Stories behind the stories. By Travel Writer, Amy McPherson
At the entrance to Manila Bay lies an island that has seen the battle lines of World War II. Due to its strategic location Corregidor Island was used and re-used by American and Japanese forces as a battle base for their Pacific and Asia campaigns during the war and has since become an important piece …
Checked in: 28 Dec 2013 Checked out: 30 Dec 2013 Room: Oceanview #3 Price paid: $75 per night through Agoda.com Kayla’a Beach Resort comes with a heart felt story. The resort is named after the owner Jon Wood’s late-daughter, who passed away ten years ago. After a period of grief, Jon decided to move to the Philippines to create …
Why did I come to Bohol? I could have gone to Boracay for the white sandy beaches, or Palawan for the unspoilt nature. However, we chose Bohol, because I wanted to meet the smallest primate in the world and Will wanted a piece of the Chocolate Hills. We stayed in the main city (town) Taglibaran …
Cebu had been an adventure. Many visit only to stay on the small side island of Mactan to enjoy the sandy beaches and its five star resorts, but we chose to stay in the city centre, as I heard, it is a city only to be experienced full on. It was Christmas day when we …
Our Philippines adventure began at Tagaytay, a picturesque township south of Manila where an active volcano – the Taal – dominates the landscape and the tourism industry of the region. Those who visit Tagaytay must pay the obligatory visit to Taal volcano, one that is still living and could potentially erupt again in the near …
Checked in: 22 Dec 2013 Checked out: 24 Dec 2013 Room: Queen Mercelita (Superior room) Price paid: US70 per night, through Agoda.com I am reluctant to call this a hotel, because it is much better than a hotel. On first impression it was like stumbling upon someone’s mansion, and when we found out we were the only guests for …
Hello Philippines! What a chaotic introduction we’ve had. Having had a night’s stop over in Kuala Lumpur and about an hour and a half flight delay, we finally found ourselves on Filipino soil. The air is sticky and perfumed by a mixture of exhaust, grilled meat, boiled corns and sweat, layered with sounds bouncing off …
I’ve been avoiding Christmases for the past five years, mostly by travelling to non-Christian countries because I don’t really agree with the commercialisation of any religious/cultural events. (Despite the effort, I still found Santa in Brunei!) This year will be the first year that we’ll travel to a predominantly Christian country and it got me …
Everyone is talking about Lonely Planet’s Top Destinations for 2014. Not surprisingly, they’ve dished out under valued destinations around the world to try to give them a bit of a boost, which I think doesn’t always work with the travellers and the general public, because different people have different perceptions of what makes a destination …
This is where I had my first meal in Hanoi when I visited in 2004. I had only arrived in the country for an hour, was wet and hungry and needed food. My love of street food took me to this little corner and my nose couldn’t go past the fragrance of the freshly steamed …
We’ve been talking about the concept of ‘trust’ at work lately. We learned that ‘trust’ is the only thing that can change everything. At work, it’s all about internal trust between colleagues, as well as building a trusting relationship with our clients, however I think this concept can extend to any situation and have found …
On the morning we arrived in Noumea, there was an audible excitement around the cruise. We were arriving somewhere with people, with buildings and with a lot of history. The possibilities of a great day was endless. Due to mum’s mobility restrictions, there were not a lot she could do on the sandy beaches of …
I wanted to have a postcard this week that is relevant to my cruising theme. However I’ve never cruised before remember! So I thought I’d put on the next best thing: my memories of Venice, where getting on board local ferries to traverse through its many islands was the closest to cruising I’ve ever done! …
No one actually live on Mystery Island, formerly known by the locals as Inyeug. This island is said to be haunted by ghosts and are only visited by the inhabitants of the nearby Aneityum Island and Tanna Island further up north, when there’s a cruise in town. Cue the docking of Carnival Spirit, and we …
There are 2,000 people on Isle of Pines. We saw about 10, most were there because we were there, tourists who were glad to set foot on solid land, eager to spend some French Pacific Francs. Isle of Pines, or L’lle des Pines was discovered by James Cook in 1774. He named the island based …
One of my favourite things about travel is being able to make friends anywhere and everywhere. In this picture I was on Isla del Sol, one of the many islands on the famed Lake Titicaca bordering Peru and Bolivia. They had originally approached us to ask us if we wanted to buy their bracelets. Having …
Cruise date: 16 November 2013, 8 nights South Pacific cruise Cruise itinerary: Sydney – At Sea Days (2) – Isle of Pines – Mystery Island – Noumea – At Sea Days (2) – Sydney Stateroom: 6297, (Starboard) Balcony Room Price paid: $1,247 per person twin share, with $250 per cabin on-board credit Carnival Spirit entered Australian cruise market …
“Land Ahoy!” An excited husband yelled out through the windows, at 5am Monday morning. After 2 days of straight sailing, through the endless Pacific horizon, ribbons of the ocean and the sky, green specks slowly appeared in the big mass of blue with pine trees like green mo-hawk: we’ve arrived at the Isle of Pines. …
Today was our second day at sea, spending hours eating, drinking and being entertained while staring at the endless horizon that separates the sky and the sea. For two days we lived a life of manufactured excitement, where our every decision and every move heavily influenced by the enthusiastic voice through the loud speaker system, …
Checked in: 08 November 2013 *at 5am Checked out: 10 November 2013 Room: 2516 Price paid: Booked with my Starwood Preferred Guest points When we were in Kuala Lumpur last year at this exact spot, Aloft hotel was just being built. Not that we knew this was going to be the Aloft hotel – for us it was …
“Why would I spend money on animal suffering just to entertain ourselves?” Last week at the AWE Asia 2013, I had the pleasure to meet Sangduen ‘Lek’ Chailert – Lek for short – who spoke to us about elephant conservation in Asia. Her story is a powerful one, so I wanted to devote a full …
The curtain drew on this year’s Asian Women’s Empowerment Conference today. It had been a fantastic weekend in Kuala Lumpur, where I got to meet some of the bloggers I have been following for a while as well as inspirational women whose stories simply touched my heart. I had come here to network with like-minded …
This, is ‘Durian’. The King of Fruits. The thing that make South East Asians happy and the rest of us gag. Of all these trips to South East Asia I have not in fact, brought myself to face the fruit and it is a challenge that I finally accepted today, with my new found Malaysian …
Wow, yesterday was a big day. As you know, I arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 3am in the morning, was able to ‘go to bed’ at around 5am and I slept for about three hours before my body clock woke me up due to the time difference between Sydney and KL. Never mind, I needed …
