Thanks, JetstarAsia!

Last May 2016, my room mate and I flew to Bali, Indonesia for a short trip. We were onboard +Jetstar Asia Airways  and chanced upon their photo competition. It was named  StarJourneys and was so easy to join. Since Bali was so lovely, we had a lot of nice photos. I did as instructed and luckily got chosen!

Thank you for featuring me and my travel, Jetstar Asia! I am now more inspired to continue my wanderlust. :) I promise to write about my second Bali trip as soon as I can. 

Thank you for reading my blog. You can follow me on Instagram @katmeifucan06, too. :)

B Cat Cafe Phuket

When I visited Chiang Mai last year, I was interested in visiting a Cat Cafe because the place had one. I've never been into one before so I was curious. However, all our day activities have been booked ahead and at night, we wanted to see more of the festivities so I was not able to go.

Last month, my mother and sister visited me in Phuket. Me and my sister loved cats as children and when I discovered that a cat cafe was in Phuket Town, she wasalso eager to take a look.

The place is named B Cat Cafe. I don't know what the B is for but I'm glad our driver was able to take us there. The place is divided to 2 sections, one is cat cafe and one is a restaurant. This is the restaurant side.

The rule is that before a person enters the cafe side, they have to order at least 1 cake and a drink. We were also asked to take off our shoes and to wear house slippers, which we obliged. The staff also reminded us to read the house rules.

Once inside and while waiting for our orders, we were happy to touch and pet the felines.

A lot of cats of different breeds and sizes.

This funny one tried to steal my drink while I am looking away.

Also, he made me kind of nervous because he was scratching the sofa. Maybe to sharpen his nails to get back at me?

The place was lovely and not smelly. The interiors are not overly decorated and there were a lot of cat accessories and cat pillows.

We stayed only for about 1 hour as we still have a lot to discover in Phuket. It was a fine experience and my next goal is to visit a dog cafe. Thank you and 'til next blog!

Duterte's SONA 2016

Though I was at work yesterday, it did not stop me from listening to our current President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Roa Duterte. I loved how there were a lot of links online allowing real time viewing and listening to the much awaited State of the Nation Address. I was impatiently waiting for the main speech. The network who was covering the event had interviewed different political personalities while the President was following the protocols and walking through the halls of the complex.

Now that I am living abroad and I don't hear the National Anthem that often, I really feel a sense of pride whenever I do. On the other hand, I terribly miss being away from my home country. Prayers were then offered after the singing of the anthem. Afterwards, the President was introduced and began to talk.

At first, he greeted the distinguished men and women in the crowd as well as the Filipino citizens. I saw that 3 of the former Presidents were present: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (2001-2010), Joseph Estrada (1998-2001) and Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1998). It can be noted that Benigno Aquino who was president from 2010-2016, was a no show in the event. Well, he must've thought that he was going to be accused of what he has not fulfilled during his term. It was a wise move as President Duterte really included in his speech that:

taken from cnnphilippines.com

It was such a refreshing thing to hear that the man I voted for is way different from his predecessor who would always accuse the one before him of the things that he should start acting upon. President Duterte went on to discuss his plans for the country. He addressed the war on drugs in the country, of making sure that government workers would be doing their job, of global warming still being a top priority, of having wifis at parks and hospitals, of improving the mass transit system and a whole lot more. 

He also assured of a clean government. I know the President can only do so much but by his example and his goals, I fervently hope the Filipino people will be able to follow the rules imposed. Anyways, its only for the betterment of everyone and of the country. I'm excited for the future of my country. I pray for the safety and good health of our dear President, not only so that he can fulfill his promises but also he can see the results of his dreams for his beloved land.

Experiencing Bangkok Floating Market

Me and my good friend continued our journey to Bangkok and were both curious as to what it feels like to be in a Floating Market. We researched about it and found that we can book online. We paid around 500THB (14 USD) for this half day join in tour. 

We were picked up from our hotel at around 7am. The van had 12 people in total, including the guide and driver. The ride lasted for almost 2 hours. We were then asked to board a motor boat towards the floating market.

We started to be in awe when we saw some stalls on the side. There was an area where we got off the motor boat and arrived at what looked like the entrance of the market. The guide told us that we can walk through the stalls on the side but the real beauty is when we ride another small boat that is rowed manually through the canals. This was not included in the package and so each of us were asked to pay 120THB (4 USD). Indeed, being rowed through was the way to experience the floating market. Here are a few of my snapshots.

A boat- stall

Products for sale included a wide range of souvenir items and spices. 

Different types and styles of clothing made in Thailand. 

Tropical fruits in season.

So, this is how it looks like when some guests find something interesting in one of the stalls. Their boats park right in front of it.

Cute paintings from a local artist. 

Because I was not able to eat much for breakfast as we left really early, I could not stop myself from eating some chicken barbecue

as well as coconut ice cream.

Though the merchandises sold were the same as that of the usual night markets, it was still a nice experience. After the market, our group was taken to another place where elephant riding was offered. We didn't try this out so we just waited for the other guests. We were driven back to Bangkok and arrived at our hotel at around 2pm.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog!

Towards A Drug-Free Philippines

It's really interesting to follow the Philippines' local news nowadays. I really did not know that the drug trade is already a big and serious problem until now. I understand there were a few pushers and addicts that the police caught before but did not realize that high ranking officials like Generals and Mayors are allegedly behind  its evil proliferation in the country.

image taken from conceptnewscentral.com

Now that the fierce President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is in office, some (if not most) drug addicts are surrendering to the authorities. This is because they fear of their lives and because they know that sooner or later, their secrets would be out in the open. It was reported that around 4,000 drug users, runners and pushers surrendered in Davao Del Norte last week. I'm happy that they heeded to the warning that our dear President has given. Almost every day, the news is all about a lot of drugs being caught by the police or drug related deaths. 

 image taken from dailystormer.com

According to ABS CBN News Research, there has been 339 deaths related to drugs since 10 May 2016. The Commission of Human Rights is alarmed of this number. I honestly think this department does not do their job well and should get their act together. They fight more towards the human rights of the criminals instead of focusing on the victims. The real victims are the youth who have been badly influenced and the people who were murdered by drug addicts. I believe those pushers and drug addicts and maybe even criminals gave up their human rights when they did their crimes. I understand that the death rates are alarming and people in position are afraid for the safety of the people. However, on the other hand, what if these killings are also done by their fellow drug pushers to silence and cover up their deeds. With their comrades out of the way, who can pinpoint them as guilty? Who can testify that they are very much active with the trade? 

The President also bared the names of retired and active police generals who he said were involved in illegal drugs. Of course and as expected, no general owned up to it. Just like a famous Filipino saying, no thief will admit to stealing. Senator De Lima, who was then Secretary of Justice, challenged the President to bare out the big fishes names. Well, this is just the start. I've read the President will gradually inform the people of the names of the officials that protected and are involved with this serious drug problem.

President Duterte has only been in the office for almost 2 weeks and it seems that he has already done a lot. I am amazed on how these came to be especially that the previous President allegedly has a copy of the list of persons involved. I'm praying for the safety of President Duterte as he has opened this Pandora's box. I think there is still a long way to go before this problem is cleared out as I've read in the news that Chinese and also Mexican drug dealers have been operating in the country already. 

I'm praying this will pave the way for a Drug-Free Philippines and a brighter future for the Filipino youth and the whole nation. I hope we can all be  #partnerforchange.

image taken from www.imgrum.net

Mekong River 1 Day Tour

I promised to myself that if I come back to visit Ho Chi Minh City in the future, I'd try the Mekong Day Trip. Last June 2016, I was given the chance to come back and because we were curious to know and experience the Mekong River tour, we booked for a one day tour to Mekong Delta at The Sinh Tourist travel agency. The cost was 199,000 VND or roughly 9USD for a day tip. This was our tour voucher. 

We were asked to come to the Tourist Agency's office at 7am of the following day and we boarded an air-conditioned bus towards My Tho. This is the city considered to be the gateway to Mekong Delta. We boarded a motorboat to cruise the mighty river. The Mekong is a trans boundary river in South East Asia and is the world's 12th longest river. From the Tibetan Plateau, the river runs through the China's Yunnan province, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. 

The weather was great despite of being in the rainy season of Vietnam.

It was a busy day for this tour guide. Because our bus was full, we had to be divided to 2 motorboats. He had to jump from one boat to the other to explain about Mekong.

But while he was busy lecturing, we were also busy taking photos at the back. The floating houses behind me are where fishes are farmed.

We stopped by what looked like a gift shop full of goods made of coconuts. I was not quite interested but it was great to know that aside from fishing in the river, the locals are also finding ways to use their resources and sell it for extra money.

Our group then moved on to see how rice is being converted to rice paper. We had some free taste and it was good.

Surprisingly lunch time came early and we were served with these big fishes from the Mekong. My mouth drools seeing this photo again. 

There is one restaurant personnel for each table to prepare the Vietnamese way of eating fish. She took out what looked like a clear rice paper and placed some fish meat, noodles and cucumber and wrapped them all up and gave each of us at least 3. It was amazingly good! We were also served deep friend spring rolls, sweet sour vegetable soup, caramelized pork in clay pot and rice. 

The Korean table mates that we had ordered the sweetened sticky rice which was shaped like a ball. The staff opened and served it into pieces. The Korean ladies were kind to also let us try it. 

After the satisfying lunch, we went back to the boat and continued cruising the river.

We passed by a place where a lot of coconut trees can be seen. The guide asked us if we'd like to have our photos taken in this scenic spot. Of course, I lined up to have my photo.

We came to this bee keeping farm and enjoyed a free taste of their honey tea.

It was refreshing. I wanted to buy one but I still had my honey lemon concentrate that I bought from Penang 2 months ago. Anyway, the people on our group bought bottles. It's also a good way to support locals and their products.

We were asked to walk for a few meters and we were led to ride these horse drawn carts. 

We reached a restaurant and were served these fresh fruits. While enjoying the seasonal tropical fruits, we were entertained by Vietnamese Traditional Music.

They called this music Dan Ca Tai Tu. A folk art form from Southern Vietnam accredited by UNESCO in 2013 as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.Though I did not understand any word, I feel that the performers were giving their best to share to us their unique heritage.

We walked a few meters again and were asked to board a small hand rowing boat to get to our bigger motorboat. 

The boat driver was a lady and there were 4 of us passengers. My friend saw that there was an extra oar and so he helped row the boat. 

Our last stop was a coconut candy factory. It was where we were showed how the process was. There was also a free taste but the candy was flavored ginger! I did not quite like it but I bought other flavors for friends and family back home.

It was an extremely busy day of cruising, rowing, and walking. Not really as fun as I expected but it was an educational one because of seeing how the people live near the great river. Thank you for reading and 'til next blog!

Buffet Dinner at Baiyoke Tower

A friend of mine really wanted to try out the dinner buffet offered by Baiyoke Sky Tower. When we were in Bangkok last year, we tried to walk in but was overwhelmed by the crowd hovering in the counter. So before coming back to the city, we booked online and readied our voucher. We were not able to get the slot for dinner at 17:00H, so we opted for dinner at 20:00H. We paid close to 700 THB (roughly 20 USD) each.

We would have wanted to catch the sunset on the Revolving Deck located at the 84th floor of the Tower. Entrance to the tower is already included with the buffet. However due to meetings and preparations, we arrived at 7pm. We were informed to take the lift to the 83rd floor and take the stairs to the 84th floor. The 83rd floor's view already took my breath away. I tried to take a photo but my reflection from the glass wall is obvious.

It also has a giant poster perfect for photo opportunities.

I took the short flight of stairs to the 84th floor and this greeted me.

At first, the revolving deck made me dizzy but I later got used to it. There was a thin wire to keep the guests from falling over. The view was magical. I can see how big and busy Bangkok is.

At certain stations, they placed signs on how far a certain country is from the tower. I learned that my beloved country is about 2,205.64 km away.

We stayed on for a few minutes and then decided to go the 78th floor to eat. Before going in to the dining hall, I can't resist to take some selfies from the mirrored walls. #sorrynotsorry :-P

The staff happily gave in to our request of a table near the windows. The perfect spot to take in the view while enjoying dinner with a good friend.

It was an international buffet and it was wonderful to choose from sushi, pad thai, steaks, pastas and a whole lot more. Cake slices of a lot of kinds were for dessert along with fruits in season. I loved that the drinks was not for one round only. I can get a second or third glass of iced tea or fruit juice. I was not able to get take a photo because I was already famished. 

I was so full and happy to have fulfilled this on my bucket list. On the way down, we saw this model of the entire tower.

Some say that it was not really nice considering the number of tourists coming but it was still a great and memorable experience to dine at Thailand's tallest and most scenic hotel. Thank you for reading and 'til next blog!