A travel & adventure blog by Kara Santos
You know how hard it is to plan trips with friends. With everyone’s busy schedules, work conflicts, and adult responsibilities, another year goes by and you haven’t had a chance to catch up over coffee or have drinks. Sometimes, planning a staycation in the city can be an easier and more relaxing alternative to out-of-town trips.
The Ortigas central business district is one of the busiest hubs in Metro Manila’s dynamic urban landscape. Located in the middle of Pasig, Mandaluyong, and Quezon City, this district at the heart of the metro has a vibrant mix of business establishments, premium lifestyle shopping malls, and residential areas. Whether you’re in town traveling for business, in transit on the way to other destinations, staycationing with the family, or looking for a restful luxury getaway to recharge, staying in the Ortigas CBD puts you in the middle of tall the action in the city.
Hidden along a quiet residential street in Cubao is a stately Filipino mansion that has opened its doors to the public as a living museum and boutique events space. The MiraNila Heritage House and Library in Cubao is a heritage house originally built in 1929 in the California Revival Style, with lovely gardens and preserved interiors.
International tourists and locals looking for a place to stay with a rich sense of history close to Manila’s major landmarks might want to check into Rizal Park Hotel. This boutique hotel located along Manila Bay is relatively new and has a unique history as it adaptively reuses the former Manila Army and Navy Club building, a National Historical Landmark originally built in 1911.
It’s the most wonderful time for a beer!
The Ber months have arrived and there’s no better way to celebrate than with an outdoor beer festival. Mark your calendars this October as another MNL Beerfest event is coming soon. The 3-day MNL Beerfest is back and set to take place from 4:00 pm to midnight from October 13-15, 2023 at Capitol Commons Park in Pasig City.
Get ready to enjoy a range of hard-to-find beers and meet up with fellow hopheads from all over the country all in one venue. This year’s beer festival promises an extraordinary lineup of local craft breweries from over the Philippines, imported beers, good eats, and an unforgettable experience for all beer lovers.
Continue reading “Save the date, beer lovers. MNL Beerfest is back this October 2023”If you drive or ride a motorcycle in the Philippines, you probably know that the Single Ticketing System (STS) is now in effect. Starting May 2, 2023, new guidelines have been put in place to harmonize existing laws on traffic enforcement and management in Metro Manila. This includes standardized fines and penalties for common traffic violations.
The new system is currently being rolled out in 7 cities in the National Capital Region (NCR), namely Manila, Parañaque, Caloocan, Quezon City, San Juan, Muntinlupa, and Valenzuela.
One of the key violations under the system is “Dress Code for Motorcycle Riders” which has a penalty of P500 (first offense), P750 (second offense), P1,000 (third and subsequent offenses).
Continue reading “Gear Guide: Motorcycle dress code in the Philippines 2023”It feels like ages since I’ve watched a movie in an actual cinema. It doesn’t seem practical anymore since movies come to streaming sites so quickly these days. We’re currently subscribed to Netflix, HBO GO, Disney+ and Amazon, which has kept us pretty content watching TV at home.
But sometimes you want a break from just watching shows on the small screen. In case you want to level up your movie nights with the family, you can always plan a movie night using a home cinema projector instead of watching on a smaller TV, smartphone, or tablet.
Continue reading “Review + Blog Giveaway: LUMOS DAWN Home Cinema Projector”We all know that the public transport system in Metro Manila is a mess. Taking taxis or using ride-sharing services all the time can be expensive. Car users have to deal with rising fuel costs, bad traffic, and parking problems wherever they go. While owning a motorcycle can get you places fast and isn’t as expensive as owning a car, riders still regularly get discriminated against and still have to go through the tedious process of dealing with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to get a driver’s license and vehicle registration and renewal every year.
One of the best gifts you can give yourself is a bicycle since it offers both mobility and a leisure activity without the hassles of dealing with LTO. However, those who bike to work everyday know that biking can get pretty tiring, especially if you live far from your workplace or need to pass high-traffic routes and areas with a lot of uphills.
Continue reading “Review: Nakto Premium Ranger All-Terrain E-bike”NOTE: Updated April 2023
Typical museums in the country only appeal to history buffs and art enthusiasts. Visitors are expected to just look at artwork hanging on walls or stare at artifacts behind glass cases, learn historical facts, and that’s it. In most museums, photography isn’t even allowed, leaving visitors with no visual proof of their visit.
UPDATE: Starting January 1, 2025, all National Museums in the Philippines including regional site museums will now be open 7 days a week, free of charge!
For tourists in transit in Manila for a few days and urban dwellers who need to entertain visiting balikbayans and relatives near the Intramuros area, the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) complex’s three central museums, namely the Museum of Fine Arts, Anthropology and Natural History, are worth a visit.
Entrance is free and no reservations are required to visit the three museums, which are located within easy walking distance of each other. These three major museums are fairly large, and contain over four to six floors each. Going around each museum could easily take 1-2 hours.
Continue reading “Ultimate Guide to the National Museum of the Philippines: Fine Arts, Anthropology, Natural History & Site Museums”
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