http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/digital_explorer/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from digital_explorer en-us Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:11:37 +0000 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:11:37 +0000 I HAVE MY FINAL CHECK OF THE IMPORTANT THINGS to be carried during my 6day trip. A day before the flight I was relaxed and not harassed thinking that I might forget something valuable which jeopardise my trip. Having 16 kg checkin bag and one hand carry for my laptop I was ready to go and looking forward to meeting the Pope in Vatican and David in Florence My friend was accommodating enough t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/blog-382332.html EASTER MONDAY 2008 NEWCASTLE NORTHERN IRELAND. It was a nonworking holiday and I joined for another walk organised by Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church where sometimes I also attend Sunday mass. Joining the group for the 5th time I walked with them for the second time in the highest land of Northern Ireland the Mourne Mountains. This time we climbed the 3rd highest peak of the mountain Sl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Northern-Ireland/Antrim/blog-263259.html Last weekend I joined my Irish friends to visit the western part of the Republic of Ireland. We stayed overnight in Ballymote and visited Ballina Inniscrone and the place called Knock. I dont have any idea about this small town in County Mayo. Even my Irish friends did not bother to tell me prior to the visit until we reached the place the Knock Shrine. As I stepped out from the car my frie http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Mayo/blog-263245.html A glimpse of Mississauga Toronto Ontario Canada on the last day of 2007 and first day of 2008. I woke up early in the morning just to find out that outside of the house is already covered with snow It was an amazing experience to touch the smoothness and whiteness of fresh snow a white mantle in all over the place of Mississauga. While writing this journal in my other travel journal's site Im http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Mississauga/blog-241589.html My recent visit to Dublin in the middle of August has a different purpose. I was invited by a friend to be interviewed and will be featured in a Filipino local magazine. The mag is currently circulated in Dublin catering to Filipino community. Without hesitation I decided to agree to visit Dublin and stayed overnight.I took the opportunity to know the family and joined them in a morning walk along http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-213236.html COUNTY ANTRIM IS ONE of the territorial counties in Northern Ireland where you could find several interesting places to explore. One of them is the coastline where two wellvisited tourist attractions could be found namely the Giants Causeway and the CarrickaRede hanging bridge. Aside from these attractions there are beautiful beaches and parks found in the county which I will also covered in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Northern-Ireland/Antrim/blog-166819.html I did my fifth visit to Thailand this year but this time I explored the eastern coast of the country Koh Chang. Originally my plan was to visit the places where the tsunami took place in Dec 2004 and to find out by myself how these places revive their status as tourist hub. My Thai friend told me that it is quite a busy time and requires long travel to reach these places including the talkof http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ko-Chang/blog-170812.html I had the opportunity to visit the southern side of Ireland for several times. My first visit was early of 2006 when I attended an exhibitionconference on transport and waste management. Unfortunately it was a oneday engagement so I was not really able to explore the city centre. For the second time around I joined my Irish friends to explore the coastal areas from Donegal to Sligo. My third http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-171982.html DURING MY THIRD VISIT to the US of summer 2006 I was able to stay longer for almost 4 weeks and visited some part of California State. San Francisco is one of them for the very first time. A month prior to my departure from Britain I contacted my friend working in San Francisco with an IT firm if I could stay at his place during my short visit. Being a close friend and the godfather of his onl http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-160476.html I was lucky to be chosen by my cousin to be his daughter's godfather Having said that I was excited to book my flight to Newcastle a month ago and make sure to get a lower fare from easyJet. At first it was really difficult to finalise my booking due to my deadlines with my university research. This time of the year is quite crucial but fortunately I was able to visit the eastern sidecoast a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Tyne-and-Wear/Newcastle-Upon-Tyne/blog-172676.html This is the second part of my fascination with Dublin where the Guinness beer originated. Unfortunately I havent done the Guinness Store tour yet but my friends told me that this is a must do thing which takes almost 12 day to have a full glimpse of the entire beer factory. Frankly Im really excited to have it a go and hopefully be able to collect some beer mats coaster from there. I tried http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-183247.html BEING A FREQUENT TRAVELLER having reliable sources of information is essential. One of them is being part of this TRAVEL BLOG community. It provides handson information from the members. A month ago I signed up for another free travel site TRIVAGO. As a member I can post photographs and travel reviews and get extra incentives through the shares from every operation I contributed to the site. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/blog-160813.html St Anne's Cathedral is one of the highlights of the Cathedral Quarter found at the city centre of Belfast. It is a religious icon in its own way for so many years and its reputation is more visible after the installation of the 53 meters high Spire just at the top of the altar of the church. In my previous visits to the city I always have the desire to find out what is inside this prominent st http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Northern-Ireland/Belfast/blog-181153.html I am one of the avid fans of any festival celebration in Belfast City. Unfortunately I was not able to attend the Maritime Festival last year 2006 since I was in the US to take my one month summer vacation in some areas of California. But this year I did my best to attend this annual celebration of wooden ships including the SS Nomadic which is the last ship that carry the passengers from Ti http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Northern-Ireland/Belfast/blog-178185.html Side trip to Marsden BaynbspEurope raquonbspUnited Kingdom raquonbspEngland raquonbspNewcastle raquonbspSouth Shields By digitalexplorerJuly 6th 2007Reymos This is the second part of my trip to Newcastle England three weeks ago Sunderland in particular and I had a side trip to South Shields beautiful coastline the Marsden Bay. One of the interesting attractions in the area i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Tyne-and-Wear/Newcastle-Upon-Tyne/blog-178165.html OVER THE WEEKEND I was able to visit the city for my regular swimming at Queen University Sportrsquos Physical Centre besides the Botanic Gardens. Prior to my swim I decided to take my late lunch at the Filipino restaurant Kainan Caf and did sing some Karaoke songs. Singing with 'magic mic' happens every Saturday and having that somehow improve my singing prowess and hopefully to be qualifi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Northern-Ireland/Belfast/blog-162748.html I ALWAYS PASS THESE PLACES EVERYTIME I visit the Queen's University to watch international films at the Film Theatre and to swim at the Physical Education Centre just at the far end side of the Botanic Gardens. The area is commonly known as the 'Queen's Quarter' offering mix of traditional and contemporary cultural and artistic atmosphere including Victorian and Edwardian buildings and modern http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Northern-Ireland/Belfast/blog-164032.html LAST APRIL 2007 ANOTHER MEMORABLE EVENT was held at the city hall a week of Titanic celebrations. This was the 4th year that the city hall held this exhibition in commemoration of the Titanic. This exhibition presented the development of the ship from construction until the present day and beyond. There were images artifacts talksseminars and stories presented during the whole week of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Northern-Ireland/Belfast/blog-163197.html It was a wonderful sunny but chilly day Dec 906 when my friends 8 friendly people from the church and I joined together to climb this magnificent peak of Slieve Donard in the Mournes Mountain. It was a 5hour walk from the foot of Donard Forest having a towering height of 849 metres 2786 ft with several mini waterfalls along the way. It was 4 degrees C during our climb and my clothes and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Northern-Ireland/Belfast/blog-163093.html I AM A FILIPINO aka Pinoy and it is very ironic to find out that Ive not written any travel experience in my home country. I think it is logical to put the diary date when I was able to read and write at the age of 6. Unfortunately during those times internet did not exist and Travelblog as well. The diary date that reflects in my journal is the daymonthyear when I decided to review about th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/blog-162832.html