the honeymoon

a week to go before i officially get hitched, and to set the theme for the coming week, i thought i'd write about the fun part of getting married: the honeymoon!

the honeymoon should be more fun if we followed deuteronomy 24:5, though (yep, i'm quoting a biblical passage), which says:

“When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him. He shall be exempt for one year for the sake of his family, to bring joy to the wife he has married."

but unfortunately, time and money rank high in our priorities, and a year on vacation is just not an option (because i believe going on a year-long vacation is a fantastic way to bring joy to any wife, or even husband). since we're planning to go to spain in october to visit susie's relatives, we thought we'd just opt for something simpler for the after-wedding vacation.

we've booked tickets to boracay--a place that's perfect for a whatever-goes getaway. we've paid for our rooms at true home hotel as well. the place looks cozy and quaint, and i'm pretty excited to write about it. i also vowed to be at the beach as much as i can this year, and this boracay honeymoon-ish trip is just the thing to get it all started.

before we decided on boracay, though, there were a few other destinations that we wanted to check out, since a honeymoon is the perfect time to splurge and explore a new place. here are some of the places on our list:

batanes
susie loves lighthouses, and i love the countryside. batanes is exotic and cool, and i've always wanted to see the place, especially after seeing these photos by my good friend owee salva:

basco lighthouse

breakwater jackstones :p

fantastic, right? :) and should i ever find myself in that part of the philippines, i would want to stay in fundacion pacita batanes. i think it just adds to the experience (even though the prices are pretty steep).

sumilon island, cebu
we saw this island along the southeastern cebu trail when we went to see the churches along the coast, and it's been on susie's list of places to go ever since. i haven't done much research on the place, but from what i've seen, the place is secluded and peaceful. i think sumilon blue water island resort is the only accommodation available on the island.


hangzhou, china
i came across hangzhou when i was looking for a good place to study mandarin in, and i swore to myself that i will one day visit this place. the west lake alone drew me in, and susie was just as enthusiastic when i told him about it. it's just a couple of hours away from shanghai by train, and to me, hangzhou has that feel of eternal autumn, which i find very scenic and serene, perfect for that honeymoon ambience people are always talking about. (photo by andrew goudie)

macau, china
true, we've all been to macau at one point in our lives, but susie and i have never seen macau since the boom of the big hotels, and we've never explored the place together yet. we thought of going all-out and booking a stay at the venetian, as a honeymoon splurge, but we thought twice after seeing that the love connection package was priced at HKD 3,388 for just a night's stay. maybe next time. :)


siem reap, cambodia
we've both been there, and we both want to go back. there are still some sights, especially temples, that we didn't get to see. i also wanted to visit the artisans area, and a stay in the villa is always a good enough reason to go back to siem reap again. plus, i heard the roads from poipet are now fixed, so the camry drive from the thai border shouldn't take so long now. worth checking out again, definitely.




belfast, northern ireland
a far jump from the rest of the places here, i know. the giant's causeway is on my list of things to see before i die, and 'sus is just as interested to go around the place. we both thought of doing a self-drive tour in the republic for our honeymoon, but there was just too much to see and do that we couldn't think of a way to cram everything in a week's time. since the causeway was in northern ireland, i thought just visiting that one first would be a good start. if this pushed through, i would have booked us in the old rectory guest house. nummy breakfast. :">


florence and bologna, italy
most people would automatically opt for venice or rome when honeymooning in italy, but sus and i have often steered clear of places that are packed with people. while florence is also a tourist-y place, it's not as populated as rome, and i want to check out the uffizi with 'sus telling me all about the masterpieces in it. bologna came as a suggestion to me, because there are ryanair flights to bologna from madrid, and after some research, i found out that bologna is the culinary capital of italy. great food always makes for unforgettable travel experiences!

there are definitely a lot of other destinations to cover, but these are some of the places we've discussed when we were talking about the honeymoon. we're not quite sure how a honeymoon is different from any old regular trip--we try to enjoy all our trips anyway, whether we're alone or with other people.

but like i said, a honeymoon is a good excuse to splurge and travel, and even to write a new blog, hence this post. :) i just wanted to get my ideas out, and get yours as well. where would/did you go for your honeymoon?