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Swimming with the Whale Sharks at Oslob, Cebu City, Philippines

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There are a lot of "resorts" where you can go and buy the tickets for the whale shark and they'll bring you there on a small jeepney or mini-van.  But you can go straight to the Whale shark watching spot and buy your tickets there.  The issue is that you might not have places to park if you are driving.  Do note that for the beach resorts, there might be an additional 100 pesos as an "entrance" fee to the resort in addition to the tickets. It starts with sort of an orientation by the Dept. of Tourism to ensure that we take care of the Butandings (Whale Sharks) e.g. keep at least 4 meters distance and no touching. And then you have to wait for your turn.  We were there like 9.30 and the line was really long, took us almost an hour waiting for our turn.  This is because there are limited boats and so you guys take turns. You will only get to stay for like 30 minutes (as soon as the boat stops and the boatman asks you to swim, the clock starts ti

Seville for a few days

Transportation:  Bus - Seville Airport to Plaza de Armas Duration: takes around 30 minutes Frequency: runs around every 20 minutes Cost: 4 Euros for one-way or 6 Euros for round trip Note: Takes longer going back from Plaza de Armas to Seville Airport, prolly took me almost an hour (due to traffic too). Tip: You can also take a taxi to Plaza de Armas and better to take it there since it is the first stop and it gets more crowded after every stop (you might not get in). Taxi: I haven't taken this but they said costs around 30 Euros. General Overview It's pretty much walkable around the area and prolly takes 30 minutes walking from one end to the other end of the old town.   There's too much small and winding alleys too. There seems to be a lot of well known Tapas Bar near Alameda de Hercules. Top Picks for Food Az-Zait This was in Michelin Guide.  Much pricier that normal tapas bar, but it was so worth it.  Tried out their conchillo (roast pi

Best Latte in Sevilla (Sevilla)

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Spain in general has good coffee but for those who are looking for great flat whites or latte with great simple latte art, you might be slightly disappointed as there are not a lot of them.  Spanish just usually order cafe solo (black) or cafe con leche (with milk). Fortunately found a couple of good cafes and this are in order of preference 1. Virgin coffee Address: Calle Regina, 1, 41003 Sevilla  Website: virgincoffeesevilla.com Small but great cafe. The owner, Pedro, is also the barista and cheaper than the other cafes I have tried since a latte costs 1.50 or 2.0 depending on size.  Drinking the latte, I can taste the strong bitter coffee but not overpowering, just enough blend with milk. Also note, since he is the only one here... he might close the shop every now and then. Pedro and his latte creations 2. T orch Coffee Roasters Address:  Ave. Paseo de las Delicias, 3, 41001 Sevilla Another good cafe with great latte.  Quite

Casa palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija

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Website: http://www.palaciodelebrija.com/ Address:   Calle Cuna, 8, 41004 Sevilla Entrance: 6 Euros for just the ground floor 9 Euros for ground + first floor.  First floor is only accessible as part of a guided tour which takes around 30 minutes No Photos for the first floor though :) It's apparently free for Mondays (as most other places are). - but only for the ground floor Feedback: Prolly took me an 1.5 hr in total to go around the place as it was a small but really nice house built around 16th Century but was most renovated by the Countess in the 19th century.  The Patio is amazing and much more are the mosaics which were imported from italica and are still pretty much preserved and so are parts of the mansion that were installed in the house like the ceiling and the tiles. Ganymede ( Greek mythology) becoming an Eagle Ceiling and White status imported from a palace The Patio The Mosaic in the Patio

CLIC Sevilla Intensive Spanish School

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Course Date: Dec. 11 - 22, 2017 Length: 2 weeks What: Intensive Spanish 25 Where: CLIC Sevilla Address: Calle Albareda, 19, 41001 Sevilla Students: There were 4 in our class The School Right smack in the middle of the city, just beside the large mall, Ingles Cortes. They have 4 buildings near each other and it's pretty small and cosy. I actually like it. It's very comfortable and easy. Main Lobby of the building with the small cafe on the right facade of the building with a small street, Calle Albareda Type of Intensive Spanish Courses Intensive 20, 25, 30 You can see the difference from the table below. Basically, you just have more practice sessions with 25 and 30. It was slightly weird this round in my class since they lumped 25 and 30 together so I basically have to leave at 2.20 PM while the rest of my classmates go on till 3.30 since they took Intensive 30. Honestly, I think 20 is enough and you can just revise and practice on your ow

Yosemite

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Website:  https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/vernalnevadatrail.htm 2017-11-23 Thanksgiving Weekend Mirror Lake Trail Views from the Mirror Lake Trail Vernal (lower falls) and Nevada (upper falls) Vernal Falls on the way to see Vernal Falls This is the view on top of the Vernal Falls Nevada Falls half Dome from the Nevada Falls area Love this cliff from Nevada