barok

With a very cold temperature. Weeks before we (the HolyWeek Travellers http://www.byahengbarok.com/holyweek ) even left Manila, I’ve been religiously checking out the weather and the temperature in Seoul and Busan. A year ago, it was suppose to be spring at this time of the year (April). But as we were nearing our departure date to Seoul (March 30 to be exact), the climate doesn’t seem like spring to us at all. Blame it on climate change! Nevertheless, we prepared for the battle… against the cold temperature, of course. I dug up all my long sleeve shirts, jackets, bonnets, gloves and tights. I asked my sister, who’s based in the US, to bring us (me and my son) thermal jackets when she came to visit last February. I even went on a last-minute shopping spree in Greenhills ... read more

The first time I saw the movie, “The Sound of Music,” from the Betamax tape that my father brought home, I fell in love with it. And all throughout my 6th grade, I watched it everyday as soon as I get home from school. So to say that I have watched “The Sound of Music” a thousand times in this lifetime is an understatement. I remember recording the songs of the movie from the TV’s speaker using the cassette recorder that we had so I can play the songs on and on even if I’m not watching the movie. I even had to write down the lyrics of the songs, pausing and playing and pausing the cassette tape so I can catch the correct words (Well, there was no Internet yet during that time for me ... read more

FINALLY! I’m so done packing for a 10-day trip to South Korea. Such a stressful endeavor especially when you’re trying to squeeze everything inside a medium-sized luggage without sacrificing fashion. Haha! But, really, I was worried for days on how my thermals, scarves, bonnets, etc. would ever fit inside our luggage. But it did… including my tripod! Now, let’s just hope that the airline company where we booked our flight with would handle our luggage with utmost care. Since I’ve always been my group’s unassigned, but official, itinerary maker, I’m sharing here where we’re all going hoping it could help others in mapping out their own itinerary to South Korea. Please do note that our age (yes, our age… we’ve been travelling together for the past 13 years) and our physical prowess (what prowess?!) were very ... read more

YEY!!! We’re so happy! We’re so happy! We’re so extremely happy! If you still don’t know, Mokong (that’s my son!) and I usually have our epic trips with a couple of long-time travelling friends during the Holy Week. Yes, it’s that week-long Christian commemoration from Christ’s crucifixion to His resurrection. Instead of sitting around at home and bumming around, we make use of the looong vacation as an opportunity to travel somewhere. Since 2007, all our Holy Week epic travels have been out-of-the-country. And this year’s trip is no exception. But unlike the previous ones, I had an extremely difficult time securing the requirements of our tourist visas. Not that the requirements were hard to get, but since I resigned from work, well, things have been a little bit complicated. I’ve been so stressed about it ... read more

I initially attempted to shoot star trails during a recent trip to Caramoan Island, Camarines Sur. Unfortunately, my camera settings were all wrong and I failed miserably and pathetically. So, when our photography mentor, Edwin Martinez, shared his knowledge and new learnings with star trail photography, my friends from CLXI and I wasted no time and immediately went to the Caliraya Lake in Cavinti, Laguna to practice what we’ve learned. Here’s my first ever star trail photo taken from 9:41pm to 10:41pm, a total of 101 shots. The night started out with really clear skies, but somewhere in the middle of the shoot, clouds started coming in and, oh well, messed up my photo. Still, this photo clearly shows, that yes, this time, my camera settings were correct. Click here to continue reading this entry: http:/ ... read more

I’m not a food blogger. And I am no authority when it comes to reviewing restaurants and dishes. But sometimes, when you get into a really, really good restaurant, and the ones you’re with totally agrees with every positive thing you say, then maybe, that restaurant is indeed good. That alone, is enough reason for me to blog about it. We discovered this European Kitchen as we came down the MRT Shihlin Station in Taipei. Since we left our hotel quite late, taking the time to rest and leisurely prepare for today’s remaining activities, it was almost lunch when we arrived at Shihlin. We decided to eat first before heading to the National Palace Museum, or else, we would all transform into werewolves once we’re hungry. We were actually looking for something cheap to eat in. ... read more