Adventure Accounting

August was ending. It was almost two months after my trip to Central Europe and I was feeling restless. I had no planned trip for the rest of the year. Well I had plans of exploring Turkey with a friend but with the airport incident that happened in June, we got scared. So no plans. But I wanted an adventure. It came down to Taiwan. I flushed round-trip tickets that I got for Php 3K back in 2014 because I wasn't up for temples and siomai after my two-week trip in China . So bye bye Taiwan and tickets. But this was two years after C hina, so I think I get have another do se of China, or its territory (Ooops not! *prickly point of contention*) . Moving on. I booked tickets with EVA air. Airfare costs $102 which includes meals and 20kg baggage allowance. T hat is a deal ! That rate is not even a promo rate. I decided to be a "kinda-maintenance" passenger and ordered vegetarian meals for my flights. The flight attendants take not e of your seat number....

In history and Game of Thrones, the armies conquer the lands by invading and raiding. The conquered village bow down to their new lord. I have no army. I have no desire to conquer land.  Nowadays, the game is in the domain name.  That is easier to conquer. After 6 years of travel blogging, I finally bought  www.adventureaccounting.com. I availed of the promo rate of GoDaddy for the first year (Php 53) and got some discounted offer for the next two years. Overall, I paid Php 970 for three years (note that the first year is a discounted rate).  The link redirects you to my blogspot page. As of now, I have no plans of putting the effort in getting my own hosting. It took me 6 years to decide to buy my own domain, so it will probably take a while before I get my own host.

Cubao memories... When I was a kid, my mom took me to Fiesta Carnival frequently. I don't remember every ride we took but I remember we were there frequently. (RIP Fiesta Carnival). When I was a teenager, my highschool classmates and I used to hang-out in the new Gateway when we were all sick and tired of SM North Edsa (Trinoma wasn't around back then). Over the years, Cubao just became a crowded MRT spot and a hotbed for pickpockets. An adventure in Cubao is not enticing. I did not want to explore. I did go to Cubao Expo once to check on the boots on sale in Janilyn but that's it. In my adult life, I just go to Cubao whenever there's an event or concert in Araneta Coliseum - oooh, it is now Smart-Araneta. :P   This time, a new attraction put Cubao back in the map. Art in Island is an Interactive Art Museum located right beside the Cubao Expo complex (or is it really part of it?). The museum allows visitors to interact with the art pieces. I've had my fai...

I should probably start blogging about this now. Grad school starts in two weeks. My blogging mojo has an erratic life. I have backlogs from my China 2014 trip. It is difficult to blog about the past and plan for the next trip at the same time. It is difficult to keep up with myself (Char!). So here we go. Europe again. Can you blame me? Crafting this itinerary took considerably less time that the previous two EU trips I did. I didn’t feel that I “have to” hit a specific place just because I am in Europe. This time, I focused on Central Europe and did not travel via plane intra-Europe. I stuck with trains. This is also the first time that I am travelling Europe during summer. The table below is the itinerary I presented in my visa application. I just added additional columns for the contact details of the hostels. 

I am not a visa officer nor a visa agent. This post comes from my own personal experience. I have been granted two tourist Schengen Visas in the past 5 years. The difference this time is that I am a consultant (contract-based) instead of an employee. I have been a consultant for the past 2 years and 4 months.  Applying for a Schengen Visa (a.k.a. Europe Visa) Applying for a Schengen Visa in Spain Embassy Philippines   For this trip, I have a 23-day itinerary spanning Central Europe. I'll post my itinerary and budget in another post. I am staying in Germany the longest so I lodged my application there.  General steps: 1. Browse and read the website of the German Embassy here in the Philippines . This contains all the information and forms that you need when applying for a Schengen visa.  2. Schedule your appointment online. You can apply for a Schengen visa at most 3 months before your departure date. You can start booking your appointment a mont...

I associate Sri Lankan food with Indian food. Can't blame me. Both countries integrate cumin in their daily diet.  I don't like cumin. I don't like spicy food.  So what's there to eat for someone who dies with spice? I got some breakfast from the hostel. Their continental breakfast is just okay. They have a "side spice" that you can sprinkle on everywhere. I left it untouched.  Breakfast platter at Drift BnB Colombo I enjoyed the meals that were served to me during my stay in Oasis Tourist Family Resort . The food was freshly prepared and tasted like it. They said that they grow their own cumin instead of buying from the shops. The store-bought cumin had preservatives in them. I didn't know how cumin plants looked like so I wasn't able to check. The guesthouse charged LKR 667 for a full Sri Lankan type meal. I know that I can probably find cheaper ones outside, but I really liked the convenience of eating at the guesthouse and taking my ti...

I found the Blue Wing Inn via Booking.com. I booked a room to myself. The backpacking scene in Nuwara Eliya didn't seem to be thriving.   The place is not located in the town center, but near the lake. Walking to town was 30 minutes each way, which was a nice manageable walk. Getting there was easy for me because I hired a private vehicle to take me from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya. Narrow road. The view going to the accommodation from the lake

Not a fan of hiking here. But I give it a shot from time to time. I had ambitious plans of hiking in the challenging trail of Adam's Peak. I ditched the plan when I had a chat with some backpackers who have been there. Too much effort to do it plus I had to figure out how to get there from Nuwara Eliya. Nope. So I chose an easier hike: Horton Plains. My guesthouse offered to arrange a tuktuk to take me to Horton Plains for LKR 2,500. Cheaper that what I expected - which is usually LKR 3,000 to 3,500. I had my breakfast packed to go. We left at 5AM. It was around one hour going to Horton Plains via tuktuk - faster if you use a car. Entrance fees were still absurdly high. I had to pay a  total of LKR 3,560 that covered my entrance fee, parking fee and whatever charges. The ticket reflected a breakdown of all those charges. They charge too much, IMO.

I like tea. I still drink coffee but I've learned how to love tea these past few years. Tita much? Hehe.  Sri Lanka is known as a tea country. I wanted to take a peek at the mountains where tea is grown. From Kandy, you can reach Nuwara Eliya via train or a private car. Figuring out how to buy the train tickets sent me in circles. Given the hellish bus ride I endured from Colombo to Dambulla , I decided to spend some money for my peace of mind and hired a private car to drive me and take me around Nuwara Eliya.  I found  my driver-guide,  Kamal, in Withlocals . I sent him a message, and we agreed on the date, time and price.  With Kamal, my driver-guide to Nuwara Eliya Kamal toured me around a university with this really awesome old tree with crazy branches. An ampitheater

I had a bit of a trouble finding the place at first because the pin in Google Maps is located in the other street. I called the owners and they were helpful in instructing me find the right location. This is an old house near the lake, a perfect location. It can take around 25 minutes to get to the other side of the lake, where the tooth temple is, but it was a good scenic walk. Just be wary of the bystanders around the lake , during the day and most especially at night. The girl who assisted me was very helpful and cautioned me not to hang out around the lake at night because I was travelling alone. Unassuming on the outside I had a short wait in the living room while my room was still being prepared. They gave me a cold glass of iced tea. Refreshing. The room is spacious, clean, and the bed is comfortable. I paid $24.62 * 144.81 = LKR 3,565 for one night in this ensuite double room. The mosquito net is pretty regal There's no airconditioning...

There’s not much to write about Kandy. Lots of reviews say that it is touristy and does not offer a lot. I agree, but it is not “skip”-able. I boarded a bus from Dambulla to Kandy. This is a frequent backpacker route so I wasn’t too concerned about my safety as a solo female traveler. I sat myself beside a local woman. I spotted a Caucasian couple in the bus. Two other pairs of travelers boarded the bus as it cruised along the highway. Not that brought me confidence that 1) I was in the right bus and 2) I will get off at the right stop. After two hours, the bus stopped in Kandy. Cost of the bus ticket was LKR 100.   I survived another bus ride. The challenge was finding my way from the bus stop to the lake. My local simcard came in handy. But the problem was, the pin of the guesthouse was on the wrong spot! Had to call the house owner where they really were. I found it eventually. They confirmed that Booking.com had the pin wrong. They don’t know how to fix it (...

I found this accommodation via Booking.com while searching for cheap places to stay in Dambulla. I somewhat thought that Sri Lanka was teeming with cheap accommodation. I guess so, but these are the ones with no websites. I like pre-booking my accommodation to avoid the hassle of deciding where to stay when I land in a new place.  This is not a sponsored post, I really use Booking.com.  After a 5.5-hour bus journey from Colombo, I got off the Dambulla bus stop. There were no signs that it was the bus stop but I had my mobile data on and I was closely watching my location in the map. The guesthouse advised me to get off the bus stop and call them when I arrive - hence, a local simcard was really handy . I sat in front of a shop (I think it was a pawnshop and waited. I ignored the stares from passers-by. Fifteen minutes later, my host arrived in a tuktuk. We went to the main guesthouse to rest a bit (I really needed to rest) and I filled-out some forms.  The main g...

WARNING: This is another one of my long blog posts with photos.  My day began early at 5AM. I would like to say I was excited, but I was not. As years and travels go by, I grew some lazy bones and prefer to snuggle with the sheets. Even adventures require some sort of work.  It was a hot and humid morning in Dambulla. Not a stranger to that weather. The weather helped me get out of bed.  I arranged my tuktuk via the guesthouse. They offered me a rate of LKR 1,500 . I guess that's lower than the usual tourist rate of LKR 2,000.  Fields during the tuktuk ride to Sigiriya I read about the pricey tickets of tourist attractions in Sri Lanka. But I still frowned when I saw the rates charged by Sigiriya.  $30/ LKR 4,260 for a day ticket?!?!?!?! Tickets for Angkor Wat was $40 for 3 days. I knew that. But still. So much money for a day. Ugh.  Onwards.   The sun came up and lit the grounds of Sigiriya.  Sigiriya was a mon...

I had to make a choice between Anura dhapura or Polonnar uwa. I chose Polonnaruwa because it was easi er to get to via public transportation and I could be based in Dambulla.   Polonnaruwa is an ancient kingdom and city in the northern central area of Sri Lanka. Take note of the spelling: single L, double N . I've seen an cient ruins before so I knew that exploring the complex would be awesome but repetitive too. My hostel offered to arra nge my tuktuk ride the day before. The owner knew the tuktuk ownder. I arrang ed my breakfast to be served at 8AM. While eating breakfast, I noticed that my hand was bare and I had to go back to my room and slip on m y fake wedding ring. Fake gold band as my fake wedding ring We stopped at a "spice garden" first. It is a garden filled with spices. No need to buy anything, according to them. But I guess th ey sell agre ssively or ask for a tip at the end. I wasn't able to find out because when the guy lear ned that I wa...