Discover The World Via Holiday Cruise

Have you ever been on a cruise? If you haven’t, good to know that the sailing itself plus the boat’s amenities are what make the experience exciting! It’s a great way of rewarding yourself for completing a year or two of hard labor. If you’re going by your lonesome, fine, coz it means less expense. 

However, if you’re going in a group or as a family then, that would entail perhaps, those extra cash incentives, bonuses, overtime pays, all for the sake of loved ones. Be aware though, going on a cruise holiday is no simple joke.

Planning Is A Must

I must say, three months of thorough planning is good before you actually take the plunge.

• Where would you like to go and why?
• How long will you be gone and with whom?
• How much can you afford, given the length, destinations and number of company involved in your cruise?
• Do you already have the necessary documentations required of this voyage?

These and many more are the kind of questions to ask yourself to guide you through.

Making A Reservation

Where before you might find it tedious to make a reservation via telephone call or actually paying your favorite travel agency a visit, today, it’s pretty fast and simple. 

If you are technology-literate, a click of the button will bring you to numerous websites offering reasonably-priced cruise deals. Yes, you just have to assess which one of those offers suit you best in terms of budget, time frame and destinations. The best packages most often come inclusive of so many perks like discounts on gadgets, food, drinks, and more.

On site, you’ll find whether a ship is a new or old. You’ll likewise see photos of their bar, dance floor, cabins, the pool as well as the roof deck area. 

And check out the menu beforehand including the dining area if these as well, suit your taste. There are cruises that have special offers like ocean view films for the showbiz fanatic.

On top of those matters, you still have to consider the shore and land excursions, the port shopping where you would need to carry a substantial amount of cash, just in case. 

Whatever your choice,  make sure that your holiday should be worth every cent. Finally, have somebody you can trust to watch your over home while you’re holidaying. 

Bon Voyage!!!
Happy Cruising!!!

The Bliss That Travelling Brings

What makes travelling so fascinating? Why do most people love to travel? Well, first of all, there’s a change of scenery or environment whenever you get to a certain place new to you.

Second, no matter how timid you are, you will always have the opportunity to meet a new friend or two even if you don’t remember their names.

And third, ahhh the memories backed up by selfies and groupies! Years may pass but never the exciting memories etched in your mind forever or in social media, perhaps!

The Wanderlust In Me

I’ve been to a lot of places in the Philippines, some awesome while others are just so-so. My first trip outside of my hometown of Davao was when I was 13 years old.

My father (may he rest in peace), used to bring us siblings to summer vacations to where his ship went. You see, he was a ship purser. We’ve been to GenSan, Zambo, Cebu, Iloilo, Manila, back in the 70s.

During my college days in Cebu, my boardmates used to go home to their respective hometowns during the sem break and more often than not, I used to be alone in the boarding house during breaks. So, I thought maybe, it would be kind of fun if I went with them to their areas. So, vacation times saw me travelling to Oslob, Sibonga and Tabuelan, Lapu-lapu City, all in Cebu, plus Cagayan de Oro and Surigao, all in Mindanao.

Then again, my job after college as a social development worker also brought me to different places – Bacolod, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Manila, plus different municipalities of Cebu. Of course, since the internet wasn’t popularly-used and no smartphones yet in those times, the memories were left between the pages of the photo albums!

In my lifetime, I have switched careers that likewise made me travel, this time to places where there were Muslims and Indigenous Peoples, mostly in Davao, Cotabato, Marawi, Iligan, Zamboanga, Ipil, Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro.

Then, as a freelance community development worker, my involvement with Plan International, World Vision and Save The Children again had me travelling to their respective areas of coverage such as Sarangani, Cotabato and Davao Oriental.

My family holidays as well entailed travelling to Surigao, Lake Sebu, and Mati, Davao Oriental.

My Foreign Travels

I had my first crack at seeing other lands outside of my own country Philippines, in the summer of 2017, courtesy of my kid sister and niece. They sponsored my very first leisure trip to Hongkong and Macau, China. And since the happiness and enjoyment cannot be contained anymore, I had to blog about them and shared the excitement I felt to the whole wide world.  Here are the links:

https://marinorgonzaga.blogspot.com/2017/10/welcome-to-macau-in-this-blog-im-going.html

https://marinorgonzaga.blogspot.com/2017/10/h-ello-travel-fanatic-friends-all-over.html

https://marinorgonzaga.blogspot.com/2017/06/hong-kong-disneyland-6-hours-of-fun.html

https://marinorgonzaga.blogspot.com/2017/05/hong-kong-my-first-experience-was-like.html

Now that I’m nearing retirement, I am looking forward to travelling again, whether domestically or globally. Who knows where my itchy feet will bring me next?

Well-liked Travel Quotes

Just curious, what is really the substance of travel? To borrow from some popular writers, below are terrific quotes personally hand-picked to best describe the very heart of travel:

“If we were meant to stay in one place, then, we’d have roots instead of feet.”

“It’s better to see some place once than to hear about it a thousand times.”

 “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.”

“Travelling isn’t something you’re good at. It’s something you do – like breathing.”

And so on, and so forth.

So, there you are. No more words are needed to understand why travelling is a very significant thing to do in life. 

How about you – do you have an interesting travel quote to share?

My Happiness

General Santos City

Mt. Apo, Kapatagan, Davao Sur

Taoist Temple, Cebu

Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur

Cordova, Cebu

Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), Hong Kong

Lake Sebu, South Cotabato

Disneyland, Hong Kong

Macau, China

Macau - A Sight-seeing Trip To Asia's Gambling Mecca

Welcome to Macau!

In this blog I'm going to show you Macau. For those who haven't heard of it, here's a food for thought:

Macau or otherwise spelled as Macao, is an autonomous region situated in the southeast coast of China. If you know Las Vegas in USA as the gambling capital of the world, be amazed that this once sleepy fishing port has grabbed the title, according to reports.

Being Asia's popular gambling Mecca, of course, big and small time gamblers sail to the place which is just an hour away by ferry from Hong Kong!

Unfortunately, my friends and I didn't go there to gamble because first, we don't have the capital. And second, we don't advocate gambling.


We went there as a side trip from Hong Kong to immerse in its beauty even for just a day only. This city inhabited by less than 600,000 people, is home to cobblestone lanes, colonial mansions and buildings, churches, parks, temples and many more. Both Chinese and Portuguese motifs and influences are so apparent in Macau.

To get to Macau, you have to take the ferry. It's good that from where we billeted along Jordan St., it was only one ride to the ferry terminal. The best thing, you need not secure a visa; just your passport will do if you're in HK. At the ferry terminal, everything was so systematic and fast. Note the cleanliness.

So here, again, I won't be wordy but, more of picturesque-ky. Enjoy my pics!!!

Enjoying the ferry ride

1st stop at the iconic ruins of St. Paul's Church

Senado Square

A closer look at the ruins

Macau Tower

At the entrance to Macau Tower

Cobblestone pavement in city square

Popular landmark at Senado Square

The Venetian Macao, world- renowned gambling complex

EXHILARATING SIGHTS AT THE VENETIAN MACAO

We didn't even try the gondola ride as it was quite pricey

OTHER CASINOS WE CHANCED UPON

CHURCH/TEMPLE/SHOPPING CENTERS

OTHER INFLUENCES: CHINESE/JAPANESE/PORTUGUESE

So, there you have it folks...I have just toured you to Macau in a matter of minutes. Everything in the city is worth the shots. For sure, you'd take more than enough pictures when you yourself get there. 

Ocean Park Hong Kong - You've Met My Expectations

Hello travel-fanatic friends all over the world!!!

As promised, I am sharing with you my experience at Ocean Park Hong Kong. Seems like it was only yesterday when my buddies and I visited the place yet, it's been around 7 months after that I'm writing this.

Y'all know I've been so busy with full-time job as a professional writer, then I went to Cebu for a much needed week-long vacay in September, wrote reviews for Tripadvisor, then spent some time to my long-overdue free eBook, and on top of all these,  just started our online travel business (Facebook page Trouvaille Tours Davao)...Whew! With all these tasks, who can sit down and write her thoughts about travelling?

Well anyways, it's here now whether you like to read or not!!

Since it's my first time to be in an ocean park (Philippines has got one in Manila), I had high expectations of Ocean Park Hong Kong. And true enough, the park was beyond my expectations. At first I only imagined aquatic life in all its splendor, but then, I saw more than that. Since I cannot fully express my experience in words, I have to share it with pictures:

That's the most iconic view of Ocean Park in Hong Kong

I think the most exciting moment was my first cable ride ever. I've been on  a plane many times before but being on a cable car is much more fascinating. You're on top of the world and yet, oh so near! The views down below the Hong Kong skyline is just so magnificent. Again, words aren't enough, so please witness my exhilaration through these photos:

Truly, Hong Kong in general is dream-come-true for first-time travellers abroad like me. I remember what our Chinese tour guide said - that HK lives on tourism and what keeps their  tourism alive is the word-of-mouth promotion of people who have been there. Now, I'm doing my share. Why don't you go, too and see it for yourself?

AQUATIC LIFE IN OCEAN PARK

Soooo eerie down there and cold...

OTHER ATTRACTIONS

 Trained sea lions...

Happy Feet in convergence

The rides...

ANIMAL SHOWCASE

THE COLORS

Please watch out for my next adventure: Macau!