Enzo's Travel Journals

When you hear about bullet trains , you think of Japan — with its famous attractions from Tokyo to Osaka as well as their extreme level of hospitality and good manners of its people. But did you know that their Shinkansen  is also one of Japan's famous "attractions" and landmarks? Shinkansen trains at Tokyo Station. In operation since 1964, the Shinkansen has transformed the lives of the Japanese, as it pulled cities closer than ever before. It shortened travel times between Tokyo and Osaka — two of Japan's largest cities and famous tourist hotspots — from almost seven hours on a conventional limited express train to only 2.5 hours today! This blog covers my experience on the 515-kilometer  Tokaido Shinkansen  — the original line opened — as part of my first-ever trip to Japan in July 2023. How we bought our tickets? For first-time travelers, I highly recommend buying your tickets on online platforms like Klook  — which has a more comprehensive guide by clicking...

It was 2022, near the tail end of the pandemic. People were more eager to travel as health restrictions were gradually easing. The tourism industry was recovering. We took this opportunity to fulfill our "revenge travel" plans; this vacation to Boracay — which I describe as "paradise" — was one of it. An AirAsia plane at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 4 in June 2022 — back when they used to operate at this terminal. AirAsia is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline with subsidiaries in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Cambodia. Founded in 1993 and commencing operations in 1996, it was purchased by It has been hailed by Skytrax as the world's best low-cost airline for more than a decade running since 2009. We booked our flights with this airline to Boracay, a popular tourist hotspot known for its white sand beaches. Note: This is a personal blog on our travel experience and is neither promoted nor endorsed by AirAsia. Disclaimer: This ...

On June 30, 2023, I flew on Cebu Pacific's Airbus A330 for the first time. Although my past low-cost flights are in narrow-body aircraft (like the A320/A321 to be exact, because I also flew with CEB in the past and  AirAsia more recently ), this is the first time I flew no-frills on a wide-body—the A330. Note: This is a personal blog on our travel experience and is neither promoted nor endorsed by Cebu Pacific.

Back in September 2024, my mom, who, by the way, filmed this flight due to my school classes, booked a short weekend trip to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, a popular tourist hotspot in East Asia. Although I have featured Cebu Pacific and AirAsia more frequently in my blogs, this is the first time that I featured a low-cost carrier that some of you never heard of: Jeju Air . Jeju Air is South Korea’s first and largest low-cost airline. Operating an exclusive fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft, it flies to forty-one destinations around the Asia-Pacific region from its hubs at Gimpo International Airport and Incheon International Airport in Seoul, as well as Busan and Daegu. In the Philippines, it flies to Clark in Pampanga, as well as Manila, Cebu, and Bohol. Notes: This is a personal blog on our travel experience and is neither promoted nor endorsed by Jeju Air. The author of this blog did not board this flight. Rather, my mom represented me due to my school classes.

On my birthday  (November 18) , I woke up to moderate rainfall as a low-pressure area formed east of the country. At our hotel at Tacloban Plaza Hotel, I ate a simple breakfast consisting of a rice meal with  tapa , cabbage, a hard-boiled egg, and a simple soup. My mom hired the Leyte-based brother of her officemate for a $77 (4,500 pesos) countryside tour to Leyte and Samar. We left before ten o'clock. Note:  This blog is the second of two parts of our  2023 Leyte and Samar Weekend Trip . See  this link  for the first part. Route map Main tour experience The  San Juanico Bridge  was our first stop of the day. Traversing the national highway, our first stop was at the  San Juanico Bridge , a steel truss bridge opened in 1973 as part of the scandalous Japanese loan funds by the government of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Stopping in any part of the bridge is not allowed, except for the ends of the approach ramps. It is one of the region's popular touri...

Eleven years ago, on this day (November 8), Typhoon Haiyan , known locally in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda , struck the Visayas islands of the Philippines. The Eastern Visayas region was the most affected; and Tacloban—a coastal city and the provincial capital of Leyte province—was heavily devastated by the typhoon. The strongest typhoon of 2013 led to an estimated 6,300 fatalities, with most coming from Eastern Visayas, but estimates may be higher than this government-recorded data report. Tacloban's city hall situated on top of a hill. Ten years after the heartbreaking devastation brought by this typhoon, I booked a trip to Tacloban in November 2023 to see how the city has recovered. This visit covered not only Leyte, but also Samar and Eastern Samar. Note:  This blog is the first of two parts of our  2023 Leyte and Samar Weekend Trip . See  this link  for the second part. Route map Main tour experience Shortly after arriving from our Cebu Pacific fligh...

In mid-November 2023, Cebu Pacific brought us to Tacloban — a city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines — to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan — also known as Super Typhoon Yolanda — which unfortunately claimed thousands of lives and made Tacloban — the most devastated city — a "ground zero". Note: This is a personal blog on our travel experience and is neither promoted nor endorsed by Cebu Pacific. Booking process We booked our flights as three months prior, in August, during a promo and seat sale. Initially, we planned an overnight vacation in Tacloban (November 18-19); the tickets, including extra fees, amounted to $97 (₱5,667) before upgrading it to three days after determining that my class week before this vacation (November 13-17) would only consist of the first three days, which were actually the dates of our periodical examinations. We paid an additional $96 (around ₱5,600) to rebook our departing flight a day earlier. Cebu Pacific has t...