On a bench right on the sidewalk, we busily checked our mobile phones on what we can do in the city. We were right outside our lodging in Sydney, trying to adapt to the unexpectedly nippy weather and taking advantage of the inn’s wi-fi while waiting for a relative to pick us up. In between scanning our phones, we watched as people pass by, still amazed that we’re now actually in Australia.

FLY TO AUSTRALIA ON SCOOT’S YEAR-ROUND PROMO FARES

Booked on a Scoot flight from Manila to Sydney and after a fun sixteen-hour layover tour in Singapore, we finally arrived at the Sydney International Airport around noon. We wanted a hassle-free transport to our lodging so we purchased a cheap van transfer via Klook (₱770.00 per person) in advance. It was definitely cheaper than if we took the train or hailed a cab. Redeeming it was as simple as showing the voucher on our mobile app at the Redy2Go booth at the airport, them giving us a physical ticket, and us boarding the shuttle to the city.

It was on our last day in Japan when the rains stopped. We woke early, needing to catch our flight back to Manila via Cebu Pacific. With backpacks hoisted, we checked our flight on our mobile phone for the last time before heading out the door and, tadaaah, it was cancelled due to the recent storm and rescheduled for later that evening! You can just imagine our joy with that news; it means we suddenly have an extra full day to explore Tokyo on our own! Hurrah for cancelled flights! C went back to our dorm room, while I checked out the roof deck of our hostel—it was fully dry, at last!

ASAKUSA AT NIGHT

The previous night, we transferred to a second lodging. Coming from Wired Hotel Asakusa, our next accommodation was just a few minutes walk away, ENAKA Asakusa Central Hostel (now, Samurai Hostel Asakusa). We found this via Agoda, and it was the cheapest hostel we could find that’s within striking distance from where we were.

Hanoi was the base of operation for our Sapa trip and our overnight Halong Bay Cruise. On our first Hanoi visit, we had a taste of its French Colonial past at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, but this time around, we wanted to experience the buzz of the Old Quarter, so what we did, we booked a few nights on one of the newest hostel in town, Cocoon Inn.

TA HIEN STREET AT NIGHT

Located at the busy Hang Buom Road, it’s a stone throw’s away from the weekend market and our favorite hangout at the Old Quarter—the backpacker district, Ta Hien Street. It’s a busy intersection where we usually have our bia hoi from the afternoons up to late evenings.

The Shibuya of Taipei. Ximending has been called a lot of things; with its plethora of neon-lighted shops, an old-school cinema showing animes, dressed up tourists, cosplayers handing out pamphlets, performance artists, guitar dudes riffing it on the sidewalks and endless food vendors hawking everything from crepes filled with crispy bacons to that horribly amazing stinky tofu. And in the center of all this madness, eight stories above on a non-descript old building, is our home for our first night in Taipei City.

OUR BREAKFAST, DAN BING WITH CRISPY BACONS!

Straight from the airport, we went straight to Ximen Wow Hostel to deposit our luggage before embarking on a DIY full day walking tour of Taipei. Ximending was unbelievably deserted at six in the morning except for a few hawkers selling take-away breakfast fares.

From the chaos of Chinatown, we went inside a nondescript building, up through a darkened stairwell, and into an open hallway. We were ushered inside a keypad-locked wooden door and were greeted by the tiniest lobby ever. A step away, another door was opened for us and we were, again, greeted by the smallest dorm room. Ever.

It was our last few days in Singapore. We were supposed to go to Johor Baru, crossing the border between Singapore and Malaysia, and spend a night there, but we decided to simply stay at SG. It was the end of our Beach Hop Asia summer tour and we were just too doggone tired.

The problem was, since it was an impromptu thing, we have nowhere to stay. We were then lodged at the Beary Best! Hostel, but they were already fully booked, so we have no choice but to look for another hostel. A cheap hostel.

It was almost midnight and we were running like it was the end of the world at Changi Airport’s wide corridors. With heavy backpacks on, we barreled our way down to the basement where the last train to the city was about to leave. We entered its door a few moments before it closed. Panting in exhaustion, we laughed as we sat down the almost empty coach. We made it!

SINGAPORE IS THE LAST COUNTRY FOR OUR TWO-MONTH SUMMER TRIP

Singapore was our last stop for our Beach Hop Asia summer tour. It started out in Malaysia, crossing over to Thailand, spilling on to Sri Lanka, and then Maldives. After several weeks of traveling and beaching around, we’re honestly quite ready to go home and have our Jollibee Chicken Joy. But, yes, we still have Singapore left—plus a night in Kuala Lumpur—before we haul ass back to Manila.

Hostels. Walls covered in scribbles. Lounges teeming with rough backpackers. Fridges filled with beer. Rooms overflowing with used clothes. Toilets, messy and dirty. Last week, we booked a stay at a new one that opened right in the heart of Manila, and it is nothing of the sort.

JAPANESE-INSPIRED CAPSULE BEDS AT TAMBAYAN HOSTEL

Tambayan Capsule Hostel & Bar. The name evokes a place where friends meet, tambayan being a colloquial term for a place to hang out. But you'd be surprised if you're expecting a ramshackle space converted into sleeping quarters. What you'd find here instead is swank.

► CHECK OUT: RED CARABAO MANILA

Sweaty, muscled guys pumping iron at the gym on the ground floor greeted us as we got off the cab. We were quite confused, isn’t this supposed to be a hostel? An elevator graffiti exclaiming that there are no strangers at Pink Hostel confirmed that we were indeed at the right place. We squeezed our boozed-up selves (we started drinking quite early, like before sunset) on a tight elevator more fitting for old seedy malls in Cubao, punched number 5 and opened up to a floor resounding with clinks of beer bottles, laughter, and travel stories. Welcome to Pink Hostel Manila, my friends.

PINK MANILA HOSTEL’S BAR

From our weekend staycation at Hotel H2O, not wanting to go home just yet, we searched high and low across the interweb for a place to extend our weekend ramblings. Since we were in the Manila area, Malate was our intended target. With most places too expensive for us and the affordable ones already fully booked, we ended up at Pink Manila Hostel. It’s still in Malate but is situated on the Vito Cruz area, quite a long ways away from Silya, our watering hole of choice.

Our trip to Siem Reap wouldn’t have been as much fun if not for Happy Guesthouse, its owner Chhorpoan and our tuk-tuk driver, Nga. We really weren’t able to stay at their place, having previously booked at the Angkor Tropical Resort, but our tour and most of our meals were from this lodging.

WELCOME TO HAPPY GUESTHOUSE! ~ PHOTO BY NALYN ACASIO

Happy Guesthouse is located at the backpacking district of Wat Bo Village in Siem Reap. It’s on a little, unpaved side street right before the stately Siem Reap River and is walking distance away from the flamboyant Pub Street and the Old Market area. It’s a family run business, and we felt that right away as we entered its gates.

► EXPLORE MORE: SIEM REAP TRAVEL GUIDE

Coming from an afternoon drinking session at Makati City’s El Chupacabra, the weekend gang decided that we didn’t really want to go home just yet. We looked for a lodging that can accommodate our group in a single room and found a hostel that fits the bill—Z Hostel Makati. And it’s just a few steps away from our current watering hole too.

Z HOSTEL’S SWANKY LOBBY

Z Hostel is one of the newest hostels to mushroom along Makati’s backpacker district, Poblacion (same street as Junction Hostel Makati). It packages itself as a luxury hostel—something quite new to my ears, really, as the attraction of most hostels is its budget-friendly prices, which more often than not, translates to mediocre sleeping quarters.

► BOOK A DISCOUNTED MAKATI MUSEUM TOUR

It was early evening when we alighted from our cab. Slowly trudging our way through the horrendous Friday night Manila traffic, we eventually reached a quiet side street near Poblacion—Makati City’s flamboyant party and backpacking district. Our rendezvous, the newest hostel this side of the metro—Junction Hostel Makati.

JUNCTION HOSTEL’S SECURED ROOM ENTRANCE

It was Junction Hostels’ soft opening and we were their first guests. With the usual weekend gang, we entered the hostels’ chic lobby and were warmly greeted by their staff. A few minutes of checking in and we were handed our funky electronic key cards. We’re off to the third floor of the hostel for our room.

Laughter and stories were being swapped around a table with bottles of Red Horse and San Miguel beers. The air was cool, and from our vantage, I can see the famed Taal Volcano. We were in Tagaytay City, one of the most accessible tourist spots from Manila (see Tagaytay Travel Guide). But wait, we weren’t really here to have endless cheers over beer bottles or swap blogging rumors, but rather we were brought here to review the newest budget lodging in town—Our Melting Pot Hostel Tagaytay.

I’ve been to Tagaytay City innumerable times, and one thing I really don’t like about it is the price of lodgings whenever I want to do an overnighter. It is expensive to stay in the city. Usually, rates start at around a thousand pesos, well, with the exception of Tagaytay Backpacker’s Inn, but it isn’t really within the city limits. So, when I heard that there’s a new lodging in town, a hostel at that, I quickly grabbed the chance to be part of the group to review the place.

We’re always on the lookout for the most affordable lodging possible whenever we visit a place. During our past travels to the celebrated Boracay Island, we found what could possibly be the cheapest beachfront accommodation along the Boracay White Beach.

DIVING AND SNORKELING EQUIPMENT AT WHITE BEACH DIVERS HOSTEL BORACAY

Dubbed as the White Beach Divers Hostel, it is located (as expected with budget lodgings on the island) at Station 3—quite a walk away from the party happenings at Station 2. As their name implies, they’re on the White Beach, they’re a diving outfit and they have a hostel. There.

► BOOK A DISCOUNTED BORACAY DIVING  ADVENTURE

Sunday time is mooching time after a weekend of mischief and debauchery takes its toll.

I was nodding my head, agreeing with the handwritten note posted on one of Red Carabao’s wall. It cannot be more true, I said to myself as I lay sprawled on the hostel’s bean bag, chugging a cold bottle of Red Horse while swapping travel tales and opinions with kindred souls from around the globe.

What I was doing inside a hostel in the heart of Manila was beyond me.

I live in Malabon City, which is just three jeepney rides away from Red Carabao Manila. I mean, a hostel isn’t even something one will consider for a staycation, but there I was with a couple of other travel bloggers, mingling with an international crowd of backpackers.

►CHECK FOR AFFORDABLE HOTELS IN MANILA

Tagaytay City is one of Metro Manila’s favorites when it comes to weekend getaways. It’s affordable enough for day tours, but when you want to extend your vacation for a day or two more, it suddenly gets expensive as there’s not that much decent but cheap accommodations in the area.

A year ago, a lodging catering to the backpacking crowd sprouted up at Tagaytay City’s outskirts, the D-Zone Backpacker’s Inn. While not really located in Tagaytay City but in Silang, Cavite; it’s still just a few minutes away from the Tagaytay Ridge by jeep that you can consider it to be a Tagaytay accomodation by virtue of its location.