Bangkok Valentine's Weekend: Day 1

We left the hotel around lunch time. We took a cab to Terminal 21, the airport-inspired mall in downtown. We had lunch at The Terrace, a Thai restaurant. We had pad thai, tofu, tom yum. I think all of those cost us around ThB 900. Since I wasn't able to have my peso changed into baht, I just withdrew from the ATM. Luckily, there's an AEON branch (with ATM machine) in Terminal 21 that I was able to withdraw in baht without extra charges. Before doing so, I actually searched online for banks that do not charge for transactions of international cards, and so I found AEON, which I have first encountered when I was in Japan.

Tokyo bathroom

After lunch, we did a bit of shopping. We found nice coats on sale! Got mine for ThB 500! :) Then we took the Sukhumvit line from Asok to Siam. There we went around multiple malls namely, Siam Paragon Mall, Central World, Platinum Fashion Malls 1 and 2, and other nearby malls. We loved Platinum for lots of cheap yet awesome finds. There we bought a pair of flats for ThB 250 and colored pants for ThB 500. Actually, there were a lot of stuff to choose from. Had I brought a lot of money, I would've shopped clothes and resell them in Manila haha!

spotted a Crossfit box! :)

My name just means Royalty :)

a day after Vday

Siam Paragon

this is like the Thai version of grotto

awesome shopping spot!

yummy milk tea

After shopping, we headed back to the hotel where Dr. Sopon (my Thai friend) picked us up. We walked to his nearby office and toured around. There we found campaign materials 'cause apparently, he was also running for Bangkok Governor in the upcoming elections. Anyway, he took us to Central Plaza, a nearby mall, for dinner. We had a hot pot dinner at MK Restaurant. We had so much for dinner, and the best part was, it's free!:)

After dinner, we were off to Asiatique, hangout place by the bay. It's like their version of San Miguel by the Bay behind Mall of Asia. There were a lot of different shops (clothing, food, pets, toys, etc.), bars, and restaurants there. Plus there's a huge ferris wheel! We were there to meet with Narid, a Thai friend of mine, and her Chinese husband. They treated us to drinks at Checkmate, a restobar. The place has got a nice ambiance, plus there's a live band playing good Thai music. The singer was one of the last few contestants of "The Voice" Thailand. The place also serves sumptuous dishes. But the best part for me was we were able to try Hoagaarden Rosee for the first time! It's a cherry flavored beer and it really tasted good. I'm wondering why I couldn't find one in Manila.

we kept spotting Happy Lemon in every Asian country we visit :))

historical spot

LOLing at this :)))

new coat and new flats haha

artists

an artist with a unique style in his works

This photo grabbed our attention that's why we stopped by this artist haha he was with Mario Maurer in Jandara's (movie) premiere. Anyway, while the artist was talking to us, he was actually quickly drawing us on a piece of paper. He gave it to us and he asked for donation after. Oh well, we gave him 20 baht.

We had a great time catching up with my Thai friend and her hubby. She's still so fab and pretty that I don't feel she's getting old. Just before midnight, they brought us back to the hotel with their cutie white Mini Cooper. Well they're so blessed for living a perfect life, but the best thing about them is, they're very down to earth. You know, it really pays to keep in touch. It was in 2009 when I first met them and this time was just the second. I'm so happy having met such nice foreign friends.:)

Thai music

Hoegaarden Rosee for the ladies! Cheers!

awesome night :)

Since it's always our habit to have a central fund every trip (and I'm always the one handling the money), our summary of daily expenses would always mean that it covered 2 pax. Here's an estimate of how much we've spent:

1. Lunch - ThB 900
2. Transportation - ThB 300 (incl. toll fees - to avoid traffic)
3. Dinner - FREE
4. Snacks - Thb 200
5. Drinks - FREE
TOTAL: ThB 1,400 or PhP 1,950 (Php 975 each)

xoxo,

city girl

Bangkok Valentine's Weekend: Arrival

My bestfriend and I have been wanting to go to Bangkok. However, the cheapest air fare that we used to find was around Php 12,000. But luckily, we stumbled upon a seat sale via Cebu Pacific late last year. We immediately booked a roundtrip flight, which cost around Php 7,000.

After booking a flight, I informed a Thai friend of mine (whom I met in a conference here in the Philippines in 2009) that we're coming on February 2013. My friend offered to give us free accommodation in Bangkok. He's a CEO of a land valuation company in Bangkok, so he booked us at a hotel near his office. And other than him, I also met the daughter of his bestfriend at the same conference. She is around 4-5 years older than me, but she's now about to graduate on her PhD, and a director (but acting CEO since her CEO father is sick) of their land valuation company. They really impressed me because they're very down to earth and really kind and very accommodating.

Anyway, if you're going to Thailand, have your peso changed into baht here in Manila before leaving. In our case, we had some of our peso changed into baht via BPI (thank God for a friend who's working there and was able to endorse us to the right person) because Czarina didn't have baht. During our previous travels, we got our money changed into won, HKD, and RMB/yuan there, given that we had them reserved. Unfortunately, not in the case of baht. 

We had our traditional BFF Valentine's dinner at the airport because our flight was at around 9pm. Then we finally boarded the plane for a 4-hour ride!:) Our flight was on Feb. 14, but we arrived in Bangkok at around 12am of Feb. 15; and we were there until the night of Feb. 17, 'cause our flight was past midnight of Feb. 18.

Upon arriving at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, we took a cab to Nararam Suite 3 (88/15 Narathiwas Soi 28, 30 Nonsi Road, Chongnonsi, Yannawa, Silom / Sathorn, Bangkok, Thailand 10120). It's important to bring a map with the address written in Thai and be sure to have the hotel's contact number ready. In our case, we printed out the address and map but it wasn't written in Thai. Just when we thought the dispatcher (can speak and understand English but not so much) was able to relay our destination to the taxi driver well, we got a bit lost. I was forced to turn on my data roaming because we badly needed Internet and GPS. Apparently, we were brought to condo nearby our hotel; it's just that we can't get through because the road is being closed every night. We had to go the longer route to get to the hotel. Good thing the cab driver was nice enough to ask people for directions, and thank God, he's not an irate driver.

pink taxi

We paid him 400 baht even if our meter was only 350 baht because we were really grateful of him. But actually if we didn't get lost, our meter would only be less than 300 baht haha! Also, other than the cab fare, we also paid for 2 toll fees from the airport. One was 25 baht and the other was 45 baht. The airport is kinda far from the city proper. So upon arriving at the boutique hotel, we just told our host's name and we were given our room key. We're happy with our accommodation because besides the fact that it's free, it's actually a nice suite. I really recommend it because it's in a peaceful neighborhood and the room rates are affordable. It just costs an average of Php 1,200 per night for 2 pax; however, it's not that close to downtown where the malls and party places are.

Here's what we have initially spent:

Manila

1. Airfare (via Cebu Pacific) - PhP 7,000
2. Accommodation (3 nights) - FREE
3. Terminal Fee - PhP 1,620
4. Travel Tax - PhP 550

TOTAL: PhP 9,170 each

Bangkok

1. Toll Fee 1: ThB 25

2. Toll Fee 2: ThB 45

3. Cab Fare: ThB 400

TOTAL: ThB 470 or PhP 655 (PhP 328 each)

Exchange rate: ThB 1.39 = PhP 1.00

TOTAL: PhP 9,825


xoxo,

city girl

Be it Haute Couture or RTW, Solari Clothing has got it for you!

Solari is a fashion brand of apparel for women. It creates both RTW and haute couture (custom-made) clothing for women.

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Can the Blackberry Z10 Convince You?

I've had a Blackberry since 2009. First was the Curve 8520, then at mid-2010, I had it changed into a Bold 9700. But in December 2011, I got an iPhone 4S a week after it was  launched. I didn't give up my Blackberry despite having an iPhone because I can't let go of all my BBM contacts. I just subscribed to Php 99/mo BB CHAT as an add-on to my existing postpaid plan. My experiences with my BB have been very bad most especially with its battery, and its motherboard. I really wanna throw mine away.

Anyway, my only point here is, I've been using Blackberry for years and just when I am close to giving up my BB, here comes Blackberry Z10. The features and specs are very impressive and it shows a Blackberry that got 10x better. However, I'm just doubtful about how tough this product is because I've seen a Blackberry hang a lot of times. It has caused me and my friends a lot of troubles already so I don't wanna trust any BB product anymore. Even if they've done good on the Playbook, I would still prefer another tablet over that.

Hats off to Blackberry for its courage of releasing such a product, even if they've been losing global market share in the past few years. However, I wasn't convinced to upgrade my BB 9700 to BB Z10 because as much as possible, I wanted to stay with iOS and get an Android (Samsung Note 2) later.

Nice TVC though. :p

xoxo,

CityGirl

The KPop Experience: Guess Who!

Last January 20, I was at NAIA Terminal 2 with my uncle, grandma, and cousins because we were sending away our cousin back to Japan. Outside the international departure entrance, there's a big crowd (mostly girls) waiting but I just ignored them.

Our family stayed at the end-most part of the departure area wherein no one else were staying, While chatting there, the huge crowd 10 meters away from us turned screaming so I ran towards their direction to check what's going on. Some KPop guys got off a van and walked to the departure entrance gates. A lot of bouncers were there to control the crowd. Then I saw this girl who was crying like a "2-year-old kid whose lollipop fell on the ground". I got so curious that I asked her friend what's going on. The girl said it was "Infinite", a KPop group who joined the Girls' generation concert the previous night. The girl who turned hysterical got a bit calmer and hugged her friend as she said she can't believe she saw her idols. Woah! I was speechless. I left the scene and headed back to where I was standing first.

While I was chatting with my grandma and cousin, there's a black van that came and everybody at the departure entrance gates went screaming again. I got curious so I ran towards their direction again, until the van stopped in front of me. To my surprise, some cute Korean guys got off the van and the shouting girls came running towards me but they were stopped by the bouncers. So they were all blocked by the bouncers while I was there on the other side completely enjoying the view of these Kpop guys without competition haha! I took photos of them; but I didn't catch them looking because they were all in a hurry. I tweeted their photos and some Kpop fans responded that those guys were actually U-Kiss. Well I wasn't really familiar with Kpop guys because they all looked the same to me plus they belong in big groups that it's so hard to remember their faces, most especially their names. So, can you help me identify who these guys are?

This experience may be very random, but it's cool!:)

xoxo,

CityGirl

KSP visits Kanlungan ni Maria

It's our barkada tradition to hold an outreach event every December of the year. But since we were too busy, our 2012 outreach was moved to January of 2013. It may be late but we won't forget to give back. We've been so blessed the entire year of 2012, and the best way of thanking the Lord for all of His blessings is to share them with those in need.

On January 13, 2013, we visited the grannies who were housed in Kanlungan ni Maria (Home for the Aged) in Antipolo City. For the past years, we've been extending help to the kids and families of Payatas, but this year, we decided to make the old ones happier, most especially those who didn't have families to take care of them. 

A lot of friends contributed in any way they can. The donations we've gathered were used to buy diapers, masks, medicines, and food for the oldies. Vans Philippines and Toby's Sports also donated prizes for the fun games. Other than the members of the barkada, some friends of our friends also joined the outreach. Our friend's aunt also gathered a few doctors to conduct a medical mission.

We had so much fun bonding with the grannies. They're so blessed because a lot of people were helping them. We saw some photos of other outreach events that have been held there. We're so thankful that we were given a chance to help them too.

I'm really looking forward to more blessings this year, and I can't wait to share them to more people who are in need. I'm so proud of my friends who have been very helpful and never selfish.:)

New Year 2013

We were back from Ilocos on New Year's eve. We headed to Ayala Ave. to catch the "One Makati" countdown. I loved the fireworks display! I took a video of it but it was quite long so I didn't upload it anymore. (I'll try when I get a faster internet connection one of these days)

After the countdown in Makati, we headed to Skye for the after-party. Got the passes from PLDT, one of the event sponsors. But since some of my friends were in 7th High, I joined them first. It's only at 5am when we decided to go back to Skye to catch the countdown to the first sunrise of 2013. I really had a blast with new friends!:)

So I went home at 7am and I was asleep almost the entire 1st day of the year. LOL! And when I woke up at around 6pm, it's time to prepare for the KSP barkada's annual New Year's party at Filinvest 2. It's the 4th year of our tradition and this year's theme was "Masquerade". However, I didn't have time to find a mask haha. I just wore a long black gown with a lace back, but I never had a photo of the back of my gown.:p

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May we all have an awesome 2013!:)


xoxo,
citygirl