Titbits from Boracay

What do travellers or tourists buy when they visit Boracay? Of course there are fridge magnets that are found in almost every tourist destination on planet Earth.

Here's a board of fridge magnets from Boracay to feast your eyes on:

I also saw many shops and stalls selling dream catchers but I did not snap any pics.

Now that I've embarked on a minimalist lifestyle, I don't usually buy souvenirs whenever I travel. I prefer to buy stuff that can be used or consumed like dried food, titbits, facial & body care products, cosmetics, etc.

So when I went to Boracay I naturally found two popular titbits, i.e. dried mangoes and banana chips.

1) Dried Mangoes

Dried mangoes are sold almost everywhere in Boracay.

As you can see from this pic, there are green and yellow dried mangoes:

 Jovy's seems to be the a popular brand for dried mangoes.

2) Banana Chips

Banana chips is my favourite titbit from Boracay.

The chips are crispy with just the right amount of sweetness (there goes my no refined sugar diet). I didn't check the ingredients (because I ate it all too quickly) but I think there's something coconut thrown into the ingredients which makes the chips so tasty.

I bought 5 packets (400gm/packet) of these at PHP86.00/packet from one of the shops along the main road in Boracay:

You only see 3 packets in the photo because I had given away 2 packets to family and friend to share the calories.

The chips are so addictive that I can finish a whole packet (400gm) of banana chip goodness in one sitting.

If anyone is going to Boracay, please buy these delicious chips for me and I will be eternally grateful.

I've Bought My Ticket to Helsinki

My exams are over (which explains why I didn't update this blog for over a month) and I've finally completed Level 2 of my Chartered Bankers programme. Now I'm looking forward to Level 3 where I have to complete another 3 papers.

I've bought a return ticket to Helsinki (travel in September 2018) on British Airways for MYR2,701.38. That's approximately USD692.00.

In comparison, a colleague who's planning a trip to Hiroshima, Japan in May said that a return ticket on All Nippon Airways (ANA) is around MYR2,300. I told her I could fly to Helsinki which is approximately double the distance to Hiroshima by adding only MYR400.00. I guess my MYR2,701.38 tics to Helsinki is considered a huge bargain.

When the original price was a mere MYR2,473.00, I waited a little longer hoping that the price would go down further. But when it went up to MYR2,701.38, I banged balls and quickly bought 'em damn tics. That was a waste of MYR228.00 for being hopeful. Lesson learnt.

I've drawn out a rough itinerary for my travel and it goes like this: 

Home (Kuala Lumpur) - Helsinki - Tallinn - Riga - Vilnius - Warsaw - Krakow - (fly back to Helsinki and take the overnight ferry to Saint Petersburg) - Saint Petersburg - Helsinki - Home

Total days: 21 days

There are so many places I wanna visit including Suomenlinna, Wieliczka Salt Mine, Auschwitz- Birkenau, The State Hermitage Museum and the list goes on. It's going to be an enriching experience which is why I love to travel.

September, please come quickly!