Anagon

Showing posts with label hotel-reviews. Show all posts

If you had told Summer 2024 me, during the absolute peak of my Popmart obsession, that I’d be staying in a hotel right above Popmart Myeongdong, I probably would’ve been so thrilled. 😆 This stay felt like a field trip for that era of my life, even if my collection craze has cooled down a bit since then.

That's the door to the hotel, just right next to Pop Mart's!

October 19-25, 2022

Supposed to be my last week in Korea, but won 3 online contests that I decided to extend my stay for another 9 days! (More blogs to come, hehehe)

In this chill part of the trip, I planned to finally figure out the laundry (since I don't have clean clothes na), see nearby Kdrama locations, and just settle and relax (how I wish, lol) in time for the second part of this adventure.

Last week, I was invited to attend an event in Cebu. It was a quick overnight trip to cover Cebu Pacific Air's celebration of their 200 Millionth Juan, so after all the festivities, I decided to extend my stay for a day.

I've been to Cebu several times pre-pandemic, and really enjoyed the city's variety of offerings. Aside from Korea, Cebu is a place I am comfortable traveling solo. From historical sites, to local restaurants and cafes, to Instagram worthy locations, it's no wonder most of my favorite Korean celebrities choose to go to Cebu for their vacation trips!

I've also stayed in several hotels while in the sunny south, but have a new favorite that I discovered because of this trip. Till now, I've been raving about Summit Galleria Cebu to my mom in the hopes of returning with the fam. Hopefully this summer? :)

I decided to book for a different resort during my last night in Boracay. I realized that it's a short vacation, onting pasarap is fine.

I already booked for my full stay during the 5-day trip, so I have to make peace with not getting a refund for my last night. Anyway, after 4 days of cold showers in Boracay Midtown, I was really looking forward to a comfortable last night in the island with Henann Lagoon Resort.

While looking for a place to stay in Boracay, I was deciding if I should get a luxury hotel / resort for a change.

Remember when Kim Kardashian's hotel was robbed at gun-point few years ago? People were saying it was caused by posting too much information on social media. I think I really took this celebrity gossip seriously, especially whenever I am traveling solo!

Now, I only post room tours but without giving out vital details like exact address of where I am staying, and of course careful nadin na hindi mahagip my room number on my IG Story, etc. I also don't use geotags or geo locations when posting real-time. Do you have other precautions whenever you're on a solo trip?

When I posted my Seoul accommodation on my Instagram Story, I received a lot of messages asking about its exact location. I think the price really sparked interest (less than Php 1000 per night!), but I avoided answering inquiries right away and promised that I'll blog everything after the trip.

Finally! Now that I am back home, I can finally share to you my humble "home" in Seoul for winter 2020. I'll share all the details that I can remember, and then judge for yourself if it's a space that you can stay in or not. Here goes!

First of all, I am not sure when this post will be useful again. I actually feel sad that we can't plan a Korea trip anytime soon (bye cherry blossoms and Crash Landing shooting locations! 😩) because of the NCov travel ban, but I am hoping that everything will be for the best and this will eventually die down soonest. I am just thankful that I am already back here in the Philippines before this blew up and it will be harder to fly back, but I am also praying for the people in affected areas that they may remain safe and healthy.

For now, it's nice to finally look back on each day of my recent 20-day adventure in Korea. I will take my time to write everything per day or per activity, in the hopes that soon we can book our flights to Incheon once again. Here it goes!

Stayed in the Golden Phoenix Hotel Manila last night. I've been looking for another hotel with a good central location that can accommodate our family's annual Christmas salubong (coz we're only 2 families in our mom side, one from the south and the other one from far north!).

I am considering Golden Phoenix Hotel Manila for several reasons:

I think it was 2 years ago when I slept in Singapore's airport. It was a layover for a red eye flight to Myanmar. We had few hours in Changi International Airport, so we took our sweet time. I remembered having late dinner at the 24-hour food court, riding the empty connecting Skytrain of Changi Airport, and then finally spotting empty chairs of a closed cafe which we assigned as our "beds" for the night.

It wasn't a comfortable sleep, but we survived. More importantly, it was a story that won me a blog award last year! Haha!

This year, I earned two free flights from my work with the airline SCOOT. I picked Chiang Mai because it's a place that my younger sister Cea had been raving since her own trip with her friends. I invited Ava and Paul to join me, and glad that they were super game to travel! Paul really wanted to hug elephants, while Ava naman said she needed the MomCation (Mom Vacation) which was perfect at that time since the kids were on summer school break.

I had a workation (work + staycation) last Friday in a property in Makati called KL Serviced Residences. I had lots of stuff to do around the area before the big India trip this weekend, so staying for a night in a more central location worked well in my favor as I live in the south.

It's already a known fact that I book hostels, dorms, and guesthouses for my solo trips in Korea. It's not because of preference, but it's just what I can afford at the moment without asking for any sponsors to cover for my personal travels.

It's amazing how a hostel in Korea can go as low as Php 500, and it's already in prime location. Average cost of the bed spaces I've stayed in Seoul is around Php 1000 (inclusive of extra charges). This just proves that Korea travels are more affordable compared to Japan! You can read more about my budget accommodation experiences in Korea in this post.

Through the hostel life, I also discovered so many things about myself. The things that I can endure, and what irks me! It also makes me proud how I can watch over myself, especially when I stay in spaces with minimal privacy.

I found myself back in Tagaytay last week with other travel bloggers and writers so we can experience Taal Vista Hotel--to me, the classic accommodation in this city. I was so excited to relax and maybe find photo and writing inspiration from the change of scenery.

What comes to mind when you hear La Union?

To me, it's always the laidback, back-to-basics accommodations, chill cafes and indie restos where barkadas hangout, and of course one of the most accessible surf spots from Metro Manila!

I had no plans on going to a beach trip soon, but suddenly received an invite to experience Aureo La Union and check out their newest property (condo units). I was expecting the rugged side of LU (or Elyu) that I mentioned above, and although I really love this part of the town, I was still tired from my Japan trip that I almost said no. Good thing Marj has strong convincing powers saying, "Chill lang tayo dun!" Before I knew it, I'm already in a van with fellow social media peeps bracing ourselves for a 4 to 5-hour drive up north!

True enough, we witnessed another side of this popular getaway. It provided a bit more of what I needed as of the moment: A more chill, more private, and more tita or family friendly (hehe) 5-star beach resort where I can truly RELAX.

Hay nag hihinayang ako. I lost some of my Japan phone pics. I have a whole lot more in my phone compared to my camera for those "instant" moments where I don't need to fuss so much about composition, but just to keep a piece of the memory. I think hindi ko nasave yung photos ng maayos sa laptop kong mababa ang memory (Macbook probs huhu). Mabuti nalang talaga most of these pictures and videos landed on my Instagram, IG Stories, or my family's private FB group. The more that I am grateful na I am the real time poster that I am!!

Anyway, moving forward!

We arrived in Tokyo and the sun was already down. It was dark out as I peered through our taxi's window, I think it was even drizzling. It was cold, but not as cold as Hokkaido. Bright lights of Shinjuku greeted us to Tokyo's modern city. I love it, every contrast our next stop is lending us from where we just came from were perfect.

I had my phone's Google Maps out just in case our cab driver starts to do something fishy, but I doubt it coz we're in Japan. As we were nearing the capsule hotel that I pre booked via Agoda, I felt more and more excited and even at home! Hahaha! Welcome to the KOREA TOWN of TOKYO!

I am sure almost all autumn trips are already set, but to those still booking last minute tickets or those planning to spend winter (or even early Spring!) in Korea, I decided to collect some of the hostels and guesthouses I've stayed in during my group and solo trips.

I recently watched DaraTV and learned a new term for staycation which is "HOCANCE". According to Dara, Koreans use this to shorten Hotel + Vacance (or Vacation?). After all the travels, I was inspired from her vlog to have a real vacation just here in the city, with no itineraries but just to rest and enjoy the whole afternoon!

Sabi nga nila, I need a vacation from this vacation!