Snapshots: Bogart Watching The Sunset

 

The unofficial mascot of Dive N Trek resort. :)

Snapshots: Bali Sunset, Indonesia

A nice sunset view from Legian, Bali. But I'm still loyal to our local beaches. :)

Snapshots: Flower Girls, Boracay, Philippines

There have been days of rain in Manila lately, which makes me think that summer is slowly closing to an end. So I thought I'd post a week's worth of summer pictures to celebrate the season one last time, before it's over this year.

Snapshots: Good Vibes Photo, La Union, Philippines

This is probably one of the worst Mondays of the year, solely based on the fact that it's wedged between the weekend and a holiday - tomorrow is Labor Day in the Philippines, so there is no work for us corporate slaves! It can't seem to come soon enough though, and today is going to be a long, long trudge at the office. 

Seeing as today is such a difficult day for office drones like me, I thought I'd share a photo that will inspire some good vibes - this was taken in La Union from the FLOW SurfYogaSamba weekend I attended last November, when good times and good vibes were had by all. It was the weekend getaway that got me into surfing - and now I'm hooked. I had just come from La Union over the weekend, so you can imagine that today is especially brutal for me. Looking at this picture makes me feel a little better though - I am loving that orange glow. 

 A few more hours until the holiday! And a few more days until Laos for me. I can't wait!

My Easter Holiday 2012, Told Entirely On Instagram

Bade farewell to the city for a couple of days. Excited to head to the beach!


Our backyard! And the parents' little project. That umbrella was from our previous home, and has finally found its place in our new one. Beaumont seems to like that a path has been cleared up amidst all the trees and grass. He has even more space to wander now.

Street food from my childhood! Fish ball, kikiam and scramble. And we bought it from the same guy we would buy from when I was a kid.

Off to the beach the next day. This was our mode of transportation.

Off we go!


Left all my worries behind for the next two days.

Finally made it!

So many places to lounge around...

...but this one was my favorite by far.

Bahay kubo for accommodation.

Read a book and listened to music after lunch...

...and dozed off under the summer sunshine.

Woke up from my afternoon nap to this...

...and this...

...and this!

Found the parents having coffee while waiting for the sunset.

Early morning the next day, same spot.

The parents further off in the dock.

Had a sumptuous breakfast before heading out to swim

We took the raft to get further out into the sea! Saw a massive clam and lots of fish (wish I still had my underwater camera).

This means there's so much marine life under those waters because they've been protected for so long.

Had to leave after lunch.

Until next time!

P.S. Instagram is now on Android! I went a little Instagram-crazy over the long weekend and barely used my real camera. The photos turned out okay I think.

Also, I've finally found the time to create a board on Pinterest! The first batch of pictures I pinned are mostly from this post, but more to come soon, because "pinning" is a lot of geeky fun! Check out my Pinterest boards here.

Snapshots: Sunset Alert! Dive n Trek, Batangas

Had our annual family trip to Dive n Trek yesterday. Was blessed with this spectacular sunset. I'll tell you more about our trip, via Instagram (it's on Android now, yey!), tomorrow. :)

Snapshots: Boracay Sunset, Philippines

With every week that passes spent in the blazing heat, the summer season has definitely imposed itself on the Philippines, and it's not an unwanted imposition for this travel blogger. I only wish I could spend it walking on fine white sand instead of grey and drab concrete (although last week, I think I found a way to make the heat more bearable in the city - wait for the post in the coming days). Really, a beach trip couldn't come fast enough this time of year.

I hope you've also penciled in a beach trip or two on your calendars, and if so, here's a song to take along with you when you go:

Snapshots: Sunset in Batangas, Philippines

I've always loved the orange tint that the sunset brings to a place, especially if that place is by the beach. Here's the view of the sunset from our cottage in Dive N Trek in Batangas. You can find another one here.

This week's daily travel photos will be all about life in the water - a bit of an encore of Staying Afloat because I really love these pictures, with a few new ones.

Snapshots: Sunset Approaching in Angkor

There's nothing like walking through the ancient halls of Angkor Wat as the sun prepares to set for the day.

Snapshots: Sunset at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Happy new year! It would be really nice to end the first day of the year watching a magnificent sunset not unlike the one above.

I didn't blog much in 2011 - life kind of got in the way, haha - but this year I really want to keep this blog constantly updated with new content, so I'm starting a year-round project, in which I'll be posting a daily travel photo for every single day of 2012. I hope I have enough to last me the entire year!

What are your New Year's Travel Resolutions?

Snapshots: Sunset in Legian and Babi Guling in Ubud - Bali, Indonesia

Finally, free wi-fi! We're at a restaurant in Legian, Bali right now, surrounded by Aussies who are all watching an AFL match. Tiffy our Australian travel buddy flew out to Sydney last night (have fun at the John Mayer concert dude! Rissee, Jen and I will try to visit you next year, haha!) so there's no one to tell us what they're all cheering about. She did say that the AFL is a mix of football and rugby, though, is that right? I only follow and play tennis, sorry. Team sports kind of scare me. Haha.

Anyway, our five days and four nights in Bali went well! We went to the beach, went snorkeling, visited Ubud, went outlet shopping for Billabong and Ripcurl stuff, and had the EPIC babi guling, that is, spicy roasted suckling pig! Bali's a pretty interesting place - it looks so much like the Philippines, but there's so much about it that's so different from home. I guess that's how all foreign places are though. I've realized from all my trips so far that every place I've visited does remind me of home in one way or another, but that of course, it always has something new to offer too.

We're flying to Kuala Lumpur tonight, and from there, we're getting on a plane back to Manila tomorrow. It's been an epic trip! I can't wait to write about it and post pictures. Maybe I'll do it at the airport tomorrow. For now, here's a picture of the legendary Balinese Babi Guling!

Snapshots: Sunset At Dive N Trek, Batangas (Plus an underwater picture!)

My first sunset of the summer! And one I took from the province where I grew up - Batangas, Philippines. For holy week, I went with my family on our annual beach trip to Dive N Trek resort, and was rewarded with this!

I've so much to post but not the time to do it, but I'll try to squeeze it in as soon as I can. For instance, I really want to write a post about my first beach trip of the year with family at Dive N Trek, a resort in Bauan, Batangas (thank you Ms. Medz for the correction!). Dive N Trek is known for its easily accessible snorkeling locations - you literally just jump off the dock and BAM! Underwater Paradise fit for a National Geographic documentary - and on our trip this year I got to take some pictures with my underwater camera. Here's a preview:

I got stung by jellyfish (and probably other tiny sea creatures as well) and have all these creepy marks on my arms (I think it's about time I invest on a rash guard) but it was totally worth it. I just love being in the water and being able to swim freely. I'm the kind of person who rarely stays still (again, blame it on my Type 7 personality) and my mind is always working, thinking, asking questions, getting ideas, but when I'm in the water swimming freely, without a life vest and armed with just a pair of goggles, wading in deep waters and seeing the seabed meters away from my feet as I explore a wide expanse of coral and marine life, I feel calm and experience a certain kind of peace I don't often experience. I think nothing relaxes me more than being in the water.

I'll post more pictures and share more stories soon, I promise!

Snapshots: Sunset at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

On the last leg of our Cambodia-Vietnam trip, we went on an overnight junk boat cruise around Ha Long Bay and were rewarded with a wonderful sunset.

We made many friends on that junk boat - there was Andy, a London architect travelling around Asia who was headed to Australia after; a burly (and yes, quite cute) New Zealander who exchanged photography and DSLR tips with Tiff; an adorable Thai couple who were so surprised that we had taken two weeks off from work in order to travel; an American couple living in Brunei who were so surprised at how well we spoke English; and a French couple - we never found out their names, but amongst ourselves we called the French girl Mirka, because she resembled Roger Federer's wife.

By then we had been on the road for nearly two weeks and had somehow gotten the hang of striking up conversation with fellow travelers, answering and asking the same questions over and over ("Where are you from? For how long are you traveling? Where else have you been?") but not quite getting tired of the whole cycle of creating 5-minute friendships - 15 minutes and an email address exchange if you're lucky, or if the wait for the next bus is taking particularly longer than expected.

And while Ha Long Bay with its amazing sunset and fleet of beautiful junk boats was quite a sight to behold, it was the people - random strangers but fellow travelers - that made the experience whole.