Showing posts with label getaway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label getaway. Show all posts
Sunday, November 3, 2013
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
Booked:
- Richardson, Texas
- Dallas, Texas
- Los Angeles, California
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Seattle, Washington
2009
- Boracay Island - 3/2009
- Panglao Island, Bohol - 6/2009
- Baguio City - 12/2009
2010
- Bantayan Island, Cebu - 3/2010
- Romblon - 5/2010
- Caramoan, Camarines Sur - 5/2010
- Boracay Island - 5/2010
- Albay, Legazpi - 12/2010
- CWC, Camarines Sur - 12/2010
2011
- Boracay Island - 3/2011
- Cebu - 8/2011
- Romblon - 9/2011
- Poro Point, San Fernando, La Union - 11/2011
2012
- Calaguas, Camarines Norte - 2/2012
- Nagsasa Cove, Zambales - 4/2012
- Chennai, India - 5/2012
- Stopover at the following airports: Singapore, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur - 5/2012
- Boracay Island - 6/2012
- Baguio City - 7/2012
- Hong Kong / Macau - 8/2011
2013
- Boracay Island - 4/2013
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 5/2013
- Singapore - 5/2013
- Incheon, Seoul, South Korea - 09/2013
2014
- El Nido, Palawan - 1/2014
- Dubai, UAE - 4/2014
- Chennai, India - 4/2014
- New Delhi, India - 4/2014
- Hong Kong - 5/2014
Booked:
El Nido, Palawan - 1/2014- Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Japan!!!! - 11/2014
Planned:
- Boracay (as usual)
- Coron, Palawan
- South Korea - 11/2014
Still on my bucket list:
Domestic:
- Coron, Palawan
- Puerto Princesa, Palawan
- El Nido, Palawan
- Pearl Farm, Davao
- Camiguin
- CDO
- Batanes
International:
- Tokyo, Japan
- Kyoto, Japan
- Hokkaido, Japan
- Osaka, Japan
- Sydney, Australia
- Gold Coast, Australia
- Florida, USA
- Switzerland
- Paris, France
- The Provence, France
- Hawaii, USA
- Beijing, China
- London, UK
- Siem Reap, Cambodia
- Vietnam
- Krabi Island, Thailand
- Bali, Indonesia
- Johor, Malaysia
- Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
- Maldives
- Go on a Caribbean Cruise
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Kenya
- Dubai, UAE
And many many more to come! I sooooo love travelling!
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Last June, when we went to Boracay, instead of doing the usual island hopping thing (Puka Beach, Crystal Cove, Crocodile Island, etc.), we went to Carabao Island in Romblon. It's about an hour boat ride from Boracay through choppy seas but despite this, I think the trip was worth it.
I forgot how much we paid for the island hopping package (includes snorkelling in one of the islands near Boracay) but we do remember thinking that it was a good deal.
Carabao Island (among other white-sand beaches in the country) has been said to be next Boracay, and though I do not quite agree with that, I still thought that the beach was very nice. The sand is white, like Boracay's, and though the sand was just as fine, there were some small pebbles / broken corals, so you can't be as carefree when you are barefoot like when you are in Boracay. I do remember being very careful when walking near the shore to avoid stepping on sharp objects.
The shore is a lot shorter than Boracay's white beach but that's fine. What I liked best about this place is that it's A LOT more peaceful than White Beach. It does not have the common tourist attractions like dining places or beachfront resorts and that is part of its charm. In a way, I do hope that the local government will not develop and package it as a major tourist attraction because I feel that in doing so, this serene place will lose part of its charm.
We spent our time there just swimming and snorkelling. The water was VERY clear and we did see some starfishes and some small fishes near the shore. Basically, we just relaxed and enjoyed swimming on the clear waters.
Now, on with pics:
On our way to the island, our jump-off point was Bulabog Beach in Boracay.
Not sure what this structure is but I wish they hadn't built it because it retracts some of the beauty of an otherwise pristine beach.
Our first glimpse: looks tempting!
White, white sand though the shore is not as wide as White Beach's
Group shot! Yes those are broken corals on the beach.
Water is not as shallow as Boracay's.
Starfish!!!
A school of miniature fishes.
Some corals, fishes and sea urchins.
Overall, I would recommend a trip to this place. Though the ride going to and from the island can be a bit nerve-wracking because of the waves, I still feel it's worth a visit if you want a change from the busy scene of White Beach.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
This is my long overdue post on Calaguas.
It was such a beautiful, peaceful place! I fell in love with it at first sight, despite the treacherous waves, and the prospect of really roughing it up. I went there with my friends from Ttech and Dell, and though we all had hearts of a woman, I was the only biological female in the group (if you get what I mean, hehehe).
I first heard about this place from a high school classmate, and after A LOT of research, I decided that I wanted to see the place.
Fortunately, I came across a tour group that offered an affordable tour package that included the following:
- Bus tickets (round trip, Cubao-Daet)
- Van ride to/from Vinzon's port
- Boat ride to/from Calaguas island
- Tent accommodations
- All meals during the trip, buffet style
- Unlimited alcoholic beverages (yes, you read that right)
- Electricity on the island courtesy of a small generator.
- Free surfing lessons in Bagasbas Beach in Daet
With all these inclusions, we could proceed with our trip with a minimum fuss, and all for just 3,200php! If you are interested, you may contact the tour group through this site: Calaguas Hullabaloo
Anyway, we left on a Friday night via Amihan bus in Cubao at around 8:30PM and after 3 stopovers, we arrived in Daet before 6am. The tour coordinator picked us up from the bus station and we then proceeded to have breakfast at Jollibee. There we also waited for the other members of the tour group.
We were hoping that there will be cute boys from the other groups but we were all bitterly disappointed that the 2 groups that joined us were both all-girls!
So we left Vinzon's port at around 8am and we arrived in Calaguas at around 10am. I was wowed by two things:
- The waves were BIG on the way so I got kinda nervous.
- The island was just PERFECT! It was beautiful in every way, and exceeded all my expectations. The water was clear, the sand was very white and very fine. The sand felt like powder against my feet!
Our tents were already set up when we arrived so there was nothing left to do but to relax, swim, sunbathe, have fun, eat, and generally just enjoy ourselves. And for a camwhore like me, the place was teeming with perfect photo ops!
Here are the pics:
On our way out to the open sea.
Travelling to the island.
Our first glimpse of Calaguas... BEAUTIFUL!
Did we just land on paradise?
Our 'home' for the next 24 hours.
View from the nipa cottage.
Have I mentioned that the beach was beautiful?
The start of camwhoring! Who can resist with such a heavenly backdrop?
Not my camera.
My favorite pic in Calaguas, taken specifically to be my summer cover pic in FB.
Climbing up the hill. Took less than 15 minutes but damn that was hard! There were rocks everywhere, I was so scared I would slip and fall.
But then again, the view was well worth it. And this photo op methinks so. LOL.
Beautiful sunset courtesy of Calaguas.
An even more beautiful pic of the sunset courtesy of Jess.
Overall, we had a perfect first day in Calaguas. The second day was a different story altogether.
We were woken up by the rain seeping into our tents at around 4am. The rain did stop by morning and we were treated to a few more hours of sunshine.
But I guess if the sea looked like this, it could not mean anything nice:
And how right I turned out to be!
We were supposed to leave the island at around 10AM but the waves were so big that the boat cannot come close to the shore. What the tour coordinator did was to put all our bags inside big plastic bags and let them float to the boat. After all has been packed and 'floated' to our boat, we were informed that we needed to hike to the other side of the island since the waves are calmer there, and we will be picked up from there.
At that point, it was already raining. Not really that hard but enough to make the path to the other side very slippery.
The hike was fun at first, but as we started going up the mountain, going down the mountain, and so on and so forth, it became hellish. It probably wouldn't be as bad had it been a sunny day, but damn, the roads were so slippery and at some points also rocky. Lethal combination, if you ask me.
I would have loved to take pictures but all of us had absolutely NOTHING, except for the clothes on our back. In my case, that would be a pair of flipflops, board shorts and a short sleeved rashguard (because I was planning to go straight to the surfing lessons when we got to Bagasbas.)
Anyway, when we reached the other side of the island, we had to wait for another couple of hours before we were picked by another boat. At one point, I really needed to pee, and I had to do so on top of a rock with some makeshift bamboo 'walls', floor, and 'roof' and where my waste 'materials' fell directly to the sea. Ugh, that was really gross but I had no choice.
One thing that I want to point out was that I really appreciate the fact that the locals offered us shelter in their humble homes so that we won't get drenched by the downpour (it was chilly!). I was very very thankful for that. :)
But then again, no matter how nice the local folks were, I was vastly relieved when we were picked up by the other boat at around 3PM. I think the initial arrangement was to wait at a certain point at sea for the other boat (where our things were) to catch up with us. But after waiting for a bit with no sign of the other boat, we had to make a decision on whether to go back to Calaguas and be reunited with our things, or to go back to the mainland.
The group collectively decided to go back to Bagasbas and then we started our very scary hellish ride!
I have ridden boats on several occasions to get to a certain destination, and this was the very first time that I actually feared that I'll die. The waves were that BIG and the ride was that BUMPY! But when I look back on this boat ride, I can't help but be amused by the following (though at that time, we were scared and worried):
- One of the girls from the other groups was throwing up, and we were scared to death that she will fall overboard while retching.
- One of the girls from the other group actually peed in her shorts during the boat ride, ha ha ha.
- One of my friends also peed on his shorts and had to time his urination whenever particularly big waves would hit the boat.
- Some people seemed oblivious and were actually sleeping during the ride. What the eff????
It was such a relief when we reached the port in Vinzons and our feet touched solid ground: I swear that must be the happiest moment of my life!
Anyway, the problems did not stop there: our things were still on the other boat, and we didn't get them until the following day (6PM!). So we were finally safe but we had nothing: no money, no phones, nothing except the clothes we were wearing!
We were starting to feel depressed because we felt so poor, but good thing that the tour coordinator took VERY GOOD care of us. They made sure that we had proper accommodations for the night, food, and clothes.
By the following day (Monday AM, when we were supposed to be Manila already by that time), while waiting for our things, we were all so bored that we have resorted to playing all sorts of card games, and even patintero! We realized that the girls from the other group (the Cosmo Girls) were so cool and we actually bonded over food and games of patintero. :) And here are some amusing things that were noteworthy during our stay in Bagasbas:
- Angel was wearing a Marimar yellow tshirt so he looked like a fangay, LOL.
- Mike was wearing some construction company shirt so he looked like a pahinante.
- Jess was wearing orange and green so he looked like an overripe ponkan.
- I was wearing a man shirt and have not combed my hair for the longest time so I looked like a butch!
That's when I realized that sometimes, the simple life is nice and that sometimes, technology can be such a distraction from things that really matter. :)
Anyway, we got our things around 6AM, so we had dinner, cleaned ourselves up and the we were off to Manila!
Group shot after we've changed to our own clothes, finally!
Overall, this is definitely one of the most memorable trips that I've ever taken. I want to go back to Calaguas but will make sure to do so when the waves are calmer. I also will still use the same tour group since I felt that we were really taken cared for.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Last December, my family and A LOT of our friends went to Baguio to spend a few days there before the New Year. Actually, my primary reason for going there was to attend one of my dearest friend's wedding, since Phoenix was one of the flower girls. My mom's friends (and their families) just tagged along.
We were there for 3days and 2nights, and we stayed at a transient house near Camp John Hay. The place is called North Pines, and I highly recommend the place. It's not all that but the rates are dirt cheap (300php/person/night), and the rooms are comfortable too. Too bad I didn't get to take pics but they're not too bad. I also liked that their parking area was spacious so it wasn't a problem that there were 4 cars from our group.
Anyway, here are some pics of the place that I managed to take:
Picture of the second and third levels.
View from the balcony, you can see the pretty sunset to the right.
The outside hallway, and yes, that's the sun setting in the background.
Since I was busy prepping for the wedding during the first part of the trip, I did not get to tour Baguio that much. I missed the trip to the Strawberry farm and PMA and I actually just got to go around on our last day, right before we left for Manila. Here are pics of our mini-trips:
Starbucks Camp John Hay... yay for 5 stickers for that day!
One of my fave Starbucks in the country. Very homey feel.
The mandatory Minesview Park trip. I bought an Island Souvenir T-shirt here.
Phoenix was bugging me for a 'horse ride' so we had her 'ride' one of those pink-haired horses.
That's 100php for 5 shots, I think.
Irritated with the horse owner since he only gave us the hat on the last shot, he might have been hoping that I'll fork over another 100 bucks for another round of pics. No freaking way.
The cute St. Bernard! In all fairness, this dog smells good, even better some people. LOL! That's 50php for 4 shots.
Fresh corn! Yummy!
One of the signs inside the Good Shepherd Convent.
Posing inside Good Shepherd, after purchasing my favorites: 1 bottle of Ube Jam, 2 bottles of Alfajor and 3 bottles of Snowballs. YUMMY!!!
Showing off the very bright pink shawl purchased in Minesview (as well as my new bangs!).
Oh, and another thing, don't be deceived by the short skirt and shorts I was wearing in Baguio: it was COLD when we were there. I think that this is around the 6th or 7th time that I've been to Baguio but this is the coldest I've ever experienced. I really liked the weather up there and it was a cruel slap in the face when we had a stopover in Tarlac and I felt the heat! I wish that Manila had the same weather as Baguio but that's impossible. Oh well...
Anyway, I'm looking forward to our next Baguio trip. Next time, I'll be ready and make sure I bring boots with me.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
These are the travel plans that I have for next year, assuming that the world doesn't end by 12/21/2012. LOL!!!
Boracay Island with my family from US in April.
Bangkok, Thailand with the Shonengs in April (again).
Seoul, South Korea with my Miriam High School friends in September.
CDO - Davao with my UP college friends either in October or December (depend's on Australia-based friend's schedule)
I can hardly wait to start travelling again. I really really love travelling. It is my fondest wish to be able to just travel, travel and travel. :)
Boracay Island with my family from US in April.
http://www.legacygymphilippines.com/about/boracay-island
Bangkok, Thailand with the Shonengs in April (again).
http://www.thailandvoyage.com/tourinformation/Sightseeingtour/bangkok/indexbangkok.htm
Seoul, South Korea with my Miriam High School friends in September.
http://www.travelwireasia.com/2011/10/destination-woljeongsa-and-a-buddhist-festival-gangwon-do-2/
CDO - Davao with my UP college friends either in October or December (depend's on Australia-based friend's schedule)
http://www.camiguinhighlandresort.com/
Tentative plans:
Singapore-Malaysia with Jess and Jeff.
Tokyo, Japan with whoever. This will happen as soon as I win the lottery.
Coron, Palawan
Brunei with my family in time for Hari Raya in December.I can hardly wait to start travelling again. I really really love travelling. It is my fondest wish to be able to just travel, travel and travel. :)
Saturday, September 29, 2012
I am dreaming right now... I am dreaming of going to Japan and exploring both Tokyo and Kyoto. I wanted to go next year. But based on the research that I had been doing on Japan expenses, I don't think I can come up with enough money to be able to go there by spring. But since dreams are free, in the meantime, here are the things that I have to do when I am there:
Tokyo
- Go to Tokyo Disneyland! I have it as a personal mission to be able to go to all Disneyland parks in the world. I saw some pics of Mickey and Minnie dressed in traditional Japanese outfit, and I'd love to see that in person.
- Visit the Shinkuju Gyoen National Garden and have my picture taken with all those cherry blossom trees as the backdrop. Would even be better if the timing is when the sakura trees have started shedding their blossoms.
- Go to the Meiji Shrine.
- Wear a kimono and have a full blown photoshoot (hahaha!). Would love to wear the kimono below, even if they are wedding kimono. Plus points for the second kimono for having sakura design.
- Go to Sanrio Puroland. Considering how much I love Hello Kitty, I think that this will be a heavenly experience for me. I am scared to think of how much money I'll get to spend just on the shopping part. And I'd probably have a thousand pics just on this alone.
- Visit Tokyo Tower. I guess that this has been spurred by my love of the anime Rayearth. Would love to take pics of the citylights as well.
These are the things that I have in mind for now that I should never EVER miss when I get there. Will add more as I complete my research on Tokyo.
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