The new campaign of the Department of Tourism (DOT) became viral since it’s launch last January 10. Despite some criticism, majority embraced the slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!” as a positive strategy to a more exciting tourism industry this year.

Weekend Haven is more than happy to participate and show some love to pay homage to why we itch on exploring the Philippines and it’s 7,107 beautiful islands.

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Let’s keep our wanderlust on fire and discover more of the Philippines this dragon year, shall we?

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To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.

~ Bill Bryson

A visit to Thailand  isn’t complete without a trip to  a floating market. Escape to an exciting showcase of local custom,  rustic atmosphere and colorful ambiance.

Thailand’s most famous floating market is the vibrant Bangkok Floating Market or  Damnoen Saduak located in Ratchaburi Province. It’s around 105 kilometers away from the bustling city. Despite it’s distance, tourists and vendors alike flock the massive market catering everything from exotic food to fresh fruits to great bargains.

Thailand’s exotic food or not. I dare not to get near this stall.

We only have half a day to spare and the travel time to Damnoen Saduak will take away long hours of our time. Pursuing travel means we have to take a package tour, else burden ourselves and get lost with the blurry sketches on going there.   So, we checked out a nearby alternative that’s easier to navigate. You know we always do an off the beaten path exploration and itching DIO (do-it-ourselves) rather than taking a package tour.

Amphawa Floating Market it is!

After our early shopping at Platinum Mall and Pratunam Area, we checked out from Old Charm House by lunch time. Our host offered to keep our luggages until our flight that evening. We then hurried to catch the skytrain to  Victory Monument.

How to get there:

1. Ride the skytrain and get off at Victory Monument.

2. Find the bus terminal and hop on to a van going to Amphawa. Fare is around 70 baht per pax. Make sure to *tell the driver or operator that you’re getting off at Amphawa Floating Market. Get an interpreter if you must. =P

3. Enjoy the scenic landscape or sleep for about 2 hours.

The hard rain made us worry if we’ll get there on time, we can only hope that it wouldn’t ruin our last minute tour. Travel time is around 2 hours. We got lost initially since our driver wasn’t aware that we are getting off at Amphawa Floating Market. We *missed our stop. Good thing  he arranged for our transfer at another van going  back to the same direction.

Getting lost is part of the fun. I know Iphone maps has made my life easier now, but I’ll still prefer to get lost and take all the adventure I can, most of the time. teehee!

Amphawa Floating Market is open on weekends from 12 noon onwards. Perfect for the late risers! Enjoy good food, local music and busy friendly atmosphere. There are also boat tours to nearby wats.

The canal is filled with small boats maneuvering for the best place to sell  goods. It’s totally chaotic, especially when you see how they fit a lot of stuff into such small space. Slightly larger boats carry passengers for a fee.

Too bad we can’t stay long enough, the least we could do is try native delicacies and sweets like this yummy ice kacang.

Needless to say, our short visit requires a comeback. I hope soon. We can probably try a cruise to the river. Or husband will volunteer to taste spiders. lol.

Going back, we were greeted with heavy traffic. We raced to get our luggages from our host and head straight to the airport for our midnight flight. A bit crazy sked but we made it!

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

~ Oriah, Mountain Dreamer

I wake up on our 2nd day not feeling well. This is probably the effect of basking out on a hot weather the day before and cooling down at the mall afterwards. Bed rest is so tempting yet I wouldn’t dare missed the fun, so I bid goodbye to our lovely sanctuary and hit the road.

The Grand Hall of Wat Maha That, Sukhothai

Our destination: Ancient City, the Gateway to Thailand’s Cultural Heritage  located just outside Bangkok, in the province of Samut Prakan. An off the beaten path must-see when you’re pressed for time to explore the whole of Thailand.

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Kuan-Yin) Performing a Miracle

How to get there? Easy. We hopped on a skytrain to On Nut Station and took a cab going to the Ancient City in less than an hour. Cost us around 150 baht for one-way taxi. There’s a cheaper option by bus though but it will cost us more time and we’ll probably get lost. haha.

Ancient City, also known as Muang Boran, is the largest outdoor museum in world. It takes you to the heritage of Thai wisdom and discover the arts, cultures, religions and customs of Thai people. It’s also an exceptional experience  to walk through a wide range of architectural symbols in fine Thai craftsmanship on a natural environment.

The Buddha Image of Dvaravati Period

Admission rate is 350 baht per person for foreigner. A map is provided which is really helpful if you are not hiring a guide.

Bicycles are free to use and a tram for big group can be rented for a fee. We prefer to use the Golf cart though. Yey! Golf cart for 2 is up for rent for 100 baht per hour. We planned to cover the whole place in  about 3 hours on quick view, not going down on each and every architecture.

Pavilion of the Enlightened

The 320 acre outdoor museum is an architectural reflection of Thailand’s magnificent past. On the area as large as 600 rais, both the copies and the artifacts of the archaic sites and relics of historically and culturally national importance are laid out in the fittingly relevant pattern and environment. More than that, the visitors can deeply absorb the great diversity of architecture, arts and religions, not to mention ways of living.

that’s me on the go for most of the tour

Hence, the Ancient City can’t be included with the replicas or miniature cities, but it is by its own virtue the reflection of the old-day cities, bringing the Thai back to touch and feel the ancient Siam Kingdom.

To freshen up, we decided to have lunch in one of the restaurants at the floating market.

Overall, we enjoyed our short tour. This is such a wonderful place to learn heaps about Thailand in just a span of four hours without being trapped with loads of tourists. Too bad we can’t stay long enough for sunset, shopping is way too hard to resist. haha.

See our Thailand itinerary here.

A nomad I will remain for life,
in love with distant and uncharted places.

~ Isabelle Eberhardt

After a hot midday tour at the Grand Palace, we moved on to few more temples. There are a lot of Wats nearby, and visiting all of them can be pretty mind blowing.

Outside the Grand Palace, we asked the security personnel on directions to Wat Pho. Sadly he can’t speak english so he called up this guy from the corner which in turn tricked us to a tuktuk ride. The ride was certainly cheap which will take us to the nearby temples and later on  to Wat Pho. He told us about a current national event held in Wat Pho so its best to go there in the afternoon when it’s less crowded.

Shortly after boarding the tuktuk, I realized that we were off to a scam deal. There has been a lot of writings about the tuktuk ride so I felt hesitant to continue since we were on a very tight schedule and we can’t tolerate and buy time to make a stop to a jewelry shop, a tailoring shop or any exorbitant souvenir shop, that aren’t part of our itinerary.

I immediately told the driver to just drop us to the first temple and then were off to Wat Pho. Oooops, too late.

He refused and beg us to just explore the jewelry shop so  he’ll get a  gas refund ticket. We felt sorry for him so we’ve been nice but it got really annoying when he dropped us to 2 more shops for his gas tickets and asked us to stay for about 10 minutes on each. That killed 2 hours of our precious time?@#$!!

Finally reached Wat Pho, one of the largest and oldest Wat in Bangkok. It is the house of a 46 meters long and 15 meters high gold plated reclining Buddha. The feet and eyes are engraved with mother of pearl and illustrates the passing of Buddha into Nirvana.

The Wat Pho complex consists of two walled compounds. It houses more than 1000 Buddha images in total, most from the ruins of the former capitals of Ayutthaya and Sukhothai.

We did a quick round and headed out. Since we swear off to use tuktuk for the rest of our Thailand journey, the mister and I decided to wander by foot and find our way to the Giant Swing in front of Wat Suthat. The 88 feet tall giant swing was formerly used for the swing ceremony, one of the 12 royal ceremonies during King Rama I regime. The ceremony was discontinued after several participants fell to their death. Today,  it is one of the famous tourist attraction in Bangkok.

Further ahead, we saw the Democracy Monument at the center of Bangkok. It was built in 1939 to commemorate the 1932 Siamese coup d’etat. It led to the end of a 150-year old absolute monarchy and Thailand’s constitutional government was born.

Of course we can’t missed Thailand’s Khao San Road, the backpackers and budget travelers haven where the cheapest accommodations and best travel deals are within reach. This is yet the most lively part of Bangkok where you can find everything, from places to stay, variety of dining options and souvenir shops, open 24 hours.

Soi Rambuttri is a bit laid back than Khao San Road but hosts a number of budget options as well.

We sampled the most popular thai dish, pad thai from one of the street stalls. A stir-fried noodles that tasted heavenly!

On to our next destination, Mahakan Fort, one of the two remaining fortresses in Bangkok. It is built to protect the eastern entry point to the island. Behind the fort is a recently converted small park where we rested and killed time for sunset.

A refreshing sight awaits us at the resting area overlooking the river and Rama VIII Bridge.

Just a few steps away is the terminal where we boarded Chao Phraya Express Boat back to the Central Station. We were supposed to wait for night time to catch Wat Arun lightings but we only  have 30 minutes left before the last trip and it’s not even close on getting dark.

Wat Arun or “Temple of the Dawn” is best viewed during sunset and evening where it makes an impressive silhouette against the skyline. Perhaps the most striking riverside landmark in Thailand.

Since we were out the whole day and we wanted some cold treats, we went mall hopping during the night. We window shopped at Siam Paragon and MBK. I’m quite disappointed since I can  buy the same items back home (particularly in Divisoria and Tutuban) at fairly cheaper price.

We discovered something though, street stalls offer better deals, for the same item.

And what better way to cap of the day than a sweet ice cold treats from  Swensen’s!

For him, strawberry stripes and for me, butterscotch brownie  sundae. It’s high time to indulge and were lost for words. Mmmmm.

Reflections, Ancient City

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It’s our first time in Thailand, so we decided to dig deeper into it’s heritage and wander around the country’s capital, Bangkok.

We only have 3 days to indulge with Thai’s culture, food and adventure, although I must admit that the Land of Smiles is worth coming back again and again. I never really said goodbye, because my intuition tells me that I’m going to see it again soon.

So many temples to check out in one day, and then there’s shopping. I’ll go crazy on both.

Our beautiful accommodation is a secret hideaway from the bustling city of Bangkok. It’s just a walking distance away from BTS Skytrain and Pratunam Area. I can’t wait to go back.

We may run, walk, stumble, drive, or fly, but let us never lost sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way.

From wandering around Borobudur Temple, we continued the day to a short trip at a Batik Shop, then headed to Prambanan Temple. The heat didn’t spare us with exhaustion and by the time we reached our car service, Mr. Haven Hunter and I immediately fell into slumber.

Needless to say, we aren’t aware how much traffic we have to go through. I’m not sure if our driver Toto was following a speed limit or he really drives moderately. We reached Prambanan Temple at 5:00 PM, that left us an hour to wander around it’s full glory until it closes for the day.

We headed to a separate building where foreigners can lounge and pay for the entrance fee. Rates are: Adult USD 15 & Student USD 8. This already includes refreshments, coffee or water at the lounge area and Camera & Video Fee.

Prambanan is the ninth century Hindu temple compound in Central Java, Indonesia, dedicated to Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Sustainer (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Shiva). It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia. There are 224 temples in the complex; dominated by three towering temples on the central terrace.

These ancient masterpieces of Hindu architecture is more beautiful and intricate than Borobudur Temple. It feels eerie to touch something historical as this site. It is as if it bounces an immeasurable energy to tell everyone it’s bygone story beyond the massive ruins.

Only few people were roaming around by sunset, perhaps most tourists were still battling they’re way out of Borobudur Temples. Sheesh, I still can’t get over how overly crowded it was.

By 6 PM we started to walk towards the exit. We were actually looking for the entrance to Prambanan Open Air Theatre for the evening performance of Ramayana Ballet, but were unsuccessful. Good thing, Toto, fetch us through the entrance door, and said he’ll just drop us to other gate. We urge Toto to first find us some good place for dinner before we head to the 7:30 PM Show.

He drives towards Prambanan Garden Cafe right next to the entrance door of the theatre. Oh no. It was out of budget but the Mister insist that we try the dinner buffet. As if we had a choice, inasmuch as we wanted, they don’t offer any ala carte.

Prambanan Garden Cafe has a lovely setting anyways, across the lawn from our table, the evening glow of Prambanan temple looks amazing. The whole complex is illuminated with yellowish light bulbs. The moon peaks from the sky.

This is the view from our table. See how lovely the evening is. Who can resist paying for a hefty IDR 70,000 each Dinner Buffet for that beautiful landscape?

The menu includes Asian delicacies that I recognized, but I only had one go, since I’m not really hungry.

After our sumptuous and expensive dinner, we headed our way to the entrance gate. Since we already bought our tickets at Sosro Tours, we only paid for the use of camera inside the theater. I find it odd that you have to pay for video and photo. I was actually disappointed that we didn’t get the VIP tickets earlier that day, since we actually spent the same thing, having to dine at the restaurant.

VIP tickets get the front row seats and and are indulged with snacks and refreshments plus a buffet dinner at the Restaurant.  While we get to seat at the Premium Area.

The Ramyana Ballet is a dramatic performance that tells the epical dimensions and living legend for millennia. It is a story of Ramayana, the classic Hindu tale of honour, magic and courage. This ancient literature focus on the tale of the heroic Prince Rama and his loyal wife Sita.

Performed on various dates over a six-month period, the Ramyana Ballet involves hundreds of dancers and is performed in a wonderful outdoor setting within the country’s famous Prambanan temple complex. Built in the ninth century, the temple is the largest complex of its kind in Java and is famed throughout the whole of Indonesia for its spectacular beauty.

This performance is able to unite various Javanese arts such as dance, drama and music on one stage and one momentum to present the Ramayana story, a legendary epos written by Walmiki in Sanskrit language.

I’m so bad at waiting time. I actually lost count on how many times I doze off before and during the show. The 3 hours show is so not good for sleepless souls. Don’t get me wrong but the performance is awesome. The choice of music though, gets into my spine that sets me off to dreamland.

After the show, we were given a chance to go on stage and take photos with the performers.

Toto was waiting for us at the parking area. He dropped us at Jalan Sosrowijayan and call it a night.

Mr. HH and I just changed clothes and check out if we can do some souvenir shopping at Malioboro Street. Turns out the shops are starting to close to make way for “lesehan” or night dining.  Warung is a store that sells food and drinks, while lesehan means sitting on mats.

I’m still full from our buffet dinner so we just got a refreshment from the nearby 24-hours McDonald’s. We went back to our room and prepare for our early day 2: Road Trip from Jogja to Bromo.

You can check out our full Indonesia itinerary here.

We woke up to a weekend of good food at Legazpi Sunday Market 5th Anniversary Celebration. A diverse selection of goods ranging from specialty foods, fruits and vegetables, breads, organic products, gourmet items, fabrics, art pieces, plants and more.

We started the day with the appetizing Takoyaki Balls, Chorizo Paella and Lengua Estofada from Spanish Cuisine Paellas. I could have ordered Wagyu Paella and Paella Negra if I wasn’t so full on my first serving.

LSM offer a cultural mix of cuisine from Filipino dishes to Indonesian, Chinese, Spanish, French, Korean and more. Almost all parts of the country is represented too, from Lechon Cebu, Kapampangan Homemade Classic Empainada to Negros’ Budbud-Kabog. Ah, we can spend the whole afternoon here, celebrating good life!

We went around and found some wonderful art pieces, handcrafted items, ceramics and colorful fabrics. One can find great bargains from the many bazaar stalls. As the afternoon sizzles, more families came in to spend a day-out, probably to eat and shop together.

The Grand Buffet was the main event for the Anniversary Celebration where a long list of Legazpi Market’s food vendors offer their exquisite dishes to a One-Go Buffet for only P180.00 each. Darn, we shouldn’t have eaten earlier.

We had to leave before the heavy rain started to pour in and spent a healthy walk to the strange serenity of the usually bustling Ayala/Makati life.

Legazpi Sunday Market is located at corners of Legazpi and Rufino Streets, Legazpi Village, Makati. It’s near Union Church of Manila. Open every Sunday from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

We were optimistic about the weather and hopeful with our shoestring itinerary to Yogyakarta, the southern part of Central Java, Indonesia.  Continuing the first day of our Java Journeys, we met Rudy and Toto from Sosro Tours.

We still have a few minutes before our car service shows up and so we asked Rudy where we can have our money exchange. He pointed us to Mulia Money Changer inside the perimeter of Inna Garuda Hotel. It’s along Jalan Malioboro, and they have good rates compared to the one at the airport. Oh boy, I was a millionaire in a day.  Exchange rate was: US$1 = Rp 9,000.

We manage to freshen up back at our room before heading out to meet Toto, our driver for the day.

I forgot to mention that I was surprised to learn that Indonesia uses right-hand drive vehicles. Nevertheless, we were comfortable with our service car, the Suzuki APV and its quite early to tell how bad the traffic can be.

Toto don’t speak that much, maybe because his knowledge in english is pretty limited. Accordingly, we practiced the little english-indonesian phrases we brought with us. We did pretty great though because he took us to a fine Batik shop in the afternoon.

Before we hit 25 miles away out of town to Borobudur, we stop by a gasoline station, and I was amazed that there are a number of females working as Gas Station Attendants here. Quite a tough job for ladies, I’m all hats off to them.

We continued the road trip from Jakarta to Magelang. We passed by several shops that sells Stone Sculptures and Statues. They were of intricate details of Buddha and other garden materials. It would have been nice if we had photos of them, but as you can see we were really exhausted and we can’t help but steal a few naps  along the way.

By the time we reached, Borobudur Temple Compounds, it was already 1 in the afternoon at a scorching heat of probably the hottest weather in Central Java.

There were lines in the cashier but then I have to ask if foreigners go on the same line too, then they pointed me out to another building.

On that account, we entered a nearby building, a special door for foreign visitors. Air-conditioned lounge with free drinks. This comes with a hefty price tag too. Entrance fee to Borobudur Temple:

For Non-Indonesians, US$15 or Rp 135,000.
For Registered Students, US$ 8 or Rp 72,000.
For Locals and Indonesian Adults, Rp 15,000 or less than US$2

Camera and Video Camera fees are already waived for Non-Indonesians.

I have been naughty a bit, and showed them my “student ID” so I can get a discounted rate. Then paid for the regular fee for Mr. HavenHunter. He could pass as a student too you know, but I forget to get his card on time.

We slid out of the other side of the room and were greeted by a vast lawn and hundreds of tourists and locals too. Some were having a picnic, some resting under the trees and the others strolling. We chanced upon the toy train, waiting for passengers, so we hopped in.

A while later, we were in the foot of Borobudur Temple. It was a magnificent Unesco World Cultural Heritage Site dating from 8th century AD. It was built in three tiers, a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha. The monument was restored with UNESCO’s help in the 1970s.

It’s near proximity to Mt. Merapi and Mt. Merbabu caused Borobudur Temple to be partially buried after a massive eruption in the 10th century.

The heat is unforgiving. It was too much, and it doesn’t help that thousands of people, students, visitors and locals are already crowding the place. It was hard to find a good angle without those umbrellas and heads blocking the way.

The monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. Intricate carvings depicting the teachings of Buddha cover every wall of Borobudur.

In Indonesia, ancient temples are known as candi; thus “Borobudur Temple” is locally known as Candi Borobudur. Located at the centre of ancient Borobudur structure is a central stupa that signifies Buddha’s enlightenment and a symbol of eternity. It’s the world’s largest Buddhist stuppa. Unlike the 72 bell-shaped smaller stupas surrounding the terrace, there’s nothing on the central stupa – empty because it represents Nirvana.

If only we have the whole afternoon to spare, it would be nice to camp in the ground, have picnic or go biking.

By the time we went down, we were already exhausted.

Going through the exit, we passed by the market alley which sells a lot of souvenir items. We should have grabbed a few goods but we were really short of time. We met Toto at the parking lot.

About 3km away from Borobudur going back to Yogyakarta, we stopped by at another temple, Candi Mendut.

Candi Mendut is built in 9th century AD. It is the oldest of the three temples, the other two is Pawon and Borobudur. These three Buddhist temples are located in one straight line, which is believed to be of religious reason.

Back on the road, we took  our free time to catch up on sleep, but not until we were sure that Toto understood that he’ll take us to a good  Batik Shop. He said he knows an old shop known for quality batiks.

An hour later, we arrived at Griya Batik Raisa. We found a nice batik fabrics on sale at Rp 100000 each. We bought some to take home as souvenirs for my mom and my mother-in-law.

Our next stop is Prambanan Temple & Ramayana Ballet. Find out how we beat the traffic and made it an hour before Prambanan closed for business.

Selamat Jalan,

Borobudur Stupa, Java, Indonesia

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