The Island Explorer

There are many places that I have been to that I fall in love with. These places are the ones that are breath taking, memorable and most of all, beautiful. Recently, I have been to one of the most beautiful places in the country. And it's not in Boracay, nor in Palawan, nor in Cebu and Davao. It's in an island pretty close to Manila, around 30 minutes by plane, or 6 hours by car and boat. I have fell in love with this place, this sanctuary perched on a rock that emerges from a glistening sea. The place is Bellarocca Island Resort and Spa in Elephant Island, Marinduque. Bellarocca is one of the newest luxury resorts in the Philippines. To reach Bellarocca conveniently, one can take a Zest Air flight to Marinduque. Once in the airport, one will be greeted with a friendly and over eager staff. They take you through an hour's drive to a port where speed boats await to jet you to their island. It's the beginning of an experience that you will never forget. Bellarocca was

I live a very hectic life, when I'm not travelling. Sometimes, I even forget to eat! That's why quick meals are essential to my lifestyle. I don't prefer fast food, so I try to find meals that are worth my time. Good thing I passed by Friday's in Robinson's Galleria, and saw this ad. Friday's was offering a new promo, their Fifteen Minute Meals. If you don't get your dish in 15 minutes, then it's free. The promo is available from Mondays to Fridays, from 11AM to 2PM. For people like me, who's always on-the-go especially during lunch, it's a great proposition to dine casually without worrying about the time. We got the Hungarian Sausage and Chicken Penne Pasta. At P225, it's certainly worth it. The serving was big enough for two, but if you're hungry, you'll be able to finish one plate. The dish did come in less than 15 minutes, 11 minutes to be exact. They have cooked the dish upon ordering, since it didn't taste like a microwave

Though Kuta is where the action is, Seminyak is where the beautiful people hang out. Yes, the high society who stay in luxurious villas end up making Seminyak their home base. Thus, the neighborhood has a lot of pretty restaurants, bars and boutiques. But if you have to go to one restaurant in Seminyak, it must be institution that is KuDeTa. KuDeTa has been around for a long time, and it has been awarded several accolades for its food and dining experience. It is also a frequented spot for party goers in Bali. It's one place where celebrities lounge and pass the time with a drink of their favorite cocktail at hand. Well, KuDeTa is indeed exclusive, and thus, the prices are expensive. However, being food adventurer as well, I didn't care about the price anymore (the cheapest dish, a starter, is P500), and just hoped that the food would be at par with the dazzling ambience. We tried a watermelon smoothie with black pepper. Though the spice was unique to the taste, the watermelon

The last time I was in Bali, I stayed in Ulu Villas, thinking it was just a resort. I was shocked that it was a private compound, with only 4 rooms, all villa style. This was almost 5 years ago, and it was my first time to stay in a villa. This time, I made sure we stayed in a villa again. Bali is perhaps the birthplace of the villa concept, and thus, Bali has several options. I have been searching the net for cheap but nice villas, but I wasn't able to book one until the night before we left for Bali. The only one available was Pyaar, an Indian inspired villa in a compound called 4@Drupadi. The compound was located in Seminyak, the upscale neighborhood of Bali. I initially wanted a modern Balinese villa, but I couldn't find any. And besides, I couldn't find a price that could match the one I got. Imagine, $200 a night for a 3-bedroom villa. And the pictures from the net didn't look bad. So, I went for it, and told my agent to make the booking. Imagine my expression whe

On my last trip to Bali, I was not able to go to Ubud, the premier highlands town of the island, around an hour's drive from Kuta. Ubud is the supposed center of arts and culture of Bali, luring artists, writers and other creative minds. To us Filipinos, Ubud will look like Tagaytay, sans the beautiful Taal Volcano. It has the same atmosphere, cool and pleasant weather, and lush vegetation that stems from the mountainous backdrop. Ubud has attracted a lot of designers from local to international ones, thus, making it a great place to visit some fabulous design hotels and restaurants. We only had 3 hours to spend here though, as we intended to just have lunch in a hillside Indonesian restaurant. Ubud has more Western visitors than Asian visitors and I could see why. Ubud is a mountain village, painted with green rice fields, cascading waterfalls and gushing rivers and creeks. It can be any of the millions of rice plantations we have in the Philippines. What makes Ubud so special is