2013 Travel Reflections & The People Who Inspired Me To Travel

The year is almost over.. and I can't believe that I have visited 10 Philippine Provinces this year! I have to say I am extremely thankful to the people who encouraged me to travel more.

Puerto Galera was the first place I visited this year. I didn't write something about it due to personal reasons. And yes, as everybody know, Puerto Galera is a party-beach-party kind of stuff-- the nightlife is just simply entertaining!

Baler was the second destination this year. It was our first time to surf & eat at a local buffet called Gerry Shan's. It was also the first time I met Lois Yasay of wearesolesisters.com! She shared a lot of inspiring stories that gave me the urge to travel more. She's my favorite blogger!

The next month, I went to La Union alone and had a short trip to Vigan, Ilocos Sur (the bus ride from La Union to Vigan was longer compared to my stay in Vigan). It was my first time to stay in a hostel. I will never forget the locals that I've met. They were very helpful and accommodating.. and I kept on coming back because of them!

April was my birthday month. To celebrate, we went to Palawan and spent a day traveling from one island to another. It was tiresome, but on the other hand, it also made me appreciate the beauty of Philippines even more. 

May was a family month for me. I spent so much time beach bumming with Jm, my cousins and family in Subic. Jm and I also went to La Union because I badly missed surfing and hanging out with the locals. I would never forget the stories that Lois shared over coffee.

June was some sort of a religious retreat for me. We got the chance to visit Lucban, Quezon and do some rest and relaxation at a resort called, Batis Aramin. Then, we visited Kamay Ni Hesus to thank Him for the blessings and opportunities he had given us.

In August, we traveled around Ilocos and tried some local food. Kapuluan Vista Resort in Blue Lagoon is extraordinary. The dorm-type room seemed interesting, the staff are polite and friendly, and the place itself is very serene. Calle Crisologo in Vigan, Ilocos Sur is my favorite-- it has always been romantic and special.

September is a not-so-good time to go to Boracay because of the gloomy weather but we pushed ourselves to travel 6 hours from Iloilo to get to the famous tourist spot. It was my first time to drive a motor -- uphill and downhill! I considered it as one of the "toughest" challenge because I wasn't really a good driver. Anyway, despite of the gloomy weather, we still had fun beach bumming, partying and diving! 

November was the celebration of our 2nd Anniversary. We originally planned to go to Surigao (we had booked a one-way ticket) but because of my "joblessness" status, we cancelled our plan and decided to go back to Baler instead. It was a blessing, actually, because I met James Betia of journeyingjames.com! This kick-ass traveler just completed my year! 

2013 was a very wonderful time for me. I may not have visited SOME of the places I planned to visit, I won't really worry a lot, because there's still 2014! I am planning to visit Calaguas (via journeyingjamestour, hopefully) and Mt. Pulag next year. Right now, I'm trying to save for Malaysia (January) and Indonesia (October) next year.. and maybe, Thailand? 


The "Donate For Indonesia" Piggy Bank

I've been wanting and hoping to visit Indonesia the soonest time next year. However, I make it a point that I'm financially, mentally, and physically well-prepared. I'm not good in saving money in the bank, because I find it hard to control the "impulse-shopper" in me. So, as a result, I tried to save-- the traditional way-- through a piggy bank. I'll make this piggy-bank-thingy work!

FOR THE MEANTIME (while I take a rest & concentrate on my work), 
I WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Read More

Manila: Partying The "Pubcrawl" Style

I have heard of Manila Pubcrawl through my blogger-friend Lois who had so much fun attending this party. So when I had the chance to join this party without spending any bucks, I immediately grabbed the opportunity.

All I have to do was to follow the mechanics in Lois' post, and then the Pubcrawl people will randomly choose 3 winners in Facebook and Solesisters. Tadaa! I was picked and got a free pass to this party! FREE! (I just saved 990 pesos!)

DJ Yabis from dreameurotrip.com and Julia Clarete

I missed partying so much that I never rejected any of the drinks offered to me. They had super fun games, as well. From all the bar hopping that I've been to, this was the definitely most unforgettable one. Heck, I'm not gonna turn 22 without experiencing an orgasmic party like this!

Manila Pubcrawl is a "pinoy-style" partying and bar-hopping. I consider this very unique because they use "jeepney" as their mode of transportation in their bar-hopping. They had it in Boracay before, but now they're in Manila in Quezon and Makati City, the best cities to party.

Included in this party are the free rides with the party jeepney, free entrance to 5 clubs (you'll save bigtime on this one), 10 FREE shots, 2 for 100 drink specials in each bar, Manila Pubcrawl shirt (best part!), get-to-know games, new friends and Manila Pubcrawl membership! 

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to party hard and have fun! I'm telling you guys, it's all worth it!

For more information, you can visit Pubcrawl's site: 

http://www.pubcrawl.ph/

Read More

Starbucks Planner Vs. Belle De Jour

Hi! I’m back! I would love to separate this post to another tab, but I really don’t know how. :(

Anyway, there is no reason to be sad because I finally got what I’ve been waiting for!

A 2013 Starbucks planner! But first, as the title suggests, I’ll write a brief comparison about the Belle De Jour, otherwise known as BDJ, and Starbucks planner.

Belle De Jour

I bought my BDJ planner last January of 2012 but I wasn’t able to write on it.

What I didn’t like:

Over-coupon-ized - the small coupons consumed a big space in the planner. I know girls would love to get discounts from coffee shops, shoe stores, shopping malls, but the discounts are just between 15-20%. To be honest, I wasn’t really able to use any of the coupons. I gave some to my classmates.

Over-planned - there’s the weekly plan, the monthly goals, resolutions, budget list, check list.. Oh. That’s just too much planning for me. I found the “Menstrual Cycle Track” helpful.

Lesser space to write - I really don’t need to explain this anymore. Haha.

What I did like:

Transparent storage for papers - it’s really helpful. I can just put the receipts and other important papers there.

Design - every cosmopolitan girl will like the design-- very chic, playful, and sexy.  I must say, my classmates did like the style of the planner too.

Size - it’s not “very” wide that it didn’t consume much space in my bag. Although I found the weight a little heavy.

Bookmark - there’s a bookmark too so you won’t really miss out all the plans you’ve set for the month.

Price - it costs around 565.00, I guess. You can buy it in the National Bookstore.

STARBUCKS

Last December 2nd, my loves helped me complete the last stickers to claim my Starbucks planner. 

What I don’t like:

The coffee challenge- spent too much for this. I went back to my coffee addiction just to get this. I probably spent 2K+ only for this. Glad that I have my loves to help me.

Wide- it is really wide. It will definitely catch other’s attention because it-is-wide.

Bookmark - the magnetic bookmark is really impressive but it’s a bit large.

What I like:

Space - yes! more spaces to write. As a student-slash-teacher, this planner will be helpful not only in writing down notes but also keeping track of my expenses and the tasks that I have to do at work.

Color - I like the fact that the white and black planner looks very “professional” while the green looks very “playful.”

Notes - they have some stick-notes with positive words that you can just give to anyone. I remember Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd’s move, “A Very Special Love.” The small notes, if given to anyone, will definitely make his/her mood happy.

I guess this time, Starbuks won. ;-)

Read More