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

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

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

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

All of 12 hours on the road? I had 2 issues here. Reason enough why a local like moí never made the trip till now. The long drive is half a day. Bad for my back. And butt. No flights. No trains. There's the bus. We chose to go on a hired private van, so we can stop to stretch whenever the bad back becomes a problem. The intended, well-intentioned rest and stretch stops..... That's a big joke. Having gone on a long weekend, we felt like half the city people had the same idea as our group of 7 pax. Traffic was B.A.D. And so, there were literally more stops than intended. You bet it proved to be longer than 12 hours! And obviously no rest and stretch stops for the last 3-4 hour zig ... read more