Celine's Life Adventure

The first time I was able to ride the plane was the year 2004. Our family is going to Hong Kong for a 3-day vacation. It was the first time I saw an airplane up close and as a teenager going up in a developing country - it's like a dream country. Below is the summary of what I remember from a trip that happened almost ten years ago: Eating hot noodles in one of the small eateries in Hong Kong. They served it in such big bowls! Having breakfast in McDonald's and was seriously shocked that they don't serve fries - they still have hash browns though. I was shopping galore at a Giordano shop which was on a 50%-off sale. Mother was asking a stranger for directions in Filipino - as it turns out the person she's talking to is from Malaysia. Riding the cable car in Ocean Park Riding the train which goes through the sea - seriously scary. I imagined a movie when the tunnel would collapse Going to their market and buying souvenirs Staying in a beautiful hotel Cold weath

Good morning 2nd day in the City of Kota Kinabalu! +Jomar ,  +Wayne , and I had breakfast together. I particularly like the chicken wings they served today. After preparing for our beach trip, we went down at the lobby and met with  +Svet ,  +Mitch , and  +Lorna .  +Chelle  and  +Murphy  are waiting at the lobby of the other building. We started walking going to the Gaya Street Sun day Market where they are selling all sorts of things. Some of us decided to buy this cold Malaysian drink while  +Jomar  and I were busy hacking portals. Next thing we know, Wayne started shivering, and Mitch is hugging him trying to keep him warm. We started giving out the shawl that we have ready for our beach trip. I have a cardigan in my bag and gave it to Wayne as well. Thanks to  +Lorna  and  +Murphy  for helping us find the nearest clinic. Later on, an ambulance picked Wayne up to go to Queen Elizabeth Hospital (a public hospital).

Good morning Kota Kinabalu! Magandang umaga Sabah! Selamat Pagi Malaysia! It was our first day in Malaysia and  +Jomar , and I enjoyed the breakfast buffet of  +King Park Hotel Kota Kinabalu . I particularly remember the Beef Rendang because it was the only food I am not familiar with that they offered. GDG Devfest Kota Kinabalu 2013 After making sure that we're ready for the long day,  +Jomar ,  +Mitch ,  +Svet  and I started walking towards the Wisma Bandaraya. It is the venue of the first GDG Devfest Kota Kinabalu and is two blocks away from our hotel. We saw  +Sebastian  outside the building trying to figure out the entrance. We also bumped into  +Loretta  as we figure out on which floor we should go as the building lobby is empty.

My life goal right now is to travel and see much of the world as I can. Last June, I was in Yogyakarta, Indonesia for the Google Southeast Asia Outreach Summit. Little did I know, that I would be travelling out of the country again, this time in the Capital City of Sabah - Kota Kinabalu.  +GDG Philippines  were asked to help  +GDG Kota Kinabalu  with their first GDG Devfest KK. +Jomar  and  +Wayne  discussing Java best-practices while waiting for our food in Kenny Rogers.

After the successful Southeast Asia Summit with Google, a good number of Filipino delegates stayed in Jogja to see the rest of the city and what it has to offer. Thank God, Reymart has friends who are living in Jogjakarta, Indonesia. Not only did they gave us a tour and drove us around the city (instead of hailing and waiting for a cab every time), they were our translator and had become our friends. Bella and Titis are our new friends from Jogja! Both girls gave us ( +Jomar ,  +Josan ,  +Reymart ,  +Ruben ,  +Reymart , +Keshan , and I) a tour around the city. Gadjah Mada University Our first stop for the day is the Sunday Market in UGM. Seriously, Indonesia is a lot like the Philippines. Humid weather, love for affordable market places - the Sunday Market is just like what we have in Makati in the Philippines. After sweating a lot and looking at the different items, we walked going back to the car and saw the beautiful mosque inside the campus. We don't have a lot of mosques i

Last Day of SEARCH Summit It was the last day of the SEARCH Summit. Time flies when you're having fun! We're having fun and making friends in Jogja. Now, I have acquaintances and friends from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, and more places! Thank God for blessing us with opportunities like this. We had another excellent breakfast even if +Jomar  and I woke up late. We had GDG Managers sharing their experiences the rest of the morning: +Samdy  ( +GDG Phnom Penh ) shared about how to keep the community engaged. Next,  +Ruben  ( +GDG Cebu ) shared about collaboration between the groups. Then,  +Louis  ( +GDG Singapore ) shared about the success of their work with the government to create a contest in making useful applications using big data. Lastly, +Josan  ( +GDG Cagayan de Oro ) shared about the success of their Student Developer's Day. We learned so much and had bonded over the last few days. The SEA GDG Managers is the best group ever!

After getting restful sleep, we enjoyed the breakfast buffet at Hyatt. After breakfast, we went to a session with the GBG leads. We had a lot of good afternoon activities as well. I learned about Google Ventures, HTML5, AdMob and AdSense, and Diversity. I would say that the sticker exchange that happened in the morning did the trick that made the GDG leads a talk with each other.

8-hour layover. That's the summary of our journey from Manila, Philippines going to Yogyakarta in Indonesia to attend the Southeast Asia Outreach Summit organized by Google for the different communities (GDG, GBG, GSA, and MapMaker) in SEA. Ninoy Aquino International Airport There's 25 of us travelling from the Philippines. We left Manila a little after 9:30 PM via Cebu Pacific going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. While waiting for our flight, the GDG Managers from the Philippines ( +Jomar ,  +Josan ,  +Reymart ,  +Theo ,  +anne ,  +Ruben , and I) decided to use the time to discuss our DevFest 2013 plans. I also purchased from National Bookstore a new passport cover! Hihi. GDG Managers from the Philippines

Below is a list of places I visited while in Singapore. The Merlion Park    A visit to SG won't be complete without a visit to the mascot of the country. A walk around the park will also give a magnificent view of the Marina Bay Sands. ArtScience Museum The reason I went to Singapore is because of the Harry Potter Exhibition happening at the ArtScience Museum. In my opinion, it's so worth my time, effort and money. The souvenirs are quite expensive though.

Here are the estimated expenses with flight, travel tax, terminal fee, and everything else. Hope it helps you! It only works in Google Chrome (sorry).

It was my first time this year to fly out of the country, and I visited The Lion City. I am not sure where to start in sharing my experience but here's a summary of the places I've been to and food I had. The  budget  post is available here. Day 1 - The Merlion and Google Office It was my first time flying with Tiger Airways, and it was a decent experience since I was sleeping most of the time. The flight was around 6 in the morning, but we left 30 minutes later because of the airport traffic at NAIA Terminal 1.

Last October 7 to 10, 2011, I was given a chance to visit South Korea. I was able to see a glimpse of Seoul, Busan (Pusan), and Daegu. I will share our planned and actual itinerary, budget and actual spending, places I suggest you see based on what I saw, and food to try. For this vacation, I was with current and former office mates. Day 1 - October 7, 2011 Our flight with Cebu Pacific departed Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, Manila, the Philippines bound for Gimhae International Airport, Busan (Pusan), South Korea and was 15 minutes delayed. I would say that as compared to my flights with Philippine Airlines (PAL) during my US and Hong Kong trip, CebuPac was way far better even if there are delays. We left at around 4:30 pm and arrived in Busan at 9:30 pm because of the time difference. It seems that the flight is 5 hours long, even if it was only 4 hours! Oh, before I forget I highly recommend the Ham and Cheese Croissant for P100.