And this is how you make a dumpling from scratch…
Hong Kong is a foodie paradise and it’s very possible to pare down on food expenses by eating in the cafeteria or on one of those small noodle houses/dimsum places across my office. My problem is these eateries serve too much carbo and meat, with nary a vegetable. And the result of course is so...
The Gypsy Gals Guide to Solo Travel
Text and Photos By Prime Sarmiento International Women's Day was observed last Saturday, March 8 and I want to continue the celebration if only because here in the Philippines, this is a month-long affair. March is National Women's Month and I want to honor this special month by encouraging more women to travel on...
Postcard Moment: Chiang Mai is not about Buddhism
Text: Prime Sarmiento Photos: Prime Sarmiento/Avie OIarte No one visits Chiang Mai without getting even a glimpse of its many Buddhist temples. Temples and monks in orange robes (oh and also elephants) – these are the images that most travelers will always remember about this northern Thailand city. I didn't visit Chiang...
How to make money from your travel blog (the real deal)
By Prime Sarmiento I just had a wonderful and insightful discussion with my dear friend Jet about business school and travel blogging. Jet just got her MBA and landed a lucrative job in an investment bank soon after her graduation from business school. No one deserved that job more than Jet who worked so...
Postcard Moment: A year of travels, a year of blessings in 2012
Text and Photos by Prime Sarmiento Sometimes I can’t believe that despite my busy schedule, I still manage to have the time, money and energy to go on working/leisure trips all over the world. I always consider my travels my biggest blessing and my travels in 2012 were full of many things that made...
A Solo Female Traveler’s Weekend Guide to Bangkok
Text and Photos by Prime Sarmiento Every city has a certain energy and Bangkok has that distinct feminine energy that I love and relish – enough to lure me to the City of Angels over and over again. I don’t exactly know where this energy is coming from. Is it from temples...
Solo Female Travel 101
Book Review: The Art of Solo Travel: A Girl's Guide by Stephanie Lee posted by: Prime Sarmiento I wish that this book existed five years ago when I, like Stephanie, quit a promising career to go an extended travel around Asia for some soul searching and adventure. The book would have saved me the time...
The Kindness of Strangers
(First Published Oct 2005 at www.travelblog.org/bloggers/gypsygal) One of the valuable things that I learned while traveling is that there's no shortage of kindness everywhere. Journalism (and should I say, adulthood and the bitter experiences that I had to overcome) has made a cynic out of me, always suspicious of people's motivation, especially of strangers...
Overnight in Khao San
First Published September 4,2005 at www.travelblog.org/bloggers/gypsygal Bangkok –I flew from KL and had to spend a night in Bangkok to catch an early flight tomorrow for Kathmandu. For that, I went to Khao San Rd. The backpackers ghetto of Khao San in Bangkok isn’t an ideal place to write. The whole area...
Pizza and HBO in Luang Prabang
First Published August 19,2005 at www.travelblog.org/bloggers/gypsygal Luang Prabang — On our way to Luang Prabang, we had two brief stop overs. First was in an Hmong hill village, where curious kids follow us around as they love posing for our digicams. Me, with my pair of flat feet struggled to climb the muddy hill. Fhan...
The End of Roughing It!
First Published August 18,2005 at www.travelblog.org/bloggers/gypsygal PAK BENG, LAOS — We spent a night in the tiny village of Pak Beng – a halfway point between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang. The slow boats don't travel at night so we have to stop here for dinner and get some sleep. A rustic town clustered with...
Living and Leaving
First Published August 1,2005 at www.travelblog.org/bloggers/gypsygal SINGAPORE —My friend Persis, a Malaysian filmmaker, asked me if I would miss my apartment in Singapore. It’s a fair question considering that I’m a homebody and I lived in this walk-up apartment for 3 ½ years (out of my 4 ½ years in Singapore). I’m house...
A Shutterbug Shops In Singapore
first opublished August 1, 2005, www.travelblog.org/bloggers/gypsygal SINGAPORE — It took me some time before I finally decided to buy digicam. I’ve been a photo hobbyist since 2002, not to mention that I always believed that my photography isn’t just a means of self expression, but also a tool which I can use in my profession...