The first stop on our Eurotrip was Barcelona .  I was told by all of my friends not to miss this city as the culture and history is just so beautiful.  In many ways, they say that it is even more beautiful here than in Madrid (which I hope to see in a future trip).  Now apart from seeing the Sagrada Familia and Barcelona Cathedral , here are 7 other things that one MUST do while in Barcelona. 1.  Walk Down The Las Ramblas This is what travelling is about!  Full of great shops, cafes, street performers and interesting sights, walking around and getting lost in the various alleys intersecting the main street is such a pleasure.  Stretching on for about a kilometer and a half, this is the main tourist spot in Barcelona, kind of like how Times Square is to New York and Nanjing Road is to Shanghai.  Prepare to get culturally stimulated, just mind the pickpockets! (And there are a LOT of them)

After the culture and history of Shanghai , we were treated to a few days of shopping, eating and galavanting in Hong Kong .  Truthfully, I did not know what to expect from HK as the last time I was here, I was about 12 and I was with my folks. We were given two days to wander around this city of lights, sounds and cars driving in the wrong side of the road (or so my Brit buddies disagree) and while some went to Disneyland and that huge Buddha place, and others went shopping in the stores not found in the Philippines (HMV, H&M etc.), I decided to indulge in two of my favorite past times: exploring a city alone AND toy window shopping . Hong Kong opened my eyes to a whole different level of toy window shopping.  The toy scene is absolutely CRAZY.   (Think a whole building dedicated to small stores specializing in specific toy sets: LEGO, Transformers, GI JOE, Marvel, DC, Anime etc.)  This was ten times the awesomeness of Shoppesville and Virra Mall combined! Thanks to the

Thanks to my company, Pernod Ricard , I was able to spend a couple of days in Shanghai last August for some R&R.  As was the case in Jerusalem , I got giddy over the fact that I could explore another great city, full of rich history and booming with  (Yes, that’s 23 MILLION) people. Though I had been to Shanghai a couple of years ago with my folks, I knew I wasn’t seeing the total picture as guided tours rarely give you the satisfaction of just “hanging out”, getting lost in the place and getting a true taste of the people and culture. The adventure starts when the taxi driver drops me and my three buddies from work at some “shopping area” (think Greenhills) for foreigners.  Originally, we had asked to be dropped off at Nanjing Road (the central commercial center, think Times Square) but he dropped us off around 6km from our intended destination. ** I think it’s safe to say that among Asian countries, it’s only truly the Philippines where you can talk to ANYONE in English