Such a deceiving title, but its somewhat true :) I was blessed as I was sponsored a trip to Dominican Republic by MBO Cinemas, for the XXX Xander Cage Movie. It was really unexpected and I would really like to thank MBO Cinemas for the trip, also I would like to thank Hi Octopi (the travel agent) who planned out my whole trip for me
It was a trip for two, but sadly my bro Alvin didn't manage to get his USA Visa in time, hence it was a solo trip for me (Key note to anyone transiting through USA, you NEED a transit visa as well, so troublesome right?, unless you're in the exclusion list, where you just need an ESTA)
Visa Application link: https://my.usembassy.gov/visas/
Dominican is not a place someone would go to especially if you're from South East Asia. It is a super long route there, and to be honest, I don't know much on Dominican except for the great cigars they make over there
It started with crazy flights there and is one of the longest journeys I have ever made, as it took me about 30 hours to reach Dominican republic. I flew from KL > Guang Zhou > New York > Dominican Republic with about 4 hours of transit at each airport. Honestly I was quite impressed with China Southern Airlines, as I didn't experience any bad Chinese drama you see on your
Facebook news and the flight attendants were lovely. And as for Delta Airways, their food was top notch, they even gave me Godiva Chocolates woohoo!
I then headed on a 1 1/2 hour drive to Millennium Hotel at Cabarete, which is on the north side of Dominican Republic. It is about 73 km from the airport, and we had to drive through the mountains to reach the beach. The hotel was located at the end of the beach, so it was pretty quiet over there which was perfect for a getaway. The beach bars weren't too far away which was only a 5 min walk to the other side of the beach
Millenium Hotel
Cabarete
Tasting their Presidente
Got my hair done LOL
Hi Octopi planned the trip really well, as my excursions were held in the morning, giving me ample time to chill during the evening and night. Since it was the XXX movie, they planned a few extreme things for me to do, and some other stuff as well
First up, Ocean Park! Located at Sosua (about 30 min away from Cabarete),I was pretty psyched for it as it is my first ocean park which I'm visiting. The park featured their dolphins, sea lions, sharks, birds and much more. They did some awesome performances and it was pretty cool as I was able to get up close to the animals, and the highlight for me was with the dolphins
Oh hi there!
Adorbs!
Look maaa, ball!
Birds Galore
When parrots are so smart
Shark feeding
Heading over to the extreme activities, I joined the 4x4 adventure tour through the jungle of DR. I strapped my helmet on, got into the 4x4 buggy, and realised it was a right hand drive LOL, time to drive on the other side of the road. The trail was through the dirt roads which we ended up at the beach and a stream up the hill. It got pretty exciting as you can whack these machines pretty bad and you're still in one piece!
With my ride
Gopro-ed up
The first stop
Dipping in the stream
Rewarding ourselves with Dominican Fried Chicken
Another interesting excursion that I managed to do is the Monkey Jungle Zipline. a total of 4500 ft of zipline through 7 stations, it is like you're flying through the clouds. It was pretty exciting as you need to control the zipline with your hands by yourself to control the speed of yourself.
A great part of this park is that it gives back to society as well. They have free doctors and caregivers for the underprivileged locals here which I felt was pretty awesome. There is also a monkey sanctuary where you're able to see squirrel monkeys and capuchins
The Monkey Jungle
Another view
Squirrel Monkeys
With Miguel & Nicol from Spain (XXX Winners from there)
Being the first Malaysian to mark my territory LOL
I was supposed to go for a catamaran tour, but sadly it was cancelled last minute and I couldn't enjoy the reef. Since I didn't want to waste my day, I decided to go to the national park to explore the caves, pools and mountains there.It costs $20 to go in, and you would get your personalised guide. They'll bring you around the caves and to the pools in the caves where you can take a dip in. Another part is jumping 5 metres into a pool which was pretty fun
inside the caves
The king's chair which he'll oversee the animal sacrifices
It was an incredible trip and I'm truly grateful to MBO Cinemas & Hi Octopi for it. I would definitely put it again as one of my stops if I head back to South America. Hope you enjoyed my adventure there!Bonus shot:
I look like a criminal =D
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