Travel – Chescadventures

From Bahrain to Australia: Our first year down under

18.08.2025- One year down under

After nearly two decades of living and working in Bahrain, a small and comfortable place we called home, we decided to take the biggest decision of our lives – moving to a bigger, and more diverse country like Australia.

It wasn’t easy leaving our comfort zone, our friends, and a life where everything was within our reach and familiar. Life in Bahrain was convenient, safe, predictable, and warm, but we wanted more adventure, more opportunities, and a brighter future for our little family.

This past year has been a mix of challenges, lessons, and so many beautiful moments.

It hasn’t been all sunshine. We’ve faced and still facing some uncertainties, and wrestled with Bahrain-homesickness. Coming from a small country where everything was close, adjusting to long travel times and a bigger, more spread-out lifestyle took some getting used to. But each hurdle taught us resilience. We’ve learned patience and the value of appreciating the little things.

One year down, a few more to go, hopefully.

Here’s to our life in Australia, the land we now call our home.

What I’m missing in Bahrain

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia.

It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island which makes up around 83 percent of the country’s landmass.

With a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-denominational society, Bahrain is an attractive destination for expat families.

Bahrain is the freest economy in the MENA region, and among the “mostly free” economies worldwide.

When I first arrived in Bahrain way back in 2006, it was still a tax-free country, but two or three years earlier, they had imposed a 10% tax on selected commodities.

Why do I love Bahrain?

Bahrain is a small island. It is convenient to live as everything is almost within your reach.
Almost everyone knows each other.
You can explore the whole country in just a few days.
Bahrain is one of the best Countries to live for foreigners.
Simple life and simple living aside from it is easy to find a job in Bahrain.
Everything is almost affordable, from the flat rent to food and necessities, to recreation.
My personal favorite: I go to work for 8 hours a day and at work, we’re also one of the privileged private company employees to get every Country’s official and public holidays which means I have a decent time at home and can spend all these holidays with my family, and since Bahrain is so small, I can travel to and from work in just a few minutes time.
Everything is affordable, almost. Although this is not a tourist spot or a holiday destination as there isn’t much of a place to see, the fact that you can go around the whole Bahrain in just a few days, this place is definitely ideal for beginners.

Living here not just for years but decades, I would say that I have already adopted their simple ways of living.

Isn’t it comfortable working in a Company that would provide you with the easiest mode of transportation going in and out of work? A pick-and-drop car directly at your doorsteps and send you back home? Well, most of the Companies in Bahrain do that.

Or isn’t it just comfortable that everything is within your reach? Everywhere is almost nearby. A supermarket by walk, a hospital by walk, a shopping mall by walk, and no hassles of going anywhere.

Restaurants are almost everywhere. From Asian cuisine, Chinese, American, European, Mediterranean, fusion, vegan, vegetarian, whatever your choice is, are always easy to find. You won’t have a hard time finding your own list of cravings.

I just find it easy, comfortable, and safe to live here. Although just like any other Country, safety relies on your own precautions.

My home…away from home!

Some disadvantage: (Personal thoughts)

Although it is easy to find a job and settle in Bahrain, Bahrain is also a country with a low minimum wage rate.
For most of the residents in Bahrain, we rely on our Company’s residence permit and there is little to no chance of becoming a citizen. We are all expats here.
Salaries are quite low, although permanent, (but fortunately we get paid a little more than the others but still not enough if you have a child with special needs) but still won’t be enough to cover for a growing family. We are paid on a monthly basis full time. As you are under the Company sponsorship, you are not allowed as per contract to get a second job particularly with the same business, you have to find a side hustle limited to online selling, transporting, and other small jobs.
One of the most hindrances is, health care is not free. We have medical insurance provided by the Company (individual) but sadly, not all Companies provide Insurance.
There is no support/free therapies for foreigner children with special needs and the cost of therapies here are very expensive!

I love to live in Bahrain but I know that in time I must leave my comfort zone for another hundred personal reasons to explore other options and try new things and be in a different place.

Tbh, I love the Country, I love my job, I love the comfort and convenience, the people, the friends who became a family, the hot and humid weather, I love this small island and we’ve been almost everywhere here. We literally been to almost the entire country, corners to corners, every malls, every arcades, every parks, every beach, every roads, everywhere.

Thank you for everything, my second home. Thank you for the wonderful 18 years. Till I see you again.

I will definitely miss everything here. The people, places, faces, our usual weekend getaways, walking around and walking in the streets of Gudaibiya, my work, my office, the hot and humid summers and the cold winter nights, or just driving around.

No more “batang desyerto” anymore- Rain. 😢🇧🇭👶🏻

Signing off.

SKY ESCAPE 360- NUEVA VIZCAYA

Let’s enjoy the panoramic view of the Sky Escape 360 located in Ambaguio, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines.

Yes, we’ve been here!

If you want to visit the place, the entrance fee is Php50 for adult and children are free. Food wont be a problem in there as there are snack and coffee shops in the area in case you get hungry as well as souvenir stores.

Day Tour

I was wondering at first why this is called Sky Escape- 360, and then I found out that it’s because you get to enjoy the 360 views of the City at night and the Vizcaya Valley at day time!

Sky Escape-360 was then a venue for paragliding experience in 2020-2021, but for an unknown reason, they removed the activity sometime during pandemic until now, 2024.

I was actually eyeing to try it during our vacation in 2021 but I had an ankle accident that time and even after the surgery, I guess I won’t be able to do it anymore.

Unfortunately, it is raining on and off during our visit to NV and not to mention that the town is brownout for the rest of day from 6AM up to 6PM.

But we just don’t want to miss the opportunity to get to see this magnificent view and take some photos in between when the rain stop, and believe me, it’s worth the effort, the place is amazing!

Lovely deck view

Some of the photos taken during our visit. You will notice that the skies are dark as it is raining continuously but at least we still managed to snap some nice photos!

Jab’s Park, Cafe, Restaurant and Bar- Talavera Nueva Ecija

Who would ever think that the then small rural town of Talavera Nueva Ecija where I spent part of my childhood would become progressive through the years that it now boasts a massive and competitive lineup of Restaurants, cafes, bars, supermarkets, shopping areas and even banks, private schools, offices, and other commercial establishments?

This is not how Talavera looked like when I was a kid, and definitely Talavera improved and continues to progress as the years go by.

And there’s this nice and cozy place in Talavera called Jabs Park, Cafe, Restaurant, and bar all in one. It features a huge park with a musical fountain, an event’s place, a dining restaurant and a bar at the same time complete with a live band.

The entrance fee is Php350 each including children if I’m not mistaken and the Php200 is consumable for your food and drinks which to be deducted from your total bill. Not bad.

The place looks very cozy and you can enjoy the time just by walking around the instagrammable pathways, where the trees are adorned with beautiful round lantern lights that get more picture perfect, particularly at night.

The bar and restaurant is surrounded by a Gazebo (dining area) if you want to sit and relax or even lie down while eating and watching the band but they require a minimum of Php5000 total bill to enable you to sit there. Although we spent the same amount, by chance, we actually didn’t know we would exceed that budget, we preferred to sit on the long table in the middle of the area to get the exact spot of the band.

We had dinner of sinigang soup as always and had my favorite chicharong bulaklak as appetizer while drinking beer and listening to the 80’s playlist live band.

And some other photos taken!

For anyone who wants to relax and enjoy a night of music and drink in Nueva Ecija, JABS is a good place for you.

Clark and Subic in a day

July 2024. As we had to renew our toddler’s passport as we were not able to renew it in Bahrain before traveling to Phil due to lack of time and we are bound to Australia in August, we just decided to renew it in Clark, Pampanga.

I looked forward to that day so our family could have the chance to bond and long travel by car a the same time. We had Clark, Pampanga and later went to Subic, Olongapo in a day.

Not much of an activity in a day, we left Cabanatuan City at around 6 in the morning and reached Clark about 2 hours later. Good thing that the newly opened DFA satellite office in Clark opens at 7:30AM and we arrived just in time. We didn’t have to fall in line and wait for the long queue as minor applicants have the special lane for them. We finished our errands a little more than an hour later and since it’s still early, we all agreed to drive to Subic as planned.

We reached Subic free port at about one and a half later and had a buffet lunch in Cabalen Restaurant. Yeah, it’s also my first time to eat in Cabalen and tbh, I didn’t expect it to be as good as it is and worth the price of Php540 each- unlimited with a lot of selection to choose from, from main dish to desserts, to their native delicacies, to juices.

Still lot of time after lunch, we drove around the clean city of Subic.

Please check all the pictures from Zoobic Safari to Camayan Beach Resort.

And more!

Not just a two in one errands but it’s also added to Rain’s new places to see in the Philippines, and Nanay’s bucket list!

Minalungao National Park- General Tinio Nueva Ecija

Day tour in Minalungao National Park– General Tinio, Nueva Ecija.

Minalungao National Park is one of the few eco parks that you can visit when you are in Nueva Ecija, from the word Mina which means mine and lungao which means cave.

Going to this eco park was not on our list in our vacation 2024 but just as we arrived in the Philippines on a rainy season of July and August, it’s quite hard to plan in advance as we always have to consider the sudden rain. And so one morning, just as my husband was browsing for a place to visit nearby Cabanatuan City after the few days of continuous raining, he found this National Park that is just an hour drive from the city- oh well according to Google but the actual travel including changing route due to road constructions and all, and the rough road, not to mention getting lost along the way as the google directs us to some roads we were not allowed to enter like the military bases- it took us more than two hours to reach there.

I have never been to this place before and although I was brought and raised in Cabanatuan City, but spent most of my adult years in Bahrain, there are still a lot of places within the area and nearby towns I’ve never heard of and never been to until the social media era.

The travel time using google map took us more than 2 hours ride and we reached before lunch time. We paid an entrance fee of Php100 for each adult and free for our child. We also paid Php50 for the parking fee and we parked right opposite our cottage and just direct to the river. The cottage cost us Php500 for the entire day.

Since it isn’t a planned trip, we only passed by to get a take away Jollibee food along the way and some snacks and chips we have at home.

ACTIVITIES

There are a lot of activities in the park as mentioned by the caretakers including swimming, kayaking, bamboo raft ride, and zipline. But because of the recent rains, we were not able to swim (but you can if you want to) as the water is not clear from the rains. BTW, the zipline is not available that time, July 2024.

We were also not able to explore the cave as we have a small toddler but we did have the chance to see the famous hanging bridge. It offers a spectacular view and a perfect spot for taking photos as you can clearly capture the whole river down under. My husband and I just walked from end to end of the bridge, took a lot of pictures and admire the beauty of the rock formations along the way and went back to the cottage.

I let my son to swim just for an hour within my eye sight. There were also a few families nearby but I haven’t seen anyone tried the bamboo raft.

I paid Php10 to use the toilet after our lunch and bought some souvenirs to take along with me at the shop nearby. I really love collecting chains and door magnets so of course I wouldn’t leave without getting one. I took a few and also bought a family shirt for Php180 each for adult and Php150 for my son’s shirt.

Overall, it’s still worth and less expensive to visit Minalungao Park.

Here are some photos!

The water is brown due to heavy rains in the previous days so it isn’t picture perfect at the time of our visit, but hopefully we can return during the summer and see the real beauty of this river.

Arriving in Sydney

Who would have thought that after just a little less than a year of actual planning and making it happen, me and my family would be able to step our foot in AUSTRALIA?

So much of things to be thankful for, and God knows what is our heart’s desire, our then a dream suddenly became a small talks turned into a plan, turned into a decision, turned to an action and now has become a reality.

After getting our plane tickets and travel insurance, booked an Airbnb hotel, we packed our bags and headed straight away to Australia right after visiting our families in the Philippines, and now here we are, Australia- the land down under!

It’s an eight hour direct flight from Manila to Sydney. It’s our first time to fly with Cebu Pacific Airlines, although the entire flight was acceptable, there were some things I didn’t even care to google before flying and got surprised when I learned on board that they have no free-meal during the trip and that I had to pre-order the food online before flying! 🤣

Flying regularly back and forth to Middle East, we’ve got used to a free meal, a snack or breakfast and one full meal during the nine hour flight. Thank God that my son doesn’t eat much of outside food as he prefers home food only, rice and soup at home, milk, cereals and biscuits which we always pack when traveling.

I’ll soon compile our travel and adventures here, but I will just have a sneak peek for the meantime when we first arrived in the City!

Cheers to the great adventure ahead!

AL BANDER HOTEL AND RESORT

The very first time I went to Al Bander Resort was around 14 years ago, and since we went in the night, we weren’t able to take photos of the Resort at that time.

Lucky enough, more than a decade later, I’m lucky to be back now, with my child, and see the real beauty of the Resort in day time.

Al Bander is a 4-star hotel & resort located on Bahrain’s East coast. It’s an idyllic location with a relaxing view, wide parking slots, free Wi-Fi, great service, and affordable at the same time.

It has a lagoon-style swimming pool with sun benches everywhere, surrounded by palm trees. They have ready-to-assist lifeguards everywhere which is very convenient particularly for a family like us with a hyper toddler that runs & jump here, there & everywhere.

They do have an outdoor jacuzzi also but it is not good to dip in this almost summer time of the year, instead, we indulged ourselves in the wide pool and let our little Rain enjoy the chest-level kid’s pool enough for him to play in the water alone with little supervision.

They have chalet rooms if you want to stay for the night or have a little more privacy instead of just hanging around on the huts in the pool area. I didn’t check the room rates and based on the reviews, some said it is affordable and others said it’s quite expensive for the hotel that is a little bit far from the City, but I guess it’s still worth a try if you are a traveler.

Just as we rented a small function hall in the hotel where we had our simple Anniversary celebration, it’s quite advantageous for all of us. We had it from 8AM until 5PM which accommodates more or less 50 people.

We had a nice buffet lunch at the Hotel Restaurant named “The Terrace” if I’m not mistaken as it is a terrace facing directly the lagoon.

Some photos at the pool.

Over all, it’s a nice experience for the whole family, even for a group of friends.

I really love Bahrain, our second home since it is a friendly country to live in for expatriate families like us, convenient everywhere, there are always a lot of places to go to conveniently, lots of restaurants, and everything and everywhere is within reach.

If you are craving for a one day holiday at the beach, I recommend Al Bander Resort.

Another bucket-list ticked for our little Rain. Rain goes all over Bahrain!

BOYS OVER FLOWERS (CRAZE)

Here’s the catch.

I just recently finished watching Meteor Garden 2018 on Netflix with 49 episodes & I happened to check/google all the related shows similar to the same (which I always do in every series/movies/etc. I’ve seen) & found out that aside from the Original Taiwan version which I have also seen a few years back, there are also Korean and Japan version!

What is even more exciting is that they have the Korean version on NETFLIX too. And yes, since I’m not over the craze yet, I wanted to know and compare all the versions and write my self-review as usual, so I watched it too and completed in a little more than a week!😂

Not much different from all the versions where the story is based aside from the few little changes they made to blend with the Country, situation, latest craze, culture, and traditions I assume, plus the change of sequences where some happened first on the Taiwan/Chinese version and happened later on the Korean version and vice versas.–> but all in all, it will come to the same happy ending with the Main characters of both versions Dao Ming Si & Dong Shancai and Gu-Jun-Pyo & Geum-Jan-Di ending up together.

So, what I like in here? Of course, I will not mention that again, I developed a huge crush on Lee Min Ho (Gu-Jun-Pyo) because who else will not? –> and my husband Rj kept teasing me about this fine-young-man just like what he did when we were watching MG2018- Dylan Wang 🙂

Anyways, I super like his face especially when he smiles, super giggles!

I liked the fast-paced story. This has only 25 episodes which is shorter from the 49 episodes of Meteor Garden 2018 that some may actually bore the viewers (but not me) because of the sub-plot & additional story to spice up the series.

It’s more realistic and convincing, I think the Meteor Garden 2018 focused more on Cinderella-type Love story, Rom-com type while the Korean version tackles a little bit more of the usual daily living of an ordinary person, not only romance.

Geum-Jan-Di carries the character of an average person, not so beautiful, not so smart, not so gorgeous bod as what they want to establish in the series which made the Love story even more realistic.

In this version, Yoon Ji-hoo (Kim Hyun Joong) has a more significant role in Geum Jan-di’s life than the other versions, more strongly depicted as a romantic companion.

And yeah, it is more likable that they decided to get married after College Graduation (4 years later) rather than to marry immediately without completing their Education.

What I didn’t like? Well, I guess the lack of emotions from the characters to express their sentiments and emotions for all the problems they had to face in their relationship.

This is what I liked about in Meteor Garden 2018 anyways, both Dao Ming Si and Dong Shan Cai had given their best share and extreme efforts in proving how much they loved each other they are willing to defy all odds.

I wanted Geum Jan Di to express her inner feelings and hurt with a lot of emotions during the time Gu Jun Pyo was overseas trying to ignore her but failed to do so.

I also want to see Gu Jun Pyo fights for his love, but then, there’s a lack of emotions in here. That’s what I expect for someone who turned from a selfish bully rich kid to someone who got madly in love with a commoner despite his mom’s strong disapproval but he wasn’t able to articulate this.

Not to mention I’m longing to see the episode in Taiwan and Chinese versions where Dao Ming Si refused to eat for days in return to retaliate to his over domineering mom when she restricted him for going out of the house and later Dong-Shan-Cai went over to see him and how they talked outside his bedroom door with so much love and compassion that Shan Cai stood for days outside their home, days and night, rain and shine to support Dao Ming Si.

But then I love the way he said…“I’m in love with a girl. The first time since I was born and the last until I die.” Yay!

My thoughts about it? I liked them both with different feelings. I like the super cute yet childish ways that will give you romantic excitement to the bones on the Chinese version and I equally like the much more mature characters and outlook in life on the Korean Version.

All in, I love them both. Can’t wait to watch the Japanese version…soon!

Till next time!

Reposted from my Tumblr account- 2018

Hana Yori Dango

Oh well, I’m still not over the craze yet, *Giggles* Here I am, just completed the Season 1 & 2 of Hana Yori Dango with 20 episodes in less than a week, yaey! (This is the Japanese version of Meteor Garden & Boys Over Flowers). If I’m not mistaken, this is the TV adoptation of the versions where it was based, originally from the Japanese Shojo Manga written by Yoko Kamio.

The fact that I’m now very much familiar with the plot even with my mind shut as I’ve seen all the 4 versions of this story. This is also the second version I completely watched with my husband RJ since he skipped the Korean version all because he didn’t like the way it was expressed. But for me, I loved them all with all of my heart, lol.

To refresh with, This is the story of MAKINO TSUKUSHI, a tough, hard-working, below class student of a prestigious school, Eitoku and how she immersed her life with the School legendary bullies which consist of four sons of the wealthiest and most powerful family, the F4 (FLOWER 4) when she got the red notice from them (anyone who gets this card will be the subject of bullying from the entire school at all cost until the target decides to quits or expelled).

Despite embarrassment and harassment, Makino refuses to quit, and her retaliation and declaration of war against them caught DOMYOUJI TSUKASA’S (the leader of F4) attention and made him fall in love with her.

All the versions have the same plot but all shown in different flow/different impression to spice it up. But still, the story revolves around the love and courtship of the Main Characters, Domyouji Tsukasa and Makino Tsukushi. How they faced various challenges and obstacles including their social status and social differences not to mention Tsukasa’s mother’s extreme disagreement with her.

I mostly liked Makino’s character in here. Not that loud, not that messy, not that clumsy. She has this tough character as a seaweed at the same time with a very sweet, innocent and refreshing personality. She is dainty and feminine here which is similar to Chinese Dong-Shancai ’s character rather than that of Geum Jan Di’s gracelessness, loudness, and clumsiness.

Tsukasa’s character is a bit different here as well. He is more funny, witty and comic that is different from all the versions and of course, not to mention (once again) that he is cute as ever. I literally liked all the series Lead Characters, tbh, (From Dao Ming Si of Taiwan & Chinese version to Gu Jun Pyo of Korean version and now Domyouji Tsukasa of Japanese version). -> exactly the same order how I’ve seen them. He is a bully and childish at the same time in a comical way, that is very original of him, like how he would always speak erroneous Nihonggo and how he would shudder with excitement like a kid just by talking about Makino on his friends.

Hanazawa Rui also shows obvious admiration for Tsukushi he becomes slightly perpetrator to the Main Character’s Love story but eventually gives in to Tsukasa on the latter part of the series.

Nishikado Sojiro & Mimasaka Akira were also cute in a different way.

Moreover, I liked the part where Tsukasa develops an amnesia when he gets into an accident and Makino’s series of funny attempts in order to help him regain back his memory. After Tsukasa saved Makino from freezing to death in the blizzard, he develops a fever inside the log cabin, and while Makino is taking care of him, some flashbacks from the past made him remember Makino that is similar to the circumstance happened on their first date in Season 1, then finally remember the “first girl he has ever fallen in love with.”

I also like the Soundtrack of both Season 1 & 2 especially the Opening Theme of Season 1 titled Wish & Love so sweet in Season 2 (Sang by ARASHI where Jun Matsumoto is a member.)

To be continued as I’m still going to watch the HANA YORI DANGO FINAL (film)

Reposted from my Tumblr account- 2018.

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