Celebrate joy!

Oo na nga, sobrang tagal na nito... lol! But this whole staying-home-strictly-no-traveling situation that we have has got me dreaming of packing my bags somewhere where there are sand, seas, and sun! I think you are too! So here is our honeymoon video of Palawan at El Nido. Days after we got married, we went to this beautiful island! Why El Nido? Well aside from it being hailed as the most gorge beach in the Philippines (topping the white sand beaches in Bora and the diving-haven that is Bohol), I wanted to go to a place both of us haven't been to so that both of us would be discovering the place for the first time (odiba, minsan poetic at corny akey like that!). So here is the first part of our honeymoon video, enjoy!

So just before the year ends, here's the part 2 vlog of our Taiwan trip! :) I shared here our sky lantern experience and the beautiful Shifen Waterfall! Enjoy!

Here's the first part of our Taiwan trip last September! This post has been a long time coming! :) I had this uploaded in Youtube last October but only figured out this morning how to turn the privacy settings to public.  #Anubey We arrived in Taiwan in the wee hours of the morning so after having midnight snacks (milk tea + dumplings), we had ourselves set up at the home of Kimmy's auntie (thanks so much for your hospitality)! So the next day was full-on tourist mode, these are the places we went to...  - Chiang Kai Shek Memorial - Daan Park - Elephant mountain (sweats and large amounts of it! That was really a steep climb!) - Taipei Enjoy! Part 2 coming up before the year ends!

Hello! I haven't been updating you guys with what's been happening lately! But I have pending posts on Taiwan and our recent hiking experience to Mt. Nagpatong Rock Formations in Rizal... and then it's off to Baguio for me for the weekend! I'll post more on those in the next few weeks! In the mean time, here a few Taiwan photos as a teaser! Yehessss.... Miss nyo na ba mga travel posts ko? hehe!   Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Park... that's not the memorial though... 

Two Saturdays ago, we went up Mt. Batulao for a day hike. We were praying for good weather because it has been consistently pouring for days. So as a semi-newbie group of hikers, we knew it would be more challenging to take on muddy and slippery trails so we were hoping that the skies would clear that day. Thank God that it did! Of course, I am now typing this with uneven tanned lines (sumobrang clear naman ata ng skies haha) but my sunblock-lathering skills were more to blame than the sun. (I'll post tips on what to wear and what to bring on the next post) Quick Deets Jump-off point: Evercrest Golf Course, Nasugbu LLA: 14.0408 N 120.8011 E 811 MASL Days required / Hours to summit: 1 day / 2-4 hours Specs: Minor climb, Difficulty 4/9 Trail class 3 with 60-70 degrees assault Features: Open trails, rolling slopes, scenic views of Batangas

As promised, here are more photos of our hiking trip last month. Aside from the two mountains we were able to climb (lakas! Haha! ...Which were actually just beside each other :)) , we also dropped by Layong Bato River wherein we washed our sweaty and muddy feet. When you have been walking for miles, you don't know how refreshing it is the moment you dip your feet into the water. You just want to bring out soap and shampoo if only that were allowed.  ...and buko juice is love! We were asked to carry at least 1 liter of water, which is not enough if you suddenly decide to climb two mountains instead of one (we did not think this through, guys)... So grateful that they sell buko juice upon descending Mt. Apayang for our thirsty throats.

The mountains were beckoning -- so we planned a hiking trip to Mt. Talamitam in Nasugbu Batangas. I almost didn't make it on this trip -- because I have been coughing like crazy days before. But good thing both my democratic parents and my stubborn will were at work on the eve of the trip so I was able to go! Hooray! We were all beginners so we were glad to take on the 3/10 difficulty level of the trail. When we arrived at the campsite however, the guide was happy to offer us an upgrade (nasa sales ka ba dati kuya?): Climb two mountains, instead of one, for the price of P500! Are we up for it?

"Everything is awesome... everything is cool when you're part of a team... everything is awesome..." I watched that movie several months too late so pardon the LSS hitting this page :P When we booked our trip to Singapore, it was a toss between going to Malaysia to visit Legoland or just spending yet another day going around the Merlion-famed city... In the end though, the idea of crossing another border sounded too good to pass up. So a quick detour to Legoland it is!

Here's the last post for my SG trip last month. :) Sorry, it took awhile, but better late than never! Singapore is such a beautiful city and it ended up bigger than I thought, so there were many places to go especially great places to eat, to shop, to stroll around and take loads of photos with. Here are some places that really stuck to me that you may want to pay a visit to when you find yourself in SG... Gardens by the Bay The best time to go to here is around 5pm so you can see it with the natural light streaming down on everything, then have a quick bite at the restaurants in Marina Bay Hotel or go for a quick shopping then go back to see it at night because the lights are really beautiful!

Sometimes when you want to get away, the perfect solution is to not be in one, but in SEVERAL make-believe worlds :) While Disneyland is a kid's happiest place on earth, Universal Studios is for the kids and the kids-at-heart (aamin na, kasama na kami dito :D)- - specifically those who have a fascination for movies and who can't help but be wowed by the brilliance of film-making. My friends and I were definitely looking forward to this experience because we're major movie buffs, and maybe we can say this about majority of the Filipinos, we appreciate world-class entertainment! Well enough introduction, come and see USS through these photos :)

They say that you truly get to know people when you travel with them, and I have learned that statement to be especially true for this trip :) Good thing we're a bunch of honest-to-goodness   crazies that we ended up laughing over things that totally pissed us off minutes ago. That's when you know you've found true friends... right, Kim, Val and Mhe? When you can make a joke out of something that seemed pretty serious awhile ago, you know you've crossed the threshold to being "friends-for-keeps." Ha! :P Pinatibay na tayo ng panahon, mga 'te! Apir!

The moment I landed in Changi Airport, the first thing I looked for was food. The travel time from Manila to SG was about 3.5 hours and I regretted not shoving in my bag the peach-mango pie that my dad bought me for baon that day :( So upon arriving, my eyes quickly settled on the nearest signage that would cater to my rumbling tummy.

Our day 2 is off to an early start, because we had to leave at 2am so we can catch the barge/boat ride at 4am headed to Camiguin! Camiguin is about 2-hour land travel and 1 1/2 hour boat ride from the city :) We initially thought of going backpacking for this trip, but later on realized that getting La Montana Tours and Vans was probably the best decision we made because the places are so far from each other. Plus, just riding a van without fear of getting lost allowed us to recharge and catch up on sleep so that when we get to our destination, we're pumped up with happy energy to appreciate the place more :)

There are photos to satisfy the appetite of FB and IG users, THEN there are stories behind the photos made especially for this platform. If you're thinking of taking your backpack somewhere local and lovely, may it be the beautiful Northern Mindanao :) Got back from our 4-day trip in this province last month and I still have a travel-phile hangover from the scenic views and crazy activities we did. It wasn't exactly the best time of the year to go to the beach or anything nature-y but God has blessed us with good-enough weather that allowed us to do everything in our itinerary! Woot woot! Thank you, Lord! :)