Category: Philippines

  • The humor of the people of Angono

    I joined fellow bloggers and members of traditional media for an art tour of Angono, Rizal, courtesy of Havila. Before I get to the artsy post, here’s some teaser photos, which shows the humor of Angono’s residents. Doña Aurora Street is lined with concrete murals based on the paintings of National Artist, Carlos “Botong” Francisco.…

  • Holy week in Manila

    While everybody headed out of Manila to spend Holy Week at the beach or shopping overseas, I stayed in Manila. Hardly anyone I know (well, the partyphiles anyway) wanted to stay in Manila during Lent because they all know Manila would be dead and deserted. And that’s why I wanted to stay in Manila. Luneta…

  • Donsol: Getting there and away

    Donsol, Sorsogon about 540 kilometers from Manila. Like most provinces in the Bicol region, it can be reached by plane (via Legaspi) or by bus. By Plane: Philippine Airlines flies daily to Legaspi. PR277 from Manila departs at 7:00 am, arriving in Legaspi at 8:05 am. The flight back to Manila, PR278 leaves Legaspi at…

  • Donsol Accommodation

    Here’s a list of your other accommodation options when you go to Donsol for the whale shark interaction. These are listed on the official Donsol tourism brochure. Amor Beach Resort Dancalan, Donsol, Sorsogon E-mail: rasyl_r_amor@yahoo.com / info_amorbeachresort@yahoo.com Contact No. +63 9095181150 Contact: Razyl Amor Vitton Beach Resort Dancalan, Donsol, Sorsogon E-mail: vittonbeachresort@yahoo.com Contact No. +63…

  • Review: Amor Farm Beach Resort

    Accommodation plays a role in your overall trip experience. Whether you’re staying at your hotel/hostel/guesthouse/b&b/resort the whole day or just sleeping there, it would still impact how your general feeling about the place. I guess one of the reasons why I enjoyed my Donsol trip so much was because of the overall feel and the…

  • Going on the Butanding watch

    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…

  • At home in Donsol

    This is the second part of a series of posts about my recent weekend trip to Donsol, Sorsogon for the Whaleshark experience. Budget for this Donsol trip is available for download. This wasn’t the first time I’ve been to Donsol. The last time we went home to my parent’s hometown, my dad decided to have…

  • Travel Expenses: Donsol 2008

    After several months of planning, I finally made it to Donsol. Actually, I didn’t really make any plans or did any research. I just signed up for a trip already organized by Owen, from my PEX mailing list. (He’s also organizing a couple of trips to Coron, Palawan. Anybody interested?) It was great to just…

  • Boracay Dreams

    February is just ending, but I can’t stop myself from thinking about the coming summer season. The heat lately has been getting worse, making me worry how much hotter it’d get when March and April rolls in. On hot sunny days like these, the best place to be is the beach. And when you say…