Something you have to try at least once in your life. Photo from Atimonan Rock Climbing After taking home an amazing, almost transcendental experience from rock climbing and enduring life lessons to go with it, I have become a convert. No, I do not plan to regularly come face to face with those towering and…
Piolo, a child with coffee-colored skin and the curliest hair I have ever seen, handed me a wild rambutan, smiled shyly up at me, and joined the other children. They and a few adults ate the tart red fruit while sitting outside a makeshift home from wood. Others also sat outside their homes, seemingly content,…
Dear Calaguas, Before I met you, I was already in love with you. I heard from friends and learned from blog entries like this that you are an unspoiled paradise of powdery white sands and crystal clear waters, quiet and uncrowded, just like Boracay before its commercialization. And when I finally went to see you…
As promised, here is Part 2 of my tips on planning and making the best of your Apo Reef adventure, based on my trip with friends over two weeks ago. Here’s Part 1 to those who have not read it yet. See also our expense breakdown at the end of this post. 5) DO find…
Delayed bus trips. Hot and sticky ro-ro rides. Long and picturesque boat rides. Taking a dip on impossibly clear waters mirroring the sky’s blue. Sleeping under the stars. Getting woken up by humongous sea turtles on the beach. Beach bumming on creamy pinkish-white sand. Getting feasted on by sea lice. Communing with colorful corals and…
I interrupt my “regular programming” of blog posts on exhilarating adventures, life-changing travel moments, life lessons from travel, and the usual feel-good travel and insight posts to bring you, readers, the worst of my travel boo-boos. Those idiotic travel moments that make you go… Photo by Alex Proimos under Flicker Creative Commons Yes, my travels are…
In many inspirational and success quotes, I often see photos of rock climbers scaling seemingly impossible heights. Now, after rock climbing for the first time at Tinandog Wall, Atimonan, Quezon, and ticking this exciting activity off my bucket list, I understand why. Rock climbing is a perfect metaphor for life. What were once just inspiring…
Bold, bright native costumes. Powerful drum beats that vibrate through the heart. The quiet dignity of tribal elders and leaders as they walked through the streets. And, dances where indigenous past (the story of the people and their land) and present (precise steps choreographed by professionals) meet. Watching the indigenous tribes in Bukidnon dance in…
I am a local of Las Piñas City, home of the historic Bamboo Organ, declared a National Cultural Treasure, and so far known to be the only organ made almost entirely of bamboo in the whole world. Having lived in this city for more than 20 years, I am ashamed to admit that I have only…
Binondo, Manila is colorful enough any day, with bright charms, bracelets, and other gaily-colored wares for luck hawked on streets. But on Chinese New Year, though, the place bursts with color, sounds, and life. It was my first time to go to Binondo on a Chinese New Year this weekend, and I thought: “So this…
Traveling Light 