…with interesting finds! When the third blog carnival of the Lonely Planet blogsherpas rolled out, hosted by Orange Polka Dot I picked from among my travels which best suited the topic of interesting finds in a market I’ve visited abroad. I browsed through my photos and I remembered a trip I made last year, when I visited four cities and …
Jala-jala is the local’s term for paradise and for those living in the province of Rizal in the Philippines, they regard Jala-Jala as the paradise tucked away in their province. Our office organized a volunteer activity that would take us to this little paradise. We had to meet up early morning last Saturday to embark …
After office yesterday, I went to the mall to meet a friend. I arrived early than our appointed time so I dropped by a bookstore to buy postcards and check on some books. I stopped by the magazine stand to browse the travel magazines on display. When I got hold of a particular magazine, I …
I have three best kept secret islands found in my country, the Philippines, but I’m letting these out of the bag. With more and more people traveling nowadays, getting to a place where others have never been before has become quite a challenge. As I become more connected with other travelers, I observe that those …
Read more “A First-time Traveler’s 3 Best Kept Secret Islands”
I spent an afternoon with a visiting cousin and got us a chance to witness the natural beauty of the sunset at Manila Bay. She and her parents were scheduled to go home to Bacolod the day after so I decided to take her to the biggest mall in the Philippines, the SM Mall of …
It was an unforgettable summer at the Marlou Beach Resort in Nasugbu, Batangas. I love summer and, at the same time, I abhor it. Summer in the Philippines, which often falls from March to May, calls for extreme heat. The sun is always out to find you, even when you are in shaded areas. Often, …
Let me take a little bit of detour in my travel blog. When I first decided to be a traveler, I already had my sights fixed on world travel. I thought it would be best to take one little step at a time, visiting places within my own country, then in the Southeast Asian region, …
Read more “World Travelers and Travel-bloggers Come Together In the Worldwide Web”
It was dark when we arrived in Nasugbu, Batangas. There were no traffic at the expressway or at the tourist destination Tagaytay, where we passed by. Famished after the long drive, we went directly to look for a place to eat. Good thing one of our companions remembered Kainan sa Dalampasigan, which literally means “eatery by …
This was the third weekend that I was getting out of the capital, Manila. This time we were to hold a workshop in the province of Batangas. We traveled before sundown of Friday to get to our venue, the Central Azucarera Don Pedro (CADP) in Nasugbu, Batangas. The guest house was readied for us, including …
Read more “First-time in Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Nasugbu”
When the temperature rise in Manila people head off to the beach, whether it’s far-flung Boracay or a few-hour drive to Subic or Batangas, specifically in a beach in Laiya, Batangas (and in this case, it’s the Triple G Beach Resort.) The beauty of being in a tropical country, we have the sun all year …
In this particular trip, I realized that I have paid a lot of attention to the people I’ve been with and I met in the journey. I’m not sure if it was the isolation of Batanes from the rest of the Philippines, perched atop this archipelagic nation. Or, it must be the green rolling hills …
Among the three main islands of the province of Batanes, Sabtang seems to be the most interesting because of the old stone houses that have been part of the Ivatan culture. We rose early morning to catch the boat that would take us to Sabtang Island. Alas, waking up at 5:30 and having breakfast at …
For years, I had my eyes set on the northernmost tip of the Philippines. It was a place that only few has conquered because of its isolation and unpredictable weather conditions. It was the closest place to Taiwan and surrounded by the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. This is Batanes. Brief Preview of …
Zamboanga del Norte is in the island of Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines. And when one mentions Mindanao, tourists suddenly cringe and take a turnabout-face, especially when travel advisories label this part of the country as dangerous. The name Zamboanga alone may cause goose bumps to travelers. Scary is the exact opposite …
…and Manila’s other hole-in-the-wall eateries It was another holiday in the Philippines as we commemorated the Day of Valor, celebrating the bravery of Filipino soldiers who fought during World War II. Supposedly, my friends and I were scheduled to go to Corregidor Island, the fortress of Japanese soldiers. Unfortunately, the cruise liner called the day …