#never tried agoda

[nice2meetyouu]

Hoho. Nasa Baler kami today kasi 'yung nanay ko, sobrang spontaneous. Nag-book siya sa Agoda. Today. Ang booking? Today din. Kaya here we are.

'Yung ulam at kanin sa bahay, binaon naming lahat. Ang susi ay 'yang sunnyware picnicmate na nasa pic. Malamig naman dito. Mukhang fun kung at least 2 days ang booking.

Ginabi na kami sa daan. Ang check in, 2:00p.m. kaso wala namang prepared na lumayas today. Kaya 2:00p.m. kakaalis pa lang namin sa Maynila. Six hours kaming nagbyahe.

Buti tapos na no'n 'yung mga meeting at deliverables ko for today.

P.S. Nagkamali lang 'yung nanay ko. Hindi talaga dapat today. Kaso ewan ko paano niya napagkamalang bukas 'yung April 6. Two hours kaming nagchat sa Agoda (walang nangyari) at tumawag (wala ring nangyari). Hindi ma-rebook, hindi ma-refund. If magbobook daw ulit, mas mahal pa sa price sa Agoda ang offer kahit may BIG discount na ibinigay 'yung contact person. 😂

[fuck-customers]

Working in a mall is not the place to be

So work at Uncle Anitas where we make soft pretzels and I used to love working here the first year until I went on my two week vacation to see what this country had to offer by going on a roadtrip. I work in a small mall in my town so it's all good and fun.. or is it? 

Well, there's a small jewelry store, lets call them agodas. They do whatever. I used to be good friends with everyone in that stall until something miraculous happened and someone started to spread some rumor about me talking shit about everyone from their store and mine. I'm a shift supervisor. That is the LAST thing I would do to any of my coworkers. I am not that type of person in any regard. 

So, once I caught wind of this on my day off leading up to my trip I rushed in asking hey what's going on. My ASM was worried by the things the person at agoda was saying about me and if it was true. So my ASM was taking trash out and we walked and talked. I was nearly in tears because some of the things that are being accused of me were straight up outrageous. I didn't know what was happening (and I still don't). My ASM knows me to be kind, forgiving, and a lot different than everyone else. I try to be a very to the books while maintaining a cool attitude. I guess that gets translated into me talking shit about people apparently.

So my friend who was also working with me told me who the person was at agoda that was saying this. It was an unlikely culprit. I was crushed. I was absolutely floored after finding out the suspect. I told my ASM without mentioning said friend (but it was already known that friend had said it) about how could X from agoda do this to me? I was nothing but nice to them. They even gave me an employee discount for my new labrets. Why in the world would I ever say something about them? I was sad. I was depressed. It was bad. 

Fast forward after about a ~half week into my trip. My friend messages me in panic saying that the x person at agoda confronted them at work asking "WHY DID YOU TELL HER (me) ABOUT WHAT I WAS SAYING ABOUT HER". There was also a funny "dance" that this person was doing to mock me, my friend didn't find this out until after the confrontation. Person at agoda tried saying and telling my friend that they were making fun of me too. So my friend, while I was gone, was harassed during work. I tried to calm her nerves, but she said she was going to quit because of this. And she did. 

Finally come a day or so later I'm in Arizona and I'm sitting in a warbeys. It got considerably worse back at home. I messaged my ASM saying HEY WHAT THE F U C K IS GOING ON!?!?

Next day I get a call from HR asking my side of the story and I just told them I have no idea. This came out of no where. I'm literally in vegas I don't fuckin know my dude. HR told me they would update me on the situation and turn out on the following Monday or Tuesday. I got NO SUCH CALL.

So finally I'm back from my trip. My friend has quit and I'm stressed out when I go into work. I had asked my store managed like "hey so what happened with HR". They just told me, "they took care of it". 

That's it??? They took care of it? I looked over and the person who worked at agoda still worked there. I was furious. I wanted to head over there myself and tell it how it is. I need to be the bigger person unfortunately. I just told my ASM at this point, "I wish for them to never speak to me again."

I'm still floored. I don't know anything of the situation still. Whenever I bring it up at work, everyone starts to get squeamish/doesn't respond to me/or changes the subject. Also, I know that my coworkers attitudes have changed towards me since the incident. I'm currently looking for a new job, but can't because of me graduating in december from college. I have to tough it out. (I pay interest on loans and shit). 

I LOVE mall drama.

[sugarcontent322-blog]

Reminiscence — A Trip to Remember

This article was first published on Medium.

It’s been a few months since my solo trip to Japan, and I still remember vividly every single moment with precise detail. I mean, how could I not? It was the most memorable trip that I ever had, not to mention, my very first solo trip. Remembering every moment brings joy and excitement to my heart, which gave me the motivation and drive to write this journal.

I wasn’t planning to travel alone in the first place, to be honest. The thought of solo travelling never did cross my mind whenever I planned an overseas trip. Part of the reason was because I felt it would be too boring without friends, without having someone to talk to. But, circumstances *psst— leave approvals* prevented me from joining my friends’ itinerary. And thus I was left with the option of planning a solo trip.

Planning an itinerary alone proved to be very enjoyable, as I realized. Researching on places to visit, planning the route and mode of transport, day-to-day schedules, it gives you a sneak preview of what kind of adventure awaits. Not to mention, I can go wherever I want to go, as my mind pleases. That’s sort of a main perk of solo travelling I guess, flexibility in plans. Few days before my flight, I switched a day in Osaka with a trip to Hiroshima, just because I suddenly had the urge to explore. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

My trip lasted for 10 days, travelling through Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. Looking back at my itinerary, I wondered how I was able to follow through such a spartan schedule. Everyday was a visit to a new area, and I never did spend much of my time in the city, only at night when I’m done for the day.

Waking up at 7.30am every morning (why can’t I have the same motivation for work!), I planned to start my day early so I could maximize my time spent at places I was visiting. Having bought the painfully expensive JR Pass, I had unlimited rides on JR lines and also the shinkansen, so I was determined to capitalize on it as much as possible. Booking my shinkansen ride at 8/9 plus, I was always rushing to the station without having breakfast. Hunger wasn’t a concern to me, but missing my ride was. And yes, I have missed x number of trains throughout this trip, and 1 particular shinkansen which got me panicking for the first time on the trip.

Kamakura

Throughout my stay in Tokyo, I visited Kamakura, Nikko and Hakone. Approximately 1 hour away from the capital city, each of these places have their own iconic landmarks. My first destination was Kamakura, a suburb filled with Buddhist Zen temples and shrines. Walking on the streets of Kamakura felt different from walking in Tokyo, there was no no urge to walk briskly, no rush. Everyone around me was strolling casually along Hachiman-gu street, occasionally stopping halfway to indulge on the variety of souvenirs, sweets and snacks that the roadside shops had to offer.

I was absorbed into the 'slow-paced life’ of Kamakura, and took time to appreciate the traditional architecture of the shops, before reaching Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu at the end of the street. At the entrance of the temple, I chanced upon a pair of Japanese newlyweds decked in Japanese wedding kimonos, having a photoshoot with a group of people who seemed to be like their families and relatives. The tourist spirit inside me sprung into life, as I whipped out my phone to take a couple of photos and an instastory. Mind you, I wasn’t alone in doing this.

Venturing into the temple, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw yet another pair of Japanese newlyweds! This time, the pair were in the middle of a ceremony, exchanging vows as per tradition, I guessed. Then again, Kamakura is a place famed with its shrines, so its no surprise that newlyweds would hold their wedding ceremony here. But still, to chance upon two wedding couples on the same day, I think I was very fortunate and lucky. On towards Hase, which is 3 Enoden (the local railway in Kamakura) stops away from Kamakura station, I went to visit the famous bronze Great Buddha Daibutsu.

The Great Buddha statue, Daibutsu

A majestic, magnificent statue. I stood still for a few minutes, just staring intently in awe at the great figure in front of me. The interior was open to visitors for a small fee, and there were details of the weight, the height of each part of the statue. I took a few photos, paid my respects to the Daibutsu, and headed back to Tokyo for dinner.

I met up with my Japanese friend in Kanda, he brought me to an Izakaya his friend owned. While we were having dinner halfway, there were a huge group of people in colourful traditional costumes, parading and cheering down the streets of Kanda, carrying a lavishly decorated palanquin. My friend explained that there was a festival happening— the Kanda Matsuri. Another lucky coincidence!

Although this was supposed to be a solo trip, I did meet up with some groups of friends for dinner sometimes. Honestly, I was really lucky to have company for some parts of my journey, given my talkative nature, so shout-out to those people (you know who you are ☺).

Nikko

The next day was a long, long journey into Nikko, taking the Tohoku shinkansen to Utsunomiya station, the local Nikko line towards Nikko station. I used the 2 hour travelling time to review my plans for the day — head to Ryuzu Falls, which is the start of the nature trail, towards Senjougahara Marshlands, Yudaki Waterfall, and finally Yumoto Onsen. Never would I have thought that I’ll willingly go on a nature trail myself, but hey there’s a first for everything I guess.

Ryuzu-no-taki, Ryuzu Waterfall

Alighting at the Ryuzu-no-Taki bus stop, I stared at the limitless flight of stairs in front of me. Did I mess up, I wondered? I didn’t know these stairs existed when I was researching the area! Well, that was the start of my “spartan” trail, as I dubbed it. When I reached the top, I realized that the flight of stairs was not even part of the nature trail! If I alighted one stop after, I would have skipped the stairs altogether. Oh well, lesson learnt and I continued (started) forward nevertheless.

A warning sign at the entrance of the trail — beware of bears!

Unfortunately (or fortunately), there were no signs of wildlife to be seen throughout the trail, only birds which I was unable to identify. The journey to Senjougahara marshlands was a brief one; took roughly half an hour to reach. I was greeted by the majestic view of the marshlands — its hard to believe that such a breathtaking landscape was 1400 meters above sea level! The rustling of leaves in the wind, the serenity it exudes, made the whole hiking trip worthwhile.

Fast forward to the journey back to Tokyo city, I was racing for time to catch my shinkansen to Shin-Osaka at 8.33pm, because my accommodation for the night was there. Unfortunately, I was 6 minutes late (Yes, I vividly remember) and my shinkansen had left without me. I went to inquire at the ticketing counter in Tokyo station whether there were any Osaka-bound trains left, and the earliest ride was next morning. Then the sudden realization hit me. I was left stranded in Tokyo, without any accommodation.

Hungry and angry — “hangry”, I was walking around Tokyo station aimlessly. The cons of solo travelling started to surface: I felt lost, I didn’t know what to do, nobody was around to tell me what to do, there was nobody for me to discuss with. Cold sweat, goosebumps — you name it, I felt it. Firstly I had to find a way to calm myself down. I went into a Family Mart, dragging my luggage along, bought a bottle of Mitsuya Cider (good stuff, highly recommend), and took a huge gulp.

Now that I have calmed down, it’s time to make a Plan B. I whipped out my phone, opened the Agoda app and searched for the nearest capsule hotel with a vacancy. Fortunately, capsule hotels are aplenty in Tokyo, and I had no issues finding one with a vacancy — in Kanda, just a street away from the Izakaya I had dinner at the day before. After settling down in my new accommodation and grabbing dinner at a nearby eatery, I crashed into my bed. It was a long roller-coaster ride of a day, and it was about to get even more exhausting, because I would be starting the next day with a 6.26am shinkansen to Osaka!

Miyajima, Hiroshima

For my first time stepping outside of the Kanto region, I was excited to explore more places that I could only see through the Internet. The first place I visited was Miyajima, an island off the coast of Hiroshima, western Honshu. Though Miyajima was totally out of the way for my plans, I just went with it because hey, with the power of my JR pass I can go anywhere! It was really easy to get to Miyajima also, connected by local trains from Hiroshima, since it’s a popular tourist destination that hosts the World Heritage Site: Itsukushima Shrine.

On board the JR ferry, I could clearly spot the iconic “floating” torii gate over the distance. Its tall orange pillars stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the green and turquoise landscape of Miyajima.

Spotting the torii gate over the distance

When I disembarked from the ferry, I couldn’t believe what I saw — there were deers all around! There was no mention of deers roaming around the populated areas of Miyajima when I was doing my itinerary planning, or so I believed. But, unlike their counterparts in Nara, the deers in Miyajima are not really as tame and friendly. They don’t bow unfortunately, I tried in embarrassment. There were warning billboards that advise tourists not to feed the deers as they are considered wild animals. Nevertheless, I did spot some deers approaching tourists for snacks, though in a slightly aggressive manner.

Stare-down with a deer outside the Miyajima pier

Before heading into Itsukushima shrine, I took a little detour to take a look at the floating torii gate. Luckily for me, it was low tide and sightseers were able to walk down the coastline and get a close-up with the majestic torii gate. I stood in front of the torii gate, staring intensely at its pillars. To think that this structure remained unscathed and survived the destruction brought by the atomic bomb in World War 2, it truly is a miracle indeed. The bottom part of the pillars were eroded though, because of the waves. Tourists took this opportunity to grab a selfie/group photo with the torii gate, including me.

Up and close with the famed ‘untiltable’ torii gate

After visiting the torii gate and Itsukushima shrine, I headed out for my main objective of the day: reaching the summit of Mt Misen, the highest mountain in Miyajima. Of course, I wasn’t going to start my ascent from scratch, there were ropeway services that brought tourists up to Shishi-iwa observatory, and another 30 minutes walk up to reach the summit. However simple it sounds, this walk is far from easy. Slopes after slopes, I kept leaning my body forward to push myself up these slopes.

Along the way I met a bunch of hikers, tourists and locals. When we walked past each other, I was caught off guard by their afternoon greeting konichiwa, I couldn’t react in time to give my reply, barely giving a smile and bowing my head slightly in return. Such an act of courtesy was heartwarming. Almost every Japanese people greeted me on my way up to the summit, to the point where I started to initiate the greetings myself.

Rock formations at the summit of Mt. Misen

The view at the summit of Mt Misen was absolutely breathtaking. You could see the Hiroshima Bay in its entirety. Fresh air, clear blue skies and clouds, invigorating wind, all these made my effort (and money spent) worthwhile. Having accomplished my plan for the day, I spent the remaining afternoon browsing through Omotesando shopping street.

On a side note, if you’re planning to visit Miyajima, don’t forget to grab some Momiji Manjyu as souvenirs on your way back! They are Miyajima’s specialty, and they well deserve that title.

Kyoto

Kyoto — the land of temples and shrines, was nothing short of amazing. In this laid back town, the streets are not as bustling as its neighboring city Osaka, just peace and quiet. Also, the number of temples and shrines in this town is astonishing; for every few hundred meters you walk, there is almost certainly a temple or shrine nearby. But, each and every temple or shrine has its own story to tell, with different history and architecture. For travelers seeking out Japanese religious culture, Kyoto certainly is a must-visit.

As I was travelling solo, I could quickly decide what I wanted to do, so I tried to visit as many landmarks as I could within the two days I allocated in my itinerary. Places like Ginkaku-ji, Kinkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera are “mandatory” visits for tourists in Kyoto, so I prioritized those places first. I was fortunate enough to be accompanied by a friend of mine, despite a hectic schedule, if not I’ll be hopelessly lost in Kyoto’s complex bus system.

I have to say, riding on a Kyoto bus was interesting, and a tad scary. The entrance is at the back, which was supposed to be where the exit is, and vice versa. Only at the terminus do commuters board from the front. Also, I noticed that Japanese drivers like to drive very, and I mean VERY, close to one another, leaving just a few inches of gap, too close for comfort. So when the bus I was on came utterly close to a car beside (I sat at a window seat, so I could see the car being CRAZILY near), I felt very uneasy and claustrophobic.

Shortly after I arrived in Kyoto, I was told by my friend that there was a festival Aoi Matsuri, one of the three main festivals in Kyoto, happening at the Kyoto palace. Second festival that’s happened during my trip, how lucky I was, really! I pushed my plans back and headed straight for the palace. A large crowd had already gathered outside the entrance of the palace, with some photographers setting up their gear in preparation for the big event. But the first of the palanquins appeared only an hour later, and suddenly the crowd sprung into action, whipping out their phones and cameras and snapping away. Of course, that included me as well!

The parade heads off from the Imperial Palace

It was a grand festival all right, with horses and oxen walking beside people in ceremonial attire. A strikingly beautiful palanquin stood out most of all, with the high priestess Saio riding in it. After walking alongside the parade for a while, I decided to call it quits and head for my next destination.

The Golden and Silver Pavilions, I could only see them through the Windows wallpapers when I lock my computer. They already look magnificent digitally, but seeing them in person is truly a sight to behold.

The Golden Pavilion, Kinkaku-ji

While being surrounded by greenery and a pond, the Kinkaku-ji stands out with its striking gold. Covered in gold leaf for its exteriors, you could see the gold brilliance clearly reflected by the surrounding pond.

While the Ginkaku-ji is not as flamboyant as its golden counterpart, the Silver pavilion offers a dry sand garden with a striped line pattern situated just beside.

Sand garden of Ginkaku-ji

The simplicity of the garden gives off a serene vibe, I felt at ease while looking at the pavilion, also maybe because the crowd here was smaller here compared to Kinkaku-ji. After a few walks around the garden to make my money’s worth (the entrance fee is 500 yen, goodness!) I decided to head towards the most famous structure in Eastern Kyoto: Kiyomizu-dera.

Similar to the two Pavilions, Kiyomizu-dera is widely popular on various mediums. Any travel ad and tour package would feature the temple as one of the main highlights in Japan. Unfortunately the roof of the main hall was under construction when I visited, so the scenery of the whole temple wasn’t as great as before, but at least the main hall was open for visits, so it’s not all that bad.

The temple is located up in the hills, so there’s a arduous 10 minute uphill walk to expect. The walk was not in the slightest boring though, because you’ll be walking through the Higashiyama district, where a whole line of shops and cafes awaits a curious traveler. There were a lot of shops selling Japanese sweets, and a few of them offered samples to shoppers (wouldn’t have known if I wasn’t guided by my veteran friend!). There were samples for matcha tea as well! What a great pit stop in the middle of the district, perfect for a short tea break before continuing further.

At the top of the hill, at the entrance of the temple, the view was simply breathtaking. I could see the entirety of Kyoto all the way to the mountains in the west.

The view atop of the hills, outside Kiyomizu-dera entrance

The crowd here was really huge, probably double the size of Kinkaku-ji crowd. That’s to be expected from the most popular temple in Kyoto, with tourists flocking in to see the temple and the spectacular view.

After a full (scorching) day of temple-hopping, what better way to cool down than to visit an onsen? What I like about Japan, especially Kyoto, is the abundance and convenience of bathhouses, there’s bound to be one around your vicinity (provided you are in an urban area of course).

For the remaining 3 days of my trip, I decided to spend my time leisurely. I spent the late afternoons on an onsen spree, going to popular onsens. In total I visited 4 onsens within these 3 days (maximum health & wellness!) One onsen that left a deep impression on me was Yunessun in Hakone, the place is a water theme park combined with an onsen. Visitors can check out the unique wine/coffee/sake pools and then relax in an onsen, it really is a cool concept, I don’t regret spending half a day there!

Four buckets of coffee ready for splashing people!

Afterthoughts

Honestly, I felt very skeptical about going on an overseas trip all by myself. All the what-ifs fogged my mind, while worrying about safety and the probable loneliness. However, this trip made me realize that a leap of faith into the unknown was the push I needed to understand how enjoyable and exciting journeying solo could be. From the start of the trip planning till the end, it was a phenomenal experience.

The power of the JR pass is limitless

I’m really glad that Japan was my first country to experience solo travelling (not to mention how safe Japan is), definitely would recommend Japan for avid solo-trippers! Writing this journal has spurred me on to plan for my next Japan trip already. If you have any recommendations on where/what to visit in Japan, please do share them with me! Or, if you are planning a trip to Japan yourself and would like some ideas, I’d love to share and discuss my thoughts and experiences!

Special thanks to Nurulhuda, Lee Ming Rui and Wilson for taking their precious time to proofread and provide their valuable inputs!

[thetalkingrainbow]

Maldives Travel Guide for First Timers

Even before we got married, my then fiancé now husband (Jamal) promised to travel with me to different countries– Maldives on top of the list. True to his word, after two years of our marriage, he took me to my dream destination.

I had various reasons why I wanted to visit this country. For one thing, it’s considered by many as “Paradise on Earth” and it’s undeniably true to me– after swimming in the clear, turquoise waters, walking around a local island with sparkling beaches and palm fringes, running on a white sandbar, and seeing aesthetic coral reefs that are home to plenty of marine species. Second, it’s a 100% Muslim country, and it was an exciting thought to beach bum without seeing too much nakedness. Haha. Indeed, if heaven on earth exists, it is definitely in Maldives!

I used to imagine visiting the tropical paradise as an exceptionally luxurious trip– accessible only if I have millions of pesos on my bank balance. I thought of it as a place I will never have the capacity to visit in this lifetime. I may be right years back, but things have changed now. Maldives is now reachable for budget travelers like me, despite it being a luxury destination. Thanks to the government allowing Maldivians to operate guesthouses, staying in a resort is just an option today.

ABOUT THE COUNTRY Maldives is an Islamic country located in the Indian Ocean southwest of Sri Lanka and India. It consists of 1,192 gemlike islands grouped in clusters called “atolls” but only 200+ are inhabited. Its capital and most populous city, Malé, is geographically located at the Kaafu Atoll and is a ferry-away from the airport island, Hulhule.

Below are some of the local islands near Malé which are accessible by local ferry:

Maafushi Island

Hulhumale Island

Villingili

Gulhi

Guraidhoo

Fulidhoo

You can choose which island you want to stay in but I recommend Maafushi Island based on experience, and Fulidhoo Island based on positive reviews I have read across the internet.

VISA

Filipinos do not need a pre-arrival Visa to enter Maldives. You will be issued a 30-day free Visa upon arrival provided that your passport is valid and will not expire for the next six months from the entry date.

WHERE TO BOOK FLIGHTS Flights to Maldives normally cost around ₱20,000 to ₱25,000 with a layover either in Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand. There are several low-cost carriers servicing the Manila to Malé route—you can try Scoot Air, AirAsia or Cebu Pacific. In our case, we took the MNL-SG-MLE and vice versa flights via Scoot Air for P14,000 ONLY per pax inclusive of a 15kg check-in baggage. I honestly thought I scored the cheapest with the said amount, but unfortunately, several weeks subsequent to booking, I came across Scoot Air’s promotional flight of just ₱8,000 for MNL-MLE round-trip flights. There are times that AirAsia offers the same promo. Insane, right? You simply have to be always on the lookout for these unusual promo fares. It’s a different story if you have the moolah to splurge though.

For more info on how I usually score cheapest golden flights, read here.

HOW TO GET AROUND You might be wondering just how you should be getting around Maldives. Well, there are few methods of transport you can avail depending on your preference and based on factors such as convenience, budget, and safety.

From the Airport Right after stepping outside the arrival hall, you will see a number of booths and their respective staff scattered around the area. If you are expecting your hotel or resort’s staff to welcome you there, just look for a placard with your name on it.

To Resorts or other Local Islands – If no one shows up for you at the airport (insert sad smiley), you may consider taking a speedboat to your preferred resort or local island. Rate depends but it typically starts at 25 USD ~ 1,315 PHP per pax. You also have the option to take a seaplane that costs a lot more than my two kidneys combined. hahajk

To Malé City – If you’re on a budget plan, walk past the booths and locate the public ferry counter to purchase a ticket to Malé City for only 10 MVR ~ 34 PHP. The ride should only take 15 minutes and you’ll arrive at Hulhumale Ferry Terminal.

Ferry Schedule: FROM MALE CITY TO AIRPORT    Every 10 minutes from morning 06:00 AM to 02:30 AM    Every 30 minutes from morning 02:30 AM to 04:00 AM    Every 15 minutes from morning 04:00 AM to 06:00 AM FROM AIRPORT TO MALE CITY    Every 10 minutes from morning 06:00 AM to 02:30 AM    Every 30 minutes from morning 02:30 AM to 04:00 AM    Every 15 minutes from morning 04:00 AM to 06:00 AM

On Fridays, ferries operate every 10 minutes from the morning at 06:00 AM to 00:00 AM.

Conversely, you can ride a speedboat for your convenience. Within two minutes, you’ll reach the northeast part of Malé City.

Because I booked our hotel in Malé within a day before our arrival and because I did not communicate with them our arrival time, no one showed up for us. Wala kaming placard, jusko napaka-dukha feels. Haha. But they were supposed to greet us at the airport since we paid for that one-way airport transfer. Ang tanga ko lang talagang kausap. hehe

Around the City of Malé Arriving at the ferry terminal, you can take a taxi or a mini pickup truck to bring you either to your hotel (if you intend to stay at Malé) or to Villingili Ferry Terminal (if you want to go directly to a local island of your choice). Also, there are bus lines running a circular route around the small city. The downside is—if your hotel is not within their routes, you still have to walk after getting off on the nearest bus stop.

To our Hotel – We rode a mini pickup truck to reach our hotel. Pahirapan kumuha ng taxi, mga bes kaya nagpaka- Megan Young and Mikael Daez kami ni Jamal. Haha. We were charged 50 MVR by the driver. Minimum fare for taxis is 20 MVR per pax during the day and 25 MVR during the night.

To Maafushi Island From Villingili Ferry Terminal, the ride to Maafushi Island will only take about an hour and a half. Ticket price is only 53 MVR ~ 3.50 USD ~ 190 PHP.

Ferry Schedule:

For an updated schedule, click here.

After spending the night at Malé, we went to Maafushi Island where we planned to stay for 5D4N. From our hotel, a staff hailed a taxi for us (and paid for it because of their utang to us) and instructed the driver of our destination.

Since we arrived at the terminal early, we went to a food court nearby and had milkshake while waiting. Sobrang init, mga bes.

Around Maafushi Island From the terminal, getting to your hotel will be either through your hotel’s private vehicle or rickshaw. Yup, rickshaw. Maafushi is a very small island (1.275km x 0.260km) that you can see the entire island within two hours of walking. Some hotels and guesthouses offer a rental bike service for 5 USD per hour. A bit pricey. You can see the locals using motorcycles as a mode of transportation as well, though I am not sure if they are up for lease.

WHERE TO STAY There are a limited number of budget sleeps in Maldives. Unlike in any other Asian country where you will find a 30 USD per night accommodation for two, in Maldives, budget hotels or guesthouses usually cost no less than 60 USD. If you’re lucky, you may come across huge discounts in Agoda. Make sure to constantly browse the app, you might come across a crazy deal like what happened to us.

Or better yet, sign up on Airbnb using this link to earn ₱1,600 travel credit. Or get a 10% refund on your first transaction at Booking.com when you use this unique link.

For high-end tourists, exclusive resorts are the place to be but allot at least 600 USD per night.

The Melrose Hotel – It’s a 450m-walk from Hulhumale Ferry Terminal. We spent our first night here for just 30 USD. It’s the cheapest we could find on Agoda that serves breakfast. Our booking was inclusive of taxes, environmental fees, a welcome drink, one-way airport transfer, and free breakfast. The staffs were friendly and helpful; the receptionist is Pinay, yaay! Our room was small, enough for a 9-hour stay, but very clean. It has toiletries, coffee and tea sachets, iron, and a flat-screen TV among others.

Seven Corals Guesthouse – This was our home in Maafushi for 5D4N. I loved it! The staffs were friendly and attentive, the room was spacious and snug, food was in a variety, and the ambiance was cozy and relaxing. Not to mention the long list of inclusions on our ₱16,500 deal:

Meals (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)

Welcome drink

Afternoon tea

Express check-in

Fruit basket

Selected watersports (i.e. Jetski, but the schedule was in conflict with ours)

Free local mobile SIM card

Complimentary snacks

Night Fishing

Sunset Cruise

Dolphin Cruise (No dolphins on our cruise huhu)

Snorkeling Excursion

Sandbank Picnic

Taxes and other fees

We tried looking for another guesthouse/hotel that offers the same but only Seven Corals does. Highly recommended to keep an eye on a deal like this.

Adaaran Prestige Vadoo (optional) – One-night rate starts at ~1,000 USD inclusive of breakfast and taxes/fees. Additional of at least ~200 USD per pax for the roundtrip transfers. It can hurt your pocket but recommended to stay if you have the cash. OR- here’s the catch, you can ask a Maldivian in the local island where you stay to contact any resort you prefer and ask them if you’re allowed to arrange your roundtrip speedboat transfer. The local quoted us 100 USD (2 pax; 2-way transfer) only, 400 USD less than the quoted price on Agoda.

Novina Hotel – another great hotel centrally located in Malé City for ~70 USD only inclusive of a welcome drink, buffet breakfast, and airport transfer. Just like our room in The Melrose, it was small but well maintained. The floor was carpeted and there’s a mini-fridge, too. They served decent food which was great. I love the omelette. Staffs were very welcoming and friendly that they let us stay in the lobby after check-out while waiting for our evening flight.

PLACES TO VISIT IN MALE CITY

Masjid Al-Sultan Muhammad Thakurufaanu Al-Auzam

Fish Market

Republic Square

National Museum

Tsunami Monument

ACTIVITIES TO TRY

MONEY SAVING TIPS 

If you have a layover in Singapore for at least 5.5 hours to 24 hours, join the FREE 2.5-hour guided tours of Changi Airport. More info about the tours here.

Visit during the low season (June to November) to score off-season rates on activities, accommodation, and flights. Prices tend to drop insanely plus, there are fewer tourists traveling.

Last minute deals exist, just be smart enough to plan your trip.

Currency exchange shops in Malé City offers better rates than those in the Airport.

Bring USD with you preferably in 100s or 50s. Usual buying rate for 50-100 USD is 15 MVR per USD while for denominations below is around 12 MVR per USD.

Resorts and guesthouses only accept Dollars while local restaurants and street side shops need Rufiyaa.

Local Ferry >>> Speedboat

STAY. ON. A. LOCAL. ISLAND.

If you’re into luxury resorts, choose those closer to Malé or to the island you’re staying at.

Get not just a full board stay, but an all-inclusive package. It’s very reasonable than bringing with you your wallet all the time.

Haggle like a pro. Be it souvenirs or activities, bargain a better price.

Pack chips and biscuits.

Do not forget your swimming essentials. Sunscreen lotions and rashies in the local islands are expensive.

For our ultimate travel hacks mostly on how to save on your next trip abroad, check these tips on our previous blog.

SAMPLE 6D5N ITINERARY 

OPTIONAL:  Stay on a high-end resort.

EXPENSES

*The amounts do not reflect our actual expenditures.

[kikaykim]

Taiwan Trip 2018

I’ve always been curious about what the heart of Asia can offer and by taking advantage of its government’s initiative for Free Visa to attract more tourists, it’s time to get to know this neighboring country.

I turned to AirAsia for cheap flights and got a good deal for Taiwan from Dec. 17-21. The dates are the best as they’re literally 1 week before the holiday break kicks off so I don’t need to worry about the “back to reality” dillemma that we get right after spending a holiday away from home then going back straight to work.

I did a lot of research by reading blogs and watching vlogs on Youtube. The information I got from the two mediums really helped me out in planning my 4 days trip. AirAsia flights to Taiwan from Clark are always at night so I only have 4 days instead of 5.

The next thing I did after securing my flight tickets, I looked for discounted hotels/hostels. I always turn to Agoda because they have the cheapest accommodation deals. Been booking hotels with them since 2016. I never had an issue and their customer service, although the queue is too long, you’ll spend a tantamount of time waiting on the line for a rep to attend to your concerns, is superb. Agoda also have the options for “pay nothing until” or “pay at the property”. I also considered looking through Airbnb but in the end, I found myself booking two accommodations via Agoda. Mind you, always read the reviews of people for that hotel you want to book. It will definitely help you decide if it’s the right one for you.

I also thought of booking activities, buy tickets and rentals online (aside from flight tickets) when planning my trip. I turned to two travel applications: Klook and KKday.

Klook:

-Rental of 4G Wifi Mobile Broadband I got on Sale. My usage is 5 days. The pickup location is right at the Arrival Area of Taoyuan Airport T1. It was an easy transaction, instructions on the Klook voucher is accurate. I presented the QR code on the voucher on my phone, my passport and Debit card (credit card can be used too). The card is required so when you loose or damage the device, they’ll charge you. Signed the receipt and that’s it! The device was low on power charge though, so I got to use it the next day but boy, it’s so fast! No lagging anywhere I go in Taiwan. The price shown below is for 1 day use only. So the price will multiply depending on how many days you’re going to use it.

-Taichung World Flora Expo Ticket. This ticket is for the entrance fee of the three world flora expo sites. I’ll go into detail of the itinerary later on.

KKDAY:

-booked a Day Tour Package for three tourist spots: Yehliu Geopark, Shifen and Jiufen.

What you need to know for first time travelers in Taiwan like me:

1. If your arrival time and immigration process allows it, catch the airport MRT going to Taipei or any other places in Taiwan. Otherwise, take a bus or Uber or Taxi. I was lucky to catch the MRT. MRT Airport Operating hours: 6am - 12am only.

2. Purchase the Easycard. It’s going to be your bestfriend in going around the city and neighboring states/provinces. It costs NTD$500 - there is a NTD$100 fee so your balance on the card will be NTD$400. The Easycard can be used both in MRT and Bus. This is available to purchase at any Information booth in MRT stations. Taiwan has a very systematic and easy to understand transportation system so I’m really happy about it. It’s so easy going up and down stations to your destinations.

3. It’s December, it’s Winter. Do you need to wear a jacket? I would suggest to search for the weather forecast from the duration of your stay. In my case, it never rained. It was sunny. The lowest temperature I experienced was just 17degrees Celcius -at night. Temperatures tend to get low at sun down. During the day, while wearing a fleece jacket, puffer jacket and a sweater, met with humidity and highest temp of 28degress Celcius, I got too sweaty!! So on my last day in Taiwan, I was wearing a sando and shorts. No sweat, no cold feeling though I attracted attention for wearing differently. I can’t help it, I’m a tropical island girl so 17, 20, or 28 degress are not cold enough for me except when I’m about to have my period, my body temps get low, I’m shivering at 20 degress at the office aircon. Lol. But you will notice the Taiwanese people are still wearing layered jackets I think it’s because they just got used to wearing those clothing during Winter months. And anyway, most of the year, it’s raining in Taiwan and the rain adds to the cold temperature so yeah, maybe that’s the reason. I was just lucky I guess that the duration of my visit was sunny, no rains at all.

4. Taiwanese are very friendly, accommodating and helpful that in spite of language barrier, they will proactively help you out when they see you confused or trying to figure out which way to go. That alone made my journey very easy and I really felt safe there.

5. Speaking of language barrier, taxi drivers speak little to no English and they’re having a hard time understanding what you’re trying to say. So I suggest that you prepare an address of your destination that’s written in Chinese. When I was going to the hostel from Taipei Main Station, the taxi driver was clever enough to call the hostel to get the address in Mandarin.

6. There’s plenty of climbing and walking from stations to stations and hiking trails. So you must wear comfortable shoes, and you should be an active person to prevent yourself from suffering painful legs and knees.

7. Get a copy of the Taipei Metro Guide pamphlet. It will help you navigate which train line to take to get to your destinations. You can get it from the Information booth or train officers around the stations. You can also get a soft copy online at english.metro.taipei -just type it as it is on your web browser.

Here’s my detailed itinerary..

Day 1. A DIY trip I planned:

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial

Elephant Mountain

Mala YuanYang Hotpot

Chun Shui Tang Milk Tea

Maokong Gondola

Longshan Temple

Taipei 101

Ximending

Shilin Night Market

What I actually able to fulfill: all of the above except the ones written on RED. Yes. I ran out of time, I wasn’t able to squeeze them to the schedule.

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial - this is just a walking distance from the hostel I stayed in. No entrance fee as it is a public place. I was in awe at how huge those traditional structures are and how spacious the whole park is. It’s magnificent! Also, the Exit 5 of the Chiang Kai-Shek MRT station is right in the compound.

Elephant Mountain - it’s a hiking trail where you can get a great view of Taipei 101 and the city from afar. It is a popular destination for both locals and tourists alike. This is where my knees got in real trouble, I could use a wheelchair! The steps are too steep going up, I was not able to finish the trail and get to the boulders because my legs, specially my knees were giving up. This is the price to pay for not being an active person. Though, there is a spot, a balcony where you can already take a photo and see the city from there without going up to the boulders. That’s where I stopped and got the below 2nd photo.

How to get here: from any MRT station in my case, Chiang Kai-Shek Exit 4 station, take the RED line to Xiangshan station and go to Exit 2. From Exit 2, go straight to the park then turn left at the end of the park, go straight then turn right. Continue walking straight until you see the sign on the above photo on the left side of the street. When in doubt, just Google then look for the result from “Guide to Taipei”. Tried pasting the link here but this silly tumblr can’t save it, the app crashes.

Mala YuanYang Hotpot at Ximending - took a lunch at this unlimited hotpot that is popular to tourists. This place gets really crowded mostly by Korean tourists. The lunch costs NTD$545 and dinner is NTD$635. You can have unlimited premium meats, seafood and other hotpot essentials, unlimited drinks with plenty of varieties and this is the most exciting part: unlimited Häagen-Dazs and Movenpick ice cream!!! Aside from other desserts like fruits, puddings and egg tart. The only limited though, is time. Your lunch and dinner is limited to only 2 hours. It is located in Ximending which is also happens to be Taipei’s shopping district. So in this stop, I was able to hit two places in one go. And I think Ximending is livelier at night. So if you want to get dinner instead of lunch at Mala Hotpot, then I think that’s a better idea.

How to get here: Ximen station is your drop point station. It is in the Blue and Green lines as it also serves as the transfer station for Green line. Blue line has transfer stations from Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center station and Zhongxiao Fuxing station from the Brown line, Taipei Main Station from the Red line, Zhongxiao Xinsheng from the Orange line, and Ximen station from the Green line. From where I was at Xiongshan station of the Red line, I dropped off the Chiang Kai-Shek station then transferred to the Green line and stopped at Ximen station.

Taipie 101 - the most famous landmark of Taiwan. It’s astonishing! Since it’s sunny on the day I went up the Taipei 101 Observatory, I was able to see the whole city, crystal clear! What I forgot to do though is to get to the 91st floor observatory. The main observatory is at the 89th floor and it took us 37seconds to get there from the 5th floor where the ticket for the observatory is being sold at NTD$600 per person. It is indeed the fastest lift!

How to get here: Take the RED line going to Taipei 101/World Trade Center station.

Maokong Gondola - it’s a gondola ride with three mountain stops. The last stop is the Maokong village where there are a bunch of tea shops. It is better to get there before sunset to see the city sunset while enjoying a tea. Unfortunately in my case, I got to ride the gondola past 5pm. Night time comes early at 5pm. But I get to see the city at night while riding the gondola and enjoying the cold breeze.

How to get here: from Taipei 101 station which is in the RED line, take the same line to Daan Park station which is the transfer station for the Brown line. Take the Brown line going to Taipei Zoo station. From Taipei Zoo staition, just follow the signs that leads to the Maokong Gondola. It will cost you a total of NTD$200 for a round trip from the gondola.

Chun Sui Tang Cultural Tea House - based on Google search, it is the one that started the Milk Tea craze! They also have the Taiwanese Beef Noodle soup which is also a famous Taiwanese dish. Hitting two birds with one stone. This is where I had my dinner. The milk tea tastes bittersweet which I really like. The beef noodle soup tastes good too! The servings are huge!

How to get here: Take the Red line going to Chiang Kai-shek station. Go to Exit 5. The restaurant is located just under the stairs of the Chaing Kai-Shek Concert Hall.

And that’s a wrap for my first day in Taiwan. My next posts will detail my journey for the rest of my 4 days in the country.

[bangkokairporthotel4]

Examine This Report on Hotels In Bangkok

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[inseomermaid-blog]

An Inner Circle First-Timer’s Concert Experience In Seoul [#WINNEREverywhereTourinSeoul]

So. If you tell me freakin’ one year ago if I’d be flying to Seoul for a Kpop concert, I’d smack you for slander.

Buuuuut here we are, a week after WINNER’s Everywhere Tour in Seoul :))))) I’ve just begun to recover. Literally, it took me a week to get through the stages of mourning and to accept that it’s over HAHAHUHU

Anyway, here’s my (and Liz’s) experience in attending a concert in Seoul!

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Why we wanted to see them in Seoul (when it was sure they were gonna go to MANILA anyway):

1. It’s Liz’s annual bday trip gipp!! Or idk, this is part of the rationalization we thought of AHAHA. Initially, we were set for Singapore as it would be way cheaper for sure, but another reason came up....

2. We wanted to see them in their most “comfortable” version - Not sure if comfortable is the word, but I guess we wanted to see them how they were in their home country?? Speaking comfortably in Korean and all? We were anticipating that for other countries it would probably be just Yoon speaking most of the time (not that it’s a problem with us HAHA), and we wanted to see all them four being their natural makulit presence on stage (without them thinking about the language hinderance--even if kami yung hindi makaintindi sa kanila :)))) I know it’s a weird reasoning but :)))) And it’s been a long time since they’ve done a full concert in Seoul! We just wanted to be there in the kickoff concert. I mean, if we were willing to fly out to see them, o di todo na namin diba? Seoul it is!

--

How we got the tickets:

Here’s the thing: this is not our first rodeo. We’ve already successfully watched Coldplay in Singapore last year after (WHAT I THOUGHT WAS ALREADY) a bloody online ticketing war. Coldplay tickets were wiped out in 20 minutes, I think? But I was able to secure 7 tickets (3 VIP standing, 4 upper box tickets) after much death and resurrection.

We thought we were prepared for a WINNER ticketing war lol. We were not. Everything (or at least the seats we targeted) was more or less gone in less than 4 minutes.

There were two waves, one week apart. Both of them were intense :)))) I guess our third-world country internet cannot compete with their 5G data network?!

A HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to Cams and Dianne for basically hand-holding me throughout the entire process of securing tickets from Seoul!! T_T Without them, we probably wouldn’t have gotten tickets. All transactions were smooth and hassle-free. There were a lot of K-ICs who also wanted G-ICs to attend the Seoul concert and thus were purchasing tickets so scalpers can’t get to them first. They also helped me with tips and advice on where to stay, where to go, etc etc as it was our first time in Korea. Sobrang bait and helpful nila as in! T_T

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Of course that was only half of the problem:

In less than a month, we had to book flights (ANG MAHAL NA NITO SIYEMPRE), book hotel (Thank you Agoda for your occasional flash sales) and of course, VISA. We highly recommend TravelPros for your Korean visa processing needs! We spent around 700 pesos for this, and we got the visa in exactly 6 days. Super fast. Pero may drama pa kami dun sa visa requirements LORD HAHA pero hindi ko na kwento haba na nito. BASTA when we got the visa I wanted to throw a fiesta, ganung level =))

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CONCERT D-Day~~~

We wanted to get in early-ish because we were anticipating the DVD / merch line.

The train was a bit confusing for this stop!! We knew we were not the only ones because some of the Koreans were also confused where to get off haha

This ad greeted us before the exit!

Entering the Olympic Park Stadium~

Sure enough the line was at least 500m already when we arrived at around 10:45.

AAAAAND YES I lined up for 2 hours for the DVD 0_0 Under the heat of Korean summer 0_0 

Questions in my mind while in queue:

1. why does everyone look so fresh except me

2. how to spot foreigners: they use umbrellas for the heat

3. Don’t be weak

4. why am I doing this again

Anyway, tada~

Let’s just ignore the part where if we waited until 3pm, or at least when the line tapered off, I could have gotten it without the sunburn on my batok but where’s the fun in that no?

Liz and teh boyfriend lined up for merch (mercifully it was shorter) and they were able to buy 2 lightsticks (OUR FIRST ONES YAY! Hirap daw lagyan ng battery lol) and shirts (X and XL lang ang available sizes but it still works out!?? What is this Korean sizing sorcery?!)

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All the cafe / restos were full (Mamamoo was also having a concert that day!) so we had to settle for convenience store food :))) It wasn’t bad!

Met Cams and lots of other PH-ICs who travelled from MNL! You can check out #ICsPHGoesToSeoul to see what everyone was up to while in Seoul.

We got a lot of fans (as in pamaypay) from different fansites (and thus we didn’t have to line up, yay!) and actually saw the faces behind big accounts* HAHA it was surreal.

Actually, the whole thing was pretty surreal (YA THINK) in a good way. Since it’s our first time to attend a KPop concert, we didn’t know a lot of things. One of those was... lining up for freebies given by fansites. 

Girl, INTENSE. As in,  pila kung pila ang mga bagets and not-so bagets. Paano naman kasi ang cute ng freebies! Fans, stickers, photocards, etc. Looking back feeling ko dapat pumila/bumili kami BUT holehhhshit it was really so hot, and after lining up for 2 hours we wanted to just save our energy. 

Super tita namin right?! 

Also most of the masternims who were offering their freebies were all speaking in Korean (malamang) so we didn’t know if it was free or for sale... AH BASTA MAGULO isip namin hahaha yeaaaah looking back we should have at least tried BUT yun nga, it was really too damn hot to walk around talaga. Maybe next time!! (next time talaga?!)

Kill time! We just randomly sat anywhere we could #ifItfitswesits 

At some points, we could hear the sound check so medyo spoilery siya (we heard Jinwoo’s solo performance HAHA) at the same time we were like OMG 0_0

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FINALLY TIME TO ENTER! 

Our seats were 2F (as in second floor). We were initially planning to aim for 1F but giiiiiirl waley. 2F wasn’t that bad! Ang nasa isip ko MOA Arena levels where it’s too high up. This was okay (as if may choice kami HAHA). 1F would be the best seats talaga. Standing is a gamble because there’s a chance you won’t be able to see anything BUT the interactions that WINNER made with the standing group was really worth it :))))) WATCH THE FANCAMS IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I MEAN

I tried to use MIXLR for the first time pala, since I wanted to kinda pay it forward. The first time I “experienced” a WINNER concert was through Cami’s Fukuoka?? mixlr concert and back then I thought, it’s amazing that someone would really try to share this experience with us that can’t make it to the concert. 

(Now that I’m replaying my mixlr, I AM SORRY FOR THE THOUSAND OMGs I SAID =)))) I swear I’m more coherent than that--except when you know, Mino was body rolling live, Hoony was lifting his shirt to reveal his perfect 6-pack abs, Jinwoo with his ethereal voice and stage presence, and Yoon’s powerful vocals and performance. Wala na talaga ako masabi kung hindi OH MY GOD =)))) So I’m not sure if I’ll ever mixlr again hahaha kasi marami naman who does it and is more pro about it??? let’s see :)))

Here are some notable thoughts I remember from the concert (sorry more Tagalog here because all the feels)

1. ANG GWAPO NILANG LAHAT. I mean, fo sure I didn’t stan them for visuals (promise talaga! It was really about the music. Sawain ako sa visuals actually) BUT hooooshit. They are different irl. I’ve seen them before in NAIA airport for like.... 10 seconds and like I knew they were really good-looking. BUT ON STAGE. IN FULL PERFORMANCE GLORY. THEIR VISUALS ARE INSANE. 

2. SOLO STAGES. WHERE TO BEGIN. I didn’t know I’d see Mino perform Body live ever (I thought he had retired the song and I’ve accepted it) BUT GOOD LORD. The “mashup” for Body and TOTL was just made to be together. The stage and performance was oozing with sexiness and charisma and my mind was just a puddle at this point. Mino doesn’t do full-on sexy very often (am I right? It’s like between deliberate sexy and swag, he’d go for more swag) so when he did this... live... the body rolling... the kinda grinding.... we died. 

3. JINWOO. Jusko. Where to start with Jinwoo. I’m rewatching our fancam of his Untitled 2014 performance and it’s the only one who made me feel goosebumps. Especially the part where he went up the stairs and the spotlight was on him, and he was singing so passionately and the audience was just in complete awe. IT WAS A MAGICAL MOMENT I CAN’T EXPLAIN. It’s like as he walked up the stairs and sang, it was like he was taking his rightful place as a superstar. Jinwoo is not even my bias but I super kaduper want him to succeed and become more confident with this abilities (I am speaking from someone who watched Who is Next haha). After his solo stage, my immediate first thought was: JINWOO IS READY TO HAVE A SOLO ALBUM.

4. YOON’S SOLO STAGE. Lol I cried. Ever since I’ve heard It Rains (his solo song), I’ve wanted to hear it live, but I didn’t expect that he’d sing it ever again--maybe he’d sing Wild and Young but not It Rains. The arrangement was “simple” but the experience was HOLY. As in, it was like angels were singing. His clear and strong voice filled the whole arena. The adlibs he did were insane. Literally it was like going to church. The lights and the background visuals were stunning. Sobrang full on drama / rocker Yoon mode! It is something to behold live. Also... INSTINCTIVELY. I also never thought I’d see Yoon perform with a guitar ever again. (Ang drama?? never talaga?? hahaha but I never know with Yoon kasi! He’s so experimental with genres that when he’s already done something already, it might take a long time for him to comeback [in this case, to his rocker roots]). When he took off his blazer... BAKLA SIGAW TALAGA AKOOOOooooo =)))) Looking at him perform like this, I can’t believe he didn’t go solo. I know he’s happier with a group (and I am thankful) but his presence as a solo artist is still very much there. I hope Yoon can release his solo album soon because Liz and I will definitely fly again to Korea when that happens!!! :)

>>>[OPEN FOR A SURPRISE]<<<

Grabe thissss pic.twitter.com/AvxeuT4Xoh

5. HOON. How so even begin writing about Deputy Lee’s stage. He performed Ringa Linga (modified with Hoon’s rap which was a cool touch I think) and Serenade (EVERYONE’S WAITING FOR THIS). I don’t know where haters get the idea that Hoon can’t dance. Like... are you guys BLIND?!?!? He’s one of the most naturally gifted dancers I’ve ever seen--because he dances to feeling**, not with just choreo. Ringa Linga was a perfect choice for him because he was able to showcase his vocals, dancing prowess and abs all at the same time. The dance breaks were insane. AND MY GOD, Hoon’s body is perfection. His arms, torso, legs... ART. 

6. The costumes, lights (LIGHTS), pyrotechnics, over-all stage design was just A++++. I don’t know why I thought it was going to be a much simpler stage but they really went all-in with everything.

7. The nebula ocean was beautiful. I keep saying in the mixlr... “I’ve never seen so many Inner Circles in my entire life” because it’s true! For some reason there is a notion that we are a small fandom and maybe that’s true compared to others... but we are not less powerful. At least 99% of seats were taken, the standing was packed. Everyone was doing the fanchants. Almost everyone had the lightstick. It was humbling and inspiring to see all the fans who love WINNER come together in one venue, screaming their voices out and singing to the songs (while still being respectful and attentive to each stage performance).

4winner 4ever 💙💙💙💙#WINNEREverywhereTourInSeoul pic.twitter.com/dKXYst03v4

8. The boys really love each other. As in, you can feel their chemistry and their teamwork onstage. Of course, I don’t understand the ments while it was going on (by now I’ve seen the translated fancams of course) but I can definitely tell from their body language and the way they regard each other that they are brothers. And they were just so happy! Running to and from the stage, taking fan’s phones, they were on FULL-ON fanservice. I could feel the love from where I was sitting.

9. I want to pick my favorite stages but I don’t know how. It was surreal to shout “Neol johahae!” for REALLY REALLY and answer Hoon’s pizza pasta so so with “YUM YUM!” =))))) Sobrang surreal na nangyayari siya sa harapan ko at hindi sa Youtube (with subtitles). Love Me Love Me stage was super cute, Moviestar was tear-inducing. Speaking of Movie Star, the fan event was so funny! They were really surprised because it happened right smack in the middle (usually it happens at the end, but they were expecting it kasi). All four of them were very confused and I feel like they really didn’t see the video as much because they were busy being... confused with what was happening. But when they understood they look like they were touched and slightly cross that we were able to fool them HAHA.

Also:

MINYOON MINYOON MINYOON

10. There were many cute moments of ICs that I witnessed. Like, before the concert started, they were playing WINNER songs on the screen. Then suddenly, Body was played. Inner Circles all screamed =))) BASTA SOBRANG FUNNY. During Mino’s kissing scene, half of ICs were turned on, half were saying “Nooooo” =))) Then during encore, we were supposed to sing We Were (as in the whole song). When it was already the second stanza, the singing became softer and softer, because it was apparent that ICs haven’t memorized the lyrics. Everyone laughed hard. IT WAS SOOOOOO CUTE T_T

BONUS:

After the concert, we kinda rushed to the back exit to wait for WINNER. Lol it took more than an hour for them to come out (of course lots of picture-taking, maybe even speeches for the team, etc etc). We saw Yang Hyun Suk (ICs began to chant his name too #insidejokefromtheconcert and sure ako labas sa ilong yun hahaha), PO, Jinwoo’s dad, Yoon’s mom, most of the dancers (Gahee my love were you there) to name a few.

Again, it was a tender moment because the van was supposed to “cover” their exit from the door, but the fans cried “Noooo” and begged security to let us see them :)) So after a few minutes, the van adjusted its position, so WINNER could walk out and wave to the crowd outside. They looked very very very happy and thankful to see us. <3

---

We met with some of the PH-ICs again to talk about the concert IN TAGALOG PARA TODO YUNG FEELS :))) I can’t wait to see everyone again in November!

---

Aaaaand by 12 am we were back in our hotel after getting lost in Dongmyo exit HAHA. Can’t blame us, all our braincells were left in the Olympic Park Stadium :)) It was really a memorable experience that we hope we can repeat for sure on November (WHICH IS MY BIRTHDAY MONTH). Aiming for nearer seats this time, but let’s see what the universe will give us. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I thought if I finally see WINNER live I’d be finally scratching an itch--like I’ve already see them live and that’s that. But NOOOOOooooooOOOOOooo. It’s completely the opposite. Now YouTube and mixlrs are not enough anymore T_T When you’ve seen them live... you just want to repeat the experience over and over again.

To all Inner Circles still reading up to this point: CONGRATS and THANK YOU:))

 Also, my god. You can forget everything you’ve read up to this point but just remember this.

SEE

THEM

LIVE.

See them live.

I am not kidding around. You should, at least once in your life. Even if it’s just General Admission ticket or the farthest seat***. It’s different when you are in the same venue and you see them performing LIVE right in front of your very eyes. In my opinion, Yoon’s voice is 10x better live---recording absolutely does not do him justice. Same with the Mino, Jinwoo and Hoon. Their vocals, dance skills, over-all charisma cannot be simply captured by the camera. YOU HAVE TO SEE THEM LIVE TO KNOW WHAT I MEAN, WHY I’M SO ADAMANT ABOUT THIS :)))) I’ve seen performers that are exactly the same live as they are in YouTube or sound the same like Spotify but I can say with complete confidence: not WINNER. I can say their true strength is live performance.

I’m sure I’ve missed a lot but this is becoming a research-paper already HAHA so I’d end it here. SO glad we pushed for this trip, so blessed that everything worked in our favor (we were the last flight out before the NAIA airport incident happened huhu) and we’re already looking forward to November in MNL****! :)

till then bye~

P.S. If you want to chika more or need me to translate the Filipino bits lol just hit me up on teh Ask :)

*we saw at least 2 big Yoon masternims that we avidly follow talaga, 2 european ics we follow (lol “european” what is dead giveaway lol) and 1 of the 3 japanese KSY fans we also like HAHA so cute T_T

** I’m not a dancer, but my boyfriend is, and I remember him saying that personally he has more respect for dancers who dance according to what he feels--because it’s one of the highest forms of expression (as opposed to just relying with choreo). It’s a testament to a dancer’s ability that he/she is able to catch the beat without “thinking” about it too much--so the dance becomes the story of the dancer, not the choreo. LOL I think I’m botching his explanation about it but it’s just I remember Hoon whenever my boyfriend and I talk about freestyle dance.

*** Of course it you can’t make it due to various reasons that’s okay, but if you have a chance to make it happen, don’t hesitate. I’d say it’s worth every penny you’d spend to see them live.

[david-from-travelodium]

Earning Frequent Flyer Points with Agoda Max Points When I travel in Asia I nearly always book a part, if not all of my accommodation with Agoda. I find that you get a pretty good rate and they also have a wide range of accommodation types and budgets. Ive never tried to get points on Agoda because I never realised I could get them however I would get points on my credit card only.

[unwritten-by-josh]

4 months ago when i decided to take a leap of faith and enter a journey into the unknown. New country, new job, different culture, diverse workplace and a fast paced environment. I have to admit that it wasn't easy being alone and outside of my comfort zone. There are sleepless nights thinking if i made the right decision. I did! 4 months and i was able to learn a bit of Thai language, tasted different food and flavors that i've never tried before, met and work with people from different nationalities, added skill sets that is very beneficial to my line of job, and still continously learning. Probation passed! Thank you Agoda! Thank you Team mates! Thank you Boss! Thank you Lord! Thanks to my loving and supportive family! Challenge accepted. ❤ https://www.instagram.com/p/B8eVONVpYV9/?igshid=1vhrs1osw2raf

[sunrisesuites]

4. Sunrise Suites‘ People

First time visitor? Start from “About Sunrise Suites”!

Now that Sunrise Suites’ building, rooms, and facilities are ready, it needs the staff that run the entire facility. Once the job opening is advertised, people-persons from Kyoto and nearby cities gathered to Sunrise Suites. Even though many of them had not worked at a hotel, they all loved pleasing and making others happy VERY MUCH.

They saw the hotel and thought, “This hotel is so, very very, Kyoto! After visiting, seeing, and being deeply touched by the temples and shrines of Kyoto, and then coming back to the hotel, you can still continue to immerse yourself in the feel of the ancient culture. The guests who would choose to come to this hotel are the people who would want to enjoy Kyoto to its maximum extent. Then, we will help them enjoy Kyoto to its maximum extent, to the maximum extent that we can help!

All the staff always tried to think creatively about how they assisted the guests. “Maybe checking in this way is easier for our guests?” “Giving directions to take the bus this way would be more convenient for the guests!” “Our guests might enjoy their stay more if we helped them in another way”, and so on...

Staff that had never worked at a hotel tried to remember how they were helped when they stayed at a hotel elsewhere as a guest, or what would make themselves happy if they stayed at a hotel. Many situations were new to them, but they learned from everything they encountered. They did make some mistakes, but did more to make up for the mistakes they made.

After a while, many reviews from guests were accumulated on various online hotel booking websites. “The receptionists were very very helpful.” “When we had a problem, they just swooped in and helped us right away!” “They brought us what we needed even before we asked!” “The receptionist went out of his way to help us!” The reviews were filled with many many thankful words from the people who stayed at Sunrise Suites.

Sunrise Suites’ reception helps you enjoy Kyoto to the maximum extent, with its through and helpful reception service that is proven by all the reviews listed on the online hotel booking websites.

Expecting a trip to Kyoto? Choose Sunrise Suites and make your time in Kyoto 200% more enjoyable!

FYI - Sunrise Suites’ Review Scores          Expedia: 4.6 out of 5.0          Booking.com: 9.0 out of 10.0          Agoda: 9.3 out of 10.0          Google: 4.7 out of 5.0         (as of Oct. 17, 2019)

Next story - “5. Convenience Stores and Supermarket Around Sunrise Suites”

Book now! -> 📝 Contact us -> ✉

[oofdezza]

Security everywhere - Agoda

I recently just finished booking all my accommodation for Japan (wow-ee it was expensive!). I recently saw how convenient and easy it was to book the accommodation! There was very little verification required, but should that be a concern for me? Let’s see...

This property looks nice. Lets try making a booking.

I tried to make a booking under a fake alias. It seemed to accept everything without verifying or checking.

All I required was simply the physical card and I could’ve made the booking. While this is very convenient, I don’t personally think this is very safe. Luckily I received an email on my account when a booking is confirmed. However, should anyone have signed up with a bad email, I would have never been notified, and if I didn’t check my statements (which I normally don’t). I would’ve never known this happened. 

[reeia]

SOLO aCORON (how did I do that?/ a Travel Guide)

This ain’t a soul searching or moving-on trip or whatever you call that. I booked my tickets 9 months ahead. I’d never anticipate that I’ll be broken hearted, hindi ako “advance mag-isip”. Read on! :D

Why Coron? I can’t remember what gave me idea to choose Coron all I know is I have El Nido on my bucket list. I love beaches and swimming so there. One insomniac night scrolling on facebook spotted a “piso fare” by Cebu Pacific. I was trying to book myself, mom and 2 tita’s, but unfortunately my tita’s were asleep and I don’t know their birth years, my mom is not a fun of water, so I thought if she come with me I might not fully explore all the lakes, beaches and lagoons, decided to book myself alone. ^_^ shallla!!! GREAT FARE DEAL!

Fast forward to the last week of August when I have to book for a room and tours.

I have getgo subscription that leads me to Agoda and found a hotel that really fits my thriftiness as I’m not up for an extravagant place to sleep, we’re not staying there the whole day so why spend more on that, yeah? Also I have read about this hotel on another solo traveller’s blog, good comments and ratings as well. I booked in advance and pay at the hotel. P750 per night to 499.33/night on Agoda. Yaaay! Another great deal!

Located at the town proper and very accessible to everything you’ll need.

The room has 2 bunk beds with lockers for the luggage that’s why I considered this, also I have noted that I want my roommates to be girls and I need airport transfers.

Roof deck for breakfast with a view.

Looking for a package tours online, I just couldn’t book cause they effin required two pax, NO SINGLE allowed just like EDSA. Good thing a friend chatted that I won’t have to worry about booking in advance, there are a lots of travel agencies around there that allows walk-ins and joiners.

September 11 came my DAY 1, I had like 3-4 hrs of sleep ( a typical me every time I travel, I am not even too excited but it’s just that! ) Haha… Few minutes after I came in to the airport, I heard my name being announced to board the plane, whew! I almost missed this wonderful adventure, grateful that I did not! Haha.. but yeah another first time! Haha.

First time ride to CebGo! Too cute! ^_^

Not even landed yet but Coron amazes me already!

At Busuanga airport got tour fliers, agencies have same itineraries but with different prices. I got in to my ride to my hotel, I’ve arrived early so had time for lunch and call agencies for a tour that would fill my afternoon, back to the hotel to drop my luggage securely in my locker and go for a town tour.

I picked Millennial Island Travelmate (0945-711-0999 - Anne) – P499

the view from Mount Tapyas where we climb 700+ steps. I didn’t count, i never tried to remember, you could google. ^_^

last stop after sweating, here for more sweat (if you’ll notice). Maquinit Hot Spring ---really hot but veeerrry relaxiiing!! ♥

I’ve met new people whom I don’t remember the names few minutes after being introduced. (one bad thing about me!) :D We had an E-trike rides to 7 destinations and dropped back to the hotel.

@ the hotel. Met my roommates OMG! All boys, 2 Swedish and 1 Korean. I already forgot the names except for Bruce the Korean whom I got to talk with more. They are all kind and friendly and also too rich to get through my things, the next day, I wouldn’t have to put all my things in the locker, my suit case has lock though. We share tour experiences after each day. Also got to meet 3 Italian ladies namely Feliza, Martina, and the other one.

DAY 2 Calauit Safari Tour B by Talusi Tours – P2,500 (0906-014-2281 – Nicole)

I already have a booking at the other agency for P2,100 but had to cancel cause I walked in to Talusi and this Nicole girl was quite convincing. 😭 Rented snorkeling mask for P150/day.

Friends told me that Calauit Safari is a must visit, well if you are an animal lover like me. ;)

Oh and I was with 4 couples. (no, I’m not envious!). I’ve got kuya tour guide to take my pictures! :-P

DAY 3  Coron Island Utimate Tour by Millennial Island Travelmate for P1,199 (this 99 thing is really attractive sales strat.) with optional add on of P200 for Baraccuda Lake.

First stop Twin Lagoon.

a looot of beautiful scenes above and under the water.

Free use of Kayak. sooo fun!!!! ^_^ ♥ 

This has been the climax of my tour when I met group of friends from Bulacan whom I remember the names. yay!

They’ve invited me to their hotel at Westown Lagoon Hotel, had free Dinner on them and played cards “in between” with bets. Lost like P 150, I enjoyed it though, drinks on them too (mule)! Yay!

But wait.. before heading out I asked our hotel receptionist if it’s safe to go out late in town. He said, “Yes, It’s a really safe town, you don’t have to worry.”

Went back to my hotel safely at 11pm. Grateful.

DAY 4

Morning walks to Souvenir Shop. Head back to Manila cause moma Dua Lipa’s waiting. ^_^

Expenses: (in Pesos)

765.24  -- Airfare

300.00 – Hotel Transfers

1,498.00 – Accomodation (4D 3N)

499.00 – Coron Town Tour

2,500.00 – Calauit Safary Tour B

1,399.00 -- 3 Coron Island Utimate Tour w/ Baraccuda lake add on.

300.00 – Snorkeling mask for 2days

655.00 – Foods & water ( Day 1 Lunch & Dinner, Day 2 Dinner) all other meals were included in my tour packages & hotel.

TOTAL = P 7,916.24

Other Expenses:

2,070.00 – Pasalubong

100.00 – Trike to Westown Hotel

>>>  September 11-14, 2018

They wonder how I was so brave travelling by myself, well solo doesn’t really mean I’m alone, I have God with me and I never feel afraid. ^_^

[louisonurmark]

Phuket is known as one of the popular tourist spot in Thailand. It’s famous for their cheap accommodation, offshore islands, clear water beaches, and many more! But with lots of tourists, there comes many tourists traps you and I may not know of.

We visited Phuket in the mid of 2018, and we had lots of fun there in 4 days. We did quite a number of things, had lots of touring and exploring, and also realized some little traps here and there which we hope to share with you, to help you for your next trip.

PHUKET IS NOT REALLY A SHOPPING HAVEN

But that’s what most Singaporeans or tourists will do anyway. The apparels here are quite affordable, and I’ve seen tourists buying bags of branded clothes, bags, pants, shorts, undies?etc. Ok, the ‘fake’ branded goods.

Though they are so cheap, I can say they are not durable. But anyway, it’s still cheap! However, I wouldn’t recommend this place to be where you would want to do bulk shopping, like buying dozens to clothes to bring back to your home country to sell, or sell them online.

The goods here are quite limited, not in the volume, but in the choices. After walking around few stalls, you’ll realize most goods come from the same supplier, as most stalls are selling almost the same goods.

There are also not many shopping malls around. The only one near where we stay is the Jungceylon Shopping Mall. It is more of an air-conditioned street market. More things to see, but more of the same things :P.

So if you wanna shop, do buy some funky ‘branded’ clothes for your own wear will do. Don’t bother bringing huge luggage over here to shop. If you want to do bulk shopping, then Bangkok is where you want to be at!

.

BUT PHUKET IS A HAVEN FOR SERVICES! Yes. We don’t come here and buy lots of stuffs. But we spend a lot on their services! Massage, hairstyling, personal grooming, pedicure, manicure? you’ll find it more affordable than your home town. For us Singaporeans? Definitely!

As you may already know, Thailand is famous for massage. Same for Phuket, you can find massage parlor everywhere. Thai massage? Foot massage? Aroma massage? Oil massage? Hot stone massage? You want it, you have it.

When looking for a massage parlor, make sure it looks clean and air-conditioned too. Because you’ll be there for at least 1 hour.

As for us, when we’re at Phuket, we went to try out as many massage services as we can, as they are really affordable with tip-top professional service. We are glad we found 2 really good ones, and we even went back for 2nd time before we fly off.

Ladies, looking to get your nails polished? Get it done here also. Even at an affordable rate, their services are first class.

And when the ladies polish their nails, what do the guys do?

You can go for foot massage! Even better, they have Wifi for you to access. Let them knead your aching muscles, and you go and surf?Facebook!

And If you had enough of thai massage, you can try letting these small fishes massage you.

Will it be comfortable? Will it be itchy? Will I feel better?

Try it and you know!

THERE ARE MORE INTERNATIONAL FOOD THAN THAI FOOD AT PHUKET!

Thailand is famous for its thai cuisine, but I can say Phuket is not known so much for its food. You can still find thai food here and there, but don’t expect too much from it.

On the other hand, you’ll find more international cuisine that Thai food there. Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Turkish, Persian, Chinese? you find more of those restaurants than Thai ones!

But, you can still find Thai food. You really have to take effort to find, because they are not that common on the streets. How ironic!

Here’s some thai food we tried, and kind of like it!

Pad Thai

Tom Yam

Green Curry

Thai Pancake?

If you’re starving from a day of tour and you want to have a satisfying meal, then thai food may not be enough for you. I recommend you to eat at this Sushi buffet at Jungceylon shopping mall.

All you can eat within 1 hour 15 minutes. They have this clock to time you. If you stay too long, you may get charged. But I can tell you, 30 minutes of constant eating may be enough for you.

TRAVEL DURING NON-RAINY SEASON

When we book for our Phuket trip to be in June, we didn’t think much about weather forecast. After all, the last few times I’ve been to Thailand, there’s no rain. No Rain. Not even drizzle.

But when we were in Phuket, there’s no only rain, but constant rain for hours, from morning to night. You can imagine how much of our trip is be affected. Some roads had ponding, and cars couldn’t pass through easily.

The strong winds at sea almost forced us to abandon all our island hopping plans.

Luckily it was just 2 days of rain.

Hence, if you want to travel to Phuket, the best time is during December through March, where the weather isn’t so humid, and there’s cool breeze to keep you comfortable. Temperatures around 75F to 89F (24C to 32C).

The hottest time in Phuket would be from April to May, with temperatures ranking from 80F to 95 F (27C to 36C).

June, July, August tend to be the period where there’s heavy showers but sunshine in between (which is what we experienced!). September to October is then the rainy season.

BOOK THE RIGHT HOTEL As Phuket is much a tourist haven, I see more tourists from all over the world along the streets than their local Thais. That’s why you’ll find really many hotels in Phuket.

With so many hotels there, you can get a relatively good hotel at a low price. For our trip, we stayed at Patong Terrace Beach Boutique Hotel. It’s not those kind of big hotels with huge lobby and swimming pool. But it’s a simple B&B (Bed & Breakfast) accommodation.

It’s only a 3-storey hotel sandwiched between shophouses. So it’s not obvious when you first see it.

For the price we pay for, I have to give 5 Star for it! We paid S$35 per night?via online booking, and we were very happy about it. It’s very convenient, as you’re footsteps from everything in Phuket. It’s right at the central where the buzz of Patong is.

Bangla Road, where all the bars, clubs and Tiger shows are, is just a junction away. The Patong Beach, Jungceylon Shopping Mall, and all the street stalls and night market are just around the hotel.

Why service is excellent? On our last day, we are supposed to have a one full day island tour, then depart for hotel at night. We have to check out early morning, and that means we won?t have a bathroom to bathe after our island tour. However, when we returned after the tour, the staff allowed us to do a wash-up in their lobby toilet, which is very much like 5 star toilet, and provide us with soap and towels.

I?ll never hesitate to book this hotel again. We chatted with the boss, who is also an angmoh (Caucasian) who moved here many years ago to start his hotel business. A friendly guy, and makes you feel welcomed.

Of course, there are many more hotels at Patong, but some are not located as convenient as they said they are. When booking online, they would describe themselves as ?close to all the buzz?, but some are really FAR away. We saw it ourselves when we pass by a hotel we originally thought of booking. Fortunately, we give that a miss, as it was nowhere near any buzz.

If you were to book a hotel there, check out their price at Agoda, Booking.com or other booking services, and read tourist reviews at Tripadvisor or somewhere else before finally booking them. Do ask your friends also.

For more accommodation options, you may check out this blog by HotelsCombined on Where to Stay in Phuket: The Complete Guide.

BOOK LOCAL TOURS IN PHUKET ITSELF, NOT?IN YOUR HOME COUNTRY, NOT EVEN FROM GROUPON!

This is one of the important things I have learned from this trip. We know Phuket is famous for its island tours, where it will bring you to various island for sight-seeing or water activities. These 1 day island tours are very attractive too, and many tourists would love it.

Before our trip, we saw a Deal.com.sg deal for a 1 day island tour to 4 islands (Koh Phi Phi, Maya Island Bamboo Island & 1 more) via Speedboat and with lunch provided for $58/pax. This price is also after almost 50% discount from its original price. I did some research online to compare other island tour and their prices, and I conclude that this Deal.com.sg deal is a better deal.

So we bought it.

We went for the island tour and we were very happy with the whole tour, the fun, the tour guide etc. However, we also realized that we can go for this same trip at a much lower price! How we know? Just talk to the people (other tourists) on the speedboat. Everybody paid different price for the same tour. Of course, there are also people who will pay more than us.

So is that $58 deal a steal, or is it just a package with price jacked up by 200% then bring it down to call it a deal? Anyway, I?m thankful I learned something new! If I were to visit Phuket again, I won?t book any local tours online (online prices are jacked up too!) or in Singapore. You just have to go there(Phuket), and there are many local tour agencies for you to choose and you can pick the best tour at the best price you want.

And I have to share an encounter I have with a Canadian tourist on the same island tour as us.

He?s the one who told me that I paid to much for the same tour he bought. Thanks to him, or I?m still in the dark. He managed to buy the same tour package as me at half of what I pay. And as I said earlier, I was at first still happy when the salesperson gave me some discount which I thought I was not entitled for.

I paid $1800 Baht per pax and I thought I got a good deal, until?he told me he paid only $900 baht. Wow.

For that particular tour, we sat on a big boat, which is even cheaper. A tour with Speed boat will cost slightly more. So now you see, how much higher the salesperson there have jacked up the prices and paste them on the brochures. Imagine how many more more full body massage you can go with the money you save from bargaining.

And the funny thing is, this Canadian guy told me ?You?re from Asia! You should have bargained more!?

I don?t know about you, but I always heard people say westerners (ang moh) don?t like to bargain because it?s their culture they don?t like to bargain. And here I have an ang moh who can bargain much much better than me. And he even teach me how to bargain next time.

And you know what? We talked so much, but didn?t know each other?s name!

Update Jan 2017: My friends have updated me that although?you can book the island tours when you’re at Phuket itself, it is risky because there may not be slots or availability for you, and all island tours may be fully booked, leaving you empty-handed when you are there.

Hence, you can still try your luck to book your tours when you reach Phuket, or you can book your tours online and you can get guaranteed ?your seats in those island tours. Viator is a world famous local tour booking website and I can say your booking will be safe with them. (Afterall, you don’t want headaches when you are at Phuket. Like you, we just want all the fun!)

PRIVATE TAXIS OF PHUKET

Phuket is a place where you can’t find any public transport. To get out of the airport, you either rent a car, or get in a taxi. How about traveling from places to places in Phuket?

You can either hop into a TukTuk, or into a private taxi. If you’ve been to anywhere in Thailand, you’d have seen a TukTuk before, a vehicle which is driven by a bike in front, and ferry passengers at the back.

You can hop on one for an experience, but the TukTuk drivers, having seen too many tourists in Phuket, know how to rip you off!

What about a private car? I don’t think I saw any taxi there, but I saw many private ‘taxi’. In Phuket, it seems like anyone can become a taxi driver if you have a car. Just take a cardboard, write Taxi, put inside your car, and you have a taxi.

I was initially afraid of this type of ‘private taxi’ service, because I don’t know where they will bring me to. Will they drive me to my destination, or THEIR destination?

But because on our 2nd day tour of Phuket, we wanted to travel out of Patong area to Phuket Town and it was raining heavily. A (doorless) TukTuk won’t suffice because we would be drenched.

Then this ‘taxi’ uncle waved to me to get into his ‘taxi’. He quoted us his price, but I bargained with him until he rejected us. His face is kinda black. So I know I have gone too low. We told him we will find another ‘taxi’.

After 10-15 mins, there’s no other taxi in sight. Then we went back to him again and gave him our price (slightly higher than our previous low). He said okay, and off we go! And when we went with him, he didn’t hold the grudge that I just now tried to force his price drastically down. He just treats me like his new passenger.

In the end, he ended up being our driver for the whole of our trips. On his last day, we also took his car to the airport. We met him, but its his employee who is the driver. At that point, we realized he also hires other drivers to drive under him. Smart guy.

Hence, if you’d want to travel around Phuket, you can consider getting into a ‘private taxi’, know the driver, and engage him as your driver for the few days you are in Phuket. Because you give him business for that few days, you can negotiate with him a better rate.

Want an even better ride?

Try Uber in Phuket! Uber is a global app that allows?you to book private car drivers, just like normal taxis. Uber is everywhere, it is probably in your home country too. When you visit Phuket you can use it too!

Just login to the app and book your trip around Phuket. The Uber fees is likely to be a lot less than taxis or tuktuk there.

Downside? The number of Uber drivers there might be less than the taxis or tuktuk. Hence, demand is greater than supply. You might need a bit of luck to get hold of a Uber driver there.

And so, those are the 7 things that you have to know before you travel to Phuket! Hope these tips help you enjoy your Phuket trip!

Of course, how can we end this post without sharing some of the island tours we went to?

There you go!

The big boats that bring us around.

At James Bond Island. James Bond had?this scene in his movie, and this island became famous overnight.

And then we have a?guide who brings photography to a whole new level.

And I think our boatman has an uncanny resemblance of Bruno Mars.

So we entered this cave, which they say has diamond crystals.

See any diamonds?

I think there is, but we can’t find any, so we paddle out.

As we paddle, we also saw some bird nest caves. That’s bird nests of swallows are harvested and sold to us humans as?delicacies.

Then the boat brought us to a small island with lots of monkeys. We don’t know what we’re supposed to do there. So we just keep feeding the monkeys.

And of course took pictures of them.

And their little ones.

As part of the tour, we also tried snorkeling. We were brought to somewhere 3m deep. We dived in, and saw fishes swimming around us. To get the fish to swim to you? Dive in with some bread.

On the speedboat. Phi Phi Island.

That’s how clear the water is!

The bamboo island. This island has nothing, other than fantastically clean beaches. You can just lie there, let the waves hit you, and let yourself bake under the sun. That’s what we did anyway.

Want to find out more about Phuket? Here’s an article by my fellow traveller friend, Jan, on the Top 25 Things To Do In Phuket!

Bonus: The Famous Tourist Trap of Phuket

Since you’ve read till here, I thought I should share a little more about an unpleasant incident that happened to us in Phuket. Phuket is famous for its nightlife at the Patong area.

If you walk around, you will see clubs and bars open their doors wide, with scantily-clad ladies dancing on table tops. If you’re new to this, then it may be an eye-opener for you!

But that’s not all. Walking around, you will also see men and women peddling with menus, inviting you to “Ping Pong” shows. Ping Pong shows is famous in Thailand only. You can find them in Bangkok too.

But what exactly is a Ping Pong show? Playing table tennis balls? A magician show doing tricks with ping pong balls?

Nah.

By the way, here’s one menu you can find:

Seen the menu? Yes, those shows are for adults only.

In every show, you will see ladies (or ladyboys) doing amazing tricks and stuns with their private part. You have to see it to believe the amazing things it can do: like lighting a cigarette, shooting an arrow and more.

How much for the show?

Look at the menu?- ‘Free Show Only Buy Drink’ only.

That was what we thought too! Just buy a drink, and you can enjoy the amazing show! Read on to find out what happened.

We told the man we are interested, and right away, he led us the way into the club.?The place where the real performance took place seems very discreet. We have to walk through a door, through?an empty room, and through another door, through an empty room, and a final door again.

We are not sure why this place is sooooo secretive that we have to walk so deep into the bar just to watch the show. Okay… maybe its an adult show, that’s why.? And finally, we were inside the real bar with the Ping Pong Show. It’s kind of dark (as expected), with a few ladies (or ladyboys) on stage preparing for next show. There were a few Caucasians around us, probably visitors who are curious just like us.

We took our seats and waited for the next show.

And at this time, a waitress came over to show us the drinks menu.

Remember ‘Free Show Only Buy Drink’? We kind of expected that we have to pay for something. But what happens next SHOCK us.

We looked at the menu. The price list is crazy.

The?drinks listed on the menu range from 45 USD to 100 USD.

I re-examine the menu. It is 45 USD to 100 USD. Not Thai Baht!?

And guess what is the cheapest drink at 45 USD?

A glass of coke.

Wow… I didn’t expect I have to pay so much for a drink to watch a show which we’re just curious about.

That price is just too much for us to pay for. We tried to bargain..

“Can both of us share 1 glass of coke?”

They said No. 1 person has to buy a drink.

At that point, I did my math. I realized it is not worth it to pay so much (US$90 for both of us) for 2 glass of cokes, and ladyboys performing weird tricks with their p****. We rather pay US$90 for more sessions of thai massages.

So after about 7 mins of ‘negotiations’, we told the waitress we are leaving.

At that point of time, another waiter came over to?convince us to stay. He even said we can just buy 1 glass of coke. (I thought we can’t earlier?). But we insisted we want to leave. But both of them still tried to hold us back and keep convincing us ‘the show is about to start!’, and he will even give us discounts on the drinks.

We don’t feel comfortable staying any longer and somehow felt that they are trying to prevent us from leaving. Don’t forget, we are tourists, and we just walked through 3 doors to the bar. We are totally unfamiliar with that place!

That was when I stopped talking, and started walking out. The waiter continued to follow us on our way out and hope that we would change our minds and turn back. But after opening 3 doors and walking through 3 rooms, we are out of that bar.

Wow. What an ‘experience’!

We’re not sure about you. You may want to explore this when you’re in Phuket. Just be careful. At least, now you know the price of the coke you have to pay for the ‘Free’ show!

Return from 7 Things to know before you travel to Phuket to Travel Asia Yourself

Return to Travel Yourself Today Home

7 Things To Know Before You Travel To Phuket Phuket is known as one of the popular tourist spot in Thailand. It’s famous for their cheap accommodation, offshore islands, clear water beaches, and many more!

[tamboradventure]

How to Find Cheap Hotel Rooms: Hotel Booking Sites To Use And Avoid

Updated: 10/15/2018 | October 15th, 2018

As much as I love hostels and other forms of cheap accommodation, there is something nice about the luxuriousness of a hotel: the clean room, comfy bed, desk, iron, strong shower, and bottled soap for the taking (errr…I mean borrowing). They are quiet, relaxing, and a respite from the world.

But luxury comes at a price. Hotels certainly aren’t cheap, and I hate spending money on a room I am only going to be in for a few hours. After all, it’s just a place to sleep (and take soap). It’s why I mostly avoid hotels — I don’t think they are a good use of money. I would much rather stay in a hostel or Airbnb, which cost less, have more social interaction, and don’t make you feel as removed from the destination you’re staying at. I always feel hotels are so isolating like a concrete bubble keeping out the place you’re visiting.

But there are times when a hotel can’t be avoided. Hostels aren’t everywhere, booking a last minute hotel room is easier than finding an Airbnb host, and sometimes you just really need a nice bed and shower. Plus, I have a ton of points so free is worth the isolation.

A few years ago, I was traveling to conferences and other work-related events a lot and staying in a bunch of hotels. I decided to see if I could find the best hotel booking site on the web. I picked a bunch cities and searched six booking websites — Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Hotwire, Priceline, and TravelPony — in 2-, 3-, and 4-star categories.

The conclusion? Well, there wasn’t really a great conclusion.

The overall numbers showed that some sites were stronger in certain regions or for certain classes of hotel. TravelPony was the winner in the US and for higher-class hotels, and Expedia dominated London and Paris, while Priceline was great for 2-star hotels and Hotwire for 3-star hotels. The big loser? Booking.com.

But that was in 2014, and booking websites and options have changed a lot since then. The only constant in travel is that nothing is constant — and a booking website is as only good as its inventory, which, as someone who now owns a hostel that’s not listed in every booking engine, I can tell you varies widely.

So I decided to do another search to try to find the best site to book a hotel in 2018. This time I searched Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Agoda, and Priceline for prices in London, New York, Paris, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, and Berlin. I searched on July 3rd for space later that week and then one month later during the weekday and weekend (prices and availability change on the weekend).

The Best Hotel Booking Website

The results of all that?

Well, the complete opposite of the previous results. Back in 2014, Booking.com was terrible, TravelPony showed promise, and Agoda was only good in Asia.

This time the best hotel booking website was Booking.com. Though it didn’t return the largest number of total places, Booking.com returned the largest number of cheap places – and that’s the most important thing. I found the best deals and largest variety in all the destinations I searched for on Booking. For example, in my September search in Paris, it listed over 2,300 results, including 250 2 star listings and 750 star listings (and it told me the place was over 60% booked when I searched). Agoda still had the best results in Asia (it returned 2,900 results in Bangkok compared to 2,500 for Booking) but had definitely expanded their listings around the world – it roughly tied Booking in Paris, Buenos Aires, and Sydney for overall listings, though they had fewer budget listings than Booking.

The second best hotel booking website was Agoda, which had a lot of results, thogh it’s strong suit is still in Asia.

And all those other major hotel booking sites? Well, Orbitz and Travelocity are part of Expedia and use the same database, and while they turned back a large number of results, they tilted more to the higher end of the price spectrum. And websites like Priceline and Hotwire have top-notch blind booking and bidding options that can get you a very cheap hotel (in the star category and area you want). Sometimes prices are up to 40% off. The downside? You don’t get to know the name of the hotel you’re staying in until after you have paid.

There are a lot of hotel booking websites and I’ve tried many over the last few years as I’ve started to book hotels more and more, but this test just proved what I already thought:

For cheap hotels, Booking.com and Agoda are the two best hotel booking websites on the web and return the best results time and time again. If you search these two companies, you’ll always find the best hotel bargains in the 1, 2m or 3 star category.

Note: Years ago, I said to skip Trivago because I found it misleading: when you went to the other sites to compare results, the hotel classes and prices were different. I found the same thing this time. I clicked over to their cheapest deals, then did the search on the website they took me to only to find out that the place Trivago listed wasn’t even in the same class I wanted — and there were better options on the redirected website. In short, I would still skip Trivago.

How to book cheap hotels

Besides using the right hotel booking sites, there are some hacks you can use to score the cheapest room rate possible for your next trip:

Contact the hotel websites directly – If you’re booking a big-name, global-brand hotel (think Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, etc.), book directly with that hotel. They often have the best deals on their website, but if you find a better deal elsewhere, they’ll match it. The big benefit to direct bookings at these global hotel chains is that you only earn loyalty points and status when you book directly, so if you love points, don’t book their rooms elsewhere.

Bargain – Want a better deal? Call up a hotel and ask for one. Sometimes they can give you better rates, especially if it’s during mid-week on some non-peak time of the year.

Use loyalty reward programs – The best way to stay for cheap is to stay for free. Collect points with the big chains by using their branded credit cards, shopping portals, and other travel hacking methods.

Use discount rates like AAA or AARP – If you are part of the AARP or AAA you can get special rates that are cheaper. Fun fact: Anyone can join the AARP. I’m a member. They have amazing travel benefits (including deals on hotels and British Airways flights). It’s well worth the membership.

Get discounted gift cards – You can book major hotel chains with hotel gift cards. Check out a website like Giftcardgranny.com for discounted gift cards and use it to book your hotel. (Gift card purchases also count toward point earnings and status.)

Buy someone else’s reservation with Roomer – Often people can’t go on a trip and can’t cancel the reservation, so rather than lose the money, hotels put these rooms on Roomer, where they sell it at a discount to earn some money back. I’ve never used this website, but I’ve heard decent things about it. It’s worth a try.

***

Hotel pricing is a lot more set than airline pricing and tends to fluctuate less. I wouldn’t spend hours searching hotel websites or days tracking prices like people do with airline prices. I’d spend, at the most, 30 minutes on booking a hotel. I found that the variation between sites isn’t enough to justify the time spent using multiple websites and spending hours tryign to find the best rate. Your time is worth more than that.

Just follow the steps above to get a cheap hotel by using the hotel booking websites listed here, get a good deal, and enjoy your trip. No fuss, no muss!

The post How to Find Cheap Hotel Rooms: Hotel Booking Sites To Use And Avoid appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

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[melissagarcia8]

How to Find Cheap Hotel Rooms: Hotel Booking Sites To Use And Avoid

Updated: 10/15/2018 | October 15th, 2018

As much as I love hostels and other forms of cheap accommodation, there is something nice about the luxuriousness of a hotel: the clean room, comfy bed, desk, iron, strong shower, and bottled soap for the taking (errr…I mean borrowing). They are quiet, relaxing, and a respite from the world.

But luxury comes at a price. Hotels certainly aren’t cheap, and I hate spending money on a room I am only going to be in for a few hours. After all, it’s just a place to sleep (and take soap). It’s why I mostly avoid hotels — I don’t think they are a good use of money. I would much rather stay in a hostel or Airbnb, which cost less, have more social interaction, and don’t make you feel as removed from the destination you’re staying at. I always feel hotels are so isolating like a concrete bubble keeping out the place you’re visiting.

But there are times when a hotel can’t be avoided. Hostels aren’t everywhere, booking a last minute hotel room is easier than finding an Airbnb host, and sometimes you just really need a nice bed and shower. Plus, I have a ton of points so free is worth the isolation.

A few years ago, I was traveling to conferences and other work-related events a lot and staying in a bunch of hotels. I decided to see if I could find the best hotel booking site on the web. I picked a bunch cities and searched six booking websites — Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Hotwire, Priceline, and TravelPony — in 2-, 3-, and 4-star categories.

The conclusion? Well, there wasn’t really a great conclusion.

The overall numbers showed that some sites were stronger in certain regions or for certain classes of hotel. TravelPony was the winner in the US and for higher-class hotels, and Expedia dominated London and Paris, while Priceline was great for 2-star hotels and Hotwire for 3-star hotels. The big loser? Booking.com.

But that was in 2014, and booking websites and options have changed a lot since then. The only constant in travel is that nothing is constant — and a booking website is as only good as its inventory, which, as someone who now owns a hostel that’s not listed in every booking engine, I can tell you varies widely.

So I decided to do another search to try to find the best site to book a hotel in 2018. This time I searched Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Agoda, and Priceline for prices in London, New York, Paris, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, and Berlin. I searched on July 3rd for space later that week and then one month later during the weekday and weekend (prices and availability change on the weekend).

The Best Hotel Booking Website

The results of all that?

Well, the complete opposite of the previous results. Back in 2014, Booking.com was terrible, TravelPony showed promise, and Agoda was only good in Asia.

This time the best hotel booking website was Booking.com. Though it didn’t return the largest number of total places, Booking.com returned the largest number of cheap places – and that’s the most important thing. I found the best deals and largest variety in all the destinations I searched for on Booking. For example, in my September search in Paris, it listed over 2,300 results, including 250 2 star listings and 750 star listings (and it told me the place was over 60% booked when I searched). Agoda still had the best results in Asia (it returned 2,900 results in Bangkok compared to 2,500 for Booking) but had definitely expanded their listings around the world – it roughly tied Booking in Paris, Buenos Aires, and Sydney for overall listings, though they had fewer budget listings than Booking.

The second best hotel booking website was Agoda, which had a lot of results, thogh it’s strong suit is still in Asia.

And all those other major hotel booking sites? Well, Orbitz and Travelocity are part of Expedia and use the same database, and while they turned back a large number of results, they tilted more to the higher end of the price spectrum. And websites like Priceline and Hotwire have top-notch blind booking and bidding options that can get you a very cheap hotel (in the star category and area you want). Sometimes prices are up to 40% off. The downside? You don’t get to know the name of the hotel you’re staying in until after you have paid.

There are a lot of hotel booking websites and I’ve tried many over the last few years as I’ve started to book hotels more and more, but this test just proved what I already thought:

For cheap hotels, Booking.com and Agoda are the two best hotel booking websites on the web and return the best results time and time again. If you search these two companies, you’ll always find the best hotel bargains in the 1, 2m or 3 star category.

Note: Years ago, I said to skip Trivago because I found it misleading: when you went to the other sites to compare results, the hotel classes and prices were different. I found the same thing this time. I clicked over to their cheapest deals, then did the search on the website they took me to only to find out that the place Trivago listed wasn’t even in the same class I wanted — and there were better options on the redirected website. In short, I would still skip Trivago.

How to book cheap hotels

Besides using the right hotel booking sites, there are some hacks you can use to score the cheapest room rate possible for your next trip:

Contact the hotel websites directly – If you’re booking a big-name, global-brand hotel (think Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, etc.), book directly with that hotel. They often have the best deals on their website, but if you find a better deal elsewhere, they’ll match it. The big benefit to direct bookings at these global hotel chains is that you only earn loyalty points and status when you book directly, so if you love points, don’t book their rooms elsewhere.

Bargain – Want a better deal? Call up a hotel and ask for one. Sometimes they can give you better rates, especially if it’s during mid-week on some non-peak time of the year.

Use loyalty reward programs – The best way to stay for cheap is to stay for free. Collect points with the big chains by using their branded credit cards, shopping portals, and other travel hacking methods.

Use discount rates like AAA or AARP – If you are part of the AARP or AAA you can get special rates that are cheaper. Fun fact: Anyone can join the AARP. I’m a member. They have amazing travel benefits (including deals on hotels and British Airways flights). It’s well worth the membership.

Get discounted gift cards – You can book major hotel chains with hotel gift cards. Check out a website like Giftcardgranny.com for discounted gift cards and use it to book your hotel. (Gift card purchases also count toward point earnings and status.)

Buy someone else’s reservation with Roomer – Often people can’t go on a trip and can’t cancel the reservation, so rather than lose the money, hotels put these rooms on Roomer, where they sell it at a discount to earn some money back. I’ve never used this website, but I’ve heard decent things about it. It’s worth a try.

***

Hotel pricing is a lot more set than airline pricing and tends to fluctuate less. I wouldn’t spend hours searching hotel websites or days tracking prices like people do with airline prices. I’d spend, at the most, 30 minutes on booking a hotel. I found that the variation between sites isn’t enough to justify the time spent using multiple websites and spending hours tryign to find the best rate. Your time is worth more than that.

Just follow the steps above to get a cheap hotel by using the hotel booking websites listed here, get a good deal, and enjoy your trip. No fuss, no muss!

The post How to Find Cheap Hotel Rooms: Hotel Booking Sites To Use And Avoid appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Traveling News https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/find-cheap-hotel-room/

[joshuamshea84]

How to Find Cheap Hotel Rooms: Hotel Booking Sites To Use And Avoid

Updated: 10/15/2018 | October 15th, 2018

As much as I love hostels and other forms of cheap accommodation, there is something nice about the luxuriousness of a hotel: the clean room, comfy bed, desk, iron, strong shower, and bottled soap for the taking (errr…I mean borrowing). They are quiet, relaxing, and a respite from the world.

But luxury comes at a price. Hotels certainly aren’t cheap, and I hate spending money on a room I am only going to be in for a few hours. After all, it’s just a place to sleep (and take soap). It’s why I mostly avoid hotels — I don’t think they are a good use of money. I would much rather stay in a hostel or Airbnb, which cost less, have more social interaction, and don’t make you feel as removed from the destination you’re staying at. I always feel hotels are so isolating like a concrete bubble keeping out the place you’re visiting.

But there are times when a hotel can’t be avoided. Hostels aren’t everywhere, booking a last minute hotel room is easier than finding an Airbnb host, and sometimes you just really need a nice bed and shower. Plus, I have a ton of points so free is worth the isolation.

A few years ago, I was traveling to conferences and other work-related events a lot and staying in a bunch of hotels. I decided to see if I could find the best hotel booking site on the web. I picked a bunch cities and searched six booking websites — Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Hotwire, Priceline, and TravelPony — in 2-, 3-, and 4-star categories.

The conclusion? Well, there wasn’t really a great conclusion.

The overall numbers showed that some sites were stronger in certain regions or for certain classes of hotel. TravelPony was the winner in the US and for higher-class hotels, and Expedia dominated London and Paris, while Priceline was great for 2-star hotels and Hotwire for 3-star hotels. The big loser? Booking.com.

But that was in 2014, and booking websites and options have changed a lot since then. The only constant in travel is that nothing is constant — and a booking website is as only good as its inventory, which, as someone who now owns a hostel that’s not listed in every booking engine, I can tell you varies widely.

So I decided to do another search to try to find the best site to book a hotel in 2018. This time I searched Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Agoda, and Priceline for prices in London, New York, Paris, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, and Berlin. I searched on July 3rd for space later that week and then one month later during the weekday and weekend (prices and availability change on the weekend).

The Best Hotel Booking Website

The results of all that?

Well, the complete opposite of the previous results. Back in 2014, Booking.com was terrible, TravelPony showed promise, and Agoda was only good in Asia.

This time the best hotel booking website was Booking.com. Though it didn’t return the largest number of total places, Booking.com returned the largest number of cheap places – and that’s the most important thing. I found the best deals and largest variety in all the destinations I searched for on Booking. For example, in my September search in Paris, it listed over 2,300 results, including 250 2 star listings and 750 star listings (and it told me the place was over 60% booked when I searched). Agoda still had the best results in Asia (it returned 2,900 results in Bangkok compared to 2,500 for Booking) but had definitely expanded their listings around the world – it roughly tied Booking in Paris, Buenos Aires, and Sydney for overall listings, though they had fewer budget listings than Booking.

The second best hotel booking website was Agoda, which had a lot of results, thogh it’s strong suit is still in Asia.

And all those other major hotel booking sites? Well, Orbitz and Travelocity are part of Expedia and use the same database, and while they turned back a large number of results, they tilted more to the higher end of the price spectrum. And websites like Priceline and Hotwire have top-notch blind booking and bidding options that can get you a very cheap hotel (in the star category and area you want). Sometimes prices are up to 40% off. The downside? You don’t get to know the name of the hotel you’re staying in until after you have paid.

There are a lot of hotel booking websites and I’ve tried many over the last few years as I’ve started to book hotels more and more, but this test just proved what I already thought:

For cheap hotels, Booking.com and Agoda are the two best hotel booking websites on the web and return the best results time and time again. If you search these two companies, you’ll always find the best hotel bargains in the 1, 2m or 3 star category.

Note: Years ago, I said to skip Trivago because I found it misleading: when you went to the other sites to compare results, the hotel classes and prices were different. I found the same thing this time. I clicked over to their cheapest deals, then did the search on the website they took me to only to find out that the place Trivago listed wasn’t even in the same class I wanted — and there were better options on the redirected website. In short, I would still skip Trivago.

How to book cheap hotels

Besides using the right hotel booking sites, there are some hacks you can use to score the cheapest room rate possible for your next trip:

Contact the hotel websites directly – If you’re booking a big-name, global-brand hotel (think Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, etc.), book directly with that hotel. They often have the best deals on their website, but if you find a better deal elsewhere, they’ll match it. The big benefit to direct bookings at these global hotel chains is that you only earn loyalty points and status when you book directly, so if you love points, don’t book their rooms elsewhere.

Bargain – Want a better deal? Call up a hotel and ask for one. Sometimes they can give you better rates, especially if it’s during mid-week on some non-peak time of the year.

Use loyalty reward programs – The best way to stay for cheap is to stay for free. Collect points with the big chains by using their branded credit cards, shopping portals, and other travel hacking methods.

Use discount rates like AAA or AARP – If you are part of the AARP or AAA you can get special rates that are cheaper. Fun fact: Anyone can join the AARP. I’m a member. They have amazing travel benefits (including deals on hotels and British Airways flights). It’s well worth the membership.

Get discounted gift cards – You can book major hotel chains with hotel gift cards. Check out a website like Giftcardgranny.com for discounted gift cards and use it to book your hotel. (Gift card purchases also count toward point earnings and status.)

Buy someone else’s reservation with Roomer – Often people can’t go on a trip and can’t cancel the reservation, so rather than lose the money, hotels put these rooms on Roomer, where they sell it at a discount to earn some money back. I’ve never used this website, but I’ve heard decent things about it. It’s worth a try.

***

Hotel pricing is a lot more set than airline pricing and tends to fluctuate less. I wouldn’t spend hours searching hotel websites or days tracking prices like people do with airline prices. I’d spend, at the most, 30 minutes on booking a hotel. I found that the variation between sites isn’t enough to justify the time spent using multiple websites and spending hours tryign to find the best rate. Your time is worth more than that.

Just follow the steps above to get a cheap hotel by using the hotel booking websites listed here, get a good deal, and enjoy your trip. No fuss, no muss!

The post How to Find Cheap Hotel Rooms: Hotel Booking Sites To Use And Avoid appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Traveling News https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/find-cheap-hotel-room/