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liliram
Retired early, but still active. Very involved in celebrating life! liliram
I love traveling because I always come back with less cobwebs in my mind. It is as if I empty my mind of all clutter upon departure, and fill it with many happy memories upon arrival. I also like the idea that life is so focused on the present, and my senses are all playing to listen, feel , see, smell and taste everything novel or not so new. The fact that I only have to choose from a limited wardrobe, or use the same pair of shoes throughout my holiday , or work and survive on a single budget make life so much simpler. Sure, you sometimes get a raw deal in a few trips, or feel hassled by flight delays and cancellations, but the joys and simplicity of the present far outweigh the negatives. Oh, btw, I always end up gaining more friends after each trip. Many I kept......
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Travel Blog Posts
May 27th 2013
The North kept issuing threats but the South Koreans are unfazed. Those threats have become so regular that life remains normal here despite the newspaper headlines. Shops and night markets remain open, karaoke bars still blaring, glasses clinking as soju (Korean vodka) bottles are emptied, and restaurants and food stalls a-steaming with their specialty dishes! LOSING ONE'S SOUL IN SEOUL? Totally wasted. Completely zonked out. We'd likely never do this again. That is, taking a midnight flight to arrive 4am in Seoul. Good thing Incheon Airport is so welcoming. We stayed, glued to our seats in the airport's Cafe Pascucci , sipping our fav black liquids to start our day. No luck. Our energy level hit rock bottom for lack of sleep. Took a taxi to take us to Nine Tree Hotel in Myeongdong, a good ... read more
May 23rd 2013
Who stole the dinosaur? And THIS IS NOT A JOKE. We arrived in Ulaan Bataar (UB) just a day AFTER the smuggled dinosaur fossils were returned to Mongolia. May 18 was thus declared the new National Dinosaur Day. Yey! But wait, where would they put all these dinosaurs? The Mongolian Museum of Natural History The Museum is said to be the oldest Museum in Mongolia, and it shows. The paint has peeled off many parts of the white building that now looks like an abandoned structure from the Soviet period. As soon as we entered, we set out to look for the resident dinosaur fossils and eggs. T-Rex was "fully assembled" in a hall with poor lighting. It won't be lonely for long. And it would soon have a new home. The Mongolian government announced it ... read more
May 20th 2013
Mongolia wasn't in my (immediate) plan. But as it turned out, me and my 3 other friends found ourselves here in late May, and happy we made the trip. It would have been more adventurous to take the Trans Siberian Train from Moscow to Ulaan Bataar on the way to Beijing, but such is one plan we have long dropped. If we were younger, perhaps. At our age and disposition, we'd rather fly. So much is happening here especially in Ulaan Bataar with quite a number of high-rise buildings under construction. With 70% of the 2.7 million Mongolians still living in "gers" (circular tents for nomadic Mongolians) and nearly half of that in the city, I wonder who's buying up these condominium units in UB. And if they so move to these modern housing units, who'd ... read more
May 9th 2013
We're a group of 4 friends counting more than 30 years of friendship and many trips together. Every so often, we'd meet for lunch or dinner or simply laze around in one's house where we literally spend the whole afternoon just chatting, eating and drinking. When the latter passes the limit, we engage in some rigorous dancing and singing like most rowdy Filipinos do. We met to plan our trip to Mongolia late May and whether to break our homeward journey with a couple of nights in Seoul. That was the plan. Each one with some assignment on hotel bookings, flight bookings, list of foods to eat and sites to visit. So how did we get to Phuket for a quick trip just a week before the Mongolian trip? Holy Cow, We're in Mai Khao!/url... read more
April 17th 2013
The Friendliest Travel Blog site. Some community we have here! I guess bloggers in TB feel "connected" to each other after reading each other's blogs and following each blogger's adventures. Through the years, some of us "skyped" , emailed and tweeted each other about our comings and goings. We agreed, we argued, we sympathized, we missed each other even before we actually met! Met Ben in Manila. The very first blogger I've met. Fetched him from his guesthouse one afternoon after leaving messages in each other's inbox. Had dinner at Via Mare to sample bibingka (rice cake), pancit luglog (noodles with a shrimp paste dressing), bagnet salad (a salad with fried/dried pork fried to a crisp, a dish from Northern Philippines). Unfortunately, Ben and I completely forgot to have a photo taken and there was no ... read more
BATANES: Getting In The Zone In The Northernmost Island Province of the Philippines
Published: March 28th 2013Asia » Philippines » Batanes
March 27th 2013
Been looking forward to this trip for the longest time. More so when my close friends decided to join me on this coveted journey to the northernmost frontier of our county. Never mind that we went on zombie mode to reach the domestic airport at 3:30 am. Nor that expectations were so high that we were afraid we'd get disappointed. But as it turned out, we weren't disappointed one bit. Just quite surprised that Batanes is a lot more than we actually expected. The Rocky Coast and Verdant Cliffs of Batanes Mt. Iraya stood majestically as we landed 7-ish that morning. We boarded a jeepney and reached Batanes Seaside Lodge in a few minutes. Breakfast was waiting for us, then some rest in our spartan but clean room. I could have dashed out soon after that ... read more
A Roadtrip Around Laguna de Bay (Laguna, Philippines)
Published: March 12th 2013Asia » Philippines » Laguna » Calamba
March 10th 2013
Laguna de Bay. This body of water -- the largest lake in the Philippines -- straddles Metro Manila and the provinces of Laguna and Rizal. From this lake, water flows through the Pasig River which meanders around and across Metro Manila and drains into Manila Bay. It is said that 3,000 years ago, Manila Bay is connected to Laguna Lake but "broke up" as a result of disturbances along a major earthquake fault. The Tallest Statue Honoring A Little Hero He stands only at 4 feet 11 inches but Dr. Jose Rizal stands tall in every Filipino's heart. In honor of our national hero, the tallest statue was erected right in his hometown of Calamba, Laguna. You'd pass it on a roadtrip from Manila passing the Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEX), just 90 minutes driving south from ... read more
Cheating My (Sky) Way to Mount Pinatubo
Published: March 4th 2013Asia » Philippines » Tarlac Province
March 3rd 2013
Nearly 60 and a big cheat. Say what you like, but we got farther with our 4x4 jeep before starting the trek towards the Mount Pinatubo Crater. Typically, trekkers do an hour on the 4x4 jeep to reach the base. From there it's a 2 hour-trek towards the crater. Well..... The 'Skyway' or The Shortcut? If it can be done via a 2-hour 4x4 drive and a half-hour trek instead, why not? "I'm game!" I confidently told my niece. "Skip the rubber shoes as you'd just get them soaking wet crossing brooks and streams while trekking" , she reminded me. Without her seeing, I rolled my eyes. No way I'm giving up my rubber shoes to wear those sandals. If they get wet, so what? My 2 nieces coming along each woke me up at 2 ... read more
How About Owning This Beach in El Nido?
Published: January 21st 2013Asia » Philippines » Palawan » El Nido
January 16th 2013
In El Nido, we combined Tours A & B Island-Hopping Tours to free up a day to visit the twin beaches of Nacpan and Calitang. Not within tourism radar. YET. The day we visited, we shared the beach with only 3 pairs of tourists who motorbiked for nearly an hour from El Nido Town Proper. Must have been a bumpy ride for them, as it was for us. TWIN BEACHES OF NACPAN AND CALITANG We arranged for a private van to take us here. Just under an hour's drive from town. Frankly, it's so remote I wouldn't know how to get here a second time. Unpaved, dusty roads. We felt "lost" even though our driver seemed to know his way around. Just a lone stone house in the area. Two beaches side by side! Except for ... read more
January 12th 2013
At the outset, I thought it would be a nightmare of a holiday. We booked cheap airline tickets for our family (and friends) of 9 pax early on. Then I spent a whole week scouring for lodgings. I was on my 10th already as the previous 9 hotels, B&Bs, hostels, inns were all fully booked! Finally found 3 beachfront cottages but they didn't come cheap for an otherwise unremarkable beach hotel. Well, it's that time of the year when everyone's on a holiday mood and have Christmas bonuses to burn! Then when all's set, a typhoon threatened to hit Palawan. In fact it did, on the eve of our arrival. That day weather authorities announced the typhoon is moving out of Palawan and Philippine territory, we were at the airport waiting for our flight. Nine souls ... read more
liliram
| Joined | November 15th 2008 | Trips | 20 |
| Last Login | June 19th 2013 | Followers | 65 |
| Status | BLOGGER | Follows | 76 |
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Trips
Ancient Europe 1996
April 26th 1996 -» June 3rd 1996
Spain, Portugal and France 2002
March 18th 2002 -» April 6th 2002
Central and Eastern Europe 2004
August 22nd 2004 -» September 15th 2004
Bonding with Sarah in US of A (2005)
March 11th 2005 -» April 9th 2005
Touring Europe with Shellane 2006
March 21st 2006 -» April 26th 2006
West Coast USA and Alaska 2007
May 16th 2007 -» June 4th 2007
New Year Holiday in Hongkong and Macau 2009
December 31st 2008 -» January 3rd 2009
Turkish and Greek Delights 2009
March 12th 2009 -» April 4th 2009
Meeting Friends and Family in China 2009
April 5th 2009 -» June 1st 2009
Indonesian Holiday 2009
October 20th 2009 -» October 28th 2009
World Expo in Shanghai 2010
May 18th 2010 -» July 26th 2010
The Temples of Siem Reap
November 17th 2010 -» November 22nd 2010
Cruising As A Family: Singapore and Melaka 2011
January 7th 2011 -» January 10th 2011
Short Trips Around the Country
January 11th 2011 -» November 8th 2011
A Quick Trip to Vietnam, Then Back Home
November 14th 2011 -» November 30th 2011
Mystique of Bhutan
December 1st 2011 -» December 8th 2011
La Segunda Vez En España
February 22nd 2012 -» May 6th 2012
An African Safari
August 3rd 2012 -» August 31st 2012
More Trips Around The Country (Part 2)
November 21st 2012 -» May 1st 2013
Quick Asian Escapades
May 3rd 2013 -» ongoing
April 26th 1996 -» June 3rd 1996
Spain, Portugal and France 2002
March 18th 2002 -» April 6th 2002
Central and Eastern Europe 2004
August 22nd 2004 -» September 15th 2004
Bonding with Sarah in US of A (2005)
March 11th 2005 -» April 9th 2005
Touring Europe with Shellane 2006
March 21st 2006 -» April 26th 2006
West Coast USA and Alaska 2007
May 16th 2007 -» June 4th 2007
New Year Holiday in Hongkong and Macau 2009
December 31st 2008 -» January 3rd 2009
Turkish and Greek Delights 2009
March 12th 2009 -» April 4th 2009
Meeting Friends and Family in China 2009
April 5th 2009 -» June 1st 2009
Indonesian Holiday 2009
October 20th 2009 -» October 28th 2009
World Expo in Shanghai 2010
May 18th 2010 -» July 26th 2010
The Temples of Siem Reap
November 17th 2010 -» November 22nd 2010
Cruising As A Family: Singapore and Melaka 2011
January 7th 2011 -» January 10th 2011
Short Trips Around the Country
January 11th 2011 -» November 8th 2011
A Quick Trip to Vietnam, Then Back Home
November 14th 2011 -» November 30th 2011
Mystique of Bhutan
December 1st 2011 -» December 8th 2011
La Segunda Vez En España
February 22nd 2012 -» May 6th 2012
An African Safari
August 3rd 2012 -» August 31st 2012
More Trips Around The Country (Part 2)
November 21st 2012 -» May 1st 2013
Quick Asian Escapades
May 3rd 2013 -» ongoing
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