Sol Ocas Pelicanos Hotel in Benidorm. Photo from realholidayreports.com

Benidorm is renowned to some extent as the party capital of Alicante in Spain. There is plenty for families to enjoy together as well but the town is at least in part known for the fun that can be had at its great many bars, hotels and nightclubs. There are perhaps Spanish resorts better known as hotspots for clubbing holidays but Benidorm certainly has plenty to offer even the most hard-to-please night-life loving hedonists.

And, with economic times being as tough as they are right now in the UK and elsewhere, it is important for millions of families to keep their holiday costs down and nowhere are there bargains quite like those you’ll find in Benidorm. You can choose from any number of hotels or apartment complexes around the town and you’ll never be too far away from a lovely restaurant or a lively bar.

The beauty of booking cheap holidays to Benidorm, apart from the night-life and the beaches, is that all the elements of a really great week or so in the sunshine are so close together and contributing to a general sense of excitement and enjoyment. It’s a debatable point but perhaps the best way to make the very most of your time there is to book yourself and your party an all-inclusive stay at a quality hotel or apartment. You can also choose from dozens of three- or four-star resorts offering all inclusive packages at a discounted rate this year.

And if you’ve got your heart set on a trip to Benidorm or any other part of Spain for that matter, with friends, family or someone very special, then your first port of call should be the Thomas Cook website. You’ll find a genuine abundance of bargains on quality holidays all across Spain, the Balearics, the Canaries and into Greece and Turkey as well.

Costa Blanca Beach in Benidorm, Spain. Photo from cheapholidaysinspain.net.

So if your trip is joining giveaways, then definitely join this one.
I am a mom, and together with 49 other blogs mostly authored by mom bloggers, we’re giving everyone a chance to win a total prize of $500. For us MOMS, this is our way of giving back.

Below are the blogs of the fabulous moms who’ve teamed with me for this grand giveaway. Feel free to visit their blogs for other giveaways and deals, parenting insights or just drop by and say Hello.

So go on ahead and enter through the Rafflecopter form below, and on behalf of the host and all the sponsors, Happy Mother’s Day to you (or your wife/mom).

In front of Magellan's Cross. One of the ladies selling candles at the chapel offered to take this photo. We have her P10 for it. hehe

As many of you know, my brother Iman and I went to Bohol for a weekend trip. But what we didn’t know was that it was a long holiday weekend because of the Labor Day and the Bohol festival which also falls on May 1. So there were just so many people at the pier. Read: Our Itinerary for a Three-Day Two-Night Stay in Bohol

We got to Pier 4 in Cebu City from the Mactan Cebu International Airport around 10am only to find out that the 12:30pm trip is sold out and the next trip is already 4:30pm. So we just bought tickets and headed off to downtown Cebu.

In the heat of the noonday sun, we went to the Magellan’s Cross, Plaza Independencia, and Fort San Pedro. We did not have hats nor sunblock and we lugged around our luggage but we had fun taking pictures and just finding out about the local scenes.

After some photo sessions, we took the cab and proceeded to SM Cebu nearby to have a late lunch. We had a lousy Chinese food lunch at Lai Garden but well, the carbs were enough to replenish our energy after a very long morning.

Magellan’s Cross
According to Wikipedia,

“Magellan’s Cross is a Christian cross planted by Portuguese, and Spanish explorers as ordered by Ferdinand Magellan upon arriving in Cebu in the Philippines on April 14 or 21, 1521. This cross is housed in a chapel next to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño on Magallanes Street (Magallanes being the Spanish name of Magellan), just in front of the city hall of Cebu City.”

Of course, commenting continues but the raffle of the $2 for one lucky commenter has ended. Read: Our Itinerary for a Three-Day Two-Night Stay in Bohol

And without further ado, Rafflecopter made it easier for us to make the raffle. And in one click of the button, the winner is…ta-da!!!

Mommy Dha, please PM your Paypal email. Thanks everyone for joining! And watch out, I may be having other giveaways here. I am happy to make this place buzzing with activity. That’s my trip!

Watch out, too, for our travel posts about Bohol! So excited already!

I posted the previous article so that we can maximize our stay and see the most of what we can in the place. Thankfully, my brother’s friend has a good idea of what to do and so here is our Bohol itinerary for a three-day, two-night stay.

Our Bohol itinerary

So basically, we will be visiting the Alona Beach or maybe have an island hopping then we will also have dinner there on the first night. On the second day, we will start early so that we can travel to the Chocolate Hills then we can take the Loboc River Cruise where we will also have our lunch. This cruise will allow us to see the Hanging Bridge and the Man-made Forest. In the afternoon, we will visit the tarsiers, the Bood Compact Shrine, and the Hinagdanan Cave in Panglao. We will retire early after a long day. It was suggested that we will have dinner at Payag. On the third day, we will just swim at the hotel because Bohol Tropics has its own pool.

Well, I think we have covered it. This is good because then we have visited the major Bohol attractions and then we won’t have to stay for an extra night. Our accommodations are free at the Bohol Tropics and we do not want to spent for another night. Thanks for this opportunity, Iman!

I am sharing this so that those who plan to have a similar trip would know where to go. And oh, I have a commenting contest in this post. Comment within the weekend and get a chance to win $2!

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Get a 2012 Starbucks Planner the Easy Way

We had a total of 430 entries and we have gained new likers and followers. Thank you very much. And because I am so thankful, I have decided to add a consolation winner who will receive a Paypal cash of $5. It’s not much but it’s our way of saying “thank you”. I never expected to get these much entries because of the duration of the giveaway and well because there is really not much to do and the number of points that you can garner are really not that much.

So without further ado, here are our winners. Congratulations!

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Miss Malou Espanol wins the 2012 Starbucks Planner while consolation prize winner Clint Andrew Mamuri wins $5. Congratulations and thank you all for joining! I might be holding another giveaway here soon. So watch out for it.

We have two nights there. We will be arriving around after lunch of Friday, so we have Friday afternoon, the whole of Saturday, and maybe the morning of Sunday to go around.

Can you suggest places to go so that we can maximize our short stay in Bohol? I think we will have to do the Loboc river cruise on Saturday, but that is just about what I can think of. Please help us plan out our itinerary for Bohol. Thank you very much for your suggestions!

Update: As per my brother’s information, we will be in Bohol on Saturday afternoon, the whole of Sunday, and then the morning of Monday. hehehe I did check my ticket and he is correct. LOL

Win one of these Starbucks Planners. Photo from the Starbucks website.

My brother, Iman, has this Starbucks Planner that he is not using. I don’t plan to use it either so we thought of giving it away in a raffle! It is very easy to join with the Rafflecopter form below. Some of the tasks are optional, but we would be happy if you can blog about this giveaway and link up the sponsors, too.

If you are going to blog about this giveaway, please include a sentence that includes the host blog and three sponsors, like in the paragraph below:

This giveaway is hosted by Trips and Travels and sponsored by The Camera Bug, Dream World Traveler, and New Cars-Used Cars.

Please mention that we are giving away one Starbucks Planner.

Giveaway is from April 11-13, 2012. This is open only to Philippine residents and those with Philippine mailing addresses.

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According to him, since this is his first time to be given some form for remuneration for his work, then he is already a professional photographer.

Kudos to you, Iman! Teehee May you have many more. Weeee It just great to get paid for doing something that you like. hehe