destinations Traveling As A Passion

[Guest YUM YUM]

I think what really marks Bangkok in my heart is the exquisite culinary delights one can find at the simple corner hawker row.

ha ha ha Lipstick, have you tried those deep fried baby frogs with skin, crickets, bugs, scorpions and a bug that looks like a cockcroach? i remember buying a bowl for our pulutan, nakaka 3 cases of singha na kami di pa ubos yung pulutan!!!

[Magaling]

London - stay at the Knightsbridge Green Hotel. Relatively inexpensive, cute and charming, a block from Harrod's. Also walking distance from all the big trousist sites. There's a pub a block down the street that has the best combination of beer/ale selections and pub food I've had in recent times in London.

Here are my notes on London:

 

From Heathrow, the only sensible way to get to your airport is to take the Heathrow Express train going to Paddington Station. Just follow the signs. From Paddington, either take a taxi to your hotel OR if you know which station is closest to where your hotel is, take the subway (or underground as the Brits call it). Note that taking a cab from Heathrow to downtown London is at least £40 (that's $70, stop converting or London will drive you nuts!)

 

Places to see: There are so many historical sites it all depends on your budget or how much time you have on your hands. What I did the first time I in London was 1) get a good map from the hotel concierge. 2) Figure out how to get to Trafalgar Square. From Trafalgar, pass thru Pall Mall (that’s what the long road is called) which leads to Buckingham Palace. From there, pass thru St. James Park on the way to Westminster Abbey. Then the Parliament and Big Ben. On the way back, look for the road that intersects with Downing Street then Picadilly Circus. What you need is a good map and a pair of good legs for walking. OR you can take the double decker tourist bus. In this case, I can’t help you because I’ve never taken it. I always do my sightseeing the old fashioned way: on foot.

 

Places to eat: One thing good about London is that they don’t bastardize Asian food the way the Americans do. There are a lot of good Indian, Malay, and Chinese restaurants around. My favorites, there’s one place in Chinatown that I always go to although most of the places I’ve tried were all okay. If you’re craving for Filipino food, go to Earl’s Court. Down the road from the subway station, there’s a good Filipino restaurant there. On budget? Go to a supermarket or grocer (there’s plenty of them around) and buy a sandwich or packed lunches.

 

I don’t recommend the steak houses that you’ll see around almost every street corner. They are bland. They are expensive. They offer poor service. Definitely not worth it. Your money will be better spent someplace else!

 

Places to stay: There are a lot of budget hotels in the city. However, please take note that most of them don’t have air-conditioning so if you happen to be traveling in summer, brace yourself for a bit of inconvenience. Otherwise, stick to the business hotels like Marriott or Hilton.

 

Shopping: Your best bet would be Marks & Spencer. They have branches all over. You can also go to world-famous Harrods. Been there to browse a couple of times but never bought a thing. That place is expensive!

 

Other things to do: Watch theatre. Go to a pub and have a pint of ale.

[Guest YUM YUM]

CAMIGUIN ISLAND - one of my favorite place. its a 1.5 hour drive from cagayan de oro city to balingoan pier. from the pier it would be another 30 to 45 minute ride, depending on the vessel you have gotten into, the bigger the slower!

 

from camiguin pier, if you dont have anybody to fetch you, you can ride a jeep bound for mambajao - the center of camiguin. or if you dont want to ride a jeep theres a lot of resort provided transportation, its free but you have to check into their resort.

 

there are lots of things to do in camiguin, diving's the number one - you can see the sunken ships and the sunken cross, are just one of the most popular diving sites. swimming - camiguin has a number of sea shores whose sand is comparable to boracay. dont leave the island without visiting the white sand island, its a piece of white sand island that is not visible during high tide.

 

tapos, they have the katibawasan falls, i think its more than 50ft high and according to locals, its a favorite shooting site for porn movies!!!

 

they also have ardent hot spring resort, as in hot talaga!!! it could literally hurt you balls!!! anyway there are three pools, and its temperature differs from the other, the hottest is the smallest pool. if you have gone to hidden valley parang ganun ambience. then they also have the sto niño cold spring, extreme naman ang lamig!!! locals said that it was formerly a small natural pool and the barangay had an idea of developing it. the resort is nice and in a scale of ten, i would give an 8 for its exoticness!!! its nice pag honeymooners!!! malamig eh!!!

 

you could also explore the more than eight volcanos of camiguin, and on one of the volcano me staion of the cross which is visited especially during the holy week.

 

FOOD TRIP - merong fishpond located more or less five kilometers away from the pier of camiguin na laman ay saltwater fishes, as in lahat buhay!!! the food is cheap!!! you can actually eat them raw!!! sarap!!! there you could appreciate drinking a case of beer!!! he he he

 

if you're the extreme type, how about trying to mountain bike the island??? it will only take you a day!!! you're goin to enjoy it, dami foreigners na braless na naglalakad lang or naka bike lang!!! har har har!!!

 

thanks for those has been posting here!!! :cool:

[sally bogna mathay]

Ola sally! I grew up in Bangkok, lived there for about 12 years (circa 70s pa so that makes me quite ancient! ). I spent many a summer in Patpong (no I was not working there! haha)

I haven't been back in ages and the genteel Bangkok I made my home has changed immensel...I miss authentic Khao Man Kai, Kha Moo, Kway Tyew Aryapap, Moo Sate, Kaeng Kai, Khao Kha Pi, Khanom Cheen, La Chong, Khanom Krok, Roti and the list goes on!! I have never tasted cuisine with such a melange of flavors, amazing how the sweet, sour, salty and spicy taste can be found harmoniously in one viand.

 

Sigh, I miss Krungthep. :cry:

they say the pinoys brought back to life a few dead, english words...like viand. yes, the food is still great, delicious and ridiculously cheap...in what capital city can you have three meals for less than 100 baht (about $2.50)? sarap talagang kumain dito...hope you can visit soon.

[sally bogna mathay]

i dunno,but last year its at ayuttayah and its on September. so your now in bangkok, i dont know jeffrey galindez, anong team nya? if he's rowing here at manila bay also i can easily look for him EB tayo when we get there, it would be nice to have fellow pinoys in the competition, moral boosters para sa amin!

i was just in ayutthaya this weekend. sure, let's meet up when your team is here. don't know jeffrey's team and haven't seen him in years. last time he was here, he gave a t-shirt with "power in every stroke" written at the back.

[sally bogna mathay]

more on camiguin...

 

visited the island in 99...it actually has more volcanoes than municipalities (7:5). when going around, hire a motorela or the mini-cabs. try to visit during the lanzones festival (october ata). white island is actually a sandbar (yung nasa pal postcard and poster of camguin). also worth checking out is mt. hibok-hibok. a day-long climb that's a bit tiring for the inexperienced. for divers, make sure to visit mantigue islet. incredible variety of fish and crystal clear waters. i am not a diver and was just sitting on a boat a few kilometers from mantigue, pero kitang-kita ko yung marine life even though it's about 7 feet under. medyo ot, but if you're really planning a dive, stay at mantangale alibuag dive resort, about an hour's drive from cagayan de oro city. the owner has a boat and is a regular diver. plus, ang sarap ng coconut crab served at the resort. have fun!!!

[Guest YUM YUM]

sally: ty bro!

 

ILIGAN CITY - its also a 1.5 hour drive from cagayan de oro city. majority of population are christians and a little portion being near to Marawi City are moslems. there are not much to do in iligan city. but when you're there, visit ma. cristina falls, an awesome 70foot falls. awesome, because from the observation ramp you can actually feel the ramp rumbling from its force! and imagine providing electricity almost the whole of misamis oriental and lanao del sur and norte!

 

the best is the tinago falls! its hard to reach, but you're goin enjoy the sight of it! its also a thing that you're goin to remember for the rest of you're life! there's a resort near the falls where you can check in.

 

there is nothing much in iligan city, ordinarily you would only buy the famous chedeng's roasted peanut. fruits on season are cheap. night life? havent find a place that is worth mentioning. anywayz, cagayan de oro is only 1.5 hour drive goin back! dun ka na lang!!! he he he :cool:

 

happy travelling!!!

[Magaling]

I'm kinda hoping somebody will post something on Vigan. I've always been fascinated by the pictures I see and it's one of the places in the country I've always wanted to go to if given the chance.

[Guest YUM YUM]

I'm kinda hoping somebody will post something on Vigan. I've always been fascinated by the pictures I see and it's one of the places in the country I've always wanted to go to if given the chance.

been there bro, to post tommorow :cool:

[sally bogna mathay]

sally: ty bro!

 

ILIGAN CITY - the best is the tinago falls! its hard to reach, but you're goin enjoy the sight of it! its also a thing that you're goin to remember for the rest of you're life! there's a resort near the falls where you can check in.

 

there is nothing much in iligan city, ordinarily you would only buy the famous chedeng's roasted peanut. fruits on season are cheap. night life? havent find a place that is worth mentioning. anywayz, cagayan de oro is only 1.5 hour drive goin back! dun ka na lang!!! he he he :cool:

 

happy travelling!!!

teka muna pareng yum yum, mukhang we all go to the same places!

 

do you remember how many steps led to tinago falls? can't recall either but it was really tiring going back up. stayed there for a day. the family of gma has a house in iligan where her picture with bill clinton is displayed. lalim ng basin ng tinago falls, someone said more than 20 feet daw. i also remember the chedeng peanuts kasi maganda yung tindera na medyo tisay at dyed ang buhok. you're right, walang nightlife sa iligan, but why bother when cagayan de oro is very near.

[andre_mark]

I ALWAYS LOVE TRAVELLING, AND IF I HAVE THE OPPURTUNITY TO work as traveller ill grab it

[kaplogan]

Hongkong - a German beer house with the best German food outside of Germany. On Prat Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui. Their pork knuckle is just like our crispy pata. With a nice German draft beer. Yum!

yun ba yung SCHNURRBART...

[sally bogna mathay]

I'm kinda hoping somebody will post something on Vigan. I've always been fascinated by the pictures I see and it's one of the places in the country I've always wanted to go to if given the chance.

pre, you may want to check out the previous pages. i posted something about my trip to vigan, laoag and pagudpud.

[Magaling]

Thanks Sally and Yumyum. I was hoping there'd be notes on places to stay. Mukhang mahirap biyahe saka di sulit kapag balikan lang. Are there any decent accomodations there?

[Guest YUM YUM]

Thanks Sally and Yumyum.  I was hoping there'd be notes on places to stay.  Mukhang mahirap biyahe saka di sulit kapag balikan lang.  Are there any decent accomodations there?

 

we didnt actually stay at vigan. what we do is from manila we go straight to pagudpud and stayed there for two (2) days then left pagudpud early on the third day, visited fort ilocandia, then vigan, then the old churches along the way and take a look on the body of macoy at their ancestral home in paoay.

Edited July 14, 2004 by YUM YUM