Puerto Princessa - A piece of paradise (Philippines)

After the great and pleasant experience in Manila my trip continued on my own, Eye didn't join me on this leg of the trip. I still can't believe it, that such people like him exist in this world and are totally under-appreciated by a lot of others. If I can think one day of a way to return the favours, I certainly will do that.
 
My next stop was Puerto Princesa on the Palawan Island, just a short flight from Manila and I arrived in Paradise, well close to it. The airport is tiny and has only one entry and one exit. Within the halls you can overlook everything in the Terminal, don't expect much entertainment or choice of food. On my departure day I got to experience the small café n the corner of the departure hall and can confirm they have decent coffee (what else would you need?).

Secrets of Manila - Philippines

After a fairly relaxing week in Kuala Lumpur my next destination for a quick holiday stint was chosen to be the Philippines. There had always been a small part of me that wanted to visit the 7,107 islands, yes, all of them. This of course would only be possible if you have the time and money to spend for this adventure, nothing more in the world would have been more exciting at that point. Of course with a job back in London the freedom to do exactly that was not given so I settled with just 3 areas of the Philippines to start with.

Let's talk about Manila in this entry. Previously I have had the honour of getting in touch with another blogger, Eye in the sky. I wrote him a few years back an email, being so impressed with his blog as well as the areas he visited that I just wanted to express that and we have been in contact ever since. When the opportunity arrived that I could finally visit the Philippines, the first reaction was to write him and check if I could maybe get some advice on this or that, getting a route together etc. I got so much more than I have ever expected, considering that we had actually never met before and in fact were still strangers.
 

Eye offered to take me around and pretty much took care of everything within my itinerary. I really think that Eye pretty much planned my whole trip including all the little details, which I really appreciated. He offered as well to pick me up from the airport which I gladly accepted.
 

So the day of my arrival came and I got into NAIA around 10pm in the evening with Eye already waiting and the arrival exit. Together with him and his brother they stopped first at my hotel for the night to drop off my backpack and then we continued onwards to the Greenbelt. Greenbelt is a shopping mall located at Ayala Center, Makati City, which is just near Glorietta and SM Makati. It is owned by Ayala Malls, a real-estate subsidiary of Ayala Land, which is an affiliate of Ayala Corporation. We were in the search for a place to eat but given the time most restaurants were already closed within the mall. 

 

Kuala Lumpur - Scenery, Food and a good time



It was Thursday evening and I just finished packing for my trip. This is the first time I had to think really hard about my packing list as I am going on a business as well as holiday with only hand language. Not a task I am used to, I am really not a fashonista and always take my usual clothes with me, but with work involved, that wasn’t really possible and I had to adjust a bit. With a few tips from my sister and housemate I made up my mind and was read y to go.

 

Work had booked an overnight flight directly to KL and a great seat with plenty of leg room and a free seat next to me (not that they would’ve known that when they booked).

Upon arrival a taxi driver was waiting for me (luxus!) and we started together a 1 and half hour journey to the Hotel which is located in the CBD of KL. As you can imagine I was pretty tired from the flight and the last thing I wanted to do was entertaining the driver. He was really nice, but after 30 minutes of small talks I just wanted to watch the passing scenery and see how much I still can remember and dive into the memory lane. Not only was I thinking of Malaysia but my trip to SE Asia in general. I am still (and maybe more than ever) fascinated by the cities, may it be Singapore, KL or other cities that drive to develop as quick as possible and make a change to the world. You can decide for yourself if for the better or worse.

Getting back to topic, the driver unfortunately didn’t stop talking and avoiding to be rude I kept the conversation up, though just to a minimum. I felt sorry, because I am sure he must have felt that I wasn’t in the mood and yet he didn’t stop.

A cultural weekend in Amsterdam

Time came around that another opportunity brought me again to Amsterdam. While the last visit had more of an reflective aspect, this time around the weekend was spend on the cultural aspects. Though I guess the more major difference on this trip was the fact that I was not alone. 

Basically two of my friends asked me if I want to tag along and enjoy the time there together. After a bit of thinking (it took around one minute unfortunately) I decided to join, throwing away my worries and plan to save up some money. I am still not taking this 'new' goal serious enough to make it happen straight away. There are still nibbling concerns that I should take a different route in life. But enough of the ramble, here is some insight of my second visit in Amsterdam.

Part 3 of the little parts of Germany - Bergedorf

It was on the last day of 2013 when me and my friends decided to stop by in Bergedorf, 20 minutes east from the city center Hamburg. Now the interesting thing about Bergedorf for me is the fact that I have grown up here. My home was a 15 minute bus drive away from this small city. This is the borough of Hamburg I spend most of my teenage years. Of course old memories surfaced when we started on taking a walk around, stopping for a coffee and passing all the places to which I hold various stories.

When you are young it seems your options are endless and looking back all the worries I carried around with me seem now so small and pointless. Oh how naive and full motivation I have been, directed by my heart rather than my mind. A lot of lessons learned and driving forward is what me got to where I am today.

Part 2 of the little parts of Germany - Moelln

The year 2013 came to an end we took the chance to stop by a little town called Moelln. These days the place is very famous for a person called Eulenspiegel, even though his existences is not proven! But it should be known better for its historical influence of which you can read more on wiki (link above). There are not many tourists around the area, which is a shame, because it certainly offers everything you need, from map to nice cafes and shopping opportunity as well as a beautiful surroundings. But it is great at the same time, because not often do you find such small treasures worth visiting while other people would give it a miss.

Part 1 of the little parts of Germany - Lauenburg

Happy new year to everyone! The new year has started and with that a new wave of motivation. I am not referring to resolutions, but to having had a break and being able to visit again some of the small parts of Germany and simply being home.

Aldwych Tube Station (Strand) - Tour by Transport for London (TFL)

Last month I had the great opportunity to visit the disused Tube station Aldwych in the London City Centre. The history around the transportation in London is huge at the moment due to its 150th anniversary and of course always has and always will play a major role in the development in the city. The recently completed development of the London overground just shows what happens with the areas that are now connected to the overall transportation network. The house prices are rising and the areas are being more heavily developed thanks to new investments coming from the private sector. Usually the opening of a new station in London promises a greater return in investment due to higher demand of housing in the areas.

Generally speaking you want to live in an area in London from where you can get easily to your destination. The city government is aware that there are still missing links between the west, south, north and east. Thanks to the overground this has improved a lot. And thanks to the overground the traffic on the underground has been fairly stable instead of increased as it has in all these years. Traveling on the London Underground during rush hour is no fun at all and the stress from the offices that people carry around brings a certain level of tension on board. Surely I got used to it over the years, but it is annoying nevertheless.

Life without traveling

Today I have spend the first day of my holidays as relaxed as possible. I wish I could say I am writing from some exotic, interesting country or in some places I have never been before far away or nearby. Well, I wish might be the incorrect term here. I have chosen to spend my holidays in London, not because I can't afford to travel, but because I have a new-ish goal in my life. Something I have not thought of being an option any time soon neither that I would do it alone. For my goal to become reality I need some more pennies on my account. And in order for that to happen I need to stop traveling for a while.

You might have noticed that my recent blog updates have not been much about traveling if I have updated it at all. So far I seriously struggle with sitting here and not doing anything. I am even reading my work emails, thinking that it is such a waste of time to not do anything with my free time. I do have some plans for my free time, but they are rather on the small scale. Such as sorting finally out the little amount of paper work I have and bring some of my stuff to charity.

I didn't think it would be so hard, given that I have done a bit of traveling in the past and there wouldn't be any reason for me to run off again. But every time I see a documentary, watch a movie, read an article from different places, the urge to go there and see if for myself is surfacing. So many things around me remind me of the world that is out there and still to be explored for me.

This is not me complaining about the current situation, it is what it is and I made the decision myself. But to imagine a life without traveling at all is really hard for me and I am sure as a fellow traveler you know exactly what I am feeling.

I have to remind myself to look at the bigger picture and for what I am sacrificing the part I like the most in my life. It might give me the option to focus on other things I always wanted to take up and do, explore a bit more of the close surroundings, seeing friends more frequently. All the little things I have not paid attention to in the past simply because I was content with everything I had and there was no need to change.

Now you might wonder why I give something up I love so much (even if it is just for a short period of time) and what made me so happy, for something that will tie me down and burden responsibility on to me.

As you know, we are not getting younger and looking a bit ahead into the future it made me realise, that at one point I will no longer be able to work and travel, I will need to have the finance for my travels without working, simply because I might not be able to work anymore one day. So I am starting now to make the required preparation to avoid this in my later life.

No one will know what will happen in the future and it is possible that there will be things happening in my future that change everything I am planning.

I will still post from time to time, but more random things from my life and maybe I have the odd trip here and there but not as frequently as in the past. I thought I just put it out there, that a life without traveling is simply not the best I can imagine.

I am so excited already when the times comes for me again to plan my next trip around this time next year. With this said Happy Travels everyone!

Being part of advertising - A different kind of lunch break

A while back a colleague asked me and some others from the office if we could do her a favor for her friend and take part in the promo video for the Naver App LINE which we were more than happy to agree to. On a sunny day we met her friends during a lunch break and they took the few snaps from us. They then have added later one some other parts from shots taken around the city. Overall it was a rather fun lunch break.

And here is the result: