Adventour Magazine Features Sexy Nomad

I was surprised to receive a copy of Adventour magazine last week! It was actually delivered to my home Wednesday evening just before I went out to do the groceries. I didn't have the time to read it though until Friday late afternoon and boy oh boy was I surprised to see myself featured on 7 full pages!!! I was so ecstatic!!!

Barefoot Travels Magdalena Whitewater Rafting Adventure

 This white water rafting photo above was taken at Ayung River in Indonesia back in 2009.

Bebeko will be here soon and we're joining Barefoot Travels in their white water rafting adventure. Weee!!! This will be my third time to do such an adventurous thing. The first time I did whitewater rafting was back in 2006 in Padas River in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The second was in Ayung, River, Bali, Indonesia in 2009. 

Bebeko and I wanted to try this before in Cagayan de Oro when we visited my grandparents and at another time when we went to Dahilayan in Bukidnon but we always ran out of time. I guess now, the universe has conspired for us to get what we want because I was personally invited by Rons Nebre, the founder of Barefoot Travels and I'm going to bring my bebe with me. Yipeee!

Heading to Real, Quezon with Barefoot Travels... Who wants to join?

*Due to typhoon Glenda and Henry recently, this trip was re-scheduled to Aug. 2 and September 6.

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Just a quick post... I'll be going with Barefoot Travels this Saturday, July 19, 2014. There are still a few slots left. Who wants to join? Please read the details below:

Surf and Trek Adventure

Real, Quezon

Real is a small first class municipality in Quezon province, approximately 145 kilometers from Manila. Conveniently located only 2.5-3 hours away from the Metro passing by the picturesque Laguna Lake and the scenic Sierra Madre Mountain Ranges, this town is slowly becoming a beach destination for quick and easy weekend getaways. With its coastline facing the Pacific Ocean, this has also become a surfers’ haven due to its great waves and much less crowded surf spots.

Berjaya, Petronas and Menare KL Tower: Kuala Lumpur Walking Tour

It's been a week since it happened and my days have been a roller coaster ride of varying degrees of extreme emotions. In order to get out of my funk, I thought I'd do other things that I enjoy like blogging. In this particular post, I'd like to just share with you that time Jayme and I did our Asian trip in January 2010. I never got to finish that series because life took over and as they say, the rest is history. Well, this is one history of my life that I'd like to document. And hopefully, from this post, my days will be filled with blogging about my previous trips all the way to present. It's always nice going back to old happy travel memories.

So Jayme and I had just come from Singapore and Vietnam. A quick stopover at Kuala Lumpur was next on the list. Since we were on a budget, we just decided to go around the city via bus and on foot. After checking out Batu Caves in Selangor, Malaysia located north of Kuala Lumpur, we had some lunch at a vegetarian Hindu place first just outside the gates of the Batu Caves before boarding a bus back to the city of Kuala Lumpur. 

 Lunch!

Back in the city, we stopped by Berjaya Times Square Shopping Mall just adjacent to the Berjaya Times Square Hotel majestically towering over the skyline of Kuala Lumpur City since it is located right at its center. 

Summer Travel Schedule w/ Barefoot Travels

Can you feel the heat? Yep, I think summer is here! After that cold spell we all experienced in January, I'm ready to welcome the warm and sunny weather coz that means more beach trips and more travels!

If you're "nomadic" like me and have this immense thirst for traveling, you might be interested in what I want to share with you. Even if you're not the wanderer type, but you've been dreaming about getting out of the office and going on some adventure somewhere, then this post is for you too.  

In the past, I was used to traveling on my own if not with my hubby. Then a time came when I always wanted to travel with my old friends. Then sometime 2012, I started traveling with my bessy. Recently though, I discovered a group who likes organizing fun and affordable travels and I've already been with them thrice! They're called BAREFOOT TRAVELS. My experience with them in Sagada was life-changing! Then last month, I've been to Baler with them twice! The first was for an overnight trip and the second was for a 3D/2N surfcation. 

Before I came to know BAREFOOT TRAVELS, the only other traveling group I've been with was Travel Factor back in April 2012 when I first visited Baler with my hubby and gf Koryn. We had some mishaps at that time with Travel Factor but I still considered it fun because I was with my husband and friend. However, with BAREFOOT TRAVELS, considering that I was by myself and I didn't know anyone when I first went with them (to Sagada),  it was really a nice surprise how much I came to love, adore and miss this group! Plus, it's a bonus that every time I join them in their travels, I get to meet new and interesting individuals from all over! It's really an amazing experience every single time. I think it's because their travel coordinators who go along these trips are really nice, friendly and accommodating people. The bring out the best in each participant and they're also all for the adventure, camaraderie and bond that come with these trips which I love that about Barefoot Travels. 

And now that summer is here, it's time to travel some more and go BAREFOOT! I'm sure many of you are looking forward to spending some quality time relaxing on a beach, or surfing, or climbing mountains or just simply heading out there onto a new adventure, bonding with friends, families, loved ones or simply enjoying yourself or meeting new people. If so, check out the following schedules that BAREFOOT TRAVELS has for you beginning this month all the way through May: 

Sagada with Barefoot Travels: An Introduction

Sagada Rice Terraces

Sagada has always been one of my dream destinations ever since my younger sister told me that she's been there during her UP days (about 15 years ago) and it was such an awesome experience for her. She was telling me all these wonderful stories of heading there atop a jeepney squeezed between her friends traversing the dangerous and steep sides of the mountainous Banaue while intoxicated with alcohol and what-not. It sounded so much fun and I wanted to experience that too. Unfortunately, between my younger sister and me, I am not as brave. So whenever I'd try to schedule a trip to Sagada, visions of buses and jeepneys falling off a cliff would pop in my head and just as soon as I thought of going there, my dream would immediately fade away too. Yeah, I'm such a scaredy cat. 

The Ruins in Bacolod and How to Get There

Bacolod has always been one of those places in the Philippines that I fell in love with the first time my hubby and I visited it back in 2011 which is why I couldn't help but write about its many beautiful sites here on my blog. And since today is the first day of summer (Can you feel the heat? I do! And I'm loving it.), I thought of finally continuing my pending blog posts and hopefully be able to stick to writing about my travels on a more regular basis  in between work, traveling and social networking (crossing my fingers).

One of the things you can do here aside from trying Bacolod's many culinary delights, visiting its quaint ancestral houses (Balay Negrense, Pink House) and taking a refreshing trip to Mambukal Falls is to visit the very majestic and picturesque Lacson Ruins or what is most popularly known as The Ruins. 

Donsol Whale Shark Adventure: Bicol - Caramoan Adventure Series Day 2

This blog post is the second part of our awesome Bicol - Caramoan adventure... 

So, after our trip to Lignon Hill where we did the zip line, then visited Cagsawa Ruins and the nearby LCC Mall, off we went to Donsol in Sorsogon the following day to swim with the gigantic whale sharks. Unlike the ones I saw in Oslob, the whale sharks in Donsol are huge... even bigger than the buses here in Manila! They were so huge (about 12-18 meters and weigh as much as 40 tons) that it was difficult for me to take a photo of its whole body. As you can see from the pictures below, I was only able to capture a portion of its body one part at a time. 

Lignon Hill Zip Line, Cagsawa Ruins, Mayon: Bicol - Caramoan Adventure Series Day 1

I've been wanting to blog about our awesome Bicol - Caramoan adventure for a long while now. But you know how it is. Other travel posts got prioritized, work got in the way, and life just happened. Before I knew it, such a long time has already passed and now I'm swimming in a ton of pending travel posts. But no worries. By hook or by crook I am going to publish all my pending travel posts before this year ends. LOL!

Anyway, here is the first part of our Bicol - Caramoan adventure. My good friend Koryn was the one who organized everything so basically my hubby and I just paid for everything and we didn't need to worry about anything else except to enjoy the whole trip. And we loved every minute of it!

Cloud 9 Surfing in Siargao

Now that I've left my most favorite island, Siargao, I'm regretting the fact that I've only surfed in Cloud Nine twice. Looking back, I did more Siargao wild partying than what the island is really known for --- the great surfing breaks. Hahaha! I guess this just means that I have to come back again and stay longer if possible (perhaps 1-3 months? Praying that my hubby will allow me. Hehehe.)

Taktak Falls in Santa Monica, Siargao

After our awesome trip to Magpupungko Beach, Tidal Flats and Lagoon, we then headed to Taktak Falls in Santa Monica, between San Benito and Burgos. The sky was starting to get dark. Just as we were praying for the continuation of the good weather, huge raindrops started to fall and before we knew it, the entire heaven poured down upon us hitting us like daggers. 

Magpupungko Beach, Tidal Flats and Lagoon in Siargao

WOW! It's been a while since I last updated my blog and all my other blogs for that matter. I guess it means that I'm really enjoying my time in the outdoors and have very little energy left to do anything else. Hehehe. Nevertheless, I'm still excited to share with you some of the things I've been up to.

Fish Spa Video @ Manila Ocean Park

Fish Spa at Manila Ocean Park can be availed for Php120 per person, lasting for 15 minutes each.

Humboldt Penguins @ Manila Ocean Park

This was the very first time that I saw real, live penguins and it happened in Manila Ocean Park during my birthday weekend. Watch this video we took of the Humboldt penguins. They're so cute!!!

Different Kinds of Jellyfish @ Manila Ocean Park

If you plan to visit the Jellyfish Exhibit at Manila Ocean Park, you'll have to pay Php150.00. But if you include it in any of their promo packages, you'll be able to get a discount. Click here for more info.

Aquanaut Adventure at Manila Ocean Park (with video footage)

There are so many things you can do in Manila Ocean Park, one of which is this Aquanaut adventure or helmet diving activity just like the Boracay helmet diving we did last summer. 

This one is more expensive though, at Php995 per person. It's understandable since Manila Ocean Park maintains an oceanarium filled with 1000 fishes of different kinds, 12 of which are giants. It's also inclusive of wetsuit and booties rental plus soap and towel.

If you will notice later in the video, I look a bit stiff compared to Peter. Before going down, I was really feeling nervous, thinking that I might not be able to equalize since my ears easily get irritated. It's one of my illnesses even as a child.

Bernardino Jalandoni Ancestral House in Bacolod

On my previous post, I shared with you our visit to Victor Gaston's anscestral house, more popularly known as Balay Negrense in Bacolod. Today, let's head to Bernardino Jalandoni's Ancestral House which is just a few blocks away from Balay Negrense, located along Rizal Street (formerly Calle Real), both in Silay City, Negros Occidental. 

Another Windsurfing Trip to Caliraya

Usually, when we go windsurfing at Caliraya Lake, we'd find a bunch of windsurfers and kiteboarders / kitesurfers milling about and camping in Surf Kamp with their trailer campers and cars. Most of them are the same people I've worked with during the 2008 FunBoard Cup in Boracay although I rarely interact with them when I go there. I'm the loner type if you must know and I rarely interact with people unless they talk to me first. 

We had the lake all to ourselves! 

So anyway, this particular weekend that we went to Surf Kamp, my husband and I were surprised to see that no one was around. The caretaker of the property actually told us that  the windsurfers are now camping somewhere else. This new campsite doesn't have a name, but it's just right across Surf Camp's Lakeside. Going by car, we'd have to exit Surf Camp and turn left. We followed the road until we saw another narrow road on our left where there is a big house with red roof. There's a small parking area there but we'd still have to ride a barge to cross the lake until we reach this new campsite allegedly owned by Michael Palacios according to the person we came across with while parking in the second location. The wind and kitesurfers now go here since they're like an exclusive club and they like to come together every weekend.

Caliraya Windsurfing, Japanese Garden, Isdaan Trip

What happens during a Caliraya Windsurfing Trip?

Driving from Alabang to Caliraya Laguna takes about 4 hours so we usually head out early on a Saturday or Sunday morning to avoid traffic, hoping to reach Surf Camp between 10-11 am.

For directions on how to go to Surf Kamp in Caliraya, please go to this link:
How to get to Surf Kamp

Entrance per person in Surf Kamp is Php75.00. Once inside the premises, you can check the place first, take some photo ops, and see if there's enough wind power in the air to help you windsurf later on. Well at least, that's what we usually do. We scout the area, see if there are already windsurfers and kite surfers enjoying the lake, or camping around, plus we test the water temperature. Usually, the lake water is quite freezing in the morning so instead of renting a windsurfing board out right, we schedule afternoon lessons instead with Noni (my instructor) and come back after lunch. You can contact him at this number: 09194999634

Things to Do at Mambukal Resort

If you're going to Bacolod any time soon, I suggest that you check out Mambukal Resort located in Barangay Minoyan, Murcia, Negros Occidental. It's a beautiful nature park perfect for family and group outings with lots of things to see and activities to do. 

To know how to get there, and how much to spend, please head to this link: How to get to Mambukal Mountain Resort

To read all my posts about Mambukal Mountain  Resort, please go to this link: Mambukal Mountain Resort

So far, we've already gone boating in Mambukal as well as trekked its magnificent waterfalls. Watch the waterfalls videos here: Mambukal Falls videos

For other things to do, read more...