Philippines: There's More Fun In The Sun!

by: Mhe-anne L. Ojeda

In my blog page Summer Alphabet Around The Globe,  Philippines accounts for six (6) of my best summer experiences which I am re-posting here. But that just the tip of the iceberg! With 80 provinces to explore from March til May, you won't have enough time to cover them all! No worries! There is always a next summer to have FUN IN THE SUN !

Diving with Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) for pure enjoyment (or recreational diving) has been one of my favorite summer activities since I first tried it six years ago in Boracay. Wearing (and looking better in)  a wet suit (lol) is one of the reasons I love scuba diving over free diving. Nah, it is really because I don't like cold water! And since there are tons of dive spots around the more than 7000 islands of the Philippines, summer is officially my dive time! 

In the Philippines, Easter Sunday always happen in the summer, that's why many of my happy memories in celebrating this joyous season involve my family and our summer activities in the beach, at a campsite, at a resort or even at home as we observe the Holy Week and celebrate Easter morning through egg hunting and egg painting!

What better way to cool off the summer heat than going island hopping and dipping in the water while cruising around the clusters of ten beautiful islands of Caramoan in Camarines Sur, the so called "Philippines Secret Paradise". With its real unblemished, awe inspiring islands strings and rock formations, my  islands adventure in Caramoan is still my unbeatable summer favorite!

Summer sunset at the beach in the twin cities of Dipolog and Dapitan in Zamboanga del Norte  are great backdrops for our funny jumpshots. Not only we got our doze of exercise when jumping, we also got a cool, refreshing breeze off of the water in the early morning and evening. 

Summer's beauty and bounty is at its best in the province of Albay in the Bicol Region with its  annual Magayon Festival from April 1 to 30. Literally means ‘beautiful’ festival, the Magayon Festival's month-long celebration showcases hundreds of activities where locals and guests enjoy Bicol's rich culture, history, crafts, and cuisine as inspired by the Legend of Daragang Magayon (Bikol for ‘beautiful maiden’) which tells of the majestic perfect-coned Mayon Volcano which I was lucky to see from every angle! 

Underwater and other water adventures abound in the summer much more than just scuba diving. In fact, my memory book contains an array of fun activities at the bottom of the ocean, river or lake where I  met water creatures eyeball - to - eyeball like my Butanding Adventure in Donsol, Sorsogon (where I found myself head-on with the gentle whaleshark), Snorkeling in Mindoro and Batangas, Swimming around the beautiful beaches of the Philippines (i.e. Calaguas, Pagudpud, Palawan, Hundred Islands, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Samal Island, Camiguin Island).  I also had a share of water activities atop the water like  Whitewater rafting in Cagayan de Oro, Waterfalls adventures in Cateel, Davao,  Sagada, Pagsanjan, Dolphin watching in Bohol.

This is my entry to the Pinoy Travel Bloggers’ Blog Carnival for May 2013 with the theme "Summer Epilogue" hosted by Jona Branzuela Bering of  Backpacking With A Book.

Check out the previous blog carnival topics in Estan Cabigas' Pinoy Travel Bloggers Blog Carnival.

Travel Laughs and Silly Moments

by: Mhe-anne L. Ojeda

some people call me "minion" instead of "mhe-anne".
does it have something to do with my height?lol 

Some travel memories can still make me laugh to this day when I think of them. So when I struggle to keep my spirits up (during PMS baby!), those silly travel experiences radiate good cheer and made me feel buoyed up!

Tons of pics of a wrong destination? that's right!

As a Latter-day Saint traveler, my bucket list includes a visit to Historic Kirtland, a small settlement in northern Ohio established by Joseph Smith as a headquarter of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from 1831 to 1838 and where the first temple was built. We drove with the help of our car's GPS which displayed the route on monitor and gave auditory directions. When we reached the Smith Road, the GPS announced "Turn Right and your destination is on the right ". Wow! everything was right, I thought, so I was filled with excitement that I was only a mile away from a Church historic site I had been longing to see! I started taking photos, clicking the shutter at every angle. But there was no visitors' center or temple on Smith Road! After turning around one more time, we knew our GPS wasn't giving us the right direction. We pulled over, called the Kirtland Visitors' Center and a few minutes later, we were on our way to the right destination. We couldn't help laughing and were in good humor realizing the many photos I have taken during the detour around the beautiful, quiet farm lands on Smith Road! 

Haggling Blunder!

Taxi is your best bet to see more of Batam, Indonesia,  an industrial hub and the largest of the 3,000 islands of Riau Archipelago. So when I arrived at the Batam Centre International Ferry Terminal, I put to good use my gut feel in choosing a good taxi and  a nice driver. And since there is no standard rate for taxis in Batam, I banked on my haggling skills in striking a pretty good deal! The driver asked for SGD 60 for the two-day tour, but I  quickly bargained to pay 500 Thousand Rupiah thinking it would save me a couple of bucks. To my chagrin, I learned that 500 Thousand Rupiah is SGD 70 haha. 


Sign Language Bliss

To get a discount in Shanghai, Don't let words get in the way!

After seeing Tom Cruise's movie, Mission Impossible 3 in 2006, Shanghai topped my list of places I wanted to visit because of its unique and rich heritage worthy of exploration. With my adventurous spirit and a promise by my then special guy (good grief he didn't make it there!), it came at the spur of the moment to drop by Shanghai before going to Hongkong last May 1 to 7, 2006. I had a map and that was it! 

All alone, I found myself in luck at Piao Ying hotel near the Bund (Shanghai's famous European skylines which means "embankment") with a good view of the Oriental Pearl Tower. Since I only have $300 or RMB 2,229 (Renminbi Yuan, the local currency), I wanted just a place for the night and save as much money until then beau arrives. The published rate for a standard room in Piao Ying was RMB 608 so I checked some options. One of the rooms I was shown looks like a junior suite and was so much better than the others. I asked if that room was also pegged at RMB 608. Since none could understand me I used hand gestures (my palm down, pointing to the wall and ask if the rate on the wall is the rate for the room  I liked). I heard the hotel staff said " Ok, ok, RMB 330!". He thought I was asking for a discount when I moved my hand like that! Later I learned that in Shanghai you can ask for discount even in hotels!

This is my entry to the Pinoy Travel Bloggers’ Blog Carnival for April 2013 with the theme "Funniest, Silliest, Dumbest Travel Moments" hosted by our LakBay Diva.

Check out the previous blog carnival topics in Estan Cabigas' Pinoy Travel Bloggers Blog Carnival.

Graduate's Profile: The Traveler!

by: Mhe-anne L. Ojeda

"The Graduate" balloon in Gloria de Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte

My four (4) year old niece Shanara came to me yesterday with a request! She wants me to join her as she marches and receives her medal during her kindergarten's Moving Up Day Ceremony on March 25. Of course she has her parents to do that, but in her tender years she probably could sense that as the one sending her to school [with my nine (9) other nieces and nephews] her graduation's diploma and medals are enough payoffs to me! And sure they are, so I excitedly wrote down the date, gave her a hug and a kiss while I say "Happy Graduation!" 

Graduation Day: April 1998

Degree: Bachelor of Laws

Graduation Day is probably my favorite celebration, and so it is easy to lose count of the many Commencement Exercises I excitedly attended either for myself [from elementary to law school as well as in church seminary and institutes] or for others - like the graduation year -in, year - out of at least 1 of my 10 school - aged nieces and nephews, and the many graduation days I attended as a high school teacher, a law school professor or even as a guest speaker in my alma mater's Graduation or Recognition Day. The feelings of hope, excitement and a sense of accomplishment for the hard work and sacrifices put in prior to the last day of school, makes me look forward to every Graduation Day!

Come April 1, I will celebrate another day of graduation and commencement! It is a day of graduation from a thirteen years of remarkable schooling (not in the usual classroom setting but in many beautiful destinations here and abroad). It is the time I could say that I already graduated from negativism, fears, ignorance, and naivete! 

"NO FEAR" Tricyle in Cateel, Davao Oriental

It is a day I have conquered my fears and became a gutsy woman. Yes! I am no longer an acrophobe or a person scared of heights like that of hanging bridges. I used to feel a twinge of anxiety and fear in simply walking across a hanging bridge. So looking back, my travels has bridged the gap between fears and adventures, gradually exposing myself in small steps from the least fearful situation to the most fearful ones. This allows me to adjust to each step and overcome the fear incrementally - first just looking at the bridge in Cagayan de Oro, then walking halfway thru a bridge in Bohol, then crossing the bridge completely at Sunway Lagoon in KL, Malaysia, and finally enjoying the bridge walk at Sentosa, Singapore. 

I no longer fear riding a public transportation or vehicles without seat belts which before traveling was a daunting task, not being able to use the cheapest way  to get to our destination! 

"Maroon Bells" in Aspen, Colorado (USA) 

So now, with 660 cities in 27 countries and a high travel score on Geckogo, I can consider myself as a graduate of the school of hard knocks, where the reward is not a diploma or a degree, but an A-traveler badge in Lakbayan for travel in the Philippines, and a profile of person who has learned to overcome some habits, to welcome and embrace the world around me and within me by feeding my wanderlust!

Parasailing in Kota Kinabalu, (Sabah) Malaysia

But the greatest reward on this day of graduation and commencement is having a greater desire to cultivate my mind, expand my world, embrace Traveling as a lifestyle and find meaning and reality that, indeed, "Life is a sea upon which the proud are humbled, the shirker is exposed, and the leader is revealed"! (Pres. Thomas S. Monson)

This is my entry to the Pinoy Travel Bloggers’ Blog Carnival for March 2013 with the theme "Things You Graduated From After Becoming A Traveler" hosted by our Miss Backpacker, Kaiz Galang.  

Check out the previous blog carnival topics in Estan Cabigas' Pinoy Travel Bloggers Blog Carnival.

New Zealand, A Natural Anti Depressant For Broken Hearted!

by: Mhe-anne L. Ojeda

"I wasn't ready" signaled my mid - April crisis post containing the horrors of ending an almost 5 years of beautiful relationship with my singular someone, just as when my biological clock is ticking! I agonized over the thought that "If I stay in the relationship, I will surely have a happy and stable future with my generous and kind hubby [possibly without a kiddo]. But if I leave and move on, I was unsure if I'll ever find another man who is ready and I can love the same way as my boyfriend".  I decided to leave and had a Leap of Faith.  I was brokenhearted!

For the next two weeks, I found myself wallowing and bathing in sadness inside my room - crying it out, writing it out, praying about it,  meditating on the matter, and listening to love songs while checking Facebook. I found solace in seeing  my  Pinoy Travel Bloggers (PTB), PTB Bagets, and Filipino Bloggers Worldwide (FBW) family give group hugs, offer for meet ups and suggest several ways to heal a broken heart.

Travel More to stitch my heart together topped the advice and appealed to me as a wanderlust! But since the reason for my broken heart is a true - blooded Traveler with MAP as the initial for his name, I was taken a back!  We've been around the world together and traveling alone will just remind me of him from ticket booking to hotels and making the itinerary. I held off.

But travel has its own way and timing, to give me a new beginning! I was  reminded of an invitation to be one of the honored guests at a lawyer's annual regional conference on June 1. The conference was set in Hamilton, New Zealand and tickets have already been purchased when things with my MAP was going well way back in April. All I need to do then was to take the trip! 

New Zealand is the perfect place for a brokenhearted me! For a starter, it is my Dream Destination where time seems to slow down as I lose myself to a vacation mode. Also MAP and I have not been there together so it was easy to get him off my mind  as I surrounded myself with plenty of happy people who deserved my attention. Like Auckland in Maori language, I felt like a ‘maiden with a hundred suitors’!   

Everything Is "New" In New Zealand. Its pastoral setting, pristine deserted island feel and turquoise horizon is truly captivating and one I have never seen before. I found myself in the midst of a beautiful city, and in half an hour I have the soft sand beneath my feet to the sway of a Polynesian culture!

It was easy to turn my life around as I conquered  Middle Earth with hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was shot in several locations around New Zealand!  As I travel around the wonderful cities of Hamilton, Waitomo, New Plymouth and North Shore I can Stay Optimistic! 

New Zealand truly is a natural antidepressant, improving my moods, feeling head over heels in love again - but this time, not with MAP, but with nature!

This is my entry to the Pinoy Travel Bloggers’ Blog Carnival for February 2013 with the theme "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" hosted by our Rakistang Nars, Rain Amantiad - Campanilla.

Check out the previous blog carnival topics in Estan Cabigas' Pinoy Travel Bloggers Blog Carnival.

Hello Europe:Hello Love

by: Mhe-anne L. Ojeda

EUROPE is a romantic destination, so they say. But it is not true that  you need to be with someone to taste a slice of the cake called LOVE.  Here are Six (6)  European Countries  that I have visited where even "singles" or "unattached" travelers like me can say hello to love this Valentines Day or beyond!

France

No more Lover in Paris, France? Fall In Love with Notre Dame!

Paris is synonymous to romance so I took the plunge, found myself in love with my then traveler beau, got lost with the stunning views of the Louvre, River Sienne, Arc de Triomphe, Champs - Elysees, Montmartre and became Lovers In Paris with the Eiffel Tower as backdrop for a first monthsary thingy. But now that the mushiness is over, can singles (like me!) still find  love in Paris? Definitely!

Move over to Notre Dame de Paris (or Our Lady of Paris in English) and fall in love with this world's largest, well-known and finest Gothic architecture standing on the Île de la Cité, the symbolic heart of the city. If you're in good shape, take 387 steps (to singlehood!) without elevator, and have a breathtaking view of the river and this ever charming city. If you come in August 14 & 15 of every year, celebrate your single hood with the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Feast of the Assumption Procession. With nearly 150,000 worshipers, pilgrims and visitors from around the world who participate, it doesn't matter whether you are alone or with someone!

Finland

Put a <3 heart  on  Helsinki, Finland. Order Kamp Love!

In my post Helsinki, Finland: Summer on Foot you get the idea that Finland's capital bustles with life in the summer time with an array of attractions like  Market Square, Senate Square, the Helsinki Cathedral, the University of Helsinki, the National Library of Finland and the Government Palace to choose from. But what's in store for singles on hearts' day in cold winter? 

Dine in Hotel Kamp in the heart of Helsinki where excellent service is a matter of heart! As the the only 5-star  hotel in Helsinki and the most luxurious and most expensive in the five Nordic countries, it is no surprise that Hotel Kamp is a popular honeymoon destination. But since you aren't in that stage yet, no need to eat your heart out! Hotel Kamp has paid attention to Valentine's Day for just friends  with their three different menu versions called Kamp Love. Order some loving and let your taste buds put you in a dreamy spell for the One!

Netherlands

You are  not alone in Dam Square in Amsterdam, Netherlands 

In the heart of Amsterdam (or a dam in the river Amstel) lies  the 17th-century canals which were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2010. Although more popular for lovers, singletons should never miss out on this romantic experience cruising along Amsterdam's oasis of love! To hide the insecurities of being alone in the plethora of kissing couples, find a baby tee shouting "I'm smart that's why I'm single"! 

"I'm smart that's why I'm single"

If you cannot don a proud single tee, just head to Amsterdam attractions where you can get lost in the dizzying number of people like the Dam Square, The Dungeon, Maddam Tassuads Wax Museum, Anne Frank Haus, etc. and you will never feel alone!

Norway

For romance on the road experiences during the summer or winter, my single recommendation is head to Trondheim, the historic capital of Norway!  In the summer, I find it truly romantic and unforgettable to watch the sun set at quarter past midnight while on the road. This phenomenon is called the Midnight Sun,  where the sun remains visible at the local midnight or for a continuous 24 hours given a fair weather in the whole country. But if you miss this exotic "white" night, opt for a romantic "white" day during snowy winter along the Trondheimfjord, the third largest fjord in Norway by the  Norwegian sea. A fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.

Sweden

Love Affair in Akersjon, Jamtlands Lan in Sweden

Singletons can keep their love affair (with nature!) on its toes in Sweden whatever the weather. Head to Akersjön - the so called "last wilderness in Europe".In the summer from May through October, find your perfect thrill amid its great natural surroundings, wild flowers, crisp air, beautiful hills and abundant wild berries! Like me, you will surely keep telling your Blueberrylicious Experience while snacking on ice cream with blueberry jelly and syrup.

In winter, score a romantic action - packed adventures around the Swedish mountains, forests and frozen lakes with the lovable dogs, toboggan, snowshoe, snow scooter, or snow mobile as your perfect match! At night, get cozy inside a Swedish cottage (cabin) with sauna for warming up great. 

Timra's romantic offering is the fairytale castle-like building built in 1883–1885 as the summer residence for the timber magnate Fredrik Bünsow called Merlo Slott. The beautiful castle is now a listed ancient monument and the rooms are well -preserved and worth seeing during a weekly guided tour all year - round. 

Dead Falls, Dead Love: Why?

In northern Sweden singles should drop by the municipality of Ragunda and figure out what happened to Döda Fallet (The dead waterfall) which used to be one of the most impressive waterfalls until 1796. It is sad to see that the Grand Rapid has dried out and is now extinct in a nature reserve. Ah! so much like love that could change its course and would be emptied in 4 hours!  But oh well, wrap up your visit at the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Building, a Thai royal pavilion built by the King of Thailand in honor of Swedish King Oscar II.

United Kingdom

I heart you Teddy!

London is the capital of England  and has nothing but Superlative Sights like British Museum, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, etc.  Lincoln,on the other hand, is the historically colorful medieval town where you can see a cathedral, a castle, an abbey and several other Romans remains, while York is home to stunning architecture and attractions renowned for its Roman, Viking, and Medieval heritage like York Minster. Which of these key cities of England I consider as the most romantic and a great place to go for singles? 

I'd say it's the place where my (your) heart is! And since I love anything teddy bears, York got my vote because of Stonegate Original Teddy Bears perfectly  placed in the heart of the oldest paved streets in the city.

Wish list: Since I have only been in the airport at Frankfurt, Germany, a romantic getaway on Valentines Day is in order. Putting it on my wishlist now. 

This is my entry for Carnival of Europe hosted by Aleah Taboclaon at Solitary Wanderer with the theme "Most Romantic Places in Europe".