Category: Blog Carnival

Collectible Items IRL (In Real Life) Travel

Updated February 2016

In the latest edition of video game Tomb Raider, Lara Croft can choose to deviate from the main quest and search for relics and GPS caches hidden off the beaten path. In Arkham Asylum, Batman can opt to track down the Riddler’s trophies while trying to foil the Joker’s plot.

Many video games, especially the role-playing/adventure types, usually have sidequests where the goal is to collect certain items. Usually these items are not really essential to finishing the overall game. Most of the time it’s just for bragging rights. Among the memorable collectible items in games I have played are those rare cards from the Triple Triad card mini-game in Final Fantasy VIII, the insanely hard to complete 100 stray beads from the game Okami, and memories and bottles in Alice: The Madness Returns.

Credit: The Last of Us meme

The latest game I played, The Last of Us, had me searching for Firefly pendants, training manuals and comic books while trying to fight off the infected and survive in a brutal post-apocalyptic world. Continue reading “Collectible Items IRL (In Real Life) Travel”

Achievements Unlocked in 2012

Ah, yes the year-ender post. Where do I begin, when I haven’t written about half of the trips I took this year? Let’s see, bullet points would be the easiest way. The year 2012 has been pretty good in terms of travel. I wasn’t able to go on some of the international trips I had planned this year, but in return I got a lot of local trips, some of which were totally unexpected. Here are the major blog/trip highlights and “achievements unlocked” this year:

  • Domain Upgrade: Upgraded WordPress blog to a self-hosted dot.com
  • Blog facelift: Got an awesome new blog banner designed by the pure genius known as The Creative Dork/The Travelling Dork aka Robx Bautista
  • Fan Likes: Gained more than 900 followers on Facebook (up from 300 the first year)
  • Page views: Exceeded 200,000 page views
  • Page Rank upgrade: Achieved a Google Page Rank of 3 since switching to a dot.com domain

Crab Overload in Samar’s Alimango Festival

“Batok alert. Crab high cholesterol festival!”

“Panalo yan. Ang Sarap. Ang Alige, Ang High Blood at Cholesterol.”

“Drool drool! Cardiac delights! (add thick coco cream for that ultimate mortal sin meal )”

Continue reading “Crab Overload in Samar’s Alimango Festival”

What a Journey it has Been…

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” — Don Williams, Jr. (American Novelist and Poet, b.1968)

In a couple of weeks, the year 2011 will come to an end and another one will begin. This December, the 14th edition of the Blog Carnival takes a look back at the memorable journeys taken by 34 Pinoy Travel Bloggers. From journeys on land, sea, and air on the way to a specific destination, to trying out various modes of transport, overcoming fears, and learning life lessons while on the road, this compilation pays tribute to the spirit of adventure that courses through the veins of true-blue travelers.

Join us as we focus on the often overlooked journey it takes to get to wherever we’re going. Continue reading “What a Journey it has Been…”

Finding Bliss in a Tribal Fiesta

Mindanao is often portrayed as a place of conflict and war. It only figures in the media landscape as a backdrop for conflict, bombings, kidnappings and insurgency. “Is it safe?” is a common question people ask when they hear of ANY destination in Mindanao. But Mindanao is a vast region — though conflict may occur in isolated areas – in other places, you will find beautiful natural wonders, diverse culture, and peace-loving people.

Here nestled in the foothills of Davao, one of Mindanao’s many provinces, is one of the most blissful and memorable places that I’ve visited in the country. The trip may have been a few years ago, but I still remember how special it felt to witness the fiesta of the Matigsalog tribe (“people of the river”), who reside in the forests and remote barangays of Marilog, near the riverbanks of the Davao River (formerly known as Salug River). Continue reading “Finding Bliss in a Tribal Fiesta”

All Aboard the Bicol Express

NOTE: Manila-Bicol trips are currently suspended due to ongoing repairs. For updates on operations, visit the PNR Website.

“I am on the top bunk of a sleeper coach aboard the Bicol Express making its way from Naga to Manila. There’s something very nostalgic about the rocking motion of the train chugging along noisily on the tracks. I find the rhythmic vibrations of the train’s engine, sounds of metal clanging on metal, and echoes of ‘choo-choo’ of the train’s horn oddly comforting.” – excerpt from travel journal written on train 11/3/11 before lights were switched off

My sister and I were little kids the last time we rode the Bicol Express of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) with our parents. My mother says I first traveled by train when I was two months old. She managed to carry my sister (then 2 years old) and I along with all our luggage. Throughout our childhood, we would take the train frequently to shuttle back and forth from our home province Naga to Manila, to spend summers and Christmases with my grandparents and other relatives. Continue reading “All Aboard the Bicol Express”

Travel Tips for a Zombie Outbreak

Where would you go if a Zombie Apocalypse hit the country?

This question has been plaguing (plague, get it?) me ever since I got hooked on zombie movies like Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, REC and video games like Left4Dead. The second season of The Walking Dead is also set to air in a couple of weeks (Woohoo)! If you’re familiar with these movies, games and shows, you’ll know that if you don’t have a defense and escape plan yet, you’ll probably end up a zombie snack very quickly.

Travel Up asked fellow zombiephiles for some travel tips in case an outbreak did hit the country. Here are their suggestions of where to go and what vehicle to use to make an escape, with valuable insights from the book “The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead” by Max Brooks (who also authored World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War). Both books are must-reads and offer practical advice for surviving zombie attacks, which may just save your life in the near future. Continue reading “Travel Tips for a Zombie Outbreak”

Easy Riding to Caliraya

“The best alarm clock is sunshine on chrome.” – Author Unknown

I have always been fascinated with motorcycles, but until recently, I was only a backrider. Continue reading “Easy Riding to Caliraya”

Manila by Motorcycle

Mention Manila and the most common image that comes to mind is heavy traffic, smoke-belching jeepneys, swerving buses and congested streets. Our country’s capital city hardly seems like an ideal place to visit, and even more so by motorcycle.

But if you give Manila a chance, it may just surprise you. On a Sunday morning ride, when the traffic was relatively light, I found it extremely satisfying to be able to zip along Roxas Blvd. and visit various tourist spots and cultural and historic landmarks. Though I wasn’t expecting it to be a great ride, I have to say, Manila does have a unique charm. Here are  just a few scenic spots you can easily ride to and a rough guide of what you can do there. Continue reading “Manila by Motorcycle”

First Aeta Forest Food Festival

“1st Aeta Forest Food Festival. Capas Tarlac near Mt. Pinatubo. Aetas will show how to hunt bayawak, snakes, wild boar & cook food using traditional methods of the forest through customs, dances & rituals. Will also share traditional food customs with Agta, Dumagat tribes from Zambales, Quezon, Rizal.”

The text message invitation forwarded by Dondi Tawatao, a photojournalist friend who shoots for Getty Images, had me interested at once. Early the next morning we were headed to Capas, roughly 3 hours away from Manila, via a Victory Liner bus and then on a tricycle bound for Barangay Sta. Juliana. Though we initially planned to return to Manila the same day, the long tricycle ride through a winding mountain road where houses were few and far between, gave us a clue that we were probably going to be spending the night there. Continue reading “First Aeta Forest Food Festival”