Where will you be this coming Holy Week?

If you're the type of person who sees Holy Week as the best time to spend a summer vacation...where will you be? Sometimes it is very hard to decide if you're group does not have any definite plans. It always depends on time and budget. If you're from Manila and if you don't want to go on very far places, you can either choose Batangas on south area or Subic on north, both are just 2-3 hours drive.

CORON, PALAWAN

Besides from Boracay, there are other alternative places you can go. You can try Coron Palawan, this is where you can find the cleanest freshwater in the country. Picture shown below is taken from a view deck found in Cayangan Lake. In Coron, the most common location on where you will stay is in the town of Coron, then you will just have to hire a boat to bring you on its best places, you can go to Cayangan and Baracuda lake, Sangat and Black Island for a fine white sand... and Calauit island to get a Safari experience. For more info click here .

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BATANES


Another place to be... is Batanes which can be found at the northern tip of the country, close to Taiwan, you can even get radio signals from Taiwan. I think everyone dreams to be in this place, ever since college, i always wanted to be here. Some folks are scared because of weather conditions, the safest time to be here is just during summer. But for our experience, we went last December, we took our chances... thanks for ZestAir for a cheap ticket price, we bought it for less than P5000.00 because of its promo. It was a fine weather but very windy. The wind was so strong that it can stop you while you are riding a bike, hehe. We stayed in town of Basco, i don't know if you can rent a jeepney to tour you, we brought our own bikes to roam the island, pretty good experience. Place to see is Sabtang island which is famous for stone houses, you can also visit the Honesty store and also the Marlboro country to witness green grass landscape as if you were in Scotland or Ireland (that's what they say) .


BOLINAO, PANGASINAN


If you've been to hundred islands in Alaminos, Pangasinan, you can also try to go to Bolinao which is an hour away from Alaminos. If you have your own car, this is just 6-7 hours away from Manila. This place is on the northwest part of the country near to South China sea.







We stayed at Treasures of Bolinao which is cheaper than the famous Puerto Del Sol. For my own review, I like the place including rooms, the cottages, they have what they call the bridge which is a nice place for picture taking and to witness the sunset.

Funny thing here is if you are going to use your credit card here, the staff would have to go to the lighthouse to swipe it because that is the only place where they can surely get a signal.


There are other options, you can go to Puerto Galera, im sure that there are so many people here, just be prepared to beat the crowd in Batangas pier. You can also go to Baguio for a cool weather or in Sagada. There are other places where you can go during Holy Week...its up to your family or your friends on where you want to be. Or you can just stay on your homes and sleep all day.

Beijing and Shanghai Videos

Videos made by my friend Dex. Maybe they can air this in Living Asia? hehe.


The Best Peking Duck



Explore Beijing



Shanghai 1st Day



Dining out at Shangahai



Just Arrived at Beijing

Traveling by Train ( Beijing to Shanghai)

We spent 2 nights on a train, from Shanghai to Beijing then the other way around.

The train ticket that we got from Shanghai to Beijing is just a seat ticket because all the sleeper tickets are sold out for that day, now I believe that you need to buy train tickets in advance in order to have a sleeper tickets. That's what been said on http://www.seat61.com Seat tickets are cheap ( 228RMB i think ) but not so comfortable ( literally, it was a pain in the ass! ) hehe, so we learned our lessons.

The moment we arrived in Beijing, we bought tickets going back to Shanghai for a soft sleeper tickets in advanced. It was great, nice bed, you have your own room, quite expensive ( 478 RMB for upper deck and 499 RMB for lower deck ) but all worth it. The food was great, an extra rice would only cost 1RMB ( cheaper than the price in Manila, hehe)


Subway is the cheapest and fastest form of transportation in Beijing, it only costs 2RMB, no matter what station you go or you will come from. Same with Shanghai, but fare is not fixed unlike in China.

Watch our train video made by my friend:

Manila to Shanghai - Beijing China Itinerary

Cebu Pacific flights going to Shanghai from Manila is usually during night time. ( if you have enough budget to take another airlines, please do so, i don't recommend this airline ). Arrival in Shanghai is around midnight, you can't expect to ride in Maglev train going to the city but taxi are always around.Taxi's flat rate is 11 RMB sometimes its 10.
If you plan to go to Beijing by train on next day, there is a small chance for you to buy a sleeper train ticket since tickets are already on sold for 10 days in advance before the day of departure. If you prefer to travel on your own, here is our own itinerary:



Day 1 - Shanghai
9:30PM - Depart from Manila
12:15AM - Arrive in Shanghai
1:00 AM - Stay on our friend's house ( 30 minutes ride from Pudong Airport)
2:00 AM - Party @ Windows Bar in Shanghai
5:30 AM - Breakfast @ City Diner
6:00 AM - Go home to sleep
10:00 AM - Wake Up call, buy tickets going to Beijing
11AM - 5PM - Roam around Shanghai
6:00 PM - Go to Shanghai Railway Station near People'S Square
7:30 PM - Train departs from Shanghai ( 11 hrs of travel going to Beijing) 228RMB for seat train tickets ( sleeper tickets are soldout ). Go to seat61.com to read more of train details.

The rest... spend a night on the train ( pain in the butt! )



Day 2 - Beijing

7:30 AM - Arrive in Beijing, go straight hostel, we stayed at Leo Hostel. Twin bedroom is worth 260 RMB, there are dorm rates that are much cheaper but with shared bathroom.
10:00 AM - Buy tickets going back to Shanghai for the next day ( RMB 499
for the soft sleeper train, this is recommended ) Eat breakfast
11:00 AM - 6PM - You can go to Forbidden City, Shanghai Museum, Beijing Olympic Statdium, walk around Quianmen Road

Entrance Fees:
Forbidden City - 40 RMB
Beijing Olympic Stadium - 50 RMB - its just a ticket to go see the stadium, there arent any games for you to watch.





7PM - Dinner, we tried a Pecking duck worth 90RMB ( single serving only )
9PM - Party at bar, goodluck if you can find english music, hope you'll enjoy.
12AM - Go home. Lights out.


Day 3 - Still in Beijing



6:00 AM - Wake Up Call
7:00 AM - Leave hotel and go on a tour to Great Wall ( 2 hours ride going to Mutianyu )( 260 RMB for the tour which includes transportaion only and no guide, that's the hotel rate, pretty expensive, entrance fee is included )
9:00 AM - Arrive on Great Wall.


9 - 12PM - Walk walk walk on Great Wall ( worth 56 RMB including cable car going up and tobogan slide going down the mountain, pretty fun! )
2:00 PM - Back to hostel.
3PM - 6PM - Watch dvd in hostel, hehe, we watched Borat although ive already seen it.
7PM - Back to Beijing Railway Station. Spend a night again on the train but we have the soft sleeper train, the food is great on the train restaurant.

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Day 4 - Back to Shanghai
7:00 AM - Arrive in Shanghai again
8:00 AM - Check in to the affiliate hostel of Leo Hostel which is Mingtown Etour Youth Hostel,

better room than Leo with same rate on twin room ( 260 RMB a night with private bathroom)
9AM-6PM - Shanghai Zoo to see a panda, walked around the city
8PM - Dinner with friends staying in Shanghai
9PM - Bar hopping ( 2 bars only, hehe ) We went to The Shelter and then back to Window's bar with Filipino waitresses.
4AM - Go home.Lights out.



Day 5: Still in Shanghai


12PM - Check out hostel but we still left our luggage.
12-5PM - walked around the city ( Nanjing Road, Pearl Tower, The Bund Grand Raffles Mall )
6PM - Picked up our luggage in hostel, had rest for a while
730PM - Back to our friend's house. Packed our things.
10PM - Arrived in Pudong Airport, terminal 2 if youre on Cebu Pacific


Day 6: Manila, Philippines
4AM - Back to Manila! whew!

Best of Siquijor




Who's afraid to go to Siquijor? If you are, this pictures might change your mind...

How to go there:

From Manila, take a flight going to Dumaguete.
From Dumaguete airport, take a tricycle (P10 fare each person) going to Pier near Siliman University.

Take ferry going to Siquijor. Schedule of ferry from Dumaguete to Siquijor are 6AM, 10AM and 2PM. The first trip of ferry going back to Dumaguete is 6AM, you can still catch the plane if you have booked a 830AM flight of Cebu Pacific going back to Manila.

You can contact the mobile number of the tricycle driver who helped us find a place: 09276932095.
He took us on a Japanese style resort, we took a 2-storey cottage with terrace, bath tub, hot water, tv worth P3000.00 a night, good for 6 persons but we're 10, it was a very nice resort.



You won't regret the white sand beach ( same quality as you see in Boracay and Palawan). Perfect place to relax but not to party. You can roam the whole island in just one day, you can go to their tourist spots.