Affiliates
Contact Us
Century International Hotels
TravelSmart.NET

PHILIPPINES
HONG KONG
CANADA
EUROPE
USA
INDONESIA
SINGAPORE
THAILAND


THE WEBSITE
Philippines

Natural beauty and striking architecture
Source: Manila Bulletin
Author: By Arlene Dabu-Foz
Date: 2004-12-06
 
SYDNEY, Australia — Spring literally greeted us at the doorstep of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) plane from which we disembarked here on a nippy first Sunday noon of this month. We stopped over in Melbourne for an hour after an eight-hour flight from Manila.





The lovely weather was reminiscent of California’s or our very own Baguio City in December, the onset of the country’s summer capital’s coldest months taking its peak in January to February. The mood aptly flattered Sydney’s famed natural beauty and striking architecture. This topnotch destination, which is home to a most celebrated Opera House and tropical paradise Bondi beach in the East, is one of the prettiest and most urbane cities in the world.



The invitation to visit Sydney was extended to us – Buddy Recio, publisher-editor of Travel Update Philippines and myself representing Manila Bulletin – by Albert T. Villadolid, general manager of the world’s leading global distribution system (GDS) Amadeus. The Spain-based Amadeus has a regional office in Sydney.



Before the trip, Villadolid invited us to visit the new Amadeus marketing office at the 36th floor of the LKG Tower on Ayala Avenue in Makati City for some pep talk for the press conference that Amadeus Australia will host for media representatives from South East Asia.



The ritzy Makati headquarters of Amadeus is very impressive. Aside from the service counter in the visitors’ lounge with a gracious information officer on hand, the glass-paneled room on the counter’s right side has laptops provided for the guests’ viewing about Amadeus at a glance and what the company does best for the global travel/trade industry. To the left side is another glass-paneled room that can seat a group of four or so people for short meets.



Very conducive to working and power meetings, Villadolid’s room dishes out a sweeping view of the awesome Makati skyline for backdrop. There he gave us a briefing on how to make the most of our Sydney trip and what to expect during the press conference proper the following Monday, where local media representatives were also expected to attend. The highlight, he said, would be a hooked-up audiovisual conference simultaneously held in London.



The Sydney trip, though laid before us in less than a week, was a breeze especially with the help of April Anne OrosaValero, Amadeus marketing and business development executive. We really appreciated the assistance accorded us that made our trip stress-free and fun. We never had a single worry since everything – from our visa application which was done in the nick of time, down to our itinerary — was well-coordinated, documented and organized.



To make sure that everything went well from both ends, Amadeus marketing executives from Bangkok and Australia regularly communicated with us by phone and email. We were amazed at how well they handled our trip considering we had to apply for a last-minute visa and that was no joke. Media counterparts from other South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Japan, Singapore and Korea may come in and out of Australia anytime without visa.



Saying that now we know how easy travel would be via Amadeus was actually an understatement. The conference that we were about to attend would zero in on how travel/trade outfits could be so buoyant by applying Amadeus’ cost-effective restructuring and high-yield management expertise amid choppy times.



We found it extra handy that Paul Martin and Sebastian Beaumont of Amadeus Bangkok forwarded to us materials about the conference before we left Manila. We had enough time to check the notes during the flight.



Once we were in Sydney, Buddy and I braced for long walks since our hotel, the Sheraton on the Park on Elizabeth Street stands regally across the beautiful and beckoning Hyde Park. It’s also near the most popular shopping landmarks, theaters and museums, among others.



The hotel lobby was so busy that we were told to return at 2 p.m. for check-in. A bit famished, the easiest and most familiar McDonald’s along the hotel’s side street was our first food stop. Each of us had a packed garden salad with tangy mango dressing for A$5.00, A$4.00 cheeseburger and A$3.00 drinks. The exchange rate was A$1.00=R39.00, which means Buddy and I spent A$12.00 or R468 for lunch, which is like a buffet lunch in a three-star hotel in Manila. But the experience is worth it.



After our leisurely lunch, we headed for Hyde Park and walked through one of its broad pathways where doves and other birds flock amid bench-sitters. Straight ahead, Buddy’s first photo opportunity was the quaint St. Mary’s Cathedral painted in somewhat faded golden yellow that gave it a more antiquated look.



Then we took shots of some arresting spots in the park particularly the utterly lovely Jacaranda, a tropical American tree with ferny leaves beautifully festooned with purple blooms especially in springtime.



Time to freshen up and recharge a bit. The time zone change suddenly started to overwhelm my system and I felt being slowly dragged to bed by my own two feet. A catnap will do wonders, I thought, then we’d comb the area afterwards before calling it a day.



We gathered that our accommodation, the Sheraton on the Park, has been dubbed the world’s best hotel for three years in a row since 2002 and tops the list of corporate and leisure travelers the world over. A favorite featured property as one of the world’s best 500 hotels in Travel and Leisure magazine as well as the equally prestigious Conde Nast, the latter cited the hotel in its Gold List. It also bagged the Best Redeveloped Hotel in the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) 2004 Awards for Excellence. With an address in Sydney, named as the World’s Best City, our first trip to this gorgeous city no doubt is one for the books! (To be continued)



 

Indonesia Thailand USA Europe Canada Hong Kong Philippines