Tasmania is quite unlike the other Australian states. This is mainly because of its location. All of Australia’s six states are in the mainland, except for Tasmania. This small island 240 kilometers south of the mainland prides itself as being the “Natural State;” the island is generally unspoilt, with 37% of its land in reserve, National Park and World Heritage sites. (Thank you Wikipedia!)

We went to the nearby beach and I saw this rock covered in what I thought was black pebbles. They turned out to be baby mussels.

 
Hobart, Tasmania’s capital, is the second city founded in Australia, next to Sydney. It is the island’s main gateway to the rest of Australia and the world. It is also one of the main port for ships headed to Antarctica, and recently, regular flight service.

Bob the dog loves going to the beach.

 
When people hear that I planned on heading over to Tasmania, they all gushed at how beautiful the place was, and how Hobart has such beautiful buildings. After hearding all their praises, I couldn’t wait to go to Tasmania.

If this is the view you wake up to everyday, would you ever have a bad day?

 
I was supposed to go by myself, as a birthday present. I got the hot air balloon ride instead, and I thought I would have to kiss my Tasmanian trip goodbye. There was something else planned for me, it seemed. My brother-in-law received an invitation from an old client and friends to spend Christmas in Tasmania. With careful juggling of our busy schedule, we finally booked our flights in and out of Hobart.

Flying kites on a clear day

 
We didn’t really stay in Hobart. From the airport, we just made a quick stop to pick up supplies from the city and headed an hour and a half out of Hobart and into Police Point, where our host have a farm. Upon seeing the gorgeous plot of land (and my equally wonderful room), I was glad I didn’t go to Hobart alone.

This is one of the plants that is pretty abundant in the beaches and the mountain.

 
After the busy couple of weeks we’ve had, it was great to be able to relax in Tasmania. The views from the house was splendid: fields of hay, towering trees, the sparkling blue Huon, and the mountains of Cygnet across the river. It rained a lot during our stay there, and for once I didn’t really mind it. The rains keep Tasmania fertile, and it leaves us with spectacular rainbows.

They stick to your shoes and pants, so better wear your trainers and pants when you go hiking in Tasmania.

 
In my previous post, I said Tasmania was the most beautiful place I’ve been to in Australia. I guess I said that because it was so unlike the rest of Australia. Where as the mainland is mostly dry and barren, in Tasmania you’re never far from water.

There are no chestnuts, but there is a fire. Perfect for warming up on a chilly night.

 
While standing on Recherche Bay, soaking in the beauty we see before us, my sister turns to me and said it reminds her of our parent’s hometown, Bulusan. I then realize what it is about Tasmania that charmed me most. If you’re like me who grew up in Manila, one of the reasons you’d like Melbourne and Sydney is because it’s so different from Manila. The charm of Tasmania on the otherhand, is that it reminds you of the Philippines.

The most memorable toilet I have encountered in 2007. Yes, that is sawdust you see inside the toilet. Absolutely no water in this potty.

Then again, it may have just been the homesickness and the excitement about going home that’s talking. But given the chance, Tasmania ranks high on the places I’d always go back to.

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One of the things I enjoy most in Australia are the libraries. During my first trip to Melbourne, I went through more than two dozen volumes of mangas. On my recent trip I stocked up on travel books instead.

They had a great selection of travel books, the Footscray Library. Though I looked for familiar names like Moore, Bryson and Mayle, I also picked a couple of books from authors I haven’t encountered yet, but had a catchy title.

Here are some snippets from my favorite travel books I read while in Australia.

Too Much Tuscan Sun by Dario Castagno

Today I am astonished to recall how innocently and naturally we did these things, but at the same time we felt that all Chianti was a bit ours. Indeed, it was this sense of proprietorship that kept us from anything as malicious as vandalism.

It’s easy – and perhaps natural – to make such generalizations. Who hasn’t, while traveling, made the mistake of judging an entire nation based on the behavior of a few individual citizens?

Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks

I was reminded of something Nigel Walker had said: “There are two words I don’t want to find myself uttering as an old man, and they are “If only…” If only. We all have our ‘if onlys.’ If only I’d studied harder, if only I’d stuck with those piano lessons, if only I’d spoken to that girl at the bus stop, if only I’d remembered Alison Wilcox’s name in the morning.

Apart from the particularly crude joke which now adorned the fridge door, one other message caught my eye. On the back, just below ‘Stay Cool!! Luv Chris and Jean,’ it read, ‘Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.’

I had learned not to worry;to make my choice and allow things to happen. For most part they turned out to be good, and when they weren’t – like the night from hell in a hostel – then they were character building. There weren’t any wrong or right paths to choose, just different ones, and where they led was governed by the attitude adopted towards them.

Encore Provence by Peter Mayle

“Tourists, of course, are always other people; never us. We are different. We are travellers – intelligent, well-mannered and cultured, a blessing on our chosen destinations, a delight to have around. It’s a common attitude, and one that I have always found condescending and offensive, as well as inaccurate. If you travel away from home for pleasure, you’re a tourist, no matter how you like to dress it up.

Vroom by the sea by Peter Moore

I found an English translation of the first ‘Apple’ ad in a book Filippo had called “The Cult of Vespa.” It was written by Gilberto Filippetti and rather more poetic than the ads we’re used to today. It described how the ‘apple’ could be eaten alone or in company, at sunset, on the rocks or with your hard streaming in the wind. Just bite the apple, it said, rev up your Vespa and leave all those people devoid of imagination behind you.

There is a scene in the movie Il Postino, filmed on Salina, the island I’d visit next, where the young postman asks Don Pablo, the famous poet, how to become a poet. Don Pablo tells him ‘walk slowly along the shore as far as the bay and look around you.’ Nature would reveal the poetry. And the poetry would reveal what was important in life.

If you’re looking for a new travel book to read, why not try books by these four authors? They really are good.

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American wrestler and model Travis Kraft teaches us how. In Filipino. And with such (insert adjective here) accent.

Props to the guy for trying his best to learn and speak the language. I cook adobo quite differently though. (Mine’s the lazy version.)

How to cook adobo, Nina-style:

1. Marinate meat of your choice inside the pan of your choice with equal parts of soy sauce and white vinegar, cracked black pepper, sugar, a couple of bay leaf and lots of crushed garlic for at least 30 minutes. Put in just enough soy sauce and vinegar to barely cover the meat.
2. Put on medium heat/fire until the liquid is boiling. Lower the heat and let it simmer.
3. Gradually add in water to prevent your adobo from drying too much. Continue to cook in low fire until the meat is tender.
4. Adjust the taste by adding more water or sugar if it’s too salty, or adding more soy sauce if it’s too bland. Add more vinegar for stronger flavor.
5. Turn of heat and serve.
6. As Travis says, “hayan, handa na ang adobong manowk!”

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When Yehey announced that it will be sponsoring 100 bloggers for a free food tour in Trinoma last November, I was devastated. The tour was scheduled for the 2nd week of December and I would still be in Australia. So it was with much glee that I found out later on that it has been re-scheduled on January 9, and from 100, they’re now looking for 150 bloggers. Yay! (or should I say, yehey?)

Trinoma Baller ID

 
My joy was short-lived, however. They already have their 150 bloggers, so no more slot for me. Two days before the event, Kaoko send me a flickr mail: would I like to take her place, since she won’t be able to attend? And so last Wednesday, I joined a hundred other bloggers at Trinoma, all looking forward to the gastronomic delights that await us.

Crazy Pepper Steak’s…Pepper steak.

 
I would like to say that they didn’t disappoint, but I can’t. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful they they organized this whole affair, and the good we were able to sample were really fantastic. However, as with most pilot events, there were still details they have to iron out like logistics and communication with the participating restaurants. We were broken into groups and went on to different levels as not to clog the restaurants. After a briefing with our guide, we headed down to the lobby level. To our surprise, another group was inside Bread Talk and Toast box. Our guide said we’ll head on to Conti’s while the other group are still in the other shops. We were welcomed inside Conti’s with blank stares; the store manager wasn’t in and the crew have no idea about the food tour.

Puto Bumbong from Mangan

 
Going up the next level, we went inside to try Crazy Pepper Steak, where we were welcomed warmly. We had to wait a couple of minutes before they served the meals they wanted us to try. Our guide also took this time to alert the other restaurants in the vicinity that the mob is coming. So when we went out, the other restaurants were all set and waiting.

Mann Hann’s Tofu with veggies and century egg

 
That was pretty much the theme of that tour (in our group anyway): some restaurants are ready and waiting, while some say that they aren’t participating, despite being marked as CONFIRMED in the list our guide handed out. And then there was that incident at Cabalen… but I’ll let AJ tell you the story.

Terriyaki Boy’s Tofu Steak

 
All in all, it was an afternoon well-spent. Some of the restaurants were already favorites, but it’s great to discover new dishes that I’ve never thought to try. The rest were places I haven’t tried before, and will definitely be going back to. Also, it was great to see blogger friends I haven’t seen since last October, and to make new ones (Hi Noreen, Edward, Jules and Jean!. To the Trinoma and Yehey team, thanks you so much!

Here are a couple more pictures from the food tour:

Cyma’s Lamb Leg Roast

Frying Fish? No, it’s Abe’s fried tilapia

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Do you have your summer plans already? If not, Cebu Pacific has a tempting offer for their local and international destinations

Cebu Pacific (CEB), the airline business unit of JG Summit Holdings Inc., offers P888 seats one-way for its Asian routes and P8 seats one-way for all its domestic routes. The promotional seat sale will run from January 11 to 17, 2008 or until the allocated 200,000 seats are sold out.

CEB allocated more than 100,000 seats for its international seat sale that includes services from Manila to: Bangkok, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Taipei, Shanghai, Singapore, Xiamen. This is also available for non-stop services from Cebu to: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taipei and from Davao to Hong Kong and Singapore. This is good for travel from February 1 to May 31, 2008.

CEB also allocated more than 100,000 seats for its domestic destinations. This is good for travel from February 1 to March 12, 2008.

Source: Cebupacificair.com

I’m going to make sure I buy my tickets for Legaspi this time around. How about you, where are you going?

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My sister used to work for a multinational company, and her job entails traveling all over Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. She made sure she’s a member of the frequent flyer programs of all the airlines she flew with and she was able to redeem the miles she earned. She also have credit cards that has a tie-up with airline frequent flyer programs.

I followed her example, and I am now a member of Philippine Airline’s Mabuhay Miles program, Singapore Airline’s Krisflyer and Qantas’ Frequent Flyer. Since my work doesn’t pay for my travels, I earn considerably lesser miles than she ever did. However, I still manage to get a sizable amount of miles thanks to my Manila-Melbourne flights.

I have enough for a round trip ticket via Philippine Airlines to one of the places in my Philippine destination list. The miles won’t be expiring until 2010, so I still have ample time to earn more. However, I’m pretty impatient (not to mention broke and itching to travel) and I am thinking of redeeming the miles this year.

So the question is, do I use it to travel to one of my 2008 destinations or wait until I have enough for an international trip? If I’m going to use it for an international flight (within Asia), I would need to earn twice the amount of miles I have right now. What to do, what to do?

 
How does this work anyway? I know I have a form to submit to redeem my miles, but how many weeks prior to my intended departure date do I redeem to ensure that I get to travel on the date I wanted? Answers to any (or all!) of my questions are much appreciated

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How did the first hours of 2008 find you? Were you out partying with half the nation, or tucked safely at home with your family? I spent it being silly with two of my closest friends at the Manila Pavilion. This was my second year to spend New Year’s Eve away from the house I grew up in. This was the first time I spent it with friends, who are practically family.

Hmmm, so does this mean we’ll be silly the whole year round?

The start of a new year brings to mind making resolutions. I’ve long since stopped believing in making new year’s resolutions; you can make positive changes in your life any day of the year. Instead, I started listing my goals for the year. Last 2006, I set my goal to travel to two domestic destinations and two international destinations. I accomplished that by traveling to Cebu, Bohol and Bacolod, and jetting off to Singapore, Thailand and Australia.

I didn’t make any specific goals for 2007; I started the year overseas and my bills were piling up in Manila. I already knew then that I will be coming back to Australia, so that stopped me from making too many plans. Besides, I was broke!

For 2008, my goal is to focus on seeing more of the Philippines. Hearing other travelers talk about traveling to places in my home country which I haven’t been to has been quite an eye-opener. I need to explore the Philippines.

I have no idea how many places I can go to this year. Seeing as I follow the American holidays, my long weekends are very limited. This need some careful planning and budgeting.

Nina’s travel destinations for 2008:

1. Donsol, Legaspi. I actually already have something more or less set for this; I just need to buy my plane tickets. I will be going with a group and will be in Legaspi to watch for whale sharks, and discover what Legaspi has to offer while we’re there. This trip is scheduled on February 23 – 25 (People Power anniversary holiday). If you’re interested to join, drop me a line in the comment box or email me and I’ll fill you in on the details.

2. Tagaytay. Just because I haven’t been there yet.

3. Bauan, Batangas. Owen made a snorkelling day trip at Dive n Trek and spent less than Php 2,000. How can I not try that?

4. Corregidor, Bataan. I’ve been to Corregidor before, but I couldn’t really remember much of it anymore, except that I got a terrible sunburn. I’m torn between being cheap and going on a daytrip and splurging for a tour with Carlos Celdran.

5. Camarines sur. The watersport complex, to be specific.

6. Palawan, Dumaguete or Davao. Because I haven’t been to those places yet.

I’m aiming to get at least 4 out of 6. How about you? Where do you plan to go this 2008?

This is post is submitted to the January Rice Bowl Journal collaboration project

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