Hello, February!

I'm not exactly writing this blog post to welcome the love month. I'm single and though I hate to admit it, I 'm still quite bitter at having a recent rejection. Anyways, I'm saying hello to February because of the many changes and events this month will bring.

First, my room mate is going to study and work in another country. This means I have to move to a new room with a new room mate who is also a colleague. Moving is never an easy job. I had to remove my things and rearrange it in another room. I remembered when I came to Phuket, I only had 1 suitcase and one backpack with me. The years working and staying here has allowed me to accumulate a lot. It's not that I am complaining instead I'm grateful to be blessed with the resources. It amazes me how much things and trash I have kept all these months. The thought of throwing some things was heartbreaking and disappointing. But then again, it's liberating to see extra space in an arranged cabinet. 

Second, our office is moving to a new building. Management briefed us about this way before 2015 ended. We are now ready to transfer as the place is now ready. New desks and chairs, new seating arrangements and a clean and freshly painted room awaits us. Exciting and anxiety producing at the same time.

Third, I lost a friend who didn't quite treat me well. I'm unhappy that the friendship didn't last long but I guess it would be the best for both parties. I believe that people come and go. Everyone coming into our lives is either a gift or a lesson. I guess he was a lesson.

Fourth, I do not have any travel plans this month. Except for a college friend and her husband who is coming to Phuket to have their honeymoon. I'm so happy for them. They remind me that love still wins. Looking forward to catch up with them soon. 

Fifth, I'm going to try and focus all my energy and thoughts to studying for a test. It's been a long time since I had a standardized test and reviewing for it is taking up my precious resting time. Anyways, I just tell myself to have my eyes on the prize.

Sixth, Valentine's day is coming up. I better find a nice place to have dinner and hang out with my friends on that day.

I'm sure this second month of 2016 also has great things in store for you guys. I hope you have a good start. Thank you and 'til next blog! 

My First Solo Backpacking Trip

I've read about articles pointing out that solo backpacking is fun. I was not convinced of this before. Travelling with a friend or two is what I am used to. And for me whose talking most of the time, I imagined it difficult to strike a conversation with complete strangers.

Browsing through Airasiago, I saw that they had a package price for return flights and 3 days 2 nights at a hotel in Hanoi. I was afraid to give it a shot but finally decided to book it. 

I arrived at Don Meuang International Airport at around 5am. Checking in was a breeze as I used one of the check in kiosks at the entrance. As it was still early, the immigration had only a few on queue. 

While waiting for boarding, I chatted with another passenger. He was travelling to Hanoi to refresh his Thailand visa. It was his second time to Hanoi. We went on discussing about what he was doing in Thailand and how was his previous Hanoi trip. He was kind to ask me if I already have a booked accommodation. I told him that I did have one and in fact arranged for a taxi to pick me up. 

Upon arriving at Hanoi, I looked for my name in the countless names being waived by taxi drivers. I looked twice and even thrice but cannot seem to find it. Finally, I went with my new found friend to catch the airport to town mini bus for 100,000VND (4.46 USD). 

My original hotel transferred me to its sister hotel as my room was still unavailable. Golden Time Hostel 2 was where I was assigned. They even upgraded me to a big room with private bath and toilet. It was too big for a solo backpacker like me but the comfort I had made me very happy.

The receptionist was very kind to me. He gave me a map of the vicinity and even told me where to get cheap local lunch. A few steps from my hotel was a small food joint where low tables and chairs were placed on the walkway. The tables were joined together and so it appeared long. Here I was with my seatmates who gamely posed for a selfie.

I just asked the lady vendor for chicken and rice and a peach drink. 

Suddenly, a guy sat in front of me and ordered food as well. It was awkward eating with someone else at a very close proximity. While we did so, all of a sudden our tables were removed and we had to carry our dishes and drinks. I was utterly confused.

Next, we were all asked to give up our chairs and to walk a few steps ahead. What really happened was that the police came and reprimanded the owners for setting up the store in the walkway. Later did I know that space rentals were so expensive and this is why they rent the small space and place tables and chairs outside. We sat on a small store's stairs and continued to eat our lunch. Just had to take a selfie to mark this funny and confusing experience.

More of my Hanoi trip soon! Thank you for reading and 'til my next blog!

Golden Triangle and Chiang Rai One Day Tour

For our second day in Chiang Mai, I booked me and my friend to have the Golden Triangle and Chiang Rai One day tour. This was booked and organized for us again by Travel Hub Thailand. I read all about the tour on their website and got very interested due to the comprehensive way they described how the tour would be. It was a join in whole day tour that we booked for ourselves. Right after breakfast, we readied ourselves in the hotel's reception. Pick up time was at 7:30am. I had on a big smile because I always wanted to see what is in the Golden Triangle. 

Our first stop was the Maekhajan Hot Spring. It was surrounded with different stalls selling food, clothes and souvenirs. 

For a few minutes, I wondered why I smelled eggs around. The water was so hot that tourists were able to cook eggs with it. The spring also spewed from time to time so it was best to watch out from being showered.

Our next stop was at Wat Rong Khun or The White Temple. It is a privately owned contemporary place inspired by the style of a Buddhist Temple.

In this photo, tourists are crossing the bridge of "the cycle of rebirth". The main building is reached by crossing this bridge over a small lake. The bridge itself is very narrow that people are asked to walk straight ahead. In front of the bridge are hundreds of outreaching hands that symbolize unrestrained desire. The bridge proclaims that the way to happiness is by foregoing temptation, greed and desire. 

I wasn't able to get good photos of the building as there were a lot of people. We didn't even bother to take a peak at what's inside because of the unbearable line and heat.

We just proceeded to look around the other parts of the complex. 

 Even the toilet is grand.

It was  1 pm when we arrived at the Golden Triangle. Our guide warned us that we would be having quite a delayed lunch so most of us were starved. Thankfully, the buffet lunch was awesome. We were served with different dishes and had a fulfilling meal.

Next stop was the Golden Triangle itself. It is called because it is where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar can be seen. 

Here was our guide telling us all about the place.

This was on our way down to the boat that would take us to a short boat ride to where the Mekong River meets the Ruak River and also to Don Sao, Laos.

I'm happy to have set foot in this part of Laos. Although, it is still my wish to visit either Vientiane or Luan Prabang soon.

Our guide asked us to hover around this place before anything else. Different types of drinks were explained to us. They were believed to provide either health or invigoration to those brave enough to drink some of them. Free drinks were offered but we didn't feel like it.

Because tourists are there  and so were souvenirs, clothes, bags, ref magnets and other trinkets.

After spending about 40 minutes to an hour in Don Sao, Laos, we then went back to the boat and back to our mini van. Our next and last stop for the day was visiting the Karen Long Neck Tribe. This was the way to their village.

Each of us was able to try and hold a sample of their neck rings. It was very heavy.

Some of them were busy tending to their products or making their products.

The ladies of the tribe are the only ones wearing the neck rings. The new generation of the tribe were able to speak English. Maybe also because they were visited by tourists almost everyday. They were kind and smiling and eager to talk with us as well as have a photo with us.

These are the things they sold as souvenirs. Me and the two Filipina ladies we me bought a cute ring from one of the stalls. It was to remind us of the moment we saw and talked with them.

It was a long day and we arrived in Chiang Mai at around 8 in the evening. It was truly an unforgettable and worthy trip. The trip cost us 1000THB each but thru it I gained new friends, new stories to tell and new insights. Thank you for reading and 'til my next blog! :)

Koh Samui on NYE

Our office was closed for the holidays and so me and 3 of my friends decided to have a road trip to Koh Samui. It is the second largest island of Thailand and I wrote about it previously on a blog post titled Half Day Tour in Samui Island. I was thrilled to come back to the island and this time with friends who have never been there before. 

Last 31 December, we drove out from Phuket at around 5am towards Surat Thani province. It is the largest of the southern provinces of Thailand where Koh Samui belongs. It was a 5 hour trip but there was little to no traffic as we were early. 

Thailand has mostly concrete roads with a number of gasoline stations along the way. This was taken at one of our stops. This particular gas station has some interesting things on display.

image taken from Mel's FB page

We arrived at the pier early and so we had time to stretch our legs and chill. Our ferry tickets were booked in advance so we didn't stress with the other passengers who still had to purchase their own. We paid 120THB each for our fare and 400THB for the car as one way fare. As it was a holiday, there were a lot of people on the ferry and heading out to Samui Island.

We relied solely with GPS to get to Surat Thani province. Arriving in Samui, we still used our GPS to locate our hotel. This application really is useful. Language is challenging in Thailand and so it gets easier and faster to rely with GPS.

Our hotel, Baan Rawee, was not difficult to find. It was a room that can accommodate up to 4 people. It was a lovely place to stay for the night as it was quite a distance from the beach and party place. 

After settling down and freshening up, we then sought for a nice restaurant to stuff ourselves. It was almost 4 in the afternoon and we truly were starved for some decent food. 

We didn't have any concrete plans to celebrate the new year except to have it by the Beach. We first explored Samui's Central Mall, then headed off to get some nice foot massage and finally found ourselves in one of the relaxing beach bars on Chaweng Beach.

We talked, sipped our cocktails, observed people, took photos and talked some more while waiting for the clock to strike midnight. We were expecting for a countdown and was disappointed when there was none and just suddenly the skies were lighted with fireworks. I didn't know where to turn my head as there were a lot in different directions. 

Finally, the bar where we were in lighted this in front of us.

It is nice to spend and greet the New Year with family but nevertheless close friends ultimately become family too. Our new year's eve celebration was a nice, safe and memorable. I hope you all had one, too. Thank you for reading and 'til next blog! :)

Happy New Year!

image taken from csrwerstling.com

So how was your New Year's Eve Celebration? I'm sure y'all had a good time welcoming 2016. One thing that I find difficult to deal with on a new year is to always take note about it when writing it down. It becomes a reflex to me when putting on the date and marking it as 2015 instead of 2016. Well, it only needs a lot of practice to get use to writing 2016.

Next hardest thing for me to do is to find a planner that I like. It has been 2 straight years that I've been using Belle De Jour Planners that I bought from the Philippines. I loved it so much but since I am not in my home country anymore, I found it quite difficult to secure one. I wanted to explore and use other planners, though. Hoping to have find a nice and cute planner for 2016!

Bye 2015! Hello 2016

It really feels as if it was only yesterday when we went to Krabi for our New Year's Eve 2015 Celebration. In a few days we'd be welcoming another year and a new set of challenges of this gift called Life.

As a look back, I would like to thank God for 2015 and


..the great time I had exploring airports of different cities along with the stamps on my passport

...the blue skies and smooth flights I had with different airlines..

..the amazing sunny weather and good photos while visiting temples.. 

..the memorable times spent with family while exploring other places.. 

..the crazy adventures with friends.. 

..the relaxing times at the beach.. 

..and the cool selfies with friends..

I used to resent why God has not given me the things I have been praying. As I look back to 2015, I can see He has given me more things I have not considered of asking but turned out to be such blessings. 

I hope you had a great time in 2015. Let us look forward to more blessings, joy, challenges and experiences in 2016. Cheers! :)