First day

We had two alarm clocks on but I still failed to wake up at 6:45 AM. I had a little trouble sleeping last night as I kept on waking up every hour. It was that same, familiar I used to have before a day of a field trip when I was young or before a cheerleading competition — exactly the mixture of nervousness and excitement I was talking about yesterday.

Ready for my first day

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Furniture adventure: a day in Paco, Manila





I’ve been writing a lot lately about our apartment, and what we have been doing to make the place feel more like home. We began by changing the color of the walls from yellow to mint green, as well as bringing in the essentials such as the sofa bed (which I read as a good small bedding idea), exhaust fan and a mirror (lol priorities).

Mon brought home a couple of acrylic paints and blank canvases when he went home last Wednesday, and he had painted two colorful bunch of swirls, which I put on top of that mirror for the obligatory pop of color on the walls.








Mon had fun with acrylic paints and blank canvases, and came up with this colorful pair of abstract paintings

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Hello! Ilocos Norte! – Day 3

One word I was most excited for today — WATER; be it from water coming atop the mountain or the northernmost body of water of the Philippines, I definitely soaked up the sun! As we would be facing a very busy day, we woke up before 7:00 AM, barely an hour to prepare before leaving Laoag City to go northward to Bangui and Pagudpud.

Locating ourselves in the map on the way to Bangui

Driving to Bangui, we had to stop several times because I have been enthusiastically oriented by Mon’s family members to several famous spots, as well as momentary glimpses of both the West Philippine Sea (see what I did there =D) and the Luzon Strait. When we were already in Bangui, I was in complete awe to see the windmills. I knew beforehand that they were big but they were much bigger in person than I had expected!

Finally beholding the magnificent Bangui Windmills

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Hello! Ilocos Norte! – Day 1

I have never been to Ilocos Norte and I was very happy to be invited by Mon to stay in the place where he grew up. According to him, it was approximately a 9-hour night trip and I knew that Bonamine would be my best friend again. We arrived in Fariñas Bus Transit near UST, Manila because our bus was scheduled to leave in exactly 9:00 PM.

We were seated directly behind the driver and we had enough leg room to even put our bags on the floor. It was at Php 750 per person because they had an on-board comfort room! No more waiting for the stop over. It was difficult to sleep, though, because I was really suspicious of the people getting in and out of the bus. I fear for the sake of the duffle bag on the overhead compartment.

Laoag Bound - Fariñas Bus Transit

Around quarter to 6:00 AM, we arrived in Fariñas Terminal in Laoag City, where we were met by Mon’s aunt, who will be accompanying us to the house. The air was so cold and FRESH that the difference between city and rural atmosphere could not be starker.

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Off to UPLB!

It was a fine Monday and we can’t be thankful enough of the overcast weather because we had to go to UP Los Baños and submit the requirements for Lot’s dormitory application. After leaving our things and the office and the collared shirt I would be wearing for work, Mon and I went straight to the Taft area to ride a bus going to Los Baños.

To our surprise, the JAM Liner terminal there did not have any bus departing for Sta. Cruz, the route passing by College, to UPLB. One of the drivers there told us to go to Green Star’s terminal few meters away, and we had barely missed the bus because it was already in the highway, about to leave.

Welcome to UPLB!

An hour and a half, we already arrived at our destination. I was really excited to go there again because I haven’t been to UPLB for a very long time. I have extremely fond memories of the place and seeing the familiar environment brought the feeling back.

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Colorblind problems: the new Philippine peso bills

It has been raining since last night and I woke up feeling very lazy. I had planned to go on my bike for at least an hour, but alas, the wonderful sight of a pot of tinola and newly-cooked rice caught my attention. Who doesn’t love to eat when the weather is this cold? =D

Helmut Lang textured T-shirt, Bench jeans, brown 8-hole Doc Martens, black Prada nylon and saffiano backpack

No leather bags for today given the rainy weather, so back to my ol’ faithful nylon backpack. I also got to wear another ol’ trusty boots, my good-on-casual-jeans brown 8-hole Doc Martens. In Filipino, this is what we call pangharabas, and I love this pair when it rains.

Sticking out like a sore thumb - SM Blue Residences in Katipunan, Quezon City

I normally do not take the shuttle from Marikina to Makati every Friday because the roads (C5-Ortigas, EDSA, Buendia) are usually more congested than the other weekdays. I took again the long route going to Cubao and MRT. I thought I was going to be late, though, because of the serious traffic jam in Katipunan Avenue and Aurora Boulevard. As we were slowly pacing past the Marikina flyover, I can’t help but look up at this very high building built by SM Residences. I shudded to think how much worse the traffic in that area could be, if this place were to beging taking in residents. And of course, the ground floor will be occupied by establishments, furthermore increasing the number of vehicles going in and out of the area. A very big “GOOD LUCK!” to all of us.

Tea Farm in KPMG Building, Ayala Avenue, Makati City

 

I don't know what kind of plant this is but it looks cuteFinally arriving in Makati with thirty minutes to spare, I dropped by Tea Farm in KPMG Building to buy some milk tea for Mon and I. I have mixed feelings towards the current milk tea obsession happening in Manila now, but I am still fine drinking just a glass per week. Maybe because of the price (averaging at Php 100) or how heavy I feel afterwards with the amount of milk. LOL Well, Mon loves wintermelon milk tea and I needed an excuse to do something about my confusing bills.

Colorblind problems --- the Php 20 bill is the same as the Php 500 bill - I see no difference

 

When I was about meet Faye and Ikle last month in U.P., I rode a jeepney going inside the campus and paid Php 20 for the short trip — or what I thought to be Php 20. I was to pay for something in the Cashier when I’ve noticed that I was missing a Php 500 bill. I was racking my brain how on Earth did I lose my last Php 500 bill, then I recall handing out a yellowish bill. I gave it to the jeepney driver, instead of the 500 one. I had a lot of close shave with this kindof  mistake eversince the government started issuing the new Phillipine bills. I had no problem with Php 20 and Php 500 before, as the latter was on the very dark, golden side (notice how I describe colors? It’s usually bright or dark of a notable color LOL). But the new bills made distinguishing between Php 20 and Php 500, as well as Php 100 and Php 1000 more difficult.

Due to that costly mistake (I was given Php 12 change, instead of, uhm, Php 492), I then learned to keep any Php 500 or Php 1000 bill in a separate compartment of my wallet, far from where I usually keep the other bills. How I wish they made the Php 500 bill darker than the Php 20, I would then have no problem distinguishing one from the other. That small security fiber strip was cleary not enough.

Winter in South Korea – Day 3: War Memorial of Korea

*extremely picture-heavy post

It took me a long while to continue with my Winter in Seoul series because a lot has already happened even before reaching half of January.

I do hope to document the remaining ones more frequently as I am now beginning to forget the finer details of our trip. LOL Looking back, it has been exactly a month already since our third day trip to Korea.

So, following our eventful trip to Nami Island in December 13, we had a quick lunch back in Myeongdong (it was quite a disaster, truth be told) before heading out to the War Memorial of Korea. I would not allow our trip to finish without visiting this place because it was after all, the first place we should have visited on our first day right after checking in the guesthouse had we not taken more time resting.

We had a knack for visiting war and history-related areas right off the bat, the same way we went straight to the Joint Security Area trip last year. But unfortunately, it did not materialize on our second visit.

The Sanctuary of National Defense, The War Memorial of Korea

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Around Manila in a day

It was a holiday but I was supposed work overtime. I went home extremely late the night before and I was quite grumpy when I was woken up at 7:00 AM! Turned out, my sister was trying to wake me up because my relatives wanted all of us to stroll around Metro Manila before they go back to Pangasinan tomorrow. And I dragged myself out of the bed, put on the first thing I saw from my closet and picked up the bag I used the day before (with all of the previous day’s trash inside).

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Guesthouse in Korea: A Review

*There were not a lot of online reviews about “Guesthouse in Korea” in Jongno and I decided to re-post this one I made a year ago for a forum. I think it was a good call since the link of the pictures in that post has been already broken and I don’t know why. So hopefully, the pictures would be ‘permanent’ here. (Also, I will be translating the content as it was written in mixed English and FIlipino).

We stayed in “Guesthouse Korea” (or “Guesthouse in Korea“) for 4 days. We rented a Twin Room which costs KRW 40,000/day. Their check-in time was at 1:00 PM and check-out time at 11:00 AM. We arrived around 9:00 AM in the Guesthouse but since their check-in time is at  1:00 PM and we also had a tour by 10:30 AM, we just left our things by the reception area. But on our 4th day, since the check-out was at 11:00 am, we decided that it was best to just pay for the whole day stay because our flight back to Manila was still at 9:30 PM.

Map of Guesthouse Korea or Guesthouse in Korea in Jongno, Seoul, South Korea

Reservation: We emailed the guesthouse more than a month before our arrival and they generally reply within the day. But unlike other guesthouses, they ask for 30% deposit and it should be via PayPal. They will send an invoice quoted in USD so be ready for the conversion. The rest of the balance will be paid once you check-in.

Directions: They have airport transfer but we opted not to in order to save monet and it was of course cheaper to reach the guesthouse through mass transportation. From the airport, we took the Commuter Train until Seoul Station: KRW 3,800 + KRW 500 refundable deposit = KRW 4,300. It took us around 50 minutes of travel time. Then from Seoul Station, we walked to the subway proper to take the train until Jogno(3)sam-ga (KRW 1,000 + KRW 500 refundable deposit, if you are using T-Money, it costs KRW 900). From EXIT 7, we then walked the length of Donhwamun (the blue lines in the map) until the road in front of Changdeokgung Palace. From there, you can see the Hyundai Gas Station. Enter the street/alley directly next to the and you will immediately see the “Guesthouse Korea” sign.

Donhwamun Road leading to Changdeokgung, Seoul, South Korea
Donhwamun road, lined with trees and stores
Changdeokgung from Hyundai Gas Station, Seoul, South Korea
View of the Changdeokgung Palace from Hyundai Gas Station
Guesthouse Korea sign - Jongno, Seoul, South Korea
Outside of “Guesthouse Korea”, farthest lisghtpost from the Gas Station. The red or brown (LOL) is actually a convenience store.

Breakfast: They serve free breakfast from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM, consisting of toasts, butter and jam and they also have a coffee maker you can use 24/7. They also have tea available for non-coffee drinkers. You can use their mugs, plates and utensils as long as you wash them after. Of course, hot and cold water are free of charge fot hose who want to eat instant noodles and refill their water bottles before leaving for the day.

Free Breakfast from "Guesthouse in Korea" - Jongno, Seoul, South Korea

Computer and WiFi: They have a common area with cable TV and three computers. You can use them for free and they also have free WiFi connection. However, the WiFi signal reaching our room wasn’t that strong on the second floor, most probably because of the but it was tolerable with 2-bar signal.

Room: I can’t speak for other rooms especially the dorms. Most bad reviews we read about Guesthouse Korea concern the dorms and reservation,  but good thing we had no such problems. Again, we took a Twin Room with two single beds. I was not expecting a lot and we were not exactly picky with the places we sleep in but the room was more than okay. When we went to our room, the bed was fine, we had cement walls, the air-conditioning was in excellent shape, we had a TV (with local channels), hair dryer and mini-ref (which we never used). The hot and cold shower was functioning properly as well. The floor area was enough for out things, with extra space to walk around. Towels were also provided but you would have to ask for them first in the reception.

Twin Room Guesthouse in Korea - beds

Twin Room Guesthouse in Korea - Airconditioner

Twin Room Guesthouse in Korea - TV, mini-ref and dryer

Twin Room Guesthouse in Korea - entrance (right) and bathroom door (left)

Twin Room Guesthouse in Korea - bathroom, Jongno, Seoul, South Korea

Twin Room Guesthouse in Korea - bathroom, Jongno, Seoul, South Korea

At night, however, it was quite difficult to move around the common area because some of the guests were quite fond of bonding with each other over drinks but they were usually friendly, though. LOL We were generally satisfied with our stay, especially we only spent around Php 1,600/night, where it was difficult to find a place with an ensuite bathroom (because most Filipinos are aversed of shared bathrooms LOL). We also saw Yim Guesthouse and Mama’s Guesthouse in the same area.

Their contact details:

URL: http://www.guesthouseinkorea.com/eng_map
Email: webmaster@guesthouseinkorea.com

Lessons from a bus ride

Just kidding. I won’t be giving a mock epiphany over a bus ride, the same way an article of a ditzy girl from a school in Katipunan had gone viral earlier this week and received lots of criticisms.

Anyway, I had an unfortunate incident before leaving the house and tripped and midly sprained my left ankle. I then chose not to take the MRT out of fear of taking another wrong step and rolling down the stairs to see the end of me.

As much as possible, I avoid taking an airconditioned bus because I can’t stand the air conditioning mixed with those My Shaldan and pine tree-shaped air fresheners. Just the thought of smelling them made me instantaneously nauseous. As I always claim, I can ride an ordinary bus or a long jeepney ride but not an air conditioned bus. However, as years passed by, I finally developed a better tolerance, unless the bus really stinks.

Belofied App billboard - EDSA Greenhills - Vicky Belo

Belofied App billboard

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