Arracaptures

20/02/2024

My Instagram account is currently deactivated. Taking a 2 week break from it hahaha have a lovely week! 🥰

09/02/2024

Things You’ll Wish You Knew Before Renting a Kimono 💛

👘 Don’t wear perfumes - the scent can transfer to the kimono. Some shops even consider this as “soiled” and will charge you 🙋🏻‍♀️

👘 No picture-taking inside the dressing room - I made the mistake of taking my phone out in an attempt to take a photo of myself and the attendant panicked a bit. Sumimasen desh*ta 🙇🏻‍♀️

👘 Be early! Choosing the kimono and its accessories will take time, trust me. And the process of getting dressed will also be time-consuming. ⏱️

👘 Avoid collared or tight neck tops 👚

👘 During winter or autumn, wear a thermal layer to protect yourself. Make sure it’s not closed/tight neck. 🧥

👘 Try to bring as little belongings as possible! While they do have a bag they can lend or rent to you, these bags are rather small. I had to leave a lot of my things in their care. 👛

👘 It can get really tight so make sure to tell your stylist if it’s not comfortable anymore, but be aware that kimonos are supposed to be tight. Remember the goal of the kimono is to hide your curves. 🧍🏻‍♀️

👘 Make sure to read the shop’s terms and conditions especially about kimono return or soiled kimonos. Some shops offer insurance. 💰

👘 Try not to eat too much haha 🍽️

👘 If you find yourself walking shorter strides, good, it’s designed to make you walk that way. Try to enjoy it. 🥰 I had a hard time for the first hour as my strides are already short. Walking up to Kenrouken Garden was a bit of a struggle for me 🙈

Will you try renting out a kimono/yukata on your Japan trip? 


 

31/01/2024

These adorable accessories from Paw It Forward just arrived! 🩵

Proceeds from their sale are donated to buy food/essentials for rescue shelters 🐶🐱 if you have extra money, please consider buying a jewelry from them. It will help feed rescued furbabies. 🥰

30/01/2024

Want a more convenient way to access the attractions around Kanazawa? 🩵

Then the Kanazawa Loop Bus is for you! 🚌

While I have no problem walking around 20,000 steps per day, nothing beats the relaxing view a bus ride can give you. 🥰 It allows you to feel like a main character, while you’re looking out from the window and listening to your favorite song hahahhaa 😂

The loop buses are dedicated rides that make it easy for you to go to the main tourist spots like Higashi Chaya, Kanazawa Castle ground, Omicho Market and many more! It is a one-day pass that gives you unlimited rides so this was my main transportation around the city. 🛣️

There are two routes (Right Loop and Left Loop) that run every 15 minutes starting from Kanazawa Station. 🚥 My hotel was a few steps away from the Loop Bus stop so you can imagine how much this made everything more convenient for me.

It costs Y800 (₱300/€4.97/)/ for adults and Y400 (₱152/€2.48) for children. 💴

‼️ And to add to that convenience, I was able to get this pass online and saved a screenshot to show to the bus drivers. DM me for the link! This is not a sponsored post, I just really found this convenient. And you can also buy other passes from this site. 🩵

If you’re at the Kanazawa Station, you can also buy the passes there. 🙏🏻

23/01/2024

𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐈𝐈: Free and under-500-Yen things to do in Kanazawa City!

📌 Planning a budget trip to Japan’s countryside soon? Save this bucket list!

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa prefecture. 🗾 It’s often dubbed as Little Kyoto but honestly, I don’t know how true this is since I’ve never been to Kyoto. And I really don’t like comparing places since each one has its merits. 💁🏻‍♀️

🍡 Tsuzumi-mon Gate - marvel at the site of this famous train station landmark
🍡 Nagamachi Samurai - a samurai district! Free to roam around but if you want to enter Nomura-ke Samurai Residence, it’s Y550
🍡 Visit a Chaya district:
♡ Higashi Chayagai - biggest and most famous.
♡ Nishi Chayagai - small, a bit far from other attractions
♡︎Kazuemachi Chayagai - my favorite because of its location and I had a whole encounter with an obaasan here.
🍡 Kenrokuen Garden - one of the three most beautiful landscape gardens in Japan! (Y320)
Kanazawa Castle - the castle ground is free!
🍡 D.T. Suzuki Museum (Y310)
🍡 Omicho Market
🍡 Oyama shrine

❗️𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒: This isn’t under Y500 but you cannot miss eating Kanazawa’s gold leaf ice cream. 🍦Price is Y890 depending on other decoratives.

If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Kenroukuen Garden because it is indeed beautiful! 😍

If you want to explore it with a guide, there are also affordable tours and activities that you can book through Klook App and make sure you use my code ARRACAPTURES for 5% off! 🩵

Follow for more solo and budget travel tips, itineraries and travel mishaps haha!

23/01/2024

Want more savings for your future Japan trip? Make sure you use my code when you book your activities through Klook: ARRACAPTURES for 5% off.

Stay tuned for more budget tips for Japan!

20/01/2024

𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭: Free and under-500-Yen activities in Toyama City and nearby!

Japan can be expensive yes, but this is entirely up to you! I didn’t skimp on expenses, but I still felt like I enjoyed a good amount of experiences. 🥰

Let me help you plan your budget trip better! 💰

📍𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 and take advantage of the place before going to places like Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route or Kurobe Gorge!

🏯 Toyama Castle Park (Y210)
🏯 Toyama City Hall Observation Tower
🏯 Shio-no-Senbon Sakura (there are 1000 cherry trees in the area)
🏯 Glass Art Museum
🏯 Ikedaya Yasubei Shoten (Toyama has a rich history as a center of medicine since the Edo Period)
🏯 Kansui Park (there’s a beautiful Starbucks branch)
🏯 Buddhist Jizo Statues and Long-Life Springs (famous for healing all kinds of sickness)

Bonus‼️This isn’t under Y500 but if you’re visiting during Sakura season, you may want to consider this. Matsukawa Riverside cruise looks amazing during the Sakura season. 🌸Unfortunately, it was closed the day I was there.

Hope you enjoyed this post! 🩵

#日本

16/01/2024

Are you a fan of Ghibli movies? 🎥

Anime was my first introduction to the Japanese countryside. It isn’t 100% as it is in real life but that triggered my dream of seeing the perfect autumn scenery. 🍁

My Japan-based creator friends have been witnesses to my long, thorough  and annoying research because I cannot decide where to go. 😅 I only had seven days and because I’m broke with limited PTO, I had to make sure my decision won’t be something I will regret. 💪

Now, I know people who crammed 5 or more prefectures into a week of traveling but I wanted to immerse myself in the locations and be chill out, so that wasn’t going to happen to me. 🩵🥰

I googled “Japan autumn” and there I saw it, the big red bridge. 💡(swipe left for the bridge)

Right then and there I decided that I would have to see Kurobe Gorge. 🏔️

I rebooked my Tokyo flight to Nagoya and proceeded to do months of research after that. 😅 I know that’s a lot but again, as a broke traveler, it’s very hard for me to say when I’ll be able to go back. And as a solo traveler with a very limited budget, I don’t have a lot of room for error. 😌

But while I did painstaking research (which I kind of enjoyed), you wouldn’t because I will share all the tips I’ve learned along the way. 🤗

After months of writing and rewriting my itinerary, I decided to focus on the Chubu region. And boy did it not disappoint. 😍

It was my first time experiencing autumn. It might be cringey, but I was teary-eyed seeing the gold, red and yellow leaves. Coming from a tropical country, this was an absolute treat for me. 🍂🥮

I hope you are ready and will enjoy my Japan content as much as I do! 🇯🇵

14/12/2023

Labyu Iro. 🥰

11/11/2023

Hi friends! If anyone is traveling soon and wants to try an eSim for your data needs, please use my code for 20% off your first data plan! 🥰 Discount Code: 1TN4TBYE

21/10/2023

Sharing with you a few of my favorite captures from Hong Kong and also some facts to go along with it. 🇭🇰

🥮 Even tho Hong Kong is famous for its skyscrapers, 40 percent of the territory is made up of country park and nature reserves. Hiking is a famous past time in Hong Kong. 

🥮 The name Hong Kong 香港 (heung gong) means ‘fragrant harbour’. I think thats really beautiful 🥰

🥮 Hong Kong is the city with the highest number of skyscrapers in the world. I did not know before my trip and was surprised! I thought it'd be New York. 🌆

🥮 Some (or most!) apartment buildings in Hong Kong don’t have a 4th floor! The number four is considered unlucky because it sounds a lot like the word for “death” 4️⃣

🥮 Hong Kong has 96 billionaires and unfortunately, I'm not one of them. 😂

What surprised you the least from this list? For me, I think its the omitting of 4th floor. A lot of Filipinos also practice the art of Feng Shui so it doesn't come as a shock for me for Hong Kong locals to avoid this number. 🙈

🏷️ hong kong photography - what to do in Hong Kong - Travel Blogger - Travel Content Creator - Discover Hong Kong

14/10/2023

Hong Kong is known for skyscrapers, busy urban markets, busy restaurants and vibrant traffic. 🌆

Or so I thought during my first visit. 

Last week, I was blessed to have experienced the lovely places of Ngong Ping and Tai O Fishing Village. And I enjoyed my scenic, quiet this adventure via land, sea and sky! 🤩

Some of the things to do in Ngong Ping Village:
☀️Cable car to Ngong Ping (I dont know if this is the fastest, but it is the most scenic!)
☀️Po Lin Monastery
☀️Make a wish at Bodhi Shrine (this is where a monk saved me from a protective dog)
☀️Explore the shops around the village
☀️Hike to the Tian Tan Big Buddha

Some of the things to do in Ngong Ping Village: Tai O Village for me is a sleepy, charming village. If it was not for the weather, I would've stayed for hours. 🩵

🛶Explore Tai O Market Street
🛶Try out local food
🛶Take a Boat Ride Through the Village
🛶Explore the shops

Want to make a hassle-free way of doing this tour? I went with GetYourGuide Lantau Island 360 which gives you a more convenient way to get your passes to all the sites and activities mentioned. 🎟️

Yes, including the boat ride! It also includes a cash voucher and UNLIMITED bus rides in the New Lantau Bus Route which makes exploring easy. 🚌 This also means you can visit other spots in the route. Check out the link in my bio to book yours! 🤗

🚊Nearest station/landmark: MTR Tung Chung. Cable car terminal is across the MTR station. 

NOTE: You need to exchange the voucher to receive all the tickets and passes. I was even given a map to Ngong Ping and Tai O.

I'll post my travel tips and lessons from this place on my next reel! Stay tuned and let me know if there are other things you want to know. ❤️



what to do in Hong Kong • where to go in Hong Kong • Lantau Island activities

11/10/2023

This trip was free! 🆓

Yes, you read that right.

If you missed some of my stories, let me fill you in. No pun intended. 😌

Last March, launched their World of Winners campaign to boost tourism in Hong Kong. 🩵 I had nothing else to do that day but wait at the doctor’s. I queued up for over an hour and registered. To be honest, I really didn't think much about it. I was never lucky with raffles. Even in company raffles, I get squat. 😅

However, about three weeks after, I got an email saying I won a roundtrip ticket to Hong Kong! 🎉 It took me a few minutes to wrap my head around it and my parents thought it was a scam. 

I went back and forth on this decision mainly due to budget. I needed more time to save for this trip and I unknowingly booked my tickets on a very peak season. 🙈

To be honest, this trip wasn't very much thought of. My plan was all over the place. I only listed places I want to go two days before my flight. 😁

But as you can see, even tho there were a lot of mishaps I still did it and more importantly, I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. 💖 Maybe not having a 100% planned out itinerary isn't so bad after all? As a budget traveler, this was new to me. 😍

How do you plan out your travels? Do you like making rough itineraries like me or just go with whatever you feel for that day? ✨

Also, let me know what it is you want to see about Hong Kong for my future posts! 🙏🏻

30/09/2023

Where I’d rather be right now - Bantayan Island, Cebu 🩵

This was one of my favorite destinations. The beaches are just so gorgeous! 😍 I also enjoyed going to nearby island, Virgin Island.

Bantayan feels so lowkey. There’s not a lot of big establishments, but there are a lot of places to eat. There’s not much to do but to really sit back, relax and enjoy. You can do a an island tour to take you to some sightseeing spots and other beaches tho. 🥰

This was the first destination where I embraced hours of doing nothing. At first, I had a lot of energy. I felt guilty not trying to maximize my time there. But on my third day, I started to love it. I started enjoying every slow day I was there 😍

🚌 Bantayan Island is a 5-7 hour bus ride from Cebu City and another ferry ride for about an hour. It was a long journey but it was worth it for me.

Would you visit this place?

24/09/2023

Follow my friend, Life Through Her Viewfinder for the dreamiest Japan content 🩷

06/09/2023

Same, kuya. Same. ☕️

28/08/2023

Very affordable accommodation in ! 🥰 Perfect for group travels, barkadas and families. 💛

Mischa Hostel and Tours

24/08/2023

Looking for budget accommodation in ? Check out Mischa Hostel and Tours Dauis,Bohol and book through Airbnb 🥰

Mischa Hostel and Tours

09/08/2023

Today, I did Champi Travels’s day 2 of Mindful Challenge. ✨ Im so glad Im at my parents home because I can be surrounded by plants, bees, birds and dogs when I do this and it was such a wonderful way to start the day. 🩵

If you want mindful and travel content around Mexico (such a GORGEOUS country and nothing like you see in movies, she delves in hidden gems), give her a follow on Instagram!

25/07/2023

Ready to snorkel a burial ground? 🪦

In the 1800s when Mt. Vulcan (redundant I know) was still active, there was a Spanish cemetery in the island of Camiguin. It used to be VERY furious and active and have dramatically changed the landscape of this part of the island. According to one source, this area was a thriving Spanish settlement until the the volcano erupted again in 1870s. 🌋

That eruption caused the city to rubble and sank the cemetery. The locals built a giant cross to mark the burial ground and as a remembrance of the deceased. ✝️

You have to ride a small boat for p150 (€2.60) to get to the giant cross or the snorkeling area. If you have no gear, you can rent one from the docking area. There is an additional fee for a mandatory guide (around p150 as far i know) when you go snorkeling. The guide can point you to the interesting parts of the areas and provide you with a little historical background. 🕋 I skipped snorkeling mostly because I didn't want to get wet early in the morning (aunt flo was with me 🙈) and I was the only tourist at that time. I was very content with the early quiet morning, calm waves, and chirping birds. 🥰

It wasn't creepy as I thought it would be. Sure, I didn't get to see the tombstones (some of which are still identifiable according to the guide) but I was standing in a very historical area and serenity in the place enveloped me. 😍

Would you go snorkeling here? 🫶🏻

🏷️
Where to go - Camiguin Island - What to Do - Travel Guide - Philippines Travel Blogger

21/07/2023

Some Things to do in Camiguin Island 🏝️

This island only has five municipalities. It's the second smallest province in the Philippines but that doesn't mean there isn't much to do here. 💛

🌻 Swim in cold, springs. I know most of you like hot or warm baths, but when you're in the Philippines, you'll appreciate cold springs so much. I always adore cold springs/pools because you can tell the water is fresh and flowing. ( No need to worry about p*e! hahaha)

🌻 Need a proper tan? Choose between Mantigue Island and White Island, but let me do you one better, choose both!

🌻 Visiting during Lansones season? Try this highly, seasonal tropical fruit! Camiguin Island even hosts the Lansones festival.

🌻 Rent a scooter and explore the whole island! 🛵As the second smallest province in the Philippines, it can be easy to explore places using scooters.

🌻 Bring a towel, yoga mat, or blanket and choose a quiet spot by the beach. You will never run out of spots like this and you can truly enjoy your quiet time. 🧘🏻‍♀️

🌻 Disconnect. My mobile signal was bad a lot of times while I was here, but it was perfect! I always say that most of Mindanao is perfect for slow-living or slow-traveling. The life is slow-paced and is so peaceful. ✨

Which one of this would you definitely try when you visit the island? I'd love to hear more!

13/07/2023

hahahahahah

14/06/2023

Ah e 'di ikaw na ang traveler. 😂

13/06/2023

Sana hindi overbooked Cebu Pacific Air 🙏

11/06/2023

Barkada drawing be like...

08/06/2023

How do you say "𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙊𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝘿𝙖𝙮!" in your language?

In Tagalog, it's "𝖬𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗀𝖺𝗒𝖺𝖺𝗇𝗀 𝖠𝗋𝖺𝗐 𝗇𝗀 𝖪𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗀𝖺𝗍𝖺𝗇". I think. (I grew up speaking both Tagalog and Cebuano so my Tagalog skills are not good) 😅

But also, sumali ka na ba sa aksyon 30x30?

Which means, "𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝟯𝟬𝙭𝟯𝟬 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣?"

It's World Ocean Day! 🩵 People all over our blue world celebrate and commemorate our one shared ocean.

But, what is 30x30 action?

For 2023, the World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council has an action focus of: "𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝟯𝟬% 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚"

You can take part by sharing why you support 30x30. 🙏🏻

There are various ways you can support this action focus - whether you have 10 mins of free time to an hour!

You can also help by spreading the word and using the free social media toolkit from the World Ocean Day website. The first 2 images I used were downloaded from there. 🩵

➡️ 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 : https://worldoceanday.org/take-action/plan-your-event/action_for_30x30/

🩵 As travelers, whether we are mountain or ocean lovers, I think we can all agree that the blue ocean connects each one of us and it is our duty to protect it. Not just for us, but for future generation.

📝 P.S I used travel tripod to take the video of me enjoying the crystal blue water of White Island in Camiguin.