When I was still on the planning stage of my trip, I discovered Shambara Guesthouse. It looks great in the pictures, and every site I came upon have rave reviews for Shambara, from travelers who have stayed there before. I wanted to stay in Khao San Road, and Shambara’s the best guesthouse in the area for me.

However, I learned that neither the BTS or the MRT have a station anywhere near Banglamphu. I don’t want to depend on taxis to get around Bangkok, and I was still wary about the Chao Praya River Express. But still, I wanted to see what’s all the fuss about Shambara. Luckily enough, the Lomprayah bus that I will be taking from Ko Pha Ngan will have its last stop at Khao San Road, so I reserved one night in Shambara.
Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve seen this magazine at Borders in Singapore, but I was unable to go back to buy it (because I’ve used up all my money shopping). I scoured the magazine shops in Manila, but I don’t think I ever saw this locally (or if I had, I must have been broke when I came across it).
Read the rest of this entry »

Well, no. :P

I went to ClickTheCity.com to look for movies showing currently, when an article about Manila walking tours caught my eye. Having joined one recently, and interested in joining another, I clicked on the link to read the full article.

It featured two guides: Carlos Celdran and Ivan ManDy. The article started of with Carlos, and when it shifted to Ivan, I leaned forward eagerly, since his Big Binondo Food Wok was the one I took last July.
Read the rest of this entry »

This October 2006, there will be a new no-frills airline flying the sky: Oasis Air. Based in Hong Kong, their edge among the other low cost carriers in Asia is that they offering long-haul inter-continental flights.
Read the rest of this entry »

There has been quite a furor over the policy regarding items you can pack in your check in luggage and hand carry. I was going to post something about it, and today, I found the perfect article to highlight:

NO SNAKES OF ANY KIND WILL BE PERMITTED ON A PLANE. SNAKES ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED IN CHECKED BAGGAGE.

This includes all pythons, boas, rattlesnakes, vipers, mambas, adders, and other known species of snakes.

Exception: some limited amounts of snakes may be allowed if Samuel L. Jackson is traveling; licensed snake charmers are allowed to have snakes in their check in baggage only if the name on the snake charming license matches the one passenger’s ticket; people who’se name is Snake will be allowed on board but only after full body cavity search

Read the complete article over at: terminally-incoherent.com.

P.S. In case it’s not obvious, it’s referring to the movie

I’ve been swamped with work this week, due a flu caused by an annoying toothache that left my dentist baffled because said tooth was perfectly healthy.

So instead of writing more about my trip, I’m sharing with you one of my favorite TV commercial: The Philippine’s More than the usual campaign. This was first aired in 2002, during then Department of Tourism Secretary, Richard Gordon. For me, this is one of the best TVC to highlight and promote the Philippines.

Interestingly enough, this was labelled as the “Asia” edition. A slightly different “Europe” version is available for viewing at Youtube.com.

When I was inside the Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok, it wasn’t the heat that disuaded me from taking pictures; it was the sheer number of tourists in the temple.

Coming in early, as soon as the temple opened, apparently was EVERYBODY’S idea to avoid the large crowd, which ironically, resulted in palace and temple grounds swarming with noisy tourists.

As majestic as the palace and the temples are, you’re forced to focus your camera upwards, as to avoid having unwanted people in your shots.

Snapmania seem to find a solution to this problem, as reported by OregonLive.com:

You’ve traveled 5,000 miles to London. You want a simple photo of the fountains of Trafalgar Square. But dash it all, other tourists keep walking in front of your camera.

Don’t despair. Use the Tourist Remover.

This free, new tool offered by Snapmania (www.snapmania.com) eliminates unwanted people, cars and other moving disruptions from photos.

Nifty, eh? I haven’t tried the service yet myself — you have to have three or more shots of the particular place/structure with varying placements of pesky tourists. This service is a definite must-try once I get a new camera.

Before I pick a particular hostel or resort, I search the web and pore through every review I can find. Moonhut has its fair share of positives and negatives, but I find that its pluses outweights its minuses. And that’s why I decided to try my luck with Moonhut Bungalow in Maename Beach in Ko Samui.

I must admit, my first impression on Moonhut wasn’t good: the road was unpaved, and there’s a number of big potholes all around. The restaurant was nothing out of the ordinary, the beach is blah (then again, after Boracay, everything is blah), and landscaping is non-existent.

When I got to my standard bungalow, however, I was pleased. First off, the “hut” wasn’t made of natural materials. I love nature and all, but when it comes to lodgings, I prefer concrete, wood and steel. It’s made to look like a hut and also stand on stilts.

There’s a mini balcony at the front, with two chairs with cushions, a small side table and a rope line where you can hang your clothes to dry. Upon opening the front door, you see a neatly made bed, a couple of towels and a tacky wall decor. Right ahead is a couple of shelves where you can put your stuff, and above it, a rod where there hang a couple of coat hangers.

There is a door to the right, opening into the toilet & bath. It’s clean, fairly big, have natural light and did I say clean? A clean bathroom with natural light gets a plus everytime.

Another plus are the screens on the windows. With these, you can leave your windows open to let in the sea breeze without letting in a couple hundred insects and bugs.

Oh, if you’re afraid, allergic or have something against dogs, don’t stay here. They have a very friendly brood of 3 very active dogs. You can expect them to trot over to you when you lounge at the beach or at the restaurant.

The restaurant serves pretty decent food, nothing really out of the ordinary. Though do try their vegetable fried rice, it’s very good. Service is pretty good; the staff are very accomodating and the owner is always puttering around checking and fixing whatever needs to be fixed.

As for the beach…well, it was nothing special. However, if you’re only going to sunbathe, this is good as any other beach. Maenam is also a “family” beach — meaning no loud parties and lots of kiddies around. If it’s pristine white sand, clear blue waters, wild parties ’til dawn you’re after, you’re better off in other beaches around Ko Samui.

All in all, I was satisfied with Moonhuts. Should I find myself back at Samui, I’ll definitely stay there! (and maybe this time, I won’t miss the boat to Ko Pha Ngan)

Read the rest of this entry »