MyFlightMemory.com
2007-04-15 18:41:04
My friend Wei commented on my plan for world domination entry, and suggested I try MyFlightMemory.com.
I signed up, and though I have only taken a small number of trips, I was surprised to see how many miles and flying hours I’ve consumed.
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Subjective Travel Guides Wanted
2007-04-19 10:30:58
Found this over at the BnA Forums:
“Subjective Travel
Guides
Wanted for www.roadjunky.com - $150
We are looking for writers to help us build our coverage of countries and cities around the world.
PLEASE check out the website and observe that we are NOT looking for compilers of listings and prices but rather seasoned writers with edge, experience and deep knowledge of the country they’re writing about.
This is not the Lonely Planet so please leave your cliches at home.
The pay isn’t amazing but you will be able to write very much in your own voice. The guides work out at around 6000+ words and we pay $150 for all rights though we will give royalties on guides included in future print editions of Roadjunky.
Be in touch with writing samples that might fit the tone of road junky (again, please check out the website first) and details of where you’d like to cover.”
Guidelines are here http://www.roadjunky.com/about/1238/country-guide-submissions
Too bad I&rsqu
Missed opportunities
2007-04-23 23:44:04
One of the sad facts about traveling is that there will always be missed opportunities. Like, not being able to go to Warner Brother’s Movie World because you’d rather shop, or taking a pass at visiting the temples you haven’t seen yet because of the terrible heat (I’m looking at you, Christine!) As much as we try to take it all in in our limited time abroad, planning your schedule at home or in your hotel is certainly different than being at the actual place.
One of my missed opportunities was not being able to watch The Cat Empire in concert at Phillip Island last January. By some sick twist of fate, I remembered to check their website for their tour info right AFTER their concert.
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Sydney Budget
2007-04-23 16:41:20
Ah, Sydney
. How I loved thee.
I’ve fallen inlove with Sydney, mainly because of the harbour and the ferries. I don’t know why, but I just love riding commuter ferries. It’s one of the reasons why I loved the Chao Phraya in Bangkok.
I only spent 3 days in Sydney, though I wish I could have stayed longer. Sydney has so much to offer to travelers, and admittedly, a weekend in Sydney isn’t too expensive. I was surprised when I saw the total myself.
Here’s my 3-day Sydney expense breakdown to give you an idea when you plan your own trip to this lovely city.
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Technorati Tags: Sydney
Gold Coast Budget
2007-04-28 20:29:30
Yay, I’m (very) slowly working through my backlog of entries!
Here’s the expenses breakdown of my Gold Coast
4-day weekend trip last March. I flew via Jetstar, and lucky for me, their Gold Coast segment flies from Tullamarine and not from Avalon airport (which is about one and a half hour from Melbourne).
I stayed the the overpopulated-by-tourists Surfer’s Paradise. Why? Because there are times when I *do* want to be mainstream.
When I was researching for this trip, I was really frustrated that there’s hardly anything online or in travelbooks about the Gold Coast. Usually it’d just be a mention of the beach, the theme parks and the hinterlands. One day in Gold Coast and I see why that is.
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Technorati Tags: Gold Coast
Flight tracking websites
2007-04-27 22:48:36
My 15-year old niece took her first flight out of the country last night. She’s due to arrive in Melbourne right about now, but so far, I haven’t received any text messages or calls from either her or my sister. And joy of joys, I’ve also run out of pre-paid credit on my mobile, so I can’t call them.
Naturally, I Googled for flight tracking websites. The biggest downside with these flight tracking websites is that most of them are limited to flights coming in and out of North America.
I did find one that covers Asia and Australia: Flight
stats.com. I liked the website because aside from its nice interface, once you register, you can receive alerts on flights you are tracking.
Unfortunately, I’ve refreshed the page a million times and it hasn’t updated the flight status, nor have I received any alert. Worse still, Philippine Airline’s website only track flights that depart and arrive in Manila. Bleah.
Maybe I should just sneak into my sister&rsqu
5 reasons why I travel
2007-04-24 23:59:07
Dave of GoBackpacking blogged his 5 reasons for traveling, and has tagged me to do the same.
Hmm, why *do* I travel anyway?
Something new.
I’m always eager for something new and different.
Take a break from the usual
I easily get bored and demotivated by routine. I lose focus on matters that need my full attention (i.e. work), and my morale is low. By traveling, I get to recharge my energies and start looking forward to working again (so I can save up money for my next trip!)
Photo op!
Photography really goes hand in hand with traveling. I can’t imagine traveling without any camera. I don’t spend all of my travel time looking through the camera lens, but it’s always great to take photos of the places you’ve seen to share with friends and family.
Research and Planning
I really enjoy reading about new destinations, and updating my spreadsheet. I really am a geek at heart.
Shopping!
Shopping is my downfall. The best thing about shopping overseas though is t
$1.99 tickets from Tigerairways
2007-04-30 16:00:14
Singapore-based Tigerairways is having one of their early bird promos, with one-way fares starting at only $1.99.
It pays to be early. Book your tickets on tigerairways.com at least 3 months in advance, and get the best real deals in town! And with 1.4 million seats available up till 29 Mar 08, the early bird really does catch the worm!
The $1.99 fare excludes taxes and other fees, of course, and is only available for Krabi and Phuket flights. I tried a roundtrip Singapore-Krabi booking, both on $1.99 fares, and it came out at SG$97.23. Not bad, eh?
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Technorati Tags: early bird promos
The Ten Commandments of travel
2007-04-30 15:01:05
Spotted on top of my Gmail inbox, courtesty of MSNBC.com.
It’s pretty much common knowledge for people who’ve travelled a lot. To those who’ll be travelling for the first time (or other annoying passengers), this is a good guideline. Particularly commandment number 5:
5. Thou shalt understand that the people in the brochure are not going to be vacationing with you. Corollary: If ye seek beachgoers in thongs, ye will likely find overweight, hirsute seniors in thongs — and they will be equally proportioned between genders.
Read all 12 commandments here.
Read more: Commandments
Let’s go to the Caribbean, yes?
2007-05-03 13:27:01
One of the places I’ve always wanted to go to is the Caribbean
. Sun, sea, sand, what else can you ask for? The question is, is it possible to have cheap holidays in the gorgeous islands of the Caribbean?
Though the more popular islands can get quite pricey, choosing some of the smaller islands can give you that Caribben exprience without the heart-stopping credit card bill at the end of the trip. I’ve seen the Globe Trekker - Eastern Caribbean episode, which gave me hope that budget travel in the Carribean IS possible. Traveller Justine Shapiro island hopped from Trinidad, to its sister island of Tobago, on to the spice island Grenada, the remote island of Carriacou (where she visited the home of artist Canute Calliste), and finishing off at Dominica. As with most tourist-y places, there are expensive digs, though if you look enough, there can be great deals to be had. A native hut for accomodation and local busses instead of a posh resort and limousine service, perhaps?
O
PAL to operate NAIA3?
2007-05-08 23:46:58
Nevermind that the opening of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 has been pushed back for so long, people are losing faith that it will actually open, endless discussion among the the powers that be continues.
Airport officials have allowed Philippine Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, to cater to international and domestic passengers at the mothballed Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)-Terminal 3.
Philippine Airlines (PAL), owned by Chinese-Filipino tycoon Lucio Tan, exclusively operates the NAIA Terminal 2.
Alfonso Cusi, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), told dzBB
radio that the government only has the best interest of air commuters in mind.
They have the best interest of air commuters in mind? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
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PAL’s new A320 cabin design
2007-05-08 23:15:31
From the SunStar Bacolod website:
Philippine Airlines’s newest Airbus A320, which features a “21st-century enhanced cabin” that is the first to be outfitted for an Asian carrier, arrived recently to join the flag carrier’s modernizing fleet.
The cabin is the widest of any single aisle aircraft in the Philippines, allowing for wider seats in both Mabuhay (business) and Fiesta (economy) classes, a more spacious aisle and larger overhead stowage bins.
The German-made Recaro seats offer a pitch of 39 inches in Mabuhay Class and 30 inches in Fiesta Class, the most generous in the market - raising passenger comfort levels significantly.
There’s no picture in the website, but somebody from the PinoyExchange forum posted pictures of the aircraft’s interior. That certainly looks nice.
Damn, I couldn’t wait to try this out! (And get frequent flyer points while I’m at it, heh.)
Now, where should I fly to next with PAL?
Technorati Tags: Philippine
Read more: design
Bathroom Diaries
2007-05-12 00:52:21
I am so loving the newsfeed that shows up above my Google inbox. It used to annoy me, because it displays news I’ve no interest in, but once I’ve customized it, it’s just priceless. Today’s link comes courtesy of Fodor’s.
The Bathroom Diaries
About to head out on a trip and wondering if you’ll ever encounter a squat toilet (and wondering how you’ll pee without getting any part of your body wet)? The Bathroom Diaries gives you a review of toilets available anywhere in the globe. In each country, there’s a city list, then a list of available toilets within that city. It gives the rating, hours, fee (if any), details and yes, style.
The best part for me is the Golden Plunger. The Golden Plunger is an award for the best bathrooms around the world. Other categories includes Best Bathroom for a Safari Adventure, Best Bathroom for Extroverts, Best Bathroom to Embrace Materialism or to Renounce It, once and for all!, and Best Bathroom to Evoke H
Cebu Pacific’s 999 seat sale
2007-05-11 17:18:27
The moment that I have been waiting for has finally come: Cebu Pacific
has just announced their Php999 seat sale for their international destinations.
Fly Cebu Pacific
to Hongkong, Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta for only 999 pesos.
The seat sale will run from May 12 - 18, 2007 or until seats are sold out, for travel from June 18 to October 15, 2007.
Source: Cebupacificair.com
I dunno if it’s because of my wonky internet connection or Cebu Pacific’s customers are overloading the system, but I can’t get past the front page. Darn it! Oh well, I don’t have enough funds anyway.
It’s too late for me, but you may still have a chance! Head on now to Cebu Pacific and book!
Technorati Tags: Cebu Pacific, seat sale
Plan to track HIV-positive visitors
2007-05-10 20:59:43
No, not in the Philippines, but in Australia.
Prime Minister John Howard has written to his immigration and health ministers asking them for advice on whether HIV/AIDS poses a public health risk and on the public health implications of letting HIV-positive people into the country.
Source: The Age
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Would you use these high tech luggage?
2007-05-10 18:59:07
ForbesTraveler just came out with their hi-tech luggage slideshow, showcasing, well, 10 hi-tech luggage. Some are pretty nice, some are boring, others are just plain weird.
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Read more: high tech
Travel tunes
2007-05-18 00:43:19
Something came in the mail for me yesterday. No, it’s not another doll or free plane tickets — my mix CD from the BootsnAll Secret Santa Mix Tape exchange. Or in this case, CD.
My secret santa has sent me the most awesome mix: Food songs.
I’m not kidding. All twenty-one songs in this mix is either about food. The songs have pretty good beat, overall pleasant to listen to. The downside though is that I got hungry just 5 songs into the CD.
The receipient of my mix CD had already received my little parcel from Manila, and claimed he liked it (c’mon, who wouldn’t? Haha). My mix included songs from the USA, France, Japan, China, and of course, the Philippines.
I was so pleased by the rave review that I signed up for the next round of Secret Santa exchange. This time however, instead of sending just one CD, I will be sending four more to interested blog readers, as a terribly belated celebration of JustWandering.org’s first anniversary. Yeah, I completely
Read more: Travel
, tunes
Apologies
2007-05-17 20:18:19
I’ve just upgraded my blog to the most current WordPress version, 2.2 Getz. Due to the popularity of the Sidebar Widgets plugin, they decided to incorporate it with the basic installation.
Unfortunately, since my blog’s theme is terribly Widget-dependent, it went crazy. Well, not totally, but I’m still trying to figure out how to make it look like what it was before. Rather, how text in the sidebars were aligned. I’m picky that way.
The archive and comment boxes are in perfect working condition, but don’t panic if you suddenly see a wayward ad or entry list here and there. It’s just me breaking my blog for the nth time.
Enjoy!
[edit] Christopher Frazier, author of the Subtle theme has announced that he will be working on a fix for the Widget bugs soon. Since I don’t want to break my blog more often than necessary, I shall leave this as is. Or until I get restless again and start murdering the PHP codes.
Piso fares are back!
2007-05-17 07:34:48
Whip out your credit cards and get ready to plan yet another vacation as Cebu Pacific has just brought back their Piso fares
promo!
For only ONE PESO, everyday can be a holiday! Go to the beach for the weekend or head out and see what’s happening around the country with our P1 seat sale.
Take your pick and fly to Bacolod, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Clark, Cotabato, D! ipolog, Davao, Dumaguete, General Santos, Iloilo, Kalibo, Laoag, Legaspi, Manila, Puerto Princesa, Roxas, Tacloban, Tagbilaran and Zamboanga for just ONE PESO!
Hurry, the ONE PESO seat sale is from May 17 to 22 only, for travel from July 16 to December 15, 2007.
I was so excited when I got this in the mail, in light of the sudden increase in my credit limit, but I’m giving it a pass because I can’t find a piso fare. Oh well, it’s just not meant to be.
As always, tickets are non-refundable and exclusive of taxes and other surcharges. Double-check your bookings and schedule before hitting that c
May 21
2007-05-21 08:08:03
I am so out of it. I only realize today that it was around this time of the year that I took my first backpacking trip to overseas. So what was I doing on May 21, 2006?
Looking at my photo directory, it appears that it was the day I made my way from Ko Samui to Ko Phangan. Ah, yes, how could I forget?
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Interview!
2007-05-19 10:48:51
We interrupt the (ir)regular blog programming for this interview meme. Interview questions courtesy of Annika.
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Flying Business Class with Singapore Airlines
2007-05-18 16:02:46
I have hinted in a previous post that I got transfered to Business
Class on my Singapore
-Manila flight onboard Singapore Airlines
. Not surprisingly, I got plenty of questions asking how that happened, and how the experience was.
Let’s just say, I got lucky. I checked in online for my flight and chose my seat. I picked the last row because it only has two seats, instead of 3. Though Singapore Airlines has relatively generous legroom in economy class, it’s still a hassle to get out of the row if you’re in the window seat. SeatGuru.com classify last row seats as half good seat and half “be aware,” because of its limited recline. I didn’t mind the limited recline as it’s only a 3-hour flight, whereas during my 7-hour flight from Melbourne to Singapore, I didn’t even recline my seat. Besides, this way, there’s no passenger behind me to contend with.
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Read more: Flying
Travelers wanted!
2007-05-23 17:06:28
Interested in traveling the world and possibly getting famous along the way?
Globe Roamer TV is looking for travelers, photographers, writers and all-around techie.
This project, started by an avid traveler named Eric, aims to “harness the power of this new found media outlet to promote and pay for the adventure of a lifetime.” Basically, the team travels the world, and it’s documented in the Globe Roamer website by video, supplemented by blog entries. The route takes you to Europe, Asia (South & South East Asia), and down to Australia.
It doesn’t say in the website whether it’s open to all nationalities or only limited to US residents, but hey, no harm in asking, right?
Good luck to all those who’ll apply!
Read more: Travelers
, wanted
Poor Nina’s Pad Thai
2007-05-22 17:08:35
Unlike others who go for authentic taste and so far as buying gourmet ingredients for international cuisine, I take a more practical (read: cheap) approach when cooking: I look for the suitable local substitute.
Thai Kitchen is a brand of commonly used ingredients for Thai cookin. It goes without saying that in their cooking class and cookbooks, they promote their own brand. For example, in their Pad Thai recipe, it called for the Thai Kitchen Fish Sauce and the Thai Kitchen Tamarind Paste. The Thai fish sauce is easy; it’s already available in most supermarket. The tamarind paste however, left me slightly baffled.
Then I remember the pack of Thai rice noodles my brother and I were able to buy in Singapore. It comes with a pad thai seasoning mix. Then the answer hit me: it’s the most used seasoning in the house: Knorr’s pang-asim.
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Cooking in the Thai Kitchen
2007-05-22 05:30:40
One of the must-do’s of travelers in Thailand, aside from touring the temples and shopping their hearts out, is to take a Thai cooking class. After all, where else can you be guaranteed an authentic Thai cooking experience than in Thailand?
There are plenty of cooking classes available in Thailand, not just in Bangkok. Some specialize in vegetarian fares, while some even gives you a tour of the Thai markets, so you’d know how to pick the freshest ingredients.
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Read more: Kitchen
Flying with Cebu Pacific
2007-05-25 12:42:31
With all the promos Cebu Pacific
had last 2006, it’s pretty hard to avoid not booking through them at least once. Their acquisition of brand new Airbus A319’s, enabled them to offer flights to more regional destinations, which in turn gave more Filipinos options for cheap travel both domestically and overseas.
I flew with them twice last year: to Cebu and to Bacolod, both originating in Manila. Back then Cebu Pacific
was still giving out free bottles of C2 Iced tea. I hear that they’ve stopped giving them out this year (to the dismay of Pinoy travelers who are used to freebies). I wonder if they still have their fun games.
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Read more: Flying
Walking naked in Germany
2007-05-24 11:27:23
One way of dressing inappropriately in a foreign country is by not dressing up at all.
BERLIN - A naked American tourist raised eyebrows when he went for a walk through a German city and told police he thought this was acceptable behavior in Germany
.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18801907/
Apparently, nude sunbathing IS acceptable in public parks. However, walking around the city nude is a big no-no. (Hell, it’s a big no-no everywhere save for nude beaches and naturist playgrounds).
How embarassing.
Read more: Walking
Capture the beauty of the Philippines
2007-05-29 11:05:02
Philippine Airlines is launching its first photo contest open to all professional, amateur and hobbyist photographers.
With this year’s theme: The Beauty of the Philippines
, the event aims to widely promote the country’s ecotourism. It is the only photo contest that welcomes all amateurs, professionals, and children alike to participate in the competition – taking photography into a diverse perspective. With the Children’s Category, a first in the country, the event aims to encourage and nurture the talents of the youth. Over a milllion in total of prizes and travel benefits, and loads of freebies await the lucky winners; all from the project’s generous sponsors.The event is, by far, the biggest in the history of Philippine photography – with running events the entire year after its formal launch on June 15, 2007.
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Like a Virgin Blue
2007-05-28 11:52:46
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are about to take off. Please turn off all electronic devices like mobile phones, ipods, laptops and toasters,” said the voice over the public address system inside the plane.
The best word to describe Virgin
Blue is cheeky. From their big red planes to the sexy Bondi Babe painted below the cockpit, Virgin Blue just screams attitude. And that is good.
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French Bistro Cooking at the Diamond Hotel
2007-05-27 16:52:04
I was lucky enough to get an invite from Ajay to this French
Cooking Class at the Manila Diamond Hotel
. Despite the very short notice, I was really excited about getting out of the house, possibly meeting new people and attending a cooking class. (At this point, ANY class would have excited me; I miss school.)
I had a feeling that I would meet the other local bloggers, and I was right. First, there was Christine, whom I met over at BootsnAll, Rache, wife of Anton of Our Awesome Planet whom I met during the Pampanga Culinary Tour, and of course, Ajay, whom I met during the same tour. I was also able to meet Noemi of Aboutmyrecovery.com, but she didn’t stay; she just went there to drop off her daugther, Marielli, who unfortunately, I wasn’t able to talk to (more…
Read more: Bistro
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