"Yes at blow fish"

I hope that 5 years down the road, I can tweet the same thing as Tony Fernandes did on Twitter... "Yes at blow fish" 

Link Advertising with Expedia ID

We must be doing something right with the JAT website.

We are approached by TravelAdBuyers.com, a representative from Expedia Indonesia to promote their Indonesian website. They offered a nominal sum for Expedia link (one sentence embed) advertising on our website. I would actually have done this for free, with a mutual link exchange. Oh wells, the money subsidises our domain purchase for at least another 5 years ;)

Entrepreneurial Indonesia

The country is so entrepreneurial, even our office cleaning Bapak is thinking of ways to help us to do marketing!

Soekarno Hatta International Airport

Ever wondered what the airport in Jakarta looks like? 


Check out pictures on our Facebook Album: Soekarno Hatta International Airport Terminal 2

JAT Flyer

Check out our new marketing flyer. To be spotted at selected hotels & serviced apartments soon!

If Only...

If only life is like Dream Park: tap to win gold coins...

2 months anniversary

Tomorrow marks the 2 month anniversary that I've been in Jakarta. Time has pretty much passed by in the blink of an eye! When everyone keeps commenting that life in Singapore is fast-paced, try tripling that speed and you get Jakarta life.

JAT has been pretty optimistic so far, considering we've only put full effort into it in the past 1 and a half months. Almost 75% of our current sales enquiries are from oversas!Wensi and Dionne have been very sweet, recommending to friends about our service, and sending me a WatsApp msg on the same morning too! If you are reading this, hugs n kisses to you ;)

We've moved into the 3rd level of the shophouse for our offce, and our official office address is now 'Jl Jembatan Tiga Raya No. 5AH, Lt 3. jakarta Utara 14450, Indonesia'. We are trying to recruit a business dev executive, to help me with the local market.

On the marketing side, I have a very capable 21yrs old girl from Bandung, helping me with the SEO and online marketing. Our traffic quality has really increased thanks to her! As well as a freelancer graphic designer to help me with marketing materials and brochures.

On the B2B side, we have negotiated with a couple of partners (to be revealed later) where we will be able to station flyers and banners at their facility for marketing and publicity. We have also managed to develop a few travel agent partners from Jakarta & Bali, as well as overases agents and conference organizers.

Apartment hunting has been a pain in the ass. All I can say is that money doesn't lie. Pay good money for nice apartment. It really makes a difference when you are receiving a constant 'allowance' magically deposited into your bank account each month. All of a sudden, the value of SGD$1 has escalated by 10 times!

Anyhows my flight ticket back to Singapore is bought! I'll be back for almost a month in January 2012, for Chinese New Year. I actually miss the state of equilibria when I'm in Singapore. My mind is churning all the time for work when I'm here, even when I'm reading the magazine, I'm looking for potential clients or advertising opportunites. It's definitely a race against time when its your business. Don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining. in fact, I'm enjoying every minute of this busy-ness, and brainstorming how to grow this 'baby'!

Last but not least, the Bahasa Indonesia language is growing slowly but steadily, as restricted to 3-7 words sentences. I can understand the locals in daily life (provided that they speak slowly)... And even order my own Bakmi! "Mas, satu bakmi, paket kecup manis. Nga pedas. Di kantor 5AH."
Saya pinter..... :)

P.S. Dear Grace and Matt, no, I am not 'playing' harder or even as hard as when i was n Sngapore.

How to Live Before You Die

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Steve Jobs 

1955 - 2011

(&@**^@%&#@ Americans

Are they simply D_____ or pure I____.

You fill in the blanks...

Tomorrow will be a better day without 'em.

The Reason Why

This is exactly the reason why I will be 'rounded up', 'plumpy, and 'fat' here!

One of my favorites, Martabak is a sweet pancake loaded with good stuff there! Hot piping thick pancake, coated with spoonful of Planta butter, followed by chocolate chips, nuts on one side, LOADS of grated Cheddar cheese on the other side. He turns it over, and guess what, MORE Planta butter!!! Then he cuts it skillfully into little bite-size squares. The heat from the pancake melts the chees, chocolate combinations... This order is half cheese and half chocolate & nuts. I hate to say this but it simply tastes heavenly!

Martabak

Next, nasi uduk at 'Ibu Sum'! We arrived at 9:55pm which was the perfect timing! This is actually the first time I'm observing their opening process. So we arrived at 9:55pm, and the shop was still dark as the guys were preparing to layout the food. A bunch of people were sitted and waiting in the shop. We chose to sit at the 'bar' because I wanted to see teh glorious display of the food, and of course, join in the crowd! At exactly 10:00pm, lights were switched on, and the Mas will all be busy serving out plates of very sinful but smooth nasi, as the customers make their choices. Soon, everyone was chomping down their food as if they have not eaten in days! If you are asking what nasi uduk is, its basically a combination of nasi lemak & nasi padang. I really wanted to video-tape the whole 'social-phenomenon' process which I find really interesting. But then, I'll totally look like an idiot. Some sneak photos for you!

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1432 in Puncak

Spent the Lebaran Holiday with a whole bunch of crazy people at Jojo's villa in Puncak. The subjects of food & eating is no joking matter with this bunch of people! They look deceivingly slim, but their appetite is nothing small! They went crazy over French Toast, which was later improvised to 'French Toast Special', an improvised sandwhich of white bread with grated cheddar cheese and coklate syrup. This is coated with eggs & milk, then fried with loads of butter. They pretty much went gaga over it, and they pretty much requested for it every day....

I've concluded that 5 ingredients goes for a successful Indonesian palate:
1. Keju (Cheddar Cheese)
2. Susu (Condensed Milk)
3. Roti (Bread)
4. Coklat (Chocolate)
5. Planta Butter

Of course, I just enjoyed the lovely weather and glorious street food!

Must eat street food:
1. Sekoteng (Ginger Soup)
2. Jagung (BBQ Corn)
3. Sate Kambing (Mutton Satay)
4. Tahu Sumedang (Fried Tofu)

If you are looking to travel to Puncak, check out this list of accommodation I would recommend.
1. Puncak Pass Resort
The resort designed with an open layout and next to nature concept with a discrete community of luxurious bungalows and spacious chalets spread over 5 hectares of lush green slopes of Puncak.

Phone: 62 263 512 503
Email: ppr@puncakpassressort.com

2. Novus Puncak Resort
Novus Puncak Resort & Spa is located in the mountainous region near Jakarta, the country's capital city. It overlooks the scenery of majestic Mount Gede, with rising volcanic peaks, lush tea plantations and rugged blue mountainous landscapes on 3.8 hectares of land. The 112 rooms, and suites are built from natural stone, marble and wood from West Java
Phone: 62 263 511 335
Email: rsv-puncak@novushotels.com

3. Bukit Indah Hotel
The Hotel Bukit Indah (HBI) is an affordable hotel located in the well-known Puncak highlands, within a short distance from lush tea plantations and rice fields.
Phone: 62 0263 - 512903

4. Bukit Talita Hotel Villas
Talita Mountain Resort is finely located on a quiet hillside with views of the entire Puncak greatest mountains and beautiful hills. The Resort is surrounded by a unique natural setting highlights, solid-old trees, and a large agricultural gardens of its local people.
Phone: (0263) 513348 and (0263) 513349

Email: reservation@talitaresort.com

In an effort to brush up my Bahasa Indonesia, I learnt this nursery rhyme which definitely helps with learning new verbs & volcabulary words!

"Naik-naik ke Puncak Gunung,
Tinggi-tinggi sekali.
Naik-naik ke Puncak Gunung,
Tinggi-tinggi sekali.
Kiri-kanan kulihat saja,
Banyak pohon cemara.
Kiri-kanan kulihat saja,
Banyak pohon cemara."

Jakarta Cathedral

You might be amazed at where you can see this cathedral. Located amidst the hustle & bustle of Jakarta, Jakarta Cathedral (or Gereja Katedral Jakarta) is a refreshing sight & reminscience of Indonesia's old culture & history.

Over a 100 years old, the Roman Catholic Cathedral is one of the most graceful and elegant historical buildings of Jakarta. Renovated twice in 1998 & 2002, the cathedral has managed to maintain its original construction, architecture and design. The Jakarta Cathedral is located in Central Jakarta near Merdeka Square and Merdeka Palace, it is stood right in the front of Istiqlal Mosque.

Official website: http://www.katedraljakarta.or.id/

This picture perfectly shows the combination between old historical elegance and modernity.

Jakarta Cathedral

Move on

Move on Yvonne!

If only there is a memory erasing machine in this world :(

Maybe movies like 'Memento' & 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' will be redundant then....

Review of Freelancer.com & SEO Services

We needed Search Engine Optimization (SEO) at JAT to improve our organic search. So, being a start-up, we couldn't to hire a full-fledge internet marketing company that charges over $1,000 monthly fees. Hence, the cheapo me used Freelancer.com to search for quality and cost-efficient SEO services from experts as far as where-else but India.

It is a pretty easy process to post your project, taking less than 10 minutes of your time. Start by making a user registration. Following that, you can post a project for all freelancers to view and start bidding. Once your project is approved by Freelancer.com, you will start receiving notifications and bids from bidders. Try to be as specific as possible in your project description in order to get an accurate quote.

After 1001 bids (ok, I'm exaggerating, maybe 101 bids) over a 7 days period, you will find yourself confused with every bidder's pitch & description. I finally chose one with the most reasonable price bid (not necessarily the lowest), prowling of bidder's company profile & websites, Skype conservations.

After you've chosen your freelancer, you will have to assign the successful bidder as the winner of your project. There is a 3USD fee charged by Freelancer.com Following that, you can make a milestone payment to your successful bidder according to your agreement with the successful bidder. This milestone payment will be kept in the system, and only to be released when the bidder has achieved the milestone achievement. This helps to ensure protection for both parties.

After 1 week, I must say, this guy does the job. Our unique visitors and enquires have definitely doubled. Its definitely getting more exciting!

Furry Friends

I've been having an immense compassion for furry animal friends as of late. It all started when I caught a documentary 'Good Morning Kalimantan' on a Garuda flight from Bali back to Singapore. The documentary features Chanee, French zoo-keeper who left his country to help in the conservation of Gibbons and other primate animals in the island of Kalimantan, Bornero, Indonesia. From then on, this stayed at the back of my mind.

Until recently, I'm evoked of compassion for our furry friends with the movie 'Planet of the Apes'. It may be a Hollywood movie, with all the specil effects and what maybe, yet you cannot help but feel the strong connection between a primate and the human. The earlier wouild very likely be the closest animal you get to a human being. This reminded me of Chanee and I've been paying close attention to his blog and the Kalaweit program. For 20 years, he's been fighting for the conservation efforts of all animals and mainly gibbons on Kalimantan, through a radio channel. What an ingenious idea!

Today, I chanced upon another Non-profit organization as reported in Jakarta Globe: Bali Adoption & Rehabilitation Centre (BARC) for dogs aka I Love Bali Dogs. This is set up by Linda Buller, an Australian artist living in Bali who is fighting for the animal rights of furry friends in Bali. Often, these furry friends are stolen for sale, traded as dog FOOD, killed as ceremonial sacrifice, dumped in rubbish dump, run over by vehicles. I remember seeing so many stray dogs in Bali, fighting with other dogs to guard their territory, or just roaming the streets looking for food. There was a white mutt sitting at our dining table, he/she was wheezing throughout, and he/she looked like he/she had a bad front hind leg. It was painful to see the sadness in his/her eyes. BARC offers sponsorship and virtual adoption programs for anyone willing to help these furry friends from Bali.

Having said all this, if you are reading this post, please do check out the attached organizations and websites. Help with a donation, purchase an item, spread the word, LIKE them on facebook or simply send words of encouragement to the relentless volunteer workers who are fighting the daily battles for what they believe in.

Last but not least, just to share with you one of my favorite videos from Kalaweit/Chanee:


The orangutan rescue / Le sauvetage de... by kalaweitprogram

About.me

I found this marvellous website aplication About.Me a couple of weeks ago. Its basically the answer to lengthy email signatures. They help you to combine your multiple personalities aka profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Blogger, Tumblr, Flikr etc. Through a single webpage and url. Best of all, you get to display your creativity by designing your very own profile page. Some of the users simply have GORGEOUS pictures. Also, you will find some very inspirational characters from all over the world, immersing their lives in what they love.

Check out my profile at about.me/yvonne.han. Start creating your profile today and share with me!

P.S. All comments above is from my very honest review and in no way or other am I paid or reimbursed or remunerated or compensated for the above.

Ankle Boots

This is the result of online shopping & browsing! I found these GORGEOUS ankle boots. They give me a nostalgic feeling of winter, cold, leggings and opaque stockings. Sadly, I am in a see-no-buy position.

It's not intended that 3 out of 4 of 'em are suede. Personally, I am not a fan of Suede, especially when they come to shoes. Because there is a 9.9 out of 10 chance that they get ruined before the 25th day of purchase! In terms of pricing, unlike clothing, good shoes never come cheap. I would say these are considered to be 'affordable luxe'.

This pair of laced-up ankle boots looks very Alexander Wang: grunge but fashionable. Great for those days where you just want to slip on a pair of jeans and awesome fitting t-shirt! A hidden agenda of trying to dress down but looking awesome at the same time! 

This is definitely my personal favorite! The gold buckle gives the blue suede an added touch. And those flaps! Oh my gosh, don't even get me started.... I've even added this on my wallpaper. It looks simply regal when I unlock my Ipad and ta-da, it appears there! STARSSSSS for Alexander McQueen!

This pair of Herve Leger is another personal favourite of mine. Especially the cut-out, which definitely gives an added edge to the shoes. Minus point for me is the outer lining you see on the heels and sole. From my experience, this lining is most likely a paste-on & it will be torn, smudged and further torn the moment you start rubbing your shoes against those table or chair legs. Which, I always do.

This pair has an awesome sole! The military look! They have this in military green color too. But I'd prefer it in this beige color. 

Sources:

ASOS
Net-A-Porter
The Outnet

Away

I need to go away, like soon. See new things, meet new people, create new ideas. How do you sustain the rush of exhilaration after engaging your mind & senses for a certain period of time? It seems to die out really soon and its stifling me as soon as that happens :(

The Cranberries Live

So I managed to get a free ticket to The Cranberries Live at the Indoor Stadium, all thanks to Grace.

The music group brings faint recollection from my elder sister's CD collection and ovther radio, when I was still running around the house in my PJs and hugging my little smelly bolster. Her music seems to induce a trance-like state, which was pretty much the state I was in from Song #4 - Song #7. By the time she came to the ending, and she couldn't end it better with the song 'Zombie', it brought a huge stir-up among the audience as everyone got on their feet, standing, swaying, clapping to the music. And when she ended the encore with the song 'Dreams', it was definitely the climax.

Music definitely comes with a strong emotional re-collection. Those were the days when music was the language while weed, bell bottoms and over-sized bean bags were the perfect accompaniments. What does music mean to our generation today aside from the Top 40 Hits?

10 things you should know about The Philippines

1. No matter how online bloggers will tell you that it is PERFECTLY FINE for a female traveller to travel alone. Pls try not to! Something unhappy happened to me during a part of my travel. I would highly discourage female travellers to travel alone in The Philippines, especially for foreigners who are not familiar with the local language.

2. Chow King: Chow King is one of the most popular fast food restaurant in The Philippines, famous for serving affordable and tasty Chinese food such as Chao Fan (Fried Rice). Meals start from as low as 39Peso. I have to say that the food is pretty decent for Fast Food.

3. Goldilocks: Goldilocks is the major bakery in The Philippines. They are famous for the quality of their Polvoron, one of my favorite snack from The Philippines. It is a Spanish shortbread biscuit with a strong milk taste & crumbly texture!



Goldilocks Polvoron

4. Jeepney: Jeepneys are the most common form of transportation in The Philippines. They are usually used for longer distance travelling within a city. Before boarding a  jeepney, you need to take note of the route of the jeepney (i.e. Bontoc - Sagada). Be nice and move in to the very inner part of the jeepney. Usually the locals know how much to pay for their fare. But if you are unsure, ask the driver. Passengers at the end of the jeepney will usually ask you to help by passing on the fare to the driving and telling him the destination. Unlike buses with fixed stops, you can stop at anywhere along the route with a jeepney!!! Fares depend on distance travelled.

5. Tricycle: The tricycle or a motorbike with a small cabin-like space is the most popular form of transportation for short distances. I've seen up to 10 people on a single tricycle! They usually charge per pax, depending on the number of passengers & distance traveled. Try to bargain before you take a tricycle.

Tricycles at Banaue

6. ETC Television Channel: If you need a sense of sanity in a world of tagalog language, tune in to ETC  public television channel. They have a really good range of foreign series including Nikita, America's Next Top Model, Keeping up with the Kardashians etc.

7. Jolibee: Jolibee is one of the most popular local fast food restaurant company. They are pretty much like a combination between McDonald's & KFC. Set meals start from 89Pesos. However, international brands such as KFC & McDonald's are starting to invade The Philippines, giving Jolibee a run for the money.

8. Peso (Ps): meaning 'weight' in Spanish, is the official currency unit throughout The Philiipines. This is adapted from days of Spanish colonialism in The Philippines. However, do note that other countries such as Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Uruguay are also currently using this monetary unit.

9. Telecommunication providers: The 3 main telecommunication providers in The Philippines are SMART, GLOBE & SUN. I used SUN pre-paid card (starting from 29Peso) when I was there. All providers have fairly competitive prices.

10. Last but not least, The Philippines is a very beautiful country yet to be discovered by the rustic traveler.

I'm in love with you!

Mercedes Benz G-Class, I'm in love with you! Period.... ;)

Sleepless with ipad

Either my ipad is keeping me sleepless or I'm keeping my ipad awake. I think its the earlier 'cos my eyes are dry, nose is runny, head is spinning and yet I cant stop tapping on the Safari button!

Was checking out Reebonz app and saw this darling that is still available at SG$1,595.

Bottega Veneta Black Intrecciato Ayers Stretch Knot Clutch

Dear fairy godmother/sugar daddy/santa claus, can I get one of these for my birthday???

Xxx

Von

Last Day :(

It’s my last day today in The Philippines with Merla and the family. I feel a tinge of sadness leaving. Merla has always been able to crack me up with crazy actions and random comments, as it was 15 years ago. 

Outing to SM Mall

Some picture time with Jumong before we head out to SM Mall to get some Goldilocks and groceries.

Mong & I

Rain, Rain Go Away

Was walking back home from the internet shop but it was raining! As usual, the street gets flooded. My havaianas wading in the water!

Pandesal!!!

This is officially my favourite bread in the whole world! Pandesal is a local bread, its heavenly when eaten hot! It has a slight tense of saltiness from the butter, but at the same time, it tastes sweet with some crunch from the top crust! I’m literally salivating as I’m writing this post. I could easily pop 10 pieces of these little adorable buns in 10 minutes... No kidding. 

Adapted from Wikipedia: 

pan de sal is the most popular yeast-raised bread in the Philippines. Individual loaves are shaped like garrison caps due to its unique method of forming. The dough is rolled into long logs (baston) that are rolled in fine bread crumbs before being cut into individual portions with a dull dough cutter and then allowed to rise and baked on sheet pans. Its taste and texture closely resemble those of the very popular rolls of Puerto Rico called Pan de Agua and Mexico’s most popular type of bread Bolillos. These breads all use a lean type of dough and follow similar techniques that were learned from Spanish or Spanish-trained bakers early in their history. As in most commercially produced food items, they vary in quality to meet taste requirements and economic standards of various communities.

Pandesal



Half eaten Pandesal by me!



Pagudpuad --> Dau (Angeles)

We started the day early at 8AM for the South Tour. I love the Bangui Windmills!!!

The Bangui windmills are at the Banguii Brgy. There are 20 windmills, constructed in 1990. These are the very 1st windmills ever built in Asia! 

At Karpurpurawan, or White Rock. It was definitely a arduous journey up a rocky & steep trail! Especially when I was sitting on the pillion of the motorbike. By the time we reached the top of the hill, my right leg was TOTALLY numbed.

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse

 By noon, we caught the local bus along the highway back to Laoag Partas Bus Terminal, and changed a bus from Laoag to Manila. 

Waiting for bus

Laog --> Pagudpud

By the time we arrived at Pagudpud, it was about 12pm. Famished, we took our lunch at the Municipal centre before taking a tricycle to the homestay at Saud Beach. Saud Beach is filled with homestay and Resorts such as the popular Hannah’s Resort.

The tours are divided into South & North tour with the tricycle at 600Peso (SGD$18).

Tricycle Tours in Pagudpud

We started with the North tour for today which includes:

•           Kabigan Waterfalls
•           Aqua Grande
•           Blue Lagoon
•          Bantay Abot Cave

The highlight was definitely the Kabigan Falls! It was about 30minutes trek with a local tour guide to reach the Kabigan Falls. It was a great scenic trek, and we passed by some really beautiful rice terraces. It was a different experience passing by these rice terraces, as those in Banaue. There were pretty river streams along the way, and we had to cross the river streams on log-bridges. 

Kabigan Falls, Pagudpud

Tour Guide & I

Kabigan Falls

Scenery on trek to Kabigan Falls

Rice Terrace on trek to Kabigan Falls

Mountain near Kabigan Falls

BBQ-ed fish from Pagudpud

Bantay Abot Cave Entrance

Bantay Abot Cave

 Aqua Grande is a public picnic complex area for travelers & visitors to enjoy a nice break at one one their picnic huts & tables.

Aqua Grande Entrance

Aqua Grande

Merla & I at Marcos Bridge