Travel and Wellness With Maria

To tell you the truth, I am half – excited to go home in my hometown to see my family. I will definitely miss the chaotic life here in Manila, meetups and blogging events I join. Last night I was able to sold the expensive branded watch, Michael Kors I won in a contest courtesy of a previous event I joined. In Lazada it is Php 16, 000 but currently on 56% off. Since I don’t wear a watch and my happiness is not in material things, I posted it privately to my Facebook friends only selling it for P5k. Within 24 hours, I received thirty – plus ready to pay buyers! I chose the one who messaged me very soon and I am happy to give it to her more than half the price. So there, I have a Php5k added to my travel fund!

Irosin is a quaint and landlocked municipality in the province of Sorsogon. By bus from Manila, it takes 12 – 15 hours to reach this place. This is where I spent my childhood and until high school.We have no beach, but hot springs and lots of rice fields. That is the thing about me, when I am in crowded place, I complaint about it when I am in a quiet place, I complain too! We outsource all the seafood we eat especially the fish to nearby municipalities in Bulan, Casiguran, Matnog and Bulusan. When I reached college I moved to Sorsogon city which is just an hour away where I spent two years. This is the very first time I experienced independence away from home at the age of 16 I think. I just go home on weekends. After finishing my two – year diploma in Computer Studies, I moved to Legazpi City where I spent three years to finish my degree in Computer Science and also lived for another two years to work.

In three months from now I will celebrate my birthday on Feb 21st. After I got bitten by the travel bug I no longer celebrate my birthday inside the house, it has to be somewhere else. It does not need to be that expensive, all I just want is a new place to reflect and somehow I learned to love meeting the locals in every place I go, eating the food and knowing their culture.

It just so happen that last year, I spent it at EDSA Shangri-la Manila, it is a 5 – star hotel I know. If not for the contest I won, celebrating my natal day in a suite that costs PHP17k or USD361 plus a two – hour body massage and wrap that costs PHP 7k+ or USD150 is nearly impossible. In other words, I celebrated my birthday that costs a total of PHP24k or USD510 totally for free.

I just love joining travel related contests and I don’t win all the time, but two months ago, I won a roundtrip flight to Hong Kong courtesy of an Instagram contest by Cathay Pacific. It is good for two Economy tickets so I am tagging along my Mom in her first ever out of the country trip at the age of 57. In my birthday this 2016, I have no other wish than make my Mom’s dream come true.

Dream Hotel Bangkok Blog Review