Autralia Travel Bucketlist

I saw a news ad on Facebook saying that Australia's Federal Government thinks that overseas travel might not be starting until 2021. This is quite sad news for me because I definitely want to visit my family in the Philippines and of course would very much like to see other countries as well. On the other hand, this is an opportunity for us to travel within Australia and conquer travel bucketlists here!

If given the chance to travel around Australia, here is my list (no particular order):

image courtesy of parksaustralia.gov.au

1. Uluru - I would like to see the Ayer's Rock or Uluru. Although people cannot climb it anymore, I would very much like to see it with my own eyes. Also to experience what Alice Springs could offer.

2. Darwin- My in-laws went to Darwin and they had such a nice time there. This explains pretty much why I want to visit there.

3. Cairns - The great barrier reef is near this city and would very much like to visit one of UNESCO world heritage site in Australia. Though I haven't tried diving before but I could learn!

4. Brisbane - Visit my friends over there. See what Brisbane is :)

5. Broome - I would like to experience sunset camel rides and walking along the dinosaur tracks!

image courtesy of redsuncamels.com.au

6. Canberra - I want to visit the capital city and maybe try to stay at the famous wildlife lodge where you get to see the animals from your lodge room!

7. Tasmania - I wouldn't mind coming back to this state. I haven't gone to Wineglass Bay and Port Arthur.

image courtesy of discovertasmania.com.au

I'm sure there is still a lot more than I can add to this list but this is already a handful! God knows when this Corona virus would end and I hope I still have the time and money to spare and tick these things off my list :)

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog!

2 days in Chengdu

The third city we've been to during our China trip is Chengdu. This is the capital of the Sichuan Province and we came via the high speed train. It took about 5 hours for the trip. We have booked the train tickets from Trip.com and we exchanged our voucher at Xi'an North train station the day before our departure.

I thought that Chengdu would not be as big but I was wrong. It has a very organised metro line and lots of tall buildings at what I think is their downtown area. For this leg, we decided to splurge with our hotel accommodation. We stayed in a hotel that I did not know was a 5 star one LOL. It was called Dorsett Grand Chengdu and was very near the train station. We were assigned to a room in the 33rd floor and this was our view.

We arrived at around 3pm and just decided to go to People's Park. It was so easy to get to as it is right beside the People's Park station. Entry was free. It was a Saturday afternoon and so it was packed. It was nice to see families with their kids playing and just enjoying the atmosphere. The park was huge.There was a bonsai garden and a fish pond.

I think it is the only park I have seen that has a mini kid's carnival. There were rides like bumper cars and roller coasters. This was the busiest part of the park. Also, we found out about a food cart that sells of sugary lollies that can be customized to different characters. 

The kids love it!

Chengdu is known for their spicy food and abundance of hot pot. We are not really adventorous with food but I tried to eat dumplings with a little bit of spice. It was surprisingly not too bad! I would not hesitate to have it again. 

The main goal why we headed to Chengdu was to catch a glimpse of how their pandas are being taken cared of. We went to the Panda Research Base and I have written all about it here.

Some tips we have compiled for your upcoming Chengdu trip:

1. The Panda Research Base opens at 7:30am. We got to it at 8am and there was a long line at the entrance already. You can choose to come in really early and buy tickets right there at the entrance.

2. Taxi rates can vary from time of day, taxi companies and etc. We paid 60 RMB going to the panda base on an early morning but only 40 RMB coming back to the hotel after. This was even though there was heavier traffic going back.

3. Souvenir costs are pretty much the same whichever store you go.

4. Heading to or from the Chengdu airport? Easier to take the subway line whichever way.

5. Be specific when ordering food. Some establishments might forget you can't only tolerate a spicy meal.

6. It was a good decision to just pay for a subway ticket everytime we would ride a subway line. Saved us time from searching how or where we can have a permanent subway card refunded. Although it takes time to line up at the ticket counter but we did not mind.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog!

A Day in Healesville

On a rare Saturday that I am not working, we decided to head to Healesville, Victoria. It is a town 52 km northeast of Melbourne CBD and about an hours drive. It was a long drive but a scenic one. I had fun watching the plains and valleys and wineries along the way.

Our first agenda was to visit a colleague/friend's cafe. She has set this up with her husband who was a chef. We found them at Black Spur Nursery and Cafe. While waiting for our orders, we looked around the nursery. It would have been nice to buy one but there is no space and time to take care of it so we dropped the idea. Finally our orders arrived and it was delish!

Next on our list was to visit Hedgend Maze. I found a Groupon voucher with about $4 discount for this attraction. Regular adult price was $18. Joel always wanted to try a maze and it was the perfect time to try it. We went to Hedgend and just presented our voucher. The attendants then gave each of us a wristband, a map of the place which also contains the things we can do and a pencil.

First we headed off to the mini golf. The last time we had one was months ago and because the last one was my very first one, I lost the game. There were 18 holes on this mini golf and even though Joel had a hole in one, I beat him by 6 points! Haha

The next thing we did was the native maze. I had a lot of fun with this. It's a trust maze and one person has to be blindfolded and another person directs with his voice. I was blind folded first and Joel successfully guided me without running over a bush. Of course, when it was my turn to blurt out the directions, I wasn't as good as him.

The famous hedge maze was next on our list, I felt quite claustrophobic going into it. We had to find a secret message from the encircled letters of a statement made by a famous person. It was difficult and we gave up after finding 7 letters LOL. The maze had parts that are not yet fully grown so some people would cut to them. I also was kind of feeling dizzy from walking within the walls so we headed out of it.

We then headed out to the look out tower wherein we saw how vast the land area was, the top view of the Hedge Maze and we can also see another maze called the Rainbow Maze.

It is a colour pathway with 4 levels of difficulty. Level 1 was easy - The aim was to go from start to end staying on the red pathway.

There were other activities such as Tangled web, Mural Eyespy, Frisbee Golf, Fossil Dig, Lawn Games and etc.

There was also a picnic and BBQ area for family gatherings. It was a productive Saturday for us and we headed back to Melbourne happily. There is another attraction there called the Healesville Sanctuary that we might visit in the future.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog!

Rottnest Island 2019

I fulfilled my dream of visiting Perth after almost a year of working. Perth was the first city I've been to in Australia and I remembered Perth as awesome. I hoped to visit because I also had one luggage left at a friend's house. Unfortunately, the friend moved to NSW so I just chilled and relaxed while in Perth. Joel hasn't been to Perth before and he came with me this time. He wanted to see the quokkas for himself and so we decided to go to Rottnest Island.
 

From Perth, we took the Fremantle Line towards Fremantle. Although there was an option to catch a ferry from Perth city, we chose this to spend a bit of time walking in Fremantle. We went to Perth Underground at 10am and were amazed that the station was almost empty.

 

The train ride was about 45 minutes and since we were not in a hurry, we went to eat at the Famous Fish and Chips Restaurant in Fremantle while enjoying the beautiful view.

 

We then walked towards B Shed Fremantle and bought our ticket. We chose the SeaLink Rottnest Island Ferry. Not sure if there was a promotion going on but for a return boat trip for us both, we paid a total of $96. The boat trip was at 2pm and we had a lot of time to kill so we went to the Fremantle Markets which was just the opposite building and browsed through their merchandise and had some coffee.
 

When it was time to board the ferry, we were first timers so we chose the open seats at the back of the ferry. We did not know that the seat would expose us to a lot of sea water splashing, we were almost fully wet. We transferred towards the covered seats where more people were. The kids loved and screamed through most part of the ferry trip because of the big waves but me and Joel were dizzy. Finally, we arrived in Rottnest Island after the 30 minute gruelling trip.
 

We saw thousands of bikes in the island, all most probably for rent. However, we did not hire any bikes because, embarrassingly, I do not know how to bike. I was interested to do the Hop On Hop Off Bus but we arrived a little bit late to catch the last bus. So we just decided to walk where our feet would take us.

The first quokka we saw was near the bins. We were so excited and wondered why the people were just passing by it. Joel's parents told us they had difficulty looking for one when they were visiting the island a lot of years ago so we felt super lucky to find one right away.

But, just a few meters from the first one were more quokkas. They were not afraid to be surrounded with a lot of people. They were just minding their own business and eating leaves. I was amazed at how they sleep as well, they just protect their tails and put them under their feet and bow their heads.

Quokkas are said to be the happiest animals on earth. They are the smallest members of the macropods or "big foot" family which includes the kangaroos. They are nocturnal which explains why most are asleep during our visit and they are the only land mammal on Rottnest Island. Anyone caught touching a quokka on Rottnest Island will be fined $300.

People were trying to catch that famous quokka smile. Some were lying on the ground just to get the perfect selfie. I was fortunate to have one :)

There were hundreds that we saw on our short stroll. And we saw one who has clearly hurt himself because one of the fingernail was hanging from the hand. We tried to call the ranger and he said he will come soon but we have not seen him even if we stayed a few minutes just to make sure we can identify the correct quokka. Oh well, we tried our best.

We went to one of the many beaches on the island and spent minutes enjoying the sun before we returned to the port to take another boat ride.

Fortunately, this time, the boat was bigger and there wasn't much bumps.

I loved every minute of our Perth trip. The food was good and the atmosphere was not as rushed as back home. But as with all trips, we had to say goodbye and head off. Perth will always be in my heart.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog.

TMAG 2019

Forgive me but I'm still reminiscing about my solo back pack trip to Hobart, Tasmania a month ago. On my third day and before I headed back to the airport, I went to TMAG or Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. It was just across the street from the YHA hostel I was staying. I've read that it is one of the best places to go for a museum experience including natural history, art, social, heritage, Antartica and Tasmanian Aboriginal culture. Best of all, entrance was for free except for their featured display.

So, off I went early in the morning.

There were a lot of people waiting to get in as well. It opened at 10 am and since I had a big bag with me, the staff asked me to place it in the lockers available. I had to insert a $2 coin to use the locker but I can get my coin back when I get my bag back.

There were tons of displays and here are just a few that caught my attention.

This is the Thylacine or the Tasmanian Tiger because of its striped back. It is extinct and the last known live animal was captured in 1933 and died in 1936.

A huge chocolate pan.

Different types of chairs. I love how unique the styles are and I remember a famous personality in the Philippines also collected different styles of chairs.

Interesting displays of art.

I love this colorful painting of Australia as Treasure Island.

Interesting stories and details about Antarctica. 

I love visiting museums ever since, all the more when it is free! Perfect time to cap my Hobart trip. Thank you for reading and 'til my next blog.

Dumaguete 2018

Up to now, me and Joel are still reminiscing about our Dumaguete trip last 2018. We really loved the city vibe there. We planned to stay for only 2 nights but extended to 1 more night.

Dumaguete, nicknamed as the city of gentle people, is the capital of the province of Negros Oriental. It is also referred to as the university city because of the presence of 4 universities and small colleges where students from around the country converge to enroll in tertiary education.

Dumaguete is where I lived for 4 years of my college life. When I look back to those years, its a bit of a blur but I can remember the feeling of having a second home in Dumaguete. I can say I never fully enjoyed the place as I was focused on getting through college and passing the board exam. However, Dumaguete will always be close to my heart.

Some things we did during our short stay.

1. Walk along the Boulevard

 It has always been my dream to stay at Bethel Guest House which is situated near the boulevard and fortunately for us, there was vacancy when we walked in. This gave us a good view of the boulevard in the morning and during the night when the light posts are turned on.

On our first day, I insisted we go out early to walk along the boulevard. Fresh breeze made the walk enjoyable as the rays of the sun started to shine. There was a coconut vendor selling coconuts for 20 PHP (0.38 USD). It was refreshing while seeing all the sights of the early morning.

During the night, the boulevard is the host of programs. We were able to witness the opening night of #Dumagetme - I believe it was a tourism program of the city. Tempura stalls would line up as well adding to the already wide range of food options from the restaurants.

2. Visit Silliman University

My Alma Mater. I don't get tired of visiting and making sure I step foot inside the university that helped shaped what I am today. I am always excited to see what the progress have been made on the grounds/ buildings and to visit my old dormitory. Walking through the halls of Silliman made me remember how I walk to the library almost every night, our gym class on the sprawling grounds, how the guards would always check for identification before letting someone in, and especially the cheese bread from the cafeteria.

3. Eat! Eat! Eat!

The city has stood up to the demand of the growing crowd and it does not disappoint when dealing about food. A lot of restaurants have appeared along with the old favorites like Silvanas, Chin Loong and the likes. We particularly liked Food Net not only because it was affordable but also because it is tasty with good serving size. I gobbled up the food right away, therefore I do not have photos LOL.

4. Lake Balinsasayao

The lake that is on top of a mountain. Hard to get to but pleasing when you get there. You can read all about it here.

5. Tierra Alta

A new resort located on the slopes of Palinpinon, Valencia. It has been a venue for weddings of my friends and I didn't expect that my old friend, Rainer, would take us here for sight seeing. We saw an amazing 360 degree view of the mountains and it also has a restaurant serving delicious food.

There are lots and lots of things to do in Dumaguete which we did not have time to do. Maybe if we visit again soon. For now, I am happy to see people and friends post about being in Dumaguete. It makes me smile knowing that they are having fun at the place where I had an awesome time, too.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog!

Ba Na Hills 2018

I have never heard of Ba Na Hills before until I was researching for things to do in Hoi An. It has piqued my interest as it looks like somewhere in Europe and not in Asia. In addition, it has a long cable car to take guests up to the resort. It looks very lovely and since Joel agreed, we went there after our short stint in Hoi An.

Ba Na Hills was discovered in 1901 by Paul Doumer, the General Governor of Indochina. With its lovely weather, the French built it to become one of the most luxurious resorts in Vietnam. However, time and war devastation made it lost its beauty. Thanks to Sun Group, Ba Na has been restored and  and is now called the "Europe in the middle of Central Area". Now it has a 4 star hotel, restaurants, a modern entertainment park and much more.

Our hotel in Hoi An was very kind to help us arrange a taxi towards the cable car station in Ba Na Hills. Since it was about an hour ride, the price was 500,000VND (22 USD) for the car. Excitement started to come to us right after we stepped off the taxi. Who wouldn't be with this view?

The counter for cable car wasn't hard to find.We mentioned that we are staying at Grand Mercure and the lady at the counter called a butler to assist us. We rode what seemed like a golf car towards another building where the hotel reception was. Joel asked if that was already the hotel. I was confused as well but the receptionist assured us that the hotel is at the top :) She gave us a map of what we should expect over there.

Check in was very fast and we had to pay 18 USD for the cable car. This cable car is one of 10 most impressive cable car systems all over the world as voted by CNN. It was so exciting and when we finally queued up for the cable car, we were overjoyed that we had one to ourselves!

With soothing music, good weather and spectacular views, me and Joel were so impressed.

Our hotel, the Mercure Ba Na Hills French Village Hotel, is beautifully designed with European architectural style in the 19th century. We presented ourselves again at their reception which looked lovely!

They also surprised us by upgrading our room!

The room's main colour was purple and which gave it a royal feel.

Loved the hotel's spiral staircase as well. 

I was in doubt why the flyers and maps said that we can experience 4 seasons in a day in Ba Na Hills. Well, I saw it and it made me believe! One second there is sunshine, then fog will envelop the place and then sunshine again just before the rain and winds come. Like this fog just outside our window.

Right in front, or where our hotel was, is the French Village. It represents a classical and romantic France. It really does not feel that you are in Asia if your here at the French Village. There are a lot of tourists so getting a decent photo is a challenge.

It is easy to get hungry from all the walking and picture taking so fret no more. Scattered in the village are street food stalls such as grilled sausage, crepes and pop corns. I saw souvenir shops around as well.

Unfortunately, the clouds descended so fast when we were about to come out of the hotel to explore what's around.

We decided to have dinner at the hotel (because we didn't realize other restaurants close early). The hotel restaurant was grandiose.

Afterwhich, we checked their heated pool with free movie screening.

The next day, we had our buffet breakfast and checked out from the room.

The staff was very kind to let us leave our bags in their storage room while we roam around to see more of the resort.

We then ventured into Fantasy Park. This is the largest indoor entertainment park in Vietnam and it has about 3 levels of fun! Most of the games and rides are for free except for the Wax Museum.

We had fun with the many entertaining games.

There were also live shows of talented artists on a stage.

We looked for the Funicular to get to other interesting places. At first we were not sure if it had an additional fee but there was none! So we reached Le Jardin d'Amour first which included 9 gardens such as Lover's Garden, Secret Garden, Grape Garden, Dream Spring Garden and Legendary Garden.

We also went into Debay Ancient Wine Cellar which was built by the French People in 1923. It was about 100 meter long and the exit lead us to Bar Debay. They are serving wine, BBQ roaster, apple cinnamon tea and Sangria which we tried out.

We also headed to the Buddha Statue and Linh Ung Pagoda.

Restaurants are abundant in Ba Na Hills. Italian, European, Asian and even Russian food is available and some even offer buffet. But, as a resort, these places are really pricey.

I could say we didn't expect how cold it is up there in Bana Hills. But it does make sense because people come up there especially during the summer. 2 days and 1 night is not enough to enjoy the whole place. I've read an update that they had built a long and grand overlooking bridge up there which the guests loved. Not sure if I could come back to Ba Na Hills but it was a good experience to have "Europe feels" while still being in Asia.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog!