Booze Dreams do Come True: Touring Southeast Asia

Tour dates: September 19 2014 to October 3, 2014

Discovering other places is a privilege that many of us have. It may come in different times and different adventures. The world was created for discovery, not exploitation. So, I took that chance and packed my bags. However, to make it seem a little anti-climatic, packing my bags wasn’t that easy. It had to require precision and a lot of thinking because traveling and leaving two kids and one niece behind can be appalling. But the good news is, life has given me the chance ( and I grabbed it of course) to travel around some of the best places in Asia with a few (only six of them) of my closest friends.

(This was us from way back when we were in college. left to right - Albhing, hazlot, Tweety, Melai

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It was in our university years when my friends (Tweety, Melai, Dino, Tanzy, Albhing, and Garlly) decided that we had to go around the world someday and begin our lifelong tour in our beloved Southeast Asia. Back then, when nursing education controlled a quarter of our university lives, dreams were just dreams created under the influence of booze. But, I now realize that dreams or wishful thinking resulting from liters of alcohol can actually come true.

January 2014, we decided to make that Asian Tour (Singapore, Malaysia, Phuket, Bangkok, and Cambodia only) dream into a reality. And this time there was no booze involved because booking airline tickets and making room reservations needed a sane mind and clear credit card information. Two of my gracious friends Tweety and Melai were our ultimate organizers. I didn’t even know we were going on a trip until they told me they bought a ticket to Singapore for me. Now that was a sign of true friendship (wink wink).

an expertly traced path of our tour (lol)

For months, we have been chatting through Skype and Facebook as to who are coming, where we were all going and where we shall be staying. Out of excitement and sheer desperation to go out and see a part of this big world, we finally had a not-so-laid-out plan. But the plan turned out to be good.

trip memorabilia

When we have booked our tickets and some accommodation in four countries, we needed to prepare the essentials for our thirteen to fifteen day trip. Nurses as we all were, we packed medicines before we even packed our clothes. We made sure we had a trusted first aid kit along with antihistamines, antibiotics, and pain relievers (which came really handy for Garlly who had toothache). When the meds were packed we applied for travel insurance from Blue Cross because no matter how sure you are that you are safe in all your travails you will never know what fate and nature will bring. In traveling, one has to put in mind that it’s better to be safe than sorry.

http://www.bluecross.com.ph/  (for inquiries about Travelsafe or Blue Cross in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental area please call Ms. Jamaica Arnaiz 09166806485)

Even before we finalized our trip, all of us already decided that we shall have a one knapsack or travel bag policy. Of course, we all complied obviously because of the fact that no one would want to check in loads of baggage when traveling from one country to another. How did we pack clothes good for 15 days in our knapsacks? Simple, do not bring clothes good for 15 days (you can always have them washed at the laundry mat or buy new clothes if shopping’s in your mind) and only wear your most comfortable shoes designed for the Southeast Asian climate. 

This blog will be the first of many blogs that will show and help interested readers and Southeast Asia travelers how to get along and enjoy four countries in fifteen days with a bunch of not-so-crazy people. Our first stop was “Fine” Singapore.