Meet the “hallabong”, the dekopon fruit of Jeju, South Korea.
….
Say what?
I feel ya. Before this, the extent of my knowledge about this family of fruits is orange, mandarin, ponkan, and Sagada oranges. And it was either sweet or sour. Who knew there’s another entire orange-y world out there? Continue reading “The Fate of the Travelling Hallabong”
Bright and waaaay early, we woke up so we can cram as much as we can on our last day in “dynamic” Busan. After getting directions for the hotel concierge, we took a not-so-short walk to the bus stop and took a bus to our first destination for the day: the Haedong Yonggungsa or the Haedong Yonggung Temple.
Continue reading “South Korea Pt 19: Chill Time at Haedong Yonggungsa, Busan”
In honor of CNBLUE, a band that is closely identified with Busan, I am picking up what is remaining of my South Korea travel posts.
Busan is the second-largest metropolis in South Korea, second only to Seoul. However, when it comes to land area, Busan trumps Seoul, having a land area of 767.35 sq km to the capital city’s 605.21. Anyway, my point is… it’s huge, and we only had a couple of days, tops, to spend on it. It is yet another injustice that I hope to rectify in the future. God (and budget) willing.
Continue reading “South Korea Pt 18: Sun & Fun in Haeundae Beach, Busan”
I love tea. In fact, I love it so much I will take it any way I can. I love it even more than coffee (which, I admit, isn’t saying much, I suppose, considering I am only mildly enamored with coffee, if at all). I love it even more when it comes in different varieties, you know, other than those teabags you snatch off the shelves at the supermarket.
So I was glad when an officemate told me about this tea place that serves Thai tea. It is aptly named THAI TEANIC MILK TEA. Continue reading “"Unsinkable" Tea Experience at Thai Teanic”
I figured we all deserve a time to be spastic or “let loose the inner fangirl in us”, and that is exactly what this post is all about. Clearly, I am still on a high after catching Yonghwa, Jonghyun, Jungshin and Minhyuk in the Manila leg of their CAN’T STOP 2014 live tour at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, heavy rains and flooding and all. Before I completely close on that chapter (well, not completely, since I have a series of posts coming up that are indirectly related to them), let me just post a few more of the snaps I managed to take during the concert, and also share the things that I loved about it. (You can read my mini-con report right here.) Continue reading “What I Loved About CNBLUE "Can’t Stop" Live Tour 2014 in Manila”
Outside, neighboring towns and cities are submerged in a flood. Typhoon Mario is making his presence felt in a not-at-all-subtle manner. All the way in Hawaii, Arashi Blast is happening (which is verrrry fitting). Inside the SMART Araneta Coliseum, the show went on. Which is a good thing, because I braved the foul weather to travel all the way from Baguio to catch this concert that I have been looking forward to in months. Thank you, CNBLUE and the organizers for not letting Typhoon Mario stop “CAN’T STOP” from happening!
Continue reading “Typhoon Mario "Can't Stop" CNBLUE Live In Manila”
Growing up, my perception of “family trips” involved going to my folks’ hometown and visiting the grandparents. That’s it. We were never big on family outings, or hitting the beach, or even going out on picnics. So this trip to Hong Kong, with me and my parents (and Aunt in tow) is, to say the least, one for the books. It’s also something I look forward to repeating soon, real soon.
Remember in my Victoria Peak post where I mentioned about camera battery draining, with the spare battery left at the hotel? So I had to make do with my phone’s less-than-stellar camera to take whatever pix I can when we went down to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum? I forgot to mention that, at the time, my camera’s battery was also slowly draining, no thanks to the cold weather. Ya feel my predicament?
Continue reading “HK ’11: Madame Tussaud’s & Wrapping Up Hong Kong”
In less than 5 days, Imma see Jonghyun and the guys again! SO. PSYCHED. (This is me looking at the silver lining despite what has been a killer of a busy week.)
In this post, I will wrap up our Hong Kong Disneyland adventure, which I blogged about earlier in part 1.
Continue reading “HK ’11: Hong Kong Disneyland Resort Pt 2”
It’s not even halfway through the month of September, and things at work are becoming so hectic, no thanks to the rollout of a new computerized system the office has developed. On the other hand, I am counting the days until the 19th when I can let loose with Jonghyun and the guys.
So, amid all the bustle and pressure at work, what do I do? Reminisce about one day spent at the “happiest place on earth”. I’m talking, of course. about our visit to the Hong Kong Disneyland.
Continue reading “HK '11: Hong Kong Disneyland Resort Pt 1”
Amusement parks have always ranked low in my list of “must-visit places”. That is partly because there really isn’t a lot of them within throwing distance of where I grew up and am living in. But the Hong Kong trip was all about new experiences, and even if I was not able to get on the extreme rides (because one, I am not yet “primed” for them, and two, I was with three waaay older folks, who seem to be in danger of palpitating from just staring at the people on the rides), we still made it a point to check out Ocean Park Hong Kong.
Continue reading “HK '11: On a Lark at Ocean Park”
It was in September 1, 1909 when Baguio City was granted its charter. To this day, it is considered one of the most important dates – if not THE most important date – in the history of Baguio City. And every year, it is celebrated with a program and a civic parade on the date itself, followed by a series of activities lasting throughout the month.
This year is no different. Continue reading “'Twas a Vibrant Day When Baguio Turned 105”
One thing I learned in our jaunt to this particular place: having a spare battery for your camera is no good at all if YOU LEFT IT BEHIND AT THE HOTEL ANYWAY. So imagine me squeezing the remaining battery life of my camera to the very end until it died completely after I took a couple of shots from the Peak. (And then relying on my poor-quality phone camera for photos inside Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. *wryyyyy*) Continue reading “HK '11: Scaling The Peak”
While fixing up the itinerary for our HK trip, places such as Hong Kong Disneyland, Ocean Park, and Victoria Peak were already a given. But this is me we’re talking about, and I’m a sucker for things slightly traditional and historical, with a touch of the religious and some mythology thrown in, so Ngong Ping just had to be included, if only to check out the Big Buddha, or more formally known as the Tian Tian Buddha.
Continue reading “HK '11: The Big Buddha”
Just several days ago, my friend and I were having a conversation about future possible trips, and we realized we both wanted to go back to Hong Kong. Our exchange also reminded me of that HK trip I took more than a couple of years ago (which makes this post another #throwWAYback travel post). As I am going through the photos, sifting through them to find which I should include, I am feeling that urge to go back. Maybe this time, with friends. Continue reading “HK '11: Soaring Towards Ngong Ping”
(Well, I did say this week is close to being one of those “Hell Weeks”, didn’t I. And it’s going to be the same next week, too. Oh, joy. #DifficultiesOfBeingAnAdult)
I was looking for a fitting way to wrap up this series of Boracay-in-August posts, and what better way than to take a look at it in the evening? Continue reading “(Non) Summer in Boracay 4: "Eveningscapes"”
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