Southeast Asian Airlines (SEAIR), the Philippines’ premier leisure airline, will offer a “Buy 1, Take 1” Batanes roundtrip promo and up to 75% off on Boracay and Tablas roundtrip tickets at the 2010 Philippine Travel Mart (PTM) Sale on September 3-5, 2010 at Booths 108-109, SM Megatrade Halls in SM Megamall.

Batanes Sabtang Lighthouse

Travelers can purchase “Buy 1, Take 1” Batanes roundtrip tickets for only PhP 14,344 all- in for travel until December 19, 2010. Boracay and Tablas roundtrip tickets will be at PhP 3,500 all-in for travel until October 15, 2010, and PhP 4,463 all-in for travel from October 16 to December 19, 2010. Continue Reading

It’s Going to Get Loud in Singapore this September!!! There’s really nothing more exciting and glamorous than Grand Prix racing and when Formula 1 in Singapore was introduced two years ago, every traveler has something to dream about.

Singapore F1 Race 2010

I’m hoping to go to Singapore from September 17-26 so that I can be a part of the excitement in the Lion City. I want to watch the races, cruise the parties, and check out the amazing concerts that come along with one of the Grandest event in Asia if not in World. Continue Reading

There isn’t much better than dropping your gear on snow white sand, grabbing your snorkel, and then walking into crystal blue waters where you will see thousands of fish, very few tourists, and the cares of life will disappear into the perfect hide away spot.

Real White Sand Beach in Puerto Galera

You might think you would have to go to the farthest reaches of the Philippines in order to find a place like Encenada Beach, but in fact, Puerto Galera is only about 160 km from Manila. Located on Mindoro Island’s northern peninsula, this is a world class diving and snorkel spot and one of the best places in the Philippines for outdoor activities of all kinds. Whether you are into trekking or just discovering new isolated coves with undisturbed sand. This is the place for you to go. Continue Reading

Boracay Island can provide thumping avenues to be explored by tourists. Despite of so many options for tourists, it becomes all the more imperative for most to stay at the right zones where they can find a perfect mix of accommodation with sumptuous and affordable food options. Some of the in-budget staying options at Boracay Island include:

Boracay Beach Front Accommodations

• Blue Mango – It is one of the perfect destinations to stay right at the center of White Beach. They have a restaurant that offers local and international cuisine.
• Taj Guesthouse Boracay – My favorite place to stay in Boracay, It is a boutique style guesthouse just few steps away from D’mall – the perfect place if you want to eat, party or fix your pasalubong shopping.
• Moreno’s Place – It is an ideal accommodation for those who are on a tighter budget. The private rooms with fan may cost around 600-900 Pesos while the air conditioned facility can be negotiated in and around 1000-1500 Pesos depending on the season.
• Dave’s Straw Hat Inn – It s one of the most affordable lodging option located at station 3. The rooms are small with friendly staff but the rates might be on a bit higher side than the other similar options.



My favorite Strawberry Shake

• Little Corner of Italy – The facility is popularly known as “Da Marrios” and is run by an Italian. There are two distinct budget options to go with – Budget common rooms (for up to 4 persons per room) with fan, common shower and toilet. The other option is to choose bungalows which are ideal for 2-4 persons and the price starts from 1800 Pesos.

Boracay Islands can offer tourists ideal zones to pamper their taste buds. Some of the popular in-budget eating options include:

Boracay Cheap Accommodations

• Bamboo Lounge – It serves handpicked selection of world class Chinese food in an al fresco setting.
• Coconut Bar/Restaurant – It is located near to boat station 3 and serves Filipino and International cuisines in a native setting style to the guests.
• Blue Jade Café – It is one of the popular Café’s located in D’Talipapa. Guests can shop around for sumptuous sea food options and have them cooked at the restaurant. The restaurant also offers delicious Asian and European delicacies.
• Lovell’s Swiss Bakery – It is Baracay’s first European bakery shop which can offer tourists to choose amongst fresh pastry’s, puffs and assorted cookies and other bakery options.
• Obama Grill Bar Restaurant – Foodies cannot afford to miss this steak restaurant which offers sumptuous grill bar options and priceless ambiance.

I’ll be visiting the island next week and hopefully I can add more accommodations and eating options on the list:)

Want some adventure while in Tuguegarao City? If you are the adventurous type, consider visiting Penablanca in Cagayan Valley for a day trip that includes spelunking in Callao Cave and Kayaking in the Pinacanauan River. You can tour around the nearby towns first just like we did.

Cave Entrance

After a short visit to Our Lady of Piat Church, our group headed to Penablanca for a spelunking activity in Callao Cave. This cave is the most popular tourist attraction of the Cagayan Province and probably one the most popular cave in the Philippines. It is located about a 30-minute drive from Tuguegarao in the town of Penablanca. The Callao Cave is fairly easy to explore but you will want to be in fairly decent shape because at one point you will be ascending about 200 steps that lead to the massive rock formations and limestone inside.

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I love taking the time to appreciate the things that often get missed in the Philippines. This is especially true some areas in Laguna province which is often overlooked. San Pablo city is a place filled with history, friendly people, art, and culture and there isn’t a better place to find a fusion of them all than at the Sulyap Gallery Cafe.

Sulyap Cafe in San Pablo City

Back in the hippie 1960′s the now famous Gallery Cafe was Southern Luzon Colleges and there were fiery debates, counterculture activities and more. After that it became the Cocoland Hotel and finally, combining the travelers, artists, intellectualism and culture that had always been there it became the Sulyap Gallery Cafe. It was during Pahiyas Festival 2010when I first set foot in the Gallery Cafe. We dropped by the place for the Samsung camera orientation before heading to Lucban Quezon to experience the yearly Pahiyas Festival. Continue Reading

If you are a diver like me, then Coron must be on your radar when travelling in the Philippines. Coron is a gorgeous town located in the province of Palawan. It is part of the Calaminan Group of islands in northern Palawan and has been listed in Forbes Traveler Magazine’s top ten best scuba dive sites in the world.

Approaching Barracuda Lake

Known for its underwater views of sunken Japanese ships from the World War II era, I found this area to be absolutely stunning and breathtaking. Located on the northern end of Coron Island is another popular lake called Barracuda Lake. Continue Reading

Its my first time to fly back to Manila via Iloilo Airport and I have to say, I was pretty impressed with it. It’s was built in 2007, so that’s pretty new as far as airports go. The airport serves the Western Visayas region and is located on the amazing island of Panay. It is one of four international airports in the Visayas though I only used local flights this time around.

Iloilo International Airport

The airport is further away from Iloilo city than I would have preferred, but then it is only about 12 miles distant and I suppose that keeps things nicer in the city. Continue Reading

If you have not heard about “web logs” or “blogs” you are lacking one of the brand new online portfolio tools that is now commonly used by photographers. “Blogs” are simple to use web publishing tool which enable anybody to generate chronologically organized websites (usually narrowly defined as “diaries”) with built-in search and comment characteristics. These are template driven and in most cases, it offers a series of smartly designed layout displays, that may be custom-made by those with the coding abilities.

Taking Seascape Photos

PhotoBlogs are public, and most of them usually present the most recent photo content before anything else, along with hyperlinks to automatically created archives structured by day and/or subject groups. Consider it is the easiest personalized photo web publishing possible. A “Photoblog” is actually both a noun (the web site by itself) and a verb- the actual act associated with writing and posting a photo to that website or blog. Continue Reading

Who said the Summer is Over? Swimming in the rain isn’t impossible to enjoy at Grandbay Resort. The resort has amenities that you can enjoy with or without the sun. One of the most accessible inland resort outside of Metro Manila, Grandbay Resort is just a few minutes away from Calamba exit at the South Luzon Expressway.

Grandbay Resort in Pansol Laguna

Aside from their 1,350 sqm swimming pool (the biggest pool in Laguna), the also have Giant slides, Kiddy slides, Medium size Hot spring pool, Small kiddy pool, Airconditioned rooms, Fan rooms, Pool Front room, Short and long tables, Round tables, Billiard tables, Videoke, Playground and Pavilions for group activities or special occasions like birthday parties, baptisms, weddings or even company outings. Continue Reading