Air Asia’s Big Sale is ON!

Time to score more travel deals with Air Asia’s Big Sale. Booking period is March 3-7 2010 for travel period September 25, 2010 to February 13, 2011. Flight fares are as usual at all time low.. Read more about the Big Sale..

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Living in Phnom Penh: Scatterbrained Days

I’ve been so absent minded these past few days. A lot of my work (blogging and website building) activities had been at rest for a few days already. Organizing my computer files had also been forgotten now I don’t exactly know where to resume hehe.

This is so not me! But a few days ago I had been planning our trips for the year, at least for the next six months. Hi-ace schedules are as usual very difficult to pin down. I’ve already booked tickets for our month-long Bicol, Phlippines vacation on July. I know its too early but I wanted to have the tickets already so I won’t have reason to back out. It’s just me and Chinks going because Hi-ace still have loads of classes that time as well as office work. His break will be on August 8 and our return date is on Aug 11..So, he really has no choice but to stay put.

He’s been acting morose, I know coz he loves going to the Philippines and he prefers shopping there plus I guess he just misses the place. He has already given me a long list of what he wants to be bought and I seriously think I won’t be doing much shopping for myself since he has quite a long list and I hate having too much baggage when I travel.

He’s constantly murmuring and asking me what is he going to do when were not around. I suggested going to the gym (he says no..), doing some gardening (he says maybe!), going on a short trip (he says maybe not, its boring without me and Chinks ), or maybe go play some sports (other than soccer he doesn’t play other sports) – tennis, swimming or maybe golf. But I could just imagine him swearing at the expense (he’s incredibly frugal unlike me haha!) and he’ll probably be using used golf balls just to be happy.

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Koh Kong Trip, Part I

Part 1 – On to Tatai Waterfalls, Koh Kong Cambodia

Tatai Waterfalls, Koh Kong Cambodia

Better late than never. That’s my motto. Hahaha! For this post anyway. I keep forgetting to schedule posting this.. Forgive the memory gaps.Anyway, this is all about our trip to Koh Kong, Cambodia last August? Seriously, I even forgot the date already .

We were looking at another boring weekend that time and Hi-ace suggested we go over to Kompong Som (Sihanoukville) so we could roast ourselves a bit (I really mean we could have a good rest at the beach). So that was the plan, till my sister-in-law heard we were going and pretty soon there were about 10 more people wanting to join us. I so appreciate my Cambodian family, they are almost always having itchy feet. You know, they are what my father usually calls ‘layas’ that’s a Bicolano word meaning ‘wanderlust’.

Instead of taking a bus, we all just decided to rent a van. Then we just realized all of us had been to Sihanoukville several times already, and since we had a van at our disposal, why not go someplace else we all haven’t been to. We picked out Koh Kong, mainly because it has beaches too, less touristy, plus we all wanted to see the Mangrove forests. Koh Kong was IT then. Our Mondulkiri travel was a superlative for me, so I was really excited too about this Koh Kong Trip since well a lot of people had been raving about the place.

Koh Kong is at the southern part of Cambodia, and the city is about 8 km from the Thai border. Krong Koh Kong has also been dubbed before as Cambodia’s Wild West. This province is just so vast, with little houses around, sparse population, lots of beaches, rainforests, mountains etc. Simply a great place to explore (I just wish we had more time, but we could always go back )

Traveling with my Khmer relatives was fun and educating as well. Well, educating for me anyway, in terms of their culture and made me realize more how Cambodians are really into picnicing. Anyway, we took off early morning, the van was all packed, lol! we were almost bursting full (not with people!) but with the goodies and foodies my mother-in-law insisted we take. You know, she knows how much we love eating and what if we get stranded or something, in any case, lets just say if we get stranded in the middle of nowhere, we had enough food and water to last 10 of us for 2 days with more to spare.

My nieces and nephews were also lugging in luggages and I did wonder what’s in there coz we were only going for two days. I know, this kinda weirded me out, since I usually travel light, with just the essentials. Another thing I noticed, most of them were dressed to the nines and for a minute I felt left out. I mean, two of them were wearing heels and dresses, others were wearing pants and long sleeved shirts like they were going for a job interview or something, and Hi-ace, Chinks, me and another niece, well were the only ones wearing shorts, shirt, and slip-ons. Ok, so I thought maybe that’s just how they like to travel.. No sweat.

One good thing about going to Koh Kong is that the road condition is excellent. I could still remember how numb my butt was when we went to Mondulkiri so this was a great thing for me. And once you get past the intersection between National Highway 4 (going to Sihanoukville) and National Highway 48 (going to Koh Kong) the views are just stunning! Everything is all green and there are a couple of bridges you have to pass through and the water is all clear and reflecting all green colors of surrounding lush mountains. The road is mostly winding, carved from mountains, with very little houses almost all the way.

A few kilometers before we reached Koh Kong, around 10 am, the driver said were stopping for a swim at Tatai Waterfalls. The van traveled on something like a dirt path away from the main highway for something like half kilometer, then we came upon a small er and really steep path and the driver told us we just had to go on by foot. Okay, I’m a total klutz and I just keep imagining myself simply tripping and rolling over and just finding myself plunging on the waterfalls.

None of that happened though, thankfully Hi-ace had the good sense to order me to remove my slippers so I could go down barefooot. God! Even Chinks got there ahead of me. It was really that steep and I wasn’t even carrying anything. You could guess how amazed I was when I saw my nieces carting their luggages (which they told me has their clothes so they could change after swimming), and they were going down the steep hill like it was nothing.

And was it worth climbing down? Totally! The water levels were not so high so the river was gently flowing. We had to climb down a couple more rock formations, and wow! just wow! something like 4 meters of thundering water and it was awesome! The water was crystal clear, you can actually see little fishes swimming all over.. The kids had a great time swimming and of course, we adults had a picnic! I think any Cambodian outing is incomplete without this… I know my description won’t do justice to Tatai Waterfall, so here are the photos..

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Cambodia – Philippines Finally Signs Air Flight Deal

This is an update to my previous post – Direct Flights Phnom Penh To Manila. I’ve been waiting for developments and updates about this and I must have missed this(:P allow me some slack hehe I was on a ‘Pchum Ben‘ holiday hangover).

Anyway, its finally confirmed that the much anticipated (it’s probably just me haha!) signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Cambodia and the Philippines allowing direct flights between the two countries happened last September 16, 2009. I got this update from my fave Cambodian news portal – Phnom Penh Post. Yahoo! So that’s one step along the way.

The Philippines’ proposal to open seven weekly flights from Manila to Phnom Penh, 14 flights a week from Clark to Phnom Penh, plus 14 weekly flights to the capital from elsewhere in the Philippines is currently being reviewed by the Cambodian government.

SSCA Cabinet Chief Long Chheng is optimistic that both the Philippines and Cambodia will reach an Air Service Agreement by the end of this year.

Great news right?  The number of Pinoys working here and vacationing here in Cambodia are increasing in numbers so this would definitely be a big help for us. Shorter travel time and cheaper air fares. Now, hubby is worried if this pushes through I might decide to go on a weekly Phnom Penh-Manila jaunts Haha come to think of it, isn’t that a fab idea?

Latest Update here – Update to Direct Flights: Manila – Phnom Penh

Cambodia Angkor Airline (CAA), all set to be launched

Cambodia had a slew of airlines all coming and going for the past years. For some reason airlines established here have a history of having financial troubles as well as safety concerns. I’m hoping this would really make a change.

The Secretary of State Mao Havannal have just recently announced that Cambodia plans to begin operations of Cambodia Angkor Airline or the CAA and also to inagurate Preah Sihanouk International Airport (formerly Kang Keng Airport), located in Sihanoukville, on July 27.

The said airline would be operating flights between Siem Reap and Preah Sihanouk province with an ATR-72 plane. This national airline is a joint venture between the Cambodian government and Vietnam Airlines. The government and Vietnam Airlines have also signed an agreement to purchase Airbus 320 and 321 in late 2009 -2010 so the airlines could also serve routes to other countries, including South Korea.

This is definitely a good news specially since more and more tourist are discovering the Cambodia. I am also hoping that this airline would stick to the safety standards so the past airline accidents would not be repeated and it would not suffer the same fate as the other airlines that operated here. Having its own national carrier would definitely boost Cambodia’s tourism sector and its economy.

***UPDATE 8/7/09*** Cambodia Angkor Air’s website is now up. Click here to visit. They also have ongoing fare promos so check out the website.

These are also their offices and contact numbers:

Phnompenh:

Address 1:

1-2/294 Boulevard Mao Tse Toung, Phnom Penh 2 – Cambodia

Tel:  +855 23 6666786

+855 23 6666787

+855 23 6666788

+855 23 6666789

Vietnam Airlines Branch Office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia:

No. 41, 214 Str., Samdech Pan, Phnom Penh

Tel : +855 23 990 840/ 215 998

Fax : +855 23 213 499

Siem Riep:

Telephone:

+855 63 964488

Ho Chi Minh city:

Telephone:

+848 38 320320

Cool Savings! AirAsia takes off its Admin Fees

Tight budget? But your feet is itching to go somewhere to explore, or relax and de-stress? I love traveling and I just love budget airlines. Recently, Asia has seen a boom in local travel and I think one of the biggest factors in the entry of several budget airlines to ease our fare burdens.

AirAsia is one of those airlines offering budget friendly flights and is making waves. In fact, they have been recently named the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline. And now its getting even better, AirAsia have abolished its administration fees from its fare structure. Passengers now only have to shell out the seat fare and airport tax. How cool is that?

The ‘no admin fee’ system is effective for bookings made for all AirAsia and AirAsia X flights from June 24. From this date, AirAsia.com will display all-in fares (fare plus airport tax) throughout the booking process.

The Malaysian airline is also launching a regional promo fare with greatly discounted tickets. Check out the AirAsia Promo Fare. Bookings under the campaign can be made via AirAsia.com until June 28 for travel between October 1 and April 30 on a first-come, first-serve basis.

I’ve traveled AirAsia a couple of times already and I must say they are a real good value plus I like their website which makes booking online a breeze. Hmmn, makes me wanna go somewhere again…

Travel Saving Tip – Get Free Hotel Stays

I love to travel! At times, some friends would admonish us coz we keep moving around and having a kid doesn’t stop us from traveling and seeing new places. I’ve mastered the art of traveling with a child in tow and I think being exposed to different cultures is great for our child.

Since we travel often, we are very conscious about out travel budget. If you travel alone of course, the expenses are less compared to traveling as a family. I am always on the lookout for travel deals and packages. I have a lot of websites bookmarked because of their value packages and regular promotions.

One such site is www.choicehotels.com where you can get really good value and just recently  I came across their free hotel stay promotion. Now that is worth taking note of. Choice hotels offers a lot of choice, affordable hotel room. If you’re planning your next trip and looking for value rooms and excellent service, check out their site.

For us, you don’t need to wait till you’re rich before you start traveling. In fact, I think traveling will enrich your life. Add to your widening perspectives and could offer new opportunities. There are ways and means to lower down your travel budget, just do a bit of research beforehand. Travel now..

Visiting a Filipino Home..Tips and Insights.

A few Cambodian friends of my husband have asked me about Filipino culture, particularly about our food, the weather, how to get around the country, how come we speak English fluently, and also how to behave when visiting a Filipino household.

Thinking about it, there is not much difference in visiting a Filipino home from a Khmer home. Here’s some tips on being a proper guest of a Filipino family.

- Always pay your respects to the elders in the family by greeting them. It’s an additional point in your favor if you can do the “mano” where you lift the elder’s hand and touch it to your forehead. For Filipinos, this is a sign of regard and respect to the elder.

- Remove your shoes or slippers before entering a Filipino house. Your host would most probably tell you to keep it on, but at least make a motion of removing them.

- Filipinos are very food-oriented and most visits and gatherings includes food. If you are visiting a Filipino home, expect to be offered something to eat. Don’t decline the invitation to eat otherwise you may be considered impolite.There are times like fiestas where you have already eaten in another house, but its still better to accept or you may just request to eat dessert or light snacks.

- Always offer to help clear the dishes. Your host would probably decline your offer of help but the gesture would be appreciated.

- When your visit is over, give your good wishes to the elders and thank everyone for their hospitality. If you have stayed in the house for a couple of days, a thank you gift would be a nice gesture.

Whatever they are rich or poor, Filipinos would really go out of their way to be welcoming and friendly to their guests, that’s why for most people, visiting a Filipino home is a delightful experience.

Moving around Phnom Penh…

This year my husband and I have decided to buy a new car. For one thing, it’s a necessity here in Phnom Penh. Getting around here is not as easy as in Manila where public transportation is always readily available. There we could easily hail a jeepney, a bus, a taxi or you can get on a train, and if just short distances, there are plenty of tricyles and pedicabs. If you don’t have your own transportation, its still pretty easy to get around Manila.

It’s a different story here in Phnom Penh. Although there are tuktuk’s and motodops around, I still find it difficult since you have to speak the language to let them know where you are going (they don’t have regular routes) and bargaining the price is pretty tough also since most of them are bent on charging foreigners higher prices.

Most people here own motorbikes and believe me the streets here are not for the faint-hearted as a lot of motorbike drivers don’t follow traffic rules. I’ve also witnessed several minor traffic accidents and that is hardly surprising because of too many motorbikes and cars.

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Phnom Penh’s Parks and Fountains

Last week, Cambodia celebrated its Independence Day and though the country has been independent from French rule for a long time, French influence is still very evident throughout the city. I can still see some French-style buildings and they are just beautiful. It’s really a pity that a lot of these buildings have been destroyed during the civil war.

They also love French bread and these freshly baked baquettes are available in almost all corners. It’s crisp and really delicious plus its really so cheap!

There are also trees along most streets, most of them the flowering variety. This is really a welcome change from the stark city scape of Manila which we’ve had for a few years.

Phnom Penh also has some newly upgraded wide gardens and parks where you can sit, relax, do some people watching. This is, indeed, a city of contradictions, everywhere you can see developments, skycrapers are being constructed here and there yet people still have the time to have a break, kids fly kites, families sit together in parks. These parks are great additions since the city is getting more and more cramped.

Cambodians have also embraced the French’ love of lights and fountains.During weekend nights and holidays, its just great to take a drive to the parks near the riverside and the palace. There you can see fountains and lights on display. Entertaining, interesting and best of all, free! Here’s a nightime photo of the Independence Monument and its colorful fountains..

There’s also a newly installed fountain on the park near Sotheros St. The lights, fountains and music show is a must watch though it gets a bit crowded. Hope I could take photos of that sometime..

I am “Bong”, he is “Monsieur”!@#

Cambodians resemble Filipinos a lot in terms of physical features and that is hardly surprising since were both South East Asians. I think the difference between the two is the way we clothe ourselves. The weather here is same as in the Philippines and it could get really hot but Khmers veer towards the conservative side, prefering long sleeved shirts and long pants while most Pinoys I know her prefer casual clothing as in shirts and shorts.

So when I am here in Phnom Penh I don’t really want to be stared at so I stay away from tank tops and short shorts and I go for short sleeved T-shirts and pedal shorts so I am usually mistaken for a Khmer as long as I don’t speak. I know a smattering of Khmer but still when I speak its with an accent and they can’t understand me.

My husband on the other hand, is  of Chinese descent but was born and raised here in Phnom Penh so he is often mistaken for a Chinese, Korean or a Japanese tourist.

The other day we went to Tuol Tom Poung Market and we found it both so funny that the sellers there keep calling me “Bong” which means elder sister or “ate” in Tagalog. When they see my husband they would say, “Monsieur, can we help you?”. And they would end up laughing when my husband would respond to them in fluent Khmer.

And those incidents happen not only in markets, when hubby is driving, he has been stopped by the police several times asking to check his license, believing him to be a foreigner.

In Angkor Wat, foreigners have to pay for a visitor pass (about $20) while Cambodian nationals and holders of K1 visa can go in for free. The last time we visited, they asked to check his visitor’s pass and they didn’t bother checking for mine thinking I was Khmer and he was the foreigner. The same thing happened when he went there with a Filipina friend.

We both find it so amusing and I guess I have to learn to speak the language so I could play the part really well.

Phnom Penh, My Second Impressions..

Everything is different. The language, the sounds, the smell, the way people dress themselves, the food, even the very air is different. At times, I find it strange and I feel lost. Most times, I find it interesting and exotic.

Yes, my family is now in Phnom Penh and this will be our home now. After several years of post-graduate studies, Hi-ace has completed his doctorate studies and it’s a new start for all of us.

The last time I’ve been to Phnom Penh was four years ago and I can see a lot of changes. Public works has improved, there are more vehicles around and you encounter heavier traffic unlike before. There are a lot of things I love about this city but one thing I don’t appreciate is its horrendous traffic. For some reason, people here has utter disregard of traffic rules and regulations. We live very near the Russian/ Tuol Tompoung Market and near the intersection I have noticed the newly installed traffic light complete with timers. When I have nothing to do I like observing how motorists and pedestrians behave. A big number of them doesn’t even follow the traffic signals and prefer jamming the intersection. Traffic is simply one of the things you have to learn to adjust to here in Phnom Penh.

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Finding Cheap Airline Tickets

With oil and all prices reaching sky high nowadays I think its already a necessity for me and most people to look for bargains and cheaper fares when we travel. The internet is now offering a lot of facilities for us to avail of discount airfares, convenient and faster bookings.

There are several advantages in using travel search sites. This sites search all other websites for cheap tickets and this save you a lot of time since you don’t have to log in to a handful of airline sites just to get the best deals. Some travel search sites offer rebates and other bargains giving us opportunities for saving.

Booking and buying cheap tickets have now evolved into some sort of art form or a skill. If you want to get the best deals, do keep the following in mind when booking your airline tickets:

• Plan ahead. The more time you have, the more time you have to shop around for the lowest fares and getting the best deals. Book early to take advantage of cheaper fares. Most airlines give lower rates to those who book 1-6 weeks early and a month for international flights.

• Flexibility is another key in finding the cheapest tickets. Travel during weekdays (Tuesdays to Thursdays are the best), adjusting your arrival and departure dates and time (tip: mid-morning and mid-night departures offer huge ticket differences) and flying in and out of a different airport yields big price cuts and may be worth it.

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Tag! I’m It, Meme It to Me.

Got this tag from Steeping Beauty..

The rules are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leave a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago, I was in college majoring in Business Management, spending a lot of time with my friends checking out fast foods, we we’re so fixated on fast foods, we practically tried all fast foods in our place.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today? ( this is more of what did I do today..)

1. went for a 30-minute walk around our village
2. played with Chinks and cooked lunch
3. visited my dentist
4. got home and had a short nap with Chinks
5. worked on my blogger site and surfed the net, dropped entrecards

3. Snacks I enjoy:

Hershey’s Dark Chocolate, Pods Green Peas snack, McDonalds Cheeseburger, Chocolate Cake, Sally Fields Cookies (all kinds ;P)

4. Places I’ve lived:

Manila, Cavite, Albay, Phnom Penh

5. Things I’d do if I were a billionaire:

• invest so I could live on the interest
• set a trust fund for my kid so she could start her own business when she’s 21
• buy a private jet (I’m dreaming, so let me be!)
• buy hubby the sports car of his dreams
• build a spa in my home – I’m crazy about spa’s!
• send my nephews and nieces to school
• put up a scholarship for kids in my neighborhood in Albay
• travel, travel and travel

6. People I want to know more about:

• many.. my fellow mom bloggers , my in-laws (they are really nice but because of the language barrier I can’t really get to know them that well, so I’m serious about learning my husband’s native language.

I’m tagging the following awesome bloggers because I’d really like to know more about them..

• Mira’s Random Thoughts
• Filipina Canada
• Memories by Jenn
• Liza
• Tess
• In Depth

Philippines: Favored by Korean’s as Travel Destination

A booster.. Something to revive our spirits..I wanted to post something positive and this is something of a good news. The Philippines has a lot of good things and I think we should all stop complaining and start working to build a better future for our children.. If other countries see something good here and even make it their favorite travel destination, then we must have something good going for us.

Ever noticed the influx of Koreans in the Philippines? The first thing I noticed about them are their really cute hairstyles, their very individualistic fashion sense, and their heels. Roam around Manila and you’ll see lots of Korean restaurants, stores selling Korean items particularly Makati area, and watch TV – you’ll get a lot of Koreanovelas airing.

We shouldn’t be surprised, recent surveys among Korean tourists indicate that the Philippines is the emerging favored travel and vacation destination.

Korea Travel Times conducted a survey to determine travel behavior and level of satisfaction among Korean tourists on a country-by-country basis. Korean tourists express a high degree of satisfaction with their Philippine travel experience, as evidenced by the 94 percent overall satisfaction rating the Philippines received in the survey. (more…)