TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

When I was in Cebu the other year, I managed to meet up with a long time friend, Sheena. We spent the whole day together starting with lunch until midnight. La Vie Parisienne in Lahug, Cebu City I met Sheena in high school, we were classmates. We also went to the same school in our early college years, but later decided that we will both be happy with a different study to pursue which meant enrolling in a different university. Every now and then we went out but life took a major turn when I moved to Manila after graduation. Things watered down a bit. Real life gets in the way. Career (for moi). Living in a new and alien city. Family (for most of my friends and for Sheena). Children (alas, not for me, haha). The meaning and purpose of life begun to unravel into something different. We all go through the stages of life. I am not the ‘everyone’s friend’ type. I tend to be the very independent, opinionated and solitary type. I am very comfortable in my own skin and I becom...

We seem to have been going every summer to Scheveningen in the last few years. Scheveningen is surely a great place to go for a day out on the beach during the summer months. Especially if you do not plan on swimming. There are many beach restaurants here, club lounges, pavilions and terraces where one can spend a few hours lazing around. The more than a kilometer promenade also offers an entertaining place to stroll on, and the pier as well which is now under new management has a food court. There are also new attractions added such as the Ferris wheel and the zipline are great options for the sportive lot. But Scheveningen has more to offer. Go here: Scheveningen The Scheveningen promenade going south towards the haven. Last July I was here in Scheveningen with the Dutchman and the Dutch mother. It was a balmy yet windy day, not really the perfect day to be swimming and lounging on the beach with your bikini. However, that was not the reason why we came here. Ever...

My flight back to Amsterdam was scheduled for the evening, so I decided to have an early dinner in the city, my last meal in Zurich during my visit two autumns ago. Alfresco dinner in Hirschenplatz. I was eyeing to have dinner in the Niederdorf part of the Old Town. Earlier in the day I walked around in the area and discovered several nice places. I thought Hirschenplatz would a great candidate for a memorable last night dinner location. The square is always busy and is flanked with restaurants with outdoor seating areas. Very promising. The weather has only been perfect since the day I arrived so I was looking forward to eating outdoors and do some people watching. It’s my last hours in the city, so I’d like to have a relaxing and enjoyable dinner. So I did come back to Hirschenplatz but I could not decide which restaurant to choose. My first choice would have been a local restaurant offering Swiss cuisine but the traditional restaurant on the corner of the square t...

Or also known as Kreis 1 locally. It is the other half of the historical old town of Zurich. One of the cafes on Glockengasse. This is Augustinergasse. The Old Town of Zurich is divided into two parts, the Niederdorf Quarter that lies on the eastern side of the Limmat river and the City-Lindenhof Quarter, on the western side where the Zurich hbf (railway station) is located. I earlier wrote and posted a few pictures of our visit to the Lindenhofplatz, a small hill with a park on top with great views over Niederdorf. Taken from the Munsterbrucke bridge with my view to the Limmatquai, the Rathaus and the Niederdorf Quarter. I was walking towards Lindenhof here. On my last day in Zurich, I spent a few hours in the afternoon walking around the cobbled-stone alleys and streets in the City and Lindenhof Quarter instinctively. It was my first time to really experience the city on foot without having to rush. I have been here before but never had the chance to explo...