We just got back from Hong Kong just in time before the heat of the summer arrived and in my opinion, the cool months of December - February are the ideal time of the year to visit Hong Kong, at least in my opinion. Hong Kong, during the summer season, is usually hot and dry, and there's a lot of tourists. The low season, which is cooler, is ideal for most Filipinos since we preferred a much cooler climate to escape the temperature in the Philippines.

So, our trip is purely DIY. I have not arranged any tours with any travel agencies and I am the one who booked our flight, hotel accommodations, and Disneyland pass. There are 10 of us who travelled, five adults and five kids. So, the first thing that I did, six months in advance is to book the cheapest plane fare as possible. But finding the right schedule is very difficult. We had to find out if the chosen dates did not coincide with any of our previous commitments. The kid's schedules are easier, we just informed their schools about it and ask for advance study materials.

Then we booked the hotel accommodation via Booking.com. At first, I've looked for the cheapest accommodations, but after reading all the horror stories online and that we have kids and toddlers with us, we settled on the bit pricier BP International Hotel for the first two nights. BP International Hotel is located in Tsim Sha Tsui, and is just within walking distance of Victoria Harbour and Temple Street Night Market, and the Hong Kong Jordan MTR station. For our next night, we booked Disney's Hollywood Hotel so that we can enjoy Hong Kong Disneyland for two straight days!

A month before our flight,  we bought the following discounted vouchers and pass from Klook.com:

1. Hong Kong Airport Express - It brought us from Hong Kong International Airport to Kowloon Station in less than 30 minutes! You can try the bus, but good luck with the traffic. Buy it here: AIRPORT EXPRESS
2. Hong Kong Disneyland Day Pass - Our vouchers were emailed to us right after we booked. Buy it here HONG KONG DISNEYLAND
3. Meal Vouchers for Hong Kong Disneyland - You cannot bring your own meals or snacks inside Disneyland, but there are a lot of restaurants and fast food available around the park. Buy it here: DISNEYLAND FOOD VOUCHERS
4. MTR Tourist Day Pass - We explored Hong Kong with this unlimited 24 hours ride to Hong Kong's very efficient MTR trains. We also used this to ride from Kowloon to Disneyland. Buy it here: MTR TOURIST PASS
5. 4G Internet SIM Card - Unlimited internet for 5 straight days? Hell yeah! Buy it here: 4G INTERNET SIM CARD

There are a lot of activities that you can do in Hong Kong, depending on the time and budget. To save money and at the same time, enjoy the finer things in life, you can always try the DIY way. I suggest that you stay away from packaged tours because it will just eat your time away. It is always better to explore the city by foot, or in our case, unlimited MTR ride via MTR Tourist Day Pass.

Here are the other highly recommend activities you can do in Hong Kong, which are all available at a discounted price from Klook:

1. Ocean Park Hong Kong - Buy from KLOOK
2. Ngong Ping 360 Crystal Cabin - Buy from KLOOK
3. Hong Kong Big Bus Unlimited Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Tours - Buy from KLOOK
4. Peak Tram Fast-Track Combo - Buy from KLOOK
5. Madame Tussauds Hong Kong - Buy from KLOOK

We stayed for four days in Hong Kong. The kids loved the cool weather while enjoying our walks in Victoria Harbour or the rides at Disneyland. Hong Kong truly is a magnificent city which our family really enjoyed. You and your family too can enjoy Hong Kong. By proper planning and budgeting, you can get a hassle-free holiday that is within your budget.

Ever since I started visiting Boracay, I've seen these yellow-shirted people inviting beach-goers to join them in a pub crawl. I usually ignore them and just proceed to wherever I'm going. But this time, my trip to Boracay was special. It was my wife and I's wedding anniversary and we wanted to do something different. So we joined Boracay Pubcrawl.

We bought our pass via Klook (get your tickets here!), and each pass cost Php 990.00. When you register, you will be given the iconic yellow shirt, which you can alter creatively. You'll also get a baller bracelet, a shot glass and coupons for your 10 free shots. The coupons are colour-coded which means for each colour, you can use it to a specific club. And for pub crawlers, each club offers you promos and discounts so can drink as much as you want.

The group first assembled at the Epic bar where the rules and guides are laid out by the party captains. When you drink, you need to hold somebody's shoulder. This means that you should never, ever drink alone. If you are caught drinking without holding somebody's shoulder, then you will be asked by the group to drink your beer bottoms up!. At Epic Bar, we claimed our free shots and ordered beers to start the beach party.

The bar hopping officially started when the captains asked us to finish all our drinks and move to the beach area for the mandatory group photos. During the course of the evening, we were able to make friends with locals from Cebu, Manila, Davao, Germany, South Africa and South Korea. Everybody is so fun and welcoming, we truly did have the best night. Boracay Pubcrawl really lived up to its catchphrase: turning strangers into friends, and for a short period of time, we felt that we were really having the best night with best friends.

My wife and I are big fans of Boracay ever since we spent our honeymoon there many years ago. And since then, we returned several times, sometimes with our kids and once with our extended families. But most often, it was just us.

But last year, Boracay was closed for a very long time and we decided to just go somewhere else. And then, it was re-opened and we have been hearing great news about it. After six months of rehabilitation, the Department of Tourism has made significant changes, that at first, divided the opinion of the tourists and businesses. One of the changes that the government has implemented is to limit the number of visitors to enter the island by 6,405 tourists each day. They will do that by also making sure that each visitor will have a confirmed booking at accredited hotels before you are allowed to enter. Personally, that is fine by me because we will get to enjoy Boracay with lesser people on the beach. And based on our experience, indeed, lesser people at the beach than the last time we were there!

The Department of Tourism has also banned La Boracay, a well-known summer event party that is usually done at the beach. Structures such as souvenir shops, food stalls, massage beds, and even beach umbrellas are prohibited at the beach area as well. Smoking, eating and drinking alcohol are strictly prohibited. But if you really want to party, there are a lot of bars and clubs along the main road. My wife and I even signed up for Boracay Pub Crawl to bar hop, meet new people from different nationalities and party.

The beach now is less crowded so people can have their own space without getting bothered by vendors and other people at the beach. With lesser people at the beach, you can have plenty of space with your photoshoots, just like my wife and I did.

So, we really did enjoy our stay in Boracay, and indeed, we fell in love with the place the second time around. In fact, we booked another flight this coming first week of May. Can't wait to come back to Boracay again!

My wife and I recently went on a vacation to Boracay. That was our first time to visit since the 6-month closure and we had been hearing some positive feedback. When Boracay has opened again, the number of tourists were significantly reduced and they only allow entry for those tourists with confirmed bookings from accredited hotels. They also removed all the structures near the beach to allow more people to enjoy their time in the sand.

I happen to stumble on Royal Air when I was trying to look for a last-minute deal for our Boracay vacation. I already booked our hotel and as I was checking the flights from Clark to Caticlan, I saw Royal Air, along with Air Asia, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific. I'm already settled for Air Asia because it's cheaper the than PAL and CEBPAC, but when I tried checking the rates of Royal Air, it was a bit cheaper.

Royal Air is a small commercial airline that started out as a private charter. It has three (3) 97-seater British Aerospace (BAe) AVRO 146 RJ-100 series in its fleet. The aircraft is sometimes called "whisperjet" but in Royal Air's case, I can't even use my headphones to binge-watch my favourite TV series or listen to Spotify because the engine was way too loud!

The cabin has two seats on the left and three seats on the right and appears to be a bit spacious in my opinion, than what Air Asia or Cebu Pacific has to offer. The biggest drawback? The plane needed a lot of scrubbing and the air condition was pitiful! According to the cabin crew, the air will be a lot cooler when the plane was in the air. During the flight, they served us with a chocolate sponge cake and bottled water, which was nice, I guess.

So, will I fly again with Royal Air? Yeah, if all the airlines close or I do not have a choice. Or if the fare is really cheap! After all, I'm a budget traveller. In Royal Air's case, it is the destination, not the journey, that matters.

Boracay never became boring even after the six-month closure. True, there was a major clean up along the 4 km-stretch white beach, but that is for the good of the island as well as the tourists who wanted to enjoy the fine sand and sun without the distractions of commerce.

There are still a lot of activities you can join even at night, especially if you love to party. Even if you are alone or with your friends and co-workers, you can have the best night of your stay in Boracay and you wouldn't need to spend that much!

We definitely recommend that you join Boracay's own Pubcrawl. Boracay PubCrawl offers travellers the chance to party as a group. You can discover the best night spots and make new friends as well while having a great evening out. You will also get free shots plus the best drink deals at every club that you stop. And you do not need to take a selfie as a professional photographer is along with you to document the epic night!

To get your Boracay Pubcrawl pass in advance (because trust me, they get sold out really fast), you can check out Klook at https://www.klook.com.

It's summertime and everybody's busy making plans for their ultimate travel getaway. The problem is that you are cash strapped because you didn't get any incentive from the previous period. And the funny thing is, that is the same problem of your other three counterparts! So how can you visit Coron now?

That is not a problem anymore! The four of you can go to Coron, Palawan and pay for the fare and accommodation for only Php 1,222.00 each! With 2GO's Sale Away Package, you and your friends will get to enjoy the luxury of round-trip sea travel with accommodations in a tourist-class room in MV Saint Francis Xavier as well as in Coron.

Travel from Manila to Coron is every Friday. The vessel departs at 7:00 PM and you will arrive in Coron at 6:00 AM. So basically, you will be spending the night at the vessel. But don't worry! The vessel has facilities to entertain you and your friends. MV Saint Francis Xavier has restaurants and bars to make sure you have the best time traveling.

2GO will also arrange your overnight accommodations in Coron. So, you have two full days to spend on island hopping tours and taking photos and videos. But for the different tours that Coron offers, you can get it easily at Klook.

Klook.com
The trip back to Manila is Sunday afternoon wherein you'll stay in a Tourist class accommodation just like your trip from Manila. And you will arrive in Manila Monday morning just in time for your meeting with your District Manager.

To reserve, contact 2GO's Group Sales Department at their hotline (+63 2) 528-7777 or email them at tours_and_groups@2go.com.ph.