travel – Anachronistic Dreamer

Throwback Travel Log: TaiWandered – Part 1

Taiwan. This trip dates way back March 2018. Cherry blossom season was about to end. We were supposed to visit again last year, already bought tickets and all, to introduce some youngins to the joys of traveling. But pandemic happened so goodbye plans!

We took advantage of the visa-free trial period for Pinoys to visit the land of bubble tea and Meteor Garden. This may be one of the most INSANE itineraries we ever did. And also one of the most interesting given that among other things, we got lost, went Amazing Race mode, and were even stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Throwback Travel Log: Coron (Palawan)

Since this blog’s inception, a truth I’ve realized through the course of various blog entries is I will never make it as a travel writer. Yes, I’ve developed a love for travel. Yes, I’ve also tried writing about it. But I am too lazy to follow through. Like very, very, very lazy.

I think the problem lies with me lacking the brevity skills needed to be “professional” about travel blogging, which I’ve been trying to fix.

No, sorry that’s a lie. I am nowhere near fixing it.

Anyway, I tend to post each travel destination into multiple parts otherwise, it will be too damn long. The thing is, I usually get in the mood to write about my travel stories immediately right after I went. If a considerable amount of time have passed, I won’t feel up to writing about it anymore. Going the “Budget Travel Guide” route is also out of the question since “budget” is non-existent in my travel dictionary.

Then I thought, it might work if instead of posting the blow by blow account of whatever the heck happened from these trips, I only post a few memorable anecdotes. It could be one of those “throwbacks” since most of these places would’ve changed significantly (or insignificantly) by now. Given also, that our world and the concept of “travel” is undergoing such a massive change during this pandemic, it might be interesting at this time to look back on things that used to be. Plus, I also miss travelling.

And so, I decided to begin with a few local destinations where I felt all my travel escapades were first sparked and inspired by and then, some international ones will follow later on. First up…

Continue reading “Throwback Travel Log: Coron (Palawan)”

[Travel Log] My SingaLaysia Adventure – Part 2

After completing immigration duties, we headed straight to the JB Sentral Railway Station which was connected to the Malaysian Immigration Office by a walkway. Our plan was to take an overnight train going to KL Sentral where we would leave our bags in a coin locker and also take a bath after 36 hours of non-bathing. We bought the Superior Night Class (the one with beds) tickets, priced at 39 RM per person, in advance from the official KTM website and so, we didn’t really need to book a hotel for the entirety of our stay in Malaysia.

It was my first time riding a sleeper train. The prospect of lying down supine on a bed while the train ran was so exciting it didn’t occur to me to think about the possible drawbacks we would be encountering while doing so. For one, we hadn’t anticipated that we most definitely chose the worst section of the train to sleep in. Our beds were located right beside the door dividing our coach from the next. It didn’t help that it was impossible to lock the door which kept sliding back and forth and back and forth, letting in the grating noise of metal on metal unfiltered.

As the train jostled along its tracks, so did we in our bunks. It felt more like we vibrated with the train more than jostled. As I occupied the top of the double deck, I feared the embarrassment of free falling towards the coach floor even though my bunk bed was secured with safety straps. Our sleeper train experience began like this however things did calm down after a while enabling us to stop vibrating enough to sleep.

Continue reading “[Travel Log] My SingaLaysia Adventure – Part 2”

[Travel Log] My SingaLaysia Adventure – Part 1

I think it was sometime in July of last year when Jetstar offered a Return to Manila for Free promo for Singapore flights. Back then, November 18 & 19 were just declared to be non-working holidays due to the APEC Summit held in Manila so we took advantage of both and booked our flights which cost us around ~4,000+ Php (checked baggage not included).

We hadn’t foreseen at all that we would want to go to Malaysia as well when we booked our flights. We realized afterwards that it would have been easier rather if we had booked our onward flight to Kuala Lumpur while our return flight still from Changi.

Thankfully, our flight pushed through despite the slew of flight cancellations back then. We departed NAIA Terminal 3 at around 7:00 am and arrived in Changi Airport at around 11:00 am. We exchanged a few of our bills at the airport for around 30 SGD which was the minimal amount we needed for the commute.

Continue reading “[Travel Log] My SingaLaysia Adventure – Part 1”

[Travel Log] Seoul City Soul Searching (Part 2)

Half a year later from Part 1 (a.k.a. “The Train Journal Entry”) and almost ten months from the trip itself, I ‘m finally… FINALLY continuing my travel log of our “Seoul City, Soul Searching Adventure” from June of last year.
Continue reading “[Travel Log] Seoul City Soul Searching (Part 2)”

[Travel Log] Seoul City Soul Searching (Part 1)

Other people get in the mood to write by caffeinating their systems. Me? I drink Yakult. It’s good for your stomach.

Ok, moving on.

My travel portfolio is really not much to brag about since I’ve only started riding airplanes for domestic trips two years ago. But last June, I was FINALLY able to use the passport (which I’ve had for years) to go on my first ever international trip with two of my close friends and where else would we go but on the land of our fangirl dreams, South Korea!

Continue reading “[Travel Log] Seoul City Soul Searching (Part 1)”