It’s strange sometimes how something so seemingly ordinary can change your mindset about traveling. A tree for instance.
Around Bicol in 30 Plates – Day 2: Iriga City
After our action-packed day in Naga City, we checked out early and headed to Iriga City, with a stopover for breakfast at Bigg’s Pili in Camarines Sur. This branch is frequented by a lot of motorists because of its location along the National Highway.
Continue reading “Around Bicol in 30 Plates – Day 2: Iriga City”
Ride to an Exotic Restaurant in Laguna
If you’re looking for a decent place to have a bite to eat and relax in the Laguna area, one option is Sierra Hills Exotik Restaurant. Like Balaw-Balaw in Angono, and Everybody’s Cafe in Pampanga, the restaurant has gained fame primarily for serving “exotic” fare, attracting curious foodies and tourists interested in trying out something unusual for novelty’s sake.
Fair warning for those who want to check out the place for themselves – the place is a bit of a tourist trap. Its location along the National Highway in Longos, Kalayaan makes it a perfect catch basin for road trippers, especially those doing a Visita Iglesia tour to churches in Rizal area during Holy Week. Continue reading “Ride to an Exotic Restaurant in Laguna”
Around Bicol in 30 Plates – Day 1: Naga City
While cousins from Manila grew up with McDonald’s, my sister and I often boasted that we had our own burgers and fries place – Mang Donald’s. Back in the 80’s, this was the original name of Bicol’s beloved food chain, an American retro diner, which is better known as Bigg’s today.
The Bigg’s vibe is all about vintage memorabilia, retro music and a cozy ambiance. Dining here offers a taste of nostalgia – a step back in time to the good old days.
I have a lot of fond memories of Bigg’s growing up in Naga City. My childhood barkada and I would often eat merienda here after watching a double feature at Advent Cinema back when the movie ticket prices and popcorn cost about 20 pesos each. If you missed the start of the movie, you had to sit through whatever was its “ka-double” to catch the start, so we would always be extra hungry. Continue reading “Around Bicol in 30 Plates – Day 1: Naga City”
Travel Gear for Geeks
Originally posted 7/28/12; post updated 7/22/2013 (added Pacman Slippers)
Contrary to popular opinion, geeks don’t spend ALL their time just vegging out in front of the television or computer. For some of us, real-life adventures are preferable to virtual ones. But when we do travel, we like to channel our geek pride by using clothes and gear that show off our unique interests. Here are a few cool finds that I use for travel and where you can find them here in the Philippines.
Pacman Slippers
These collectible PAC-MAN flip-flops from Havaianas really bring back some great memories. Anyone born in the 80s will have spent time playing this hit video game arcade classic and will love the retro chic look of the slippers. They come in two designs – navy blue with a yellow logo and a maze from the game and black with a green logo decorated with Pac-Man, pac-dots and the ghost enemies (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde). Plus, the slippers glow in the dark! How cool is that? Thank you so much to Havaianas for coming up with this design and to All-Flip Flops store in SM Naga for letting me have this! I will be eternally grateful.
Game Review: The Last of Us
The Last of Us is an action-adventure survival horror video game developed by Naughty Dog (the same team behind the hit Uncharted series) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Released just last June 2013, the video game has already reached critical acclaim, with many gaming publications giving it a perfect score.
Having finished playing it a couple of weeks ago, I totally agree. This is just one mind-blowingly amazing game. Playing it was such an intensely riveting experience. Yes, it may have been brutal and violent, but in between all that blood and gore was a powerful story and flawed characters that I cared about.
As author Karl who I lent the game to said in this awesome 8 List article on life lessons we can learn from The Last of Us said: “If you are at all interested in video games and the narrative power they possess and the fuzzy feeling of happy happy joy joy they can imbue, then you must (YOU MUST) play this.”
Kawil Tours: A Meaningful Journey Awaits
I have long been intrigued by the island of Culion. I’ve heard of stories from intrepid travelers who have gone there of how amazingly beautiful the islands and the waters are and how warmly the people welcome them wherever they go. It’s not a surprise, since many of its inhabitants were cast off by their own families onto the island. Visitors are rare so they are warmly welcomed by all the locals.
Unlike more well-known destinations in Palawan like Puerto Princesa, Coron, and El Nido, Culion, on the northernmost tip of Palawan in the Calamian Archipelago, is mostly known for being a former leper colony. While the cure for leprosy was developed in the 1980’s and the island has been declared leprosy-free by the World Health Organization (WHO), the stigma has somewhat remained. Its isolation for more than a century has kept the island understandably off the tourist radar. Continue reading “Kawil Tours: A Meaningful Journey Awaits”
Travel Gear I Use
To be honest, I don’t really like shopping. I find department stores overwhelming and tend to go there only if there’s something I really need to buy. My closet is filled mostly with multipurpose cargo pants, dry-fit sports jerseys and souvenir shirts from different provinces. Not exactly your typical fashionista fare. But there are times when I do head to the mall to buy travel gear and accessories. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the travel gear I frequently use. Click here to see my previous posts on travel gear.
MULTI-PURPOSE HEADWARE
This is the only travel accessory I really tend to splurge on. I’ve been a fan of multi-functional headwear ever since the early days of reality show Survivor. I use these mostly as a bandanna, motorcycle dustmask and a blindfold for sleeping on buses and planes. It’s also pretty useful as a wristband for trekking (and wiping off sweat), headband & tube top for swimming.
I really love the Marvel limited edition series from Headware and currently own 5 out of 21 designs. The Spiderman mask (which is pretty hard to find in stores) is a favorite. Including the Buffs from Buffwear & cheaper variety multi-purpose headwear that you can get in department stores, I own about 20 pieces of this and counting (couldn’t find the other pieces for the photo) :p
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.
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”
Zamboanga’s Pink Sand Beach
Pink sand beaches are quite rare. There are a only a few of them around the world, the most famous of which can be found in Bahamas & Bermuda. Thankfully, we don’t have to travel abroad to set foot on one. The Greater Santa Cruz Island in Zamboanga City, in the southern region of the Philippines, is famed for having pink coralline sand.
This small inhabited island located in the Basilan Strait is just 4 km south of the downtown area of Zamboanga City. It can be reached within 20 minutes by motorized boats. In recent years, the beach has gained popularity as a tourist attraction in the city. I’m really glad to have visited this bucket-list worthy beach prior to my trip to Tawi-Tawi. Continue reading “Zamboanga’s Pink Sand Beach”
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