After almost half a year, here I am, still amazed by Yunnan’s beauty. I still feel that feeling I felt when I witnessed the Red Land with my own eyes. It felt like I was in another world seriously asking God if He really created this. I know that Philippines has the same kind of rice terraces (you should visit Banawe Rice Terraces!) But, Banawe Rice Terraces gives me a different feeling… a feeling of naturalness…tranquility… Red Land is vastly different. Red Land soothes innocence. Purity.
Both of them have their own kind of beauty and somehow I was held in…uhum…custody by Red Land.
October 27, 2012 – Dongchuan Red Land, Yunnan
October 21, 2012 - Dali Old Town, Yunnan
Dali Old Town is like the Las Casas in Bataan (but, Las Casas is a resort, fyi). It was old. It was ANCIENT. It felt historic. Everything is made of stones. People were so quiet. Everyone was busy doing their own thing.
Small alleys let you walk around the town like you’re in a labyrinth. Each alley is different from the others. One alley is a series of ice cream stores. We got held back by an alley full of accessories! There is also an alley for pottery. I mean, I know I didn’t went in each alley but if you’re going to visit Dali Old Town, you should try going into these alleys as many as you can. Don’t just walk around the main street. Step in and explore these alleys! =)
October 21, 2012 - Dali Old Town, Yunnan
We were looking for our backpacker house. We had a map. We asked the direction and landmarks before we headed to Dali. We read every street signage.
But somehow, we still got lost.
I do not know how but we did.
But I still think it was for the better.
If we weren’t looking around and hoping the backpacker house would just appear beside us, we wouldn’t realized that we were surrounded by mountains.
October 21, 2012 - Dali Old Town
I haven’t post anything for a while. Sorry. :)
Hehe. But this postcard is what I took earlier this morning from our room’s terrace in Days Hotel Tagaytay.
March 17, 2013 - Tagaytay
Hep Hep! It’s a new year for travel! New sets of promo fares from Cebu Pacific Air! I am excited! I am planning for new lands to explore. Hoho!
But let’s be wise while Cebu Pacific Air is also being wise with how they will offer different promo fares this 2013. To help you somehow on how frequent Cebu Pacific Air ffers promo, here is what I have observed:
- They usually offer them during payday period.
- If there is a holiday or anything like Valentine’s Day coming up, watch out!
- If your travel dates is 2-3 months from now, then the last promo for that period might soon be up. But don’t let your hopes be too high! They might offer it for only very limited seats. (Think about it, because they are just filling up the empty seats of planes that are already almost occupied)
- Piso Fare is usually one year at the least before the scheduled booking date. I happened to notice that the Piso Fare for November next year will be offered around September or October this year. My flight to Bangkok last 2010 was only P202. There are at most two Piso Fares offered each year.
- If you book online, try to check the availability of the promo fare for number of combination from the total number of people who will travel. Sometimes, a plane will only have, for example, 3 seats, available for promo fare. And when you try to book straight on for 4 seats, it will not give you the promo fare. For this one, I will book the 3 seats who will have the promo fares and then another 1 for a regular fare. After I total all airfares for the 4 people, I will just divide it up for 4 people so everyone can benefit from the promo.
- Book after midnight. The website will get thousands of traffic during the day and there will be a higher probability that you will not get the promo fares. Try booking during the day and you’ll find the website in its slowest state. Everyone is online and juggling their preferred schedules online. If everyone you are traveling with is sleeping, then get first their passport details and of course, their assurance that they are letting you to book it for them whatever the cheap schedule you happen to get from the airline.
I still think Cebu Pacific Air is the most budget airline I have ever encountered with. A regular airfare to Osaka from Manila in Philippine Airlines will cost you around P10,000 but in Cebu Pacific Air it’s just around P5,000 only. The price ranges of Cebu Pacific Air is so wide that some dates are around P10,000 but most of them are offered at P5,000. So, stay alert for more promo fares this 2013!
It was very cold. Look at me, I was wearing a sports top made of nylon, long and thick t-shirt, knitted jacket and snow jacket. I also had a backpack within the layers of heavy clothing I was wearing. I had my camera hanging from my neck. I was, seriously, not wearing a comfortable climbing attire but it helped me to fight the cold. But then there were times I just want to put away the camera from my neck and remove all of my jackets and backpack. They were pulling me down every time I took one step up the mountain stairs. How did the other people bear the cold?? I am not really good at climbing mountain, ya know! Haha.
But then again, look at the overwhelming scenery! It took my breath miles awaaaay!! Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is definitely one of the best explorations I ever have.
October 26, 2012 - Shangri-la, Yunnan
April 20, 2010 - Daejeon, South Korea
I and Mame in Expo Park. Hoho!
Have you ever planned and booked yourself for a vacation then found yourself cancelling it in the end?
I have. 3 times.
I and my HS friend were always thinking about traveling to Bangkok. Buy goods then sell it here. Haha. We booked the Cebu Pacific Air promo airfare a year before the trip. Cebu Pacific Air, back then, had fewer promos. (If my rough calculation is correct, they have now almost 3 promos available each month.) It was supposed to be my first travel with a friend since I have been traveling always with my family. It was a mixture of excitement and thrill knowing that I will travel on my own terms. But when Red Shirt Protest Rally broke out in Bangkok, there were dangers in security and successive prohibitions were raised in most countries. Foreigners were taken as hostages as the protesters hijacked the international airport in Bangkok. My friend backed out. ￼
I was supposed to visit Kuala Lumpur with my college friends. We booked the flight just because it was a very cheap promo (around P2,000 roundtrip all-in). I was the one who backed out after few months because I knew it will be very stressful with them. (Sorry guys!) We had not planned anything yet for our itinerary but we were already having little fights over how much should be our budget. Haha! ￼
We suddenly booked our flight then we planned out the rest very well. We already have plane tickets and room reservation all from promo offers. What went wrong? Our schedule happened to fall in my finals exam. They also didn’t push through because of a very strong typhoon.
So, what’s my point here? Nothing really. Haha. I just thought that we always tend to be little (should I use “very” instead?) impulsive when we learned about an airline promo. We always (I know some people) book regardless of how well we know that we don’t actually have a plan of traveling yet. We always think that the promo fares are good opportunities for us to travel cheap. But seriously, booking without even having a plan beforehand is more expensive. ￼
However, even if we have thought about traveling to a place before we book a promo fare, there is still some other things that may happen along the way. I booked a Hong Kong flight roundtrip for P2,500 (all-in) because it was a very cheap promo from Cebu Pacific Air and it will be my entry point to Yunnan, China. After a year, I ended up booking a new flight because we needed to move it to a different schedule and the airline does not allow a regular fare be subsidized by a promo fare. Even if I transfer that flight to another person who can use it, there will still be dues. The airfare I paid went to waste and I should have used it for other travel activities. Oh well, we know that we want to travel and we can’t blame ourselves to be impulsive sometimes when the offer is so cheap! But I think there will always be some constraints and we need to learn how to adjust our budget and itinerary.
1st Photo from Bangkok, Thailand last 2010
2nd and 3rd Photos from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last December 2011
is your boatman mr. arnulfo peralta? we are going to palaui island this february and we have 2 contact boatman to choose from, one is mr. arnulfo peralta and the other is kuya emerson, i just found them though blogs. . .
Asked by Anonymous
Yep. It’s Kuya Arnulfo. Maalam siya. He’s very knowledgable and accommodating. I also got his contact from blogs I read before and decided it should be him because he has the most number of good reviews. Enjoy your trip! :)