Bacolod's Mambukal Beach Resort

It's officially our Day 1 in Bacolod. So breakfast was ready when we woke up. It really felt like we were staying in a hotel. Oh I almost forgot to mention, we got our own toilet and bath inside the guest room (or should I say, house? haha). So we took a shower then had breakfast, which was much like of a feast.

We're off to Mambukal Beach Resort! But before heading there, we dropped by a wet and dry market to buy chips, softdrinks, fruits, and meat to grill at the resort. Anyway, it was around an hour or less of travel from the house to the resort. We paid Php50 each at the entrance. We rented a cottage for Php300. Actually, the cottages were fully booked. We just got a cottage originally reserved by a different group because we arrived earlier than they did haha!

Team Shades!:))

 late lunch and too much nibbling of childhood chips that we missed haha

 super sweet mangoes!!!

We trekked going to the falls. There were seven waterfalls going up. But it rained so bad when we were at the second falls so we didn't bother to go further. It could've been more fun if we were able to see the seventh waterfalls. Some of us never actually planned of swimming at the falls but because of the rain, we got soaked! We had no other choice but to enjoy it! There were some kids there who acted as tour guides, and even if we didn't actually call them, they wouldn't leave us. So we just gave them fifty bucks for taking our photos.

 what a nice view of the first waterfalls

Swimming is not allowed on the first waterfalls

 While we were here, it rained so hard.

 the kids gave us this! so cute! haha

 Then we want back to the first waterfalls and broke the rules hahaha!

should i have know that it will rain, i should've worn swimsuit!:))

Only 2 of us were supposed to swim; thus, the swimsuits.:))

 satisfied kids trekking back to the base haha

We headed back to the cottage and changed our clothes. We didn't have time to swim at the pool and explore the butterfly garden anymore because we had to catch the Electric Masskara parade at the Tourism Strip (Lacson St.). On our way home, we took a quick stop at the new city hall for some photo ops! haha:))

jump shot!:)

Check my next post for the Masskara Festival at night!:)

First time in Bacolod: Arrival for Masskara 2012

I think it was in July when we asked the travel agency to book us a roundtrip flight to Bacolod for the Masskara Festival. Good thing one of our friends has relatives there so our accommodation is free.

It's my first time in Bacolod, and I didn't expect it to be a nice place with really nice people. The Masskara festival surprised me because it's very colorful and happy. It's super cool that I was able to understand what the Ilonggos were saying 'coz I have somehow learned the Ilonggo dialect from my friends from Iloilo.

We left Manila on Friday night, Oct. 19. We were picked up by my friend's aunt from Bacolod Silay International Airport then we travelled around 30 minutes to the city. We had dinner at Nena Rose, where we ordered the city's specialty which is the Bacolod chicken inasal, pork barbecue, and an iced tea tower. And we ate using our hands! It was a treat by my friend's aunt. Super awesome!:)

 Waiting for the plane...

we were too hungry to take a photo of our food haha

We headed to my friend's grandmother's place. It's a huge house inside a village of huge houses. We stayed at the guest room, which was connected to the main house but had a separate door. It's great news for us because if we arrive late at night, we can just proceed to our room from the gate, without having to pass through the main house. haha!

 the guest room

Since I was trying to rush my last paper for the semester, it took us a while before leaving the house to experience the Bacolod nightlife. At 11pm, we headed out. The driver took us to Dugout Sports Bar because there's a Smart-sponsored event there and we were supposed to meet with our friends from Vans. Unfortunately, something came up and they didn't make it. Too bad we had to pay Php 250 'coz we were not in the guestlist. We're supposed to join the reserved table of our friends to get in for free but they didn't arrive. Actually there wasn't much of a crowd there because everyone's at the Globe Tattoo/Republiq/Opus rooftop party at L' Fischer Hotel. At 1am, we headed back to the house to rest and prepare for the following day.

 Dugout

sleepy faces haha

Next post is about our experience in the Mambukal Resort:)

Phantom of the Opera

Super late post! I'm just glad I didn't miss it! Got a free Orchestra ticket from PLDT through my bestfriend so we watched it together last September 19. I came a bit late but I didn't miss a lot. It's really a world-class performance!:)

Maroon5 in Manila

Well it's better late than never. I almost forgot about posting this. I got a free SRO ticket from PLDT for Maroon 5's concert last September 18 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. I watched the concert with my BFF and her colleagues at work, whom I call my PLDT friends. It's one of the best concerts ever! Adam Levine is sooo hot!:)

It's so funny because the bouncers were driving us away from the aisles near the stage. But when the lights were turned off and only the stage lights were up, we ran to the part nearest the stage. And while watching the concert, we were pushed by people towards the stage that's why we ended up so near the stage! haha!

Here are some of the photos I've taken with my not-so-talented Sony Cybershot TX5:

 complimentary pass

PLDT Marketing friends 

 hotness!

 another concert with my BFF

Here are some of the videos I have uploaded on Vimeo:

Payphone (Maroon5 in Manila) from royciepoisie on Vimeo.


She Will Be Loved (Maroon5 in Manila) from royciepoisie on Vimeo.


Daylight (Maroon5 in Manila) from royciepoisie on Vimeo.

We Survived Shanghai!

The night of our Day 3 was the schedule of our flight back to Manila. We took the Metro Line 2 from East Nanjing Road to Pudong International Airport, which took us a little over an hour in the train. We checked-in at the Cebu Pacific counter, but since it's already 11pm, most of the food places there were already closed. There's one open somewhere near the boarding gates, but it's quite expensive there. We chose to spend all the Yuans left in our pockets here! haha! (But when I got home I actually found a left over of around 140 RMB in the deepest part of my bag haha)

survivors! haha!

 we were too hungry that we forgot to take a photo of the ramen we ordered lol

just so you won't get bored at the airport

After all the misadventures in our 3-day trip in Shanghai, I can say that we really had fun. We had a lot of discoveries and we learned a lot from this trip.

Although we initially planned to visit Shanghai Zoo, the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, the Jiang'an Temple, the Jade Buddha Temple, and the buffet at the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, we were not able to do so due to our very tight itinerary. We could've gone to all of those places if we stayed there for 5 days. But of course, that would mean more expenses. So here's a quick estimate of our expenses:

Round Trip Airfare (Manila-Pudong Shanghai-Manila) - Php 5000+ each

*Our trip was dated Sept. 20-24 and we bought it on promo on the 1st week of June.

Accommodation for 2pax (3 nights) - Php 4100 (so Php 2,050 each)

*We booked it via Agoda and paid through credit card. Among the Jinjiang Group of Hotels, Jinjiang Inn in Donbaoxing had the highest ratings, and we agree!:)

Philippine Travel Tax: Php 1620 each

NAIA Terminal 3 Terminal Fee: Php 550 each

ERA: Intersection of Time (Shanghai Circus World) - Php 1254 each (or 190 RMB)

*We're supposed to by the farthest seats at 90 RMB but we missed the day we originally reserved those seats so we had no choice but to use a credit card to pay for 190 RMB each on the night of the show (since 90 RMB seats were already full); but it's worth it!:)

Pocket Money (shopping not included) - Php 7500 each

*We had this changed to Yuan at Czarina Money Changer in Makati Cinema Square. Just make sure you reserve Yuans 3 days prior to the day you'll have your money changed. To cover transportation, food (and cocktails haha) expenses, entrance fees to attractions and some "pasalubong" to our common friends. It's always better to bring a credit card or contingency funds.

Emergency Expense (Airport Hotel Accommodation for 2 pax for 12 hrs) - Php 2,625 (or Php 1312 each

*Cebu Pacific flights are always at 8:20pm and you arrive there in Shanghai at midnight. It is better to book that as your first night in your hotel because that's our mistake. We thought we could stay at the airport 'til the Metro opens at around 5:30am but Pudong International Airport was just a dead zone by midnight 'til before sunrise. So we ended up booking an airport hotel (15 mins away from the airport w/ free transfers) at 398 RMB even if we stayed there for only 8hrs. Thank God for credit cards!

So we spent a a total of Php 21,400 each in our 3-day trip. Could've been cheaper if not because of that emergency expense haha!

Some quick tips:

1. Do a lot of research so you can plan your itinerary and come up with a budget.

2. Download these apps: Trip Advisor, Wow Shanghai, Shanghai Metro, Guidepal Shanghai.

3. To be updated of the events, log on to www.smartshanghai.com.

4. If you're a CouchSurfer, there are a lot of CS members there who have available couches you can surf. Although I wasn't able to meet with any of them due to our tight schedule.

5. Make a reservation online for your ERA tickets and just pay upon pick-up before the show.

6. Be sure that your check-in baggage weighs exactly as the allowable baggage weight or else you'll end up opening your baggage there and pulling out your stuff to make them your carry-on baggage. I suggest you bring an extra bag (a foldable one) so if you have to remove stuff from your check-in baggage, you can move some of your stuff to your extra bag for carry-on baggage.

7.Bring food and water all the time because you might be skipping meals trying to accomplish everything in your itinerary.

8. Wear comfortable clothes, most especially your footwear! Flats or sneakers will do.

9. Bring Chinese Yuan. Reserve Yuan first at Czarina Money Changer.

10. Do not trust the 1st price they give you. Haggle to death! Be kind always but try to act as if you're leaving so they'll chase you and give you the price you want.

11. Get a city map at the airport. It will navigate you to the famous attractions there.

12. Bars and Clubs are primarily located in Fuxing Road, plus some are in Century Avenue and The Bund.

13. In crossing the Huangpu River, take the ferry as its way cheaper and better than The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel.

14. Dedicate an entire day for shopping. We were not able to do it!

15. Get the number of the Shanghai Translator (maybe online).

16. Roam your mobile phone. Data roaming is available at promo rates with Globe because of the Bridge Alliance. For Smart, data charging is per KB usage.

17. Ask the person from the check-in counter to put a "Fragile" mark on your luggage so they won't torture your luggage.

18. They don't have Facebook and Twitter there but there's Foursquare, Path, and Instagram.

19. It's super hard to find a free wifi hotspot there. There's an open wifi at O'yamee in Century Avenue though haha!

20. They said buffet's good at the Oriental Pearl TV Tower revolving restaurant. Lunch is cheaper than dinner, and it's priced at around Php 2000 - Php 2500. We missed that because we didn't have much time.

So that's a wrap! Hope this can guide you as you plan your trip to Shanghai.:) Check out my previous posts for more detailed tips:

http://www.citygirldiaries.com/2012/10/surviving-shanghai-day-3.html

http://www.citygirldiaries.com/2012/10/surviving-shanghai-day-3.html

http://www.citygirldiaries.com/2012/10/surviving-shanghai-day-1-official.html

http://www.citygirldiaries.com/2012/10/surviving-shanghai-arrival-mishaps.html

xoxo!

Surviving Shanghai: Day 3

It's our last day in Shanghai and our itinerary as we planned actually covered People's Square, Shanghai Museum, and West Nanjing Road (for shopping). However, we got some kind of deviation from our originally itinerary.

We're supposed to start our day early but we ended up waking up late because our beds and sheets were too comfy! haha! So we had breakfast at Mcdo, which was two blocks away from our hotel. Then we walked to Baoshan Road station, passing buy a market of surplus goods. Well it looked like Divisoria of gadgets, kitchenwares, industrial stuff, etc. There were lots of people even in the streets so we didn't bother to take a look anymore.

 Double Cheeseburger and it's cheaper there than in the P.I.

We went off at People's Square station. Then we walked a couple of blocks to get to the Shanghai Museum. The museum is open from 8am to 5pm and admission is free. It's super worth our time because we got to know China even more. I've been familiar with Chinese dynasties since high school, and it's so cool to have images and artefacts to associate with  what I've learned those days about the Chinese history.

Shanghai Grand Theater

flowers!:)

inside the museum

ancient pottery

Chinese calligraphy

bad hair day lol

please excuse the kid behind me lol

panorama shot via iOS 6

I forgot the name of this road but it's a strip of restaurants and some boutiques

After a little over an hour inside the museum, we headed to West Nanjing Road, thinking of finding a bazaar in the street but there's none. We walked towards the East Nanjing Road until we found a building which looked like the Silk Market in Beijing or 168 in Divisoria. I got to practice my bargaining skills with a cute leather bag/clutch that we bought. The initial price offered was 620 RMB, and I was like...seriously?!? That wasn't even branded! She did a demo wherein she tried to burn the bag using a lighter and it didn't show any mark. So I haggled a lot of times and whenever the saleslady wouldn't agree, we were acting as if we're leaving, then she's been stopping us every time. Until we arrived at the price of 120 RMB. Imagine that?!? Well they speak good English so you can always negotiate with them without the charades haha! But I suggest, be kind when you haggle because it gets them guilty for overpricing that's why it's easier to haggle. (wasn't able to take a photo of the building)

Shopping there wasn't enough so we headed to the Super Brand Mall, a 13-storey shopping mall in century Avenue. We didn't have much time to shop because we had to catch our flight later that night. Surprisingly, we spent about an hour in H&M on the 1st floor of the building and we had to do a 15-minute grocery shopping for "pasalubong" in the supermarket at the ground floor. After that quick shopping, we took a cab back to the hotel, fixed our things, and left the hotel. The security guard of the hotel called a cab for us and we thought they already talked about where we're headed to. But apparently, they didn't. The taxi driver couldn't understand that we wanted him to take us to the East Nanjing Road station since that's the nearest Line 2 station from the hotel, and that's the metro line headed to the Pudong International Airport. The driver was too kind and resourceful that he used hi cellphone to call the Shanghai Translator call center. He passed his phone to us then the agent on the line said, "This is the Shanghai Translator. Where do you want to go? I will translate it to your driver." It's super cool! I suggest you search its number online because it will be useful if you don't want to do charades haha!

About our departure, I'll share it on my next post. I will also include a summary of our trip, some tips and a bit of an estimated expense to help you guys on planning your trip to Shanghai.

xoxo