Category Archives: Travel

Travel: Amorita of Bohol

 

To Travel the World

To Travel the World

I like hotels.

I like them so much – and traveling! – that we bought our own timeshare.  But like I said in my MoneySmarts guest post:

It gives birth to other expenses – yearly maintenance fees (which went up from P2,500 to P4,000 in the blink of an eye), RCI fees (S$150 annually –in Singapore dollars, but with the current exchange rate, it might as well be in US dollars), booking fees that could range from P2,500 (Asia) to almost P10,000 (outside of Asia). It does not include airfare, or the cost of food. The RCI hotels, although three or four stars, are almost always in the outskirts of the city – that means it is 30 minutes away from where the action is. With the cab fares we are paying, we could have had a decent room at a city hotel with dancing lights, Prada and great food at our doorstep.

But it is not all bad, as we have found out in our two years of owning one.

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Singapore: Money Lessons from Far Away

The Merlion and the Lone Moon

The Merlion and the Lone Moon

Everything I know about Singapore, I learned from a taxi driver.

Okay, maybe not everything.

But for sure, you can get a taste of the history and the local flavor and the vibe of this fine city’s life through the eyes of he who plies the road at about S$20 per pop (that’s about USD$12).

We had the pleasure of the company of three very talkative ones.  On the way from the Night Safari back to our hotel, at 12:30 in the morning, the taxi driver told us tales.  Real tales.

And what he has told us has earned my respect for this beautifully manicured City.  There are a lot of lessons to be learned here – some on money, some on good governance, others still on not taking anything for granted.

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Travel, Budget Airlines and the Lilt of a Foreign Tongue

Reaching Up, Out

Reaching Up, Out

I like vacations.  Whenever I can take mini ones – I take lots (can I smile greedily here?).

It started when I was 21.  I just won the top cash prize at the office raffle and what better way than to squander it all at a grand Hongkong vacation.

Okay, it was not grand.  We stayed at a three star hotel and had breakfast everyday at the McDonald’s but I was with my bestfriend and we went around Hongkong and had so much fun – going to the parks, seeing the day life and the night life, tasted all the local delicacies, shopped for satin underwear, luggage and Giordano shirts, haggled (oh boy can I haggle) – that I wanted to do it again (and again and again).

And again.

From then on, I promised myself that I will take at least one vacation at an international destination every year.  Hey, I was single, I was employed, I had no financial conscience (it was fun while it lasted).

This year, I am taking 5 mini-vacations (to my financial planners – uhm, ehrm, sorry?).

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Eating In Style – At Half the Price

The Psychology of Hunger

The Psychology of Hunger

A sea of gastronomic fare set amidst gleaming cutlery, lit with chandeliers dripping from adorned ceilings, while strings serenade the night – it was a sight to behold and I tried to hold back the moan gurgling from my chest.  I look over at my husband and I know he feels the same.  I can see the same desire in his eyes.

A buffet spread in all its glory.

And we are paying for all of this gastronomic, marvelous, excellent (I could go on) – food – at half the price.

Half the price.

Oh, and did I mention, the setting is a five star hotel.

Sofitel and Shangri-la, Spiral versus Heat

Allow me to usher you to the world of the truly rich, where USD$50 dinners can be had for – yes – half the price.  But – there is a but – (and here it is again) but only if you are a member of the privileged set.

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