Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 and named after the enginner Gustave Eiffel. It was constructed with lattice wrought iron. The Eiffel Tower was built to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution. The Eiffel Tower is 324 meters tall and became the tallest man-made structure in the world from 1889-1930.

Closer look at the Eiffel Tower

As we were walking, we chance a upon a marriage proposal. As they say, Paris is the City of Love 🙂

Address: Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007 Paris, France

 

Roland Garros 2013

The French Open, also called Roland Garros is a major tennis tournament held for two weeks at Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France.  It is the premier clay court tennis championship event in the world and the second of four annual Grand Slam tournaments. The other three tournaments are Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. The event includes 16 different events: five main, four junior , four wheelchair and three Perrier Legends Trophy events. ( source: RG website)

Entrance Gate

As you walk through the entrance, you can see souvenir shops and food stand.

Philippe Court:  Li Na vs Medina Garrigues, Nadal vs Brands , Berdych vs Monfils

Lunch for the day: Hotdogs, donuts and muffins

In action: Rafael Nadal vs Daniel Brands. Nadal won the game!

Souvenir Items for Sale

The 2013 French Open Champions (grabbed from RG website)

This was a dream come true for me as I never expected that I can watch a Grand Slam tournament. Thank you to my tennis travel mates for getting the tickets. Hoping to watch the other Grand Slam tournaments someday.

Stade Roland-Garros
2 avenue Gordon Bennett
75016 Paris
France

Visa-Free Countries for Filipino Citizens

It is estimated that 62 countries and territories grant visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to Philippine passport holder. Of course, you will still need a Philippine passport that is still valid for 6 months.

AFRICA
Burundi	visa issued upon arrival
Cape Verde	visa issued upon arrival for EUR25
Comoros	A free 24 h transit visa issued upon arrival at the airport. Within 24 hours this must be converted into a full visa at the immigration office in Moroni (fee payable)
Djibouti	10 days visa issued upon arrival for DJF3,000; 30 days visa issued upon arrival for DJF5,000
Gambia	At port of entry passport 24-72 h transit pass is issued. This must be converted into a full visa valid up to 1 month at the immigration department in Banjul (fee payable)
Kenya	90 days visa issued upon arrival for US$25
Madagascar	90 days visa issued upon arrival for MGA140,000
Mali	visa issued upon arrival
Morocco	90 days
Mozambique	30 days visa issued upon arrival for US$25
Saint Helena	visa issue upon arrival
Seychelles	30 days
Tanzania	visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Togo	7 days visa issued upon arrival
Uganda	180 days visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Zambia	90 days visa issued upon arrival for US$50
ASIA
Brunei	14 days
Cambodia	21 days
Indonesia	30 days
Laos	30 days
Malaysia	30 days
Myanmar	28 day visa issued upon arrival for US$40
Singapore	30 days
Thailand	30 days
Vietnam	21 days
NON-ASEAN
HongKong	14 days
India	30 days visa issued upon arrival for US$60
Iran	30 days visa issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Israel	90 days
Macau	30 days
Maldives	30 days visa issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Mongolia	21 days
Nepal	15/30/90 days visa issued upon arrival for US$25/40/100
South Korea	30 days visa free (Jeju Island only)
Sri Lanka	30 days
Taiwan	30 days if holding a valid visa for Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Schengen countries, United Kingdom or United States
Timor-Leste	30 days visa issued upon arrival for US$30
EUROPE
Kosovo	90 days
OCEANIA
Cook Islands	31 days
Fiji	120 days Visitor’s Permit issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Marshall Islands	30 days visa issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Federated States of Micronesia	30 days
Niue	30 days
Palau	30 days visa issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Samoa	60 days Visitor’s Permit issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Tuvalu	30 days visa issued upon arrival (free of charge)
Vanuatu	30 days
NORTH AMERICA
Costa Rica	30 days
Dominica	21 days
Haiti	90 days
Nicaragua	30-day visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Saint Knitts and Nevis	14 days
Saint Lucia	6 weeks visa issued upon arrival for US$50
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	30 days
Turks and Caicos Islands	30 days
SOUTH AMERICA
Bolivia	90 days
Brazil	90 days
Colombia	90 days
Ecuador	90 days
Peru	183 days
Suriname	90 days

 

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
―Mark Twain

Seoul, South Korea

Last September 2012, Karen and I went to Seoul without any plans at all. Since Twin suddenly cannot accompany us, we have no itinerary or whatsoever things in mind that we want to do. She is the one who is very active in researching.  For 4 days, we just eat, shop, sleep, hoard food and study!

Here is our 4 days Seoul Trip:

Shopping at Myeongdong

Hoard goods at Lotte Mart (Market-O products, Taster’s Choice iced coffee and Maxwell House!)

   
Freebies from Myeongdong

Usually, a saleslady would be outside shouting the name of their stores. They will hand you some freebies but you need to go inside to look around. Sometimes if you don’t buy, they will get the freebie back again.

 
Bongchu Jjimdak, Lotteria, Bibimbap

Sightseeing

Can you guess what is the weight of our bags?? HAHAHA

Goodbye Seoul!

Off to Busan in Sept 2013!

Coffeeshops in Seoul