Every time my phone beeped, I prayed to see a “yes.” I wasn’t proposing to my partner; I was procrastinating. It was one o’clock in the morning, a few hours before our flight and there I was, still trying to find a hotel online. I had texted every contact number I had seen online in the middle of the night [...]

“I don’t know.” That was my groundbreaking answer when my friends Dane and Ces asked me where we would be staying in Sagada. We were already on the way there. “Are you serious?” Unfortunately, I was. And it was a big problem. How could a group of yuppies travel to Sagada without any hostel reservation? The guest houses I called [...]

I had never been on a cruise ship before. I’m not even sure if I had seen one before. I had been on a ferry a number of times but many of them were short trips. I had spent a couple of days on a ferry once, when I was young, to General Santos City but there was nothing remotely [...]

Whenever I ask any of my friends who are or have been to Singapore about accommodations, I always see Fragrance Hotel in their list of recommendations. I also receive emails from readers of this blog, asking for my review of Fragrance Hotel but I could not give an opinion because I was yet to try it. The popularity of this [...]

Finding an affordable place to stay in Singapore can be ridiculously difficult. Accommodations are generally expensive and even if you find a cheap hotel, there’s always that chance that they don’t have available rooms on your desired dates. To be honest, I think finding a place to stay was the hardest part of planning our Singapore trip because I only [...]

Canceled. That was the fate of our plan of visiting the Sohoton Natural Bridge National Park in Basey, Samar. The Basey Tourism Office said it would be too dangerous to travel up the river to the park. The river current was too strong, they said. You see, the park was somewhere inland and the river provides the best access to [...]

It was still dark when our Cebu Pacific Air flight landed at the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport (Tacloban Airport). Quickly we walked through the baggage claim area all the way out of the airport to the parking lot where taxi drivers stood in a straight line while waiting for passengers. Yes, I swear it was a straight line, LOL. Because [...]

Hidden 156 kilometers south of Bacolod City, Punta Bulata White Beach Resort and Spa is a tropical paradise in Cauayan, Negros Occidental. Cauayan is the municipality just before Sipalay City, which is also very well-known for white beaches. It’s 4 hours away from the city center of Bacolod. You might be asking, “Why do I have to travel 4 hours [...]

There was a drunk man speaking Mandarin seated in front of us while waiting at the Ceres Liner South Terminal and he was talking to us, to my friend Celine in particular. The man didn’t look Chinese at all but he kept on uttering Mandarin phrases. Apparently, the drunk man thought Celine was Chinese and he must have been enamored [...]

When we were planning for this trip, we knew we should visit Danjugan Island in Cauayan, Negros Occidental. Upon a quick online research, we learned that the terminal of buses going to Cauayan was located along Lopez Jaena Street. This weighed heavily in choosing the inn or hotel we would be staying at on our first night as we planned [...]

The Poor Traveler had always wanted to try Microtel. One of the reasons was that most of their branches were newly built and I just love how they position themselves in the market — budget hotels that won’t feel low-end. In fact, when I was planning a trip to Puerto Princesa, I seriously considered booking rooms with them. Unfortunately, they [...]

For the longest time, I felt like a part of me had been missing. Whenever I come home to my hometown, I’m appalled by how much the place has changed. Even our house is completely unrecognizable. The trees that I grew up climbing, the grass covering our backyard, they are gone. Long gone. What’s there now are pavements. Concrete floors [...]

The Poor Traveler’s father was from Puerto Princesa City in Palawan. It is one of my favorite cities in the Philippines because of its unmatched beauty and unparalleled cleanliness. So when my friends urged me to take them to Puerto Princesa, I was more than excited to show them around. Casa Linda wasn’t our first choice when we were planning [...]

The Poor Traveler had always wanted to go to Bohol as this extremely popular tourist destination is one of the top 3 provinces I’d die to visit. That’s why there was really no word to describe my excitement when I was planning this trip. Planning was easy. Initially, we wanted to check in at Bohol Beach Club but I realized [...]

The Poor Traveler and his poor friends were having more ice scramble beside the Paoay Church when our Tour Guide fetched us. He asked if we wanted to stay longer at the church. The group talked and decided to just move on the next destination in our itinerary. Apparently, we would finally be going to the hotel where we will [...]