Cebu Pacific Offers 50% Off Systemwide Sale

There is no reason not to take this opportunity, a sample round trip ticket travelling on October 1–9  to the Philippines only cost S$164.

Cebu Pacific has every reason to celebrate as we maintain our significant lead over other airlines when it comes to number of guests carried within the Philippines in the 1st half of 2010.

Because of this, we are announcing a 50% off seat sale to all our destinations - that's half the price in 16 international destinations and 33 destinations within the Philippines.  Seat sale starts now up to September 5, 2010, or until seats last, for travel from October 1 to November 30, 2010.

Airphil Express Flies to Singapore, Another Option To Fly Home

Airphil Express is testing the Regional Market as it announces its first Regional flight to Singapore on October 27, 2010. It is getting its feet wet, trying to follow the success of Cebu Pacific.

The announcement was timed to take advantage of the coming Christmas season where thousands of Filipinos are expected to go back home to enjoy the holiday.

You can now book a ticket online but they only have one (1) schedule flight per day for now…

Manila - Singapore
Arrival     : MNL 04:40 PM / SIN 08:05 PM
Departure: SIN 08:55 PM / MNL 12:20 AM

Airphil Express, the Philippines' rapidly growing low-cost carrier is thrilled to announce direct flights from Manila to Asia's island state – Singapore!  Mark your calendars for their first regional destination on October 27, 2010! 

Having added the Philippines' largest hubs to its domestic network, Airphil Express now connects its passengers with one of the largest hubs of finance, culture and trade in the region.  "This is a route that will bring you to the microcosm of Asia, a place that more and more people travel to for work and play," said Airphil Express Corporate Communications Manager, Bettina de Vera.   

"Singapore is no better choice for our first regional route and outlays for us, much as the city-state itself does, a gateway into Asia. Adding Singapore to our network certainly represents a major milestone in our growth," she added.

The newly re-launched low cost carrier has rapidly expanded its service domestically with the addition of new Airbus A320 aircraft. When adding services to Singapore, Airphil Express will also celebrate the addition of yet another brand new A320 aircraft setting its sights on further expansion into the regional market.

de Vera added: "We are expanding our network regionally to offer our passengers more options at our affordable prices. That, with our customer-centric focus, will be the theme for our expansion into Asia."

Airphil Express will start selling flights for its Singapore service on August 3rd for as low as Php1,888.

Airphil Express is still the only low cost airline to provide 15kgs FREE baggage allowance.

source: airphilexpress.com

 

I can still remember when Cebu Pacific first entered the Singapore Route on August 31, 2006 (after being suspended in Nov2002-Jan2003 due to SARS). It was such a big gamble and it paid off. They also started with one flight per day and it grew to the current average of 3 flights per day.

With this announcement, there are now 4 budget airlines (Cebu Pacific Air, JetStar, Tiger Airways and AirPhil Express) flying the Singapore-Manila route. Let’s see how it is going to stack up with the competition…..

CEBU Pacific adds more flights to local and international leisure destinations!

Cebu Pacific (CEB), the Philippines low-cost carrier will, mount additional frequencies to its international and domestic leisure destinations in anticipation of strong demand during the summer season.

 

According to Cebu Pacific,

We're adding four weekly mid-day flights to our Manila-Singapore service, and grab our promo fares for only P1799. It gets more exciting because we have also increased frequencies to our Cebu-Hong Kong flights from four-times weekly to daily; and Ho Chi Minh service to a four-times weekly service with fares as low as P1799!

Starting March 29 they will add four weekly mid-day flights to its current twice daily Manila-Singapore service. The airline will also expand its Cebu-Hong Kong flights from four-times weekly to daily and boost its Ho Chi Minh service with an additional Saturday flight.

On it’s domestic sector, CEB will increase its Manila-Boracay (Caticlan) service to 77 times weekly from 56 times weekly. The airline also raises its Cebu-Caticlan frequency to twice daily from once daily.

It will expand its Manila-Busuanga service to twice daily, while its Davao-Zamboanga service will increase from four-times weekly to a daily service.

The airline will use its eighth ATR 72-500 aircraft to mount the additional domestic flights in time for the summer peak. This brings CEB’s weekly domestic flights to 1,206 from 1,152.

I did a quick check on their schedule for April and sure enough there is an additional flight for SG-PH(depart 1:30pm – arrive 4:55pm).

But the additional schedule is only available on Mon-Wed-Fri. According to the report, it should have four…. Maybe their system is not yet fully updated to reflect this additional change.

 

Source: Cebu Pacific and inquirer.net

Phuket, Thailand

Our recent trip to Phuket was probably the most relaxing, rejuvenating vacation I have ever had in my entire life! We were only there for four days but it felt like a month. I can’t even compare it to my 3 weeks holiday vacation in the Philippines. It could be because we had no itinerary to follow. Come what may, live the day was what we did. For four days, we didn’t even bother looking at our watch (except when we had to leave for Singapore). We just relied on the sun to tell us that the time.

Our activities comprised of sleeping, reading, swimming, sun bathing and eating. It may sound boring but I had a rough, stressful year so I needed this kind of peaceful vacation. We did plan to join at least one whole day tour to see the other islands in Phuket but we weren’t able to find a good package that is within our budget. Snorkeling which was commonly offered in the package was on the bottom of our list because we’ve done it a few times in the past. We eyed for kayaking but when we saw the prices we backed out. It was just too expensive.

And because we were able to saved a lot of money, BF went parasailing and we both tried jet skiing!  It was a first time for both of us so we really enjoyed it. We also devoured every seafood we can get into for 3 nights(except for lobster because its too expensive hah!)

Below are pictures of fish in red curry sauce, grilled squid and green mussels in garlic and basil. Then there’s a photo of a yummy looking lobster which we didn’t bother to order (way too expensive!). Not in picture was the Tom Yum seafood which I so so love. I was surprised really because it wasn’t that spicy and it’s way way better than the ones I’ve had here in Singapore.

TIP: If you’re on a very very tight budget, try searching for “turo-turos” around the area where you’re going to stay. We saw some of them in Patong so I’m sure there will be in Karon and Kata. The ambiance of the place may not be as good as the 3 or 4 star restaurants but the price of their food is way cheaper –less than a 100 Baht per serving. Can you believe that? Unluckily for us, we only discovered the place on our last night. Boohoo!

TRAVEL DATE: February 1-4
BUDGET: 1000 SGD for 2
AIRLINE: AIRASIA – 400SGD
WHERE WE STAYED:  Thara Patong - 350SGD 3N/4D. Good hotel but minus points for their bathroom. FOOD, TAXI, Others: 250 SGD
ACTUAL COST OF TRIP: 1200 SGD
OVERALL TRIP RATING:

Getting to Tioman Island (Pulao Tioman)

So you’ve tried all the beaches near Singapore like Batam, Bintan, East Cost, Changi including the (in)famous Sentosa. Now you want to explore a little further……

Try Pulao Tioman (Tioman Island), a famous dive spot in Malaysia.

Pulau Tioman, which belongs to the state of Pahang, is off the south-east coast of peninsular Malaysia, just north of the Johor-Pahang state borders. It is reachable by speedboat or ferry from the coastal town of Mersing or from Tanjung Gemuk.

A lot of people including Malaysians always mistaken that this island belongs to Johor due to the gateway jetty is in Mersing. Mersing is located in the state of Johor.

• Getting to Mersing
  Mersing lies on peninsular Malaysia’s east coast, around 3 hours’ drive north-east of Singapore.
  
  

  If you are relying on public transport from Singapore, travel early around 5am and should arrive around 8am to catch the early morning ferry or boat to the island. Book well in advance if your trip coincides with the weekend or Singaporean and Malaysian public and school holidays.
  

• By Bus
  From Singapore you have two choices:


• You can take the Transnational Bus to Mersing (3 to 4 hours) from Lavender St. Terminal. Tickets cost around RM 12 (if bought in Malaysia) / SGD 27 (if bought in Singapore) each way.
  
  

  Or You can go to Golden Mile Complex, Beach Road and take bus from Singapore to Mersing  depart from .

  
  

  All buses will stop at R & R Plaza Mersing, which are just about 3 minutes from ferry terminal to Tioman Island.

  
  

  From Johor Bahru (Larkin Bus terminal) take the Causeway Link, Transnational or S&S Express bus to Mersing (2.5-3 hours; about RM 10 each way):

  
  

  An alternative is to take the local bus between Johor Bahru and Kota Tinggi and then transfer to the local bus between Kota Tinggi and Mersing.

  
  

• By Taxi
  To get to Larkin from Singapore, take a shared taxi from the Queen St. bus terminal (S$ 10 per person).
  
  

  From the Johor Bahru Larkin bus station, you can charter a taxi to Mersing. The cost is around RM 100 and the journey takes around 2 hours. 

  
  

  You can also charter taxis from Tanjung Leman (1 hour, RM 70-100) and Kota Tinggi (1 hour, RM 70-100).
  

• Speedboats and ferries to Tioman
  Speedboats and ferries depart from Mersing or Tanjung Gemok (north of Mersing). I suggest go to Mersing. If you are booking a package stay on Tioman, a return ferry transfer is almost always included.
  
  

  From Mersing, speedboats (20 passengers) reach the island within 2 hours while the ferries (150 passengers) can take up to 3 hours.  Tickets cost RM 35 each way (RM 45 for speedboats) and ferries leave every one to two hours between 09:30 and 17:30.
  

• At Mersing
  At the ferry terminal itself, there are restaurants and convenience stores for any last minute needs and pangs of hunger. In town, about 15-20 minutes’ walk from the jetty, there are banks, ATMs, internet cafes, supermarkets, shops and hotels (in case you need to spend the night in Mersing).
  
  

  Many of Mersing’s resorts have offices in Mersing, close to the ferry terminal.
  If you have a car, there is also a secure car park that charges around RM8 per day.
  

We stayed in Salang Sayang resort during our last visit. Not your usual 4 or 5 star resort but it’s good enough. Salang Sayang is situated in the best part of the beach area. It is shallow enough for adults or kids to walk quite a long way out into the sea and is great for snorkeling as there are plenty of fish, even near the shore.

*Photo courtesy of user’s contribution in TripAdvisor.

Here a review from TripAdvisor:

Give a call to Ms. Pisa, the receptionist in Salang Sayang at +609-4195020 / +6013-7206439 for inquiry.