Marriott Hotel Manila Welcomes the Year of the Red Fire Monkey

3:00:00 PM Pinoy Boy Journals 0 Comments

In celebration of the core festival on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, Marriott Hotel Manila ushers in the year of the Red Fire Monkey with an auspicious and distinctive take on “tikoy”. Impart tranquility and harmony to your loved ones with their double prosperity Ti-koi fish at 270 grams each, elegantly enclosed in luxurious red oriental boxes, sealed with a gold stamp symbolizing good fortune. Nian gao, locally called “tikoy”, is believed to bring good luck to both the receiver and the giver making it part of the customs during the Chinese New Year. The koi fish is also a symbol of longevity, success and prosperity. Spread good luck tastefully with this gift box at a reasonable price of Php 1,188 available at the hotel’s Marriott Café Bakery and Crema.

To add a fashionable twist to the traditions of the Lunar New Year, Marriott Hotel Manila is partnering with the award-winning jewelry artisan, Ann Ong, to showcase her latest and luckiest designs for this year. Considering the auspicious colors and trends, they are displaying and selling handcrafted bags and intricate jewelries that are believed to bring good energy and prosperity to the bearer, at Marriott’s salient lobby.

As a norm, the ceremonial dragon and lion dance is set to entertain guests and chase away the negative energies on February 9, 5pm at Marriott Hotel Manila and Marriott Grand Ballroom lobbies.

Marriott Manila’s Auspicious Ti-Koi gift set is available from January 25 until February13, 2016. For inquiries and advance orders, call (02) 9889999 or visit manilamarriott.com. To keep up on their latest offerings, follow @marriottmanila at Facebook and Twitter and, @manilamarirott on Instagram.

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Travel Notes from Pub Street, Cambodia

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Yesterday, what i did was just to walk around the old market and the many quiet alley ways of beautiful Siem Reap. The heat was unbearable yesterday though. I think it was about 32 degrees Celsius in very humid weather. And walking meant going to the old market, which i did. I spent quite a fortune buying bed covers which i got down half the price, pillow cases with cute elephant rhinestones embossed, a cute Khmer doll, and a couple of shirts and tanks.

I am a fan of buying exotic stuff from my travels which i can decorate in my room, and the rest for the house. All in all, it was a good shopping trip and i paid more than 70% off from the original price. But i also feel how hard it is to earn money here in Cambodia. Now with the sun about to set. Ha ha I woke up pretty late and left the hostel around 2PM which means i am officially the laziest traveler in the world. I paid lunch for a whopping $20 but Chow Republic is one of the best restaurants in Siem Reap. I had beef with black beans and small shrimps while i sip my coconut shake. Double order at that. Fantastic!

I watched the sunset from the busy streets, and found that amidst the tourist culture here in Siem Reap, it is still Cambodia - the land with a memorable past, and the people easy going and relaxed.

I went back to the hostel around 6PM and found more people inside my dorm room. Yey! Tim has always been here, and just finished his second day of exploring the temples. I've convinced him to visit the Philippines, so i think he's going there in a few weeks. I need to help him out with his itinerary. He works as a park ranger in the US so that's interesting. Victor from Spain was too tired and templed out, he couldn't move a muscle. But he's meeting a "friend" soon. Jimmy, the sleepiest guy in the world is from San Francisco but he works in Seoul, South Korea. Erin with a backpack is from Brisbane and supposedly was waiting for his night bus to Phnom Penh, which later on she cancelled. She left at 7:30AM instead, And of course, Santiago from Colombia just joined us.

While chatting, everybody decided it was high time to go to Pub Street. And so we did just that, we stopped over first at Viva Mexican Bar & Restaurant. They ordered food, i got my Beer Laos. Done. It's funny how people from around the world are all different. What's really nice about traveling is that you get to learn so much from simple habits to speaking the language, etc. I find meeting other people interesting because it broadens your knowledge of the world. Little by little, you will discover that you're just a tiny speck in this huge planet. Victor invited his Indian friend to join us which made our table the most culturally diverse at Viva. Excellent!

By the way, it's another terrible news what just happened in Jakarta. I hope one day, people will realize that all these acts of terror have no place in modern society. It's about time that we take care of each other, no matter what color or religion you are born with. We are all brothers and sisters.

Going back, we headed to more bars and ordered more drinks. I got shots in between my beer Laos. And now as i type this, i swear i won't drink today. I'll detox for one day, and will just relax. My body hurts, and all i want to do is lie down in my bed. But Bun Nak will pick me up at 1PM. He said we can go to Koh Ker. But i am thinking twice because i just read that there still some land mines in the surrounding areas that are still uncleared. I wonder where will i go today. I just want to visit the countryside. Do absolutely non-touristy stuff, and mingle with the locals. Cambodia, surprise me with your rural charms.

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Travel Notes from Tonle Sap, Cambodia

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Five years ago seemed already an eternity to me. Going back to Cambodia is a trip of a lifetime. One year in the making. But a lifetime figuring how come i stayed too long last time i was here. Exploring century old temples, eating fried egg noodles and drinking the tasty Angkor beer were some of the things i can never forget about this country. And of course, there's so much more.

I am right at this very same hostel were i once stayed. The Siem Reap Hostel changed a lot, with more rooms to boot and a bigger compound at that. I could have stayed at a fancy hotel now, especially since i can afford it, but i reckoned it would be sick to stay here again for ol' time's sake. And so i did. Sorted out a bunk bed at the mixed dorm room for almost a week here. I am staying with two Americans and one Spanish, and i am here looking weird. Weird because i look like everyone else, yet again. I am the ultimate Asian boy. But it's fun. I loved Cambodia then, i still love it now. 5 years ago, i stayed for about two months roaming around Siem Reap, Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh. This time, i don't know for how long.

On my first night, i got a room at another hostel called One Stop. Fair enough as i paid 6 dollars for a night because they mixed up my booking. The Siem Reap Hostel is about 11 dollars a night, but i like it here more because of the ambiance.

I have to tell you about the flight also. The flight from Manila to Siem Reap was turbulent. And i am not exaggerating. Paying about 80 dollars for the round trip ticket is cheap, but the experience was out of this world. Good thing, i arrived safely and the new airport here is huge and beautiful. Totally different when you go outside, and you could see that Siem Reap, the city, remained the same.

I got out of the airport, and tried to get a tuk-tuk from the outside, but i didn't know where to go. Everybody was pointing me back to the transportation counter, and so i did. Paid for about 5 dollars for a one way trip 8 kilometer easy breezy journey to Pub Street. There i met Bun Nak who would be my guide for the the whole duration of my stay here in Siem Reap. Pretty cool guy!

He was waiting at the airport from 4PM looking for the next customer he would drive to the city. At 11PM, i arrived. Imagine, he's been waiting for about 7 hours. Too long! Unbelieavable. You have to understand Cambodia is a very poor country, and minimum wage is way lower.

Relatively, i had no plans at all. I did most of the nice stuff to do in Siem Reap before, so i am left with some ideas for an excursion that I've never done. Three days have passed and i still don't know where to go. I love sleeping in Cambodia, and i find it hard to wake up earlier than 10AM. So right now, as i type this at the bed, i am thinking whether taking a nap or going out to eat.

After i was convinced to go out and explore the rest of Siem Reap, i scheduled a sunset cruise by Tonle Sap. Together with Bun Nak and his family, we were on our own private boat watching the sun set while drinking my Angkor beer. The water in the lake was calm except for a few bumps when a bigger boat passes us by. Paid 35 dollars for the whole boat which ran for about four hours. And i bought 24 cans of Angkor beer for a mini picnic. That cost me 13 dollars, too. But the experience was whirlwind, and it was such an ideal experience because i went away from the crowd of tourists all doing the same thing. Drinking with Bun Nak, my boatman, we munched on fried fish with salted tamarind sauce, and steamed shrimp together with fresh vegetables. So yummy! We were all so carried away by the experience that we forgot it's already dark. So at around 8PM, and being one of the few boats still by the lake, we headed back to the terminal. We actually cruised with only the moon as our guide light. Before returning to the hotel, i met Bun Nak's mother in law whom we gave rice for gift, and passed by a local wedding. Did you know that during a wedding, the husband and the wife starts of far from each other - like a block away, and as the night progresses that's the only time they will get close and see each other? I Still have about 5 Angkor beer cans left from the picnic. And Bunnak lent me the cooler for now. Bunnak drank about 3 and my boatman 3 also. I was so drunk. Jol moi!!!