will COVID go away if we say 10 nice words a day?

Thank goodness that this year has reached its end; The world has faced so much struggles and devastating events throughout this time from the occurrence of a pandemic to societal issues. 2020 may not be the perfect vision that we expected but I believe that there are still little sparks of joy while we adjust to 'the new normal'. Hence, here's my top 5 precious moments during the this 2nd decade.

My Princess Diary: University-hopping.

The pandemic continues to wreck a lot of long-time plans and I'm tired lamenting about it. I'm suppose to travel back home during my annual leave this month but unfortunately, the quarantine rules overseas remain hectic. I never want to spend my short trip on isolation. With the light and positivity to make my vacation productive, I went out of London again besides my BinJin fangirl duties. Haha!
I've journeyed to two cities with the most prestigious universities alongside a quaint village in the South. So which is better between Cambridge and Oxford? And is it really worth visiting the Cotswolds? Lets find out. ;)

*NB: Safety COVID precautions were strictly observed during these tours.

My Princess Diary: A Cornwall Staycation

Nope, I won't let this year end without any new musings. Has it really been 8 months

since my last travel? The thought is frustrating and home sickening to me as an overseas worker. Nevertheless, I'm glad that it's inching back to normal here in the UK and I hope the other countries (especially, my dear Philippines!) would go the same as well. We deserve a huge break from this quarantine biz.

Since it's still a hassle to embark on other countries at this point, I'm resuming my travelventures within the UK border instead! This is even my first time to visit the local outskirts of England 😊 Last 14th August, me and my housemates went on a staycation to Cornwall located at Southwest England.

Cornwall felt like the Philippines' Subic or Clark, Pampanga to me. It is home to sandy beach resorts with lodges/facilities owned by a family business. Thus, here's our 3-day itinerary covering some of the go-to places and must-eats in this beautiful harbor!

Taking a Break in Austria

I'm back in London last month from my heartwarming holiday in my hometown(my beloved Philippines!❤️)--nothing truly beats spending Christmas and new year with the family. I got to eat the pinoy foods as much as I can, went to the gym and many other activities which made me felt homesick when I returned to the UK 😢 We, overseas workers have that phase and there's no way out but to motivate thyself! Nevertheless, I will definitely go to Manila within this year again. And also, I spent the new year in Japan.


Our hotel is literally located in front of the Hachiko statue.

Additionally, we went to Tokyo Disneysea which I'm supposed to blog but I wasn't able to cover everything!One day is not enough for a Tokyo Disney resort--the queues for the rides are endless even with a fast pass and there's a lot of attractions. I had a good short time though and once again,I hope to be back.^^
Apart from my dramatic prologue,I went solo-travelling in Austria during my 3-days off from work.The weather and environment in London that week was stormy and sad, it triggered me much so I pushed through with my spontaneous plan. It was nerve-wrecking since this will be my first time to travel solo in EU but boy, I was so proud to conquer it. Vienna is simply amazing ❤️
This entry will cover my whole itinerary and some solo travel tips that I did in Austria. 😉

Ciao, Italy! (Part i)

(08OCT19) From the lovely Paris, I had a trip to one of its neighbouring countries: ITALY!Apparently, I was supposed to go back in London after France but since I wanted to maximize the use of my visa (as this might also be my last time to travel this year huhuuu!😭), I decided to tag along with my parent's business trip even for just a short while--3 days.Like what the heck?! I know there are many cities to explore here so I will definitely return soon!In the meantime, I tried to cover the most of Rome and the Vatican City which is bellisima beyond words.🖤

Tour de PARIS

Thanks to Big Bus Tours for the best hop on-hop off experience!

It may sound common, mainstream or whatever but my first EU trip led me to France. I honestly don't have plans of going here this year but due to itinerary reasons and as my parents came to visit me in London (yay!!),this happened. Nevertheless, I have no regrets that I started my Schengen musing here--Paris is absolutely lovely.❤️
I will give out tips and how my 5-day itinerary went in this city of love. ;D

3-Day Scottish Sensation

(21AUG19) I had a 5-day break from work and i spent 3 days of it in Scotland! ;D This is pretty much, my first spontaneous European trip in which I had mishaps throughout my booking process. It’s a pain in my pocket but let it be charged to experience. ;) Nevertheless, I’m quite a stranger to this country as some would say that the place can be boring and there’s even little info about it in the internet.   So, let me share how my trip went covering 3 cities, the transportation I used, and what you can expect in one of UK’s pride. ;D

My Quick Staycation to Northern Ireland

Here’s my first time to travel outside London..as a working resident! Well okay, lets confirm it: For the past 3 months, I’ve been staying in the UK for work purposes ;p I’ve been lurking this all along because I was juggling between duty and study alongside touring (of course! I’ve been going new places every week^^). In fact,my main reason why I got to go to Northern Ireland is for our 2nd part of the licensure exam. With God’s grace, I aced it and amidst the pressure,I was still able to explore the town even for just a very short stay.Truth be told, N.Ireland is like The Philippines’ Baguio or Tagaytay.It’s certainly one of the most serene places I’ve ever been. Why?How come?

Japan Tales: Winter at Mt.Fuji

03JAN19 My family and I went on another Mt. Fuji day tour courtesy of H.I.S Japan Local Tour. This was our 2nd time to embark on this snowy mountain yet what's more exciting is that we're going here for the winter experience!You may check out Tokyo (Part2) about my trip to Mt.Fuji's 5th station.

Japan Tales: TOKYO! (part 3)

My first travel happened too early and so does my comeback to Japan! This is for the reason that we want to experience the winter season. Thus, here we are in Tokyo! Several have been asking me if either Tokyo or Osaka is better--yet I CAN'T choose between the two! They are both lovely to visit with all the good food, shopping and attractions and I highly suggest to tour them separately as one or two days is not enough. Anyhow, Japan's capital is such a wide metropolis in which each town has its own unique theme.On this post, I will highlight briefly some of the cities that I went plus a few tips on how to travel savvy in this wonderful city. :)

Gym Life.

As I have mentioned on my first post for this year, fitness has played a part with my activities and it has been great.❤️ Way back these all began, I do have feelings of denial when it comes to my weight. I didn't care how much I ate as I always reason it out with stress or that I needed energy to function at work. Plus, the fact of being called "chubby","malusog" or anything fat-related is so unpleasant and it adds with my depressing emotions that time. I despised it.
With that,my mom enrolled me to a gym club as her christmas gift; It's a one-year membership covering all access to classes, equipments and clothing plus a nutritional assessment and 4 trial sessions with a personal trainer.
From here I'll be telling about my experiences eversince I started in January and like I said, I never thought it would be fun. ;D

#2018Recap

Let me just say, that my year was filled with a lot of plot twists. I have revisited some Asian countries and had situations that I never thought would happen.Though I became idle for the second half, I didn't find it regretful as I was able to spend more time with my family and friends before leaping to the next step of my career.We all deserve to take a break once in a while; in fact, my lax months kept me busy besides gym and travelling. ;) So here are my top 10 moments that I’d loved to repeat all over again.

Crazy, Rich, Singapore

Here's my last Asian stop to revisit and it's great to be back after 5 long years!! Singapore has been one of my favorite places mainly because of its mixed race atmosphere.Moreover, it is so safe with the many laws that they implement (i.e no chewing gum,no food & drinks inside a PUV and the newest thing I've seen,no durian in selected areas!haha).

you may want to check out my previous posts about this country ;) I'd loved to visit some of them again but with such a short stay, I wasn't able to do it already. Nevertheless, me and my family watched the Grand Prix, strolled inside Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay.

#WhenInTHAI (part 2)

Rule of thumb: NEVER leave Bangkok without going on a temple tour!

Like seriously.This country is home to exquisite temples (or "Wat" in Thai) with fine Buddha images. In fact, they can be seen everywhere for Buddhism is their main religion. Likewise, do pay respect as these are their churches and not just ordinary monuments.
For starters, it's a must to check out the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew, and Wat Pho.

Circa 2008 at The Grand Palace and here's what happens when you don't wear proper clothing:they'll made you wear a sarong!
On this trip, I visited Wat Arun and the city of Ayutthaya. :)

#WhenInTHAI (part 1)

I'm back,Suvarnabhumi Airport! I arrived in the afternoon and it was HOT---hotter than in Manila.

It was quite unexpected that I have planned to go back in Thailand after 10 years

. Yes, I have been there in 2008 and honestly me and my family did not enjoy for the reason that several mishaps had occurred during our stay (let alone, my mom's wallet got stolen in a 5-star hotel). Eversince then, we all have a mindset of not going back there until suddenly,a couple of things made me change my view about it. Thai culture has become popular nowadays based on travel blogs that I read and most of all, I became a big supporter of their former beauty queen, Maria Poonlertlarp. I have mentioned her in some of my previous posts from this year and by that time,I started to plan of visiting Bangkok again with the hope of meeting her someday. Yet, it was hard persuading my parents to let me travel there until miraculously, they have allowed me to do so. Y'all might wonder how but lets just say that I've chosen this trip over a multi-city tour to somewhere. That could have been my first but since the cost was so extreme (and I believe that I will be settling near there soon), I decided to push through with my Asian travels (and goals!Haha) instead.

And so,touchdown Bangkok for the second time! In this part, I will be talking about my activities apart from the tour that I've joined and how I met Maria P.❤️

A day at USJ!

I have conquered another visit to another Universal Studio branch and this time,it's the one in Osaka! This is actually one of the reasons why my family wanted to go in the said area of Japan because of its breathtaking attractions (which I should say, more unique than in Singapore). But I enjoyed both of it so much (you could read my USSG experience HERE) that I will recommend either of those to be seen!So here's a recap of my tour to USJ.

Japan Tales: To Sakuras and Namba foodtripping.

I'm back in Japan and it came in early as 1)I'm travelling with my family and 2) We finally made it to cherry blossom season! :D God knows how much I have fought at work to get my VL's approved this month (especially the fact that unexpectedly, I got transferred at the adult ER..but lets not talk about that for now.Haha). Our departure flight had a stop-over in Taiwan which got me more excited even if we just stayed there for an hour (and we were only inside the airport!). Yet I still find it thrilling and definitely got my hopes up that this will be my next trip soon! *fingers crossed* Though I have other Asian countries in mind to visit for the next quarter..hmm. ;)

(040218) "Will you be my WITNESS?"

I have never thought that I will STILL have the chance to watch Katy Perry inspite my very busy schedule ('career burnouts' perhaps); In fact, I was quite decided that I might really miss her concert this time 'cause I honestly couldn't afford the tickets even if i can save money for it after being on sale 5 months ago(yep,buying concert tickets on the first day is not my thing. I usually buy when it's about to be sold out!Haha!). I even slashed my idea of trying to get an M&G pass 'cause I'm losing my chances of purchasing a ticket.I joined several online contests as well but it brought me no luck. ;( Yet, coincidentally my day off from work landed on a Monday (April 2nd) since I was assigned to work during the Lenten holidays. So that whole time got me thinking: "should I go to her concert?"
Pardon me for a long foreword before I tell about the entire concert.This just means so much to me that in my language, it was 'biglaan at its finest'.Haha! Anyway, I already have my own duties on that day and none of it was to go to the concert. But apparently that time, I was scrolling for updates on the KatyCats' group until I saw people selling their tickets for a very cheap price!

I even posted my thoughts on Twitter that moment as I felt sick of having second thoughts of going to the event. However, I couldn't bring myself to pack my gym stuff anymore so my decision: I CANNOT MISS THIS CONCERT. To my mind, it'll be another 3yrs before she comes back here again so I'd go for it and tried to bargain the ticket.(nope,i didn't take that 7K offer.I bought it from someone else and I settled for a lowerbox A seat).I took the risk of commuting from my hometown to Mall of Asia for the first time alone and when I got there to meet the seller, I was shookt when he suddenly said "Miss,VIP nalang tong kunin mo ha" and from there I was somewhat out of my mind,I had another second thought that this might be a scam or something--but it's NOT!as in,oh my gosh...I'm gonna see Katy up front!!

I was so close from crying as it happened too fast; rather,medyo nawala lang ako sa sarili.Haha I'm not prepared!! But definitely,I have to enjoy this opportunity and thus,here we go with the concert proper! ;D

#2017Memories

This year has left me with a lot of learnings once again and a question suddenly occurred to me:"Have I become one of the Titas of Manila?" Haha! But one thing's for sure: I've been adulting during ze year and it's never been easy! My priorities are driven for my career yet on the side, I managed to embark on a trip on my own and day-offs spent for family and friends ❤️ Here are my top 5 moments and you may click some picture below to read the full review.

5) 2017 FILMS.
The movies that made me laugh,surprise,"kilig" and...cry.lol I used to not cry in watching but films such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "Coco" had kept me teary-eyed.Though I was touched 'cause it was beautifully produced and yet I have watched these twice in the cinemas! And of course,who would not add Fifty Shades on the list?I can't wait for my fave love story to end next Feb.❤️

4)my newest inspiration.

I've become a huge fan of Maria Poonlertlarp eversince Miss U 2017 began. I find her as the prettiest beauty queen even if she just made it to ze top 5. Majority of her latest updates are in Thai but I really don't care (lol); Some of it have translations which made me like her more and I'm proud to be one of her Asian fans☺️ I hope she gets to tour Asia someday!


3)Nihao HK//Macau!
So this is how my family spent our summer this year: visiting the outskirts of Hong Kong and cruisin through Macau.I certainly enjoyed Macau from its street foods and casino spots even for just a day. While I strongly recommend HK as a go-to place for first time travellers.My 'nihao travel series' might continue next year as I go to Taiwan!



2)Britney Spears' Concert (061517)
Her songs will always be the anthem of a teenager born in the 90's.From the classic "Baby One More Time" to "Oops I Did It Again",I believe everyone could relate to those songs! Likewise, The concert was definitely worth the wait,and worth the expense. 'nuff said!



1)Goin' Solo!
My week-long trip to Osaka has been one of the best experiences I've ever had!❤️Truth be told,many people will always doubt the wonders of solo travel but prove them wrong! My brave soul has taught me to be more independent and even with the slightest mishaps I've had there,I was still able to visit a lot of towns around the Kansai area 😍 Ergo,I promise to come back soon! And this won't also be the last time that I will go on a solo flight. ;)




Lasltly,thank you to all who have been reading my entries! Some of my old entries are underconstruction so please bear with me.I'm finding time to retrieve my other photos and likewise, I assure y'all that I'll make more updates soon!

Japan Tales: The other side of Kansai

Part of my sidetrip on my vacay to the Kansai region was to visit 3 other towns aside from Osaka namely, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe. Last Oct.17th, I joined a 12-hr sightseeing tour by Limon Shinki Bus Tour. The whole trip was literally just sightseeing and picture-taking as you only get to spend for around 90 minutes per town so therefore, there's little time to shop for that matter.Haha

Anyway, we started at 8am from bus pick-ups at Umeda and Namba-OCAT. We were quite a mix of foreigners who joined the trip so they provided English and Chinese tour guides. Besides that,we were given our itineraries as the tour offers different packages like some do not include meals or others end their trip in Nara only. Mine consisted of having a set lunch instead of a buffet and journey to 3 towns. :)