TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

When we were in Cebu, Philippines last October-November, I heard from the grapevine that there’s a cool new Filipino native restaurant in town. Of course, moi is not going to miss the world for it especially knowing that the restaurant drifts on water. I right away scheduled the family for a trip to Cordova in Mactan Island. 'Lantaw' is a Visayan word, a Filipino dialect and my mother tongue which means VIEW or SEEN/SEEING FROM A DISTANCE. Yes, the restaurant floats on water and you will notice this more during high tide when the restaurant glides a bit. The scenery here is divine. Fresh! You’ll see fishermen passing by and if you arrive here before dusk, you will be treated to an exquisite going-down-of-the-sun-from-the-horizon spectacle. Because we did not reserve a table in advance, but luckily we arrived early, we were not able to get a table on the open deck terrace but in the restaurant itself. This is fine but next time, we will make sure to reserve because...

Come to think about it, it is barely a month and a half since we were in Cebu, Philippines. It felt now like it has been forever. Time flies so fast indeed when you are busy (and enjoying) with life. I am looking forward to visiting my hometown again next year. Now, when Dutchman and I arrived in Cebu from Seoul (more entries of our trip to Seoul to come soon, just switching to Cebu for now) last October, my parents deposited us the next day at the 5-star Crimson Beach Resort & Spa in Mactan Island, Cebu. It’s their welcome to Cebu treat for us. Well, it’s nice to have a sponsor sometimes so Dutchman and I are not complaining =) After a 5-day city trip in Seoul this is a nice and timely respite. We basically did nothing here but chill. Maximum chill. We spent most of our days at the bar by the pool and beach. I made a separate entry about this a while back, go here: Hanging out at Azure Pool Bar Trivia: Did you know that most beach resorts in Mactan Island have man-...

A relatively new square opened in 2009, the ‘Gwanghwamun Square’ is one of the new places where Seoulites like to hang out. It is located right across the historical Gwanghwamun Gate of  Gyeongbokgung Palace . At the centre of the square is the statue of ‘King Sejon the Great’, a respected king of the Joseon Dynasty and the creator of Hangeul, Korea’s alphabet. The story of King Sejong is exhibited underneath the square. I would have loved to check this out but travelling with the Dutchman is always a compromise. He doesn’t like all these culture baggage but is willing to go with me as long as we don’t get into the facets of it, such as visiting a museum or staying longer in said place. There are a few museums that interests him though, such as the Holocaust Memorial Museum we visited in Berlin this year in March. Now, that was an exemption. Here at Gwanghwamun Square you can loan the king’s robe and headdress for free and take pictures. We didn’t avail of this but I h...