Spent Christmas of 2012 at the beaches and streets of Goa, with all it’s religious structures and Portuguese architecture. Calangute beach in Goa is among the most popular in this side of the world, with it’s fine brown side and really tropical weather. Kissed by the Arabian Sea, the shoreline of Calangute beach is filled with tourists, local and foreign, basking in the warmth of the sun and the clear blue skies.;
In one rather sunny August day, me and some friends from couchsurfing decided to push through with a quick weekend escape to Laiya, Batangas — a coastline of white sand about three or four hours from the paved highways of Manila.
We actually talked about the trip a week before but weren’t really sure if we’d push through. Laiya isn’t exactly known to the Manila populace as a cheap place for a quick getaway. When you say Laiya, it’s possible that the first thought are the big and fancy resort hotels that charge you about 4000 per person for the weekend — which, I think, for the services, amenities and package food menu that is included is just fair for a touristy weekend vacay.
Continue reading CS Weekend Escape: Beach Bumming at Laiya and Food Tripping at Tagaytay
In my desperate attempt for a weekend escape from all the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila, I turned to newly-found and not-yet-met CouchSurfing friends and folks to go surfing at Zambales!
But of course, backtrack a little bit: most of us got bottomless on tequilas and hit the dance floor first (Payback Friday mode at Agave and 7th High) before hitting the beach! Special thanks to Jen for organizing, Craig for keeping our bags at his pad, and Abby for the magic password for Guest List at 7th high!
Continue reading CS Weekend Escape: Surfing at Zambales
Above the sky and under the sea adventure at Manila Ocean Park with my mom, cousin and aunt.
I haven’t posted a new travel entry for two months now and as I am running out of excuses for it, I’ve decided to have a quick Instagram post of my 4-day trip to Visayas with Leah, my good friend whom I’ve met through CouchSurfing in India.
As she’s only here for 8 days and I have just started on a new job, we made sure that she’d be able to see the Philippines under the urban/metro and rural/nature sense.
Our first stop after she roamed the streets of Taguig, Makati and Manila is the naturally-gifted province of Bohol. While planning her trip, I asked Leah which of the 7107 islands of he Philippines would she be more interested in. I provided her with the top tourist destinations’ main selling points and at the mention of Tarsier, the world’s smallest primate (or so we thought), our itinerary finally had its anchor.
Continue reading Instagram Travel: island hopping in Visayas
The Diarist Wanders 