When we returned to Tenjin, we went to PARCO to visit the Kimetsu no Yaiba Sweets Café which was open for a limited time. However, there was a long line and when we saw the mechanics to buy the Kimetsu no Yaiba-themed desserts, we just found it to be too expensive.
MARCH 14, 2020
For our first breakfast in the Airbnb, Hisako-obaasan cooked a gyudon-like meal with different veggies as side dish. She also served us fruits for dessert and prepared one of her high-quality green teas when she learned that I love drinking tea.
We spent this day just in Tenjin…
…but did a small detour to Hakata Station because C was finding a store selling Nintendo Switch. Inside the station, we passed by this bakery called Il Forno Del Mignon. Since the start of this trip, we would always get hungry because we could smell their pastries even a few hundred meters away. Unfortunately, there was always a long line. But during this day, there were no customers so we gave in and bought the plain croissant. We finally realized why there was a hype!
When we returned to Tenjin, we went to PARCO to visit the Kimetsu no Yaiba Sweets Café which was open for a limited time. However, there was a long line and when we saw the mechanics to buy the Kimetsu no Yaiba-themed desserts, we just found it to be too expensive. We went to One Piece Store instead, which was also in the same mall.
Still in PARCO, in B1F we found different restaurants for lunch. We went to KIWAMIYA, famous for Imari beef (from Saga) that you can cook on a heated stone. Even if there was a long line, it was moving quickly so we fell in line.
We ordered the hamburg steak (¥1,500) and extra garlic chips…
Best decision!!! We just had to deal with bit of pain from the oil while cooking. The place was quite cramped. So we could not stretch as much as we wanted to.
After that, we went looking for animate and Mandarake. Disappointed though because animate was under construction while Mandarake was a bit far. I wonder why there is no popular anime street or area in Fukuoka…
We ended up looking for a coffee shop to take a rest and we found MANU. The coffee was good and everyone in their staff was nice. When we paid for our orders before leaving, the guy behind the counter made a small talk with us.
For dinner, we went to one of the yatai stalls in Tenjin. Yatai literally means “shop stand” and this is a small, mobile food stall which opens up in the evening only. I saw a recommendation from Yoshke (The Poor Traveler) to go to TENJIN YATAI MUNE. Not sure if the stall changed its name because their menu says “Soh’s Tenjin Food Stall” but the food that they offered was still the same.
We ordered mentai tamagoyaki (¥800), dai-chan yaki (¥650), and yaki-ramen (¥800). The best ones here were the mentai tamagoyaki and yaki-ramen. The stall also had a policy that we have to order one drink each – not sure if this is the same for the other yatai in the area.
We wanted to return here for another dinner but with the few days left, we had other food places to try. Highly recommend this yatai though!
M had to drop by his workplace so my sister and I explored a bit of Paris on our own. We first went to Arc de Triomphe, one of the famous landmarks in Paris. This monument honors the people who fought and died during the French Revolution and Napoleon Wars, with names of all the generals inscribed on the walls / pillars.
APRIL 29, 2019
M had to drop by his workplace so my sister and I explored a bit of Paris on our own. We first went to ARC DE TRIOMPHE, one of the famous landmarks in Paris. This monument honors the people who fought and died during the French Revolution and Napoleon Wars, with names of all the generals inscribed on the walls / pillars.
There was an option for us to go up the arc to see a panoramic view of Paris but the line was long so we did not bother. We checked out AVENUE DES CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES, which was very near. The street was lined mostly with shops and a few restaurants. We did not stay here for long since it was about our meet-up time with M.
We had lunch at BAPTORI, a Korean restaurant with bibimbap as its specialty. We went to a bakery afterwards to get a quick dessert.
M brought us to a park where we could get a good vantage point of the EIFFEL TOWER. He told us that we were lucky that the park was not jampacked during our visit.
After taking a rest in the park, our next stop was PLACE DE LA CONCORDE. It was previously known as the square for public beheadings by guillotine during the French Revolution. During the 18th century, the Egypt government gifted France with an obelisk and was placed in the middle of the square.
Nearby was JARDIN DES TUILERIES where we took a quick break after seeing other people just relaxing around the fountain.
Last stop was APÉGO where my sister and M grabbed some coffee before our last mission for the day.
Next stop was St. Gereon’s Basilica. There were only a few people around when we visited so the atmosphere was peaceful. I particularly liked the area where the organ was placed – the sun shone on the stained glass windows, giving a pink light vibe.
APRIL 27, 2019
Next stop was ST. GEREON’S BASILICA. There were only a few people around when we visited so the atmosphere was peaceful. I particularly liked the area where the organ was placed – the sun shone on the stained glass windows, giving a pink light vibe.
We did not have anything to do in the afternoon so we went to MOXXA CAFFE to grab warm coffee and stay indoors.
We really wanted to go to BEI OMA KLEINMANN to try their famous schnitzel but we were not able to make any reservation. So what we did was we went there before their opening hour (17:00) and checked if we would be accommodated as walk-in guests. Fortunately, they did but they told us we need to leave before 18:30 because guests with reservations would start to pour in. My sister and I shared one order of schnitzel with gravy sauce because it was huge.
After our early dinner, we went to KÖLN TRIANGLE, one of the famous viewing spots in the city. What I liked about this place was that it offered 360 panoramic view of the city. They even placed icons in some parts of the glass to indicate that in that direction, you could spot a certain famous landmark or area.
We wanted to see the HOHENZOLLERN BRIDGE with lights on but the wind was really strong that the other people around started to retreat. We just snapped some pictures then decided to head home early.
The travel from Palompon to KALANGGAMAN ISLAND took about an hour. We left Palompon at 6:30AM and arrived in our destination at around 7:30AM.
We rented a cottage near the sandbar, which was less busier and noisier plus we had a great view while resting and eating.
JUNE 25-27, 2017
Our first local trip together – me and my best friend, K! Our main mission was to visit Kalanggaman Island in Leyte… so we first took a plane going to Tacloban. Then from Tacloban, we rode a van for 4 hours to get to Palompon.
Palompon is a small town and less urban than Tacloban so there are only a few restaurants to choose from as well as small groceries. Initially we booked our accommodation via Airbnb but Diana, the host, told me to directly transact with her instead so that we could get a room instead of the whole house. I think this one is an updated link and it looks very similar to the room we stayed in: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13145062?s=51.
We were welcomed by the host’s mom and we were happy to see that the room had aircon because the weather was hot at that time.
We did nothing during our first day except to eat and buy items to prepare for our island trip the next day…
Spotted working while on vacation!
Next day, we got up early to go to Palompon Eco-Tourism Office and rent a boat.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You need to reserve ahead of time because there is a limit to the number of tourists they allow to visit in a day. In this way, they prevent the island from being abused by a large wave of people. Check out this link for more details: http://kalanggaman-island.com/kalanggaman-rates-and-entrance-fee.html
We rented a boat for us two, which costs Php 3,000.00. Share per person would definitely be cheaper for a large group. There is an option to join another group so that the cost per pax would be lower but the time we want to go back to Palompon is different so we had to rent our own.
The travel from Palompon to KALANGGAMAN ISLAND took about an hour. We left Palompon at 6:30AM and arrived in our destination at around 7:30AM.
We rented a cottage near the sandbar, which was less busier and noisier plus we had a great view while resting and eating.
It was still low tide so we explored first the sandbar while there was still sand to walk on. There is a warning board there not to swim during high tide because of riptides.
After walking around, we went back to the main area where people were swimming.
The place was really beautiful to look at – different shades of blue for the sea and white sand everywhere. The only thing we were disappointed was that we read in a lot of blogs (and even in the office) that snorkeling is a recommended activity. We snorkeled for about an hour but we only saw less than 5 small fish. The rest was just people and floating seaweed. ☹
We went back to our cottage to eat early lunch but decided to go back to the sandbar because the outer edge was already submerged in water.
We didn’t go to the outer edge though because we were scared to get pulled by a riptide. We only walked a few meters then ran back to dry sand. Haha!
Admired these sceneries while eating our lunch…
The morning didn’t end well though because while we were eating chocolates for desserts we saw a lot of people going to the sandbar area to swim even if there was a large board already warning people not to. A few minutes later, I called K’s attention because I thought I spotted someone flailing in the middle of the sea… true enough, it was a middle-aged man who got pulled by the riptide.
Rescue team went to save him immediately… everything happened fast because we couldn’t see the guy anymore and 3-4 rescue persons dived into the sea. They got the guy and tried to revive him for a long time. He was eventually taken to a boat to ride back to Palompon while CPR was being continued.
I heard locals muttering that the tourism would be affected especially if the issue would be in nationwide news… all because of not following warning signs. Some blamed the guy, some blamed the staff in the island for not having a life guard stationed near the sandbar. But bottom line is, can’t we just follow instructions and warnings because these wouldn’t be there if there is no harm or danger that would possibly befall you.
My HS friends and I saw the same thing in Magalawa Island (Zambales) – people were swimming in the sandbar area even if there was a huge sign saying not to because of riptide or strong undercurrents. Thankfully at that time, no one got hurt.
We headed back to Palompon after the incident, 3-4 hours earlier than our intended departure from the island. We just stayed in our lodging and watched Running Man to keep our boredom at bay.
The next day, we left early in the morning so that we can have lunch in Tacloban. Tricycle drivers in the van terminal tried to rip us off by charging us Php 150 going to Ocho Seafood and Grill. The last one I just had to answer back that their rate was way more expensive than a taxi so he explained that he would have to pass by small streets to get us to the place otherwise we would have to walk about 5 minutes from the drop off. We told him it was fine so we were only charged Php 50 for the trip. Whew.
No pictures of our lunch in OCHO SEAFOOD AND GRILL but it was such a joy because we finally got to eat really delicious food + everything we had was fresh seafood. It is like dampa style because you get to choose raw seafood then ask them to cook it the way you want it. Highly recommend the place although it gets full even during weekday lunch time.
Our last stop before going to airport was JOSE KARLOS COFFEE where we had hot tea and desserts while watching another episode of Running Man. We went to the airport by riding a jeepney because there was no other option unless you rented a car to go there.
Conclusion after this trip – Cambodia is still the best trip we had together. There were other annoying incidents in this Leyte trip which I choose not to share anymore because it might just be a case of bad luck as others seemed to have enjoyed their time in Leyte.
Anne Goes to Places 