CieLJ Weekend: The Lost Horizon Resort

I've wanted to take LJ to Bohol before, but what pushed me more was the recent earthquake that damaged a lot of the old churches. The original plan was December, but since the province was still trying to recover then, I delayed the trip and waited for a promo. I chanced upon a good deal with Philippine Airlines and booked the trip right away, sakto for summer! *big grin*

This was supposed to be a no nonsense trip. Not really a backpacker type of vacation, but I've decided that our choices will be practical. I've narrowed my hotel search to at least include the following:

1. Price should not be more than Php 3,000 per night, even better if lower than Php 2,500. 

2. Beachfront location, alam nyo naman si LJ anak dagat

3. Breakfast is already included in the rate. Less stress on deciding where to eat. 

4. Lastly, with Wi-Fi, hehe! Yeah, we are high maintenance, like that. 

Some nice to have in my list that helped me decide to sway in favor of another

1. Trip Advisor reviews

2. Balcony? :) 
3. Can be booked through Agoda

We walked in to Lost Horizon, and it wasn't love at first sight. It's not the usual type of hotel that we are used to, and as mentioned in other reviews, there's a little bit of age in it. It did slowly grew on us. One  advantage of an older hotel is the room size, unlike the modern box rooms, the deluxe room that we got has a lot of floor space, even the bathroom is not cramped. The king size bed was very comfortable and it even had a duvet, not your usual resort style beddings that just gives you a flat sheet for a blanket. There are safes inside the room. We never really use hotel safes, but for Lost Horizon, I felt that we need to. There were no unfortunate incident that happened, but the door knobs were a bit difficult to lock. 

CieLJ Weekend: Arriving in Korea and our AirBnB

I've booked our plane tickets to Korea waaay in advance, but it took me quite a while to look for a good hotel. I usually read reviews through Trip Advisor, but somehow for this trip I couldn't get the confidence that I need. Popular hotels in Seoul are either too expensive or ridiculously small that doesn't have a window or enough daylight. There were also some that were described as love hotels, and it just felt weird. I delayed booking a hotel so much, that with less than a week till our trip then, but we still don't have a place to stay.

I was browsing around and got to AirBnB, whoa! they have a list of cheap apartments , so tempting!!! but are they real? I mean what are the chances that we might get fooled in a foreign country, right?! haha!  

With my husband half asleep, I told him that I'll book a flat, a nice little studio type apartment for our trip to Korea. I guess he had no idea what I was talking about and uttered "sige lang." I browsed some more and found this really cute and reasonably priced flat. Best. Decision. EVER! 

Owner: Sam Woon and his wife 
Apartment: Studio House(S1):Myeongdong&Itaewon

CieLJ Weekend: Anyoung Haseyo, Korea!

Ah, Korea! Such a popular 'thing' in the Philippines, isn't it? K-pop, Korean drama, the hairstyle, and of course, make-up. However, despite it's popularity, my dear husband and I have never really joined the bandwagon yet, and continued to be... let's say, oblivious to this trend.

We booked the trip to explore the country and I immediately became overwhelmed with the options for the tourist. It was such a blessing that an officemate is headed to Korea too, and she was kind enough to share her itinerary to us. The only concern left was that her trip is for 5 days, while ours was only booked for four days so I had to trim it down.

Airline

We booked our tickets through Cebu Pacific. Just a fair warning that this is a budget airline, and despite the 4 hour flight, there's no food that will be served unless you are willing to pay for the rice meal. We ate some early dinner at the airport and got some chips from the convenience store which we brought on-board. We still had to buy the drinks, but we are ok with the 50 pesos per can. We just really can't bear to pay the 350 pesos for such a small serving of rice and viand.

We entered Korea via Incheon -- which was great, this has been awarded the best airport for some years now.

CieLJ Weekend: Club Punta Fuego

We wanted to go out of town, but since it’s too late in the game for me to book tickets, airfares were already crazy expensive and I had to settle for a place that will just be a drive away. 

My husband wanted to drive North, while I am more loyal to the South …of course I won, teehee!  

I narrowed my choices to three: 

Laiya resorts (just because there will be full board meals and I’m lazy like that)
Pico de Loro, and 
Club Punta Fuego

Pico de Loro got crossed out because …I honestly can’t remember, probably because of the reviews; 

Laiya got booted out since we will be going there 2 weeks later anyways, 

so that leaves us with Club Punta Fuego. Excellent Choice! 

I booked our rooms through Expedia, it was also available through Agoda, but at the time Expedia had the room type that I want, and it was cheaper by a couple of hundred. 

We didn’t really get lost; it’s a fairly decent drive. We took the Tagaytay route, on to Nasugbu Town Proper and it will be an easy drive from there. Slowly the houses will be replaced by landscapes, and the road will be a bit more uphill. Canyon Cove will be to your left, as well as Terrazas de Punta Fuego, just keep on going,  follow the signage for ‘Pico de Loro,’ to make it easier. Probably 10 minutes more up and down the hill, and keep your eyes peeled for that one small sign for Club Punta Fuego where you’ll need to turn left. A word of caution the road humps are high in that area, drive slowly. Just stay on the road and you will reach the gates of Club Punta Fuego, luxury and exclusivity begins! 

We parked in front of the main clubhouse and checked-in to our room. We booked a sunset suite, there are casitas also available and I think those are more popular because of the floor space, but they got me interested to the hotel like suites because of the ‘balcony.’ I’m such a sucker for that small space with a view. The sunset suite rocks!!

awesome view!

Happy Anniversary to Us! :)

It's been a year since we got up at the crack of dawn to prepare for one of our happiest day ever! I can't believe it... kase feeling ko ten years na with all the wrinkles and konsomisyon, LOL! 

Seriously though, it's been a fun ride... exciting and challenging, absolutely no dull moments... kase sa kin pa lang he already had his hands full. I'm sure he didn't expect me to be such a matigas na ulo partner, so I'm thankful that he still haven't left my side. Well either he's the most patient man ever, or magandang quality ng helmet ang nakuha ko, hehe! Swerte nya kaya, jackpot na jackpot sya ...sa sakit ng ulo, haha! 

The past year has been good to us, it was fair in giving us our share of happiness and tears. We've grown up a lot, from handling the simple day to day tasks of cleaning and eating, up to the more complex tasks that I personally used to depend on my parents like plumbing and maintenance. We are starting to handle grown-up problems now, and I think we are still doing 'ok.'  We do fight, though not as much as when we were just dating. We've matured in handling challenging conversations, though it's still a work in progress. We don't see eye to eye in a lot of things, but we do compromise when needed. Some health issues are in the way, but for now we will choose to celebrate our small and humble achievements. 

To my dear hubby, thank you for being crazy and laughing with me, for not leaving my side, and always cheering me on. I'm always a princess when I'm with you. 

Happy Anniversary to us :) 

CieLJ Weekend: My Kind of Birthday

The last few weeks have been difficult, with the new role, transitions, migrations at work, health concerns (still finding the strength to blog about it) and some repairs due at the condo, there's just zero time for me to plan or even imagine what I want for my birthday week. I waited too long, and as expected, all the good deals are gone. LJ insisted that we should still try to get a good vacation, so I went back to Google and searched for possible options. With just one week to go, I entertained the idea of us just driving someplace na pwede kami tumunganga, both of us just really want to rest and eat good food... at tumunganga :) 

So here's what we came up with... semi-road trip to the South :) 

I said 'semi' because it was basically a free and easy drive, if we want to stop we will stop, if we want to keep on driving we can. Absolutely no pressure to stop at the regular touristy pitstops. 

Woke up early (well at least, by our standards) on the day of my birthday, took care of the laundry and packed our bags. We were out the door at around 1030-ish. 

12pm we visited Greenfield, Sta Rosa to check out the progress at Solen. You can read back about Solen here. We are very excited with the idea that we will eventually be moving to a house. So many design ideas are crossing our head, but we still have time to figure that out, so those scrap images are reserved for Pinterest for now. 

CieLJ Weekend: Theme Park Edition

LJ recently celebrated his 30th, and instead of having a party we packed our bags and decided to head back to Singapore and tour some parks! We are getting old, so we didn't fill our schedule to the brim like the last time, but I'll be posting suggested side trips as well just in case you guys are interested. 

Day 1: Chill, Zoo, Chill 

Well that was the plan, but then it became... got lost... Singapore Zoo.. aaand we got lost again, LOL! 

We left Manila at around 5am. Fearing that he won't get to drop-by Duty Free when we get back, he went ahead and started his shopping even before we got on-board. 

I came home late from the office the night before and had to finish packing so I got zero sleep. I spent the 4 hour flight snoozing while LJ tries to keep me from rolling to the floor. 

We checked in at Value Hotel Thomson near the corner of Thomson Rd and Ballister. It's quite a long walk from the MRT and I wouldn't recommend this for tourists, especially if you have kids, unless you plan to take the taxi everywhere or you know how to take the bus since the bus stops are nearer. You can read my full review and the room photos here.

Tip: If you are planning to explore the city on your own, you could get the tourist pass card or a regular ez-link card. It's easier than having the need to prepare change. We have ours from two years ago, and just added credits once we got to Changi.  

On our first day, we got acquainted with the bus system and we failed miserably. After a couple of attempts we got to the Singapore Zoo, finally! 

CieLJ Tradition: MYOH 2013

...aaaand we're back! I had to take a little break from blogging to get my swing back at work and keep the household in working condition ...heck! who am I kidding, I've been out talaga because of Candy Crush! LOL! anywaaaay, so we are back now, I promise to make the post more regular again, and I still owe the ratings for our wedding suppliers, we'll post those soon. 

CieLJ Cravings: Vanilla Cupcake Bakery

Passing by this cute and newly opened Vanilla Cupcake Bakery you will easily fall in love with the decor. The drapes, the Daphne chairs, the cozy sofas and of course the line-up of cupcakes to be served on a cute white saucer along with a wooden fork. You can almost hear the place screaming "Instagram me!"

Alas, the pleasant experience for the eyes, becomes a stressful game for the mind. Despite the long display of yummy treats at the Vanilla Cupcake Bakery in Glorietta -- wrongly labeled cupcakes if I may add, there's no one to assist you on what you are supposed to do. Apparently the cashier is on the side, you are expected to tell her your order, pay and step aside. There's no clear menu aside from the cupcakes, I was so unsure on what I can order, I can't see any coffee list and the girl didn't up-sell any drinks so I assumed there was none. 

What's next? 

You'll have to wait for your name to be called, a good 5 minutes if you are lucky. We were unlucky, they totally forgot our order! 

CieLJ Cravings: Quiznos

I went through a sandwich phase, and I craved for subs almost every other day to the extent that I meet up with LJ at Glorietta late at night to get my Subway fix since their store is open until 1am. 

I was excited when Quiznos opened a branch along Bonifacio High Street, as this means I can get subs without going to Makati anymore. 

Duty Free Love

I was deprived of the Duty Free experience when I was younger, LOL. Apparently LJ shared the same sentiment despite being a son of an OFW himself. So when we got back from HK last December, we agreed that we will go to Duty Free! Ma-cancel na lahat ng appointments namin wag lang the Duty Free trip! 

We'll be coming from Laguna, but I was too lazy to drive. So we decided to take the jeep. It was a long and dusty ride, but we made it, and it wasn't so bad… 

In case you'll be taking the jeep as well, here's how we did it: 

Ride the jeep to Sucat,

Transfer to another jeep bound for Baclaran. 

The jeep will pass right in front of the Duty Free Fiesta mall, just tell the driver so they can be on the look-out for you too. 

Get off the jeep and skip to the front door! Yey! 

How to Get to Wellmanson Quiapo

I learned about this shop when I was trying to decide if I should DIY our wedding cord or not. I've read that they have all the beads, accessories and tools you'll need to make your dream wedding cord a reality. Naks!  

Since I have time today, I decided to pay Quiapo a visit. It's a weekday, all my abays have work, so I prepped to go there alone... with shaking knees. :) 

LJ tagged along, despite having zero sleep. He said it's part of his duty, so I happily allowed him to explore Quiapo with me! 

There are a lot of ways for you to get to Quiapo, we just decided to take the route that we think will be most comfortable for us, translation: naka-upo, with minimal need to transfer. So here it goes... 

Quezon Road Trip

LJ’s friends invited us for an impromptu road trip to Quezon. Unisan, Quezon to be exact. Where is this place exactly? It’s at the very faaaar side of the Quezon province. 

We left at 7am and arrived close to 3pm. We were unlucky enough to be stuck in a 3 hour traffic because of some bridge-road construction. At one point, we were beside a JAC liner bus with free Wi-Fi. It required a password so Alou knocked on the driver’s window to request for it. Resourceful! That Wi-Fi connection entertained us for a good hour.

Despite arriving late, we still continued with the island hopping. We paid 1,200 for the boat, 30 pesos for the Dampalitan Island and 20 pesos for Borawan. 

Wedding Duties: CieLJ Saves the Date!

It’s finally here! Our much awaited Save the Date illustration. LJ really wanted to have this old school style comic cover ever since he saw samples in the internet. He said I can do anything I want with the formal Invite, but he’ll be the design master for the Save the Dates.

After much delay, LJ sent an inquiry email to Andrew Villar. He’s the creator of the popular weekly comic strip seen in Manila Bulletin’s Entertainment Section, “Ambush.” Fortunately, he was open to our idea, and asked more questions to better understand the concept of what we would want to appear in our 'comic cover.'

Here’s the scene set-up that LJ provided… the advantages of being engaged to a writer, hehe!

Without further adieu, here’s Andrew Villar’s masterpiece for us…

Wedding Duties: Invitation Design

The rain and the fear that the roads were already flooded on that Saturday afternoon did not stop us from heading over to Printed Matter's concept store in Quezon City. I'm glad we went there since the invites displayed in the bridal fair were conveniently transferred to the store, making it very easy for us to recall which ones we liked. 

Just in case you are heading over to the Printed Matter Concept store in QC, they've posted a map online. You can view it through their website. 
Before going there, we browsed through some sample invites from the web, 

we were thinking post card, 

we were thinking simple, 

we were thinking washed out map background, 

semi-rustic... 

Wedding Duties: Hear ye! Hell yeah!

Less than 3 months left and we finally got a supplier for our wedding invites! Yey! We booked Printed Matter when we attended the Themes and Motifs bridal fair held at SMX. 

We weren’t really planning to hire anyone, this was supposed to be my DIY project… 

LJ thought otherwise; he was already imagining how I would look like -- a month close to the wedding, I'm covered with wrapping paper and entangled in ribbons, while crying that I can’t finish it. LOL! 

123rf.com

So to prevent the drama, we went ahead searched for a reasonably priced invite.

CieLJ Tips: Getting your NSO BC and CeNoMar

We talked about how we did not call the NSO hotline here. We didn't request for our documents to be delivered, and instead decided to do it ala-DIY by going to one of the NSO Serbilis Centers. 

In our case, the Makati City Hall (old building) was convenient for us, this is one of NSO's listed Serbilis Centers, so off we went. This is the building right along JP Rizal.

Here are the steps, it's quite easy. You seriously don't have to deal with fixers if it will be just for this. 

What to bring when getting your NSO Birth Certificate: 
Ballpen, for the forms
Envelope

A street vendor sells this just within the area if you are feeling lazy. There's no getting around the need to fill up the redundant form though... So flex those fingers! 

Here are steps as posted along the NSO Walls... 

Step 1: Get application form from the SCREENER

--- one form for the Birth Certificate, another form for the CeNoMar

Wedding Duties: NSO Documents

Amidst the fun and colorful wedding preparations, we simply can’t ignore the boring legal requirements.

One fine afternoon, LJ and I headed over to the Makati City hall to request for copies of our Birth Certificates and Cenomar. Oh! Fun!

CieLJ Cravings: Bar-B-King is Luuurv!

Have you tried eating at the Bar-B-King yet? no?! you should! 

With our frequent trips to Megamall, we've actually strolled past this resto many times but never really considered eating here before. That day, however, we were feeling a little adventurous (or perhaps "lazy is the right word, no?) we decided to just not think about it and walked inside the first restaurant we saw that offered rice and meat. 

We were so happy we did! 

Grilled Angus Belly Beef, Php 165

CieLJ Cravings: Cue Modern BBQ

We recently tried the Cue Modern BBQ located along Bonifacio High Street. 

The place was well decorated, with interesting accents. My eyes couldn't stop admiring the details, from the ceiling to the walls, and the simple table decor.