Guimaras - Iloilo Trip, let's Go!

Travel Details: MNL-ILO-MNL for Php 2,696.92 via Cebu Pacific
The time of our arrival in Ilo-Ilo is a little past 12 which is the perfect time, just in time for us to get a ride to Otiz Wharf, a ferry to Jordan Wharf and a tricycle ride to our hotel of choice. (Tricycle is the main mode of transportation in Guimaras)

Accomodation in Guimaras: Raymen's Resort
Plus Points:

• Affordable price
• Hot and cold shower is working great
• Beachfront
• Good food and Sweet Guimaras mangoes always available in their canteen

Minus Points:

• The room is so small, the CR is also very small and has a certain smell
• The walls are very thin with most of the sounds getting through
• Some of the canteen's staff are also not very attentive
• They did not provide the wifi password head on. I had to go back to the front desk to ask for it and its signal is intermittent.

DAY 1 P.M.
Guimaras Land Tour
Our first stop for the land tour is the famous Pitstop. It's a restaurant that serve mango in different dishes. They have the Must-Try Mango Pizza,  mango spaghetti, got mango shake, and of course mango desserts. They also serve regular food like bbq, adobo, and other pizza flavors. Next, we head on to the Trappist Monastery, where we bought some pasalubong. We also visited the Mango Plantation but we were not able not able to come in. We just saw the expanse of mango trees from the road. Lastly, we visited the Guisi lighthouse, where we had to traverse rough roads with lots of sand that our cameras became full of sand afterwards. The view at the top, though, is worth it.

DAY 2 A.M.

Guimaras Island Hopping Tour
First stop: SEAFDEC @ Igang Marine Station
This stop is such a good start specially if you'd like to learn a few facts about fishes and fisheries. There was so much to learn! Some of the trivia shared to us are:

• Female Snappers are bad! They bite similar species and thus need to be separated from males and even other females.
• Seabass males become females as they grow old.
• Giant Lapu-lapu are born female then grow up to be males. This species is also one of the laziest and is thus a good investment. And they can reach up to 125yrs old! 

(They even shared to us the best way to cook specific kinds of fish, but not knowing how to cook, I forgot all about it hehe.)

Second Stop: Ave maria islet is a small island with very fine sand.
Next Stop: Baras Cave - the boat that we've hired is big so we didn't really get to to enter the cave, but we did get to take some pictures.
Last Stop: Nagtago island - Of course this is my favorite because I got to experience holding and taking a picture with a pawikan. We also got to have a lovely swim for some time in this island.

DAY 3 Bye-Bye Guimaras, Hello Iloilo Proper

After checking out of our hotel, we rented an L200 to get us back to the wharf and proceed with the Iloilo part of our trip. We dropped by a shop that sells mangoes and lots of other goodies  like otap, tarts, and butterscotch that are made from mangoes.

Iloilo City Proper
Accomodation in Guimaras: GoHotels
Plus Points:

• Affordable - Our room was priced at PhP 1,014.45 good for two
• The location is just right inside/beside Robinson's mall (it's like within the same buolding but the emtreance is outside. So when we watched the Insurgent movie in Robinsons movie world after a long day out, we did not worry about getting back to our hotel).
• The comforter really provides comfort, allowing us to regain our energies through the night.
• The bed is bigger. Equipped with a TV and a remote controlled a/c, this really is value for money.
• I also loved their comfort rooms with their super shower. 

When I saw the room, I almost wanted to just sleep through our stay. But having not eaten lunch at 2pm is quite a challenge to both of us, so we headed to have a taste of the original La Paz Batchoy.

Decos-Original La Paz Batchoy La Paz Public Market

D-I-Y Ilo-ilo Tour
We were supposed to go to Netong's but it seems manong taxi driver did not know where Netong's is located, or maybe he got confused when I said La Paz Public market so we went to Deco's instead. We are not Ilonggos and we can't tell what exactly is the difference between the la paz batchoy here as compared to that served in Manila.. It has the noodles, the laman-loob, and chicharon. I was so hungry that I almost finished one extra serving (extra is how they term the serving with the most (laman) but my travel buddy didn't quite like the food specially the bitter taste of the laman loob.

Our next stop was Camiña Nga Balay. We had a little misunderstanding with the driver, with him thinking we were referring to a literal house made of stone and so brought us to one even though we have told him to stop on the location being pointed by google maps.

We had a tour of the house and learned about the history of the house and the story behind the steep stairs. We had some biscuits, hot chocolate and a molo soup right after.

We also went to the Iloilo City Hall. I read somewhere that the 360° view of Iloilo is part of the iloilo city tour itinerary so I included it in our list. We were guided by one of the employees to the roof top and we get to take shots of Iloilo top view. We next went to Calle Real. We went there a little before 5pm and got a shot at day and waited in I-mart for it to get dark and the lights to be turned on, so we can take another picture at night.

We had out dinner at Buto't Balat near SM Delgado, where we tried seafoods. We had baked oysters, ampalaya with egg and sizzling butteted shrimp. The food here is excellent. If only not for my worries about my tummy reaction and high cholesterol, I would have finished all our orders!

DAY 4 SEE YOU AGAIN ILOILO

Our departure from Iloilo is scheduled at 2:50PM. Again, this is perfect timing, giving us one more day to go around for a bit, pack up, check and head on to the airport. We decided to do to Esplanade. Today, being a weekday, the place is very peaceful. There are not much people around, mostly those that are just passing by. The place is very clean and is perfect for a jog. I wish we can have places like this in Manila.

There are a number of restaurants located at Esplanade, and we chose to ate at Ramboy's, known for Aklan's best chicken and liempo.

Wishes on Faulty Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is a sick love story so they say. In the literal sense.

The book tells the story of Augustus "Gus" Waters and Hazel Grace Lancaster, both of whom had had experience with the Big C. They became friends, fell in love, went to Amsterdam and met with the author of An Imperial Affliction, a book that ended without an ending. It's a love story and more. 

The story I guess can be summed up in the last few lines of the book - "You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you do have some say, in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope she likes hers.." (*avoiding spoilers*)

I used to think that I can save someone from suffering the pain that I can cause. By staying away, I thought I was giving the person a favor by not experiencing the pain in loving someone like me, but I realized I'm robbing that same person of something else - the freedom to choose the person who provides that pain, that hurt.

Quotes:
"Apparently, the world is not a wish granting factory."

"Sometimes it seems the universe wants to be noticed."

"Some infinities are bigger than other infinities."

"I cannot tell you how thankful i am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and i'm grateful."

"Funerals, I have decided, are for the living."

"Pain is like fiber. The stronger it is, the more it's worth."

"Grief does not change you, it reveals you."

"It occurred to me that the voracious ambition of humans is never sated by dreams coming true,  because there is always the thought that everything might be done better and again."

"The marks human leaves are too often scars."

"The real heroes anyway are not the people doing things; the real heroes are the people noticing things, paying attention."

"That's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt."

"Sometimes people don'tunderstand the promise they're making when they make them.... Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway."

"To be with him was to hurt him - inevitably. And that's what I felt as he reached for me. I'd felt as though I were committing an act of violence against him, because I was."

"In freedom, most people find sin."

"It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you."

"She wishes to spare you pain, and you should let her. You may not find young Hazel's logic persuasive, but I have trod through this value of tears longer than you, and from where I'm sitting she's not the lunatic."

"No matter how hard you kick, no matter how high you get, you can't go all the way around."

POU

If you're an 80's or 90's kid, you probably remember the Tamagotchi Toy. It's a very small gadget that fits in your pocket and contains a virtual pet that you feed, bathe, and play with. It grows, may get sick, and may eventually die.

Reminiscing about all the fun in my childhood, I tried to look for something similar in the Google PlayStore with my very first Android powered mid-range smartphone.

A number of trying hard apps are there, some even using the name itself.

There are also some pretty nice apps that's got talking birds, cats or dogs, and the graphics and some of the features are actually amazing.

But nothing caught and retained my attention the way POU did.

What's Pou?

Pou is an alien pet, that's actually a little bit shaped like poop.

Like Tamagotchi, it starts out as a baby that needs a lot of care.

The first time you play with it, it's a simple triangular shaped, colored brown, small pet without any clothing. The rooms of its house may look bare. But this is what makes it so fun. You play the games, earn some money, and you get to modify the way your pet and its house looks.

What's Fun about it?

You and/or your kids get to take care of a pet without the hassle of taking care of a real pet (Note though that I do not in anyway deny that real pets can provide us a different kind of satisfaction.)

Moreover, the developers just never seem to stop to create new games that will satisfy the diverse followers of the game. So expect to have an update on the app every now and then!

• KITCHEN/FOOD - Never has any restaurant offered a wide array as Pou does
• BATHROOM - Choose your bath tiles, soap, shower, etc.
• LAB - oh yes, you get to give your pet some potions and energizers
• GAME ROOM - The number of games you can play with just about considers a number of other games available on the market (Want brain games? Try out Sudoku, Memory or Find Pou; Into virtual basketball? Try Hoops; Love Flappy Bird? Try Jet Pou), and many many more. Oh did I mention, you can also play with other Pou pet owners!
• BEDROOM - Design your pet's own room by choosing its pillow and lamps and wallpapers. Make sure to make it sleep a lot to re-energize!
• OUTSIDE - Pou can go outside! Water the flowers in the garden, take a ride, swim in the pool or play football.
• SHOP - The number of things you can shop just keep on expanding, it feels like having a small pet store next door that turns into a huge pet mall (from household items like lamps, shower, wallpaper, to cosmetics like lipsticks and eye shadows, to clothing and apparels, tattoos, drugstore, food, you name it!)
• ACHIEVEMENT - but of course! how else can you attract the generation of today without tracking their own achievements?!
• ACCOUNT - Ever afraid your gadget might just crash and you lose all the achievements you've worked hard for? Worry no more as you just have to sign up for an account using your email and your progress can be saved anytime
• CONNECTIVITY - If you have an internet connection, you can easily meet new people with their own Pou, play with them, and sign on their guestbooks, and like how they look..
  

Cebu Cebu pag may time

Airfare
As the usual basis of my travels, I booked a trip to Cebu because of the airfare promo by Cebu Pacific. My roundtrip ticket MNL-CEB-MNL was bought last July 2013, at a price of Php1,358.04 only.
The time of travel is just right, because there are numerous daily flights going to and from Cebu. This enabled us to maximize our 3-day stay.

Hotel
It was my first time to book through Expedia. They had the lowest rate - Php 3,231.91/night for a Superioir room for two.
The room was okay - no spectacular view, the bed was nice and comfortable, bathroom was clean and large enough, aircon, ref and tv are working, though there were cable signal problems during our stay.

The hotel has a nice pool and a beach that's enclosed by a man made wall. They also have their own restaurant so you don't really need to go out for your meals if you aren't really planning on eating anything specific outside. But I think it is rather priced a little high. We only tried their longanisa breakfast meal and it was just okay. Nothing fancy for a fancy price.

And we were also required to pay an incidental deposit, in the amount of Php 3,000, even if the hotel booking has already been paid for. I think this may be a policy in most hotels, but it would have been appreciated if we were advised ahead when I contacted them directly some days before our travel. Their staff were nice enough but were not as nice as some other local places I've visited.

Eats
Part of what I've learned and appreciated during our trip to Korea was food. If you don't try something new or special to the place you're visiting, it would feel like your travel isn't complete. Taste is another sense that has to experience. In Cebu, these are our main food trips:

Fredz Sutukil

Located just beside the Lapu-Lapu Shrine is a place much like Dampa here in Manila, where a number of eateries selling fresh seafood cooked in the way you please are located side by side. A number of them will rush to you the moment you step in the compound and shout their various marketing blahs.

We chose Fredz Sutukil, and ordered for crabs cooked in butter garlic, Lapu-lapu cooked the Sutukil way (Sugba-Tinola-Kilawin), Guso (seaweed), and of course our favorite drink! There was an ingredient charged to us - the Lukot, which was used for the tinola (but we were not advised ahead). The food was more than enough for four people, but it was too pricey. Our total bill reached Php2,000.

Larsian

A little bit like Mercato, with fewer choices, Larsian is like a market with various sellers, mostly of grilled food. What's unique is their sticky rice rolled in a triangular shape and wrapped in leaves. They leaves 10pcs for each table and they just count how many you've consumed, to be added to your bill, And oh, you eat with your hands, though they give you a plastic glove so you don't get all messy.

Their isaw, much like in Boracay, tastes fresh, without the sandy feeling in your mouth, as is typical of isaw in Manila.

CNT and Zubuchon

Two of the best lechon eats in the city of Cebu. Which is better? I can't quite decide. Zubuchon's lechon is chopped in smaller pieces and is more crispy, while CNT is more tasty and has that thin layer of fat beneath the skin that makes some people crave more and more. It's up to you to decide. But should you ever visit Zubuchon, their Kamias Shake is a must try. (We've always neglected the Kamias tree in our backyarduntil I've got a taste of this! I wonder how would their Lolomboy (Duhat) Shake taste like...mmmm...)

Transportation
Since our hotel was located in Mactan and most of the places to eat and visit are in Cebu City, our mode of transportation was mostly taxi. There are tricycles available but I'm not sure they can bring us to the city. We might need to ride a public jeepney (which looks a little different from what we have in Manila), but the roads under construction  and the heat of the summer would not make the travel very pleasant.

Itinerary
Day 1 - City Tour
Upon arrving in Mactan Airport, we headed straight to Cebu City for a quick tour. The taxi driver offered to bring us to the various tourist places for Php 1,500. These are the places we visited and their corresponding entrance fees:

• Fort San Pedro (entrance fee of Php 30)
• Magellan's Cross and Sto. Nino Basilica
• Casa Gorordo (entrance of Php 40)
• Taoist Temple
• Lapu-Lapu Shrine
• Allegre Guitar Factory
• New Susing's Guitar

In Magellan's Cross, elderly women who hold a bunch of colorful candles, will come up to you, tell you they'd pray for you, with each candle color representing a part of your life. The woman asked for my name, and upon answering, she immediately went to a prayer chant, holding all 10 candles. Each candle costs Php 10. After her prayer, we placed 5 of it in Magellan's cross, then leave the other 5 inside the Basilica.

Day 2 - Whale Shark watching 
The original plan actually was to go to Bantayan Island after the City Tour. However, with the calamity brought on by Typhoon Yolanda, and not being able to get much updates about the current status of the place, we had to change our plans. We decided to have an encounter with the Whale Sharks instead (also known as the Butanding).
I've booked a package from Oslob Whalesharks website for Php 3,750 each. This already includes the transfer to Oslob, breakfast and lunch, the whale shark encounter, a short trip to the falls, and all the fees that has to be paid.

Our additional expense was just the souveneirs and the rent for the underwater camera at Php500.



We also went to Tumalog Falls, where we had to ride a motor (Php50), and trek for about a minute. And we were welcomed by clear pristine waters. 

Had I brought my towel with me, I couldn't have resisted the urge to jump!

Day 3 - Swim/Relax/Shop for Pasalubong

Day 3 was a relaxing day as we spent the morning taking pictures along the beach, swimming for a little bit in the pool, having breakfast in the hotel's restaurant, and packing our things.

After checking out at 12noon, we went to buy our pasalubong, starting with Shamrock to buy some Otap, then to the market for some Danggit, and to the factory of Guadalupe dried mangoes. Aside from the normal dried mangoes we love, they also have chocolate covered mangoes and other variety.

Our total expenses is around Php 10,000. And this is quite high, considering the hotel we got and the mode of transportation we availed of. If you're feeling a little more adventurous, I believe you could slash this down to half.

Words by Dumbledore and More

I'm a late bloomer for Harry Potter, I know. Well, I never thought I'd be engrossed in reading this series. But I was. Maybe because somehow I was brought into a magical world, away from all the stress of reality. (Though I'm still far from being a fanatic.) And yet, there are very nice quotes from the headmaster and others that are very much applicable to reality. Below are my top 10 favorites:

"The trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

"Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

"The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution."
- Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." -Sirius, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

"Curiosity is not a sin, but we should exercise caution with our curiosity..." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

"Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

"We are only as strong as we are united, and as weak as we are divided." - Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open." -Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire


"No good sittin' worryin' about it, what's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does." - Hagrid, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

KY in Korea

With Cebu Pacific's Piso Fare Promo, I was again able to travel out of the country. This time, to one of the most popular countries to visit in Asia - South Korea. With the promo, and a lot of patience, we got our airfare ticket for only 5,361.55 PHP per person.

Being on a budget, we had to look for an inexpensive place where we can stay for 5 nights. Friends have recommended guesthouses. On top of my selection criteria is the location, the price, and a private CR. As I was doing my search, most of the guesthouses are around the same price - affordable enough, but our problem was the common CR. With more patience, I was able to find one in the heart of Seoul - Kimchee Myeongdong Guesthouse. At 55,000 KRW per night for a Double Private Room (good for 2), we were able to book 5 nights for only 275,000 KRW, without any deposit! We just had to pay in cash upon arrival. The room is quite small, but it was clean and good enough for a night's rest. The CR was also small, but each room has its own private CR and that's what matters to us. There are times when we would hear sounds from the other room, but these didn't bother us once we fell asleep. The staff Martin was also very friendly. He would always greet us in the morning before we go on our trip, and at night when we come back. He's always joyful and excited to see us. We were just very tired each night that we regret not having enough conversations with him. As for the location, the place is just a 3-minute walk away from the Seoul Subway Euljiro 3-ga Station (with Green Line 2 and Orange Line 3) so it's very accessible.


ITINERARY:
DAY 1- Departure from Manila/Arrival in South Korea 
Arriving at past 9:00 PM in Incheon Airport, we had to travel for about an hour to Myeongdong, Seoul. There are actually 2 ways to reach our guesthouse - via the AREX (Airport Rail Express) or the Airport Limousine Bus 6015. We chose the latter which cost us 10,000 KRW per person. We got down at bus stop Euljiro Ib-gu, which was around a 10-minute walk to our guesthouse. It has a sign out front so it's not that hard to look for the place, though the GPS helped us too.

DAY 2 - Everland 
The Everland is by far the largest outdoor theme park I've been to (Note: I've only gone to PH theme parks, Sentosa, USS, HK Disneyland, and HK Ocean Park). The entrance ticket is at 35,000 KRW for foreigners. The price is higher for the locals! There were a lot of rides, a lot of garden and flowers, and places to eat. There's also a mini-zoo and we even got to feed those colorful birds!

DAY 3 - Nami Island; Lotte World
Nami Island entrance is at 8,000 KRW. The place became famous (I think) because of the Korean series Winter Sonata. Though I haven't watch the series and can't exactly relate to specific spots where love was shot, I definitely loved the place! If we would have come just a little later (like a month after), then the leaves would probably be more colorful. There are spots in the island that's so serene. There are spots full of activities. There are so many things to do in the island, and lots of choices for food too.
If you plan to visit Nami Island (and it's highly recommended that you do), it's best to leave early in the morning as there are a lot of people visiting the place and it may get crowded. The train ride is around 2-3 hours from Myeongdong. And the ferry is just around 5-10 minutes.

We stayed in the island until 4p.m. and got back to the city around 7p.m. Just to be able to say that we've been to Lotte World, we dropped by at around 8:00p.m. We got a huge discount as the prices go down the later you come. First discount is at 4:00p.m., and next is at 7:00p.m. we only paid 18,000 KRW for ride-all-you-can. This themepark as an indoor one, located inside Lotte Mall. It's like Story Land here in Manila, only bigger, wilder, and more fun.

DAY 4 - Seoul City Tour via Hop-On Hop-Off Bus
The Seoul City Tour Bus, operating from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, is a great way to tour around the city of Seoul. There are actually 4 kind of tours - the Downtown Tour, Palace Tour, and two Night Tours. Price differs for each of the tours. We took the Downtown Tour, priced at 12,000 KRW which stops on the ff:
Gwanghwamun Gate --> Deoksugung Palace --> Namdaemun Market --> Seoul Station --> USO --> Yongsan Station --> National Museum of Korea --> War Memorial of Korea --> US Army Youngsan Base --> Itaewon --> Crown Hotel --> Myeongdong --> Namsangol Traditional Korean Village --> Grand Ambassador Hotel --> National Theater --> Namsan Seoul Tower --> Hyatt Hotel --> Shilla Hotel --> Dongdaemun Market --> Daehangno --> Changgyungung --> Changdeokgung --> Insadong --> ChongWaDae --> National Folk Museum of Korea --> Gyeongbokgung Palace --> Sejong Center for the Performing Arts

We only hopped off at certain spots due to time constraint. If you would really want to visit all these places and spend some time in each place, it is suggested that you get the 2-day ticket.

More than the ability to go through many places in a day or two, the bus includes a record for each seat that narrates something about the next stop. It even comes in different languages. Hop-On Hop-Off tickets are available at Gwanghwamun Station (in front of the police station).

DAY 5 - Suwon City; Gyeongbokgung Palace, Dongdaemun Market
Suwon city is my personal favorite. Though Suwon City is an hour of train ride, it's all worth it! This was a very peaceful, relaxing and happy place. We went inside Hwaseong Haenggung Palace and paid 1,500KRW. We also visited the Hwaseong Fortress (which is like a mini great wall). We even took a rest at one hut that overlooks the city.

Because we were not able to arrive on time at Gyeongbokgung Palace the previous day, and because it's a must to visit at least one palace, we headed to Gyeongbokgung  station after our day at Suwon. As we weren't too tired for the day, we proceeded to Dongdaemun Market to shop a little for our pasalubong.

DAY 6 - Shop for pasalubong at Myeongdong 
Day 6 went by a little fast as it's time to go back to Manila in the evening. :( The check-out time was at 12noon, but since our flight is still at night, we checked out earlier than the said time, and left our packed baggage at the lobby before we head off to Myeongdong. We spent the day mostly wrapping up our pasalubong.

FOOD:

The food in Korea is really delicious. It's healthy, and at the same time yummy. Most of the Korean restaurants however are in Korean so I can't share the names here as I was not able to take them down. We also tried fast food - and my travel buddy loved the KFC there. It's really crispy and fresh, and huge! You don't even need a gravy (they actually don't have it) to enjoy you finger lickin' good chicken.

Below are some pics of the food we ate:
The Galbi and Bibimbap are really a must try.

SHOPPING / GIFTS / PASALUBONG
There are lost of stuffs to buy in Korea. They have products for the skin everywhere! Plus, there's always a freebie whenever you buy something.
Myeongdong, Itaewon, Namdaemum, Dongdaemun, and Insadong.
For our pasalubong to officemates, family, and relatives, we bought the ff:
Nature Republic Hand Sanitizer (in various scents) at 2,000 KRW each
Pepero Snacks at 1,000 KRW each
Chewable and Gummy Candies at 500-700 KRW each
Shirts with Korean prints at 4,000 KRW each

For my personal shopping, I got a pair of grey boots worth 38,000 KRW. It's not really very cheap, but I liked the style. I really loved all the styles of shoes in Korea. Why can't we have them here in the Philippines? :s

FINDING MY SOUL IN SEOUL
It really felt like I found my soul in Seoul.
I love that Korea is a very successful country (the home of Samsung and LG Technology) and yet it remains in tune with its culture. There were many free performances - dances, taekwondo, changing of the guards, at most of the tourist spots. There are even places where you can see the youth practicing these willingly.
I love that couples in Korea are very proud to proclaim their love. Couples usually wear what is called a couple shirt. But it's not just the shirt. We saw one couple who wears the same....everything! From head to toe, one can't deny they are a couple. Guys hold their ladies and appear very proud to have them.
I love the  Subway train song. It always lifts up my spirit. How I wish I can ride the Seoul Subway to work everyday! Haha. And so I just downloaded the MP3 so I can listen to it and still feel like I'm in Korea.
I love how Koreans dress - kids, teens, adults, including the elederly are clothed in their own trends. It's not the fact that they all look fashionable, for me it's actually more of how confident they look with whatever it is they are wearing. And people don't care! The public won't stare if you wear a neon colored pants, if you wear boots on an ordinary day, or if you wear rubber shoes with your slacks! And more than confidence, they look so comfortable.
I love the friendliness in the air. No, they are not like Filipinos who may give you a smile all the time, they don't. But they talk to you. Out of nowhere, someone will just ask us where are we from, what are we there for, where are we staying, always wanting to make conversations. Someone even asked us out for a drink (though that didn't sound that good :s)
I love the Incheon Airport - it's so huge, and bright, and clean. But I hated the feeling I got when I was last there - the feeling that I was about to lose a part of my soul as I was leaving the place. :(

Seoul, Korea is a must-visit city, country. I haven't been to many places but like many (if not all) of my friends, I also fell in love with Korea. I know you will too!

Note:
Because there are so many blogs and sites available for the specifics of the places we've visited, I didn't elaborate on each. You may visit the ff. for more details (most helpful sites for me):
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/intro.html
http://www.wanderrgirl.com/2012/11/how-to-get-a-korean-visa-for-filipinos
http://www.chyngreyes.com/2012/10/south-korea-visa-application-aprub.html

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Summary & Reflection:
A story that begins with the end; A fiction that cuts through the heart - The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a story about Eddie's journey to heaven, as he meets the five people that will make him understand his life on earth.

Person 1 - Blue Man
Lesson 1 - "That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind."
The Blue Man, a sideshow worker at Ruby Pier, was unexpectedly connected to Eddie through one of life's most unfortunate moment - death. The first lesson, as the Blue Man tells, is that we are all connected, that one small act affects another in a totally unexpected manner, and that one story when seen in a different perspective may turn out to have a totally different ending. Reading this, I remember the series Touch, and how this thin red thread connects us all. We just don't realize it, and may never come to know how specifically, but we definitely are connected to each other, even though geographically apart, or even an era apart.

Person 2 - The Captain
Lesson 2 - "Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're only passing it on to someone else."
The Captain - Eddie's Captain when he once served in war, was that one person who saved Eddie's life, not once but twice. The first instance was from a burning hut, and with a bullet shot through his leg - an act with a lifetime effect and memory.  The second instance was from an explosion of a land mine that took the captain's life but saved his men's lives. Both of these remained unknown to Eddie until his death.
Having shared this so, the Captain had no regrets. He wasn't even sorry. The same goes with most sacrifices in life. The true sacrifices are the ones where something is given up for another's benefit without any second thought about what might be lost. Because as the Captain says so, it's not really lost but only passed on.

Person 3 - Ruby

Lesson 3  - "Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves."

Unlike the other people Eddie meets in heaven, Ruby is a person who has not really met Eddie in person while on earth. In fact, she lived in a time before Eddie's own time. Ruby is to whom the Ruby Pier (the pier where Eddie worked) was once dedicated to. Though unknown to each other, they were related and affected by the mere existence of one times ago.  She was the one who teaches Eddie one of the most important lessons in life - letting go of anger, as she showed to him a story of his father that was again unknown to him.
Sometimes, it's easy to let our emotions take over. It's hard to simply contain it, and much harder to simply let go. But sometimes we also have to pause and take a look at how a certain emotion is ruling our life. And then maybe, that's when we'll realize how destructive some of them are, and how it will make life better if we can just let it slip away.

Person 4 - Marguerite

Lesson 4 - "Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, that's all."
Marguerite is Eddie's love - his one and only love. And when Marguerite died, Eddie somehow died too. He simply survived but he forgot to live.
They say that 'it's better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.' And this is true. A love may be lost to death, to an opportunity, or to someone else. But that's still love. And simply losing it doesn't change that fact.

Person 5 - Tala
Lesson 5 - "Is where you were supposed to be."

Tala was the shadow in the earlier chapters - a shadow that somehow caused Eddie the pain he's carried through life. A shadow, now a person, was just a child who died in the fire, that Eddie tried to save. Tala, a small girl was the one who assures Eddie that while he may have lived his life thinking that life would have been much better somewhere else, he is actually where he is supposed to be - to serve his purpose well - to protect small children and keep them safe, even if he may have missed one during the war.
Many times in our life, we wonder and ask if we are right where we are supposed to be. Sometimes there are regrets, and the question "what could have been" and "if only" surfaces. We may not realize it but sometimes I guess we just have to trust that we are planted right where we can serve our purpose on earth. It may not be the purpose we have in mind, but by simply being where we are and simply doing what we do, we are already serving our life's purpose.

It was actually my second time to read this book. But just the same, I can't help the tears from flowing chapter to chapter, lesson to lesson, as stories once unknown on earth get revealed in heaven.

Makes me think....who could be the five people we'll meet in heaven?

Other Favorite Quotes:

"But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time."

"No story sits by itself. Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one another completely, like stones beneath a river."

"But the running boy is inside every man, no matter how old he gets."

"People often belittle the place where they were born. But heaven can be found in the most unlikely corners."

"Each of us was in your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at that time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth."

"People think of heaven as a paradise garden, a place where they can float in clouds and laze in rivers and mountains. But a scenery without solace is meaningless."

"This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for."

"Take one story, viewed from two different angles. It is the same day, the same moment, but one angle ends happily, ..., and the other ends badly,..."

"Fairness does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young."

"It is because the human spirit knows deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed."

"Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know."

"No life is a waste, the only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone."

"It's the thinking that gets you killed."

"War could bond men like a magnet, but like a magnet it could repel them too."

"In the middle of a big war, you go looking for a small idea to believe in. When you find one, you hold it the way a soldier holds his crucifix when he's praying in a foxhole."

"Time is not what you think. Dying? Not the end of everything. We think it is. But what happened on earth is only the beginning."

"But our eyes are different, what you see ain't what I see."

"Things that happen before you are born still affect you.and people who come before your time affect you as well."

"Silence was his escape, but silence is rarely a refuge."

"Which was worse when left unexplained: a life, or a death?"

"People say they "find" love, as if it were an object hidden by a rock. But love takes many forms, and it is never the same for any man and woman. What people find then is a certain love."

"Life has to end, Love doesn't."