Category Archives: Personal

Quarantine Sky

21 Sunday Jun 2020

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If there’s one thing that I really loved during Metro Manila’s community quarantine, it’s definitely the cleaner air. Cleaner air, clearer sky.

BGC from my balcony
Mountains from afar

I appreciated my balcony more as I would work there for hours. A small table, a cup of coffee, and my work laptop – work from balcony starter pack. In between meetings, I would gaze at the mountains which I never noticed before the quarantine. Past the towers of Rockwell Center, I would see a bit of Manila Bay and the silhouettes of cranes at the Port of Manila.

Balcony workstation

How I wish the good air quality would remain as Metro Manila slowly awakens.

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I was supposed to publish this back in June 1 as the capital transitioned to the General Community Quarantine. Sadly, 20 days after, I am disappointed to report that the air quality has progressively gone worse. My air purifier has been getting PM2.5 readings of 20 – 30 lately whereas it hovered from 2 – 8 before.

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Coping with the Quarantine

17 Sunday May 2020

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When it was announced back in March that a quarantine would be implemented in Metro Manila due to COVID 19, it was only natural that people were uneasy. Hours before March 16, the roads were abuzz with people heading to supermarkets.

Never noticed those mountains pre-quarantine

Thankfully, I did some trips to the supermarket the week before in anticipation of a pending lock down. Our company had also communicated work from home arrangements describing how we will be conducting our business during the quarantine.

The quarantine should only have lasted for a month. Sadly, the number of cases kept on rising so we ended up being in quarantine for two months and a half.

So what did I do within that period?

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Trip Report: Beijing to Manila with China Eastern Airlines

07 Thursday Sep 2017

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Oh boy, this is fun.

(If you want to read about the flight experience, scroll further down until you see the second photo)

I had the opportunity to try China Eastern Airlines last month when I treated my mom to a vacation in Beijing. The frugal side of me prevailed and booked the mentioned airline instead of Philippine Airlines.

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After four days of roaming around Beijing, it was time to go back home. Our flight to Shanghai Pudong, MU 563, was scheduled to depart at 5:15 in the afternoon. We left our hotel after having lunch and arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport T2 at around 2 in the afternoon. Continue reading →

Trip Report: Manila to Beijing with China Eastern Airlines

11 Friday Aug 2017

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These past two years, I have been sticking with Philippine Airlines more and more for my travel. Why? Mabuhay Miles, of course. It may not be as powerful as other loyalty programs because of PAL’s non-membership to any of the alliances but it suits my needs fairly well.

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There are exceptions though. When the airfare is too good for me to ignore, I grab it. Case in point, my recent trip to Beijing. I promised my mom that I will bring her to the Great Wall on her birthday. I was about to book two tickets to Beijing via Philippine Airlines at 545 USD when I saw China Eastern Airlines’ promo — 400 USD for two. I booked the tickets immediately.

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Trip Report: Sriwijaya Air from Semarang to Jakarta

20 Saturday Jun 2015

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This is some sort of a continuation of my previous post.

When I was booking for my flights within Indonesia, I used Tiket.com. Due to my preference in flight times, my inbound and outbound flights to Semarang were of different airlines. My flight back to Jakarta was with Sriwijaya Air.

Sriwijaya Air is Indonesia’s third largest airline. It is considered a medium-service airline – not a low-cost carrier but not quite a full-service one. They mostly serve domestic flights but they do have some international flights within Asia.

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Trip Report: Batik Air from Jakarta to Semarang

14 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by in Personal, Travel, Trip Report

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It’s impressive. Amazing. Extraordinary. Those words pop into mind whenever I recall my Batik Air experience.

Before this flight, the only other non-flag carrier I’ve taken outside of the Philippines was Jeju Air. I didn’t expect much from Batik Air when I was booking my flights within Indonesia, I just booked the most affordable ones that fits my schedule. I really wanted to fly Garuda but because it was twice as expensive, I opted not to.

Batik Air, by the way, is a new airline whose parent company is Lion Air. It first flew in May 2013. It’s a full-service airline though currently it only flies within Indonesia.

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