The Island Explorer

Langkawi is a laid back island in the north eastern part of Malaysia. Next to Penang, it is perhaps the most visited island in the Islamic state. It is a well-known island destination in the region, where you can find a lot of high end resorts. The Datai, one of the top resorts in the world is located exclusively on Datai Bay north of the island. Upon arrival, we immediately hired a Proton Sedan for us to get around. We were surprised at the price we bargained for! Imagine, just 2,000 pesos for 3 days! Of course, without the gas, but that was one of the best car rental deals I have had. The Langkawi Lagoon Resort was our home for 2 nights. It was a beautiful resort and was affordable. We stayed at the hotel part of the resort that cost us roughly P3,500 a night. It had a nice view of the ocean and the swimming pool. The room was huge and even had a kitchen facility. You can't find anything like that here in the Philippines I think. Langkawi doesn't know time. It is such an idy...

Kuala Lumpur is growing on me. When I first came here two years ago, I thought it was a boring city. I just visited the KL Tower, the Petronas and Bukit Bintang. I was only there for 2 days. I came back the next year with my daughter, and still went to the same places. Recently I was there for 3 days, now on my own without any agenda. This post is not about KL but more about the snack times I had. Some famous restaurants I patronize in Malaysia are Secret Recipe (now here in Manila) and Seed (which is a cafe of the same clothing brand). I am not such a fan of Malaysian food, since it's like Singapore's. I like their Rendang though and their Fried Chicken which is just like ours. What I like about this is their rice and sidings! You can never get something this complete here, at the same price as a Fully Loaded Meal in KFC. Anyway, there's this newly opened mall, the Pavillon, along Bukit Bintang, in front of the Marriot. The mall was huge and high end. It reminded me of the...

I finally had lunch in Joey Pepperoni along Pioneer in Mandaluyong. The casual American-Italian restaurant is located below the RFM Bldg. I was surprised to see that their menu had more than just pizza, and that it looked more like Yellow Cab mashed up with A Venetto. I ordered their Asparagus soup which was too watery, but at least had flavor. It tasted like instant soup. Their pizza was surprisingly good. I am a fan of their thin crust which was really deserving of a rave. It was neatly thin, burnt just right and brought out the flavors of the toppings with ease. The pizza below was the Scampi Pizza. My friend Mai also ordered Penne pasta that had a tomato-based cream sauce. It was good, but nothing spectacular. For P160 bucks, it could feed two, so it was a good bargain. Another friend Parx ordered the Chicken Parmigiana, which was supposedly my choice. But since I don't like ordering the same dish as someone else, nor allow anyone to order the same dish as someone else as well...

A trip to Davao is also a trip to the Island Garden City of Samal for me. The neighboring island province makes a Davao trip just complete and more worthwhile since I am a beach lover. When people think of Davao, people think of Pearl Farm, when it is actually in Samal. I have been to Paradise Island Resort twice, being the most accessible beach from Davao City. It's so near, you could have lunch there and go back afterwards. This time, we had the time to explore more of Samal. We didn't make any plans, so after staying at Paradise, we went back to the city to catch a ferry to Talicud Island off Samal as our ultimate destination. It was described as a rustic island paradise, with white sandy beaches and fantastic coral life. We took a ferry to Talicud Island from Sta. Ana Port in Davao City. The boat left at 12 noon, and arrived in Talicud an hour and a half later. We were supposed to stay at Isla Reta so we took a stupid 2 minute boat ride from the port to Isla Reta, which tur...