Owner: Vincent travel Blog URL:http://vincentvanderveken.com Join Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 04:07:35 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Welcome to my travel Blog mostly geared about my trips to Asia, Europe or North America Site statistics:Click here
Bohol 2007-11-24 18:34:09 The island of Bohol here on the Loboc river cruise
Bohol the 10th biggest island of the Philippines (out of ± 7107) is situated just south of Cebu city has a wide array of possible attractions. The thing I loved about it is that you can start (and end) your days laid back on a fabulous white sand beach enjoying a Piña Colada while feeling you’ve actually done some mileage and accomplished something during the daytime. There is a lot exploring to do on the ever changing scenery of this captivating island.
We had an early start and departed from the Cebu city harbor at 6:00 AM with the fast ferry that reached the town of Tagbilaran in Bohol in just around 2 hours. This is by far for the price the best solution if you don’t want to lose half a day or more just reaching your destination. The small island of Panglao where all the best beach resorts are is just a 20-30 minute ride from Tagbilaran. Now to get there the easiest way is to hire a car (you will be submerged with o
Cebu City 2007-11-19 12:10:51 Cebu city also nicknamed ‘Queen of the South’ is the second largest city of the Philippines.
It has few attractions compared to its big sister Manila and most of them have to do with Ferdinand Magellan’s landing here and consequently the birth of Catholicism in the Philippines, the Santo Nino Cathedral, the Carbon market (the biggest and liveliest) & Colon Street which is the oldest street of the country and more or less the town’s center.
It’s also of course more laid back and calmer but that wasn’t for me a bad thing for me as I could feel the previous week of drinking was slowly taking its toll and it was time for a break.
I arrived at the Mactan airport of Cebu after dark with a few suggestions of places to stay when in Cebu city. The sight of a tourism & accommodations desk while waiting for my luggage changed my initial plan of just taking a cab to one of those hotels. This turned out to be a good decision since both the Northwinds hotel and the Busine
Hong Kong 2007-11-12 14:09:55
TRAVEL UPDATE !
Today at work I was surprised to learn that they were finalizing our schedule until end of March 2008. Usually they did the planning on a month per month basis and given that I had in mind my next trip around March I needed to decide quickly to take vacation days off right away or wait to see how it would go for April or later on.
I knew that Qantas Airways (Australia’s national airline) had promotions starting as low as €599 if booked before the 15th of November from BRU to Hong Kong
so I rushed to see if any were left around the dates I wanted. After a bit of trial and error I found one set of dates interestingly priced at €620.82 that I instantly booked online or well after getting the green light from my boss.
So this time my second attempt at Asia starts with China…
From there on nothing has been planned yet besides my first night in Honk Kong. Since I arrive at 8 am this means I will have a minimum of two full days there. The cities of China that
Boracay island 2007-11-08 16:04:19
Situated around 350 km down south from Manila in the Visayas, Boracay
is a fabulous beach destination to discover. Sized only at 7 km long by 2 wide it’s a relatively small tropical island that has lots to offer. Just to see it’s 4km long famous white beach is well worth the trip it but the island by itself has around 30 beaches and coves for you to chose and discover. Some are easy of access by foot while others require a bit of swimming to be reached. Alternatively renting out a banca will take you around all of them and beyond. Virtually unknown 25 years ago it has fast grown into one of the Philippines most prized destination. Boracay comes from the the word ‘borac’ which is cotton in English referring to the texture and color of it’s sand.
The previous nights sleep was short (about 2½ hours) and as we left our hotel in Manila at around 5 am I was still in a dreamy state wondering if on my arrival if the water would be as pristine & if the sand r
Arriving in Manila 2007-11-01 13:53:58 My first ever stop in Asia starting with a five day exploration of the city of Manila
…
It sure is different than anything else that I’ve experienced before but if you’re like me and only seen North America & Western Europe it’s quite understandable that you’ll be in for a surprise. At around 16 million inhabitant in the day time and countless undocumented residents Manila is the biggest city of South-East Asia and actually ranks 19 one the list of the world’s most populous metropolitan areas. So it’s not a small place to start off in Asia but the first thing that yo notice you as you get out is the boiling heat! Especially when arriving from a very chilly October Paris morning the day before as I embarked onto this journey…
Then the airport itself. Arrivals are sealed off from any visitors by the police. You actually have to cross the street from it to where the greeting sections is to meet family or friends which is split by las Read more:Arriving
Eating Balot 2007-10-28 17:48:32
Before even starting I know whats already on your mind… What the hell is Balut most of you would ask? In fact it’s simply a fertilized duck egg with an almost fully matured embryo inside that’s served boiled alive and eaten in its shell. They are considered delicacies in South East Asia and particularly the Philippines, Vietnam & Cambodia.
Now for an intro to the story… After a long & strenuous previous night out partying that started at the All-you-can-drink Conway’s bar of the luxurious Shangri-la Hotel in Makati & eventually ending in the Ermita Cowboy Grill somewhere estimated around 6:30 AM. We were invited to a BBQ later that afternoon by 2PM at some of Leif’s Filipino friends place. Given this I would never have imagined that I would be in the best mindset to attempt eating balut that night. But as the barbecue went on well into the evening and as our fourth case of San Miguel was under way a new sense of strength embodied u
Philippines travel itinerary 2007-10-28 10:57:16 After two weeks in the tropical paradise that is the Philippines
I am finally back home alas…
Before going on with sharing pictures and what not here’s a little short description of my travel itinerary:
Arrival on the October 11 in Manila via Bahrain & Paris (5 days spent in & around discovering the city).
Departure by plane on October 16 south for the small tropical island of Boracay for three days spent in paradisiac settings.
Departure by plane on October 18 for Cebu city about an hour flight again south.
Departure by fast ferry on October 21st for the Island of Panglao & Bohol.
Departure by plane on October 23rd from Bohol to Manila for one final night in the city.
Leaving back from Manila on the 24th when I arrived home but 36 hours later.
Madrid 2007-10-07 11:30:04 I had almost forgot to tell about this but after talking about wanting to go quite extensively to Madrid
I’ve finally booked a flight to go there in March 2008 due to the latest online booking promotions:
GOING OUT
From Charleroi Brussels(CRL) to Madrid Term1(MAD) Sat, 08Mar08 Flight FR5463 Depart CRL at 10:05 and arrive MAD at 12:15
COMING BACK
From Madrid Term1(MAD) to Charleroi Brussels(CRL) Mon, 10Mar08 Flight FR5464 Depart MAD at 15:40 and arrive CRL at 18:10
PAYMENT DETAILS
*********0.02 EUR Adult
********24.99 EUR Taxes, Fees & Charges
*********0.99 EUR Aviation / WCHR Levy
*********0.00 EUR Car Rental
*********0.00 EUR Insurance
********26.00 EUR Total Paid
Thanks once again to Ryanair.com for those unbeatable price!
What type of trip would you rather chose? 2007-10-07 10:27:20 Two possibilities are offered to you:
Blue bag : Manila , Boracay, Bantayan & Bohol
Green Bag: Military NTCC Training in Elsenborn
Sounds like not much of a tough choice to make ?
Sadly I got to get through the one I consider an unpleasant annoyance to be able to move onto the interesting one…
Read more:chose
Eastpak Taskmaster L review 2007-10-07 09:37:58 I was looking for a while for a good all purpose travel luggage for my trip in the Philippines. The only choices I had up till now was either my Samsonite hard case luggage thats way too big and cumbersome to carry around & my small Eastpak bookworm backpack that’s ok for a long week-end but wouldn’t have carried all that I needed for a 2 weeks trip.
My choice finally ended on Eastpak’s Taskmaster L which has at a size of 64 by 38 x 24 cm and 64 Liters capacity was perfect for my needs.
Now lets take a look at it in more details…
Front view (the iPod is there to give an idea of the actual size of it):
The back has shoulder straps so you can backpack with it:
The wheels are there for a reason as a rubber molded telescopic handle is hidden:
Roomy front compartment:
Once opened up it has a special location for a laptop that comes with its own bag:
And a large main compartment:
And now filled and ready to go:
And finally closed…
Read more:review
Panglao 2007-12-23 06:40:26 Alona beach, Panglao Island
Connected by a short bridge and located right at the southwest tip of Bohol is where you’ll find the small island of Panglao.
A very short distance from the port of Tagbilaran it is home to some lovely white sand beaches but Panglao is mostly renowned internationally for being a tropical paradise for divers.
This is the view I had eating a late breakfast at my resort and trying to figure out how I should spend what was left of my last day in Panglao
I then decided to have a stroll down the Alona beach to look for an idea
A small banca on the way
Here some more, they actually are everywhere along the beach
I eventually saw a few motorbikes for hire and a guide offered me to take a tour around the island so off I went on a scooter. Every possible form of transportation is for hire in the Philippines and you will find no shortage of offers to do pretty much anything you want.
My first stop was at a roman cath
Marseille 2007-12-30 15:44:05 Marseille or spelled Marseilles in English is the 2nd most populated city of France. It is located in the Southern part just by the Mediterranean sea on what is commonly called the French Riviera. I was blessed at my arrival with a warm sun, blue skies and early to mid 20 degrees Celsius temperature. [...]
Week-end in Madrid 2008-03-15 12:13:24 Madrid being the capital and biggest city of Spain with around 3.5 Million inhabitants you might feel overwhelmed at first by the amount of things to see and do on a short week-end trip. You sure won’t be able to visit all of the museums, galleries, palaces, parks, architectural sights, Churches, Cathedrals, etc. it has [...] Read more:Madrid
Arriving in Hong Kong 2008-04-30 12:31:16 Somewhat more seasoned this time and after a long five months wait I am finally back in Asia for my second trip to the region with a totally different starting point this time: HONG KONG.
Hong Kong
should be a smooth transition for anyone coming for the first time to Asia from North America or the [...] Read more:Arriving
San Fernando crucifixions 2008 2008-05-31 04:45:24 IF you just happen to be around Manila around Good Friday and have a stomach for a very realistic reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ you should definitely consider the short 65 KM trip up to the San Fernando
, Pampanga and experience this very unusual Filipino spiritual journey.
Named cristos about a dozen each year [...]
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