We all love surprises, especially if they are the beautiful kind, and hidden somewhere in the Batad area is a waterfall that totally fits the bill. Now that I think about it, it is the first ever waterfall that I laid eyes on up close, and I feel blessed that my first waterfall experience – which I found utterly mesmerizing – was not a fluke.
Continue reading “Tappiyah Waterfalls of Batad”
They say some things are sweeter the second time around. In case of travel or, to be more precise, visiting one place for the second time, that could be a hit or a miss. It’s a hit if the place, which you absolutely loved the first time around, did not change or, even if it did, it changed only in good ways. It’s a miss if it’s the opposite: the changes weren’t good. How was my second visit to the Batad Rice Terraces, you ask? Read on.
Continue reading “The Batad Rice Terraces”
The key phrase for this 5-part posting arc is “Plan B is for Batad”. It’s a bit of a long story, but I’ll try to make it short: early February we made plans to climb Mt. Bulusan in Irosin, Sorsogon during the Holy Week, and we were able to sort everything out. The week before Holy Week, news about Typhoon Maysak wreaking havoc and doing a direct hit in that region made us scramble and look for a Plan B. So we rearranged the Mt. Bulusan details for Labor Day weekend, and proceeded up north, instead, to Batad, Ifugao. Continue reading “The Road to Batad”
There is something universally appealing about sunsets and sunrises. Or, should I say, universally moving? Perhaps, more than the splash of colors on the horizon, or the spectacular display of a slow and gradual ascent or descent, it evokes thoughts of beginnings and endings: the sunset marks the end of the day and the beginning of the oncoming night, whilst sunrise is a way to bid farewell to the night and welcome a new day. This is one cycle that is anything BUT vicious.
Continue reading “Coron 2015: Of Sunrises and Sunsets… at Mt. Tapyas”
The rainy days seem to be making their presence felt as the past couple of days (and nights) brought on torrential downpours. The good thing about this is, just as the summery days seem to be coming to an end, the rainy season too will do the same. (Sorry, that’s what happens if you marathon 10 episodes of Falling for Innocence for three days.) The rain, however, is not a reason to talk about the sun, sand and the beautiful waters of Coron during our second day of island tour.
Continue reading “Coron 2015: Island Tour Day 2”
A lot has happened in the past week. Labor Day. LaBoracay for some. The Mayweather-Pacquiao bout. My 4-day trip to Mt. Bulusan, Donsol and Cagsawa. All in all, it was an eventful (very) long weekend which I am oh-so-grateful for. Yes, despite the ache in my extremities and the difficulty (top that with moaning and groaning in pain) when going down stairs, I can safely say that the past several days has been one for the books! I will be blogging about it in the future, but for now, I will continue my Coron 2015 series, ya noe, in the spirit of “oh darn summer is about to end” and #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines!
Continue reading “Coron 2015: Island Tour Day 1”
I did mention in my previous post that I fell head over heels in love with giraffes when we went to the Calauit Safari Park, didn’t I? I wasn’t kidding when I said that. It was a complete turnaround because, as fascinated as I was by these long-necked and long-legged creatures, I was afraid of getting close. Before the end of this morning, I couldn’t keep from touching them and even having them nuzzle my face. It’s love, I tell ya. Continue reading “Feeding Giraffes at the Calauit Safari Park”
Oppressive. That’s the word that comes to mind to describe this heat. Here in Baguio, it gets as hot as 23 degrees Celsius in the middle of the day, and I’m sweating buckets. I can only imagine what it’s like in other places. It must be scorching! I guess it can’t be helped; it’s summer, after all. So let me blog about something summer-y? And nothing’s more fitting than Coron, and the day I fell head over heels in love with giraffes at the Calauit Safari Park. Continue reading “Coron 2015: Calauit Safari Park”
Happy Easter, everyone! How did you spend the past few days? Did you stay at home? Go out of town? Went on a Bisita Iglesia? No matter how you spent the past week – whether you lived it up or laid low – I suppose the important thing is that we did not forget what the week was all about, and we did not forget to thank Him for making the ultimate sacrifice for us. “Thank you” is rarely being said now, is that something we should allow?
In a few hours, the day will be over. Here’s to wishing that you have gone through April Fool’s Day unscathed. Once or twice, in my life, I admit to having been fooled. But I also admit to having been on the other end, doing the fooling. It was a lot of fun, but care must always be exercised when doing these things, because there are simply some jokes that aren’t funny… or may be too funny. Know what I mean? Before the day ends, however, here’s a little look back on one of our stops during our Honda Bay tour. This time, it’s this tiny place called Pambato Reef.
I mentioned this to a friend recently: the rainy afternoons that transpired in the past several days kinda made me think that summer is already over. The fact that we spent almost a week in sunny Coron just a couple of weeks ago reinforced that idea. But then I go online and everyone’s raving about summer being “here”. Am I way too advanced? So to rectify that, I’m going to hark back to a trip that is, well, sorta about summer: a visit to Honda Bay. Honda Bay was not part of the itinerary when we first went to Puerto Princesa 6 years ago. And it was also not included in the itinerary of our trip last month. However, due to a stroke of luck – and bad weather – we decided to check it out.
(Oh, summer, you tease. You just love to bring on the rain, don’t you.) I first went to Palawan, particularly Puerto Princesa, back in 2008. We had a work-related convention, we worked for 4 days, and slummed around for 5-6 days. And by “slumming it”, I meant island-hopping, beach-combing, and living it up in a luxury resort called Club Noah Isabelle (which is now called Apulit Island) then heading over to El Nido for another couple of days. Those days remain etched in my memory because that’s the first time that I, a girl from the boondocks, spent THAT much amount of time in the water, lack of swimming skills notwithstanding.
Continue reading “Palawan 2014: Puerto Princesa, The City in A Forest”
Continue reading “Bauko, Mt. Province Pt 4: Pre-Begnas Activity Photodiary”
Continue reading “Bauko, Mt. Province Pt 3: In and Around Bauko”
Continue reading “Bauko, Mt. Province Pt 2: Mt. Polis, A View Deck in the Sky”
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