Blogs from Philippines, Asia - page 329

it was our annual team building in the office. one of the perks in working with the government is: you get to travel around the country for free. we spent four days in boracay. "Boracay boasts of a sugary white sand and azure blue waters. The best part of the island is the four kilometer white beach. The surrounding water is shallow and the sand is finer and brighter than most beaches in the Phil archipelago. It is a perfect place for watersports also. one can partake in a smorgasbord of exhilarating aqua action - from swimming and snorkeling to scuba diving, windsurfing, sailboating, kayaking, boardsailing and boating. World renowned Boracay is an adventure island ideal for island hopping, hiking, trekking, caving, mountain climbing, biking and horseback riding. Trekking and mountain biking can bring even the ... read more

It began with the first beads of sweat that formed as I walked out of the Manila Airport and across the street toward big orange sign. “MABUHAY Neha, Amy, and Ginny!” The woman behind the sign, SCALA project Coordinator Sarah Grant, smiles and leads us to the bus terminal. Now, when you throw three Canadian volunteers, their huge backpacks and our project coordinator (nearly fluent in the local language of Tagalog!) together with a bus, Jeepney, tricycle, lots of diesel and no traffic lights you have the makings of my first glimpse of the Philippines. And it is just that - a glimpse. Scratching the surface of a nation that is resilient in all things; rising above a colonial past, widespread poverty and unemployment, corruption, and natural disaster. At once, I found everything intangibly but distinctly ... read more

see that curvy red line? that's how far we travelled last last weekend.................. i was on a luzon trip adventure with my officemates last weekend (march 14-16)...................... it was a last minute plan really, so we all need to go home first to pack our things (oops! except for E--hi E!)..................... we left manila at 1:00am -saturday and we were back 12:30am - tuesday.............. our target destination was really pagudpud, but we did a side trip also to vigan and claveria, cagayan.................. it was fun!!! details.....details.... stop overs our first stop was at la union to have our breakfast, next was at the bridge's view deck (the bridge connecting ilocos sur and ilocos norte).................... then we decided to have our lunch at vigan (that was my third time to see vigan)........................ took a lot of pictures ... read more

I just had a recent trip to Donsol, Sorsogon. Donsol used to be a rustic and sleepy town in the Bicol region. However, during the year of 1997, news regarding the existence of whalesharks (locally known as Butanding) in its waters, entailed the boom of tourists and whaleshark enthusiasts in this area. Another must-do in this town is the firefly watching at night. It's similar to the Kuala Selangor Firefly Tour in Malaysia. Here you get to experience to paddle on a serene lake, while an abundance of mangroves lined up on each side. You can hire a small banca (a makeshift boat, don't worry it is safe) or a small motorboat but i suggest that you take a banca so that you can truly experience a tranquil and romantic boat ride. Best to go on ... read more

everytime we wanted to take respite from work, we could not think of any place but baguio.. maybe you know the reason why. but this time, we were in the city to attend a conference for 5 days. this particular visit was actually my 6th time to be in the city of pines. for 5 days, we were bound to be present at every session of the conference but then after the main agenda, the group could'nt resist the attraction that is synonymous to baguio so we have no choice but to go around the city. on our last night in the city, we also tried the night life as we hopped from one bar to another. the group initially planned to tour sagada and ifugao but i have to begged off considering that we ... read more