Category: Destination

  • Mermaids at the Manila Ocean Park

    My friend is a mermaid. She admitted this as we were walking from that Church in Matinloc, Zambales. Yes, she has legs when she’s on land, but once she dips into that big fish tank at the Manila Ocean Park, she grows fins and flowers and floats around gracefully to a beautiful orchestaral arrangement of…

  • Recharging my batteries in Sabah

    I’m writing this from the dining area of the Lavender Lodge in downtown Kota Kinabalu. I’ve been here since Saturday, and if it weren’t the start of the week, I probably wouldn’t be blogging this early. I meant to write a day to day update, as I did for previous trips, but I figured I…

  • Hot Air Balloons in Clark

    Truth be told, my interest in attending the annual Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark has waned after my hot air balloon ride in Melbourne. That doesn’t explain why on the morning of February 11, I was standing in a field inside the Clark Freeport Zone with some of the Lakbay Norte friends. Fire in…

  • Day 7: Clark, San Fernando and Quezon City

    We woke up that last morning earlier than our alarm. Our departure time from Holiday Inn that morning was 8:50am — the latest that we had to leave in the past 6 days. Star Trooper, Darth Vader, Sayuri and Sabrina with the Lakbay Norte bus We took our time getting ready and enjoying Mequeni’s breakfast…

  • Lakbay Norte Day 6: Subic, Hacienda Luisita and Clark

    This morning we woke up at White Rock Resort in Subic, tonight we’re sleeping at the Holiday Inn at Clark, Pampanga. Lighthouse Beach Cleanup It was another very early morning, starting with a 6am check out. We had a brief tour of the resort before heading out to the Lighthouse Marina for our breakfast. We…

  • Lakbay Norte Day 5: Pangasinan and Zambales

    We woke up bright and early in Alaminos, Pangasinan, excited for our morning trip to the Hundred Islands. As with the previous evenings, we’re sleeping in a different place tonight: Subic Bay. Hundred Islands in Alaminos, Pangasinan

  • Lakbay Norte Day 4: Benguet and Pangasinan

    My alarm woke me up from a deep slumber at our room at The Manor. Tonight’s accommodation is somewhere in Alaminos, Pangasinan. Today started out relatively late at 7:30am. We were actually supposed to be waiting at the lobby already, but everybody seemed to have enjoyed their sleep last night, so by 7:30, we were…

  • Lakbay Norte Day 3: Ilocos Norte, La Union and Baguio

    Today, I woke for early check out from our hotel in Laoag, and now I’m writing this from my bed at The Manor in Baguio. It was a very active Day 3: sand boarding on the dunes of Ilocos Norte, followed by surfing at La Union. The 4×4 and sandboarding adventure was supposed to be…

  • Lakbay Norte Day 2: Cagayan and Ilocos Norte

    Today, I woke up in Tuguegarao again. Tonight though, I’ll be sleeping in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. Our call time this morning was at 5:30am and everybody in the group made sure (or at least tried their hardest) to get some much needed sleep. We started the day with a hearty Cagayan breakfast at Director Bless…