July 2019 – Bellion Travels

How To Get Over A Missing Pet

Let me start by saying, you will never get over it BUT time does heal. It was indeed the most difficult time. Losing someone is painful and sad but there is closure but when that someone is gone missing that is a different matter. When there is no closure there is no way to easily get over it.

We did our best by notifying each animal group on Facebook, we notified our friends and families, animal shelter and all the vets in the country but still no sign of our baby. As time passed, it was extremely difficult to cope with the situation and I started looking for articles to read about how to get over a missing pet and I couldn’t find any.

So I decided I must do something, it was killing me. So I only spoke to people who would listen to me vent and not give me any advice, I just needed someone to listen. I walked 6 hours everyday during the day, night and late night to look for her. I learned that walking helps you calm down. I turned off my phone whenever I needed to cry. I offered to help others with their pets and I took a break from people.

I’m still hoping she will come back because I miss her so much but I know this is not in my control. I knew I had to move on somehow so I decided to always smile and laugh but deep down, I feel like my heart is still in agony but I know if I constantly kept smiling and going for long walks and helping others, it would help me emotionally.

I’m much better than I used to be but I always remember snowflake and cry and I really do miss her presence. So I hope and pray she is safe and happy.

July 23, 2019March 24, 2020

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DUBAI – Girls Spa Day at Waldorf Astoria

A perfect way to spend time with the girls is of course having a SPA DAY.

Tori was in the UAE visiting from Canada and wanted to arrange a girls outing and she did. She planned a Spa Day with the group.

We used and abused the facilities of Waldorf Astoria Spa, we used the sauna and Jacuzzi and there were two steam rooms, one had the Himalayan salt and the other room was filled with dry herbs which was relaxing.

Right after our 90 minutes massage, we went to lay down on the water bed and yes, I’m not joking, it was a water bed. Hours later, we felt SO HUNGRY and decided to have lunch by the beach. We ordered quesadillas and truffle french fries with Parmesan cheese on top.

When it was time to leave, Ivana planned a gender reveal. Tori and Lina guessed it was a girl but I said boy and guess what IVANA IS HAVING A GIRL MASHALLAH.

Overall, we had an amazing time together and it was indeed enjoyable.

July 20, 2019July 19, 2019

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Travelling As A Refugee and Coming From A Third World Country

When I was a child, I always wanted to travel and explore the world. Back then travelling was not that simple. You cannot just book a flight and go to places. Travelling was expensive like really expensive but things have changed now and everyone can easily travel around the world. The world has become smaller.

As I grew up, I started following travel bloggers, I started to read a lot of travel books that got me inspired, and then I met my British husband while travelling. He loves to travel so it was perfect. Until we got married and we visited many countries, which were easily accessible and affordable from our location. I started realising that travelling with me is actually difficult because I have to keep applying for visas. Therefore, it narrows down our travel list. I sometimes feel that we should not have gotten married, I feel like I am holding him back from his dream of travelling the world. Unlike me, I want to travel the world but I travel to countries that are easy to travel to, to avoid the hassle of applying for visas.

When I started this blog and followed many bloggers, I then realised that the majority of the travel bloggers I follow have passports that allows them to enter more than 130 countries visa free. Then I followed a Filipina travel blogger and she wrote a blog post about how it is possible to travel with a third world country passport. I then watched a video made by Americans about how sad it is that Filipinos can only travel to more or less 65 countries visa free and need to constantly apply for visas. There was one vlogger who had one of those “strong” passports, and complained about visa processing to enter to only one country and it really annoyed me because there are nationalities that have to always apply for visas. However, the vlogger did mention that the world should be visa free but come on, let us be realistic this might never happen. As a Filipina, I’m so proud to come from a third world country and the fact that I keep applying for visas makes me appreciate travel more than anyone who travels all the time.

Now, I will be talking on behalf of the Palestinian refugees who apply for visas to travel anywhere in the world. Refugees (literally have no country) are ranked in the top 3 worst passports in the world so trust me entering 65 countries visa free sounds amazing to refugees. Palestinian refugees are the ones who fled the war in 1948 and have no right to return to which is now the State of Israel.

So how can a refugee have a passport?

It is not a passport; it is called a travel document issued by countries who allow the stateless people to seek refuge. This allows refugees to be able to travel the world but it means applying for visas everywhere they go and there are countries that do not acknowledge them. Visa application requires bank statements, letters, passport pictures, passport copies, approvals from sponsors to travel, plane ticket, hotel bookings, etc and even if you submitted all those documents, you may not even get the visa and of course, it costs a lot.

I have been lucky and blessed to travel around the world with a third world country passport. It makes me appreciate the moment I get the visa, it makes me appreciate my trip and makes me realise that I am fortunate. I was rejected and I did get humiliated but I never gave up and reapplied 🙂

So please when you ask me to visit a country or plan a trip with me, consider the fact that I have to plan ahead, I have to apply for visas and I need to look at my budget. I ask you to be considerate, understand other peoples struggle when they travel. Just a final note, if someone complains about applying for a visa or how annoying it is and goes on and on and on and on and never stops complaining, I will just walk away from the conversation.

I ask you nicely, please appreciate what you have and please never complain. If you have one of those passports that allows you to enter more than 100 countries, take advantage of that and travel and explore the world 🙂

Happy Travels Everyone and all the best to the ones applying for visas. 🙂

July 11, 2019July 24, 2019

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FUJAIRAH – ROAD TRIP WITH THE GIRLS

My friends Christina and Katherine are leaving the UAE and will be moving to Europe by the end of July. So we planned a road trip to Al Aqah Fujairah and booked our stay at the Intercontinental Resort.

The adventure started at 5AM when I had to drive from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. I picked up Christina at around 6:45AM and drove to Mimi’s place. We then had breakfast at 8ish and picked up Katherine at 10AM and embarked to Fujairah.

We made a quick stop at the petrol station to get coffee and few snacks and arrived at the hotel at around 1PM.

We had an awesome time hanging out by the pool, walking on the beach, we even had dinner at a fancy restaurant and enjoyed we enjoyed the hotel’s breakfast the next morning with unlimited COFFEEEE. ICE COFFEE, AMERICANO, LATTE, CAPPUCCINO, MY FAVOURITE TURKISH COFFEE……..

We had the best time ever and wished we did it before rather than a farewell get together.

I highly recommend the resort. It’s a 5 star hotel and has all the facilities and private beach access with the view of the mountains.

We had an amazing girls trip which was definitely needed.

July 10, 2019July 18, 2019

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Images of Beirut 2019

I wanted to take a break and travel to Beirut before I started my new job but unfortunately Tim couldn’t join because of work and he is still under probation so I travelled by myself for 4 days to visit friends and families in Beirut.

Here are some photos of Beirut through the lens of Bellion Travels. Hopefully, we will be visiting Beirut soon.

July 9, 2019July 5, 2019

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Ramadan and Eid in Jakarta, Indonesia

When the UAE announced the days off for the Eid Holiday, Tim suggested we should travel since he is on probation and won’t be able to travel for 6 months.

So we decided to travel to an affordable destination and pay the cheapest tickets lol. So Jakarta it was, little did we know that EVERYTHING IS CLOSED during Eid holidays. LOL. Yes we know Indonesia is a Muslim country but we traveled to Beirut during those holidays and we live in UAE which is a Muslim country but everything is open for the public.

Unfortunately, we did not manage to do much since everything closed early and the touristic attractions were closed. However, we did manage to visit few places such as Ancol, Grand Indonesia Mall, Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta Cathedral, National Monument at Merdeka Squae, Sepa Island, Mal Taman Ang Grek, Central Park Jakarta.

We really enjoyed Indonesian food and ate a lot. The food is extremely affordable and filling.

We highly recommend a short visit to the lovely city of Jakarta. 🙂

July 7, 2019July 5, 2019

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June 2019 Recap

June was a fun month. On the last days of May, I received my UAE residence visa and luckily the Eid holidays were about to start. So Tim and I booked flights to Jakarta and that is where we spent our Eid holidays and the last 2 days of Ramadan.

Afterwards, I travelled to Beirut by myself for 4 days and met up with family and friends. As soon as I got back from my holiday, the girls and I went to Fujairah for a girls road trip and guess what I started a new job in Abu Dhabi.

It is definitely not my dream job because I haven’t even figured it out yet but it’s some money and it is also close to home.

So here is a quick recap of June 2019 🙂

Destinations I’ve visited

UAE: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Fujairah and Sharjah

Indonesia: Jakarta and Sepa Island

Lebanon: Beirut

Highlights of the month

We visited Jakarta

I went to Beirut for 4 days

Went on a road trip with the girls

and started a new job

What I watched?

OMG! I watched a lot of movies this month.

Netflix Specials and Series:

Murder Mystery: Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are such an amazing team. The movie was really funny and didn’t think I would enjoy it and it was fun trying to solve the mystery.

You Will Always Be My Maybe: I managed to convince Tim to watch it with me just because Keanu Reeves was in it. LOL. The movie is hilarious.

Jo Koy Hawaii Netflix Special (STAND UP) Comin’ In Hot: HAHAHAHA LOVE HIM AND HE IS PINOY PRIDE.

Black Mirror (Season 5): SOOOOOO ****ED UP and THAT IS WHY WE LOVE IT

Movies:

Movies I watched on the plane LOL

Simple Favor: I actually thought it would be crappy but I was quite impressed and it was really good. Also note ladies, you will LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEE Blake Lively’s outfits and the soundtrack is good.

Vox Lux: I ADORE NATALIE PORTMAN and my advice is to watch it carefully because there are so many hidden messages in this movie. Very artistic.

Glass: C’mon I don’t even have to explain how amazing this movie is. You have Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis, James McAvoy and Sarah Paulson in one movie. ENOUGH SAID.