Northern Exposure The Second Time Around

Ilocos Province. Eleven years ago, I visited Ilocos Region and had my first taste of bagnet, chichacorn and the local longganisa. So this time, I came back to relive that trip together with my friends. We started at the far north where I also started before. But this time we have a car with us so we can really get in to all the places we really wanted to go.

A post shared by Joseph Gerald Legaspi (@sigeraldto) on Jun 30, 2017 at 4:57am PDT

Alhambra and the town of Granada, Spain

This charming little town of Granada situated in the Southern part of Spain is a lush town surrounded by vineyard. It was summer when I went there but the old charm of the place is just wonderful. The town is tucked in with the view of Alhambra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is the grandest place to see in Granada. This place is made up of Islamic architecture and have been well maintained.

Alhambra is easily accessible by local buses but if you are the adventurous type, you may hike up from center of the town. Despite the number of tourists coming here, the center of the town does not look like it gets very crowded from any time of the day. I love how laid back the whole town feels like even though there is an existence of a lot of modern establishments. Granada, or Pomegranate, or grenade if I will translate it from my language, is a place I would definitely enjoy to retire with a bottle of red wine on my hand.

Marseille and Aix-en-Provence

Marseille, a port city, and Aix, a landlocked town, both in Provence, Southern France are two of the best places I have seen in this country. These two cities are completely different yet it left me with the hope of coming back again.

Here are photos of Marseille.

Surprising Macau: Christmas in this wonderful city.

Oh Macau, you surprise me with your charm. I never thought I would love your city but I did despite a very tight 3 days 2 nights stay, you still managed to deliver the best of a heritage-filled city and the cosmopolitan side of all the glitz and glam of your stunning casinos. Words are not enough for me describe you but here are my best shots of your city. Enjoy.

from Jodhpur to Jaipur and Agra, from Delhi to the mountains of Dharamsala: 16 Days in India

It was an exciting, adventurous, scary and wary mix of feelings I had before embarking on a 16-day trip to India. I remember telling myself before that I don't think I will ever set foot on this country but here I am, writing about this on my last day here in this wonderful place. So before my flight tonight, let me recap the last 16 days of this adventurous ride all over the state of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and the endearing capital city of Delhi. We arrived at noon at this amazingly huge airport of Indira Gandhi. It was an easy-through Immigration and a hassle-free baggage collection and to getting to our hotel using the airport express train. We spent a night in Delhi before starting our journey

It felt really scary on Day 1. I kept thinking that anyone who will approach me will definitely just have an intention of getting money out of me. We went to Connaught Place area and Jantar Mantar to find decent food to eat and to begin immersing ourselves in India's atmosphere. But so far we survived except for some scary sights to see on the streets. We flew to Jodhpur the following day and we were greeted by Rishi, our driver for the next seven days. By the way, we got him through Ashok, a highly recommended driving company rated very highly on TripAdvisor. True enough, we did not encounter any problem with him. As a matter of fact, he was helpful all through out our journey.

Places to eat and shop around Mcleodganj, Dharamsala

A view of Mcleodganj from the Dalai Lama Temple

During our 5 days of stay in Mcleodganj, we visited different shops, ate at different cafes and stayed in two different guest houses. Let us talk about first the guest houses. We stayed at Chonor Guesthouse in our first two days. It is run and owned by the Norbulingka Institute. When we checked it online, the pictures of each room were amazingly beautiful. Unfortunately, the room we got did not live up to the hype we created ourselves. Although they had informed us beforehand that there is actually an ongoing renovation, I guess they forgot to inform us that even the room needed renovations. So we felt like the price we were paying was not worth the room we were staying. Our room that time was Lungka 2. In fairness, they offered to upgrade us but we already felt the disappointment so we just decided to move to another guesthouse, the Pema Thang, located 200 meters uphill from Chonor. Pema Thang Guesthouse was 35% cheaper than Chonor but the room we got gave us a great view of Dharamsala at any time of the night. If you decide to stay here, book for the rooms on the first and second level. The interior of the room was homey enough to make you feel relaxed but the toilet was a bit of a disappointment. But overall it was worth the price we paid.

Manila Sketches

Here are some of my previous sketch work of Intramuros in Manila, Philippines I have done. Sketches were done using watercolor and ink.

San Agustin Church, Intramuros, Manila, Philippines

Jalan Besar and Around

Jalan Besar

Following up to my Tiong Bahru Heritage Walking Tour article, much has been said whether Jalan Besar is a hipper place than Tiong Bahru. To compare these two places on which one is better than the other, you have to look at two important points, first is if the old historic vibe of the place is still present and second is the number of cafes that has been opening in the area. I can say that Tiong Bahru has the advantage on both. There is a distinct difference on the housing settlement in Tiong Bahru and they have maintained its old vibe and managed to introduce the hip charm while Jalan Besar is a bit chaotic because of so many constructions, commercial establishments, hostels and literally an array of hardware shops in one street.

Tiong Bahru Heritage Walking Tour

HDB Flats at Kim Pong Road

Tiong Bahru. Considered to be one of the oldest housing estates in Singapore, it has also been garnering accolades from locals, foreigners and tourists for a combination of old, hip and trendy atmosphere. With its heritage buildings and the number of cafes popping out in every corner of this historic area, Tiong Bahru, has become a place for wining and dining if you want to get out of the over-crowding central business district. It’s particularly getting a lot of attention from the so-called “hippies” but it’s not just a place for them, literally anyone can visit this area and have a look on what is going on. First of all, if you are into old buildings and historic sites, then this area is definitely for you. Otherwise, it may be difficult for the “uncultured” to appreciate what is there to see. And if you are willing to shell out an amount that is triple of what you would usually pay in a regular hawker centre, then you should try the ranges of café that you will see here.

The National Heritage Board of Singapore released the TiongBahru Heritage Trail. There are 10 spots that you may choose to look at if you are really keen but if you just want to walk around the place and see what is going on, I made a map that will direct you on walking from the Tiong Bahru MRT Station all the way to Tiong Bahru Estate and its surrounding vicinity. 

Grasshopper Bike Tours Siem Reap: Review

BIKING THE ANGKOR WAT COMPLEX

When we planned to visit the Angkor Temples Archaeological Complex, we stumbled upon so many reviews, to dos, not to dos, when to do things and stuff and as well as reading the ever reliable Lonely Planet book. We found out that biking around the temples would be a great idea. Since me and my friend enjoy biking and were quite looking for an adventure, we decided to find a bike tour that will hopefully satisfy our swash buckling quest around this massive archaeological complex. Upon checking so many stuff online, we decided to book with Grasshopper. This company is originally based in Thailand and has different biking tours all over Asia which you can access here.

Angkor Wat

The website is well detailed and the tour that we booked is exactly what we did during that sunny biking day at Siem Reap. We took the Day Ride Tour Angkor Temples for US$39. We started the day by meeting at Grasshopper Tour Shop which is quite near the famous Psar Cha (Old Market) in Siem Reap. There were five of us in the group including the guide. The tour is strict to have a maximum of 6 riders in every tour. We biked for about 5-6 kilometers from the city towards our first destination, Angkor Wat. This UNESCO World Heritage site is awfully magical in all sense. The place is indeed a wonder. That initial bike ride from the city was rewarded with just the stunning view of the temple from afar. We parked our bikes outside the main complex and visitors must walk going in and when wondering around the temple. The bike guide also serves as your cultural guide to explain about the temples. Given that English is not the first language of the people of Cambodia, you may find it difficult sometimes to understand their accent as they tell you the story of the temples. But despite of it all, just looking the marvelous creations of the ancient people of Cambodia back in the 12th century is already enough to learn that during that time, their civilizations is arguably one of the smartest, wisest and proudest when it comes to their architectural ingenuity.