Comfy, spacious, and tastefully designed dorm rooms and private rooms at affordable backpacker prices, a wide and beautiful pool, parties every night, and more at Mad Monkey Hostel in Boracay.
Just a few hours away from Metro Manila, Pililla, Rizal has beautiful windmills on rolling green hills as well as the sweetest pineapples.
Cats big and small. Some black, some white. Others bright orange or bursting with other colors. All adorable and painted on the walls of Penang’s streets. For cat and art lovers like me, George Town, the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Penang, Malaysia, is a dream destination. These cats are in fact one of the reasons I fell in love with Penang. While Penang is…
Nurture Wellness Village. Hearing the name of the place we would visit, I could imagine just how nurtured I would probably feel, as its name seems to promise. Little did I know that I was in for more than just a weekend of relaxation. Nurture Wellness Village is a spa and farm resort in Tagaytay, Cavite and is just a…
The unusual scorching July Boracay heat was suddenly tempered as we walked along Mandala Spa’s leafy entrance. It was like entering a respite from the island’s traffic jams and rush of tourists. Several steps forward, it was still all greenery and I felt a soothing coolness on my skin. As we turned the corner, up ahead was the open-air reception area and the welcoming smiles of…
Mountaineers and brothers Javi and Carlos Cang had been hiking trails since they were kids, then went on to climb some of the Philippines’ and Asia’s mountains when they got older. But the brothers’ adventures were put on hold when Carlos was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer. Now, Javi continues to climb for…
Sibutu town proper Literally the farthest south of the Philippine archipelago, Sibutu is almost as close – or as far – to Sabah as it is to Bongao, Tawi-Tawi’s capital, when you look at its northern tip on the map. In fact, the then-mayor at the time of my visit would regularly go to Malaysia, which…
How would you imagine a cruise? If you are like me before, you would probably think of a luxury ship with rich retirees and pensioners lounging around while leisurely sipping drinks and taking in the scenery around them. Not exactly the scene for young backpackers. That was what I thought, too, until I went on…
“Buy from local businesses and self-employed people. When you buy from a small local business you are not paying for a third vacation home for some CEO, but for a little girl’s dance lessons, for food on the table for a family, and for sending a student to college.” This and similar ideas have happily been…
It was quiet when our boat docked on Pitogo Island. From afar, its lush golden-green hill and dark stretch of beach had beckoned with promise. I stepped on Lantangan Beach, and at once I heard a sound that reminded me of soft water chimes. I took another step, and I heard it again. The stones were singing! The…
Onboard the Chao Praya River Express, I got off at Tha Chang Pier, expecting only a morning of being awed by the Grand Palace, and, as a side trip, eating pad thai on the land where it is hailed as the national food. What I did not expect was that the side trip would be the…
Since I heeded the call of wanderlust and fulfilled my childhood dream of traveling solo long-term last 2012, I had experienced the magic and miracles of travel – the kindness of strangers, with some becoming my family, the moments when things turned out even better than what I had dreamed of, and the feeling of flow…
Moonlight. I heard from the hotel staff that the reason behind the name was simple – that the moon can be clearly seen in the night sky from the hotel. Other guests also seem to like the name, and think it romantic. What I did not expect, though, was how Moonlight Hotel would romance me.…
Today, my friend Sachin, who recently came home after a five-month solo backpacking trip around Southeast Asia, is celebrating his birthday. I met Sachin in Vang Vieng, Laos, last September, during my own three-week Indochina backpacking trip. I was talking to a new friend in the common room of our hostel, and when Sachin heard that I…
Vietnam was a mixed bag of good and bad experiences for me. On the plus side, there was the magic of Hoi An’s lanterns at night, the newfound local friend who helped me get the right window seat to catch the most beautiful views in the train ride from Da Nang to Hue, the best…
