The Ark Royal Maldives Dive Yacht & (Spa)

The Ark Royal Dive Yacht & Spa

Read this post on the NEW ToT: 

http://www.triportreats.com/2011/11/14/the-ark-royal-maldives-dive-yacht-spa/

The Velassaru Maldives, Part Deux

And the Velassaru tour continues...

For those who want to get wet without being in the ocean, the Pool is quite a spot to be at. An infinity pool with a teak deck and lounge chairs. At first glance, the pool seems to be connected to the ocean.

The Velassaru Maldives

Trust me... It's paradise.

And it's found in Velassaru, Maldives.

Read this post on the NEW ToT:

http://www.triportreats.com/2011/11/09/the-velassaru-maldives-part-uno/

My Water Villa at Velassaru Maldives

There is something about being near or by the water that just brings in the calmness. And when you're in Maldives, a country known for its crystal clear waters, there is no excuse. You have to live by the waters.

 Must stay when at the Velassaru Maldives is at one of the water villas. If not only for this terrace view, for the actual room accommodations and amenities inside the villa.

Copenhagenization: On Bikes & Boats

There are two great ways to go about exploring the sleek and green city of Copenhagen. One is through its canals via boat, kayak or waterbus; the other method requires only 2 wheels and is featured on its own CNN special segment.

 

Copenhagenization is innovating the transportation system of this metropolis via urban planning to encourage more Danes to bicycle their way around town instead of drive around in gas guzzlers. over 55% of Danish citizens use their bicycles on a daily basis. And since this is a young city, many parents cart their children around in cargo bikes.

 

It's such a future-forward approach to city-living that CNN's Business 360 featured it as one of its Future Cities. Interestingly enough, while I was in Copenhagen recently, this episode was playing on the tube, which explained why everyone and their mother's mother was biking around town.

It's a convenient, environmentally sustainable, and healthy way to travel around this small city, and this lady proves that it can be a stylish mode of transportation as well.

Department of Tourism + Smart = GENIUS Philippines Ad

I found this browsing some sites and want to share it to my readers to see what your thoughts are regarding this new direction of our tourism campaign.

* This value driven campaign promotes the Philippines to its own people, many of whom opt to travel abroad unaware of their country’s beauty. “Tara na” means let’s go. * 

(P40,500 is about $900, P4,050 about $90)

After the Pilipinas Kay Ganda (Philippines So Beautiful) campaign fiasco, I have to say this subtle and simple ad speaks VOLUMES. Bravo! Even if it's tied with Smart (Communications), this ad is pretty genius, if you ask me. 

Filipinos: What do you think?

Foreigners: Are you interested?

Battle of the Breakfasts: Beachside Brunch at Nick's, Seal Beach

The perfect breakfast scene.

Nick's Deli on Seal Beach

So apparently, I've visited the home of the "breakfast burrito" in California, and I didn't even realize it until after the fact.

 And this is the breakfast burrito in question... Is it the best?

SoCal peeps definitely love their breakfast burritos. Ever since I could remember my first BB at Lily's on Zuma Beach (a haunt for Pepperdine kids), the fascination with handheld, fastfood fare was too good to be understood. To be able to feed oneself with one hand while driving/texting/studying/surfing/tanning with the other is a trademark of the quintessential Californian, and I've had my fair share of Brekkie Burritos.

Backblog: Spetses, Greece

I said I would only backblog after 5 successful new ones. I've gone to some pretty intense places, and what a shame to not relive it once in a while. This was during a summer when I lived in Firenze back in the collegiate days. I found an old blog post I did, and decided to repost because I heard Spetses was one of the places Prince William & Princess Kate thought of spending their honeymoon at. Comparing my early writing style to my current one, I realized I had just as much mental and verbal diarrhea back then as I do now, I just sounded a little more giddy and perky... like a valley girl. HAHAHA!

06.07.05

This is bad. I have, for the past hour, tried unsuccessfully to nap. It is 20:03 and it's not working. I decide to f-it and just go to Liberta to get my Humanities over with so I can at least study for the midterm tomorrow.

Lo and behold... it begins to rain... in Florence... during the summertime.

Ever since my forced return from Greece yesterday.. my body has just been screaming tired. Study hard and party harder is wonderful. I haven't had grades this amazing since I stepped at Pepperdine...and of all subjects... I ace my Religion midterm. Of course, I haven't experience this much fun since... well, I just haven't. But yes... I am making the most out of this experience, without sacrificing my studies... to prove that, indeed, I can self motivate without the help of shopping. I'm just tired.

Tubbataha Reef: Wonder of the World, Indeed

Sometimes... words get in the way.

 I remembered seeing this "Immigration" table, and feeling the urge to whip out my camera at the Palawan Airport

 Where we flew in to get on this dive yacht to go to one of the most beautiful dive sites in the world, as well as a UNESCO Heritage Site and finalist of the 7 Wonders of the World.

College Days, Cupcakes & Chicken Wrap at Malibu Kitchen

Aside from attending my Bestfriend's wedding, I had other important points on my Cali Agenda... one of them being to revisit my old haunts, aka Santa Monica and Malibu, the two cities I lived and studied in during my formative college years.

 Everyday for a good year or four, I would drive up and down the Santa Monica incline to Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) to get to the beach, erm, I mean to class.

 Who else would be perfect to take this trip down memory lane than my lovable college roommate!

EuroCruise 2010: Mad for Mykonos

Back to the beautiful Greek Island of Mykonos, home to blue & white homes, hot sunny beaches, and major midnight beachparties.

If there's another thing Mykonos is most remembered for... it's not wide open spaces like the Chola Town Center.

 

But for the tight and tiny alleys and streetways that zigzag like a labyrinth all around town, albeit stunning with its white and blue exteriors. As the mythical town of Troy, Mykonos is one puzzling map of roads.

EuroCruise 2010: Sweet Sunset in Santorini Part 2

After walking around the towns of Oia and Fira, tasting some sulfur-enriched Santorini wines from Santo Winery, and dining with an awesome view at Sphinx Restaurant, it was time to say goodbye to Arthur, our very animated tourguide who spends half the year in Santorini, and the other half in Australia. 

My family loved him so much, we wanted to come back just so we could bunk in his pink palace of a house! Apparently he landed on some Greek wealth from his father, so he enjoys life showing people around Santorini and also being a videographer on the side. That's where the good pics come from.

With some time on our hands til our boat, the Celebrity Equinox, set sail for Mykonos at 10pm, Bro & I decided to take on Santorini JDOM style. JDOM, short for Junior DOM (ya get it), is my brother's friends take on living the opulent life. To the fullest, all day, everyday. They say I'm JMAT, but let's not go there!

EuroCruise 2010: Wine Tasting at Santo Winery, Santorini

After our walking trip to the town of Oia, our tour guide Arthur took us to Santo Winery for some Greek Wine tasting.

Located at the village of Pyrgos in Santorini, SantoWines sits at the edge of the Caldera. Hence, the awesome view!

I'm all for liquor consumption, and tasting the unique flavors of Santorini wine is more exciting because of the sulfur content in the soil due to the volcanic presence and the eruptions, giving their grape juice extra oomph.

Boracay Bound: Food Finds Around the Island

Apologies for the radio silence, been preoccupied lately with work as well as preparations for a big trip I will be taking soon. Watch out for that one...

Well to continue the Boracay journey we had a few weeks back, after our great dinner at Dos Mestizos we figured we had to continue the good food trip all the way to day 2&3. So our first stop for lunch?

Two Seasons Hotel, which has a fantastic blended Mojito. I had 4, well, technically 7 because one was a regular and then I had 3 buy-1-get-1s... so yeah...  I heard great things about their food, which has really improved a lot since the last time I stayed at the resort. I saw an interesting special on the menu, and just had to try it out. What was it?

Boracay Bound: Hit & Miss Meals on Day One

We arrive in Boracay a few hours shy of noon, and we were famished, so we ran to the trusty go-to Boracay restaurant for some early lunch before we began our trek for Loco Frio.

We ate at Aria, a staple dining establishment by D'Mall's entrance from the beach side at Station 2. Serving up pastas and pizzas, it's pretty up there with Cantinetta in Manila. Plus the ambience is very Mediterranean and relaxing, so this was the perfect setting to bring ourselves to beach mode.

Boracay Bound: The Wonders of Loco Frio

Here's some more tidbits from my Boracay Trip last weekend. When my roomies and I finished our lunch, we went out to search for this hidden gem that Cay had seen at some TV show. We had  (pictured above) made preparations to ensure our sloshness, but Cay was adamant that getting your hands on one of these "thingies" would guarantee a fantastic alcoholic vacation.  

 

We asked tricycle drivers and alcoholics until we found the holy grail: Loco Frio

Boracay Bound: Astoria Accommodations

People often wonder how it is possible for ToT to find time to travel while working and racketeering at the same time.  My secret? Before the New year even begins, I procure the official holiday list for the entire year and start planning my vacations in advance. It helps save on airfare, gives your friends time to be pressures to join, and it maximizes those long weekends that "happen" to creep up too late for plans. This is how I know that Labor Day weekend would be a 3-day travel extravaganza way before anyone else did or before the news announced it, alongside other weekends coming up later in the year. All you need to do is ask your lovely HR lady for a copy of the holiday calendar, and you are now well-prepared for those "last minute" Friday or Monday off.

Destination: Boracay! 

Palau Dive Diary Finale

This is going to be a good one...

Since I woke up with a view of a jet-skier from inside my room, allow me a moment of pure delusionary bliss. On to our last few hours before leaving the beautiful island that is Palau... It's been a crazy four days of diving, sharks, turtles, blue water, and delicious island food, and later on we'd be boarding a plane back to reality aka. Manila.

Palau Dive Diary Part Quattro

Back from my hiatus to continue the amazing experience that is the Palau Dive Trip. Since we have been doing this for four days already, it became almost routinary to receive amazing dive days, and so the we were expecting major finds for our final 3 dives.

As always, we had to load up on breakfast, note the overloading on dairy (chocomilk, Kraft Singles, Shmearrrr) and vitamins (fruits galore!)

Palau Dive Diary Part Tre'

Day three of our Palau Diving Expedition and it just keeps getting better. The past two days we were praying very hard for some sun and boy, did we get it! 

 

What's better than waking up from your bed to a view of the lagoon like this? Diving on warm water!!!

Naturally the dive group was happier than ever, showing a little more skin so we can get the tan that proves we were outdoors. Everyday, we pass by the numerous Palau islands on our way to the different dive sites. Here's us trying to catch some sun while enjoying the view.