Itinerary: First time visit in Hong Kong

Where to stay?
There are multiple inexpensive hotels and hostels in Kowloon area. But based on what I read most, it is okay to stay there if you are with some guys. But if you are traveling alone, or you are all girls they say it is better to stay in Hong Kong Island, which is a little expensive.  On my first to third stay in HK, my personal choice is to stay in Causeway Bay area.

On our fourth visit, I'll be trying to stay in Kowloon (specifically  near Austin and Jordan stations) for the convenience of near the port from Macau, near the shopping areas, closer to Disneyland and closer to International Airport.

Are you looking for trip plans or itineraries for Hong Kong, you are in the right page!

2012 June: Philippines: Batangas: Kainan sa Dalampasigan

Few minutes away from Canyon Cove is Kainan sa Dalampasigan.

More than the food, it is also visited for its ambiance - wooden doors and tables, huge windows, chairs and benches are all different, old ceiling fans, dim lights, lamps on the wall.  Every window is covered by crawling veins and greenery.  Tables are accentuated with live flowers and plants.  It felt like dining in the Spanish era.

Taken from its name "Dalampasigan" or near the shore, it is best to order seafoods.  We tried 'sinigang na hipon', 'squid sisig' and to have a healthy lunch we added chopsuey.

Their menu is affordable and this restaurant is a must visit when you pass by the area of Nasugbu, Batangas.

Philippines: Batangas: Canyon Cove

Valued at 50% discount on Ensogo (http://www.ensogo.com.ph) early this year, we bought 2 vouchers of Canyon Cove for our summer getaway.  But since it is peak season, we moved our reservation in time for my mom’s birthday this June.

Known to be the start of the typhoon season, we were never wrong.  We arrived at the area wet and wild after a two-to-three hour drive from Las Pinas City.  The lobby is at its noisiest state from check-out (12nn) to check-in (3pm), especially that they offered it in a cheaper price.  Tip: If you want to sit and all the sofas are not available, go to Level-3, there are other sofas overlooking the lobby, with grand piano that can be used.

We requested for 2 adjacent rooms and glad it was granted, we are at the center building with superior rooms 444 and 445.

The hotel website (http://www.canyoncove.com.ph/rooms.php) says the truth:

All guestrooms feature a balcony overlooking the pool, garden, or the South China Sea. They are also furnished with a mini-refreshment bar and flat-screen cable TV. Their well-appointed bath has a separate shower and tub.

A coffee/tea maker and electronic safe are also provided.

2012 March: Busan: Going to Gimhae Int'l Airport

Nearest airport bus station in Toyoko Inn Seomyeon is the one across Migliore Seomyeon and Jungang Junior High School.

Bus 201 starts at 05:00, runs every 15 minutes and the last trip is at 22:40.  I admire their bus stop as it can display what and how many minutes the next bus will arrive.

It is normally 45 minutes to 1 hour to reach the airport but due to heavy traffic, we arrived nearly after 2 hours.

To all travelers, please always check the departure stamp of the Immigration officer in your boarding pass and passport.  We saw an incident where there is no stamp on the boarding pass and the ground officer did not allow her to pass by.  They still coordinated and validated from the Immigration officer before we saw her again at the departure gates.

Gimhae International Airport

South Korea: Jinhae

How to get there: From Line 2 (Green) Sasang station, take Exit 5 and find your way going to Busan Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal.  This is the terminal bound for West area of Busan.

Buy your tickets at the counter and they can actually understand you when you say Jinhae (but better be ready with Jinhae written on local language as well.)  We got our tickets for 4700 (190php, 2012) and went straight to platform/gate #17.

Travel time is 1 hr and 10 minutes.  Getting closer to the destination, be very observant as to where the bus is heading.  You will actually pass by 2 traffic circle (rotonda) before reaching the Jinhae Inter City Bus Terminal.  Aside from maps.google.com, I see this map very helpful to give tourists understanding on where are we actually going to: http://changwoncity 

If you are planning your next Cherry Blossom visit in Jinhae, make sure that you monitor the trip report at the official site http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/

From the end of March to early April, Korea’s largest cherry blossom festival takes place in Jinhae. Over 2 million tourists come from all over the world to walk along the tree-lined streets and picturesque mountain paths. There are so many cherry blossom trees in Jinhae that when the wind blows it seems as if it is raining cherry blossom petals.

2012 March: Busan: Angel in us Coffee

I knew this café from Lee Min Ho’s City Hunter which I initially watched during my trip in Seoul last June 2011.

But due to caffeine overload last November 2011, I was only able to stop at its place in Myeongdong and force myself to drink a small cup at the airport before leaving Incheon.

2012 March: Busan: Shopping and Water Show

At an average of 8.2 degrees Celsius with heavy rains outside, how can we enjoy Busan?  So I decided that we will just go shopping.  South Korea has really utilized the underground life, by building long streets of malls, cafes, small restaurants, and waiting/meeting areas (all underground).  

First stop, roam around what Seomyeon can offer.  Had grocery (supermarket, use synonyms when asking at the concierge) for the pasalubongs.  Take note that there are no Esprit outlets in Korea, so better visit Uniqlo (also opening in the Philippines on June 15, 2012).  

Seomyeon has three underground shopping malls meeting beneath the Seomyeon road junction, a department store, many shopping stores, bars, restaurants, movie theaters, banks, bookstores, clinics, etc. [Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seomyeon,_Busan] 

Below is already a signature sculpture in most of Shinsegae Malls (same in Seoul).

2012 March: Busan: Night Tour

I have not tried joining any night tour in my previous travels yet, so I decided to give it a try this time.  I did my reservation via phone the afternoon before our trip.  You just need to do your research before booking so it is easier for you to understand the agent.  While talking on the phone it feels like she is still asking her colleague how to say things in English, so what I did was to help her find the words she would like to tell me.

Joining Night Tour: http://www.citytourbusan.com

Fee: 10000 krw (400php, 2012)

How to get there: From Line 1 (Amber) at Busan station, take Exit 8, at a distant (right) you will immediately see Arirang Tourist Hotel and Angel in us Coffee.  The departure point is the bus station in front of this hotel.

Note: 

• To keep the environment in the bus as pleasant as possible, the consumption of food or beverages is not allowed
• Any remaining tickets can be purchased on a first-come-first serve basis from the driver after all customers with prior reservations have boarded

2012 March: Busan: Yongdusan Park

Yongdusan Park

Location: Busan-si Jung-gu Gwangbok-dong 2-ga

Yongdusan in downtown Busan, is one of the 3 well-known mountains in Busan. Its old name is Songhyunsan, which means a mountain has a view of the sea through the dense fine tree forest. Later the name has changed into Yongdusan. It came from its shape, which is similar to dragon head and people thought it has a spirit to defeat enemies coming over the sea. [Reference: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr]

How to get there: From Line 1 (Red) Nampo-dong station, use Exit #1 then read the street signs, you will take a right turn to reach Gawangbok-ro Fashion Street.  (Allow enough time to visit the stores for your shopping trip.)

You will need to take around 4-5 escalators going up.  Take note that you can only take the stairs when you are going down or going back to the metro station.

Greeted by the flower clock (4:35pm), the statue of General Lee Sunsin (the great commander in Joseon Dynasty period(1392-1910)) and Busan tower – there are local working photographers who are good enough to take our photos for free and not to pay for their service.

Citizens of Busan donated million won to build this bell temple which is used every year for the New Year's Eve celebration. [Read more on this link.]

Might be too early for us to attend the Sakura Festival.  Among the thousands of cherry trees all over Busan, we only saw two full blooming trees in Mount Yongdusan.

But at last I saw cherry blossom during my birthday!  Hope to also see sakura in JP within the decade.

Travel Date: March 29, 2012

2012 March: Busan: Namcheon Cathedral

Namcheon Cathedral in Pusan/Diocese of Pusan 

Location: 70-1, 70-4 Nam Cheon 1 Dong, Busan, 600-094 South Korea

How to get there:  Take Line 2 (GREEN) Namcheon station.  The closest exit is #2 which is accessible only by taking the long stairs.  (The elevator is available from other exit but we were not able to see pedestrian lanes on the streets.)

Make sure you study the location on maps.google.com.  This is just close to KBS station building.

Unlike the Roman Catholic churches here in the Philippines, the one in Namcheon has a different structure that makes it unique in my eyes.  High ceiling on the right and these walls are used for the Station of the Cross.  (It is about a week before the Holy Week 2012 and we saw  group of aunties doing their prayers on the 14 stations.)  While the left wall is sliding and is designed with stained glass.

Outside area is designed with red walking area and everything is covered by greenery.

Based on my online research there is a daily mass (Tue/Thu at 12:15pm, Wed/Fri 5:30pm), but we did not see during our visit at 12:15pm.  Here is the schedule posted on the place (but in Korean).

Travel Date: March 29, 2012

Updated:
Other English Mass in Busan - you may check here or here or here.
Choryang Catholic Church
Location: Busan dong-gu 15, Choryangsang-ro 79beon-gil (Choryang-dong)
Phone: +82-51-467-1209
Services: Services in Vietnamese (Sundays, 2 p.m.), English (Sundays, 4 p.m.)

Related Article

• English Mass Service in Choryang Catholic Church, Busan: 4:00pm Sundays
• Seomyeon Catholic Church 

2012 March: Busan: Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

Address: Busan-si Gijang-gun Gijang-eup Sirang-ri 416-3

Site: http://www.yongkungsa.or.kr/en/   

Open: 04:00 - 19:00, Free

  

The motto of Haedong Yonggung temple is "At least one of your wishes will be answered here through your heartful prayers." The sea has been with human-being in history from long time ago. It was very calm sometimes while furious sometimes. The Haedong Yonggung temple is situated near the sea unlike other temples located in mountains, therefore it's quite reasonable to call this temple an aquatic Buddhist sanctum. – Reference: www.yongkungsa.or.kr

Elevator oustide Jangsan Station

How to get there: Take the trains on Line 2 (green) going to the last station, Jangsan station.  You can take bus 181 and this will drop you off on the highway and you need to walk on a bit long street to reach the temple. 

2012 March: Toyoko Inn, Seomyeon Busan

Travel Date: March 28 - April 1, 2012

Been dreaming of seeing sakura, but just the plane ticket going to Japan is too expensive - that was in September 2011 when I booked this flight.  It will be my birthday treat and also to fulfill that personal unlisted bucket list.

Let me start with our adventure.  I got my Busan map from the Tourist Information Center in Seoul last November 2011.  After studying this trip for almost 4 months, I'd say the resources found on the net are still limited for Busan.

We just landed at Gimhae International Airport and I immediately noticed that their international airport is a lot smaller than Seoul. After 9pm, the foreign exchange counter outside the arrival gates were already closed.  I asked permission from the officer to allow us to go back inside the secured arrival hall as we need to exchange money, he asked for our passports and let us get in.

Unlike Seoul, you cannot purchase any transport or tourist card from 7-11 convenient store inside the airportr. 7-11 store also don’t even allow top-up value for t-money.  The information says that we can deposit to the card via atm bank, too bad I was not able make it work.

Then, I have decided that we find our way to the subway station.  On airport exit gate #3, you need to cross the street and walk around 5-8minutes going to the left direction, you'll not miss the station.  Since I have a t-money, I still need to buy a card for my companion.  My mistake is that I bought another t-money from GS-25 store, from my experience in the past 4 days now I can tell that t-money is not widely used in Busan.  So better purchase the Busan transport card or Bee Cash.

From the airport train station, we drop-off at Sasang to transfer on Line 2 (green) with Seomyeon as our final station.  Exit 8 is a long staircase (no escalator or elevator near this exit), on the ground level you’ll see Starbucks on your left side.

From the station, it took us around 10-15 minutes to reach Toyoko Inn.  The front desk speaks clear English but they are familiar to basic words only.  We asked about ‘is there a curfew on the hotel’, and she can’t understand us.  So you have to rephrase your questions on basic language, ‘does the door close after 12mn?’ or the like.  Aside from the payment for your room, you will also be asked for the key deposit (which of course is given back upon your check-out).

Hotel: Toyoko Inn Busan Seo-myeon

Address: 614-865 666-8, Jeonpo-dong, Busanjin-gu, Busan

Map: http://toyoko-inn.com/e_hotel/00221/map.html  

Book Toyoko Inn Busan Seomyeon, Busan in Agoda
Photos below is Room Type:Non-smoking Double A

Titanic – Sailing Back

Year 1997, when the famous James Cameron's characters Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater became a hit in motion picture.  I would record movie lines as they were aired in radios and even worst, a copy of the full movie script (more than 300 pages) landed on our hands.  At that time, I used to watch it again and again on VHS tape like every quarter for almost 2 years.  See how far technology was and feel how I so was addicted to its drama.   

It was early this month when I noticed that the movie is being shown in television and even also as 3D on some cinemas – a century has already passed.  Several documentaries were aired on National Geographic and Discovery channels.  Until I learned from a friend that there is an exhibit of the artifacts that is scheduled to end by the 29th.  Yipee!  Just in time for my Singapore trip.

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition

The exhibit ran from October 29, 2011 to April 29, 2012 at Art Science Museum, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.  

2012 April: Cebu Pacific: Smile Magazine

I feel like flying everyday for the month of April.  I got my initial copy of Cebu Pacific's in-flight magazine Smile in my trip from Busan to Manila last Saturday, March 31, 2012.

After being an avid reader of Smile for almost 5 years, not just in flights. I prefer reading it whenever available in cafes and in restaurants, and I also have some soft copies downloaded from ink-site.  It was last year 2011 when I submitted an entry and was informed by Maya, contributing editor, that it will be published for April and May release.  Good thing I have scheduled flights for late March and mid-April.  For May release, I hope to find a friend who can give me a copy as his free pasalubong.

Disclaimer: The actual photo at the top of the column for Seoul was not the one I submitted. 

I also acknowledge the photographer of the chosen photo used in the article.

The following suggestions did not make it on paper: 

Touchdown: Trains are cheaper and faster, but would prefer taking the bus to the city so one will refrain from taking the stairs while dragging one’s suitcase.

Insider Trip: Seoul is better seen on foot. It is more beautiful to walk on the streets and experience the culture than taking the trains.

Best Festival: Seoul Lantern Festival happens on November, with remarkable displays of lanterns on the famous Cheonggyecheon Stream.

The big reveal, ruffeecola's identity has been revealed; yes Roocie is the person behind ruffeecola's adventure. Thank you Smile for the free promotion of my blog site.  As a blogger, it is a fulfillment to be written in other publications whether online or in paper. Another thank you, for making one of my dreams came true!

Aside from spending my special day with my sister, getting this magazine on day 1 of its release and 3 days after my birthday made my spring season awesome!  Thank you Smile staff and editor, see you again in 2 weeks time for my solo adventure 2012 edition.

To read more about my Seoul-ful adventure, click here.
If you are interested to read online copies of Smile Magazine, visit this site. 

Voyager: Born to Travel

"Born to travel", this is the tag line of Voyager. A local brand of luggage founded in 1983 (as claimed by the SM Department assistant).

Article updated October 2024:

Saying thank you to my Voyager black luggage bought in 2012.   Has been to many places in Japan and once in Denmark.

Been to repairs on SM due to zippers and wheels.   Leaving it with all inside zippers still working, divider clothing all clean and unstained.  Outside zippers are still working but 2 of the zipper heads outside may cause wound.  The wheels have been cleaned on SM repair, but there is still noise when being used. The handle no longer locks in any level. Some parts of the hard shell are still with original plastic. 

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Just bought 20-23 kilos blue voyager luggage – polycarbonate material, expandable, shock absorber 360 wheels, scratch resistant, anti-theft twin coil zipper, with flat TSA lock. Waterproof and water repellant.  Features I prioritized are smooth wheels, expandable zippers, and TSA lock.

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From its tag price at 11,999 php, bought it during the 41st anniversary of Voyager and Southmall's pre-holiday sale with extra 10% off on SMAC on limited time frame, in total of 60% discount price dropped to only 4800 php.

Written on the cards included on the luggage:

Warranty covers manufacturing defects namely replacement of parts such as trolley wheels.  If the shell was discovered damage during transit due to the rough, mishandling or misuse of airline porters.  You must immediately make a claim to the airline carrier or baggage handlers at the airport since it is their duty and obligation to handle your belongings with care. 

Materials to consider in buying a luggage:

• Aluminum – Expensive but durable.  This is waterproof and zippers are sealed. Mainly inspired by Rimowa.
• Polycarbonate – light and impact resistant.
• Rubber – bendable, may also be durable during airport staff handling. But when stored on a humid area, too cold country or too warm country, it may eventually worn out. 

Article posted April 2012:

 
I bought my first luggage on 2006 for less than 1500php.  It is a 15 kilo moss green Voyager bag with 2 wheels and belt security. 

I was not able to try other brand of luggage, but I must say that Voyager served me well on what it more than expected for its worth.  For almost 12 out of the country trips in less than 6 years, it was able to run the rocky streets of Causeway Bay, Senado Square and went up and down at the stairs of Namdaenum and Myeongdong.

Last June 2011, I took it from the rotating belt in Incheon with a broken handle.  Good thing, there is lifetime warranty service for any issue you'll have with Voyager luggage.  Right after the trip, I went to SM Department Store to submit my luggage for repair, SM will be sending it to the Voyage service center.  After a month, I was able to get it back.  Just in time for my next travel.

By November 2011, after coming back from Jeju-Seoul trip, part of the body of the luggage is losing up, perhaps I put a lot on what it can accommodate.  Even though it can still be fixed, I decided to but a new one.



The one I used is already an old model and is already faced-out.  This time, I’m looking for a four-wheel luggage for an easier transfer on the road and on the airport.  One that is available has 4-wheel but no extensions at all.  Another plus I learned is to have the inside lining to be in striking color – so you would see things easily. 

Tips on Buying a Luggage or travel bags:

• Check and monitor luggage from different brands.  Read reviews online.  “What’s a good brand of luggage” from PinoyExchange, has their top suggestion to be Samsonite.
• Buy on what you need and not what you want.  Be practical.
• Buy depend on what your body type can carry, you must be able to run and hold a fully loaded luggage.
• Don’t buy fake or cheap luggage on small shops – believe me, you don’t want to get it broken with all your things scattered on the rotating belt.
• Look for possible small damages on items that you may need to be careful of when buying from any luggage sale or discounted items on clearance sale.

This is not a promotional entry, but it is good to support Philippine product.  Spend sometime to study on what to buy, because you are ‘born to travel’ on a practical way!