I never thought there would come a time that I would be writing more about traveling with friends. :) I'm so used to going with family that it didn't occur to me that someday i'd be in that boat. It started last year when I went on a trip with my best friend in the blogging world, Ana to Taiwan. That was a lot of fun and this year we planned another one for summer with our other bestie, Paul to CHIANG MAI! ^_^ I've been to Bangkok before when I was 12 years old, but never in other parts of Thailand, so this was something new and exciting for me + it was all our first time in the province of Chiang Mai. :)

Our adventure began at the NAIA airport. We met up at around 5PM and checked in at the Scoot counter. It's my first time to ride Scoot and I just wanna give a huge shoutout to Ana and Paul for giving my plane ticket as a gift.♥ They didn't have to, but they did and I appreciate that so much! Love you, friends!! How lucky I am!

Addition to Pauly's plane collection! Ang cute!

Since Manila doesn't have a direct flight to Chiang Mai, we had a long layover in Singapore (red eye flight) but luckily we didn't have to worry where we were gonna stay or sleep cos Ana was able to book a lounge beforehand for us via Klook: CLICK HERE. :)
It's my first time ever to sleep at the airport, so even if I was still tired from the 3 hour plane ride, I was already excited and super looking forward to experiencing the lounge life!
The Plaza Premium is located in Terminal 1 Departure Hall of Changi Airport and you can choose a 3 hour stay (Php 1,525) or 6 hour stay (Php 1,904), depending on how long you want to stay, those are the price. :) For us, we did the 6 hours!




The great thing about staying at a lounge like this is that, you have more privacy. You get to pick out a space you want to sleep or hangout in, they provide a buffet for food, massages and you get to shower too!
The Plaza Premium Lounge has different kinds of space to pick from. They have the typical chairs/sofas, the cubicle type, VIP and a room where you really have a bed and closed doors for the utmost privacy. Though, I think the ones with beds have a special pricing already.


First thing we did once we got in was to look for our respective corners to leave our stuff, then we headed straight for the buffet cos super gutom na kami! >_< We were quite happy with the food choices they had to offer at the lounge and we even joked na lugi sila sa amin cos we kept coming back for more! hahaha! 
They offered a variety of food, like cup noodles, fruits, bread, salad, Laksa and unlimited drinks! It was a feast already for us and this was certainly the most memorable. :)
If you have a red eye flight, I highly recommend booking a lounge!



After showering, we all got some shut eye for a bit, had a quick breakfast and checked out of the lounge, so we can explore Changi airport for a bit before our connecting flight.
Singapore airport is probably one of the airports I wouldn't mind staying in for a long time cos there are so many things you can do there. Did you know they have a swimming pool?? A Wolfgang restaurant? a Butterfly Garden? YUP! All of that inside and more! While on my quick CR run, I spotted this and asked Ana and Pauly if they wanted to check it out too!




It's so cool to see this many butterflies! :) Reminded me of Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. :)
*Off to our connecting flight*
After 2 hours, hello CHIANG MAI!!!





Mostly everything via booking was done for us by Ana. She was our travel guide or planner for this trip, so everything was arranged already before we got to Chiang Mai. :)
The hostel we stayed in was from Agoda - DD & B Hostel -CLICK HERE. It's just luckily 15 minutes away from the airport! The room we booked was a classic triple room and it was for only Php 6,000 for 5 days! Divide that to the 3 of us, we only paid Php 2,000 each! What a steal! Since we also went during the non-peak time in Chiang Mai, there weren't any other people booked in the place, so we had it all to ourselves! ^_^
Just some of the things we loved about DD & B Hostel:
♥ has strong WiFi ♥ also a coffee shop ♥ good security system - has 24/7 CCTV monitoring ♥ has snacking area - complimentary coffee! ♥ has a beautiful river front ♥ friendly staff - we miss them na! haha ♥ the owner is also a GRAB driver! ♥ has nearby restaurants ♥ walking distance from Chiang Mai night bazaar
We couldn't ask for more in this place! It also has a good 9/10 rating on Agoda, so you're sure for quality service!
After we settled in and rested a bit, we headed out to look for a place to eat and for our first official meal in Chiang Mai, we dined street style at the ChangPhuak Night Market! :) This was just walking distance from our hostel and the food was super cheap and good!

Cute elephant tree spotted while walking to the market

Spotted this temple also near our hostel! :)
That concludes our non-official first day in Chiang Mai! It was just pretty chill since we mostly spent it at the airport. But I can't wait to share with you our other days, which was really fun! ^_^
Till the next!!!