Cebu Pacific Juan to Fly? Promo:

Manila to Legazpi or Naga | Cebu to Clark, Davao, Ozamiz, Pagadian or Surigao | Davao to Iloilo – P488
Manila to Tagbilaran or Roxas – P788
Manila to Ozamiz – P888

Manila to Ho Chi Minh – P1288
Manila to Brunei, Guangzhou, Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur – P1488
Manila to Osaka – 2088

Today’s gonna be the last day of the sale! So go hurry and grab yourself some cheap tickets and have a vacation. Lol! I know I should have posted it earlier, but I guess I was too preoccupied scoring deals. Heh. I just got back first week of July and now I’m trip planning again. Sigh. The expense, the expense. But I can’t help myself, I miss my family terribly and unless I could find budget rates for conferencing calling, then I’d have to fly home from time to time.

Were going home again for All Soul’s Day, and kiddo and I will be leaving on the last week of October and going back early November. And yay! I scored discount tickets from Cebu Pacific and were traveling via Ho Chi Minh on the way to Manila. I’m quite giddy with the savings I scored coz that is more than enough to pay for our RT ticket from Manila to Legazpi! Imagine, the usual no discount fare for 2 pax Saigon-Manila would be around $200++ but yesterday I booked and paid less than $128!

So yeah, I’m in a pretty good mood. Hahaha. Anyway, its weekend and I’m wondering what to do..Any suggestions?

This would be a long, word heavy post. A rarity for me, I know.  I was actually at a loss on what to post about and has been discussing which motorcycle gps would be the coolest to use with hubby and neighbors when it suddenly occurred to me, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the easy and affordable way to travel Manila-Phnom Penh and also about the overland travel between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh. So why not post about my recent trip?

Ever since we started living here in Cambodia, my usualy way when going home to Manila would either be Phnom Penh-Singapore-Manila, or Phnom Penh-Bangkok-Manila or Phnom Penh-Kuala Lumpur-Manila. I preferred this route because I usually traveled with a child. I know of some Pinoy friends who suggest going by bus to Ho Chi Minh then taking the PAL or Cebu Pacific flight to Manila. I got the chance to try the route when I traveled last May alone.

It was a really straight forward, hassle free trip. From Phnom Penh, I simply bought a Mekong Express bus ticket. I took the morning trip (8:30 am) coz I wanted to get to Saigon while its still bright, mainly coz I’m alone and scared. Lol. This is actually my favorite bus to ride when going to Ho Chi Minh. For just $12 you get a comfy seat, a bottle of chilled water and a croissant and a wet towel. They also have an English speaking guide on board who would assist you. Before you get onboard, the staff would check your passport/visa, then if you have luggage to deposit, they will be tagged properly. The trip was smooth going and without hassles. The bus has a restroom but I didn’t try using it. They will stop once for lunch very near the Bavet border, the rest-stop place is clean and has good food options. Then the guide would assist you on crossing the border. The process would take about 30 mins and you have to get your luggage and have it screened when you get to the Vietnam immigration. Before 2 pm I was already in Ho Chi Minh. Travel time is about 6 hours including immigration checks.

Got down in Pham Ngu Lao area, walked around a bit. When it was time to go to the airport I simply hailed a Vinasun {Innova} taxi, fare amounted to 140,000 Dong {about $7}. When in Ho Chi Minh, I would recommend using just Vinasun or Mai Linh taxi as taxi scams are well-known in the area. And do ask insist to use the meter. Then I took the Cebu Pacific flight to Manila which leaves at around 1 am.

Preah Vihear Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Learn more about Preah Vihear here.

I was supposed to post this last weekend since my Cambodia Snapshots is scheduled every Saturday and Sunday. But I was out of the house and gallivanting about Phnom Penh so I missed this. It has been awhile since I posted some photos of Cambodia but I’m back in business. Lol. My files are all in a jumble coz I’m moving out of blogging from my good ole desktop {she has been sequestered by the Kiddo..:( } and now I’m blogging from my laptop and moving is as disorganized as only me can get, so I’m still trying to get my bearings.

So what’s the featured snapshot for today? The famed Preah Vihear temples. Shot courtesy of my husband who went there last year. I’m making it my goal to visit the place at least before I turn 35. Serious. The idea of that long winding climb on top of a 4×4 pick up intrigues me and of course, this beautiful and controversial temple is a must see..

Phnom Penh is such a laid back city. The pace of life is not crazy fast, and you can still actually enjoy walks in the parks, badminton on a side street, group calisthenics along the river side.  It’s one of the things that I really love here. That you can enjoy free and simple things. I won’t be surprised when one day I might just be in my sport shoes and jumping/dancing with a group to whatever tune those boom boxes in some corner is playing. Lol.

river boats for rent…

Lately, when we don’t have have much to do we usually end up taking a lazy river boat cruise. These cruises are available at sun down about 5:00 pm and leaves every 30 minutes with the last boat at 7-8pm. We usually pay 5000 Riels {$1.25} and 2000 Riels for kiddo per ride. Expect to pay a little bit more if you’re a foreigner {about $2.} The cruise usually takes about an hour and is a wonderful spot for sunset watching. If you want your own boat you can rent one at the same place {along Sisowath Quay, beside Bopha Titanic Restaurant}. Bargain hard. Prices depends on how long you want to rent the boat. But average prices are from $20-$30 for two-three hours.

Here’s some photos from a recent boat cruise..

@the boat top deck..waiting for some more cruisers..

A month or two ago, I was ‘web wandering’ searching for air fare promos, hotel promos and cards direct when I stumbled across something mentioning Koolred, an Asia-based travel social networking site. I guess I was caught with the cool name. I love the concept of being able to connect with people with similar interests and browsing Koolred’s shared travel stories, photos is just wonderful. It’s like being able to travel without leaving your desk. They also hold contests regularly and last time they were running the Asian Food Review Contest.

Since I love to write-blog and eat, why not join? I submitted three short food reviews. I was not really expecting to place and have forgotten about the contest until I got an email a few weeks ago. The KoolRed team said I won! Wow! I just couldn’t believe that my Khmer Food @ Trasak Paem actually won, among hundreds of entries! Lolz! I truly love this little Phnom Penh restaurant and Khmer cuisine and I guess it showed in the review. And they said I won a two night stay for two persons at a luxury hotel in Bali – Alila Manggis.

I wasn’t about to believe the prize, that I actually won, till I actually had the proof. Lol. Sorry I’m just OC like that. Anyway, last April 13, something came by mail. People from Air Asia and KoolRed are really fast. I really have the voucher. Which also includes some discounts on the hotel services!

Yay! I guess this is exciting. My first time to actually win something. {Not counting the times I joined binggo games in our town when I was a kid..} I was actually wanting to get the hotel stay in Bangkok prize but hey! I haven’t been to Bali and this would be the best excuse to go..

When will I go? I have yet to decide and plan. I have a lot to do this year, and towards the end of the year, I’ll be going to Manila and Bicol again, so maybe early next year. Before the voucher expires hahaha! To KoolRed and Alila Hotels, a big thanks.

I’m really itching to go on a lovely, relaxing holiday. While I’m usually the type to travel the backpacker way, sometimes I also crave some luxurious, pampered travel. Perhaps this is a pipe dream, but I choose to think otherwise. Who knows? I work hard, hubby works hard so to be truthful we could make it happen…Have a dream vacation, in an awesome, remote, beautiful location and have villa holidays. That would be heavenly.

Where do I want to have this opulent holiday? My easy answer would be Europe, particularly Spain. I am a Filipino and for some reason I feel a unique affinity with all things Spanish and I want to see and travel this place. The Philippines is an old Spanish colony so some of our language, habits, cuisine share a lot of similar characteristics with the Spanish. In our region we even count in Spanish! And if those aren’t enough reasons, well another reason I wanna visit Spain is that I’m a huge Rafael Nadal fan, in fact I am a fan of the who Spanish armada {tennis players}! So who knows next year I might be searching for villas in Spain and taking off?