Aboard Happiness

Just on the first week of December, I found myself going on a trip to Palawan. This is the first time I set foot in the province so I can't contain my excitement as the days draw near. I took the earliest Cebu Pacific flight to Puerto Princesa with my mom and sister. It was a comfortable flight and we arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule (it's a sign of a good trip, isn't it?). We only stayed for three days so we rushed off to take the earliest shuttle service going to El Nido from the airport. The ride took about 5 hours with two stop overs -- for lunch and toilet break. The road is very smooth -- I can't remember though how many mountains we crossed just to reach to the beautiful town of El Nido. Once you get to El Nido town proper, the driver will drop you off to the shuttle terminal. From there, you need to ride a tricycle to bring you to your hotel. Shuttle service from Puerto Princesa airport to El Nido town proper cost 600-700 pesos per pax and tricycle ride is

My sisters and I decided to spend our long weekend at Thunderbird Resort in Poro Point, San Fernando La Union. The resort is located 236 km away from Manila and about 5-6 hour drive.   It is a " Mediterranean-inspired luxury resort that overlooks the West Philippine Sea". I really felt that I was at the tip of the North Western side of the Philippines as we passed through the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard bases. It's architecture was influenced by Santorini Island in Greece.    THE BEACH!!! How to go to Thunderbird Resort?  Going to the resort is quite easy as you will need to pass through all the highways (NLEX, SCTEX and TPLEX). From TPLEX, exit at Urdaneta then turn right after clearing from the toll gate. Traverse the Mc Arthur highway for about 88 km to San Fernando.  Things to do The resort is very private and amenities are exclusive for members and guests only. They have swimming pools (including kiddie pool), a

Location: 308 Aguirre Ave. BF Homes Paranaque Website: http://www.thesmokingjoint.com.ph/ Store hours: Weekdays 4:20pm to 11:00pm/ Weekends: 12:00nn to 12:00mn Last weekend, we drove all the way to Paranaque just to try this new restaurant – The Smoking Joint. The restaurant can be found easily as it is just along Aguirre St beside Lydia’s lechon. The place is quite small, I can’t imagine how full it is during lunch and dinner times. We arrived there at around 1:30pm so the place is already empty.   The place was quite hot at that time, I am not sure if they have problems with air conditioning or probably we were just staying by the window in the afternoon heat. We ordered two Smoked Cheese Steaks, two Beef Briskets and one Pulled Pork. The Smoked Cheese Steak is made up of a toasted Panini bread, beef brisket with a little of onions and corn, topped with lots of cream cheese. The cream cheese compliments the taste of the beef brisket however, I was actually expe

In my recent business trip to Singapore & Chennai last July 4th, I booked my airticket via Philippines Airlines (for the SG leg) because of the ideal flight schedule (I had to take into consideration my connecting flight to Chennai via a different airline). I did my usual online check-in to avoid the long queue in the airport. I always have this impression with Philippines Airlines that their flights always get delayed (based on the experience of my friends), hence, I was expecting that my flight will be delayed as well. I arrived at the airport and proceeded to the check-in counter to drop my baggage and because my layover is about 10 hours in Singapore, I told the ground staff that my luggage will be "tagged along" (I am not sure if this was the correct airline term). The ground staff who attended to me was very friendly and smiling at all times and proactively placed a priority tag on my bag. She told me that she will be placing a priority tag on my bag so it will no

I happened to see in the “popular post” section on Instagram the post of Viajera Filipina about the Travel + Fashion Takeover Workshop which she, together with Our Awesome Planet,We are Sole Sisters, Travel Fashion Girl and Solitary Wanderer hosted last June 3rd. To my excite, I registered right away for the event at A Space in Greenbelt.  Everything about this event is so memorable for me because: (1) it is my first time attending such event (and it’s even for free, how’s that? wink wink); (2) my first time going at the said event’s place, which I never thought it existed somewhere in Greenbelt =); (3) I got to meet travelers alike who wants to travel as often as possible however, with a very tight budget; and the best part of it (4) Raffle prizes haha. I won a prize of two nights hotel accommodation for 2 pax at Four Points Hotel by Sheraton in Bangkok c/o Agoda (Thank you Agoda!!!). This was the first time I won a raffle prize as I am actually not lucky at raffles conte

I first heard Pinto Art Museum from my sister who is a student of multimedia arts. She went there to look for inspiration for their then upcoming multimedia exhibit which required her to put up an installation. I saw her photos and I was amazed of how beautiful the place was, thinking that it looked good because she knows photography and/or probably because of the camera. So my curiosity brought me to invite two of my friends to visit the Pinto Art Museum.  According to Collins dictionary, Pinto (adj.) means marked with patches of whites, piebald and the origin of the word was from (19th century) American Spanish  means painted or spotted. Ultimately from Latin- pingere means to paint. No wonder, the Spanish-style house structure were all painted with white.  Entrance to the museum. There is a small office upon entering where you need to pay the entrance fee. The facade is so picturesque one should have a mandatory picture. No wonder the place is also being considered for pre

This is it! My first ever post in my very first "open diary". As this is my first entry, pardon me if you see any grammatical errors of some sort, after all, I set up this blog to practice my writing skills. =) Now into the write-up... Since it's summer, every one is in to fitness and healthy lifestyle to reach that desired beach bod. However, on my case, I only wanted to be physically fit and in shape considering that I am not getting any younger and aside from the fact that I feel heavier and heavier by the day. My colleagues invited me try out Plana Forma at Centris in Quezon City and I must say that this is the only exercise I have enjoyed the most. I have tried going to the gym, and I feel it is just not right for me.  So, what is Plana Forma? It is a 55-minute workout derived from the techniques of Physique 57, influenced by dance, yoga, pilates and sports. Difficulty level of the workout differs on a per level. The class begins with a warm up and uppe