Barefoot Travels Baler Surf and Trek Adventure

Baler Adventure

Hey gais! I'm still here in Cebu, in Oslob in particular. I've been traveling non-stop so to speak since last year and now that I'n resting a bit here at my bessy's place (my flight back to Manila is early tomorrow at 3am), I decided to make time for another blog post, this time about Baler. I was just there last Jan. 11-12 when I joined Barefoot Travels in their surfing adventure. I'm going back there for a longer vacation this time, from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, for a surfcation as they call it. Two more slots are still available so if you want to join, contact Barefoot now at +63923-5610062; +63917-3589716. So yeah, as soon as I go home tomorrow, I'll have to pack again for another  surfing trip. Just look at some of the surfing videos my new friends took last time. Who wouldn't want to go back there, right? Whew! What a life! ^_^

Barefoot Sagada Package Inclusions

Below are the details you need to know if you want to join one of Barefoot Travel's future Sagada trips. I got these details from the primer they sent me a week before my scheduled tour of Sagada. You will receive one too should you decide to join them. You can also read my introductory post about Barefoot Travels and my Sagada excursion with them. Just go to this link here: Sagada with Barefoot Travels: An Introduction. Barefoot Travels has an upcoming Sagada trip this February 7-9 so be sure to register! 

If you wish to contact them for further details and clarifications, feel free to email Barefoot Travels at barefoottravels@yahoo.com or contact us at +63917-3589716 or +63923-5610062 Go Travel. Be Practical. Have Fun. Go Barefoot. Work Shoes: OFF LIMITS!

The Annual Sagada Bonfire Fest, now on its 5th year and held every last week of December, is organized by the Sagada Genuine Guides Association or Saggas. It is a night of merry-making, food tripping, music jamming and cultural bonding. Experience this one of a kind bonfire feast as Barefoot Travels brings you to the heart of the Mountain Province this December. 

PACKAGES:

 SAGADA EXTREME: Php5,500 per person (Php5,250 for early birds) 

STANDARD PACKAGE: Php4,450 per person 

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. 

2014 Philippine Holiday Schedule - Plan Your Vacations Now!

Happy New Year! 

taken in Similan Island, Phi Phi, Phuket, Thailand

It's the year of the Earth Horse and I feel like this year is going to be luckier than ever for me. Life just gets better and better, doesn't it? Just when I told myself (a few months ago) that I'll probably stop travelling so I can focus on other aspects of my life, travel opportunities came left and right that I just couldn't resist. So here I am spending the first day of the new year fixing the schedules of my upcoming trips. I just came from Bangkok and Phuket last week, and just this weekend, I was in Sagada with Barefoot Travels. And next week I'll be in Baler with Barefoot Travels again then Boracay with Baboo and Padi, then Cebu for my Bessy's birthday. Anyway, I'll have a separate blog post for all these trips. For now, just as I am organizing my travel plans, I went on looking for this year's Philippine holiday schedule which I also want to share with you especially those like me who have been busy with life that it's only now they're taking the time to organize the vacations they want to take for 2014. 

I got this from http://www.gov.ph/2013/10/01/list-of-nationwide-holidays-for-2014/. Enjoy planning your vacation, folks!

Tours & Things to Do in Sharm el Sheik

Sharm el Sheik is a place that not many Western travellers have the chance to visit. However, there are many fascinating experiences to have on you trip to Sharm el Sheik. Fantastic diving, colourful deserts, and exotic dancers will surely create a memorable experience. 

One of the biggest activities in Sharm el Sheik is diving. The corals are alive and well here, and haven't experienced as much damage from tourists as the corals in other locations around the world. The beautiful and diverse marine life in Sharm el Sheik is really spectacular to see. Even first time divers can take a discover class, where they will learn the basics of diving and do a small dive. Instructors are knowledgeable and manage safety well. 

ATC, Sky Ranch Tagaytay, Glorietta 4: a Busy but Relaxing Long Weekend with Baboo Peter

I booked a flight to Cagayan de Oro earlier this year for Oct. 26-31. I was thinking that since baboo is always busy with work, I might as well spend time with some of my friends I rarely see. The thing is they live so far away. But what's an hour of plane ride and a few hours of commute to the City of Golden Friendship if only to see them, right? 

Well, a lot of things happened in between. For one, I didn't expect to be attending training for NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) plus the heavy workload that fell onto my lap. To cut the story short, I had to cancel my intended CDO vacation and just make the most of the holiday. Honestly, with everything going on in my life, I totally forgot that it was a long holiday (Oct. 28 being the day for Barangay elections). So I guess that's where the silver lining was in all of this. At least I got to spend three happy whole days with my baboo. He was available to me, for my pleasure, at my beck and call (hehe) for 72 hours and I wasn't going to let those precious hours just pass me by.  But the thing was, WE DIDN'T MAKE ANY PLANS AT ALL. Oh bugger!

Fortunately, my baboo was very easy to please. If I am the O.C. type who prefer scheduling every last minute detail of whatever plans we have, baboo Peter is the opposite when it comes to domestic/marital/personal matters. He loves to chill and just relax and just let everything flow. So having had my Breaking Through Barriers (BTB) training with Train Station a month ago (while baboo Peter had his a few weeks ago), we learned to adjust to each other's preferences. That's what you call second positioning. It's when you take on the position of the other person, immerse yourself in the way he/she thinks and feels and from there, get an insight as to how he/she is thinking, feeling and seeing things. So in short, we came at a compromise and it all came out naturally and subconsciously, meaning, without even trying so hard like how we used to do it before we had the BTB training. 

So, what happened was, we both let everything flow while still maintaining some sort of schedule for the long weekend. 

Oct. 26

Seafood Ilsand, ATC

We stayed in bed most of the day. It wasn't until late afternoon that we showered and dressed up, hoping to catch a movie. 

But then what do you know, it's been a while since I last prettified myself and I was just being so slow. So we got out of bed, prepared for our date and got out of the house early evening, decided to just splurge on dinner and just do the movie date another day. 

28th Visual Arts Competition: “Scenes from My Hometown"

It was on Oct. 16, 2013 when the  Directories Philippines Corporation (DPC) and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) launched the the 28th edition of their annual Visual Arts Competition (VAC 28) in  Gateway Mall, Cubao, Quezon City.  

Representatives from VAC 28 partner institutions—the Department of Tourism; Canon Marketing Philippines, official imaging and printing partner; and Gateway Mall, official venue partner—were also on hand for the launch.

Breaking Through My Barriers Part II

Yesterday, I blogged about how I got into this amazing training program called Breaking Through Barriers (BTB) conducted by Train Station and how it has been changing my life since (slowly albeit surely). Before you read this blog post, head over there first to give you a little background then go back here to read the personal barriers that I have broken down so far since attending the BTB seminar. 

photo op with my coaches and classmates after getting our certificates

Like I said before,  I won't delve into the details of how the whole training seminar went for two days. You'll have to experience it for yourself if you also want to change your life for the better. But I will share with you the changes that have been happening in my life so far. I didn't plan this. I was actually skeptic if I can do this. I had very little expectations. I just wanted to be a little bit happy or at least not sad anymore. I was so tired of always waking up with a knot in my stomach and feeling crappy and depressed all the time. But after the training,  things did happen! Things I didn't expect to happen, did happen and continue to manifest. I guess our brain really is trainable. Once you learn how to unlock that part of your brain that holds you back, the possibilities for happiness are endless! 

So here they are:

Breaking Through My Barriers Part I

It's the last quarter of the year, the last chance I have of fulfilling one of my resolutions when this year started and that is to blog some more (God knows I got a ton of travelogues lined up for this!) I used to find solace, comfort, happiness and wisdom in writing my thoughts and experiences here and in my other blogs as well. But due to time constraint, overflowing responsibilities and depression... yes, depression, I haven't been able to realize (yet) my goal of blogging regularly. Well, I hope to change that starting this month. Since I'm usually on U.S. time zone, then it's still the first of October today and I'd like to believe, this is a good start. 

Let me then begin by telling you about the cause of my happiness lately; why I've been feeling a lot perkier than usual, my mood swings seem to have stopped and I'm just able to control more how I view my life these days. Though there are still pockets of moments when I'd just suddenly feel down, I now know how to switch it the other way. Here goes...

with RR Herrera and Carelle Mangaliag (owners of Train Station)

I've been invited by my dear friend Carelle Mangaliag, owner of Train Station and a renowned Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) pioneer and master practitioner here in the Philippines, to participate in one of her amazing programs called Breaking Through Barriers (BTB), countless of times. But I'd always find an excuse not to go. Don't get me wrong, many of my excuses were valid like I'd be traveling or attending a previous engagement or the last excuse I used was when baboo Peter got sick (which was true!) after I got back from my 2-week Siargao trip. But knowing myself, if I really wanted to go or do something, I'd move heaven and earth to do it. That's my personality. I'm  a rebel that way. Anyway, I digress... 

Plan Your City Break to Prague

Prague is one of the more vibrant and exciting cities in Europe with loads to do to fill your holiday to the Czech capital. It is very easy to visit this beautiful location without a definitive plan and spend the time wandering and enjoying the sights and sounds of the enthralling little streets and town squares.

But often it can be useful to have a plan to give your holiday some structure and also to ensure that you get to see the essential points of interest. Let’s take a look at how to plan a weekend getaway in Prague.

Travel & Accommodation

Prague has plenty of places to stay right in the centre, be it a self-catering apartment, hotel or hostel. Hostels are available from as little as £9 per night if you want a cheap weekend. Compare prices online to find the cheapest places to stay in the city.

Flights from the UK only take around 2 hours, and depending on who you book with can be picked up for under £50. You can find the cheapest flights to Prague here: http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/Flights/Prague/

My Reaksyon TV5 Interview on Childless Marriage

I've been crying on and off a lot lately. It was triggered by the interview I had recently with TV5 na BAKIT NGA BA WALA PA KAMING ANAK? Most importantly, WHY DON'T I WANT TO HAVE KIDS?

Background:

It was around 10 am two weeks ago when TV5 Reaksyon texted me and asked me if I'm willing to do an interview with them about having a childless marriage. Since I already did this with ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda before, I decided to say YES. It was 5:30 pm on the same day when they got here at home. For the first time, the interview was done at our front yard. Usually, when TV networks interview me for various things (see my other TV interviews on my sidebar under SEXY NOMAD ON TV!!!), we do it in our lanai. So this one's a bit different, at least location-wise in our house. Hehe.

Some shots were also done while I was playing with my drums, playing with our foosball, upstairs while working and in our bedroom but I was already too preoccupied at that time. 

Thank you, Renz Ongkiko for the fun interview and I swear, kamuka mo talaga si Hayden Kho! And thank you Journal Fabella for producing a great segment. :)

So when I got interviewed by Reaksyon TV5 a few weeks ago, I mentioned some things that I didn't get to tell ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda back in February when they also interviewed me (see videos below)... But still, I felt like I wasn't able to answer them fully. I had this lingering knot in my stomach that I felt I'd have to get to the bottom of. WHY DON'T I WANT TO HAVE KIDS?

You see, my husband, Peter, and I are 35 years old. We've been married for 11 years. And though our original plan was to not have kids (which I told him when he courted me back in 1999 because I didn't want to become a mom), I kind of hoped that my feelings about it would change. My friends told me that the "mother in me" will eventually kick in. I kept waiting and waiting for the feeling, the craving to have kids, but it never came. Every time I'd have a pregnancy scare, waiting for those lines to be positive or negative would always turn out to be the longest and scariest minutes of my life! I'd break into cold sweat, my knees would shake and my stomach would knot as if a million worms were eating my insides! 

The experience was always that terrible for me. And every time the pregnancy test turned out negative, I'd be washed over with HUGE relief! Then thoughts of doubling our condom use would pop into my head, or perhaps, not having sex at all would be the best solution. It's crazy, isn't it? I am crazy.  

Through introspection and counseling help from Peter, this NOT WANTING TO HAVE KIDS all boils down to my negative relationship with money. Here's what he said: 

The Most Romantic Destinations in New Zealand This Year

If you’re looking whisk a loved one away for a special and romantic holiday this year, then look no further than New Zealand. This amazing country has everything you need to have an amazing break away, and with the stunning landscapes, fantastic wildlife sanctuaries and world heritage sites, New Zealand is a cauldron of romance just waiting to spill. New Zealand might seem a world away, but once you step foot onto the golden sands and take a look out over the crystal clear waters, you and your loved one won’t want to leave!

If you’re thinking about taking a romantic holiday to New Zealand this year, book your flights online at http://www.cheapflights.com.au/flights-to-New-Zealand Let’s take a look at some of the best places to spend your time.

Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh, Vietnam

One of the amazing places Jem and I visited when we went to Vietnam was Cao Đài temple in Tay Ninh. We entered through gate # 4 after about almost 2 hours of travel from the center of Ho Chi Minh City.



Here are some videos we took both outside and inside the Cao Dai Temple:

Exciting Nightlife Activities in Montreal

Montreal is the second biggest city in the second biggest country of the world, Canada, and it is incredibly popular with international tourists as well as domestic ones – and for good reason!

The main star of the show in Montreal has to be its glitzy and glamorous nightlife; the city truly shines at night with its buzzing party atmosphere – it’s something you really don’t want to miss!

With a wide range of nightclubs, bars and pubs, Montreal is the party capital of the Great White North, so you’ll be well and truly spoilt for choice. Whether you like to dance all night, chill out with a nice cocktail, or simply listen to the latest and greatest tunes, this city has something for you, as this guide by AutoEurope.ca shows…

Here’s the skinny.

Zest Air: Inaugural Flights to KL, Kota Kinabalu and Bacolod

If you're my follower or friend in any of my social networks:

twitter.com/sexynomad

instagram.com/jenadamsjuan

plurk.com/sexynomad

facebook.com/sexynomad

facebook.com/thesexynomad

...you've probably been noticing a lot of uploaded photos taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On this post, you'll find out where it all started. So read on...

As you know, I just came back from my one month trip in the Visayas where I mostly stayed in Oslob and visited the neighboring islands of Dumaguete, Siquijor and Camotes. I got home last May 1 and I told myself that I'll just stay home the rest of the month to rest, focus on work and take care of my blogs. Well, well, well... I haven't even unpacked yet when I got an invitation from Zest Air, AirAsia and Fleishman Hillard Manila (c/o Ferdie Bondoy) to join the familiarization tour of Kuala Lumpur. I've already been there before but only for a very short visit. I'd love to go back to  Kuala Lumpur again and check out the other beautiful tourist sites KL has to offer so of course I said my sweet YES!