Chillin’ at Snow Village

To cap off our “Trails to Antarctica” package tour at Manila Ocean Park, we were lead to what I originally thought was just a room fully adorned with Christmas ornaments which they dubbed as Snow Village.

But before we were allowed to enter, we were made to wear thick coats.

So as I was putting a coat on, I jokingly thought to myself that we’ll be going inside a gigantic freezer.

And I couldn’t be any more right.

Snow Village is actually just a walk-in freezer designed to make Filipinos sort of experience winter even if it’s in the middle of summer! Totally cool! Pun not intended.

Be careful as you step inside, the floor is quite slippery. So it is advisable that you wear shoes which have slip guards. 

No fake snow falling from the ceiling though.

To be honest, there’s really nothing much in Snow Village save for a cute designated area for nice photo ops…

 

If you’re someone who hasn’t experienced winter like us, you’ll enjoy trying to freeze yourself inside Snow Village until you can’t feel your fingers anymore just to test if you have what it takes to survive bone-chilling temperatures. Trust.

Feeding the Penguins at Manila Ocean Park… Not!

Before anything else, I wanna tell you guys that I had a VERY TOXIC week. I just got myself a new job. So no more bumming around for me anymore because I now work as a video editor for an online school.

I really LIKE my job. But because I was experiencing too many technical difficulties during my first week, I wasn’t feeling it at first at ALL. I was absolutely stressed out (my face broke out!) and I had a hard time trying to regain momentum with EVERYTHING really. So that’s why I wasn’t able to find the time to actually continue writing about our Manila adventure. Well, not until now that is. Thank God!

So anyway, right where we left off from last time… After we’ve breezed through Luneta Park, we headed straight down to Manila Ocean Park.

Of course, I was very excited to see Manila Ocean Park!

Fineeee… I lied. Sort of.

Since I’ve been to Hong Kong Ocean Park back around 2010 (I was with my aunt, ex-boyfriend and a friend who happens to be my ex-boyfriend’s cousin), I was just excited to see the penguins because there were no penguins in Hong Kong Ocean Park when I was there apparently.

Look at me squatting and grinning right below the sign signifying that I was there and very much ready to see the penguins!

Manila Ocean Park may not have a theme park but look at this… 

Did you know that this is the largest Oceanarium in Asia? Hong Kong Ocean Park has got nothing on this breathtaking walk-through Oceanarium! Trust me, Manila has it SO MUCH better!

And there’s my boyfriend goofing around. And look at that guy behind him. Don’t you just envy his job? Come on. Who doesn’t want to go swimming with fishes on a daily basis and get paid for it? I so wanna steal his job from him (if that’s even possible).

Now this may not be the prettiest picture of the bunch (flash photography isn’t allowed in the Oceanarium by the way) but look at what’s behind me. A tank FULL of sharks. You don’t want to be in there. 

Too cute not to share.

I think I lack the proper apparel for this. This is the closest thing to bringing myself to Antarctica (for now).

And finally, the star of the show…  

No, it’s not my boyfriend… THE PENGUINS!!!

For 250 pesos, you can feed the penguins and have your picture taken with them. We chose not to avail the offer though because I thought it wasn’t worth it at all. Really. I expected that with that amount I could feed a bucket load of fishes to all the penguins but no. You just get to feed just ONE ridiculously TINY fish to ONE penguin. Not only is it unfair to the rest of the penguins who don’t get the fish, it’s unfair to me as well. But with that disappointment aside…

I’ve never been happier! A total dream come true for me!

Next post, Manila Ocean Park’s Snow Village. Keep your eyes peeled!

Just a Quick Stroll at Luneta Park

Before we headed to Ocean Park on our second day in Manila, my boyfriend took me to Luneta Park, also known as Rizal Park, because this is one of the major attractions in Manila.

It is a historical park where the national hero of the Philippines, Jose Protacio Mercado Alonzo y Realonda Rizal (his full name is such a mouthful) was executed during the Spanish regime. His execution was the catalyst of the Philippine revolution against the Spanish Empire during the 1800s.  

As you can see from the photo above, his monument is the actual focal point of the park. But did you know that this park that commemorates his death is a direct disobedience of his final instructions prior his execution save for putting a fence around his grave? Know more about it here.

A closer look of Jose Rizal’s monument. It is closely guarded 24/7 by honor guards.

Other than the monument, there’s really more to see in this park such as this (and suddenly a colorful photo)…

A ginormous clock. Why am I so fascinated by it? I don’t know.

Other interesting areas of the park include a Japanese Garden (which we didn’t get to see because it was closed on that day), an open-air auditorium and more.

Unfortunately with our very limited time, we weren’t really able to appreciate its entirety. Definitely looking forward to having another stroll there next time.

Once a Promdi, Always a Promdi

I don’t know if you can remember but I did once mention in one of my previous posts that I was cutting back on unnecessary expenses because I was saving up for something “grand”. And that actually meant another vacation for my boyfriend and I!

Can you guess where we went? I’ll give you a clue…

Is the clue not helping? Okay, squint your eyes real hard for the next clue…

Still not helping at all? Okay, okay, it’s…

Manila! This was when we just arrived at NAIA.

Just look at my face. Absolutely packed full of excitement! Maybe because it was my first time to be in Manila. But don’t get me wrong, I didn’t go to Manila so I could instantly feel higher than other people on the social ladder. It’s just that I’ve always wanted to set my foot somewhere in Luzon and this was a total dream come true for me! And yes, being a “promdi” is no shame! 

Till my next post, keep on following me for more of our Manila adventure!