Travel 2011

Since last month, I've been itching to travel all because my birthday's coming up, my weekends are supposed to vanish, and my last trip was August 2011. But I don't have any companions, those who are free don't have money, and I was not free when those who had money were going to travel.

About a month on, no surprise trip coming along yet. About four days ago, a friend said we can meet up in Milan for a weekend, another just sent me a message today that I can spend a few days in Bratislava, and the following weekend in Prague with friends. But dear friend can't go to Milan anymore so there's no point going to Prague and Bratislava. All other destinations seem to be too expensive or I've been there already. I do not want to travel alone.

So to pacify my deprived soul, here are a few snapshots of the places I've been to outside Manila this year. For others, it may seem a lot, but for people like me, this list needs to be longer. Not to sound ungrateful but, who said it's wrong to make the most out of life?

Coco Beach, Mindoro

Nagsasa Cove, Zambales

Typhoon Bebeng-ed Out in Donsol, Sorsogon

Endless stopovers in Istanbul

Dubai, United Arab Emirates 

Baku, Azerbaijan

Prague, Czech Republic

Frankfurt, Germany

Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

Somewhere in Viet Nam, I forgot. I'm a bad traveller. :P

Mekong Delta, Viet Nam

Bangkok, Thailand

And that's all for now, as of August 2011. Rest of the year, surprise me with a trip, please? I've lowered my standards. A local trip would suffice. But please, not alone. 

Japanese Fine Dining

My family loves Japanese food and we can eat at Japanese restaurants consecutively every time we're out. This weekend, we went to Kimpura, one of the oldest traditional Japanese restaurants in Manila. It's been around for more than three decades.

During this visit, we had the sirloin and seafood teppanyaki, a sashimi platter, a mango and kani salad, some soft-shelled crabs, and cold green tea noodles.

It's generally pricier than most restaurants but what you get at Kimpura is absolute service by a real institution. :)

Brunch

It's a lazy rainy Sunday and we're all just hanging out at home. We bought bacon for the first time in years yesterday and brunch was a great excuse to have a little luxury.

We prepared homemade wheat waffles with bacon bits, smoked Edam and some fruit jam.

Simple joys!

Southeast Asia by Rail

I've always been a fan of trains may it be intra-continental ones, within a country, the classic tram or the modern metro above or underground.

Been through a number of train rides across Europe and now that I am trying to think of the most memorable one, each one seems to stand out. What I remember most between the ride between Vienna and Prague was the extreme change of scenery from the "wild" looking plants in the Czech Republic and the suddenly seemingly "orderly" flaura growing along the tracks in Austria. Then there was this beautiful border town along Usti nad Labem between Prague and Dresden. Just love little villages along the river. And once on a train between Berlin and Amsterdam, I remember how industrial and flat the view was. Just seemed to be an endless view of meadows with the occasional factory until you slowly see the windmills and irrigation tracks. Then there was the underground tram ride in Budapest -- the oldest of them lot for posterity purposes.

Yet one trip I will not forget is the one between Antwerp and Rotterdam. It had the dullest scenery of all train rides I've had yet the most luxurious seats. Cherry and purple velvet cushions with tables like that of a first class plane ride. I was on the way to Rotterdam to have dinner with a friend after killing time in Antwerp for a few hours. I was so excited and eager to go to Rottderam that I boarded the wrong train -- the Thalys train from Paris. And I don't remember the ride because of the velvet seats. I remember it because of the EUR 55 fine I had to pay for a trip that lasted less than an hour for boarding the wrong train. Too much excitement is bad! Thankfully, my dear friend treated me to a Japanese buffet in Rotterdam. :)

So there it is, my occasional brush with trains. A few weeks ago, I did some metro rail exploring with my sister around Manila and was surprised with the convenience of going around the city. We have about three rail lines in Manila, all of them awkwardly connected requiring long walks among them. I often take the line along EDSA -- the city's main road but rarely the latest line -- LRT 2 and never took the oldest line -- LRT 1 until a few weeks ago. LRT 1 goes to all the historic districts and it's amusing that all the stops are marked by landmarks within the area. It's too bad though that it's only plastered on the train's ceiling and not found on the website nor distributed as a rail map at any of the stations. When the weather is good, I want to come back and explore.

But what really got me excited today is finding out that Southeast Asia is pretty much connected by rail and I can go all the way to Bangkok from Singapore and see a few Malaysian cities along the way. Yay! (See this link.) Despite my airline background, I love travelling by train. It always goes through scenic routes, there's no traffic, you can walk around and it always begins and ends at the city center. All those good things make me forget that I have to carry my things up and down platforms.

I've never travelled in Southeast Asia by train nor alone and knowing this fact gives me a slight comfort that it can be done safely and enjoyably!