Boracay Day 5 - Ariel's point

Another checked for my travel bucket list today! Today was the most 'adventurous' day for us. Time for some height and get wet!

The Ariel's point is one of the highlight of the trip. Okay, nothing fanciful for the trip but you get to leap off the cliff and dunk into the sea. Can't get to do this in Singapore, for sure. 

We pre-arranged the trip with the Ariel's point personnel. The day started before 10am where we had to gather at Ariel's House (Whote Beach Station 1) for a pre-trip briefing. This is to safeguard our safety.

After which, we took the boat out to our destination. The service was real good and they provide water and beer (yes, if you want, you can beer all day) throughout the day. The boat ride took about 40 minutes and there we reached. 

Okay, while we had to pluck up our courage to do the 5 meters jump, there were fellow tourists who took the plunge at the 15 meters. Kudos to them, for sure. 

There we stood to do our jump. I'm glad I did both the 5 & 8 meters dip and okay, leave the 15 metres for my next trip there!

Cliff dive plank @ Ariel's Point

Besides cliff dive, you can also do other activities like suntanning, kayaking, snorkelling or just swim and relax!

A buffet lunch was included in the 2,000 pesos cost. 

The other activities

The day ended at around 5pm and well, it's our last night at this beautiful island. Have another look at how the sunset paints the background for the night.

Sunset, yet again!

Time for our last dinner and it's time for seafood at 'I love my backyard'. This restaurant is situated in the centre of D'mall. Not very hard to find but believe it, it is very hard to get a table. We tried once but could not get a table immediately. So this time round, we waited for half an hour before we had our butt seated at this restaurant. Great dinner to end off the day and to round up the trip.

Seafood platter @ I love my backyard

I will be back, Boracay!

Boracay Day 4 - Spider House

Another amazing weather to start off another beautiful day.Today, there is no itinerary. We have nothing in mind and we just wanted to go with the flow. So well, enjoy the moment, and my photos. 

White Beach

Okay, there was one place in mind - Spider House. Wanted to go there to relax for the afternoon and to enjoy the sunset. Heard that the sunset looked great there.

Spider House

The fantastic view of the sunset. I simply loved it! No photoshop, no human intervention. The place just looked amazing and well, I have to say, even better in real life!

Sunset!

Boracay Day 2 - Parasailing, Joanh's Fruit Shake , Sunset

Woke up to a wonderful day. We started off our day with the Hotel breakfast. There are 5 choices to it and is the usual choice of eggs, either bacon or ham. Salads and drinks are available too. Not those buffet style.. So sit back, relax and wait to be served. 

After the breakfast, we stepped out of the hotel to have the first taste of Boracay's daylight. Wonderful feeling. We headed back to the White beach and started our beach retreat. 

We read and did our research about the activities available on the island. First stop was to look for Diamond Water Sports. We read that it provided good service for parasailing. That was something that we wanted to try for the first time. So headed up towards Station 1 of the beach. It was not long that we stumbled upon some beach tentage, one of which happened to be Diamond Water Sports. At first, we thought we were looking for a shop front and did not really trust what the counter people were saying. We just treated it as touting. And yes, a lot of people were at the beach, trying to sell us their service/activities when we walked past them. Not a single moment was spared. 

So after some persuasion by the crew, we took up parasailing and Sunset Paraw Sailing for the day. It costs us 1,500 peso each for the activities. Not a bad deal, I guess, since he quoted us 1,500 peso for Parasailing alone. 

And after the payment, he led us to the beach. Oh god, that's efficient! Without any preparation and we were to embark on our first activity. I just had a heavy breakfast. But well, that's not a bad timing for the Parasailing as the weather would have been hotter if we were to delay the trip. 

So here we waited for the boat to pick us up to the middle of the sea -

Beautiful beach and water!

So the parachute looked great here against the blue sky. The view up there was fantastic too. Oh did I mentioned, for this trip out to the sea, it would take around 15 minutes. That's just us on this boat, so well, I guess, it was considered a 'private' tour. 

There were 3 crew personnel on board with us. One as the driver and the other 2 to take care of us, giving us instructions, helping us with the safety and of course, as a free lance photographer for us. 

Us, high up into the sky

And we went higher and higher up and before we landed back to the boat, we got a dip into the sea. Well, it was not those sudden drop like a freefall.. The wind was too strong for that. Slowly as we came closer to the boat, they asked if we wanted a dip. Yes, it was a choice. So we went for it. What's not getting wet for sea sports. So be in your swim wear for this!

High up, dip in

And so it ended, in a blink of an eye. Since we were at Station 1, we decided to walk further down to catch the Willy's Rock. Oh well, it looked nice from far but we did not make our way up to it. The algae there was not that pleasant after all.

White Beach Station 1, Willy's Rock

Okay, another highlight in Station 1 is Joanh's Fruit Shake & Snack bar. They say, it serves the best fruit on the island. Well, try it and answer that question for yourself. I had the mango shake and on such hot sunny day, it was really great.

They served the takeaway in a normal mineral water bottle but they 'poked' a hole at the cap to put in the straw. A nice way to bring around the bottle as the circumference is not as big as those plastic cup! Yummy!

Joanh's Fruit Shake & Snack bar, fruit shake

After making a trip to Station 1, we decided to head to Station 3 - reason being, we wanted to book our island hopping snorkelling trip for tomorrow. It was mentioned in some websites that ALLAN BOAT provided good service for this activity. It was noted that the counter is located near Villa De Oro Hotel. So we just headed off, trying to find the Hotel . Okay, once you passed Mcdonald's dessert kiosk, you are about to reach the ALLAN BOAT counter. Just keep a lookout. 

So we booked the 6-hrs Island hopping (Puka beach, Crystal Cove visit, 2 snorkelling points, Lunch)....at 800 peso each. Not too bad a deal since it included lunch. So after settling the itinerary for the next day, it was time for Lunch. 

Not knowing what to have, we decided to pop into Smoke Resto that is at an alley in D'mall. It is a local Filipino eatery which serves the local delights. A well hidden small and cozy restaurant and I got an impression that it is somewhere near to Tilapia n’ Chips. This place is really crowded and true enough, it sticks to its shop name. It was rather smoky with an open kitchen concept. 

I ordered the Kao Pad which is actually Chicken, Egg, Mango with rice. The chicken meat was tender and well seasoned. The 'sourness' of the mango added another flavour to this dish. A very nice combination of fruit and meat into a rice bowl. Well, maybe add a little greens will do wonders! Quite a good choice to start off my lunch in Boracay. 

Kao Pad (Chicken, Egg, Mango and Rice) at Smoke Resto

After lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel for a quick wash up. After which, we strolled away the D'mall market. Okay, shops were quite standard - Clothes, souvenirs, food. 

We took the 'free' pass to enjoy the Red Coconut beach front facilities. Sat at the beach chairs and well, I stayed in the shade. Could not bear to let my 'burnt' skin get worst. Yes, I got a burnt and I still can't get over it. Why? I applied the sunblock duly. *cried*

So, waited for the sunset and off we went for the Sunset Paraw Sailing. Was really looking forward to sunset. But well, it was a little disappointing for me. I guessed we went out too early and did not really catch a complete sunset. 

The ride was actually quite fast, say 10 minutes and we were back at shore. Oh god! So if you really wanted to view a sunset on the paraw, do it really near to sunset. But here's my view while on it. Or maybe, try to do a sunset parasailing, it seems nice to be up there!

Parasailing in action

The sun I captured, ready to set in minutes....

Sun about to set

And the sunset we viewed on shore... Enjoy!

Girl chasing the sunset?

Couple admiring the beauty

The coconut trees waving to the sun

The sail against the sun as backdrop

What a wonderful view!

Sail right in

Though the view of the sun setting was great, I found peace and serenity looking at the other end of the sky. Splendid view especially with the fluffy clouds. Crowds at the beach were really enjoying their time. Relaxing and well, I guess a self reflection would be great!

Sky at the other end of the sunset

Okay, last view before we headed to dinner!

Can't get enough of it... Good night!

Alight, sunlight down and everyone seemed hungry. Restaurants, cafes and eatery were full of people. We decided to pop into Andok's.  In search of desserts, we just order the half grilled chicken. Juicy meat at affordable price.

@ Andok's - grilled chicken

Okay, we got crazy crepes for desserts but no pictures. Try it out for yourself. Time to head back to Hotel to wash up and rest. Tomorrow will be a day out at sea! Cheers!

Hanoi Day 5 - Halong Bay

Overnight train back from Sapa to Hanoi was not that smooth as the first night, but nonetheless, it was an experience for me. The boss from the travel agency came to pick us up and brought us back to his place. 

Here, we repacked our bag to bring new clothes to Halong Bay. It was really great to engage this service as we did not have to lug our luggage around the places. 

Van ride to Halong Bay was smooth. I heard a lot on Halong Bay, the new 7 wonders of Nature. I was actually looking forward to the cruise stay and of course, the amazing view.

Let's the pictures below tells the stories!

A short getaway to Montigo Resort (Batam)

A short getaway from Singapore to Montigo Resort in Batam. While all think that ferry to Batam departs at Harbourfront terminal, please note that the nearest ferry terminal to Montigo resort is Nongsa. We took Batam Fast ferry and a return ticket costs around SGD$46. Do note that you can purchase an open ticket for the return trip so that you can decide when and where to take the ferry back. In the end, we took the ferry back from Batam Centre after visiting Nagoya Hill Shopping mall. 

Price:

Back to the blogging on the resort. We booked the Hilltop Villa via their own website. We managed to book it at around SGD$425 per villa per night (for 4 persons) through a Flash deal promotion. It is noted that a fifth person can be accommodated and has to pay SGD$100+ per night. 

Service:

Montigo resorts provided a shuttle service (to be pre-arranged) to bring us to the Resort from Nongsa ferry terminal. It was around a 5-10 minutes ride. Check in time is at 3pm but you could check in early if there is availability of room. Check out is at 11a.m. Montigo also provides a shuttle service to Nagoya Hill Shopping Mall at 10am (well, it was late when we took it at 10.40am the next day) and back at 4pm (which we did not take). The journey was around 45 minutes to an hour depending on the traffic. 

I have to say, Montigo staff at the reception lobby were very attentive. When we alighted the shuttle bus, we were given a glass of welcome drink and a cold towel. Then as we proceeded to the lobby, a staff was 'appointed' to do the check in process for us. He also went on to tell us about the floor plan of the resort and did some introduction. Do note that we have to give SGD$100 as deposit which will be returned upon check out unless we spent on something during the stay. Well, do prepare the notes if not, charge a million rupiah to your credit card!

Here's the first few views I saw at Montigo Resort:

the first look at Montigo Resort

As the villa was not ready, we were being shuffled to TADD’s by buggy service to have lunch. While, as it was Hari Raya, they had a buffet lunch promotion at around SGD$25++ for the festive where drinks were not included. In the end, we paid around 1.6 million rupiah for 4 persons - I have to say, a pretty expensive meal in Batam. the variety of the food was not that great and some were beef which I do not take. The appetizers were special and spicy enough to perk the stomach. The desserts which are mostly kuehs were good too. Just that the mains were so so.

Here's some of the food we had with  a nice gloomy view - Lucky Sun was not on our side and it started raining there. What a letdown when we are supposed to be under the sun swimming!

The Lunch - not that fantastic and an expensive one!

After the lunch, we took the buggy back to the reception lobby. Lucky for us, the villa was ready and there we went to the start of the retreat! 2 card keys were given to us - 1 was to slot into the card slot to activate the electricity while the other is for us to use when we were out of the villa - we did only once, that was to have our breakfast the next day!

Without further ado, here's the pictures of the ground floor of the villa - with the living room + kitchenette, the dining table next to the private pool. A private pool that we spent most of the time at. It was a little 'dirty' and we reckon it could be due to the downpour earlier on. 

A wii machine is found at the TV area and 2 controllers were available. A NBA game disc was there as well and we tried to play. Only one controller is working and well, that marks the end of our touch with the wii. We did try to call the reception for more games and only Mario driving game is available. I told them to deliver to our villa and not sure of it is due to some communication breakdown, the game disc never arrived!

Level 1 of the Villa - the place we spent most of the time at

Next level up is the 2 bedrooms. A master bedroom with a pretty big washroom - a bathtub sitting in the middle of the washroom! A double bed was fantastic and there is a long sofa (I think there will be where the fifth person can make him or herself comfortable!).

The bedrooms on the second floor

 Well, I cannot resist but to capture the art pieces there. The painting, the decorations were really very captivating for me. What say you?

Can't resist the art pieces!

Spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in the private pool. With fun and laughter, chit chatting with the girls. Bonding time is the best quality time ever! I love! 

Soon, it was time for the sun to rest.. Pretty sunset by the sea. Taken by the pool.. Nice!

What beats a nice sunset with friends... on ground level

Off to the rooftop for some more pretty views of the sunset....

Up to the rooftop for a better view

Good things come to an end fast! real fast! Day 2 came in a twinkle of the eye. Here's the complimentary breakfast at the same place we had the lunch yesterday. We all agreed that breakfast was indeed much better than the lunch. Well, typical international breakfast buffet. One nice dish to talk about would be the prata and its curry sauce. The curry sauce was actually jackfruit flavoured. They used Jackfruit to cook the curry. Sweet and spicy made the prata tasted better! I like!

Breakfast is the best meal of the day!

More views of the common pool on a sunny day. How nice was it! Definitely better than yesterday! I hope for one more day to be spent there but reality set in real quick!

The main pools

The Tiigo Bar which only served the adults. Here's how it looks in the day!

Well, the rest of the resorts!

Shall be back soon to enjoy more of the common facilities in the resort. For the price we paid, for the service we had, I think this is rather a good choice. Away from the bustling city in just 40 minutes, who would mind going to Batam!

From here, we took the shuttle service to Nagoya Hill shopping mall. Not much time to shop as we went for a (not-that-fantastic) massage! Should have used that time to spend in the hypermart!

I think I will be back here soon... the hypermart was irresistible!

Perth 2013 - Day 7 - Swan Valley, Cottesloe beach

Good morning on a Boxing day and when you opened the door, this is what you get. I never got tired of the view I had in Keller's and I am starting to miss the simple life there. Don't be deceived that it was late morning. I think it was merely 8am. As per the previous day, we woke up thinking that we overslept. We should really get use to it man! After washing up, I decided to capture more photos of the place. 

Keller's B&B 

Breakfast was served on time and like the previous morning, we got to choose the eggs and beverages to go with the rest of the items. Marija is very proud of her home made products that she took time to go through the food on the table - from the jams to the yoghurt. I really loved the breakfast there. They should also consider doing maybe a all day breakfast menu or offer to cook lunch or dinner as a service. 

Breakfast, Love it!

After breakfast, we packed up to leave for Perth City again as we knew that shops weren't opened on boxing day as well in Swan Valley. I guessed we really made a wrong choice to visit this place during the Christmas period but it was really a totally different experience. Before we left, we saw Philip milking the cow again and finally, we tried it too. Good. It was also during this time that we got to know more about the family and with him sharing his vision and dreams with us. 

We also asked Marija that we needed their car service back to the train station as we knew that we could no longer walk back the long journey. As they operated a farm, a ride of 15 minutes to the train station and back, it would have eaten into their livelihood. So they do charged for such transport service which I thought was fair. Marija took us with her and well, she wanted to bring us to certain shops in swan valley but they were all closed. What a pity and I was a bit surprised that they do not really tour round their area. 

Back in Perth City and after checked in to Ibis hotel once again, we proceeded to Chinatown. A very small and forgotten area in Perth, I guessed. It was quite different from the Chinatown I visited in Sydney and Melbourne. It is not that big an area as compared to the other two. Well, Lunch was up and who can resist dim sums and after days of breads and chips, chinese food proved to be a delicacy to us! 

Chinatown

Alright, I have to say that Boxing day was really a big thing in Perth - almost all shops were having sales and people would queue overnight just to be the first to rush into the departmental store. Sales sales, who can resist it. We combed a bit of the sales places and decided that Cottesloe Beach was next. We had added this in on our departure day so recommended by friend and I was glad we made it there for the sunset. 

The train ride was not that far and the walk to the beach was easy. As it was not time for the sun to set, we decided to grab some dinner first. We first walked into an Italian restaurant but we did not stay on. Luckily we did not, if not, I think we would have missed the sunset. Then we saw Amberjacks at the end of the street and well, there was a queue. As usual, long queue would mean that the food could not been too bad. We queued and ordered the food, but the wait was pretty long. We decided a takeaway to enjoy dinner at the beach area. Smart Move. Here's the fish and chips with the sunset view - Priceless!

Cottesloe Beach

2 more days in Perth! Sad!

Taiwan 2013 - Day 4 - Kenting

Day 4 was the co-trip with a couple from the USA. And we went for a trip round Kenting. 

First of all, we started the day with the east coast of Kenting - 船帆石 (Sail Rock). See the natural phenomenon, does it look like a face? Cool, and with the blue sky white clouds accompanying us, it was really great. There is also an exhibition centre near the place where you can learn more about the sand and the place.

Next up, we went to the 鑾鼻燈塔 (Eluanbi Lighthouse) which is within the Eluanbi park. We spent almost 3 hours in the place. There is admission fee to the place but it was not that expensive (I forget how much that was). The lighthouse is considered one of the most popular icons in Kenting. Though we could not enter the lighthouse for a better view of the place, the lighthouse itself blended well with the sky. Within the park, you can take a trail along the sea and enjoy the sea breeze and view. After some walk, we reached the next phenomenon - 鹅銮鼻公园的亲吻石. The 2 rocks seems to be kissing and that's how it got the name for it. 

Top:  1. 船帆石 (Sail Rock), 2. 鑾鼻燈塔 (Eluanbi Lighthouse) 3.鹅銮鼻公园的亲吻石
Bottom: 1. 臺灣最南點 (Southern Most Tip of Taiwan) 2.龍磐 (Long Pan) 3. 风吹沙

Following up, we went to the most southern tip of Taiwan - 臺灣最南點. Kenting is at the southern part of Taiwan and there we went to the most southern tip of Kenting. Did not get to take much photos there as there were a crowd of tourists there as well.  But well, we needed to walk for 10 minutes in order to reach the place - that's how deep we needed to reach the tip. 

For a relaxing view, we were brought to 龍磐. We were facing the big sea with nothing to block our view. The wind was strong and the place was really amazing. It seemed that we owned the sea, the land and the sky. I really hoped I could stay there the whole day, relaxing and doing nothing but to stare blankly at the sea. 

Next up was another phenomenon - 风吹沙. How did the place gotten its name. It seems that the sand at the beach is blown up by the big wind and slowly with time, the sand covers the piece of land and slowly forms what we see now. WOW, imagine how strong the wind is in order to make the light sand 'flew' such a long distance. 

Time for lunch at 2pm was well, making us hungry. We were brought to 恆春古城 (Hengchun Ancient City). This is an old town but it was made popular after a movie Cape No. 7 (海角七號) was filmed there. The guide recommended us to try the local dessert - 绿豆蒜. For a hot day, this cold icy dessert really made my day. We did not have any staple food as we were told that he would bring us to a seafood place for meal. 

So we took the time to explore the place like the stand alone southern gate that was left, the house which the male lead lived in in the movie - you need to pay a fee to step into the house and well, we did not since we were not into the craze. 

Top: 1. 恆春古城 (Hengchun Ancient City) 2. 南门  (Southern Gate)
Bottom: 1. 阿嘉的家 (Ah Ga’s house), 2. 绿豆蒜

After our seafood, it was time for sunset. We reached 白沙灣, Baisha Bay. Okay, remember the movie,  Life of Pi? One of the film locations was at this Baisha Bay. Taiwan is really a great and nice place for film making. 

Some of the sunset I took along the way and at 白沙灣, Baisha Bay

After 白沙灣, Baisha Bay, it was time to head back to our minsu. After some wash up, we headed back to our food street for dinner. Seriously, we still had many food that we had yet to try. The highlight for the night was the stinky tofu. It was really delicious! The cheese shrimp balls was not that bad but too bad, the lady boss was not flexible enough. There was this tourist lady who liked to try mixed flavours, and paying at a premium price but the boss rejected. Wonder if it was communication breakdown or that the lady boss believed that certain sauce can only go with certain ingredients and that's why she was not willing to compromise. The pan fried dumpling was special - normally we always had the steamed kind. The boss even told us that he has relatives staying in Singapore. So coincidental!. 

Food, Food and more food
1. 臭豆腐　2. Cheese Shrimp Balls, 3. Pan fried dumpling 

The food street ended our night in kenting and time to pack up for our Kaoshiung! Kenting, you have been very nice to us with all the great food and the great weather, we will miss you!