Travel: KLM gives out FREE luggage tags

KLM, the Royal Dutch Airlines, is giving away thousands of bag tags for FREE!

All you have to do is create your personalized luggage tag here and have it shipped to your home or office address.

You can choose to upload your own picture or choose from KLM pictures that are provided in the registration site.

After you have successfully ordered, they will ship it to your doorstep in 3 weeks time.

This is one of the bag tags that I ordered for free.

I will update and blog again after they have shipped my bag tag orders at my doorstep. :)

Movie Review: Letters to Juliet

I have always been fascinated with Italy. It seems a very romantic and adorable place. From what I see in movies, Italy has a certain charm that captivates almost everyone. With its country wine vineyards, cobblestone walkways, palatable dishes and beautiful language, who would not fall in love with it AND in it.

Shot in Verona, Italy, Letters to Juliet is as endearing as the country view of Italy. Starring Amanda Seyfried, of Mama Mia and Chloe, the movie tells of a story of finding your one true love and fulfilling the promise of a love once lost.

An article published in Manila Times, a Philippine broadsheet, aptly describes and sets the tone of what the movie is all about:

The One That Got Away
(Mark J. Macapagal, The Manila Times)

In your life, you’ll make note of a lot of people. Ones with whom you shared something special and ones who will always mean something. There’s the one you first kissed, the one you first loved, the one you lost your virginity to, the one you put on a pedestal, the one you’re with…and the one that got away.

Who is the one that got away? I guess it’s that person with whom everything was great, everything was perfect, but the timing was just wrong. There was no fault in the person nor flaw in the chemistry, but the cards just didn’t fall the right way, I suppose.

I believe in the fact that ending up with someone, finding a longtime partner that is, does not lie merely in the other person. I can actually argue that an equal part, or maybe even the greater part, has to do with the matter of timing. It has to do with you being ready to settle down and commit to someone in a way that goes beyond the little niceties of giddy romance.

How often have you gone through it without even realizing it? When you’re not ready to commit in that mature manner, it doesn’t matter who you’re with, it just doesn’t work. Small problems become big; inconsequential become deal breakers simply because you’re not ready and it shows. It’s not that you and the person you’re with are no good; it’s just that it’s not yet right, and little things become the flashpoint of that fact.

Then one day you’re ready. You really are. And when this happens you’ll be ready to settle down with someone. He or she may not be the most perfect, they might not be the brightest star of romance to ever have burned in your life, but it’ll work because you’re ready. It’ll work because it’s the right time and you’ll make it work. And it’ll make sense, it really will.

So that day comes when you’re finally making sense of things, and you find yourself to be a different person. Things are different, your approach is different, you finally understand who you are and what you want and you’ve become ready because the time has truly arrived. And mind you, there’s no telling when this day will come. Hopefully, you’re single or be in a long-term relationship, or be married with three kids…it doesn’t matter. All you know is that you have changed. And for some reason, the one that got away, is the first person you think about.

You’ll think about them because you’ll wonder, “What if they were here today?” , “What if we were together now, with me as I am and not as I was?” .The one that got away is– the biggest “What if?” you’ll have in your life.

If you’re married, you’ll just have to accept the fact that the one that got away, got away. Believe me, no matter how fairy tale you think your marriage is, this can happen to the best of us. But hopefully you’re mature enough to realize that you’re already with the one you’re with and this is just another test of your commitment, one which will just strengthen your marriage when you get past it. Sure, you’ll think about him/her every so often, but it’s alright. It’s never nice to live with a “might have been,” but it happens.

Maybe the one that got away is the one who’s already married. In which case it’s the same thing. You just have to accept and know that your memories of that person will probably bring a nice little smile to your lips in the future when you’re old and gray and reminiscing.

But if neither of that is the case, then it’s different. What do you do if it’s not yet too late? Simple –find him or find her. The very existence of a “one that got away” means that you’ll always wonder…what if you got that one? Ask him out to coffee. Ask her out to a movie. It doesn’t matter if you’ve dropped in from out of nowhere. You’d be surprised, you just might be “the one that got away” as well for the person who is your “the one that got away.” You might drop in from out of nowhere and it won’t make a difference. If the timing is finally right, it’ll all just fall into place somehow. It would be a great feeling in the end, to be able to say to someone, “Hey you, you’re the one that almost got away.”

To watch the movie, click to play on the video below:

"'What' and ‘if’ are nonthreatening as words can be. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life: ‘What if?' 

'What If?'

 What If I don't know how your story ended. But if what you felt then was true love, then it's never too late. If it was true, then it why wouldn't it be true now? You need only the courage to follow your heart.

 I don't know what a love like Juliet's feels like. A love to leave loved ones for. A love to cross oceans for. But I'd like to believe if I ever were to feel it, I would have the courage to seize it. 

 And if you didn't, I hope one day that you will." 

- Letters to Juliet, 2010

SeatSale: AirPhilExpress 600PHP Seat Sale

Air Philippines Express, the budget wing of Philippines' flag carrier Philippine Airlines, is on a sale rampage. Set to conquer the budget airline industry, AirPhil Express has been very aggressive in its sales and marketing campaigns these past few months. Seat sale after seat sale, they are slowly eating up the market share of the budget airline industry that is currently dominated by Cebu Pacific Air.

And now, they are again on the surge of offering travelers budget airfares with their new seat sale promo.

AirPhilExpress' re-entry to the budget airline industry is advantageous to everyone, expecially to travel-holics. This will eventually pave way for more flights within the country, and possibly outside of the country, and offer Filipino and foreign tourists more domestic flights which will help boost the tourism industry of our country. Most important of all, AirPhilExpress' aggressive airfare promos and prices will help other competing budget airlines to do the same which will eventually help drive lower the cost of airplane travels. Thus, this will give more power to consumers to choose because of several options and air transportation monopoly will no longer be very evident in the Philippines.

Air Asia's Mindblowing USD1 Seat Sale

Air Asia, known as the world's best low-cost airline of 2010 because of its budget-friendly rates, is again proving the world that they really deserve the top spot.

If you're planning on traveling to some of the best Asian destinations next year (April-August 11, 2011) and planning to do it with a tight airfare budget, then this seat sale is definitely for YOU.

Air Asia is offering a 16PHP one-way fare to almost all of the Asian countries. Air Asia docks in Clark Pampanga airport and travels straight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But even if you are thinking of going somewhere else other than KL, you need not fret. Air Asia services other flights from KL to Vietnam, Bangkok, Cambodia, Laos, Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei and many others. So if you are thinking to have that great Asian backpacking trip alone or with your friends, then this is definitely a sign for you to GO for it.

Seat sale starts on August 10 and ends on August 15, 2010.

What are you waiting for? A promo like this is surely a travel addict's answered prayer. :)

As for me, I might just pursue that Asian backpacking trip suggestion. 

Hi-ho, hi-ho! Asia, here I go! ;)

Cebu Pacific launches another seat sale

Cebu Pacific, the number 1 low-cost airline in the Philippines, launches again another seat sale today. This is in celebration of Cebu Pacific Air's acquisition of new airbus carriers.

Seat sale starts on August 10 and ends on August 11, 2010. Seat sale travel period will be from October 1 - November 30, 2010.

For those travelholics, this is another chance for you to catch the next flight to your next adventure destination.

Hmmm... I'm thinking, where should I go next? :)

2011 Solo Backpacking: Why Not?

The Cebu Pacific Seat sale season is back and they are slashing 70% from the regular air fare for all domestic and international flights.

Since the travel period is still next year, I had myself pondering on where I wanted to go, with emphasis on the word 'I'. Well, I had long wanted to be a solo backpacker and do a Southeast Asian backpacking trip. Since I cannot easily tag some of my friends along and bringing my family of 7 (including my grandmother) to an international flight can possibly mean temporary bankruptcy for me (since I am planning to take them all to a Palawan trip next year also), I decided to have a shot on it alone. 

So what did I do? 

Out of a 60-second impulsive decision, I decided to book myself a Manila-Ho Chi Minh flight on Feb 14. 

Why Feb 14? 

Well, I figured out it will be the best reason that I'll have to bail me out of the Feb 14 hullabaloos. And from the looks of it, I'll still be wearing black on that day. So, why not? Feb 14 on a plane to Saigon is not a bad Valentine's date idea.

I'm planning to do a Ho Chi Minh-Siam Reap-Phnom Penh-Bangkok tour and planning to get back on the 19th of Feb. Still haven't booked the return flight on the 19th, though. I am still not sure whether to take the return flight to Manila from Bangkok or still from Ho Chi Minh. Just need to make sure that my itinerary will allow me to tour the cities well enough and determine where it will take me on the 19th for my return trip back home.

As of writing, it'll be a 6 day trip alone. But I would be more happy to have travel buddies on this trip. Like they say, the more the merrier. :) 

There will be more than enough quality time with myself for a 6-day backpacking adventure. But I'm sure that it'll be fun to know more about what's out there. 

Can't wait to visit and explore the places and take pictures and eventually blog about 'em. 

Well, just a few more months and were already in 2011. So let's just wait and see. 

Ciao! :)

Intramuros Walk

This is a late post already but thought to still write about this.

Last February 6, my officemates and I went to Intramuros to  tour our foreign business counterparts who . This was my first time to get inside the walled city of Manila and visit the Spanish-inspired structures and buildings.

My officemates and I decided to meet at the office (Petron Megaplaza) around 8am. When everyone was already in, I then went to the Manila Peninsula Hotel to fetch Tami and Adrian, our foreign guests. We rode a cab going to Intramuros. While on the car, I acted like a tour guide inside the taxi and started blabbering and explaining about the streets and areas where our taxi passed by. :) 

It was around 930am when we arrived at the Manila Cathedral Church. We started the tour inside the Manila Cathedral Church. I got to see the tour group of Carlos Celdran. We originally planned to joined the Celdran tour but decided against it at the last minute because it was a bit pricey for us. We were all on budget mode that time. :) So to improvise, Angeli, one of my officemates, acted as the official tour guide for the group. ;)

The Manila Cathedral is a really majestic church and through time, it has preserved the Spanish colonization influences in the structure. When we went there, there was an exhibit that was going on and we were able to read the history of the Manila Cathedral Church and the Catholic Church as a whole.

 

 

Above are some of the pictures that I got from inside the Manila Cathedral Church. After about an hour, we decided to leave the Manila Cathedral Church and head off to Fort Santiago. 

The Fort Santiago was where the richest Spaniards lived during the Spanish occupation in the Philippines. It was brick-walled and you can still see the opulent design of the garden and houses inside. There were also several Fort Santiago staff who were role-playing and dressed as guardia-sibils and roaming the fort. I was able to get some shots inside the Fort and capture the scenery and garden inside.

   

It was already lunch time when we left The Fort Santiago. Since we were all starving already from the walk, we then decided to grab lunch at Greenwich.

After a sumptuous meal, we resumed our Intramuros tour and went to the San Agustin Church and Museum. But there was a wedding that was ongoing. That's why we were not able to get inside the church and museum.

We then headed off to Casa Manila which was an apartment for affluent students during the Spanish colonization. Picture taking was prohibited inside the Casa that's why I was not able to take some shots with me. But the furniture and the furnishings inside the Casa were all very intricate and grand. It showed signs of affluence and granduer. 

After a good 30 minute tour inside the Casa, we all decided to cap off our tour and went back to the Manila Cathedral Church.

Above is one of my favorite shots from the tour where it shows the grand facade of the Manila Cathedral Church. If i hadn't known, I would have mistaken it as one of the churches in Europe.

The tour that we had in Intramuros, Manila brought me back to my history and made me appreciate more what the FIlipino heroes did to emancipate our country from the Spanish rule.

Above all, our foreign guests enjoyed the tour very much and had a wonderful time. Below is a picture of my IDS team with Tami Scheben, our counterpart in Cincinnati (L-R Jeline, Tami, Christiane, me).

Below is the picture of everyone in the tour.