paid for a way nicer hotel, but when we arrived at Sapa, the middle man who arranged for the trip told us that was our hotel when it wasn't. 

Tip: Check and double confirm on the hotel name with the travel agent you book with. If in doubt, call the travel agent for clarification. 



We rented a motor bike and hired a tour guide to bring us around the area. Visited Silver Waterfall and Golden Stream of Love waterfalls, had lunch under a make shift roadside tent and just taking in the greenery.







Ta Phin 

Friends have shared that one of their best experience in Vietnam was going for a home stay, and we did just that. We biked a short distance to this village called Ta Phin and stayed with a lovely lady named Ta May and her family which consisted of her husband and her teenage son. 



The house we stayed in 



Our sleeping quarters













After Sapa, we headed back to Hanoi and stayed one night at the French Quarters which was skippable in my opinion. Or perhaps we've seen a more beautiful part of Hanoi that the city life simply did not appeal to us anymore. 

Would I go back to Hanoi? Definitely.