Archives for November 2015

I have been extremely busy the past few weeks because I’ve been prepping for my Tokyo vacation. Because Japan is one of my dream places to visit, you can image how excited I am about this trip.

This trip is actually a gift from my sister who’s about to come home this week. I am pretty stoked about the whole thing and I cannot believe I’m actually visiting Japan, finally!

Getting the visa was the most difficult part of the whole process. I had to get all the documents, wait hours in line, etc. Thankfully, the Japanese embassy is no longer as strict in releasing visas as before. I was able to secure a tourist visa just three days after completing all my documents! NOTE: I hired an agency to do all the filing for me.

Unfortunately, I am visiting Tokyo in winter. I like the concept of winter, with the snow and all, but I’m one of those people who feel absolutely arctic all the damn time. This served me well here in the tropics but in snowy Tokyo, I’m not so sure.

This is why I’ve started stocking up on winter wear. I got three very thick fleece coats, heat tech innerwear and scarves. My sister got me several winter wear because she knows how much I hate the cold.

I also got me a cute pair of winter boots at Marks and Spencer! The winter boots are pretty low cut which I like. I love the sparkly details on the upper of the boots too! I will only bring a couple of boots, the other one is a pair of Aldo studded boots. I’m hoping I have enough footwear for my 7-day trip!

I also got a new luggage! Check out this hot pink number:

I am also eyeing the hand-carry version of this luggage. I will probably get it when I get back to the city this week. I have a couple of old luggage, but I needed a new one because I’ve been paranoid about the “laglag bala” scam happening right now in PH. As if the PH government hasn’t embarassed us enough in the international press already!

The plastic exterior will prevent unscrupulous checkers from slipping a bullet in my things. I hope! Oh and yeah, check out the lapad:

I had a hard time looking for a bank that will exchange my PH monies into Yen. Seriously, I had to go to the mall to exchange currencies, which is a bit of a hassle for me.

As for the tickets, I booked through Reli Tours in Megamall. I let them handle my visa too. I also reserved mobile internet through them, which is very convenient! They really thought of everything.

 

For our 4th anniversary, the boyfriend and I checked in at the new Marco Polo in Ortigas City. We’ve been crazy excited days that led up to our stay-cation because of, let’s face it, the buffet. We love to eat!

I didn’t take a lot of pictures to be honest. I wish I did! The hotel is beautiful! I loved the bathroom because of the bathtub and the super sleek glass pane walls!

The view from our room is also awesome! I mean, really, what’s better than this view?

The carbs, apparently. I ate so much during the very short time we were there that I literally gained 2 kilos T^T.

… also, the dessert bar. The dessert bar is smaller than what I was accustomed to but most of the items are so, so good!

Check out my first dessert plate:

We were also gifted with two cakes, given on two different dates because it’s our anniversary. How sweet is that? Here’s the first cake. Didn’t take a pic of the second one because it was already kept in a microwavable plastic container.

The hotel is really pretty and the service is definitely worth coming back to. In fact, the boyf and I will be spending our birthdays here in March! This time, we hope to do more than just stuff our faces with food, hahaahah! Thank you Marco Polo for an amazing staycation.