I’m always wary of staying in cheap hotels when traveling because I believe that you get what you pay for (whether it be a hotel, a purse, or a pair of shoes). So if ever I get to chance to stay in one of those Hotels Paris or Hotels Sydney (an Australian trip may be coming soon! ), I’d most probably choose one that is not necessarily high-end, but one that is at least 3 stars. Anything below would probably get me whining endlessly . Staying in cheap hotels with poor facilities just won’t do it for me.

Gats’ family has been asking us when we’ll be able to visit his sister in Maryland. Of course we have to go through getting a visa as Manu and I still don’t have one. Since my sister-in-law is already settled there we won’t be having problems with board and lodging of course even their family in California will hate us if we force a stay with any of the Los Angeles Hotels there. Somehow, its really the way of Filipino families visiting relatives in the US – you really have to stay with family and friends there. Of course staying in a hotel has been a tested formula with our little boy as we’ve tried Bangkok Hotels that are comparable with the Singapore Hotels he’s comfortable with. Personally though, I’d like to get a feel of what it’s like to stay on any of the more glamorous hotels (any famous New York Hotel will do) so I can put it down to experience

Since reading LOTR back in college I’ve always wondered how Middle-earth would have looked like if it were a place here on Earth. Peter Jackson gave me that answer! Now I’m hoping to visit some of the places where they shot the scenes of LOTR. I hope that when the time comes, I can get a good to great Auckland accommodation, and if budget allows a Queenstown accommodation (LOTR battle-scenes) as well. Christchurch accommodations and Wellington accommodations should give me access to LOTR movie props. Given this itinerary, I might go to NZ as a tourist and return looking like a cast member with clothing, accessories and everything else.

It’s been a family-routine that every December we go on a 5-day vacation to Singapore for some rest and much needed shopping. My dad, who’s been for like the nth time is very wary of cheap Singapore Hotels because of the difference in room quality, though we can still get him to stay in a businessman’s hotel every now and then. The term “cheap” is relative though because there are peak season’s and last minute cancellations to consider when hotels price their rooms. Just two years before we were considering staying in cheap Bangkok Hotels, because of their proximity to tourist spots. But I’d probably think four times before considering staying in cheap Kuala Lumpur Hotels (or even the cheap Hanoi Hotels) since we don’t know much of Malaysia and Vietnam geography. We might end up staying in the city proximity or something, but that’s just me without-research talking. All in all, a good priced hotel is really hard to pass-up. Though with our usual December schedule, I don’t think we’ll find really cheap accommodations even if we looked for a whole month.

I didn’t really understand the meaning of that phrase until I experienced it last week. Yes, it was my first Disney experience and the moment I stepped inside the gates, I felt giddy happy like a little child .

Could you tell that Manu was awestruck by the Disney experience? Um. Baby, the camera’s over here!

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In our latest trip to Hongkong we went to two malls that’s really quite far from the hotel we were staying at. Since we had Manu with us, we thought long and hard as to the best means of getting from point A to point B. It turns out that the MTR was still our best bet. Manu was so excited being an avid fan of “Thomas and Friends”, as it was his first time to ride the “train”. What we didn’t know was how to pay for our trip as my family has never ridden in the MTR before, while I totally forgot how to as the last time I rode it was during the turnover. Gats rode the subway before but that an entirely different rail system altogether. Arriving at the station we all looked for (token) coin dealer/changers or dispensers, what we found instead were vending machines dispensing passcards. That literally was the hardest part about the commute. The rest was such a breeze. We’ll definitely ride the “train” again because of our nice experience.

We had a 6:30am Cathay Pacific flight so that meant we had to be at the airport at least by 4:30 am (thank goodness, my mom was still able to check-in online the last minute, else we would’ve been there by 3:30am!). Just had 2 1/2 hours of sleep but I don’t think I and my little boy looked like it eh?

Manu slept right after take off so Gats and I didn’t have a hard time keeping him busy. By the way, he already had his own seat! I know I asked the dad to take a picture of him – with seatbelt and all – but apparently, he didn’t. None showed up in the digicam nor the Holga. Tsk tsk!

We arrived at our hotel earlier than the regular check-in time so we left our luggages and headed for lunch at — HAPPY GARDEN! I couldn’t wait to eat their pork asado again! Yummeee! And so Gats and I led the way to our faaavorite Chinese restaurant. We walked.. and walked.. and walked further.. and walked some more.. Wait a minute, where is it?! Gats decided to ask one of the shop attendants along Canton Road, and to my disbelief, he said that Happy Garden just moved out of the place a few weeks back! Waaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!! My pork asado dreams are overrrrrrr! Waaaaaaaaaah!!!!! No worries. My friend will find it for us! Anyweyzzz. We just settled with the nearest Chinese resto. The food was not a dissapointment, as you can see Manu seemed to enjoy the experience.

But I still want my Happy Garden pork asado!!!!

Wala nakong magawa so sleep na lang ako.

{my little boy and i getting cozy and about to go to sleep. we will not wake up until 4 hours after}

After a week without internet connection plus four days in Hongkong, I AM BACK!

There’s a lot of things I’ve to catch up on — visiting blogsites, writing blog posts, meeting deadlines (goodness,I think a couple had already lapsed. tsk. tsk), and finishing tons of work in the office. I still have a lot of unpacking to do, so in the meantime, I’ll leave you with a few good pictures taken from the window of our hotel room:

Going on our trip we wanted to be prepared for all the activities we had planned. With this is mind we debated whether we needed a portable stroller for Manu since we might end up carrying him all over Hongkong in case he doesn’t want to walk anymore. Since my husband and I both agreed that we’d need a stroller I didn’t have enough time to go shopping for one so I ended up browsing online. Luckily, shopping is made easy with shopping (search) engines! No need to do any last minute window shopping – just do it on-line.

That’s where we’re staying during our travel to Hongkong. I’ve stayed in this hotel two years ago and for me, it was just okay. The superior room was spacious though I find the layout a bit outdated. The bathroom was memorable since it was the tiniest that I’ve ever seen, and also a little old-fashioned . The location was superb though – as far as shopping is concerned . It’s just right beside the mega-shopping centers, Ocean Terminal and Harbour City. In front are high-end designer shops like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Gucci, and Prada, among others.

I can be a bit fussy on the hotels I stay in. So before booking my accommodation, I do my assignment and research on several hotels. Here are some sites I’ve recently bumped into which, I think, are worthwhile considerations (you may notice that these are European Hotels. Could this mean I’m already planning on a tour to one of these cities? In the far future, yes ) : Milan Hotels, Barcelona Hotels, Madrid Hotels, Hotels in Venice.