Ilocos Norte | A Day in Laoag (Accommodation, City Day/Night Walking Tour, Etc.)

Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

As I mentioned in several of my previous posts, I was able to visit Ilocos Norte (and Laoag) for the first time last year. The visit is a short one - less than two days and a night. The night was spent in the province's capital, Laoag City (also called the City of Lights) - a first class city, the province's center of politics and economy.

Where to stay in Laoag?

After spending the whole day touring the southern part of Ilocos Norte (Burgos Lighthouse, Bangui Windmills and Kapurpurawan Rock Formations) via tricyle and after more or less an hour of walking tour in the city, a clean room with a comfy bed is a welcome reprieve; that we have in Hotel Tiffany.

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Singapore | Hotel Accommodation, City Tour, Etc.

Marina Bay Sands

Singapore is the smallest country in Asia, with only a total land area of about 704 square kilometers including the reclaimed lands (source: Wikipedia). Before its land reclamation, Singapore is actually smaller than Metro Manila. However, with an average income per capita of USD56,694 a year, it now ranked number 3 in the list of the world's richest countries, next to Luxembourg (2nd) and Qatar (1st) (source: urbanpeek.com). Singapore is part of our KL-SG summer adventure this 2012.

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Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur City Tour

Kuala Lumpur, or simply KL, is Malaysia's capital city, the country's hub for commerce and finance. It is the home to breathtaking modern mega structures; a home to about 1.6 million people of different races and cultures. (source: KL tourism flyers) When I set foot on KL last summer, it feels like I am still in Metro Manila, our country's capital region; except that it's more densely populated here and that they, of course, have that towering twin towers! :D

Anyway, I've mentioned in my previous posts that our KL-SG adventure last summer was on a package tour; and just like any other package tour, it includes a free half day tour to some of the city's interesting attractions. In KL, our city tour includes a visit to the Istana Negara (National Palace), Tugu Negara (National Monument), Masjid Negara (National Mosque), leather factory/store, batik (a cloth printed with various patterns) shop, and chocolate factory.

Istana Negara (National Palace)

Istana Negara or National Palace is the official residence of the Yang de-Pertuan Agong, the king or head of state of Malaysia. Located along Jalan Duta in Kuala Lumpur, this Istana Negara is the newly-built official residence of the King, replacing the old Istana Negara along Jalan Istana. It has an imposing gateway which is guarded by the Malay Regiment and palace guards. The palace is not open for tourists though, so people just flocked the main gate for photo-ops. ;)

Istana Negara (National Palace)

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Thailand | Bangkok Summer Adventure 2011: The City Tour

We bought our Bangkok Summer Adventure 2011 package tour from PAL's (Philippine Airlines) swing-around package. It includes airfare, accommodation, daily buffet breakfast, hotel/airport transfers and half day city tour. So on our second day, our first agenda was to join the city tour that was part of the package. The tour includes a visit to three of Bangkok's temples, Wat Benchamabophit, Wat Intharawihan and Wat Pho. However, because we enjoyed photographing the first two temples (Wat Benchamabophit & Wat Intharawihan), we spent most of our time on these first two we were not able to get to the last one *sad*. Also included in the package is a visit to The Gems Gallery, a jewelry factory.

Wat Benchamabophit

Wat Benchamabophit or The Marble Temple was our first stop and the first temple we visited for our half-day city tour. It is a Buddhist temple located in the Dusit district and is one of the most beautiful temples in Bangkok. It was built in 1899 at the request of King Chulalongkorn, the fifth monarch of Thailand. Thus the temple's name Wat Benchamabophit which literally means Temple of the Fifth King. (source: Wikipedia)

Wat Benchamabophit is generally made of marbles. Because of this, it gave the temple a modern look. But despite this look, it still characterizes the typical Bangkok temple: beautiful and flamboyant. :)

Wat Benchamabophit (photo courtesy  of my friend bipong)

back side of the temple

various posing Buddhas inside Wat Benchamabophit

inside Wat Benchamabophit grounds

 Wat Intharawihan

Wat Intharawihan, originally called Wat Rai Phrik is a temple located in the Nakhon district of Bangkok and was built during the beginning of Ayutthaya period (1350 - 1767). It features a 32-meter high and 10-meter wide standing buddha, the world's tallest standing buddha. It is decorated in glass mosaic and 24-karat gold. It took more than 60 years before the completion of this buddha. (source: Wikipedia)

Wat Intharawihan

the tallest standing Buddha

inside Wat Intharawihan grounds...

 The Gems Gallery

After the visit to these two temples, we proceeded to the jewelry factory. There, we were shown a short video clip featuring the ruby stone and how it is produced. According to the video clip, Thailand is one of the major producers of high quality ruby stones in the world. So as a souvenir, I bought a silver ring with a ruby stone on it (talking about impulsive buying here, tsk tsk!!). :D

There it is, our half-day city tour in Bangkok. Except for the amazing temples, there is nothing extraordinary on this day. We were on a guided tour, with provisions for transportation so we didn't encounter any difficulty. Our tour guide Sam, is very kind, he took our pictures and let us enjoy taking photos around. The downside is, we weren't able to visit the temple of the reclining buddha. :(

Anyway, after the guided tour, we asked Sam to drop us off at Jatuchak Mall instead of dropping us off at our hotel. From there, we decided to explore Bangkok on our own and go to The Grand Palace, one of city's must-see destination. I'll talk about our adventures in The Grand Palace on my next post. Till then... :)

~oo00oo~

Bangkok Adventure (day 1): Bangkok Summer Adventure 2011
Bangkok Adventure (day 2, AM): The City Tour
Bangkok Adventure (day 2, PM): The Grand Palace
Bangkok Adventure (day 2, night): Chao Phraya River Cruise

Date of Visit: April 30, 2011

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