Im effin back, annd I’m posting a video! Went to the US for holidays and ticked my NYC ball drop from my bucket list. Woooooot!
I still have my Japan trip to edit. That’s back in 2017 soooo…bye for now. Haha! Hope to drop by more often from hereon. Ciao!
Just like a prodigal child, I am logging in again for a quick write up. Geez, I missed this!
Let me share my trip last July in the island of Cebu, Philippines (Yes, I know. Late post again lol). It was my fist time to visit the place, both Cebu city and Bantayan island, and the experience was relaxing-ly awesome.
From Mactan, we head straight to North Bus Terminal to take the bus for Hagnaya port – One can either take the Bantayan bus, or Sta. Fe. Most of the resorts in the island is located in the town of Sta. Fe. So if you don’t have plans to go to the town of Bantayan yet, taking the Sta. Fe bus should be okay already. The town of Bantayan in Bantayan island is roughly an hour away from Sta. Fe.
The stay in Bantayan island is very relaxing. We stayed in Anika Beach Resort and enjoyed their rooms which is made out of container vans. The resort’s beach area is nice and their staff are very courteous and accommodating. Plus, their rates are also very competitive compared to other beach front resorts. Just make sure you book directly to them to get the lower rate. I highly recommend their place.
During our stay in Bantayan island, we decided to visit the other towns – Bantayan and Madridejos. Going to the town of Madridejos is a challenge. At the time we visited the place, the roads are under construction making the travel time a little longer (I guess), and making the trip powdery (lols). Upon arriving in Madridejos, we went to the Fort of Kota Ruins, which is basically an Intramuros looking gate (yes singular- only one gate), and sort of poorly maintained; and to their boardwalk which I kinda enjoyed, except for the damaged portions of the walkway (stressed me from walking further to the end). Basically, our travel time going to Madridejos is longer than the time we spent there haha. But yes, it’s the experience that counts! Now, if anyone’s still planning to go there, here’s how: Coming from Sta. Fe, one should take a jeep (or trike-jeep as we called it) to Bantayan town. From there, ride another jeep (true jeepney lol) to the town of Madridejos. Total travel time from Sta. Fe to Madridejos is roughly two hours. Please also note that the inter-town transportation in Bantayan island is usually only until 6PM.
We also took time to go around the town of Bantayan, where we visited the church of Sts. Peter and Paul, and a few old buildings around the plaza. The existing structures around the area are said to be made of stones and corals, and built around 1800s.
Back to the beach-bumming activity, we also went to a separate island called Virgin beach. The island is said to be privately owned, hence a fee is needed to be settled before enjoying the island. We enjoyed the water in this island, as it is very clear and free from jelly fish (we spotted a few of them in our resort’s beach, though their number is tolerable and you’ll just feel the itch). We enjoyed the water so much we got burned lol.
There, that’s how we enjoyed our Bantayan island trip. Cebu is more like a city and I think what made our trip even better is the delicious food. When in Cebu, don’t forget their famous daing, chicharon, and of course lechon. For this awesome Cebu trip, I made a short video to summarize the entire experience.
I am back, and still keeping up with the blog posts. This time, let’s all go out of the country! Woohoo!
August came, and so as my birth month, yey! My friends and I went to a place where we got a whole lotta temples, elephants, pagoda, and shopping. Though I did not spend my actual birthday in this place, it was still a bliss to spend the bulk of the month’s budget roaming around and learning more about another country’s culture – Still a great way to celebrate a birthday. Let me share you some snaps and stories I had from that lovely place called Thailand.
So we arrived Bangkok a little past midnight (Bangkok time; -1 hour from MNL), and went straight to the hotel to rest, and well, to have a can of beer. We all know it’s already late and we have to get up early the next day for the first day of tour, but yea we want to drink beer. Priorities. Ha!
View of the metro from our hotel room. Hotel: Bangkok City Hotel –Great hotel to stay.
The next day, we got up early to start our Kanchanaburi tour. It was a long ride. If my memory serves me right, the travel from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi is 2 to 3 hours. According to our tour guide-slash-driver, good thing we went to Thailand on a holiday (it was the Mother’s or Queen’s birthday) because traffic is better, he said. On a regular work day, according to him, the traffic is bad in Bangkok. We have not experience the bad traffic throughout our stay, so I really can’t say if the bad traffic is worse than the “Manila kind of bad traffic.” Moving on, here are some photos from Kanchanaburi.
Jam-packed floating market.
One of the floating market stalls.
A temple along one of the floating market canals.
The colorful trucks of Thailand. Saw this while on our way to the River Kwai floating restaurant. Gonna eat lunch!
The River Kwai fishes.
The bridge over the River Kwai.
Colors, flowers, and boats along River Kwai.
Wang Po Elephant Park. Went to see (and some of us ride) an elephant!
Hello there kiddo elephant! 🙂
Some of my friends, riding an elephant. Noicee!
The Thai-Burma Railway (Death Valley Railway). Great we were able to catch the train passing by.
Some passengers waving. 🙂
View from the railway.
Golden Buddha on Death Valley Railway.
First day’s finished, and we were able to go back the hotel around 8 or 9 in the evening (if I am not mistaken, sorry senior citizen moment lol). We were all hungry and we went out immediately to look for food. Good thing there are food establishments near our hotel (Bangkok City Hotel), which serves cheap but delicious food like noodles, rice, roasted and fried meat and fish, and authentic Thai food. Though I can’t stand some spicy Thai food – Obviously not a fan of spicy food here. Lol.
Anyway, after dinner, we went to a convenience store to buy a can of beer. Again, priorities. Haha! And then, we head to sleep already, because once again, it will be another long day for us the next day.
For our second day of tour, our group went to Ayutthaya. The travel time to Ayutthaya from Bangkok is around 1 to 2 hours. Again, still no bad traffic during our trip since it was still a holiday. Good job! For this trip, we were advised to wear proper attire since we will be visiting mostly temples and the famous Bang Pa-In Summer Palace. If you are planning to go here as well, please consider this advise in planning your OOTDs. 🙂 Here are some snaps in Ayutthaya.
Outside the Bang Pa-In Summer Palace.
The huge lake inside the palace.
A pavilion in the middle of the lake. Aisawan Dhiphya-Asana Pavilion.
One of the sculptures on the Bang Pa-In Summer Palace bridge.
Ho Withun Thasana, or Sages’ Lookout.
Wehart Chamrunt, or Heavenly Light
One of the the Ayutthaya ruins.
And another of Ayutthaya ruins 🙂
The head of Buddha in Wat Mahathat
Wat Mahathat ruins
Part of Wat Mahathat ruins
Street food! Break time from all the walking. 🙂
Elephants in the Ayutthaya center.
Elephants in the Ayutthaya center, taking a bath. Lol
Laughing Buddha in Ayutthaya.
Wat Phu Khao Thong. The top part of the pagoda is actually leaning. Just like the Tower of Pisa
More of Wat Phu Khao Thong.
My Thailand escapade buddies!
Me and the Ayutthaya ruins. Yey!
Aside from the Kanchanaburi and Ayutthaya, there are other places to visit in Thailand. Too bad we have to leave soon. In our case, we just spent the night of day-2 in downtown Bangkok looking for cheap finds, and well, a whole lot more of night life. It was a tiring day with all the walking and drinking, and slept almost 3 or 4 in the morning. Long day, I know, but so much fun.
We spent the third and last day of our Thailand tour roaming around the streets of Bangkok. We went a little gift / pasalubong shopping around the metro almost the whole day, and finally went to the airport that night to catch our flight back to Manila. We arrived the airport way early, and we still have enough time to look around the Duty Free shops. We enjoyed looking around too much, we almost missed the boarding announcement of our flight. Whew! Long story, but to cut it short, it was a really close call. Just take note, always: “G” doesn’t stand for “gate” Lol.
That’s all. ‘Till the next travel!
My friends and I spent one May-June weekend in a Zambales island. It was a birthday celebration-slash-weekend getaway – just what everybody needs at that time. As always, everybody enjoyed the short but sweet vacation. I am fully aware today is already September, and here I am blogging about this experience back in June. Oh well, it’s better late than never. So, here it is, some snaps from Magalawa Island in Zambales. 🙂
The island. A view from the boat. Magalawa, here we come!
Upon arrival, we checked in, ate some food to ease our hungry tummies, prepared the drinks, changed clothes for beach dipping and spent the entire morning (and some of the afternoon) on the beach. Ahhh, the feeling of freedom from work! Lol. By the way, Armada Resort (the resort where we stayed) also offers a camping experience with their tent area. I am not sure about their rates, but you can just search them over the internet to check. Just saying, I thought such experience would also be cool. But I had a dose of it already in Burot Beach, a month before this trip. So…
Strolling along the shore.
The i-don’t-know-what-tree, but looks beautiful.
First day morning to noon dipping.
…And chillin’ out
At the beach with these ice cold bevs. Perfect!
Aside from the beach dippin’ and chillin’, some went snorkeling. I opted to stay on the floating station instead, hopefully to rest more and to take some photos for my friends. But brilliant as I am, I forgot to bring my camera with me, so you all know what happened next – no photos. Fail.
We went back to our room around 5 or 6 in the afternoon to prepare and change clothes for dinner. The motif for the evening, as requested by the birthday boy, was floral. And we all gladly abide by the request. Pagbigyan, birthday! :)) And as always, I died that night once again. – Being a morning person, plus alcohol, equals a deadly night for me. Hahaha!
The after dinner drinks. Such a fun night. Lol.
So the next day, we just enjoyed the remaining hours we have in the island. Same as the first day, swimming, napping, and more drinking on the beach. And MORE photo ops. Haha!
The morning after.
And more of the morning after. Lol
Same as to more chillin’ out the morning after. Lol
And more photo ops for the birthday boy.
Same as to more photo ops for me. lol
This is the perfect life, until we left the island around 3 or 4 in the afternoon (if my memory serves me right haha). Well, there’s always a next time for these kind of things. – Just like the other trip I did back in August (which I’ll be blogging the next time). After all, they say a good work-life balance is best for everyone. Alright, that’s it for now, ’til the next photo blog. 🙂
“It’s gonna be MAY” as JT said, and here I am still posting backlogs from February. It’s better late than never!
Back in February, aside from Boracay island (which I’ve been to several times already), I went to a place people say the best island for lovers/honeymooners. I am not really sure why they call it that, but yeah I went there to spend the valentine weekend with the people I love. I definitely enjoyed the adventure, the challenges on reaching this place to another, the snapping of photos, the beautiful sights of sun and beach, the sumptuous food, the ice cold beer, and of course the great memories shared with friends. People, let’s go see the wonders of El Nido, Palawan!
The arrival. We can’t let go the night without a buzz of alcohol so we went around town to get one. Thanks Watering Hole for saving the night!
Gearing up for the island tours!
Hidden Beach
View from Talisay Beach where we also had our lunch.
The famous photo ops spot of El Nido. View from Matinloc Shrine’s cliff
More of Matinloc shrine’s limestone.
The Valentine’s dinner/ drinking session/ “mind games.” Lols. Yes we all wore white.
More sights of El Nido for day-two island tours! Hello Mr. Sun, finally!
View from Shimizu Island. Beach bumming and lunch!
More from Shimizu Island
The ride.
Small Lagoon’s limestone.
More boat rides, more great sights.
Somewhere near Big Lagoon. lol
Palawan experience won’t be complete without Tamiloc! Early dinner in Kinabuchs before heading back Manila. Save the best for last!
El Nido buddies! ❤
PS: I was not able to take photos on some islands and/or lagoons, because I was too scared that my camera will suddenly go swimming with me. I swear I’m kinda bad in balance. So there. 🙂
January was a pretty busy month for me – Busy travelling lol. I went to one place though, but did it twice. The place is that beautiful which made me not think twice in spending again to visit the place the second time. I even know a lot of people who wants to visit the place because of its marvelous view and rich culture. However, going here via regular plane ticket is quite pricey so I feel very lucky to be knowing about the seat sale for this trip. I definitely enjoyed the whole experience being in this place – humble and warm people, new set of friends, magnificent view, even the flight cancellation going back Manila! It was all wild but worth it. Friends, let me show you the great sights of Batanes.
Mt. Carmel Chapel
Fundacion Pacita Nature Lodge
Valugan Boulder Beach
Vayang Rolling Hills
Basco Lighthouse in Naidi Hills
Sunset viewing in Basco Lighthouse
Faluwa boat ride to Sabtang Island. Wild.
Sabtang port
Chamantad-Tinyan Viewpoint
Brgy. Chavayan Stone Houses. With some new-found-friends in Batanes 🙂
Wearing a Vakul
Chawa View Deck
Mahatao Boat Shelter Port
San Carlos Borromeo Church – UNESCO World Heritage Site
Racuh a Payaman (Marlboro Hills)
Met a very cute and clingy cat on the vast fields of Marlboro Hills
Alapad Hills and Rock Formation
Song-Song Ruins
Biking in Basco Airport runway!
Yellow rice and Paco. My favorite Ivatan food
My Batanes Buddies – the second time around. 🙂
More backlogs from 2013. Of course the good ones.
Philippines’ last quarter of 2013 has been a tough one. Aside from the super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan, Int’l name), there was also a strong earthquake that hit certain parts of the Visayas. It’s already saddening to see some kababayans who were affected by these calamities, moreover to see some UNESCO heritage sites and historic churches crumbling down to debris. It’s just heartbreaking.
My friends and I went to Bohol for a short vacation last October. We went there a week before a 7.2 earthquake shook the province. We visited famous landmarks and beaches of which they are known of – Sadly, some of it now were severely damaged by the calamity. Of course I felt really thankful that the calamity didn’t happen during the time we were there. Honestly, I can’t imagine myself being in that kind of situation. However, I can’t help but feel heartbroken with all the destroyed wonders of the place. Bohol is such a beautiful place and people there are nice and warm too. I really hope things will get better there the soonest.
Here are some snaps taken during our trip to the wonderful province of Bohol.
Loboc River cruise. Since we went there during the lean months, we were the only guests of the boat. Sashalll!
More of Loboc River. These people are very good in entertaining tourists. I swear I had a good vibe during the whole trip because of this experience.
Still in Loboc River. If there are singers, there should be dancers!
The hanging bridge. Crossing this thing is a little tricky, but you’ll get the hang of it after a few steps. At the other end of the bridge are souvenir shops. Souvenirs are cheaper here, so shop now.
The Tarsier Conservation Area. Oh hello there little buddy! I hope y’all notice him. No flash upon taking pictures and no touching. Pffft.
The Man-made Forest. This is one of my favorites. Aside from the beautiful sight of this forest, I love the rush of taking photos on the middle of the road, while being on the look out for a car (or a truck) that might suddenly appear. Haha.
The Chocolate Hills. Of course your trip to Bohol won’t be complete without a visit to this place. Magnificent. Just magnificent.
Bohol Bee Farm. A nice place to stay and dine. We first went there to dine, and after finding out that they have a promo rate (for room rates) for lean months, we moved there to spend our last night. Also try their farm tour to know more about organic farming, weaving and bee keeping.
A certain grilled fish by Bohol Bee Farm. I love how the sauce and the grilled fish compliments each other. I liked the salad too, however I’m not used to eating flowers. I know it’s edible but I just feel weird eating it. Oh, and I need to mention this. I also love their tsokolate drink and their ice cream in cab-cab cone. My favorite flavor is Malunggay and tsokolate. Must try.
Island hopping and dolphin watching day! Sad I was not able to capture photos of dolphins since they are so fast and, well, far. Hard for me to snap a picture of them.
The Virgin Island aka The Sand Bar. Really wish we spent longer time here. Oh the tides.
Eating sea urchins. Apparently they taste good. Such a good experience. A must try.
Eating some kind of slug. taste yummy as well. Get ready for a rubbery feel. Ha!
Tons of starfish. An overload of starfish greeted us on our way to the sand bar.
Chill. Enjoying the sun sand and sea. And the coconut (buko) juice.
Bohol buddies! The obligatory jump shot.
Found another time to blog! Beep-beep! Surf’s up to Baler, Aurora!
Just like my previous trip to Caramoan Islands last year (http://bit.ly/wlFnsw), I get hitched again on my friend’s educational trip – this time in Baler. As usual, I joined a bus loaded with students and some friends. It was quite a blur to me already on what time we left Manila (since this trip was like roughly 3 months ago heehee), but if my memory serves me right, it took us 6 to 7 hours to reach Baler. The bus ride was tiring but fun. It feels like I am back in college!
It was a little rainy during our stay in Baler, but it didn’t stop us from going around the place. Aside from Baler’s famous surfer’s haven beach, we also went to Ditumabo mother falls, Diguisit beach, PAG-ASA site, Millennium Tree, and Museo de Baler. I may not have been able to surf because of the absence of “surfing waves” at that time, but I definitely enjoyed trekking (and falling, and slipping), taking photos, and chillin’ on the beach and the places we visited. I almost soaked my DSLR at that time, so it will definitely be a memorable experience for me. Lol.
Here are some snaps on that Baler weekend. Enjoy! 🙂
Trekking sights to Ditumabo Falls
The bamboo bridge (which we didn’t take BTW)
Slippery but gorgeous rocks (which victimized me repeatedly lol)
To the mother falls!
The baby falls
Finally! The Ditumabo mother falls
Look how high it is. Such a wonder
Next stop: The Millennium Tree
Going inside the Millennium Tree (for Grimm brothers experience lol)
Diguisit Beach
The rock-throwing tournament in Diguisit Beach. Haha.
PAG-ASA Weather Radar Station.
View from the PAG-ASA site. Lovely.
Baler buddies!
Finally got a free time to blog! This time: Oyeaa! I’m back, Boracay!
July was a “vacation leave-packed month” for me. Being back to Boracay might be one of the reasons why I got only nearly half of my overtime billing for that month, but no worries, it was all worth it. It felt good to be back! Plus, this time I went there with some friends – which translates to that thing called PARTY!
Food, island-hopping, chilling at the beach with a beer and a reggae band, and beach party. These are some things to summarize that ultimate Boracay escapade. I can totally prove now that Boracay might always look the same, but each visit to the island will definitely bring you a whole new experience. Going there solo or with a bunch of friends will always be fun. Take it from me, I experienced it first-hand. Being a party-island as it is, its fine white sand, and a sunset to enjoy, sure thing it will give you a worth-while vacation. Here are some of my snaps during the trip. Enjoy! 🙂
PS: If you’ll notice, I don’t have snaps of us partying. I’m sorry, we’re too busy to take pictures. C’mon, Boracay party is epic. Come visit Boracay for a first-hand experience.
Skies going to Boracay. AirAsia is the best.
Enjoying the beach, band and a few beers
Island hopping!
Snorkeling activity during the island hopping.
At last, Puka beach! A lovely place to chill. That fine what sand is ❤
Puka beach group shot
Shmiles on board!
Crystal cove view. Love the color of the sea.
Crystal cove group shot. Shmile!
Show that island’s name: Crystal Cove
Father and daughter love
Back to the main island, topped with rainbow experience
Hungry as hell! Time for Jonah’s shakes, sandwich and fries.
Vacation won’t be complete without a jump shot.
Sunset! Lovely skies.
Last shot: Chillin’ at the main island. That’s me, selfie. Lol
Alright. I’ve been missing a lot in WordPress lately. So before I miss a whole lot more, I’ll go back doing my blogger duties and post about my past trips.
Let me start my back logs with a road trip to Sky Ranch’s Sky Eye in Tagaytay.
Sky Eye is said to be the tallest ferris wheel in the Philippines, to date. It stands at 63 meters (207 ft) with 32 gondolas. Once you see this huge circling thing, you’ll probably associate it with the ferris wheel located in Mall of Asia (MOA) in Pasay City. Well yes, both are handled by the same company, just in case you are interested. Here are some of the photos on that cloudy and rainy road trip.
Sky Ranch’s Sky Eye
View from below. Waiting for our turn to hop in the gondola.
Seeing the Taal lake and volcano from the Sky Eye
After the Sky Eye ride. My road trip buddies. 🙂
Sky Eye from the Convention Center parking lot. This area provides more parking space for Sky Ranch’s visitors.
The whole gondola ride takes more or less 10 minutes. It’s quite shorter than we expected, maybe because we are too busy enjoying the view and posing for photos (haha).
Aside from the Sky Eye, the amusement park showcases other rides mostly made for kids – Nessie Coaster, Wonder Flight, Mini Viking, Express Train, and Red Baron. For kids at heart, you can also try their Super Viking which is likely similar to Enchanted Kingdom’s Anchors Away (a smaller version of it).
It was a short trip, but the whole experience going to and heading back makes the experience worthwhile. There are a lot of good places to visit in Tagaytay, so if you want to drop by other places than Sky Ranch, you can conveniently do so. If you’re planning to visit this city anytime soon, I hope you’d have fun like we did.
‘Till the next blog post! xoxo
Imaginarium of Pau 