A Guide to Barcelona

Barcelona is located in the northeastern region of Catalonia in Spain. Visitors will be able to walk around the city, known for its architecture and its many cultural landmarks.

Walk around the Gothic Quarter.

The Gothic Quarter, located near the city center, is one of the city's most visited places. The city's ancient Gothic Seu cathedral is located in this area and visitors will be able to visit the cathedral and the cloister. This area is known for its narrow streets that are filled with bars, cafeterias and lounges.

Explore Gaudí's architecture.

Many of the city's landmarks were designed by Antonio Gaudí. The city's symbol, the unfinished cathedral of the Sagrada Familia, is known for its Nativity facade, decorated with carved statues. The cathedral's interior has thin bony columns. There are several towers and one of the towers is used as an observation deck.

In the centric Eixample district, where the chic shopping area of Passeig de Gràcia is located, visitors will find two other buildings designed by Gaudí. Casa Batlló used to be a private residence. The building has a sandstone facade covered in trencadis, a local type of colourful tiles. There are several iron wrought balconies in the shape of skulls. Nearby visitors will find the Casa Milá, a building that is known as the Quarry for its large, stone facade. There are no straight lines in the building, which has a wavy facade. Visitors will be able to explore the rooftop of this building, where the chimneys are warrior statues.

Taste the local food.

Spain is known for its food and those who want to travel there will be able to taste its cuisine. In this country visitors will be able to enjoy tapas and pintxos, a local variety of appetizers served in bars. The region of Catalonia is known for its food, and most traditional dishes are made using ingredients from the mountains and the sea. The crema catalana, a type of custard covered in sugar, is a typical dessert. Near the Las Ramblas main streets there are many tapas bars and restaurants.

The city has many markets filled with colourful stalls selling fresh and local products. The ancient Boquería Market is located off Las Ramblas. Visitors will be able to enjoy authentic tapas at El Quim bar. Another main market, located near the Ronda Sant Pau, is the Sant Antoni Market. This market is larger than the Boquería. There are many stalls and a tapas bar in the middle of the market. Near the market visitors will find a coin market and a market where comics, magazines and postcards are sold.

Enjoy a stroll in the city's parks.

After a long walk across Las Ramblas visitors will be able to enjoy a picnic in one of the city's parks. The Güell Park is one of the city's most visited parks, which was designed by Gaudí. The park has a tiled square decorated with sculptures covered in trencadis mosaics. Below the plaza there is a large porch area held by bony columns that is used for events. Gaudí's residence has been transformed into a museum dedicated to the architect. Near the city center is the large Ciutadella park, where visitors will be able to see another one of Gaudí's designs, the Cascada fountain. This fountain is an artificial waterfall flowing from an arch. The Martorell Museum is located on the park's territory. The Laboratory of Nature is another museums where visitors will be able to see many exhibits from the city's Natural History Museum.

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Our 5 days Honeymoon Escapade Part 6 - Honda Bay : Lu-Li Island

After a fruitful few hours snorkeling at Pambato Reef, Lu-li island is the second stop of our Honda Bay tour. Interesting name right? Actuall Lu-li literally is a shortcut of the tagalog term "lulubog-lilitaw", sounds funny but true.  "Lulubog" in English means to sink and "lilitaw" means  to float.

The island is only visible during low tide, when its high tide the whole island will be submerged in water.  Cool huh! When we arrived there it was low tide, later when we were about to leave we had the chance to see a portion of the island under water.

Lu-li island is the place where we had our buffet picnic lunch which is a part of our Honda Bay tour package. And boy we had a blast! My favorite is a plateful of arurusep dipped in vinegar, or what the Visayans call lato, we had  grilled fish too, salted eggs, liempo, fresh tomatoes, grilled shrimps, some veggies and local salad. Yum yum yummy!!! Even the foreigners who went with us enjoyed the lunch. 

After lunch is our free time, you can tour the island (which is not that big) so you are left with activities like picture taking, swimming, fish feeding, snorkeling and sun bathing!

We spent our time doing what we love... which is all of the above! Check some of our photos.

We are both not good swimmers but we enjoyed the water and fish feeding.  Fun!

And best of all is meeting new friends, they always make our travels more memorable.

I've been to so many beaches and Lu-li Island is definitely not among the best, but like what I mentioned about Pambato Reef, it's not the place, its the memory and the person I'm with. It's our honeymoon after all so we should enjoy right? This island may not be at par with my Coron experience  but I loved every second spent with my hubby! And I can't wait to experience El Nido soon as my next leg of Palawan tour.

Next stop is Cowrie Island!! Till next time!!

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Singapore's Wild Wild Wet

Wild Wild Wet is one of Singapore’s largest water park, it is located at  Downtown East, Pasir Ris which is just around 15 to 20 minutes from Changi  Airport while nearest MRT is Pasir Ris station.  So next time you have a delayed flight at Changi Airport, well, here's one of your best option!  

My husband and I are both thrill seekers (in our dreams!!  hehe). Actually when we were still dating we tried  the  Lego Kingdom's Roller Coaster ride at Legoland in Malaysia and we both dropped our pretensions after that, my husband almost had a heart attack! Wild Wild Wet offers so many extreme rides, but sorry we are there just to enjoy and relax! The park offers the following rides:

•  Ular-lah  -   its a raft slide, the closest thing you'll ever experience next to white water rafting designed for a maximum of six. 

•  The Water Works - a high speed flume ride that you have to do alone along that curvy twists and turn tube. 
• Slide-up - on board an inflatable raft you will be plunged down a four-storey ramp to soar on the opposite side!  Whew!
• Torpedo - ejects you from an 18-metre-high capsule right into a heart-stopping free fall, which propels you straight into a manic trajectory of hair raising twist and turns at mind-numbing speed of up to 70km/hr.
• Professor's Playground and Yippee!-  these two we enjoyed a lot.. why? Because they are safe! hehe.  Simply put, these two are for kids... it's a huge playground located in the swimming pool.  Professor's Playground was designed around the theme of an experimental laboratory,  packed with a myriad of novel fixtures such as slides, ladders, water cannons and fountains while Yippee! is a shallow sloshing area filled with soft play equipment designed to provide a safe and fun environment for toddlers. Fun for kids and kids at heart like us!

•  Shiok River - Spanning 335 meters in length, it skirts the perimeter of the park, meandering through a variety of lush landscape that will leave you soothed and invigorated. This is a stress free ride so of course we won't miss trying it:

•  Tsunami - combines the best of swimming pools and the sea where you will enjoy artificial waves. 

• Jacuzzi - well this one is what we enjoyed the most. First of all we had the chance to have the place for ourselves and there's a shade so you are not so exposed to the harmful rays of the sun. Time to have fun and relax!!

Inflatable floats , life jackets and baby water carriers are available  for free at the park. Lifeguards are also visible everywhere. So for me this is a safe place for everyone.

 

Once you are tired with all the park has to offer, well you can just sit down, relax and people watch!

 If hungry, they also have a food court inside, and prices are reasonable!

They have lockers where you can keep your valuables, toilets are huge and clean, they have shops also at the entrance / exit of the park. 

Ticket Rates: $19 for adults  (12 years and above) 

                      $14 for kids (3 to 11 years) and Senior Citizens

                      Toddlers ( below 3 yrs old) are FREE

                        

So next time someone ask you to check this place, don't think twice! 

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