Cooling Down the Hot Way

Korean's spots has seem to invade the Philippine landscape so in a change of scenario... It's time to invade their haven via a visit to 88 Hot Springs in the border of Calamba and Los Banos, Laguna. Just a little over an hour from Manila and into the confides of the hot spring.

It's quite amazing how the wonders of warm water from the underground volcanic springs of Mt. Makiling can do wonders to your health. The place was overflowing with warm pools, several amusing (...bordering towards the green areas of the mind) landscapes, a lake and an Feng Shui energy pool whose 37 - 43 degrees temperature was both a challenge and a healthy experience.

A different way of cooling down from the hot temperature... Cooling down the Hot Way... We also had an additional treat of a running in the rainfall and enjoying a dip in the pool with Mt. Makiling as a back drop.

Up in the Air in Cebu

As a piece of trivia, my first ever time to ride a plane was a journey to Cebu over a decade ago. I've been here a second time years later and now is the first time I get to visit the place post-digicam era.

I did enjoy the same old things I did enjoy in the past visits. Seafoods at Su Tu Kil... An Overlooking view at the tops... The fun in the sun in Plantation Bay... The Historic Magellan Cross and Lapu Lapu Shrine... the dried seafood market... and I did have a taste of the new... a Skywalk at Crowne Towers (This is my second Skywalk, the first being in Macau)... It was quite exciting to watch the independence day parades up in the air.

A trip to queen city of the south was a nice summer time breather and it is always a pleasure being in Cebu and the next time I get to hit this area, I'm definitely going to its famous beaches...

A Merlion's Growth

I do get my at least once a year trip to Singapore and in terms of infrastructure, it doesn't fail to offer something new each time I come back. New structures, new attractions and new means of pulling tourist back in this red dot state.

2010 had seen the two casinos rise to pull droves of gambling tourists hopping in and out of the country. They have one shaped like a deck of cards (Sands) and another one in Sentosa (Resort World), They also have a new Universal Studio in Sentosa (which I was not able to visit since tickets were sold out).

For a tiny country, Singapore has diversified its market for tourism, now with Casinos and new theme parks and the Singapore Flyer is just above a year old. The Merlion country is growing.

My Time in Clark

Spent the Holy Week in Clark and the part I enjoyed about this former military base was that it was traffic free. Driving here was such an ease though as my regular nature is, we did get lost from time to time.

We stayed in Clearwater Country Club. The place was big and we had to drive from our inn to the reception area. I love the swing. The lake was a nice backdrop though I guess due to the heat the grass was dry. We also had our chance visiting Clark Expo, Zoocobia, Mimosa, Casino and visiting a few chapels as well. We had fine food and wine at Yats and London Pub.

Clark was a nice breather and it's nice to see old american structures as offices and It's an excellent location when you'd want to escape the city life.

Back to Bora

It's my second visit to Boracay this year and just as I was thinking would be more of routine since I've been here just months before. Things literally had been shaken up, turned upside down and inside out.

The Zorb Ball was quite an experience. Stuffed in a rubber ball slid downhill with the waters being a cushion to ease the rough and tumble ride. A must try really... Falling off the banana boat in the middle of the bluewaters was another highlight. Floating in midsea after an exhilarating ride is another feat I'd keep in my memory bank. And then there's the picturesque view of the outdoors... a nice over looking view of Bora via Mt. Luho... the beachfront... and of course who could forget the nice sunset view at Willy's Island...

This time we had more of our share of the night life and the people (though mostly foreigners)... and the variety of food... fun... fun... and really quite heavy on the diet menu... but who cares, I had another nice treat of the island of Boracay.

Then I Came Back to Davao

I was able to set the course that had me returning to Davao after more than 5 years since the last time I've been here and this time... It's all about tourism... so this was a lot more fun...

Davao is such a big place being 6 times bigger than Metro Manila and its surrounded by mountainous terrains owning the tallest mountain in the country, Mt. Apo... It's also a haven of the rare Philippine Eagle and has nice resorts and beaches... I did appreciate the infinity pool view at Pearl farm... and also they have affordable food choices...

It was in the course of plotting my travel blog that I realized that I wasn't able to tour the place the first time I was there and wahlah... Month's after, I've been able to store some scenes in my memory bank that says Davao is one of the places that's worth your travel itinerary...

A Race to the Sky

Shanghai seems to have a race to the sky as the area are just packed by Skyscrapers, with the TV Tower being the tallest tower in Asia and an 88 story Jin Mao Tower, which used to be the tallest building in Shanghai and just this year, the Shanghai World Financial Center, which looks like a can opener and is 101 story building...

And the story does not end there... The Shanghai Tower is under construction and will be dwarfing all this structure with a 128 story building, which would then be the tallest in the world... It just seems amazing that this structures are just stone throw away from each other and all would have a nice view of the lights in the Bund...

Had a chance to come back in Shanghai and it was much different with the buildings racing to the sky... I still did like the view of the TV Tower at night and catching the sunset and the light at the Bund... And then there's still so much development with the city hosting the World Expo... so the race will continue to go on...