What kind of people are you?

I know this has nothing to do with my travel blog, I just dont know how to put it in my other page. Anyway, here goes..
While watching youtube about Mark Gungor seminars, the same guy who discussed the difference between a man's brain to a woman's brain? this video caught my eyes and clicked it.
Its all about the different kinds of people, there is -- "the control people", "fun people", "perfect people", and "peace people".  You might think just by reading it, you already know what kind are you, but hang on, I think its better to watch these videos to know what it really mean and maybe you can tell what kind of people are you after watching it.

First start-----CONTROL PEOPLE

I thought I am a control people, but after watching I think I am not, maybe in some rare point in my life but not really a control one.

Second is----PEACE PEOPLE

I dont think I am a peace people, I cannot react calmly on things and I am not placid either.

Third is ----FUN PEOPLE

and I am definetely a fun people, my friends and family thinks I am boring, yup, its really sad that they do. But, in my own opinion I am not boring.

And last but not the least---PERFECT PEOPLE

Now we're talking, I think I belong to these group of people, not that I am saying I am perfect, again, as I have said dont just read the words but watch it to further understand what he means by these categories.

Hope you enjoy these videos (videos uploaded by Alber Sabry, credits to you)

4 Wheel driving in Australia

My husband is really passionate about 4 wheel driving, I dont know how to drive but he let me drive in the bush and tried this 4 wheel driving, it was scary, to think that I dont know how to drive and to go through rough roads and uneven ground and worse is crossing river with different depth.

Last year, we went to Queensland Australia to do a 6 week outback adventure---it's the real Australian outback adventure. we went to the tip of Australia and travel through the famous "Old Telegraph track" it is one of the track that you will drive through using your 4WD on your way to Cape York. It is famous for its tough 4 wheel driving and only accessible on drier months.
There are really tough obstacle here to pass through and aim to finish the line without going to the chicken line (the easy way out).
The first major obstacle you will encounter is the Palm Creek. This one is the difficult one and if you can pass through here, there is no doubt you can TRY doing the other obstacle. Here is a video of my husband driving.

(sorry about my not so steady hands, I was walking while taking it)
After Palm Creek, there are camp sites nearby river that you can camp, but make sure there is no crocs in the area and you are in a higher place. Since my husband is a local, he is very much familiar with the place and knowing the nature of wild animals. In our adventure we stayed at Dulhunty river, or should we call it Dunhunty, for the fact that the people just poop everywhere without burying it, it was really disgusting.

The next obstacle you will go through is the Gun Shot, it was the hardest, to think that its original drop is not impassable anymore and they made 2 other ways to go down. I was scared just by looking at the original path, but we went to the second best, still my husband doesnt want to back down and not take the chicken track. Here is his video;

and that is just part of our whole adventure. There is more creek and river crossing that we went through.
The next video is the cannibal creek. I was scared taking this video because of the area, because there is more possibility of crocodile and snake around and I wont be able to see it since my focus was taking a video. We are the only people at that time, which adds up to the fear, and mind you, I never camp before and never experience the real outback before. Anyway, here is the video:

The next video is my husband and friend's favorite, well to be honest, I was amazed too on how "paje" (his pajero) did it, like it was so easy- a walk in the park as we speak, we have the smallest 4 wheel drive on the trip and everybody thinks that we wont be able to survive the track. Thank goodness for my husband and friend's team up, being the best driver and the best navigator. You might be wondering what's my role? I am the videographer, and without me, there will be no memories like these to keep and watch in the future. So here it is, the mistake creek, enjoy watching:

And last but not the least, this is the final obstacle you will do along the Old Telegraph Track, this is the Nolan Brook river, this river is short ride but its depth varies. One minute its only from the knees and then the next will be chest high. You really need to walk through the river before driving for you to know where to go or else you will end up getting stuck in there and will be one of the many who failed to do the Nolan Brook river, and its really not good for a 4wd fanatic to not accomplished this one last obstacle. But luckily, with "Paje" we did it, we just have to put tarp on the front just to be safe. Here is the video:

We thought were not gonna make it and have to pull out "Paje", he was floating for a second there, and boom!.. were out, yehey!, that was a successful trip along the telegraph track.

Hope you enjoyed this blog, especially for 4wd fanatics.
Comments are welcome :-)

A Peek of my Airline World

 As a Flight Attendant for 12 years, I can say that there are things that we do that people think we do on board, and what do we really think when you are doing something on board. Well, let me just share some inside notes based on my not too long experience that at least will clear some good or bad ideas about us.

1. People think that pilots and flight stewardess hooked up most of the time, or have sex whenever there is a layover. Yes, that thought do happen, but not to everybody, its not a trend to have sex with your pilot or your crew during layover but there are some of my colleagues who do that because they can't help themselves and yes some of them are even married, that is why I never dated a pilot.

2. Girls think that pilots are their knight and shining armour or the most goodlooking guys ever same goes with men thinking that we flight attendants are the sexiest and most beautiful women to even rank us to the top 3 hottest occupation in the world. Well, thank you guys, that is really flattering, but to be honest we are just drivers and waitress/rescuer/ first aider, the only difference is we're up in the air.

3. Many have asked me this, is it true that there is a mile high or high mile club?, for some who doesn't know what is mile high club, it means if you had sex in the airplane you are a member of the mile high club. In my experience, I haven't seen one, the toilet is too small and uncomfortable to do it and believe me if you will  think of doing it there, you're gonna be under our watch so if you can do it within 5 minutes or just normal time a person spends inside a toilet then you can get away with it, but if you will take time doing it, we will not stop knocking on your door until you open up because not only you can be a suspect of doing some deed but you can also be a suspect of smoking inside, which I have encountered many times. Unless you have encountered lazy flight attendants that doesn't watch the cabin which is very seldom because its part of our job.

4. When you become a troublesome passenger, we sabotage your food. Again, based on my experience, we NEVER sabotage your food, we only delay our service to you or watch you more than any other passenger.We also talked about you and probably all the crew know how much trouble you are giving us. We cannot sabotage your food because we might lose our job if we do, and in my personal opinion I believe in karma, what goes around comes around, so no we don't do that.

5.We don't like it when you borrow pen from us to fill up your arrival card. What's really on our mind is, you know you are travelling and you dont have a pen? and you bother calling us when we're in the middle of a meal service just for a pen that you forgot to bring?, some passengers really wait and have a good timing to ask, and that is when we finish our service, then you can borrow a pen from us just make sure you return it because its our personal pen and not a company pen.

6. When people call us and ask for drinks. We don't mind when you press the call bell and ask for something, what we don't like is when you call us and say you want a drink and then after 5 minutes you call us again just to say you want tea or coffee as well. There are some passengers that really can be annoying, by calling us every 5 minutes or they dont just say what they want all at once.

7. Pushing that meal cart is really heavy just as it is. That's why we dont like it when we are conducting our meal service, people decide to go to the toilet. I am sure that before we start our meal service you will have an idea that were gonna do it, and if you dont then that is like 15-20minutes after take off. That is your queu to go to the toilet before we block your way or if you are not ready yet you might want to go after meal service. Just a bit of consideration since most crew are girls.

8. We do announce that landing will start soon right? but why there are still some people who insist on going to the toilet when its critical stage of landing. It is really hard for us to say no to you but as our job and responsibility we really do not allow you to use the toilet normally 10minutes to land. So if you can just be a responsible passenger, listen to the captain's announcement on what is the landing time, and from there you can calculate your time of going to the toilet, that saves us both from inconvenience.

9. The pilots are always wearing their seatbelt and harness inside the cockpit most of the flight duration and it is less bumpy there compared to the cabin. They also know when a turbulence will occur but only when they can see it in the monitor. The cabin can experience double the turbulence compared to the cockpit, so if sometimes you observe on your flight that its already bumpy at the back and why is the captain still not turning on the seatbelt sign light on?then you know the answer, so my suggestion is, if you are not going to the toilet, keep your seatbelt on at all times, because you cant rely on the pilot alone.

10. We were trained to do the safety emergency, first aid and most of all evacuation procedure. But to tell you the truth, I think in reality we will not care to wait for you to be out of the aircraft before we get out, we might save ourselves first, contrary to what we learned to make sure all passengers are out before we evacuate. There are some crew that will still do that and do their job up to the last minute but there will be some that will get too scared to wait for your ass to be outside.
We're just human and not heroes or saint.


More to come... keep reading.
Ciao

The Las Vegas of Asia

Where is the Las Vegas of Asia?

As far as I know only one place and that is Macau (in Portugese) and Macao (in English).
Well, no matter how you spell it, it is still the same how you pronounce it and people will still understand it.

I am not a Historian and not here to give you a wikipedia knowledge but will just share what I know about Macau, Macau was colonized by Portugese and it's located just beside Hongkong.
Since it was colonized by Portugese, the two main language in the Island is Cantonese and Portugese and now most locals are speaking in english.When I first arrived in 2001, it is only in the office that you can hear people speak good english, some people along the way also speak english but very seldom you encounter one, but that was years ago. Macau is a very small island and its divided into three major town (if thats what you call it) First is Macau, this is where the downtown is and most of the business establishments, markets and garments, second is Taipa, it is where the airport is located and it beside Coloane, which is the third town, Coloane is countryside, where the beach is, there is no crystal blue water here in Coloane, they only have what they call the black beach, because literally the water is black.

I lived in Macau for 10 years, working as a Flight attendant, I have learned to live as a local and considered Macau as my second home.

When I first arrived, there are only few and small casinos around, one casino that stood out among the others is the Lisboa Hotel at that time. It is owned by the famous Mr. Stanley Ho. He basically owned Macau as what people say because he really own most of the businesses and establishment there, him and his family.

I left Macau in 2011, but when I left there is Venetian Hotel, City of Dreams, Wynn, MGM, Crown Hotel and the Galaxy Casino was still in construction.
When I came back 2012, just a year after I left, Galaxy Casino is completely finish and me and my husband were so amazed on the details of the structure they put in. Its hard to explain it by words and too bad that me and my husband are not a photographer. We were so amazed we tend to forget to take pictures of everything we see.

Anyway, I am here to talk about Macau (again, these are all my opinion and observations)

Macau have this famous egg tart it was brought by the Portugese and became a local delicacy. The Portugese call it "Pastel de nata", the famous brand for egg tart in Macau is "Lord Stow", as I have learned it was really the British that brought this recipe to the Portugese, not quite sure if its true. But surely, the portugese have their own version. (please check photo below, photo courtesy of wikipedia, I really suck at photos)




They're also known for having "for export garments" meaning those branded clothes that we buy so pricely can be bought in Macau in a much lower price, you only have to find where to buy.
In San Malo, there is a Green house that sells this branded clothing for a cheaper price, they have big sizes too for non-asian. Most tourist guide knows this place because they always bring the foreigners here in group. So, I guess its part of the tour. It is actually hidden, the shop, you wont notice that there is a shop there so the best way is to ask the locals, when I say locals, try the expat that is working and living in Macau for some time now and they probably know it, or should I say ask a Filipino. Filipinos love bargain but quality ones.

And of course, Macau is very well known for their Casino, there are lots to choose from, you will get so exhausted just by going in one hotel because they're big. They separated the smoking and non smoking area, casino staff are english speaking. some can hardly understand you but they do eventually, you just have to speak slowly especially if you have a strong accent from your country. Just a reminder, in casinos they only accept Hongkong dollars, so if you're planning to play on most of your stay in Macau, don't exchange your money to Macau dollars.

Along with casino comes night out, I love the night life in Macau although few choices and not so many people compared to Hongkong but I still prefer it. Macau night life is good especially Ladies night. In Bellini Lounge, Venetian Hotel, for example, every wednesday night they give ladies free drinks, you dont have to pay anything to get in, and poor men have to buy their own drink. When they have famous artist that just had a concert at that night, they go to Bellini after the concert and you can see them up close and personal, no need to pay. I saw Chris Brown and he sang a few songs for us, all for free. Avril Lavigne was there too but I wasnt.. :-)

Culture.
You better get use to the yelling and loud voices when the locals or what you call the "macanese"
talk, its all normal. you might even think that theyre arguing but its all normal.
When getting in the bus they tend to push sometimes or when you're in a crowded place they really push you but try doing what they do to you and you will get the stabbing look staring back to you.
Customer service was improving when I left, in the bank and other restaurants, compared to when I first arrived, that "customer service" doesn't even exist.
They also like to spit anywhere, but before they spit they will surely make that yucky sound like taking all the phlegm out from their throat and preparing for the most saliva and mucus and phlegm all together (yuck) and they do that sound anywhere too, even when you are in a 5 star hotel.
Just like the chinese they chew their food with open mouth. But I am not here to generalize people there, some macanese that have education or exposed to a better life really have manners.
Macanese are macanese. Dont call them chinese because they dont think they're chinese.

Taxis, oh boy, what can I say about taxis, I surely know that the Taxi drivers hate us (flight attendants) because they dont like to take us because its only a short ride to the airport. There are two companies of taxi and you can identify them with their color one is black and one is yellow, most people say that the yellow drivers are nicer, well I can agree on that, but of course in every case there is always the odd one.When taking a taxi make sure you know the chinese word of your destination and if you cant pronounce it properly, you can also ask a local who can write it to you in chinese characters, just make sure its big enough to read especially if your driver have poor eyesight. But nowadays, drivers are learning english, As I have said Macau has changed for the better especially in english speaking.

If you love jewelry, Macau is a good place to buy, its cheaper and you must learn to bargain, Do not believe the price on the tag of the jewelry because you can bargain it to 50%, they just put it that amount so when you bargain they still can lower it for you and still have that much profit but if you start from 50% of the price, they still have profit, dont you worry. For example on the price tag, one ring cost 5,000 MOP (macau dollar) ask for 2,000 if they say no try 2,500 and you can go from there depending on your budget and the price from your country if you want to compare.

Money Exchange. The money in Macau is called Macau dollars or MOP or Patacas in Portugese.
If you will change your money to Macau dollars, make sure you will only exchange what you need, because Macau dollars cannot be exchanged outside Macau even Hongkong will not accept it.
Most tourist think that when they get to Hongkong or to their own country they can exchange Macau dollars to Hongkong Dollars or their own money, Nope, Macau dollars are not accepted anywhere in the world even Portugal. My advice, if you are on your last day in Macau and you still have some MOP but not enough, change your money to Hongkong dollars and use it in Macau, macanese accept Hongkong dollars in Macau so it wont be a problem and if you have extra Hongkong dollars you can still exchange it to your own money or to the money of your next destination.

TO BE Continued, I dont want you to get bored because its long enough.

Where to stay in Tagaytay?

I have checked 3 places in Tagaytay where me and my husband will stay for our pre-valentines get away.

First option

Lake Hotel- It is located at Km. 58 Emilio Aguinaldo Hi-way, Tagaytay. It has a good location because it is surrounded by restaurants, bar and pub. But one selling point for this hotel is the view of Taal Volcano.

(Photo above is courtesy of Lake Hotel website: http://www.lakehoteltagaytay.com/ )

What a view? isn't that nice? the only reason why we didn't stay here is because we are not the type of couple who stays most of their holiday in a hotel room. So we think, its not practical to pay P6,000/night (USD 150/night). They sometimes offer discount in special cases, like when my friend got married, she made a group discount for her guests to stay in this hotel and they got the room for P4,500/night (USD113/night) only. They have swimming pool and restaurant.

Second Option

Elegant Star Apartelle- It is located just across Lake Hotel, it is cheaper than Lake Hotel, a 3 star hotel, more of an inn. During my friend's wedding, I stayed in this Hotel/Inn, it was okay for the price of P2,000 a night, again, my friend got it as a group discount for her wedding guests. but I think the normal rate for a standard room is P2,500 to P3,000 (USD 62.50-75)/night.
The only reason why I didn't choose this is because the bed is big but uncomfortable. They only give you flat sheets and if you request for dooner you have to pay extra. Anything you ask for extra, you have to pay.
But one thing I wasn't comfortable with is, they have no phone in the room even just to contact the front desk. I was thinking if you are an old lady or by yourself and and emergency happens, how are you gonna get help if you have no phone to reach them easily? I think having a phone inside the room is very essential.

Third Option

ViewPark Hotel- This hotel is my choice, although it s located on the opposite side of the two hotels mentioned above, I think they're selling point is it is just across Picnic Grove.
Picnic Grove is a very old and famous park in Tagaytay, it is where locals and tourists go if you want to spend a less expensive date with your family or friends with a view. More of this place later on. I will continue with the details of this hotel.
I got our room (standard room) for only P2,000 (USD50)/night. They have different sizes of room for a standard room, the first room that was allotted to us was very small but newly refurbished toilet, we asked them if they have other standard room, luckily we were transferred to a bigger space but old toilet, so we just compromised the toilet for a bigger room.
The only downside of the room is there is no refrigeratior. We asked them if they can provide one for us because for our beer and drinks and just pay extra but they said they don't do that and offered if we just want our drinks to be placed in the restaurants fridge. Btw, this hotel have their own restaurant and café, I think that is a good marketing idea since they are not near to where all the restaurants are.
So anyway, we didn't get their offer to place our drinks their, we think its inconvenient to bother them everytime we want a drink. We just asked them to give us a bucket of ice and we just put our drinks there but it wasn't good enough.
They have nice staff, very attentive and open for feedback especially the manager and owner. They have their own swimming pool and kiddie pool, they also have a spa if you want to do your massage their, just I think its expensive. Check out their website (http://www.viewparkhotel.com/)

I will give my full review of this hotel on my next feedback. Ill keep you posted

Tagaytay, Philippines

This valentine, me and my husband decided to stay in Tagaytay, it is located in Cavite, It's in Southern Luzon.

Tagaytay has been famous for having cold climate in Luzon aside from Baguio. Tagaytay is only 2 hours away from Manila if there is no traffic, which is unusual if you don't experience congested traffic in the Philippines.

Tagaytay is also known for having the view of the famous Taal Volcano, as everybody know it has the smallest active volcano in the world.

Tagaytay is part of Cavite and the Taal Volcano is in Talisay, Batangas. Tagaytay's selling point to tourist is their view of the Taal Volcano and its cool climate. But I must admit, as a Filipino, I only learned that what we know as the smallest active volcano in the world is not quite true.

Whenever in Tagaytay, I always informed my tourist friends that small volcano with a nice shape is the active Taal volcano where in fact its not active and its not even the Taal volcano.

So, the question is where is Taal volcano? Taal Volcano is behind that beautiful shape of a mountain and it is a volcano within a lake. its not even the smallest volcano.

The picture above shows you the Taal volcano (photo is not mine, credit to the owners), I will test you, where do you think is the Taal volcano?

You probably answer, this one on top photo? you are wrong, this photo of a mountain above is a non-active volcano and is just part of the whole Taal volcano. Taal volcano is the first photo I showed you. Yes, the whole of it, and you can only see the crater when you climb and its behind that second mountain you can see. The Taal volcano is the whole island within the lake of Talisay, Batangas.

It is very much active, you can hire a boat to go there for at least P1,200 or  USD30, that is a return service, the boat will wait for you until you finish exploring the volcano island. You have two choices of getting to the top of the volcano or you want to be up close and personal to its crater. The boatman will ask you if you want to go to a regular trail- which means climbing in front where you can ONLY view overlooking the crater or go to the secret trail- which means you go around the back of the volcano and climb to the center of the crater. They allow you to swim there but the water is full of sulphuric acid which is not friendly to clothes or perhaps your skin. The boat man will charge you a double fee if you choose to go at the back of the mountain or "the secret trail"

 

Once at the island, you can walk (trek) or ride a horse for about 45mins. Horse fee is  P450 or USD12, that includes the guy to guide you with the horse and P50 or USD1.25 for tourism fee. Walking is free, just pay the tourism fee.

Once at the top, there will be people selling you water and even ask you to buy water for your horseman for P50 per bottle (USD1.25), the catch is the horsemen, have their own supply of water there provided by the locals, they only ask you to buy water for you horsemen for the people who sells water to earn money. It doesn't benefit the horsemen. So, in my opinion, its better to just give the money as a tip.

                                   

The above photo is the view from the top (credits to the owner of the picture again, I have my own but hasn't uploaded it yet, but soon will do)

The best time to come here is in the morning when its not so hot and sunny. The weather here is not cold as Tagaytay because you are no longer in Tagaytay when you come to Taal Volcano.

There will be people selling mask for the dust while climbing, but in my opinion it is tolerable you wont even need it, they're selling it for P30 (USD.75) each but you can buy it from the market or somewhere before you go to the island.

Also bring your own water, they're selling a small bottled water for P50 (USD1.25) when you can buy outside the island for only P10-20 (USD.25-.50). Put sunscreen and bring your hats to cover you if you choose to go there at midday

More of my Tagaytay trip on my next blog...