If I counted my days right, April 9th would be the 100th day of 2008. My, has it been one hundred days already? Summer is already in full swing, and soon, the rains will come and it’d be Christmas again. The year has been pretty good so far. I didn’t get to travel as much as I hoped, mainly due to schedule and budget constraints, but I do know that I had fun the past 99 days.

Unlike last year, I ushered in the new year in Manila. I made it my goal to see more of the Philippines this year, and I like to think that I have made some progress. I’ve also made plans to see a couple more places in the coming months.

Something I never thought I would ever do in 2008: go clubbing. And get drunk.

 
2008 Travel Goals
I listed six places in my travel goals for 2008: Donsol, Legaspi; Tagaytay; Bauan, Batangas; Corregidor, Bataan; Camarines Sur, and; Palawan, Dumaguete or Davao. I pushed through with my Donsol butanding watching trip last February despite the heavy rains, flash floods and landslides that scared off my other travel companions. It was a good thing I still went because I was able to swim with the whale shark.

I was also able to finally go to Tagaytay last February, though I never got around to blogging about it yet. We went to the Tagaytay Picnic Grove, then did the touristy thing and went to the Taal volcano. We finished off with an awesome bowl of bulalo at Leslie’s overlooking the Taal Lake.

With Tanja and Owen at the Amor Farm Beach Resort restaurant in Donsol

 
I’ve yet to go to Bauan, Batangas, but thanks to Columbia Sportswear, I ended up going up Mt. Daguldol in San Juan, Batangas. I’ve been wanting to go to Laiya beach, since I keep on reading about it over at the Girltalk forums. Well, I’ve been there, and I doubt if I’ll go back to that beach.

Four months into 2008 and I am feeling a bit tired about traveling. I don’t know why but I seem to be lacking the passion I felt when I was researching about the trips I made in 2006. I still get excited about the prospect of a new adventure, but I am sort of missing the fervor I had studying each information I can get about the places I plan on visiting. I guess I’m more relaxed about traveling now? Maybe, maybe.

Dimsum lunch with CouchSurfing Manila members Florian, Zara, Rebi and CS Manila Ambassador Ronnie at Chinatown

 
Highlights of 2008 so far
The definite highlights of 2008 are the people I met. I am really quite anti-social, and I’m surprised that I am making an effort to connect with people. If 2006 was about traveling solo, this year it’s about traveling with a group. I went with my family to Tagaytay. Owen organized the Donsol trip where I made friends with Tanja from Germany, Patrick from France, Barry and Luisa from the Netherlands. Then there was the Angono tour courtesy of Havila, where I was able to spend the day with Eric, Arpee and Noreen, Markku, Ivan, and the Our Awesome Planet family, Anton, Rache and Aidan. Then there’s my most recent trip with AJ, Ferdz, Phoebe, Jayvee and Dino.

Kalye Pinky members having too much fun with a Polaroid

 
Though not a trip out of town, one of the memorable interactions I had this year was that lunch at Market! Market! with Eric, Fritz, Jeff, Benj, Karlo and Juned, where Fritz, Eric and I wallowed in shared misery and indignation over our very bitter defeat. There’s also that Chinatown food trip, my first CouchSurfing Manila meet up with Ronnie, Zara, Rebi and Florian. Not to forget my fabulous doll friends: Rotch, Khursten, Yue, Kaoko, Cla, Chris and Joey. Then there’s that very salty party at Ming’s place when Paul came to visit on Chinese New Year with Mela, Anna D, Amanda, Argee, Peter, Ryan, Max and Jason. And all those Puri Kura moments…

Puri Kura is love

 
What’s to come
So what’s to look forward to in JustWandering? I might do one more post on the hiking trip, then move on to the Angono series, which I skipped. I would also be writing about our Taal Volcano experience. Then a couple of guest posts, which will take us out of Asia and into Africa.

As for my life offline, I’m going to keep on exploring Metro Manila. Maybe I should do what AJ did and ride around without any definite destination. Hmmmmmm… I’m also making sure I get to visit at least ONE place I listed in my poll. Boracay, Palawan or Basilan? Maybe all three? We’ll see

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This is the third part of a series of posts about my weekend trip to Donsol, Sorsogon for the Whaleshark experience. Previous posts in this series includes the budget for this Donsol trip (download Excel file here), and my musings about being back in Bicol after almost 6 years.

The Tourist Center is the starting point of the whale shark interaction experience. You are required to register and pay the interaction fee (Php100 for residents, Php300 for foreigners). This is also where you hire a boat, a crew and the Butanding Interaction Officer (BIO). Each boat is only allowed to carry 7 passengers (excluding the crew), and costs Php3,500 for the whole caboodle. If there are only two of you, the Php3,500 fee can be a huge amount, even if you split it. However, you can easily find and form a group of seven, since there’s a number of travelers traveling alone in these parts.

I didn’t have an underwater camera so I will try to distract you with random photos like this.

 
Owen and I were supposed to join the other guests from our resort. Due to a mix up, there were only one spot left in their group. Luckily, another group was also missing one passenger, so we decided to split and join the groups.

Before heading out to sea, everyone is required to watch the video briefing. Basically, it tells you about the whale shark and the proper way of behaving during the interaction. Once you finish (or when your boat is ready), you board the boat to start looking for these gentle giants.

Getting ready to dive

 
The best time for butanding watching they say is between December to May, where there is less rain and more sunny days. It was uncharacteristically rainy that week in the Bicol region. Well, it rains in Bicol throughout the year, but we had some unusually hard rainfall that time. The skies were clearing up, but it was still overcast and drizzles every hour or so. Sunshine is important for whale shark watching; visibility is greatly reduced if the sun isn’t out.

The interaction guidelines says that when one boat spots a whale shark, the other boats can’t go near and stalk the same whale shark. It also outlines that there can only be a certain number of people in the water at the same time. However, due to the weather and the poor visibility, the boats crowded around the same area, following the same butanding.

Too many people swimming

 
Christine, who I saw at the Manila domestic airport and who has gone Butanding watching before, said that the whale shark would suddenly pop out of nowhere. Having a slight fear of drowning, I find this a bit disturbing. When we were in the water though, BIO Jun took my hand and swam with me to see the Butanding. He was pointing at something in the water and I was really straining to see what he was pointing at. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I see a grey shape dotted with spots. It’s a butanding!

This is my only photo of the butanding. Pfft. But there’s always next time, right?

 
It’s as if the sun suddenly came out from behind the clouds to give us additional meters of visibility. That and the butanding was swimming close to the surface. It was huge! It really was a sight to behold. Though I didn’t have an underwater camera with me (because I am an idiot), that’s one picture that I will always remember.

We came back to the boat triumphant and exhilarated. We’ve already seen one, and we’re looking forward to see more! Our group saw a couple more after that, so by 11am, we were ready to head back to land.

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This year has been good to me. The first minutes of 2007 found me here in Melbourne, atop a bridge with the whole neighborhood, looking out to the city where the fireworks are. Though I never got to travel anywhere else this year, I was able to travel around Australia. I joined in the revelry at the Sydney Mardi Gras, and felt the fine white sand of the Gold Coast under my feet. It was here in Australia that I got to experience my first hot air balloon ride, the most perfect birthday gift.

Life was great in Manila as well. Though the devaluation of the dollar left me with income smaller than what I received two years ago, in spite of a pay raise, I managed to enjoy the six months I spent in Manila in between trips. The most notable events would be the number of blogging events I was able to attend. From French cooking classes to Chinese acrobats, indulging in cookies and having fun with the Clique booth; it was great to meet the people behind the blogs I religiously read.

I feel so blessed this 2007, and it’s time I share some of my blessings. No, I’m not giving out free trips What I’m giving out is something you can use when you go on your trip: a Lonely Planet Travel Journal. Writing with pen and paper isn’t dead. For most, the writing become more personal and insightful. What better way to jot down your musing while sunbathing at the beach or when the only bus of the day left you stranded in the most decrepit bus terminal in the world?

The Lonely Planet travel journal is not just a glorified notebook. The first page is for your personal information. This is specially handy for remembering your passport number, travel insurance number or your camera’s serial number. If you lose the journal, whoever found out would know how to return it to you, or if you have an accident *knock on wood* your rescuers would know your blood type, allergies and who to contact in case of emergency.

The following pages are for listing your travel schedule. It has spaces for flight details, including flight number, departure and arrival times. The next page is for addresses where you can jot down the addresses of people you’re sending postcards to, of people who’s hosting you, or of that cute guy you met last night.

The journal proper looks like a regular notebook. Certain pages however, have snippets about countries and cities around the world. Near the back is a map of the world, with a close-up map of the continents. There’s also a listing of essential websites for travelers (according to Lonely Planet, anyway). The section that would be most useful for travelers though, are the conversion charts. There’s a ruler in inches and centimeters at the edge of one page, and a clothing conversion chart for men and women. There’s also a simple guide on how to convert from Celcius to Fahrenheit, and imperial to metric measurements. At the last page, a handy decoder thingie for converting time between countries.

So how do you win this very nice travel journal? Simple, just by writing about your favorite, unforgettable travel memory. It can be a trip you took this year or several years ago. Relive the moment and write what made it special and memorable. Post the entry on your blog, and post the URL in the comment box so I can check it out. Not a blogger? E-mail me your story or post it in the comment box. The best entry wins the travel journal, of course Entries will be judged by the evil martian (me) and two other evil creatures. We’re nice people, really. Deadline for submission is December 20, 2007. Winner will be announced on Christmas Day, December 25th.

The fine print: Contest is open only to Philippine residents. Only one entry per person is required, linking back to the contest page is greatly appreciated. The Lonely Planet travel journal will be shipped to the winner via courier (either LBC or Air21), either on the 28th or the 29th.

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When people find out that I am from the Philippines, and it turns out that they’re thinking of traveling there, the usual question that they ask me is “is it safe to travel there?”

I have been living in Manila since 1980, and lived 27 years with only minor cuts and bruises, usually caused by my own clumsiness. But that’s coming from a local who’s used to Manila’s…quirks. How does Manila look like to a foreigner?

Here’s a great article written by an Australian journalist:

MANILA is everything you’d expect of a bustling Asian city, and quite a few things you wouldn’t expect.

The Philippines capital, with a population of 11 million, is bustling to the point of being chaotic. It has its share of traffic jams, crime, poverty and pollution. The sight of heavily armed men outside shops and banks, and signs imploring visitors to leave guns at the door, may well unsettle those of a delicate disposition.

But none of that – with the possible exception of the impossibly busy streets – is likely to adversely affect an enthusiastic, adventurous and well-organised tourist.

If you know where to go, and allow the time to get there, Manila has beautiful and safe public places, plenty of opportunities for a bargain buy, a vibrant night life and – and this was a pleasant surprise for me – a thriving visual arts scene.

Source: News.com.au

He came right after the Glorietta 2 explosion. I wonder how this article would’ve turned up if he came right when Trillanes had afternoon tea at the Peninsula

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There is an annual hot-air balloon festival held in Clark Field, Pampanga. The only time I was able to make it there was the one time the balloons didn’t come, and was replaced instead by an aerosport show. I find myself looking wistfully at pictures taken from the festival, always wondering when I’ll be able to see hot-air balloons on flight. So for my 27th birthday, I wished for a hot-air balloon ride. I must have been a good girl, because my wish came true this morning!

There are three or so companies offering balloon rides over Melbourne and the surrounding countryside in Victoria. My brother-in-law picked Global Ballooning. The starting and ending point of the balloon ride was at the Hilton Hotel (Hilton on the Park). We met up at the foyer around 4:30 in the morning. Passengers were asked to fill in a form and sign a waiver. Afterwards, we were broken into groups, and assigned to a pilot. We boarded an SUV, towing the basket, balloon and propane tanks.

We drove to a field 15-minutes away from the Hilton. We were told that the take off and landing fields change every flight, as it is dependent on the direction of the wind. As stated in their website, hot-air ballooning is a hands-on activity. Passengers are asked to help with setting up the balloons for flight and packing it up afterwards.

There were six balloons in the field that morning, three of which are from Global Balloons. It was amazing to watch as the balloons inflate, and eventually lift off the ground. Nick, our pilot, said that ballooning is all about the landing. Landing requires concentration and precision in managing the hot and cold air to get the balloon to land in the target landing field. Taking off, on the other hand, was so gentle, we hardly noticed that we were already off the ground.

Once you get over the initial excitement of being several hundred feet above the ground (and several hundred pictures), you find yourself just taking it all in: the view, the experience and just drifting wherever the wind takes you. Unless you have a terrible fear of height (why go on a hot-air balloon ride if you’re scared of heights?), ballooning is quite relaxing when you’re up in the air.

We flew high and we flew low. On the highest ascent, we reached about 4,000 feet (I would guess what’s when my ears started hurting a bit). We dropped altitude a couple of times, low enough to shout greetings to people on the ground, and hear their response.

After one-hour, we were instructed to go into our landing position. The landing position kept us balanced, preventing us from toppling all over the basket. The basket absorbed most of the impact, but you still feel it as the basket touches the ground. Once we have scrambled out of the basket, we were given new directions on how we can help pack up the balloon. First, the basket was lifted unto the trailer while there was still enough hot air inside. Then the pilot opens a flap to release all the air inside, deflating the balloon. We take up position along the lenght of the balloon, squeezing out the air and folding it in. Once the air is all out, we line up again, carrying the balloon and stuffing it back to its bag. Once everything was packed up, we head back to the Hilton for breakfast and champagne.

The balloon ride costs AU$350 for adults and AU$245 for children ages 6-12 years. It includes the ride and the champagne breakfast. It’s pricey, yes, but it well worth it.

More pictures after the jump, or if you can’t get enough, head on to my flickr.
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