Honeymoon (Thread 2)

[rebelbride_2015]

We had our honeymoon in Seoul, S. Korea. We did not book for land arrangement because it's manageable to do it on your own. It's my third time so medyo may idea na ako on do's and dont's. But if you really want to be stress-free, you can do land arrangement. Kuripot kasi ako, backpacker ako before We went on a winter trip.

Here's some of the places and activities in our honeymoon:
Changdeokgung palace (may free English tour and secret garden)
Hanok (traditional korean houses) Village (beside Changdeokgung)  - you can book a stay here; this is an actual residential area
Tosokchon restaurant (try their Samgyetang/ginseng chicken) near Gyeongbokgung
Namsangol hanok village (like a park)
Myeongdong - shopping
Dongdaemun - for young generation mejo pricey shopping area pero fashion forward dito
Namdaemun - pasalubong spree; cheap chocolates and local chichiria
Insadong - cultural, artsy shopping street, food trip street - walking distance from Jongno
Trick eye museum in Insadong
Nami Island - book your trip in Insadong para hassle free. Bus stop is also in Insadong

WINTER ACTIVITIES
Jisan Ski resort for snowboarding/skiing -- go to their website; when you get to the hotel, ask the front desk to call the resort for details on the bus and to book you for the bus. Only Koreans can call them. Cost of snowboarding gears, lockers, ski lift fee half day around 3k-3500 naka discount sila lagi with Citibank so dont forget your credit card. Consistent yan for my 3 visits
City hall Ice Skating - mga around 75 pesos per hour to with gears and lockers na ang mura yes!

IF YOU STILL HAVE TIME, visit Jeju Island. If you book like months ahead, you can get 80% off. This was not part of our honeymoon kasi 5 days off lang pinayagan samen sa office (meh) but my first visit here was really great. and this is their honeymoon spot. For nature-loving people. and lakas makahollywood ng feel ng some parts of this island. amazing amazing experience

Hotel: Hotel Rian in Jongno. Very near the subway (Jongno-sam-ga station) and bus stations including airport bus stop kaya very good tong location na to. Best of the 3 accommodations I tried in my 3 stays. Good rooms, good service, English speaking front desk. Around 2k-2500 per night in Agoda

[sparklingjewel]

^reese17 go to Matsusakawagyu in Osaka! <3 Normally need advanced reservations but in our case we went there on the day we just arrived in Osaka. The manager was shocked we hadn't thought of reserving in advance, sikat pala yata sila. Then we told him we're travelling lang on our own and he eventually was able to squeeze us in! He found out we were Pinoy and retrieved his phone to show us pics of pinoy celebs eating there..among them Judy Ann, Marvin Agustin, Cristine Reyes, and Angelica. Haha kakagulat. Worth the price yung beef! 80g was like P2k pero for the experience

In other news.. fiance and i talked a bit about the honeymoon. Since we don't plan on having kids right away he agreed it would be best to travel extensively already after the wedding rather than later on.  In short, seems like Europe is a go for us! Hehe it will be our first time together in Europe and i can't wait to start planning!!

[reese17]

^ Thanks for the tips sevenstars and sparklingjewel! Super excited na. <3 Can we just skip the wedding and go straight to the honeymoon? Heehee.

sparklingjewel, yes go for Europe! Do you have countries in mind na? Barcelona, Spain is one of my favorite cities. It's super romantic and the food is amazing. Lots to see too.

[sparklingjewel]

^reese17 i have not started planning AT ALL but top of mind: Spain, France, Italy, Greece. Maybe the Netherlands depending on the time we have. May/June 2016 pa naman if ever because we might have a South Africa trip in April (which is not the honeymoon hehe). I'm sooo excited to plan too kasi last talk namin parang in favor na si fiance hahaha and i have never taken a 3-4 week break off work so that gets me excited!!

[shegie_285]

^ the matsusakawagyu restaurant do you bbq your  own beef? Going to osaka in 4 weeks and we want to eat at a good restaurant. Wagyu lahat ng meat?

[Chili1113]

^Hi shegie... M or Matsusakagyu Yakiniku serves Matsusaka beef, which they say is better than Kobe. All Japanese beef is called Wagyu--- but Kobe, and Matsusaka Beef is named after the place they are farmed in. Eating style is Yakiniku... meaning Japanese bbq/grill dining style.

Anyways the food is superb and worth it. Hehe the manager Kuni is already our friend even on FB. Anyway no need naman to reserve ahead. We were always able to go and get a table within 20 mins. What you can do is go there, sign up for a table, and have a beer or sake in one of the places nearby while you wait.

Also M has 2 buildings about a hundred meters away from each other. Sometimes the line is shorter in the other one. I prefer eating in the smaller, cozier resto.

For more info see: http://www.tripadvisor.com.ph/Restaurant_Review-g298566-d3270759-Reviews-Matsuzakagyu_Yakiniku_M_Hozenji_Yokocho-Osaka_Osaka_Prefecture_Kinki.html

TIP: If you want cheap wagyu beef and fresh jap sushi for less visit Osaka's Kuromon Market. =)

[vhanya]

^We went to eat at this resto and yes, the Matsusaka beef was sooooo good!! Kuni was so friendly on FB haha! We are there for lunch and Kuni showed us a pic of Bea and Zanjo who went there the night before. You might also want to try their shabu-shabu and sukiyaki resto near the yakiniku branch.

Other nice restos in Dotonbori are Chibo (yakisoba and okonomiyaki) and Ichiran Ramen.

[bzbee]

im having so much fun planning our dream honeymoon in europe! its like my break from all the wedding preps. so sad that we cant leave work longer but we're trying to make the most out of our 2-week vacation. the thread about uk, france and italy here in GT are really helping me a lot. anyway, sharing a draft our IT here too:

manila to london
4 nights in london
train from london to paris
4 nights in paris
fly from paris to rome
4 nights in rome
rome to manila

[shegie_285]

thanks Chili1113 and vhanya. I didn't know na wagyu lahat ng beef sa japan, I thought its another type. When we dined sa Burj Al Arab the chef gave my MIL wagyu beef (not served sa  buffet, she's cant take gluten kasi and most food hindi gluten-free) and the chef said its like kobe daw but ang kobe they feed the cow with alcohol and hindi daw pwede sa UAE ang alcohol so they serve wagyu beef instead.

I'll check the market and the restaurants. Two nights lang kami sa Osaka, then one day pa mag daytrip kami sa Kobe and then will stay in Kyoto longer.                       

[vhanya]

^if you are going to Kobe, why not try the real Kobe beef instead? We went to Steakland Kobe near the Sannomiya Station. It's cheaper at lunch, their Kobe beef set

[LingMVL]

Just wondering, is anyone here considering going local for their honeymoon? My fiancé kasi is US-based and can't really take a long vacation for our wedding-honeymoon. Plus the fact that we're sharing the cost to bring his family here from the states, medyo tight na yung budget namin for the honeymoon.

We're both looking to stay at a nice beach resort. And although I usually go for campy budget hotels, h2b wants something a little more luxurious. Homework niya actually ang mag-research at mag-book because it's his money  but he doesn't really know much about the Philippines. Ako naman ang alam ko lang are the typical ones like Palawan and Bohol. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

[kisses1417]

@ lingMVL: Bellarocca sis in Marinduque, Balesin in Quezon , Huma Island in Palawan. Misibis bay in Albay 😊

[LingMVL]

@ lingMVL: Bellarocca sis in Marinduque, Balesin in Quezon , Huma Island in Palawan. Misibis bay in Albay 😊

Wow, sis! That was quick thanks!

Sa Bellarocca daw walang beach, don't know if that's true since I know they're supposed to be right on the coast or something like that. And wala kaming connections to get into Balesin (although that would be reeeeeally nice). I have yet to check Misibis and Huma Island. Thanks so much!

[LingMVL]

Gosh, I just checked out Huma Island. It's quite a bit more than our budget can accommodate. What would cost 2-3 nights in Huma would allow us to stay 5 nights elsewhere. It is really nice, though. Siguro some time after the wedding we can go back there.

So far, we're liking El Nido and Panglao island. I'm not really a big fan of Boracay (although Discovery Shores has the BEST reviews anywhere, so baka pwede rin). Batanes sana would be nice, it's not really for just lounging and relaxing on the beach.

Siargao! Sige nga will check Thanks sis kiracharlie and kisses1417!

[shegie_285]

vhanya yes that's the plan, eat Kobe beef in Kobe. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll list that.

[yannuh]

Thanks mga sis! Try ko din mamili dyan for our local honeymoon destination hihi ♥

[kisses1417]

Pearl Farm also in Davao 😊

[Chili1113]

I gave in to H2B and scrapped out our African safari honeymoon plans. Instead we are doing a tour of Greece, Croatia, Turkey. We will spend most of our time in Santorini, Dubrovnik, and Cappadocia. The big capital cities (Athens, Zagreb, Istanbul) we are just gonna check out since we have no choice but to catch our flights there anyway. From Dubrovnik we will be scheduling a day trip tour  to Kotor and Budva in rhe country of  Montenegro; and another day tour to Mostar and Medjugojue in the country of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Formerly Yugoslavia).

After I agreed to change our honeymoon plans, H2B admitted that he wasn't too keen on Africa before. Well I am glad he is happier with this new itinerary since it's his honeymoon also, and plus he is the one spending for it hehe. Whaaaaaaa..... must SAVE money so we can afford to do a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia!

H2Band I always travel but we are considering this a once-in-lifetime trip in the sense that we are gonna splurge a bit on our hotels. Normally H2B and I stay at mid-range practical hotels and really have tight itineraries. But for this honeymoon we will have days of doing nothing except getting sloshed on a private balcony watching the sunset in Santorini, or waking up early to watch hundreds of hot air balloons  at sunset on our terrace in Cappadocia.

[LingMVL]

LingMVL,

El Nido in Palawan, Sumilon Resort in Cebu, Movenpick Cebu, Shangri-la Cebu, Eskaya in Bohol, Isla Cabana Resort in Siargao, Kalinaw Resort in Siargao, ang dami din sa Boracay like Shangri-la and Discovery Shores

Bantayan Island - remote and quiet. Though wala pa yatang luxurious resort dito.

Sent your recommendations to my fiancé We've narrowed it down to El Nido, Cebu, and Siargao. We scrapped Bohol since reviews are just way too inconsistent for us to be comfortable with the rates that they command.

[bzbee]

^ out of the 3 your shortlisted, i would recommend El Nido. to be more specific, go to any of the El Nido Resorts:
- Lagen Island
- Miniloc Island
- Apulit Island
- Pangulasian Island

There are also lots of beautiful resorts in Cebu, like Shangrila Mactan, Movenpick, Crimson and Plantation Bay. But they don't have the kind of beaches that El Nido has to offer. I have yet to visit Siargao but that's because its quite difficult to reach. There's no direct flight from Manila to Siargao, you have to go either via Cebu or Surigao City. But I heard its wonderful as well, especially if like surfing.