Goodbye 2011, hello 2012

I had to restrain myself from saying good riddance, 2011. It was a great year, travel wise, but in other aspects of my life, it hasn’t been all that good. Still, I have to look past all the crap I’ve felt and realize that life really isn’t that bad.

Casa San Pablo 051
Love this relaxing weekend with the dollie friend at Casa San Pablo


First, there were the trips I never blogged about. This year, I never really traveled alone, except for a couple of days in KL earlier this month. My first trip for 2011 was to Hong Kong with Cla, where she said the statement that started it all: “I want to go to Morocco.” We went to a couple more trips with other friends, to Casa San Pablo and Casa Ibiza, and that’s when I started to try to just enjoy the place and the company and not mentally blog it.

There are a lot of things I did not blog about this year. I never told anybody this, except for a couple of friends, but I gave four other talks aside from the one I did for the Sole Sister’s From Glampacking to Poorpacking series. One was for tourism students at UP Asian Institute of Tourism, two for two different session for students of De La Salle University (Blogger’s Congress was one of them) and also for Belle de Jour’s Summer Rendezvous. Public speaking is one thing I never thought I would willingly do, and I surprised myself by accepting the challenge and actually giving a talk. I can safely conclude I am not good at it.

2011NAPBAS_0435
Go Team Philippines! With Erwan, Jenni, Camie, Badet, Laureen, Camille, Helga, Kring, Tipsy and Ponggo

Still, it prepped me up for another big thing that required me to talk in front of an audience of 500: my acceptance speech at this year’s Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards. Completely unexpected, but I feel so honored to be given this recognition, specially since I was up against one of my blogging idols, Kenny Sia. It was a big night for the Philippines as well, since we brought home four of the heavy glass trophy.

Others who brought home the bacon, as my friends have been fondly calling it were:

Best Photography Blog – Photoblog.hk
Best Geek Blog – Geekout.ph
Best Food Blog – LadyIronChef.com
Best Fashion Blog – Cheeserland.com
Most Original Blog Design – EatShowandTell.com
Best Parenting Blog – Childhood101.com
Best Travel Blog – JustWandering.org
Best Entertainment Blog – Beautifulnara.com
Best Lifestyle Blog – Jenniepperson.com
Hidden Gem – Googlygooeys.com
Best Micro Blog – KennySia.com
Most Influential blog – XiaXue.sg
Region’s Best blog – XiaXue.sg


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33 responses to “Goodbye 2011, hello 2012”

  1. Dyanie Avatar
    Dyanie

    Happy New Year teh!!! ๐Ÿ™‚ Wow Japan!!! ๐Ÿ˜€ Wish ko sayo sa 2012 ay = LOVELIFE. Pak! ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. nina Avatar

      PAK NA PAK! See you teh!

  2. Chris Avatar

    Congrats! happy new year and more kwento about your morocco trips and Osaka ka na next

    1. nina Avatar

      Pressure? Haha, I’ll work on those, don’t worry ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. mervz | pinoyadventurista.com Avatar

    indeed a fruitful year! Congrats Nina! Cheers!!!

    Happy New Year! ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. nina Avatar

      Thanks Mervs! Happy new year to you too!

  4. Kara / Travel Up Avatar

    Hey Nina, congrats on winning Best Travel Blog and all your adventures this year. Glad to have met you and other bloggers during Lakbay Norte, or I probably would have never started my own blog. ๐Ÿ™‚ Happy New Year!

    1. nina Avatar

      Hehe, tuwing may Lakbay Norte, nadadagdagan ang mga travel blogs! It was great to meet you too Kara ๐Ÿ˜€

  5. suki Avatar

    Congratulations! ๐Ÿ™‚ That’s awesome.

  6. chyng Avatar

    bongga na taon! siguro yung not so good yung paghandle mo ng finances kaya just like that you hired an accountant. hehe

    see you soonest!

    1. nina Avatar

      Haha, actually better nga ang finances ko in 2011. Madami lang nakakalungkot na mga pangyayari last year.

  7. Micamyx Avatar

    Pareho pala tayo na mala-rollercoaster ang 2011 haha i’m just glad na nakapag-travel ako or else :)) congrats again for winning the Best Travel Blog sa NN! Sana makapag-Boracay tayo ulit – tipong 1 week stay hehe ๐Ÿ˜€

  8. aileen Avatar
    aileen

    Congrats Nina! I’m a fan of your excel sheets! ๐Ÿ™‚ – @me_myself_ai

    1. nina Avatar

      Thanks Aileen! Happy 2012 to you!

  9. Badet Avatar

    Happy new year roomie! Too bad I have to go home early, I hope to meet you again for some kwento and food trips ๐Ÿ™‚

  10. Christian | Lakad Pilipinas Avatar

    congrats on bagging the travel blog of the year nina! buti na lang pala di ako sumali hehe kundi umuwi ako luhaan dahil kasali ka pala ๐Ÿ˜›

    1. nina Avatar

      Kung kasali ka, ako ang uuwing luhaan!

  11. ajay Avatar

    Congrats Nina! Yay for Osaka <3 ๐Ÿ™‚

  12. Anji Avatar

    Congratulations!! It takes a lot of good content and dedicatation to be nominated and win the best travel blog! Hope you have a great 2012!

  13. dementedchris Avatar

    Bongga talaga ang 2011 mo haha! Hope you have a great 2012 ahead!

  14. Freeze Avatar
    Freeze

    Wow, congrats and happy new year nina! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Launching my new blog, hope you’d come and visit ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. nina Avatar

      Sure! Just give me the link when it’s up ๐Ÿ˜€

  15. Jill Avatar

    Congratulations on your win! I’ve just found your blog and am excited to check out all of your budgeting posts! That’s something I could definitely improve upon.

  16. kate Avatar

    Congratulations, Nina ๐Ÿ™‚ Wishing you more travel destinations in 2012!

  17. flipnomad Avatar

    happy 2012 Nina. congratulations again ๐Ÿ™‚

  18. Travel_Junkie Avatar
    Travel_Junkie

    A good place to visit in 2012 is Melbourne. All you need is a list of the top visited places in the area (writerjj.hubpages.com/hub/Seven-must-see-and-place-to-visit-in-Melbourne) and to book a taxi using iPhone (www.gocatchapp.com.au/)

  19. IamJoyceee Avatar

    Wow nins, it’s been a long time since I last visited your site! Congrats on the win! ๐Ÿ™‚ So proud that I am a reader of your blog. ha ha

    Happy new year (well, chinese new year, in Singlish speak). ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. nina Avatar

      Thanks Joyce! You made some big things happen for me, and I really appreciate it! Hope to see you in SG!

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