A travel & adventure blog by Kara Santos
In the event a zombie outbreak happens (and it will), one of the most useful survival skills you will probably need to know aside from running for your life is how to shoot a real gun. Though I play the occasional first-person shooters like Left4Dead and have tried shooting games like lazer tag, paintball, and airsoft, nothing beats target practice at a shooting range.
Old Manila Walks recently launched The Corregidor Walking Tour, dubbed “Of Bombs, Big Guns & Lost Gold.” The walking tour, which is concentrated on the “historic core” if the island, provides a broader, more contextual, insightful and critical understanding of World War II in the country. Throughout the tour, Ivan Man Dy, the founder and lead guide of Old Manila Walks, shared interesting stories of military strategies, enemy invasion, lost treasures and conspiracy theories on WWII. This was actually my third time on the historic island, after taking the traditional bus tour and the Adventure Challenge and overall, I found the whole experience to be a great workout for both body and mind! Below are a few photo highlights & some useful info for those who want to try it out themselves.
For more walking tours, check out my article “History on Foot: Old Manila Walks” in Zest Inflight Magazine, March 2013 issue. Continue reading “Corregidor on Foot”
In recent years, Sagada has gotten a reputation for having lots of great eating places. If you’ve been there, you can probably agree that the cool crisp mountain air and all that walking around surely works up an appetite. Thankfully, there are lots of great restaurants to try out. For those who like to plan where to eat in advance, here’s a list of some of the restaurants we sampled during our five-day trip there, with accessibility ratings and distance on foot from the town center (with the hospital as the starting point).
Baybay Beach in Roxas City, Capiz is popular weekend spot for locals and visitors from nearby towns and provinces. With its seven-kilometer long stretch of sugar-fine glittery black sand and relatively calm waters, the beach is ideal for swimming, snorkeling, kayaking and skimboarding.
During a trip to Capiz last December, we had a jam-packed schedule, covering the Sinadya sa Halaran Festival, visiting waterfalls, caves and various pilgrimage sites. It was nice to take a breather and just enjoy the refreshing see breeze at the beach. Continue reading “Baybay Beach & Grand Gazebo in Capiz”
The first rays of the sun break on the horizon and warm orange light slowly seeps through the cold cover of clouds. As the veil of the night sky lifts, a sea of ghostly mist drifts by on the grassy rolling hills of Luzon’s highest peak.
This was how I envisioned my trip to Mt. Pulag, my first trip of the year and first ever ascent up a mountain (the second highest in the country). But that didn’t go exactly as planned.
What I got was bitter cold, rain, fog and mud so thick that it blackened my feet through my shoes and two layers of thick socks. There were times while hiking that I felt like one of zombies in “The Walking Dead,” just mindlessly shambling on, putting one foot in front of the other, wondering when the misery would ever end. Continue reading “Mt. Pulag: Expectations vs. Reality”
Our trip to Capiz coincided with the the Sinadya sa Halaran 2012 festival, which literally means “Joy in Sharing and Thanksgiving.” Held every December, this festival is a merging of the Roxas City Fiesta “Sinadya” and the Provincial celebration of “Halaran.” It is a commemoration of the feast of the patroness of Roxas City (the Immaculate Concepcion).
From the wide windows of the main restaurant, the grove of pine trees and the rolling hills in the distance looked almost Baguio-like. In one corner of the rustic building made of wood and bricks, was a rocking chair in front of a fireplace. The sound of crickets chirping mingled with the tinkling of wooden chimes swaying with the mountain breeze.
It’s hard to believe that Paseo Rizal Mayagay in Tanay, Rizal is just an hour and half’s drive from Manila. Before we left, I was sweltering in the heat of Quezon City. That same afternoon and evening, I regretted not bringing a jacket. Continue reading “A Taste of Baguio: Paseo Rizal Mayagay”
The year is about to end and I still haven’t finished writing about Lakbay Norte 3, the 8-day media tour of the Northern Philippines. Aside from all the activities, the restaurants we ate in and hotels we stayed in played a huge part in making the trip so great. In the tradition of my hotel-hopping post for Lakbay Norte 2 (which kick-started my whole key collection), here’s a quick rundown of the different hotels we stayed in during the trip for LN3.
Right now, I’m really missing the cool mountain air of Sagada. There’s something about this charming town that just makes you want to stay for days or weeks. Aside from all the great places to eat and exciting outdoor activities you can do, it’s just the ideal place to laze around. You wake up to the most spectacular view of mountains and flowers and can huddle under the blankets even at high noon. Still working on a couple of articles about the different things to do there. In the meantime, here are a few snapshots from our trip:
The narrow road seemed to snake on endlessly. Before me were several towering mountains thickly covered with pine trees. Thin clouds that seemed like wandering spirits shifted in and out of the scenery.
Some sections of the road apparently had just been been cleared of landslides, but there were still boulders and rocks strewn all over. At every blind turn, I was terrified of crashing head on with a jeepney full of toploaders or a speeding truck on its way up to Sagada. More than once, I had visions of my motorbike careening off a cliff, tragically with me still on it.
Continue reading “Motorcycling from Sagada to Banaue and back”
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