A travel & adventure blog by Kara Santos
I drifted along slowly with the current. To my right was a towering wall of limestone covered in lush vegetation. To my left, was a rocky riverbed peppered with purple flowers and weeds. We were cruising along Siitan River in Nagtipunan, a town in Quirino province where several major tributaries of the Cagayan River converge.
Photo by Lakad Pilipinas Continue reading “Siitan River Cruise & Landingan Viewpoint in Quirino”
Amélie Hotel Manila is a charming new boutique hotel that captures the bohemian spirit of the old-world neighborhood of Manila in a contemporary setting. Everything about the place — from the graphic art deco details of iconic landmarks to the warm and sincere service — makes the hotel stand out from the typical business hotels in the area. The hotel was formally launched amid Chinese New Year festivities last February 19, 2015 to signal the start of a prosperous life in the heart of the city.
For some reason, my Facebook newsfeed kept getting images of a concept diner in Cebu called Cafe Racer. I blame their targeted advertising, but the photos of cool motorcycles parked outside the cafe, chairs made from oil drums and different motoring murals made me just want to book a ticket to Cebu. As a rider, I just wanted to see the place for myself. Thanks to a work trip for another assignment, I got a chance to check the place out last January 2015.
“Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need… roads!”
Images of Back to the Future’s time machine flashed before my eyes as I sat behind the retro futuristic dashboard of the two-seater Cessna 152 aircraft. The control panel full of complicated-looking buttons, knobs and gauges looked worthy of powering up a flux capacitor that could take me back in time 30 years. The width of the 2-seater plane is only about one-third the size of your standard car or SUV, with two seats squeezed together and some extra space for bags at the back. But judging from my excitement level of riding one for the first time, you’d think I was riding along with Doc Brown himself in the DeLorean.
Without a warning, the clear sunny day morphed into a rainy and foggy mess. The picturesque mountains against blue skies which had looked so inviting seconds before took on a more sinister air. Lightning struck and thunder rolled in the distance. The fog thickened to almost zero visibility. The scene turned to night with lights from houses and a runway blinking in the distance. In a flash, the plane was teleported back on the ground to a runway in front of clear skies again.
Most Pinoy tourists are familiar with the overlooking view of Taal Lake from Tagaytay City. But there’s something special about seeing the lake at eye-level from towns in Batangas.
Last weekend, Outside Slacker and I had a fun time at the Batangas Earth and Water Festival 2015. He got to ride his bike and run around scenic towns in Mataasnakahoy and Balete during the duathlon, while I got to row a kayak at the picturesque Taal Lake. The sporting events were organized by First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities (FAITH) and Lima Park Hotel, a luxury hotel in Batangas which hosted our weekend stay. With the 4 to 5 am call times for the duathlon and fun run the next day, it was definitely a treat to go back to the hotel and chill out instead of having to drive back to Manila at once. If you’re looking for a comfortable hotel with world-class facilities in the Batangas area, Lima Park Hotel is a great option.
Antipolo is known primarily for its scenic overlooking views. Being relatively near Manila, it offers an easy weekend getaway. Lately, more people have been visiting because of artistic spaces like Pinto Art Museum and dining destinations like Crescent Moon Cafe. During a solo ride one weekend, I tried out Eggs for Breakfast, a relatively new cafe that opened about 3 months ago.
Continue reading “Cozy Cafe in Antipolo: Eggs for Breakfast”
Rappelling down the waterfall felt like a scene straight out of a video game. Lara Croft and Nathan Drake make it look too easy and they don’t even have ropes, I thought to myself as I scrambled to navigate the environmental puzzle. The scenery even looked reminiscent of CGI.
Irie Gastropubliko is a bar and restaurant in Cebu City that’s been around for a couple of years. Located on the Ground Floor of Skyrise 4 Building in the business district of Cebu I.T. Park, it caters mostly to those living and working in the area. They also get a lot of expats and craft beer enthusiasts from all over, who really seek out the place since it’s apparently the only place that you can try beers on tap from Turning Wheels Craft Brewery, Cebu’s first craft beer.
Continue reading “Cebu’s First Craft Beer at Irie Gastropubliko”
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