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Working as a copywriter and editor for a service company who provides online support for accommodation providers (hotels, resorts, B&Bs, condotels, etc.) all over the world has me on the constant lookout for travel-related information and industry news.

In this infographic, we see an easily digestible history of the hotel services--considered innovations way back when they were first offered--that we now come to expect as standard. However, as one commenter from the original source site noted, there hasn't been a standard service since 1974 when the first mini-bar was introduced in a Hong Kong hotel.

Source: CNN
I haven't experienced the tablet control thing here in Manila, but I've read InterContinental and Sheraton Hotels are already offering some form of tablet service. Meanwhile, I'm not sure I'd go for tweeting my hotel reservations, as there's not much room to write whatever you need/ want the hotel to know. I would guess this would take a lot of back-and-forth conversations via Twitter.

This infographic forgot one more thing, though, even before the tablet control--which I can safely classify as a non-standard still--iPod docks in rooms. Well, maybe they didn't want to promote any brand names that's why they left it out. But I do believe this is an "innovation" service, so to speak.
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In preparation for my sojourn to the land of Kpop and Kdrama, I find myself browsing through countless blogs, travel sites, and OTAs (online travel agencies). Though I've yet to look for must-visit attractions and must-buy items, there are certain things I want to do when I'm in South Korea, particularly in Seoul.

1. Eat bibimbap and samgyeopsal

Bibimbap @ Bibimbob
I've had the pleasure of tasting bibimbap here in Manila at a fast food joint called, Bibimbob, which is located at the food court of SM North EDSA in Quezon City. This signature Korean dish literally means mixed rice, and that's really what you do with it, mix the rice with vegetables and beef (usually it's beef, but at Bibimbob they also have pork and chicken). It's surprisingly delicious and tasty, and I'm all for having as many vegetables in my rice as possible, well, except kimchi as it is spicy. Not a fan of spicy anything. Needless to say, I fell in like with it and now must have this when I visit Seoul soon.

Samgyeopsal, on the other had, I have been curious to try ever since I saw it in a Kdrama. Savory grilled meat with garlic, bean paste, bean sprouts--even rice--wrapped in crisp lettuce and dipped in sauce. I'd be willing to forgo my hate relationship with anything spicy for this, and still try to enjoy it.

2. Stay in a Hanok guesthouse

image from kimchicrew
Even for just a night, I would like to experience a stay in a hanok, a traditional Korean house with wooden floors, columns, doors, and sometimes tiled, sometimes straw roofing. If you watch Korean dramas, I'm sure you'd have seen one. Most would have an ondol, or floor heating to keep you warm during the winter months. Sure, I might have to endure a trip outside to the bathroom if I feel to urge to pee in the middle of the night, as hanoks will commonly have a shared bathroom that's located in a separate structure. But all this will just add to the whole South Korean experience that I'm planning to savor on my trip. On the plus side, most hanok guesthouses are affordable and located within city limits.

3. Watch a Korean pop music show

SBS Inkigayo
Yeah, I'd queue up for this one, maybe even get up early. I don't actually mind who will perform (it would be great though if SHINee, Infinite, SuJu, FTIsland, or SNSD will be there), I just want to experience watching a live show instead of on cable or on YouTube. Plus, I'm really all for Kpop.


Mnet Countdown
There are different ways of getting in, one is by joining a Daum or a fan club, and you'd have to show you are a fan by producing a copy of the band/ singer's album to the fan club president/ representative. But you can also take a chance by signing up as a studio audience in any of the 4 music show's website: SBS Ingkigayo (Sundays), KBS Music Bank (Fridays), Mnet Countdown (Thursdays), and MBC Music Core (Saturdays). The audience would be selected randomly from those who signed up at the site.

4. Eat in a Pojangmacha

Again, as seen from countless Korean dramas, I'm curious about trying a meal in a Pojangmacha. These tented street stalls are a common sight in South Korea and, I'm thinking, might be a great place to sample Korean street food and see how the locals are like. Basically, people watch. it's not something I do very often, as I think it's rude, but then I'm a tourist so, maybe, certain liberties could be granted and taken. :D

5. Try the Jjimjilbang

South Korea's public bathhouse cum sauna. As a first-time tourist in SK and a regular spa visitor, I would like to try this very Korean form or relaxation. I believe it has become some sort of tourist attraction, if not for the unique experience you'll get. For a few thousand wons you can spend hours inside the jimjilbang lounging by the common area while watching on a big-ass TV or having a meal. You can even head to the saunas and start your jimjilbang adventure (but you have to be butt naked in these areas. Not to worry, it's separated by gender.) Some budget travelers even bunk for the night in jimjilbangs, saving them thousands of wons in the process. It's a fantastic idea, if you're not too picky about where you sleep. I would do this for the experience, but only when I'm not traveling alone.

I'm quite excited about this trip that hopefully will come into fruition as scheduled. However, there are so many things to do first before this happens...and that's my cue to start moving my ass and get started.

PS

Thanks to SHINee, EXO, Infinite, Spica, Super Junior, and Henry for getting me in the mood to write this long post.
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If you're planning an intimate party with a few friends, and you want to spice it up with a simple theme, then this blog from Martha's Craft Department just might give you the boost you need. It's simple and it's relatively cheap! I love it, since I'm a wishful traveler myself. Maybe, it can even spark a travel adventure for you and your buddies.

Party in Paris




La Tour Effiel *sigh*
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I really, really hate it when I stumble on links that feature items like these:


It's a travel bag that is small enough to be a school bag. You can even sit on it while waiting for your flight or for the school bus. The double back wheels make it easy to carry up a flight of stairs. It's customizable as well. It's very convenient and covetable (especially when I can think of an everyday use for it - as an MRT chair).

Too bad, it's really a luxe item for me at US$145 or about Php6,000+. Maybe when I win the lotto...

www.zuca.com
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I'll try to make this as short as possible because I'm not up to writing a very detailed travel blog today. I just feel that I need to get this out of my system so I can move to writing other things. Haha. So...

Unlike my Hongkong trip last January, this was the first time I stepped on Thailand. It was also the first time that I went with just one other person - KC. Usually, when I go on out-of-the-country trips with friends, the headcount at the minimum is 5. Anyhoo, since our flight was scheduled at 9:30 pm on Inauguration Day, KC and I decided to meet at the north MRT station at 3:30pm so we'll have ample time to get to the airport on the other side of the city just in case it's traffic. If no cabbie will take us, we have the option to ride the MRT. Wais!

We got to the NAIA Terminal 3 in about 45 minutes. So we had like more than 4 hours to kill, which was fine with both of us because we needed to change our money to Baht at the airport and we had no idea where it is. So, while waiting for our gate to open, KC and I ate at Yellow cab. At almost 100 pesos a slice, it looked pathetically small next to the humongous slice of yummy pizza from S&R.

We killed more time by walking around the shops and then had some money exchanged to Baht at the currency exchange counter near the international terminal fee booth (rate was at Php1.70 = THB1). After than, we decided to check-in our bags and then wait for boarding time at the gate, and maybe catch a bit of sleep. But since we still have a bit of time to kill, we decided to get some coffee at Bo's Coffee near our gate. Perfect!

At boarding, as expected, everyone stood to line up even if the ground stewardess announced the seat numbers that needed to board first. Guess, everyone can't wait to get their butts on the plane. Inside the plane, I was surprised to find the space between the rows was so small it was impossible to recline the seats without making the person at the back of your seat feel even more uncomfortable. You can't even pass by to go to the toilet! WTF??!!! I don't remember my flight to HK being this sucky.

But even at that situation, KC and I found something to laugh at. The whole cabin was filling up with fog, like a fog machine feeding a stage with smoke. We found it so hilarious and a bit weird that we took pics just to be able to laugh about it again afterward. We concocted all sorts of stories to go with the fog and I'm guessing, since we were the only ones who found it funny, the other passengers thought we were smacked in the head or something.

here's proof of cebupac's fog machine

Everything went back to normal after take-off, thank God! And I was even able to take a snapshot of Manila from the air. It was a pretty sight. Clear enough for the lights to be caught by my measly point-and-shoot camera.


We arrived at the Suvarnabhumi (pronounced as Suwanapoom) Airport just before midnight Thailand time. I was excited to be there for the first time, and thinking of the adventures I was about to embark on. Yahooo! Of course, we just had to laugh at some really unusual things in the airport, like this really big toilet sign that's like 2 feet square.


After breezing through immigration, getting our luggage, and filling our pockets with every map and brochure we could find at the airport, we headed out the doors and rode our taxi to the hotel. We paid THB400 up to our hotel in Sukhumvit. We arrived before 2am and our friendly receptionist Ornitcha (something like that) welcomed us with a smile and great news that we have been upgraded from Standard room to Superior room and she gave us access to the WiFi and our welcome drink coupon, which we can claim anytime.



The room we got was on the 2nd floor (Rm 216) and very near the WiFi router, cool! Inside it was spacious and very clean. The mini-bar and fridge was fully stocked and the cable channels were actually in English (in HK we couldn't watch anything decent)! The bed was already calling to me, so after I settled in, I took a shower. After about an hour, it was lights out. Zzz...
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Friday, my third day in Hong Kong. Ahhh...the smell of early morning coffee - really early, like 5:30am early. I was still groggy and my brain wanted more sleep but it was time to get ready. We had a full day ahead (KC and I slept late planning the day's activities the night before) and I, personally, wanted to make the most of my stay in Hong Kong. I can sleep back home. =)

Anyway, looking out the window at the thick morning fog told us that we need to jumble our itinerary. ☁ Victoria Peak was supposed to be our first activity of the day, but the view would've been wasted with the fog. So we decided to bump up our second activity - the Mid-levels Escalator. The longest outdoor escalator in the world, the Mid-levels escalator runs 800 meters long and takes you up to 135 meters from the bottom, and crosses about 14 streets in all! Whew! Talk about loooooong.

So, after riding the escalator (about 3 or 4 sections of it), we got off at Hollywood Road (one of the nicest neighborhoods we've seen in HK) to visit the famous Man Mo Temple, one of the oldest temples in Hong Kong with its hanging coiled incense. There was a lot of people inside burning incense and praying. No picture taking was allowed inside the temple so we just stood there watching people praying and being smoked like hams. I wasn't able to appreciate the uniqueness and beauty of this temple since I can hardly open my eyes and breathe inside. After a minute of so, we went out to get some fresh air. Haaaaah!

Inside Man Mo Temple (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

After, we walked back to Soho to get some lunch. Along the way we stopped at Duddell Street where the last working gas lamps in HK are located. It was in my itinerary so finding it like we did, walking towards Soho, was great and a time saver. ✔

Finding the perfect place to have our lunch was kinda hard in Soho with so many choices and budget constraints on our part. It seemed like we would end up in one of our fail-safe American fast-food chain choices. Luckily, our determination to savor new fares was strong enough to keep us looking. We ended on Old Bailey Street where we found Tequila, a Mexican bar and restaurant. We chose 3 orders of their set lunches each with a different appetizer and main course. It was yummy! Well worth the money spent on it.


With stomachs filled and wallets a little lighter, we headed out to our main destination for the day - Victoria Peak Tram/ Victoria Peak. Of course, staying true to our "turista" label, we stopped to take pictures of every famous landmark we pass by. One such monument is St. John's Cathedral. It was beautiful and so solemnly grand inside you can't help but fall silent. The catholic in me found some sense of solace in this place. ✝

After a few more minutes of walking we finally got to the Victoria Peak Tram Station. We bought our tickets ($56 return with Sky Terrace) and patiently waited in line for our turn to ride the tram. It was still a bit foggy and bitingly cold when we started our tram ride up to Victoria Peak. When we got there one of the very first things we did (aside from taking more pictures) was buy souvenirs. I bought this Jordan street sign magnet for HKD10 and some other HK magnets and keychains to give away at home. After, we proceeded to the Sky Terrace at the very top of the tower where you can have a bird's eye view of the city.

Since I'm scared shit of heights and structures with glass railings/ walls, I stayed a couple of feet away from the edge of the terrace and was content on not having any pictures there. But everywhere else is fine with me. It was so cold and so windy that we didn't have too many decent-looking pictures there. Especially me! ☃

After all that cold air seeping into our clothes, we needed to defrost with something hot, creamy, and delicious - COFFEE! The only coffee shop there that didn't have any branch in the Philippines was Pacific Coffee, so we naturally went there. Ah...heaven in a cup! c[_]

From Victoria Peak our next destination was back to the TST harbor where we were scheduled to watch the Symphony of Lights show. For that we opted to ride the Star Ferry, which was cheaper and offered a more scenic route to TST than the MTR. Plus, it was Mimi and Joyce's first time in HK so we decided that they had to experience the ferry ride.

The walk to the pier was long and tiring. But we had a chance to explore more of HK and of course took lots of pictures to chronicle this adventure. The cold weather spurred us because it lessened our tiredness.

The Symphony of Lights show was unexpectedly unspectacular. Yes, it was a feat to coordinate around 10 buildings to light up in sync with the music. However, to a viewer looking for the "wow" factor in a much hyped event, it was a letdown. I enjoyed the skyline of the Hong Kong side more and relished the fact that it was so cold I was beginning to have chapped lips - something that doesn't happen to me in Manila.


I was tired and ready to drop dead at the hotel, but of course we didn't do just that. We wandered about the area and took more pictures at the 1881 Heritage and in front of The Peninsula. Afterwhich, thankfully, everyone agreed to go back to the hotel. 

Haaah! So tired, sleepy, and quite hungry - again - I had a little snack before turning in for the night. Tomorrow's another fun-filled adventure day!
 
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About Me

Hi! Welcome to my personal blog. I'm a 30-something mom who likes to travel, try new places to eat, read books, and watch movies. I also happen to love fashion, Asian dramas, animes, Studio Ghibli, and Hayao Miyazaki.


If you are passionate about the same stuff, then you'll maybe find my posts interesting, if not, thank you for dropping by.


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