Honeymoon: Booked!

Unlike other couples, we never really planned to have a honeymoon in the first place. We were already spending so much for the wedding, so I felt too guilty to splurge on our honeymoon. Sayang rin kasi ang savings eh. This was actually the reason why I didn't include it in our initial wedding budget. Deep inside, I was hoping that someone would shoulder our honeymoon expenses as their wedding gift to us. Haha!

But then we decided to increase our budget to include a somewhat fancy honeymoon. After all, this is the perfect excuse to splurge for a trip! Haha! But because we are too kuripot, we chose a local destination for our honeymoon: Siargao. Siargao is known as the surfing capital of the Philippines, and because Mox is a surfing fanatic, I know he will definitely enjoy the big waves of Siargao. As for me, well, I'm pretty happy to be a beach bum there. Magrerelax na lang ako sa beach habang nagpapakahirap magsurf si Mox. Haha!

We plan to get the honeymoon package of one of the top resorts in Siargao, so all we needed were cheap flights going there. Cebu Pacific is the only airline with flights to Siargao (connecting through Cebu), so we were on the lookout for their seat sales. And lo and behold, a piso fare sale happened! But sadly, there were no piso fare flights to Siargao! Grrrr! I tried computing how much our flights would cost with their regular rates, and the total price was so expensive! In fact, getting an international flight would cost less than a flight to Siargao. Nakakaloka diba?

Then I thought, why not Bali, Indonesia? Bali is also a premiere surfing spot so I know Mox would go for it. And the roundtrip tickets for two would only cost around P11,000! Now that is quite cheap considering that it is a popular honeymoon destination. I was so tempted to get tickets already, but Mox wanted to think things over first, so I didn't book the flights yet.

Luckily, there was a travel expo happening at SMX Convention Center that weekend so Mox and I went there to see if we would find great travel deals to Bali. It was our first time to go to a travel expo, and I was so shocked to see the long lines of people so early in the morning! We tried searching for travel deals, but the Bali packages were only valid until  December 2013 only. There were a few 2014 packages, but these are only valid until March 2014. Di man lang namin naabutan. Bwiset.

So we decided to just book a flight to Bali then make our own land arrangements ourselves. We lined up at the Cebu Pacific booth in hopes of getting an affordable flight to Bali since the piso fare promo was still ongoing. We stood in line for almost FOUR HOURS! We were both so hungry, tired and irritated. At ang sakit ng paa ko ha!

After hours of standing (with some arguments in between with Mox who was very, very cranky that time), it was finally our turn! I immediately asked the reservations officer if there were available flights for Bali that were included in the piso fare promo, but to my dismay, there were no more flights! Waaaaah! I really wanted to cry as soon as I heard the news. Imagine, all that waiting for nothing! :(

I felt so down that I wanted to just leave the expo without booking anything, but Mox said that we should just book a flight to any destination so thaat our wait would not be in vain. The reservations officer gave some suggestions like Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore, but I really wanted to go to a beach destination, which was why my heart was set on going to Bali. I thought of going to Phuket instead, but the flight schedules were too close to each other that it would seem as if we would just spend one night in Phuket. Hindi sulit diba?

Then the reservations officer suggested Kota Kinabalu! It is said to be part of East Malaysia, but is far away from the mainland.  I have never been there, but I've heard lots of great things about the place. The best part of all, the airfare was really cheap! We got two roundtrip tickets for less than P3,500! That's even cheaper than some domestic flights! See, worth it rin pala ang pagpila namin ng apat na oras.

So now we have our honeymoon destination. Yey! Our honeymoon will take place two months after our wedding though because those were the only available dates within the piso fare promo. But it does not matter because at least we would still get to travel together! :) It would be Mox's first time to go out of the country EVER, so you can imagine his excitement about the trip. Haha! I still have to do some research on our itinerary and possible accommodations, but that wouldn't be too difficult.. Since we were able to save on our airfare, we could splurge on our hotel accommodation. I can't wait! :)

See you in June Kota Kinabalu!

Seat Sale Fever

There was a time when the words "seat sale" would always give me an adrenaline rush. Trying to book a flight was very nerve-wracking and yet I love the satisfaction I get whenever I was able to book one. I used to book flights regardless whether I have the money for it or not. Addict lang eh. But when Mox and I started saving up for our wedding, I had to let go of my seat sale addiction. Masyado na kasing magastos ang luho na yun eh. So now, I ignore all the seat sale announcements so I wouldn't be tempted to book a flight.

That is until another seat sale has caught my attention:

Because its Airphil's second anniversary, they are offering P2 fare for all domestic destinations and P200 fare for Manila to Singapore and Cebu to Hong Kong flights. Oh diba, ang mura! This is valid for travel from July 1 to December 31, 2012. The selling period begins tonight until March 31 so better book now because these seats are selling like hotcakes. Unahan na to mga kuya at ate! Haha.

Thanks to Airphil's seat sale, I was able to book two roundtrip tickets for me and Mox to Bohol in October. Just in time for our second anniversary. And only for P2060 to boot! Wow, this seat sale is much cheaper than Cebu Pac's seat sales so far. Me likey! :)

Dubai's Dancing Fountain

I just arrived from Dubai Mall where I spent hours walking around and visiting every shop. Grabe, walang nasabi ang Mall of Asia sa laki ng Dubai Mall! It took me almost the whole day to explore all four floors of the mall, and I even skipped some shops since I was too tired to go in anymore. I think I'm done with malls for now. Pahinga na muna wallet ko sa pagshopping. Hehe.

But the pièce de résistance of my trip to Dubai Mall was the nightly show of the Dubai Fountain. Set on Burj Khalifa Lake,the fountain shoots water jets over 150 meters in the air, almost as high as a 50-storey building! It has over 6,000 light and color projectors, which creates more than a thousand unique water expressions just in time with the music.

The show happens every thirty-minute interval between 6:00pm to 11:00pm, but each show attracts hundreds of people so be sure arrive early if you want a prime spot. I took a video of the show earlier, but it's a little shaky because I was craning my neck and raising my camera high above my head just to get a proper look. Yeah, it sucks to be a short girl. Haha.

In other news, more wedding-related this time, we will have another food tasting session on Saturday (our fourth since the start of the year). This time, it's with Swan Catering at their office in Quezon City. I just hope that my flight to Manila could already be booked so that I don't have to worry about missing this event.

UPDATE: My  flight was moved to Friday night so I would arrive in the Philippines on Saturday afternoon. That means I would miss the food tasting with Swan Catering. Boo! :(

Let It Snow!

It's my first day here in Dubai and up to now, I haven't adjusted yet to the four-hour time difference. My body clock is still running on Philippine time, which is 2:49am right now so I'm already feeling sleepy even though it's just 10:49pm here in Dubai.

This is a very tiring day, not just because of the jet lag, but because we've spent an hour and a half skiing. Yes, you heard that right. SKIING IN DUBAI! Who would have thought that a Middle Eastern country would have snow. Well, it's artificial snow, but still! Yeah, we were pretty excited to go down the mountain of snow, but after falling countless times, we all just wanted the session to end. We were such pathetic skiers that kids were already beating us down the slope. Waley kami sa mga batang yun. Haha!

The ski slope

Ski gear on!

"Professional" skiers

Trying to ski

Epic fail

So now, my legs and muscles are already screaming in pain. And to think this is just Day 1 of my 15-day training here in Dubai. Hay, 14 more days to go.

Goodbye Philippines...

... and hello Dubai!

Hindi yan ang hotel ko. Asa naman ako. Haha!

I'll be leaving for Dubai tomorrow and will stay there for two weeks. This would be my first time to travel abroad alone and my first time to go to a country not located in Southeast Asia. Excited na nga ako eh! Although I have to admit, I'm a bit scared because I don't know what to expect when I'm there. I'm also going to miss my family, my dog and of course, Mox. But I'm really looking forward to all the trials and triumphs that this new adventure will bring. Ajah! :)

And since I'll be out of the country until the end of the month, I decided to make a move now on my wedding preparations. And so, I will meet with one of my prospective photographers later! Wish me luck. :)