Kara Santos

Gear Guide: Choosing a Motorcycle Helmet

If you’re planning to drive a motorcycle or regularly back ride as a passenger, the most basic piece of safety equipment you need is a proper helmet. Since motorcycles don’t provide the structural protection that a car does to keep drivers safe in the event of accidents, riders need to take extra precautions to protect their body, especially their head – and that’s where helmets come in.

A lot of shops in the Philippines sell motorcycle helmets designed for guys. As a female rider, I’ve personally had a hard time finding a helmet that fits me. While I’ve used a few different helmets over the years, the best-fitting ones for me so far have been the ones from LS2 Helmets Philippines.

Top Destinations in the Philippines for Backpackers

The Philippines is made up of over 7,000 different islands, which can make getting around the country a bit challenging. For backpackers who want to cover a lot of ground at one time, planning your route and trying to visit major tourist destinations spread apart the country can be a bit of a puzzle. While there are ferries and boats that connect major islands, it’s difficult to know exactly where to go.

In most cases, it’s practical and faster to just fly between islands to maximize your trip. For some places in Northern Luzon without commercial flights, you have no option but to take a bus or travel by land from major cities. For first time travelers to the Philippines, it really helps to focus on particular regions and aim for quality instead of trying to visit every major tourist hub.

Are Folding Bikes for you?

If you’re short on space at home and want a form of transport for urban commuting and errands in the city, folding bikes are a practical choice. Folding bikes are bicycles designed to fold into a compact form and can be more easily carried into buildings. While originally designed for short distances and flat roads, many cycling enthusiasts also use folding bikes for epic rides up mountain roads and for bike touring over hundreds of kilometers.

Folding bikes are a great option for bimodal transport and can be carried easily while riding in buses, trains, cars, planes, and boats, making them a good choice for urban dwellers and leisure travelers.

Neighborhood Bike Shops in Quezon City

Looking to buy your first bicycle or need repairs done? A lot of bikers usually head to Quiapo and Cartimar where bikes and bike parts are generally cheaper. But with the bike shortages everywhere, it might be better to just head to your local bike shop or LBS in your neighborhood. It may cost a little bit more, but this way if ever you need spare parts or repairs or maintenance done, at least you don’t have to travel too far to get it fixed by bike mechanics.

For residents of Quezon City and nearby areas, these are just a few of the bike shops that are currently open as of June 2020 (including safety measures in place with regards to COVID.)

Best Types of Bicycles for Beginners

With the lack of public transportation and the need for social distancing when getting around, more people are interested in buying a bicycle for their personal mobility. While many are thinking of bicycles for short-term use and commuting because of restricted movements brought by the lockdown and quarantine, once checkpoints and borders to other provinces open up and travel by air and sea is allowed again, traveling by bike for leisure may also become more popular.

Klook Unveils Home-Based Experiences & Free Virtual Tours

Social distancing, travel restrictions, and stay-at-home measures have limited our ability to travel and the desire for the human connection is now more important than ever. To help customers stay connected even while staying at home, Klook, a world-leading travel activities, and services booking platform announced the launch of its new home-based experiences initiative, Klook Home.

Klook Home consists of home-based online experiences such as fitness and wellness online classes, digital learning workshops, Do-It-Yourself (DIY) gardening and baking kits, as well as free virtual tours to help you stay connected, wherever you are across the globe.

First-Timers Guide to Buying a Motorcycle in the Philippines

So you’re looking to buy your first motorcycle but don’t know where to start. There are just so many motorcycle models and brands out there that it can feel pretty intimidating just browsing online or going to a shop to inquire about a motorcycle when you’ve never owned one before. I know how overwhelming it can be to look at a spec sheet and have no idea what all the numbers mean.

While I’m not really into the technical side of motorcycling, I think I can speak from experience. Together, my husband and I have bought 5 motorcycles: a Kawasaki Eliminator, Yamaha Mio Fino, Royal Enfield Classic 350, Suzuki Thunder (custom), and Kymco Like 150. I also rent motorbikes and scooters a lot when I travel and have had the chance to do test rides on various units for ride reviews.

10 Beginner-Friendly Scooters available in the Philippines

NOTE: This article was originally written in 2020 and motorcycle prices may have changed since then.

With social distancing considered the “new normal” everywhere in public transport, lines and queues are longer on the MRT, buses, and jeepneys. Because of this, many are probably thinking of buying a motorcycle to make their daily commute easier.

Many first-time riders, however, don’t know what kind of bike they need and are intimidated by the choices. For beginners, nothing beats the simplicity of scooters. With these bikes, you just turn the key, twist the throttle and go. No need to fumble with a clutch to switch speeds.

How Travel in the Philippines May Change after COVID

The travel and tourism industry has been hit hard by the global pandemic. At this point, everything remains uncertain, and we can’t really know if and when things will bounce back to “normal.” As movement around the world has become restricted, airlines and hotels have been forced to cut jobs to lower costs. We can’t expect the same frequency of flights and the vast travel options that we had just two months ago.

Travel as we know it will never be the same again. Here are just a few predictions for travel in the post-COVID era in the Philippines.

10 Travel-Inspired Activities You Can Enjoy Indoors

There are times when we just can’t travel. Maybe, we’re still working and saving up enough funds for our next getaway. Maybe, the weather isn’t really great, so it’s really better to just stay at home. Or maybe, the entire world is on lockdown because of a global pandemic, flights have been canceled, public transportation is halted, and everyone is required to go on a mandatory quarantine in the confines of their homes. It happens.

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