2010 Travels

2010 was another great year for traveling. I mean, I got to travel a lot this year, which is always fantastic.

I made my second trip to Singapore last July in time for the Great Singapore Sale and the quarterly IT Show, and I got to see my BI/DW friends again, which is always great. I also returned to Hong Kong and Macau last November, this time with my new teammates. The weather in Hong Kong and Macau that time was perfect. I was also able to appreciate Macau more this time around since I got to walk along the Historic Centre of Macau (and we got to visit more hotels and casinos too.)

I attended three destination weddings this year. Two of the weddings were held in Baguio (Victory Liner's deluxe buses are awesome, as is the PNKY bed and breakfast), and the third one was in Iloilo (where our airfare was only around 300 pesos, roundtrip! Thanks, CebuPac.) It was my first time in Iloilo, and I stuffed myself with La Paz Batchoy from Ted's and Deco's, and oysters and other seafood in Tatoys and Smallville. I also got to see the Miag-Ao Church, which is just a beautiful structure.

After the Iloilo wedding, we went Guimaras to see the beaches and eat mangoes. Guimaras is a very scenic place and the mangoes I brought back to Manila were the yummiest mangoes I've ever eaten.

The highlight of my traveling year was definitely Batanes. I've been wanting to go to Batanes for several years now, and this year, the trip finally happened. And Batanes definitely didn't disappoint (even considering that the end of our trip was ruined by a typhoon that made a direct hit on the islands and left us stranded in Basco for 3 days.) Batanes is just absolutely stunning, and the people in Batanes were nothing short of kind and welcoming. The Ivatans definitely embody that hospitable trait we Pinoys love to bandy about when promoting Philippine tourism.

Batanes is right up there with Coron and El Nido as the best places I've ever visited in the Philippines. Scratch that. The world.

Why I Love Traveling The Philippines, II

Second day of our Batanes trip.

We took the early morning 30-min faluwa ride (traditional Ivatan boat) to Sabtang Island. Upon arriving, we had breakfast near the Sabtang port. Our first stop after finishing our breakfast was the village of Savidug, where most houses were made from the traditional coral stones. Our next stop was Chavayan, but before heading there, our guides took us to Lime beach, the place where Ivatans baked coral stones so that they could use them to build the walls of their homes. This practice isn't being done anymore though.

After that, we passed by one of the most beautiful sights in Batanes. We were riding on the topload of our jeep, so we had a great view of the green fields that looked just like The Shire. It was hard to take a good picture since we were on top of a moving vehicle, but the place is really, really beautiful. I seriously wouldn't be surprised if I saw hobbits living there. Hell, I could live there :p

I think the theme for the day was overload of beautiful sights, because after seeing that place, our guide dropped us off on the Chamantad-Tinyan viewpoint. This is probably the most incredible view I've ever seen in my life. The green, rolling hills bordered by dramatic stony cliffs leading sharply down a cove to the clear blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. The beach was lined by white sand and rocks that were being pounded by splashing waves. My pictures don't do it justice.

We finally reached Chavayan. Chavayan is a beautiful village filled with traditional stone houses on a backdrop of green-covered rock formations and hills. Chavayan is such a charmingly quaint village. We went to a house that sold traditonal weaved products, and took a pitstop on a small plaza where we drank some fresh buko juice served by a bolo-carrying lola. Apparently her father, Lolo Marcelo, is the oldest man in Batanes at 104, so she invited us to meet him. She also invited us to see their kitchen, which was used for a Nescafe ad.

After Chavayan, we went back past to Centro to Nakabuang beach, where we had lobster, lapu-lapu and adobo for lunch. After lunch, we just enjoyed the beach and taking pictures of the Nakabuang arch. The waves were pretty strong so we just waded around, and we were all pretty burnt by that time so we didn't stay long, which was good since it turned out the falowa going back to Batan island was already waiting for us, along with about a dozen other passengers.

Sabtang Island, in summary, was just unbelievably amazing.

Why I Love Traveling The Philippines

Batanes. There's really nothing else to say other than it is an incredibly breathtaking place made even more beautiful by its very nice and friendly people.

Mia, Kian, Ish, Geebee, Chrissy and I booked our tickets last February/March when Seair had a sale on its Batanes flights. We've seen nothing but good pictures and heard nothing but great things about Batanes, so we were all excited for it, even if the trip wasn't gonna happen until six months later.

So, six months later...

We started our Batanes trip by exploring the northern part of Batan island. For the second day, we headed to Sabtang island, which just completely amazed me. The 3rd day of our trip was spent going around the southern part of Batan island. The 4th day, Kian and Ish climbed to the top Mt. Iraya despite the heavy rains, while the rest of us were stuck in our hotel rooms because of it. The 5th day, we were supposed to go home, but Ester rained it all out. Instead we just stayed at our room watching Here Comes The Bride (hiliarious) and taking a short walk around the town, which was supposed to celebrate its town fiesta (Ester completely rained it out too. Not hilarious.) We spent about 5 hours of the 6th day waiting at the airport, since we were chance passengers on the two Seair flights. Only four seats were available for the six of us on the 2nd flight to Manila, so Kian and I ended up staying behind. So we just walked and biked around Batan island the rest of the time there since we were running short of money. We finally got home by Day 8.

Batan Island

The sights of nothern Batan island is very subtle. The beautiful rolling hills covered by the greenest of grasses, a church and a hotel made of stone, wide green fields parted by hedges, rock formations that were used as fortresses in the old times, a beach covered by huge boulders instead of the typical white sand, a lighthouse that provides you with stunning views of the sea and the hills and the cliffs and the setting sun... This part of the island doesn't pound you in the head with its amazing beauty, it doesn't insist itself the way other touristy places do, you know what I mean? It's very charming, and polite, if you can use that to describe a place. But don't mistake it for something else, because it's breathtaking nonetheless.

Now, the southern part of the island is nothing but subtle, with its amazing blue lagoon and Rakuh-A-Payaman (more popularly known to tourists as the Marlboro country), the cliff by the coastal road in Imnajbu, and the postcard-perfect Mahatao Lighthouse. The places we saw here were all just begging to be photographed.

See what I mean?

And A Delayed Iloilo/Guimaras Post

It was my first time going to the Visayas where Boracay wasn't in the itinerary. The best part about this trip? The plane ticket cost just 300 pesos, round trip! (Just kidding, the best part of course was seeing Mich and James get married. :D)

Iloilo is a great place to go binge eating. Seriously. I could eat La Paz Batchoy for breakfast and merienda everyday, and then go to Dulgies for dessert. Lunch and dinner would be anywhere that served seafood and chicken inasal. I couldn't believe that a plateful of oysters was just 40 pesos!

The (former) Team

The girls

The boys

Then, there was Miag-ao Church, which was just majestic to look at.

Miag-ao is about an hour away from Iloilo City. We hired a van from SM City to get there, and it was definitely worth the travel. The facade of the church was the most beautiful I've ever seen. the whole structure was very impressive, and reminded me a bit of the Paoay Church. I'm not big on going to church, but going out to see churches and other religious sites (like Angkor Wat, the Wawel Cathedral, and the Church of St. George) has always been a big reason why I love traveling.

After Iloilo, we went on a 15-minute boat ride to Guimaras Island. Guimaras was a lot of fun too. We stayed at Raymen Beach Resort in Alibuhod, Nueva Valencia. The beach in Alibuhod is really, really nice. The sand is really fine, the beach was not rocky at all, and the view around the beach (especially during sunset) is just beautiful. We also rented a small boat to take us around the island, where we saw more sandy beaches, unbelievably huge Lapu-lapus, and a nice small cave reachable by water near Baras beach:

Also in Guimaras? MANGOES. Guimaras mangoes are said to be the sweetest in the world, and yeah, these are the best mangoes I've ever eaten. It's sweet and juicy and huge and the texture of the flesh is really perfect for digging in. I bought 2 kilos of the mangoes, and a couple of packs of mango bars made by Trappist monks. The only sucky thing was that I didn't buy more haha.

Boracay! With CSI! Pt. 2

Day 2 in Boracay - Played some frisbee (kunyari marunong), then met up with the rest of the CSI folks for lunch at D'Mall. After lunch, we went to Jona's (again) for some milk shake, then met up with Stephie and Eileen for some Flyfish action, which is always FUN. Manny and Pat weren't able to join us because they just got their henna tattoos and were waiting for it to dry up. On the bright side, they were able to ride the speed boat that was pulling the flyfish and were able to shoot some great videos (including the part where we were all trying to help Eileen get back on the ride.)

After that, we hung out on the beach and played some frisbee again (which I was really lame at, so I just decided to swim after a few minutes.) We also played our favorite Boracay game, batuhan ng lumot. After the games, it's safe to say I went crazy on taking pics of the sunset (which is what usually happens when I'm on the beach and there's a sunset and I've got a camera.)

We went to Hey Jude for happy hour drinks, had dinner at a buffet place near D'Mall, then went to Summerplace for some more drinks. As I said in one of my tweets, Summerplace is Boracay's Cafe Havana (Greenbelt.) Ang daming foreigners na may kasamang exotic-looking gnolutaks girls. We left after one bucket.

Pics!

Traveling and Budgeting

Funny how last January, I was complaining about not having enough trips planned yet for the year. Fast forward to now, and I've got Boracay, Baguio, Singapore, Iloilo and Guimaras, Batanes, and Baguio all lined up.

Woot! Cheers to airline promos! Ubos na naman ang pera ko!

The Iloilo (with a planned sidetrip to Guimaras) and two Baguio trips are actually for weddings of friends/current & former officemates (Mich and James, Marlon and Camille, and Karon and Wayne), so those are pretty much planned out. The Iloilo flight is probably the cheapest flight I've ever paid for at 300 pesos (round trip!!!) from Cebu Pacific. And Guimaras is less than an hour's boat ride from Iloilo City, so that trip is definitely a steal. Baguio is a 7-hour bus ride, so we actually haven't planned those ones yet.

Last January when Cebu Pac had another seat sale, I was asking (a.k.a. begging) my office friends to go to Bohol/Singapore with me, but not enough people bit the offer for various different reasons... So when we heard that another team in the office was going to Boracay for their team building activity, Pat, Mats & Becca, Rommel, and I decided to tag along with them (we're crashing in on the other team's team building trip since they found discounted PAL flights and cheap accommodations there. LOL.)

And then last week, my college/office friend Mia was planning for a Singapore trip and found discounted flights on Singapore Airlines, so when she told me about it and found that an IT Fair and the Great Singapore Sale was going to happen around the same dates of the trip, and Mike confirmed that Universal Studios SG is now open, I jumped in on it too. We're planning on just crashing at our former officemates/currently Singapore-based friends' apartment to save on costs. Thanks for not objecting to our planned invasion, Ben, Jyue, Mike and Geebee!

Finally, we've been planning/trying to plan a trip to Batanes for several months now. We even have a discussion on Google Wave for it (because we're dripping with technogeeky hipster coolness as it is. Heh.), but found most travel options either too expensive (14k + on Seair, or a chartered flight from Tuguegarao), or too um, hardcore (boat from Curimao, Ilocos Norte, anyone?) So when Seair released their promo fares in time for this year's Philippine Travel Expo, we were finally able to finalize the dates of the trip. Woohoo!

So... now I really have to work hard to stay on my monthly budget (also: I guess now have to start setting a monthly budget) and reduce unnecessary expenses. As a first step, magce-Century Tuna at Ligo Sardines na lang ako araw-araw.

Also, kailangang humanap ng role na malaki ang on-call pay.

Best Of '09... Part 1

Best movie I saw this year:
(500) Days of Summer

In second place:

Up

Most under-appreciated TV shows (because I don't know any friend who watches this show):

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

In second place:

The Soup

Best Trip I Took In 2009:

Coron, April 2-6

In second place:

Caramoan/CWC, Feb 21-24

Best Nickelodeon TV show:

Spongebob Squarepants

In second place:

The Fairly Odd Parents

Best "The Amazing Race" elimination:

Season 15, Dubai Leg Part 2: Mika and Canaan gets eliminated after Mika refuses to go down a 90-foot waterslide, allowing Globetrooters Flight Time and Big Easy to overtake them (this after the GTs fell behind by almost an hour when they couldn't figure out the right sequence that would open the combination lock of a briefcase that holds their next clue)

In second place:

Season 14, Beijing Leg Part 2: Kisha and Jen gets eliminated after Jen insists on taking a bathroom break, allowing Jaime and Cara to overtake them (this after Kisha and Jen gets U-Turned, and Jaime and Cara got lost for 3 hours++ finding a Chinese Opera House)

Most Unwelcome News of the Year:

Typhoons Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma) Flood + Damages. :(

In second place:

Ampatuan Massacre. Grrrr.

Most Addicting Website of the Year:

Facebook

In second place:

Tie: Television Without Pity/Twitter

Best Sporting Event of the Year:

Roger Federer wins a record 15th Grand Slam title in Wimbledon, 16-14 in the 5th set, over Andy Roddick

In second place:

Roger Federer wins his 14th Grand Slam title and 1st ever French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.

Boom De Ya Da!

It kinda makes you want to... break into song?

I love the limestone cliffs,


I love the big lagoons,


I love the scenic sights,


I love this kick-ass crew*,

*plus Tim who was taking the picture

I love Coron, in all its greatness.
Boom de ya da, boom de ya da, boom de ya da, boom de ya da!

I love the blue sea,


I love the fine white sand,


I love the sunset,


I love the wildlife!


I love Coron, and all it's awesomeness!
Boom de ya da, boom de ya da, boom de ya da, boom de ya da!!!



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More pics here:
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/57/Coron_Awesomeness_-_Day_1
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/58/Coron_Awesomeness_-_Day_2
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/59/Coron_Awesomeness_-_Day_3
http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/61/Coron_Awesomeness_-_Day_4
and check out ceravi, miabaybeh, randmcnally and firithduialion39 on multiply for more pics.

But I Did Get To

OK, so I didn't get to bungee jump from the Macau Tower. But I did get to buy a brand-spanking new running shoe, a duffel bag, and 2 dry-fit shirts all for half the original (Manila) price.

I didn't get to enjoy the best-most-authentic-tastiest-delicious Hong Kong-style dimsum, and I got duped into eating a huge plate of fried rice and spiced beef innards, but I did get to go home with a box of dark chocolate Royce'.

I didn't get to walk along the Victoria Harbour, but I did get to go to HK Disneyland and ride the Abyss at Ocean Park.

Hong Kong was awesome. It wasn't Siem Reap-levels of awesome, but it kicked ass nonetheless.

Pics here: http://bloodsportandriot.multiply.com/photos/album/34/Hong_Kong_08_with_Macau_on_the_side
and here: http://primopen.multiply.com/photos/album/66
and here: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=-3&id=610357851#/album.php?aid=40029&id=610357851

HK!

I'm off to Hong Kong in a few hours, for a quick vacation with friends from the office. Hopefully it doesn't rain too hard there as it does here in Manila right now. We might make a side trip to Macau (where I really want to try out the bungee jump from the Macau Tower.) Be back on Sunday!

Iconic Structures

I've just posted pics from our trip to Cambodia here and here.
I still haven't gotten around to posting the Vietnam pics. I actually don't have that many pics from Vietnam, even if we were there for three days and a few hours. For some reason, I didn't want to take out my camera a lot (come to think of it, it was probably because we were usually in Bin Tahn Market and Saigon Square, and those places reminded me of Divisoria, which is a place where you really shouldn't bring any valuables unless you don't mind getting them stolen...) I think I'll post the pics the next time I'm on my laptop working from home (not that that's all I do when I'm working from home...)

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Wasn't the Olympics awesome? While we didn't win any medals on the official events (again), I still loved watching the Olympics, and I still definitely appreciate what the Filipino athletes did. (Because the effort for me to drag myself to jog for 30 mins around my village < the years and months of training that they did just to qualify to be an Olympic athlete. I have no grounds to complain.)

The Bird's Nest and the Water Cube are awesome structures too. Great architecture (especially the Water Cube), and definitely iconic. I wish Manila had a great iconic structure too, just as Beijing has their Olympic sites and KL has the Petronas Twin Towers.

Beijing 2008 was great, and I can't wait for London 2012 (although that Olympic logo looks awful, doesn't it?)

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Now playing: Modest Mouse - Parting of the Sensory
via FoxyTunes