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Extra Cashback with ShopBack.sg
If you settle your travel bookings like air tickets and hotel stays via online, then you will love shopback.sg as much as I do. Imagine getting some bucks back as a form of cashback after purchasing your travel needs. Too good to be true?

Well, the concept behind is rather straightforward. Shopback.sg is an affiliate marketer to various travel merchants like Expedia.com.sg, Hotels.com, Agoda.com, Air France, Qatar Airways and even Groupon!

Shopback.sg will receive a commission for every sale it generates on these travel sites. And in turn, it will pass on some of the earnings back to shoppers like you and me. That cashback is in addition to whatever points/ rewards which you will be getting from the merchants and your credit cards.

For example, the cashback offers at shopback.sg of the above-mentioned travel merchants are as follow;
- Expedia.com.sg @ 8.0%
- Hotels.com @ 6.0%
- Agoda.com @ S$10.00
- Air France @ 1.0%
- Qatar Airways @ 1.0%
- Groupon @ 10.0%
Perhaps to illustrate better with these scenarios;

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Scenario 1 (what I used to do)

1. Head to Hotels.com to search and book my hotel room
2. Collect 3 miles* per S$1.00 spent locally with my DBS Altitude Card
3. Clock in 1 night for Hotels.com Rewards Program after the stay

Say the hotel stay is S$200 per night means I would get to;
(A) Collect 600 Miles on my DBS Altitude Card
(B) Clock in 1 night stay for Hotels.com Rewards (1 free night after 10 nights stay)

*Current DBS promotion for online Flight and Hotel transactions, the usual is 1.2 miles per S$1.00 spent locally.
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Scenario 2 (what I’m doing now)

1. Head to shopback.sg and look for Hotels.com under Travel category, click on Hotels.com link to register your visit *important!
2. Collect 3 miles* per S$1.00 spent locally with my DBS Altitude Card
3. Clock in 1 night for Hotels.com Rewards Program after the stay
4. Collect 6% cashback from shopback.sg after the stay (Hotels.com offers 6% rebate currently)

Now, itâ€™s similar to what I will be getting in Scenario 1 but with additional cashback YEAH!!
(A) Collect 600 Miles on my DBS Altitude Card
(B) Clock in 1 night stay for Hotels.com Rewards (1 free night after 10 nights stay)
(C) Collect S$12.00 from shopback.sg

*Current DBS promotion for online Flight and Hotel transactions, the usual is 1.2 miles per S$1.00 spent locally.
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For my upcoming trip to Europe in November, while the air tickets which was sadly done without shopback.sg. I have booked 10 nights of accommodation out of a total of 13 with it (The other 3 was booked directly with the hotels). So I will be looking at a cashback of S$102.00, which is not too bad at all!!

The cashback breakdown of S$102 comes from;
Agoda.com S$10.00
Hotels.com S$78.00
Accor Hotel S$14.00

If only shopback.sg was around long ago, I would have gotten back much more LOL. But well, itâ€™s better late than never right? Go on and sign up at their website, find travel deals with ShopBack and start earning your cashback now!!
October 26, 2015
Heroes Square and Vajdahunyad Castle

Heroes Square (HÅ‘sÃ¶k tere) and the City Park (VÃ¡rosliget) were the last places I visited before my sleeper train to Belgrade. Therefore, I am glad I did not skip these else I would have missed out such an impressive square. The Corinthian column is also known as Millennium Monument to mark the thousandth anniversary of Hungary. In comparison to Singaporeâ€™s SG50 celebrationâ€¦ Man, hope there will be SG1000 for us too.

Standing atop of the imposing Corinthian column is a statue of Archangel Gabriel holding St. Stephenâ€™s Crown and a two-barred apostolic cross. In additional, encircling below are the statues of seven Magyar tribesâ€™ leaders. And flanking both sides of the column are colonnades with statues of notable people in Hungarian history.

Yet what attracted me the most is the brilliantly designed geometric patterns on the ground. That’s because the patterns give a different perspective depending on how you frame the shot.

Also, the other two main sites of the square include the Hall of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts.

Beautiful sunset at Heroes Square

Maybe as a reward due to my insistence to come here. I witnessed the most beautiful sunset during my time in Budapest at Heroes Square. It’s so gorgeous and the most noteworthy moment!! I probably would have stayed on if not for wanting to visit Vajdahunyad Castle while it is still open.

Vajdahunyad Castle

The artificial lake around Vajdahunyad Castle is used for boating during summer and ice skating during winter.

Vajdahunyad Castle was built because of Hungaryâ€™s millennium exhibition. And it’s located right in the heart of City Park. Yet, the initial castle structure was made up of just wooden planks and cardboard! The Draculaâ€™s Transylvania inspired castle was only reconstructed with permanent materials later as a result of its popularity. It has since become a favourite for the locals.

I am very confused with the various architectural styles found inside the castle. It seems like a big melting pot with the combination of Gothic, Renaissance, Romanesque and Baroque all coming as one. Maybe it’s me but the unusual architectural fusion probably didn’t work for me…

And in the courtyard of Vajdahunyad Castle sits the statue of Anonymous.

Itâ€™s probably me but the empty castle is a little spooky after sunset, especially so when I was the only one there. Hence, I quickly moved to check out the neo-Baroque style SzÃ©chenyi Baths within the City Park.

I couldnâ€™t stay long though as I need to pick up my bag at for Bo18 Hotel Superior and head to Budapest Keleti railway station. How I wish I have another 3 days in Budapest…oh well…

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What are your thoughts about Heroes Square or Vajdahunyad Castle? Leave a comment and share it with me.

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October 22, 2015