Isla Del Fuego

Did you know that the Island Province of Siquijor is called isla Del Fuego by the Spaniards because of its eerie glow? This eerie glow happens to come from swarms of fireflies that hover the molave tree.

Siquijor is the third smallest province in the Philippines (population and land area). It is literally so small that you can tour the entire island in less than a day! Siquijor is popular because of it's reputation as a place of witchcraft and sorcery.


My Super Mowdil friend and I went to Siquijor via Cebu. We flew from Bacolod to Cebu and stayed overnight at the Parklane Hotel near Ayala Center. I love their breakfast buffet!

From Cebu we took one of the fast crafts going to Siquijor. I forgot whether it was Oceanjet or Supercat. The boat ride was close to 6 hours. From Cebu we had to pass by Tagbilaran. Then off to Dumaguete and finally, Siquijor.

Siquijor has three ports. If you are coming from Dumaguete most probably you'll dock at Larena Port. This photo was taken at the port itself.

While in Siquijor, we stayed at the Coral Cay Resort.

They also have an in-house spa and butik (boutique)! hahaha!

This was taken right infront of our cottage

Super Mowdil (Jaf) rented this jeepney for our whole day tour! Sakay Na! :)

Our first stop was this mysterious/mystical church in the mountain town of San Antonio.

Inside the said church.

This is the path going to the Banali-an Grotto. There are more than a hundred steps (I think) until you reach the grotto on top. And believe YOU ME, even if it's cool inside the mini forest, you'll sweat like crazy. I felt like my heart was being squeeze and I had shortness of breathe. I need exercise STAT!

The Banali-an Grotto. Moving up past the Grotto, you can reach the tip of this mountain and have an aerial view of Siquijor. Super Mowdil and Audie said it looks beautiful up there. However, Donits and I had to stay behind because we were too exhausted to move. So, if you're physical fit unlike us, go ahead!

Only Jaf and Audie were brave enough to climb up to the top. You will also find a tower that symbolizes the highest point on the island of Siquijor.

Cambugahay Falls: This is simply breath-taking. Did we swim? yes indeed! Photos of our swimming sessions are withheld because they are not visually entertaining. I don't think you'd like to see human-hipos swimming, do you?

Cambugahay falls: taken at a different angle.

Lazi Convent: Oldest Monastery in Asia

Across the Lazi Convent is the San Antonio de Padua Church:

This island paradise is definitely worth a trip! If you plan to stay at the Coral Cay Resort:
Coral Cay Resort
Solangon, San Juan,
Siquijor 6227
Philippines
(63) 035-481-5024
(63) 919-269-1269

Sitges, Spain

Celebrated the 10th anniversary of my 2_th birthday in Spain.

We flew with Air France from Paris to Barcelona. While waiting for our flight, Louie, Jaf and myself stuffed ourselves with whatever food we find at the business lounge of Air France at the Charles De Gaulle Airport:

The flight was almost two hours and this little girl kept on pestering me on our flight to Spain.

And how cool is this? They serve meals on a flight that is less than two hours. Fantastic!


Nata, our dear friend from Bacolod City met us at the BCN Airport. And tagged along to Sitges, Spain! Let the fun begin! :)


Louie rented a car with Hertz. He rented a compact car. And thus began our "to wong fu" Adventure!

Sitges is a very small city about 45 km way from Barcelona. It is noted for it's historical sites, night spots and of course, THE Beach!

We stayed at the Calipolis Hotel. It has a very modern vibe to it. Right behind us is our hotel:


Jaf checked us in at our hotel and simultaneously posed at the lobby. Love the yellow green sofa.

Beachfront: this is a few meters away from our hotel:

Forgot the name of this church seated on a hilltop. I just thought it looks fab. Very Picturesque.

I love this photo of Louie. I took this while we were strolling around the area. Very GQ.

Main Door: Do you love doors intricately designed like this? To Die For!

We had dinner at this fast food that serves cava (Spanish sparkling white wine) with their combo meals! Imagine if Mc Donalds or Jollibee will serve alcoholic beverages with their meals???

We are now pumped to party. To our dismay, nightlife in Sitges during this season (beginning of spring) is major slow. It was like a ghost town at 10 in the evening. So everyone decided to go to Barcelona and party!

The following day we had lunch at this Chinese Restaurent. Buffet which cost 8.50euros was not bad at all.

After lunch we were off to Barcelona! That's another post all on it's own. *wwooott* *wwooott*

Prague's Ultimate Walking Tour

While in Paris I kept reminding Jaf (Super Mowdil) to double check our ground transportation and to review the redemption instructions of our activity for Prague (Czech Republic). He was too lazy to review it and kept on insisting not to worry because once we arrive in Prague all we have to do is get out of the airport and our shuttle service will be waiting outside. I swept all my worries under the rug . He's quite a traveler himself.

We flew with Swiss Air. Our flight from Paris to Prague was connecting in Zurich, Switzerland with a two-hour stop over. The airport in Zurich was crowded. It was late in the afternoon when we arrived. Jaf was all over the place - looking for post cards, etc... while I insisted on staying near our boarding gate. P.A. system went to full blast. They were announcing that our flight from Zurich to Prague was fully booked and if there were passengers willing to take the next flight out (which is two hour later), they are willing to give shopping money amounting to 300euros (if i'm not mistaken). I got excited. Hahahaha! Wanted to give up my seat for extra mulla. Super mowdil declined saying that our stay in Prague is limited (3 days) already. Oh well.... he has a point, i thought. :)

We arrived around 10:30pm in Prague and it was snowing. The snow when we arrived wasn't as bad as this. Thank God!

Both of us were exhausted and hungry. I am ready ride the shuttle and go straight to our hotel. I asked for our vouchers. Jaf handed it over and when I reviewed the redemption instructions, i can feel the heat fuming out of my head and my ears felt like popping! The first bullet point stated:
"You MUST email the vendor at least 24 hours before your departure to ensure pick up at the airport."

I was in panic mode. When we got out of the airport there's no shuttle service in sight. The office was located two blocks away from the airport. In short, we had to WALK and brave the chilly weather plus the snow! Imagine Me: wearing a not-so-thick jacket, full poker face, towing two suit cases and cursing Jaf. Hahahaha!

When we arrived at the office of the shuttle service Jaf made drama telling the man behind the counter that he sent an email and wondered why we were not picked up. Hahahaha. Thank God they had excellent customer service. We were asked to wait for 30 minutes. Not complaining; it was our fault.

Finally, we were at our hotel after 45 minutes of driving time. It was past midnight already. We checked in and did not bother to unpack. We went straight to the restaurant across the hotel. Both of us were exhuasted after stuffing ourselves with food and slept to recharge our batteries for our six-hour of walking tour the following morning.

We stayed at King Charles Boutique Hotel:

And here's our messy room early in the morning:

Woke up at early and had breakfast at the hotel:

While Jaf was having breakfast, I had to go to our room ahead of him because I had to do my morning rituals (you know what i mean, right?). I was ready by 9:00am. Our meet up time for the tour was 10:00am and Jaf was still downstairs having breakfast! He got to the room 15 minutes after I readied myself. I kept on reminding him that the activity that he purchased (Ultimate Walking Tour of Prague) is non-refundable. He didn't mind - he was still busy watching tv (news) and trying to figure out what outfit to wear.

We left the hotel 10 minutes before 10am. Obviously we will be late for the tour. It was our first time in Prague and he had the guts to take his time. hahahaha! We took their local train and of course, the obvious came: WE ARE LOST & LATE! We took the reverse route going to the meeting place.

Jaf trying to figure out where we were and how to get to our point of destination while i kept on saying my mantra: "Activities are non-refundable." Over and over and over again.

We were an hour late. Thanks the his ever reliable iPhone ($1usd per minute), we found this hole in the wall office and catched up with the tour.

We went straight to The Wenceslas Square at the City Center to meet up with the group. Sorry bad photo quality. I was on a rush.

Our Tour Guide which I forgot the name thank you very much! :)

Astronomical Clock

The Oldest Opera House

The Ghost Statue

The Prague Castle right across the Volta River.

I think right across the river is the Communist Building (correct me if I am wrong). It was said to be the most feared building in all of Czechoslovakia


We had lunch at this Czech Restaurant:


I had this roast pork with potato dumplings:

Back to our walking tour after lunch:

Entrance to the Palace (what palace? Geez, I can't remember - senior moments). They don't tolerate people trying to make their guards laugh. Good luck to you if you do it.

The 700-year old Charles Bridge

Gotta love this cathedral window. Forgot which church though. With all the names and places they'd usually mention on these tours, you cannot simply remember everything.

This was our last day in Prague. I can say that everything i heard and knew about "Prague" was fulfilled on this trip! Goodbye!