There is always THAT place or landmark that, wherever you are, when you feel disoriented, you just have to look up, spot it, and feel reassured. For me, when I am around the Myeongdong (and neighboring) areas, that landmark would be the N Seoul Tower.
Imagine feeling bored and tired of your usual routine, so you retire to that garden at the back of your house, where you could smell the fresh air, read a book (or even write one), walk for hours along the picturesque trails, sit inside any of the pavilions and be mesmerized by how calm and still the water on the pond is… Oh wait, I suppose you can only do that if (1) you are royalty and (2) you lived during the Joseon era. You can still catch a glimpse of that long-gone era, however, by checking out Huwon, the Secret Garden of Changdeokgung.
Continue reading “SoKor 2015: Huwon, The Secret Garden of Changdeok Palace in Seoul”
Palaces are a staple if you’re visiting Seoul. Or South Korea, in general. In fact, I think you cannot say you’ve made a proper visit to this beautiful country without having visited at least one of these national treasures. Changdeokgung, or Changdeok Palace, is one of these palaces: a well-preserved historical relic of the past and a beautiful reminder of that past in the present. Out of the five major palaces of Joseon, it is the most well-preserved to this day, and that’s partly the reason it was declared another UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Continue reading “SoKor 2015: Changdeokgung (Changdeok Palace) in Seoul”
Seeing Bangtan on YouTube, Twitter, Naver’s V App and various other websites that I visit everyday, I thought seeing them live on stage for the first time would be somehow anticlimactic. Or that it would not be as exciting. After all, I see them during the great part of every day (that’s how much of a fan I am), and I hear Jimin’s voice every time I get a new SMS on my phone. And then Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa On Stage: Epilogue in Manila happened. BOY, WAS I SO WRONG.
Continue reading “FF #7: BTS on Fire in HwaYangYeonHwa On Stage: Epilogue in Manila”
Time for another foodie post. I’m not really the type to eat out a lot, and those few times I do, I spend more time eating than actually paying attention on whether I can talk about it in my blog or not. Haha! But once in a while, I feel motivated. Just like now, as we visit another small place in La Trinidad, the town I live in. It’s called the Half Cup Cafe.
We always find new hobbies, and we even actively seek them out when things are starting to become “meh~”. But hiking, going out in the great outdoors, and travelling is sure to be a hobby that I will have for a very long time to come. I always stop and savor that feeling of gratefulness for the opportunities that I get to see as much as I can (or as much as my resources would let me). When we reached the peak of Mt. Bukhansan was definitely one of the moments when I felt that gratefulness wash over me. In great waves.
When do you feel that you are freest? When do you feel like all burdens or ill thoughts are simply taken away from you by some other unseen force, leaving you so lightweight and… and free? I can probably name a few instances. One of them is being in the cradle of nature, when I am walking up a mountain path, up to the moment that I am standing somewhere high, far above everything (or almost everything) else. Well, that’s exactly how I felt on that day I went on a hike up Bukhansan, or Bukhan Mountain, in Seoul, South Korea.
I’m at the end of my blog series about BenCab Museum, and it is to talk about the art museum itself. Now I am not an artsy person. One of my frustrations is to be able to draw something that is recognizable for what it is. Then I recognized a lost cause for what it is, and gave up (yeah, there are some things that we have to concede on). But that does not mean we stop appreciating, and “appreciate” is what I did during this visit.
Continue reading “7 Reasons Why You Should Visit BenCab Museum”
Prior to visiting BenCab Museum, I purposefully did not stuff myself full with food because I wanted to check out what they have to offer at Cafe Sabel. It was… quite an experience, to say the least. Love the coffee, though, and how it “kicked” me right up.
It’s July, y’all! First half of the year is over, and the second half has begun. Time did fly so fast, didn’t it? The next thing you know, it’s Christmas. But that won’t be for a few months yet, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? To welcome the 2nd half of the year, let’s go local, to a place that’s really close, but I’ve never been to before. The BenCab Museum.
Continue reading “BenCab Museum: Eco-Trail at the BenCab Farm and Garden”
Now won’t it be interesting to have this course or subject? “Accounting for Fandom”. It may even deserve its own line-item on financial statements, something along the lines of “Travel Expenses – Fandom” or (let’s just go straight to it) “Assets – Fandom”. Wait, you know what’s coming next, right? Yes. “Liabilities – Fandom”.
I suppose I should apologize for posting too much about Everland, but then I realized, why apologize for something I thoroughly enjoyed? We took the Special Tour of The Lost Valley, and I blogged about that in the previous post. But even if you decided not to get on that ride, you are still going to be able to feast your eyes on gorgeous creatures, as we did!
Continue reading “SoKor 2015: The Lost Valley at Everland Resort”
Everland is the largest theme park-slash-resort in South Korea, and it is also one of the theme parks that commands the most number of visitors all year round. The T-Express was one of the main draws, and then they opened the Safari World, and attendance increased even more. Later on, they opened another major attraction, “The Lost Valley Safari Adventure“, and the numbers were higher than ever. When we were there August last year, the resort was celebrating the first anniversary of The Lost Valley, and we were so glad we were there, even for a bit.
Continue reading “SoKor 2015: The Lost Valley Special Tour at Everland Resort”
Growing up, zoos haven’t been one of my favorite places to go to. For starters, there weren’t a lot of those where I grew up. I remember the Manila Zoo being my first ever zoo visit and that was for a school field trip. I vaguely remember it to be fascinating although, as I grew older and realized seeing animals in captivity was less… exciting than watching them roam free, zoos lost some of their appeal for me. The Safari World at Everland Resort, however, was different.
Continue reading “SoKor 2015: Safari World at Everland (plus the Amazon Express!)”
The month of June means a lot of things in the Philippines – the start of classes (and heavier-than-usual traffic), the beginning of the rainy season, the end of the first half of the fiscal recording year (only people in the accounting field will probably care about this) and, for some, the beginning of the countdown to Christmas 2016 (nope, it’s never too early, not in the Philippines). But it also marks the annual observance and celebration of the Philippines’ Independence after 333 years of occupation by Spain, every June 12. So I thought I’d try to do a bit of my own celebration by making posts about places I’ve seen with historical significance.
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