In the Land of Pepe Le Pew

Visited Paris in June of 2009. Took the TGV train from Stuttgart which cost 200 Euros roundtrip. I think it took us three hours to get to Paris but then we didn't mind since it was way cheaper than flying.

One of the many statues in the Luxembourg Garden.
Caption: Dammit, standing here the whole day fully exposed
with this tiny thing is bad enough.
Now this pigeon decides to poop on me? Why me???

Stayed at the Hotel Excelsior Latin which was in the middle of the Latin Quarter (5th arrondissement). The hotel was walking distance to the Pantheon, Louvre, Luxembourg Garden, Notre Dame, Centre Pompidou and the Sorbonne.

Notre Dame illuminated at night. 

Rose window in the North transept in Notre Dame with the
theme of the Old Testament. 

La Pyramide Inversee, which is a skylight,  in the Caroussel du Louvre. 

Sacre-Coeur Basilica, located in the summit of Montmartre,
is the highest point in the city.

Unlike our trip to Barcelona, we decided to be all-touristy in the city of love. This included walking along the Moulin Rouge district, viewing the city from Montmartre, going to the Eiffel Tower, walking up Champs-Elysee where all the high-end shops are, visiting the Louvre, etc.

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower from below.

Walking along the Champs-Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe 

Arc de Triomphe

Moulin Rouge

A cute little fueling station on one of the streets in the Pigalle district.

If you're in Paris for a limited time, I suggest you visit the Musee D'Orsay rather than the Louvre. If you are a true art lover, you would need more than a day to see everything in the Louvre. If you're going there just for the sake of saying you've been there, then just pick a specific section that you really are interested in. I'm guessing most people would want to see the Mona Lisa. Prepare to be disappointed though since the Mona Lisa room is normally packed with tourists and the painting itself is not even that big. Very difficult to get up close and take a good photo.

The famed Mona Lisa portrait of Da Vinci.

Among all the things we did,  I would recommend that you take the Seine River Cruise and a day trip to visit the Chateau de Versailles. The cruise costs about 10 Euros if I'm not mistaken. To go to Versailles, just hop on a train headed outside Paris. You'll be there in less than an hour. Another suggestion is to grab a baguette sandwich in one of the many delis in the city and hang out by the Seine or the Luxembourg Garden to people watch.

If uncertain of which area in Paris to stay, check out this map as it describes the differences among each neighbourhood.

More pics from the trip will be posted soon!

See you in February, Bangkok!

It's the annual Bangkok Hat on Feb 11 and 12, 2012. In my opinion, this is the most fun Ultimate tournament in Asia. The first time I played in this tourney was in February of 2004 and since then, I make it a point to attend even if I only partake in the sideline drinking, the boat races and the heckling.

Since I'll be saying goodbye to Asia around February next year, I have planned on doing a weekend stopover in BKK just so I can participate in the Hat. I have booked my one-way flight to BKK and from there fly to Europe. I have a feeling that it'll be one fun-filled, crazy weekend! So psyched!

Only thing to do now is to look for reasonably-priced hotels.

BKK Hat 2010. Apple Pie Shots.  Happy times!

A Blogger's Traumatic Bali Experience

So now, being a Filipino automatically makes you a drug-trafficker/mule. Read the article below on how Indonesian immigration detained two Filipina travelers because of mere suspicion.

My Traumatic Experience as an Alleged DRUG TRAFFICKER in Bali Indonesia By Chyng Reyes

For first time readers.. 

My name is Chyng Reyes. I graduated with a degree of Electronics and Communications Engineering in a state university in Intramuros. I work in a BPO company in MoA complex as part of Systems Development team. Im a blogger who frequently travels. And Im an individual who has never taken prohibited drugs.

mga BINTANG-ero kayo!

My friend Dyanie and I planned an SG-Bali trip for our birthdays. We took Airphil's Manila-SG flight last May 26, 2011.

Dyanie was held in the Immigration simply because she cant present her company ID. She was suspected na mag-paiwan sa SG to work, and never return to Pinas. This experience alone was heart pounding- though it's only a matter of being approved and being declined to fly to SG. So what more if it's a matter of life and death...

Last May 28, we flew from SG to Bali via Airasia.
Airasia's airbus was full of different nationalities. But Dyanie and I were the only Filipinos on board. We landed in Denpasar airport at almost 11:40pm. We lined up in the Xray machines for our luggage to be scanned.

The moment the officer saw my passport - he carried my luggage. He asked me "is this yours?" I said yes. What could be wrong with my luggage.. The officer scanned our hands too. We don't have any idea what's that for so we asked him. He answered "secret".

After he scanned our hands with that stick, he looked at me and said "come and follow me." He looked to Dyan and said "you also."

omg. what's wrong?!
So in front of all passengers of Airasia that night (na malalaki ang katawan, at yung iba may tattoo, at sila pa yung mukhang harmful kesa samin), kami pa ni Dyan ang mukhang may drugs! We followed the officer because we dont have a choice. We obeyed him, as if we already did something wrong. All other passengers were staring at us..

syet.. anong meron sa bag ko. at anong marks ang nakita nya sa kamay namin? kinabahan ako. this isnt just the usual immigration thing. this is something serious!
We entered the holding room. There were 3 officers inside. 2 males and a lady officer. "Meet my Filipina friend. She was caught hiding packs of heroins in her luggage" said the officer. Sabay turo sa picture frames sa wall nila. It seemed like a gallery of drug traffickers from all over the world. He reminded me that DEATH is the PENALTY of those drug traffickers.

Paksyet. It's matter of life and death in the hands of these Indonesian Police Officers..

They offered something to drink but we refused. 
Yoko nga, baka dahil jan sa drinks na yan magkaron pa ng drugs substance sa katawan namin..
"Do you know her?" asked the officer as he was pointing to the girl in the picture frame. - I answered no.
"Did you take drugs?" - Of course not!
"Did you have drugs hidden in your body?" - What?! Never!

nagpanting yung tenga ko. galit na galit ako. at the same time nalungkot. bakit ganun, tagged na ang pinoys as drug traffickers dahil sa kasalanan ng iilan..
"Let's check your bag".
The officer searched my things thoroughly. I was just looking at him. He checked every compartment of my luggage too.

Ang lakas ng kaba ng dibdib ko. I knew he could frame me up. At wala na kong laban if that happens. Nasa teritoryo nila kami.Ansama sama ng loob ko. Dahil lang Pinoy kami, instant suspect na agad kami.
After he messed with all my things and found nothing, I asked the officer what could be wrong and why was he checking us. He just answered "because the 2 of you are beautiful girls."

putangina mo, nakikipag-cooperate kami sa inyo. naabala at napahiya na kami kanina pa. kaya sana sumagot ka ng maayos kung may tinatanong kami.

For the 3rd time, we went outside the holding room to scan my luggage. I was really very nervous (and irritated). I could imagine him almost saying that he found something in my bag. Remember, he was holding my bag all the time. I never had the chance to touch it again..

you dont trust us. and we dont trust you either. the feeling is mutual. ang advantage lang, nasa Indonesia tayo. at kayo ang may authority.

Now they looked to Dyan. The lady officer asked her if she was hiding drugs in her belly. Of course she answered no. The other officer ordered a body check on her.

as narrated by Dyan: 
Gusto ko man magsabi ng ayoko ng body check, wala akong nagawa. Bansa nila yan. So sunod lang ako sa gusto nila. Pumasok kami sa Body Check Room. Inikot ko yung mata ko to check if there are surveillance cameras. Tapos ni-lock ko yung pinto. Tinanong ko si lady officer kung bakit namin to ginagawa. May 3 pinay daw na nahulihan ng drugs sa loob ng tyan nila. Sympre di ko alam kung totoo nga yun. Pinahubad nya ko ng damit. As in HUBAD lahat. The only body part na hinawakan nya ay ang tyan ko. Pero nakaka-harassed pa din. Wala naman siyang nakitang kakaiba.

no offense pero meron ba silang extensive training na by just touching a body part malalaman na kung may drugs dun? ang hirap maniwala. they cant even speak straight english to start with. mayabang lang sila. pero wala silang masyadong alam.
Now back in the holding room, and I was with the other 2 male officers. They started bragging that they captured all of the drug traffickers in the picture frame. Im still not sure what will happen next as they never told us anything.

What now!? gusto nyo lang may mapatunayan kayo at may madagdag kayong picture jan sa wall nyo?!
Im so proud of Dyan. She went back in the room and still didnt breakdown. I knew I will start crying too if I see her terrified.
pero sa totoong buhay daw, sobrang takot na nya na masesetup kami.
Dyan said I dont look scared at all too. I just look very irritated.
pero sa totoo lang, nafi-feel kong anytime sasabihin ng officers na may nakita sila sa bag namin.. at di na kami makakauwi ng Pinas. =(

After 1.5 hours, they finally let us go. Wala silang nakita. They thanked us for being cooperative pero di ko pinansin yung hand shake offer nila. Galit na galit ako. Pero alam ko bawal ako magsalita. Hindi rin sila nagsorry sa abala na ginawa nila. Para san pa, wala na kaming gana na pumasok ng Bali. Sirang sira yung bakasyon namin dahil sa ganitong pagwelcome nila sa Pinoy.
Sabagay their sorry wont be enough. Kulang yan sa kahihiyan, sobrang takot, trauma, at paranoia na inabot namin dahil sa kanila. Ang sama sama ng loob ko. Putangina nyo!


We met the hotel driver who's been waiting for us since 11:40PM. We finally went out of the airport at 1:30AM. I thanked the driver for waiting for us. He wasn't surprised that we were the last to go out. Sabi nya, kapag Pinoy chinecheck daw muna.

Ah ganun..
Dahil lang may mga Pinoy na drug trafficker, lahat ng Pinoy drug traffickers na agad?!

Sa sobrang takot ni Dyanie, she cried to sleep that night. Tulala. Di nagsasalita.
Sa sobrang galit ko, di ako nakatulog. I started vomiting. Hinika din ako sa sama ng loob.
Wala pa kaming 2 oras sa Bali pero gustong gusto na namin umuwi ng Pinas. Sirang sira ang bakasyon namin.

Putangina nyo! Naging praning na kami everytime may police kaming makikita. Or everytime dadaan kaming xray, paulit ulit muna naming pinapagpag ang bawat damit namin - oras oras - just to check na walang naisingit na drugs sa gamit namin. We're so traumatized that we wont be planning to go out of the country anytime soon.

DEATH for DRUG TRAFFICKERS
and it wont matter if the DRUGS found is really yours
ako na ang praning

We swore not to go back to Indonesia again. We already suffered a lot. We regret the day we entered this country.
And if you are planning to go to Bali too, well good luck. The next suspect could be you.
..yes you may share this post.

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I "Heart" Barcelona

I have a friend who is going all the way to Spain for her Nadal-fix. She's gone to China two years ago to watch him play. And to Bangkok last year to drool over him court-side. She's a stalker. She's crazy. Anyway, I digress.

Spent 6 days in Barcelona in the Summer of 2009. Weather was around 30-34 degrees but then I come from a tropical country so it wasn't really that bad.

Decided to stay in a hotel in the La Rambla area called Hostal Opera Ramblas. It's a budget hotel located along an alley a few meters away from the Opera and the Liceu metro station. A night's stay cost us around 55-63 euros. The hotel is located right smack in La Rambla which is a 1.2km-long street in central Barcelona that's very popular with both tourists and locals.

Walking up La Rambla

Everything is walking distance from this area--the city beaches, the Boqueria, Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila (by Antoni Gaudi), countless bars, restaurants, hotels and even the shopping district.

Entrance to the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria

La Boqueria bursting with colors

Sagrada Familia ceiling (taken while waiting for the lift)

View from one of the towers of Sagrada Familia

Casa Mila by Antoni Gaudi

Since my travel companion and I aren't the artsy-fartsy kind, we only spent 2 days doing the normal touristy stuff and decided to spend the rest of stay hanging out at the beach, both inside and outside the city. Beaches outside the city are a mere 10 to 15-minute train ride away with Castelldefels and Sitges being the two closest and most popular. If going to Sitges, the right beach is where gays mostly  hang out and the left beach, right behind the pink church, is where families and straight couples mostly go.

Cool cafe at one of the city beaches

Sitges Beach

Lunch at a Restaurant by Sitges Beach

La Rambla is littered with restaurants so foodies need not fret. On our first day, we decided to eat at Pinotxo, a really tiny stall inside La Boqueria, which I've read so much about. The place doesn't have a printed/set menu so whatever they feel like cooking that day are the only ones available. Would do you good to know the Spanish words for chicken, pork, beef and seafood. Food was good, ingredients fresh and the caña cold.

Estofado and a Caña

While some of the restos along La Rambla are tourist traps, I strongly recommend having a bite at Cafe Viena which is just past La Boqueria. Order their Flauta d'Iberico d.o Jabugo. It only has 3 ingredients: jamon iberico, flauta (like baguette) and a juicy tomato that's rubbed on the bread to give it a bit of moisture and flavor (no tomato slices included in the sandwich!). So simple yet tastes so divine!
The.Best.Sandwich.Ever. Mark Bittman totally got it right on his article.

Flauta D'Iberico d.o. Jabugo
Photo from here

Another thing not to be missed in Barcelona is the Magic Fountain of Montjuic. It truly is a spectacular display of color, light, motion, music and water acrobatics. It's not open the whole year so better check out their site for opening schedules. Highly recommended.

Watched the Magic Fountain of Montjuic show...

one Summer night. AWESOME!!!

My feet are itching to go back!

Cafe Viena

C/ La Rambla, 115
08002 Barcelona, Spain
+34 933 171 492

Pinotxo

Mercat de la Boqueria, La Rambla
Barcelona, Spain 
+34 933 171 731

Hostal Opera Ramblas

C/ Sant Pau 20
08001 Barcelona, Spain
+34 933 188 201
www.operaramblas.com

Sagrada Familia

Plaça de la Sagrada Família, Mallorca, 401, 
08013 Barcelona
+34 932 073 031
For ticket info and opening hours, visit the Sacred Destinations page.