My Favorite Journey So Far

Falling in love is a journey. 

Of all the hundreds of travel escapades that I have ever had, traveling with the love of my life is, so far, the most wonderful experience I have ever encountered.

I can document all my travel expeditions with a thousand beautiful words, but spending this holiday with her is, so far, the best getaway, one travel blogger can ever have.

We took advantage of the holiday and squeezed in all our favorite things to do in one and a half weeks of fun-filled vacation.

Our first conversation, after 24 years of knowing each other, started with a coffee date invitation. Everything else was history.

We spent several moments talking about life goals and future plans, while enjoying the moment together over a cup of coffee or a bottle of beer or wine. We have spent a lot of time catching up over good food, live band and cozy ambiance, with our favorite fruit shakes and cocktails. 

There was never a dull moment with her. Just staring at each other, holding a promise that we’ll make this vacation worthwhile, makes every moment more meaningful to both of us.

When we started the relationship, we both agreed that God (not religion) should be the center of our relationship. We had several church visits during this holiday break, and we made sure that we hold on to our promise of staying true to each other no matter what.

Most visits were accompanied by mom and Micmic.

We also spent moments at the beach at night, listened to the waves, gazed at the stars, and had a relaxing body massage in a popular beach resort.

We also spent time exploring our hobbies together. From indoor firing to jet skiing, biking, mall hopping, movies and pop corn, food trip and a lot more, we tried to squeeze them all in a short period of time together. 

Every little moment counts and every little things that we do together is part of this journey. This journey, that not only a traveler wishes to have. This journey, that’s inspired by a strong foundation of love - a journey that leads to forever. 😍

Until our next trip. 😍

The “Almost” Backpacking Solo Singapore Trip

It’s been a while since I flew solo. The idea of being alone at the boarding gate, waiting for a flight, has never crossed my mind for years. But here I am, still reliving my passion for traveling, and being single does not mean I won’t be traveling again.

I had my usual coffee stop over, and will always be a part of my airport activity. Can you see what has changed in the cup?

Everything was smooth from boarding to deplaning. The immigration officers were more friendly and polite. 

I had some small chat with my seat mates at the plane and I am happy that one is also a solo traveler, so that doesn’t make me a loser.

I was picked up by my mom’s cousin (Kuya Hector) and her wife (Ate Genah) at the airport. It has been a decade since I was last picked up at an airport by a relative. It has always been a car rental company or a hotel’s private shuttle service who has been doing my airport transfers ever since.

We had our late lunch at the airport. I ordered chicken satay and curry flavoured tofu. I am always a fan of satay and tofu and that made the start of my trip.

I stayed at the Amolar’s humble home in Ang Mo Kio Avenue and shared a room with my cousin (Jessy). I had a wonderful 12-hr sleep. It has also been awhile since I had that peaceful sleep.

Wen, also my cousin, flew over the next day. She was with her husband, Nick. We had some food trip bonding while watching BGT with kuya Hec and ate Gen.

Kuya Hec cooked breakfast and we had pizza for our second breakfast.

I have been in contact with some SG-based friends/former officemates (Boss A, Boss Kate and Mark) since I booked my flight and we were able to find some catch up time over coffee and dinner. 

This trip was still beach inspired. I am always a beach lover and will be always be. We skipped the normal city itinerary and focused more on the Northern and Southern part, where the beaches are.

On the Northern part, we biked from Punggol to Coney Island and back. Wen and Nick joined me with Mark and Kate.

We had dinner at the House of Seafood, where US president Trump and N.Korea prime minister was also attending a press conference. They also have a scheduled summit on the 12th.

My next few nights were spent in a pod in Chinatown. It’s my first time to book a backpacker inn and it was surprisingly clean. Wen stayed at Nicks’s place in Bradell, so I was alone in the pod. I have made friends with some of my pod neighbours. They are from Jamaica and France.

Sentosa has always been a stop over every time I visit SG and we focused more on the Sentosa attractions and skipped the USS. We stayed there for one whole day, enjoying our day pass while spending hours talking about goals and happy memories over food and coffee.

My last night in SG was spent in an airport hotel. The hotel has a pool and a pool-bar.  My solo room was small but the bed and linens are of 5-star quality. Since it’s within the airport, I am also within the shopping areas (Duty Free). Don’t ask me what I didn’t buy for myself. Haha! 

I was never really alone in this trip. That was the initial plan, but I guess, that’s not my thing. I realised that it’s always been my nature to bond with people close to my heart and I will always find a way to meet up with good old friends and close family members, to squeeze them all in a weekend getaway.

I enjoyed every bit of this trip. It made me buy some time for myself to reassess my worth. The trip was stress-free and full of fun.

I am definitely ready to travel again.

Will I fly solo again? Why not? 

Until my next trip.

The Journey Continues

We sometimes find ourselves lost even if we are executing our plans within our goals. Our ability to lose ourselves after one traumatic life changing situation gives us more time to reevaluate what we really want in our lives versus what we used to believe that we need. 

I never thought that I will experience another heartbreak after so many years of being happy and contented. With all the other reasons for me breaking down, this is the worst that I can handle. I am never really good at handling heartbreaks. That probably is the reason why I tend to quit a relationship when I start to feel that something’s already wrong. 

My last relationship may have ups and downs but that may also be the most ideal of all. That again, may probably be the reason why I was hurt that much to the point of me breaking my habits and routines after she decided that it’s all over.

I lost myself. I felt betrayed. I was devastated.  Someday I wish to tell the world that this is just a love story, and that I have more happy stories than that.

I am not a fan of traveling solo. I also gave up backpacking years ago, and had lived a laid back life to balance the stress in the outside world. But now, that I need to reevaluate myself, I decided to fly solo, booked a pod as a regular backpacker and booked a single room in an airport hotel. 

Though the goal was to backpack solo, I didn’t really travel alone. As soon as my cousins and friends found out that I am flying over, I had numerous sleep over and meet up invites. Though there are several activities all though-out the day, the idea of going to bed alone and waking up alone in your solo bed, still imposed some episodes of depression.

It’s still a good thing that nature has a way of balancing things. Life has always been better with friends and family. They keep me whole. They keep me sane. They make me realise more how lucky I am to be blessed, and should be thankful for all the the good things that happened after our relationship ended.

I am writing this while on the plane on my way home. Details about my recent “almost backpacking solo” trip will be published after this entry.

This is obviously not a travel entry, but still decided to publish this here, as my way of telling the world that my journey continues and nobody can stop me from traveling and exploring my passion.

I am no longer lost. I already found and redeemed myself and I am more than ready to travel again.

Until my next trip.

Batanes Weekend Cast Away

Batanes has always been a part of my bucket list eversince I started traveling. Despite news of having several flights cancelled, a number of tourists stranded, and business travellers complaining about poor internet connection, the idea of being cast away from all of the stress in the city and the thought of having to enjoy the cold breeze of mountain living while hearing the gust of ocean wind made me decide to spend a weekend getaway with bbeyb in this small island at the northern part of the archipelago.

Most of the travel bloggers recommend a minimum of 5 days of stay to explore everything in the province, but since we don’t have that amount of time for a short getaway, we settled for the North, South and Sabtang Island package that Bisumi Travel Agency had offered. We dropped the Itbayat island from our itinerary, as that will require another one whole day  to explore.

Among the many stops in Batan Island (more than 20

of them), here’s a dozen of my favorite picturesque spots:

1. Paderes View Point

2. Mahatao Shelter Port

3. San Carlos Borromeo Church

4. White Beach and Blue lagoon

5. Alapad Hill and Rock Formation

6. San Jose El Obrero Church

7. House of Dakay

8. Racuh a Payaman (Marlboro Country)

9. Tayid Lighthouse

10. Mt. Carmel Chapel

11. Valugan Boulder Beach

12. Basco Lighthouse, Naidi Hills Complex and Rolling Hills

Due to the strong Amihan wind, we were not able to take drone shots. Our Sabtang trip was also cancelled due to the strong waves. Some flights were cancelled. Some were delayed. We were only able to explore the northern and southern parts of the mainland, Batan. 

The news about a real cast away experience is not a myth. There’s no internet connection. The tours usually end before sunset. There’s no night life. The light posts are not so bright for tourists. The tricycles are not abundant at night. There are no restaurants after 8 in the evening. Some Ivatan delicacies need to be ordered in advance, as they are not always available. If you don’t place advance orders, you’ll end up with the normal carinderia type of viands. My favorite combo is called Batanes’ Flavors (caliente, liempo, Ivatan tapa and kilawin) partnered with Ivatan salad. This can be experienced in Pension Ivatan, close to the airport.

Coconut crabs used to be popular too, but is no longer being served to tourists.

Stone houses are everywhere. These are made of stones and lime stones, and are built to withstand strong typhoons.

Though we only spent a few days  in the island, the long nights with the extremely cold weather condition made us feel like we stayed for a week. 

We’ll definitely be back to explore the Itbayat and Sabtang Islands.

Until our next cast away trip. 😎