Travel Dust

Hmmm…

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:38:21 -0700

Hmmm…

What's a nice place to visit in The Philippines? Part I

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 08:00:00 -0700

A friend asked me this question over brunch last week and all I could say was, It depends on what...

"I dislike the feeling of being at home when I’m abroad."

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 23:06:36 -0700

“I dislike the feeling of being at home when I’m abroad.” - George Bernard Shaw I...

Sometimes I feel robbed whenever I realize how often I...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:04:00 -0700

Sometimes I feel robbed whenever I realize how often I don’t get to see a beautiful sky at sunset anymore.

Photo taken by Donna Lanzanas

My friend and I were walking thru the alleys of Chinatown in...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:27:00 -0700

My friend and I were walking thru the alleys of Chinatown in Singapore after having a dessert and we saw this crab slowly escaping from one of the restaurants. Since Singapore is abundant with street cats, naturally a curious cat was sneaking up right behind the crab and following it. I failed to get the shot with the cat totally fixed in on the crab because a group of guys passed by and made the cat, umm…pretend it doesn’t have any bad intentions. LOL!!! That would’ve been cool to see what the crab would do to the cat if the cat attacked it. One less chili crab on the menu that night!!

Dream getaway in Jordan

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 07:10:00 -0800

Dream getaway in Jordan: Seeing photos of Jordan makes me want to really go to Jordan, particularly...

Stability or Experience?

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:00:05 -0800

A friend was contemplating on “what ifs” if she stayed back home instead of trying out...

Photo

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:04:00 -0800

Holiday Freebie…and Crowds: Dreams & Reality, Musée...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:03:00 -0800

Holiday Freebie…and Crowds: Dreams & Reality, Musée d’Orsay Paris.

First of all, I was not in Paris. This was the Musée d’Orsay Paris’ exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore. I’ve been wanting to see ~~this exhibit since it had~~ Van Gogh’s Starry Night, but I couldn’t get anyone to actually go with me.

Saturday after Chinese New Year’s, a friend messaged me asking if I had plans and if I wanted to go see Van Gogh. Of course I was like “Heck yeah” and after a couple of hours we met up - yup that fast. A sign at the entrance greeted us saying something like “As part of Chinese New Year Celebrations, all galleries are free to the public from January 23 to something something…” I read about this freebie thing being only on January 23 and 24 only but turns out we were still going in for FREE and saving $$$!! Well, my friend only saved $$ because he got too excited with the freebie and rented an audio guide for each one of us.

The price of a freebie: crowds. You don’t really get to appreciate art that much when people start bothering you to take their photo for them or when they suddenly block your shot or the sign you’re reading, or worse, they step on you. But it was free. I can’t complain. I saved money and got to see marvelous works of art. The security guard though did approach me and kindly told me to be more careful with the umbrella dangling on my left arm because I could hit and hurt someone with it. It was that crowded…and she was exaggerating. You can’t hurt anyone with a folding umbrella dangling on your arm. Will it get in contact with another person? Probably. Will it hurt them? I doubt. Was I near anyone when she told me that? NO. I was at the last section standing & taking a photo of a wall while waiting for my friend to finish - we got separated after 5 minutes we entered LOL.

Anyhow, when I was looking at one of the paintings I suddenly realized that this is what I first thought what a painting is (brush stroke, texture, etc.) when I was a kid. Turned out to be Monet’s. The Starry Night painting I was expecting also turned out to be The Starry Night over the Rhone. Still a Starry Night. And I got my culture fix. ~~I’m~~ I was happy.

When we were leaving, the line went beyond the 30-minute marker in front of the gallery doors at the basement and reached the Museum’s lobby on the first floor. It’s nice to know plenty of people still appreciate art ^^ and it was even a greater thought that we only lined up for 20 minutes :D

In the almost two years I’ve been living in and out of...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:45:46 -0800

In the almost two years I’ve been living in and out of Singapore, I have never ever tried this drink until the other day. My good friend bought it for me - her treat, yay! - and made me realize I’ve been missing out on a lot! It tastes like gulaman but without the sago/tapioca pearls! I never knew what a winter melon was - and still don’t know - but damn! Glad I had it even if it’s in a can. Refreshingly sweet! :D

cwnl: Winter Night at Pic du Midi Credit & Copyright: Alain...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:36:20 -0800

cwnl:

Winter Night at Pic du Midi

Credit & Copyright: Alain Sallez, David Romeuf (Université Lyon 1)

This dreamlike view looking south from the historic mountain top Pic du Midi Observatory combines moonlit domes, a winter night sky, and the snowy peaks of the French Pyrenees.

Encroaching on the night, lights from the La Mongie ski resort illuminate the mountain slopes nearby while the glow along the distant horizon is from urban areas in southern France and Spain.

The night sky features stars of the constellations Orion and Gemini with a bright planet Mars very near the top edge, left of center. The three prominent domes visible (from left to right) house a 0.6 meter telescope reserved for amateur astronomers, a 1 meter telescope that was used to support the Apollo lunar landing missions, and the new, Sun-watching CLIMSO.

Adding this place to my list of places to visit!!! I love staring at the sky and stars, and this place is just :O

...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:14:00 -0800

I was writing a post and accidentally pressed command+Left arrow instead of alt+L arrow and lost...

Hello Stranger. Falling in love with the literally lost stranger...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:02:05 -0800

Hello Stranger.

Falling in love with the literally lost stranger you meet in a tour group in Seoul. This is a really funny Thai movie!!! Watch watch!

Makes me want to ~~travel with a bf and~~ go back to Korea, too!!!

trollwithacamera: happybutt: tequila-flavoredkisses: this...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:43:31 -0800

trollwithacamera:

happybutt:

tequila-flavoredkisses:

this should be in the back of my mind for 2012. it applies so heartily to me, being that i’m about to graduate and turn 22 in the course of the next year.

I’M TURNING 22 IN 12 MONTHS TIME! LET’S DO THIS!

A,

Let’s do this together. Soon. Even before we turn 22. :D

Even if you’re twenty-five or twenty-seven or whatever, this applies! :P

Asiana and Korean Airlines offer either a stay at a hotel or a...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:55:00 -0800

One scene in Goong was here! haha

Sister doin Rain's Clear advert walk

City Hunter! Hahaha

Asiana and Korean Airlines offer either a stay at a hotel or a free day trip to Seoul if you have a long layover so the family & I chose a long layover en route to the US to do a day trip. But I’ll never do it again. Once is enough! haha! I don’t like being on tour buses that just parade me around the city and take me to tourist traps. The restaurant we went to was really good though! That was the only thing I really liked about it. And the palace where Goong was filmed. I soooo wanted to be left behind and go inside the palace, but the tour bus had to go. Boohoo~ It was good that I got to see Seoul but that was it. It was literally see. I didn’t feel it.

I really want to go back and explore the country. I actually want to get assigned for work in S. Korea for a couple of months or so. I don’t know how but world, make it happen :D

Nuno sa Punso

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:14:05 -0800

me: Ivan, go with me to Angono Ivan: Angono? Hahaha! What are we going to do there? me: I want to...

Itineraries are really only useful as a guide. It’s too...

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:55:00 -0800

Itineraries are really only useful as a guide. It’s too strenuous to stick to it by the dot, imo. It takes the fun out of a trip. But, sometimes it’s good to follow them, particularly the starting time and ETD for public transpos.

This was our itinerary for Mount Pinatubo. Obviously, we did not start out that early. But we still got there within the same ballpark as the ETA. I always keep the itinerary of trips in the same folder as the photos. I don’t know why. It’ll be useful someday, if not for me, at least a friend or a friend of a friend.

ps: That’s a huge tip for the driver if you multiply it by 3! Kaya walang nag tip…haha

For a bigger photo click click here.

Since I just had a fair share of Mount Pinatubo posts, this one...

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:06:00 -0800

Since I just had a fair share of Mount Pinatubo posts, this one can cap it off. Or not.

The Mount Pinatubo trip would always be known to me as the 4 Guys with 3 giant siopaos (Hokkien for steamed buns). Technically, there were 3 guys and 1 ~~girl~~ lady (me). But, according to many, I eat like a guy so that makes it 4 guys. Now you will ask what is a giant siopao? It’s my term for the super extra large siopao sold only at two shops in Binondo. It’s prolly 8 inches in diameter. For a steamed bun, that’s huge! That’s like a personal pan pizza! On a hike on a hot day for four people who barely had breakfast, 3 giant siopaos are not enough.

Why did we only have 3 siopaos? Well, the day before our trip I bought 4 pieces of the siopao I’ve been raving about (recently discovered it then). The guy at the store asked me, “Frozen or steamed?” I said frozen because it’ll get soggy if it’s going to be consumed the next day. On the day of our trip, I think I woke up late…Ok, I woke up late and started steaming the buns in the rice cooker. Since they were huge I only got to fit 1 bun at a time. I also have a vague memory of attempting to steam a bun using our stove. Since they told me they were picking me up at 4am, I remember trying to rush the buns and squeezed two buns in the rice cooker. Fortunately, the ~~boys~~ guys were late. Over an hour late. But not late enough since I only got to fully steam 3 buns. The other bun was prolly around 80% frozen. I was thinking of whether to bring it or not. Obviously, I left it behind.

We were also supposed to stop at a Jollibee to buy our lunch but when we were at the gas station on the freeway (FREEWAY aka NLEX lol!), the Jollibee was either still closed or someone suggested to buy later - or both? Point is, we forgot to buy our lunch. So we just had 3 giant siopaos or 6 half siopaos and a bar or two of chocolate…for the whole day! But someone ate a whole siopao. While on the boat, he was like:

Daryl, is there still siopao? Can I have the other half? Is anyone else going to eat the siopao?

God, we were hungry. And burnt. I don’t know how we managed to hike up and down that volcano and even swim in it with just that amount of food, but we did. I even remember thinking when I was in the small boat as we were being paddled to the other side of the crater that I should’ve brought the other siopao. It would’ve thawed and cooked in the heat. I would’ve prolly ate it even if it wasn’t steamed. But too late for that.

Since we were already hungry bears we fought it out and ate dinner along the freeway on our way home, which was about an hour or more from Mount Pinatubo. Fast food never tasted so good to me at that point. haha.

edit: Maybe it’s better to call this trip 4 Hungry Hikers?

I'm tired.

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:16:00 -0800

Making my version of “It’s more fun in the Philippines” isn’t fun anymore...

The only way to get to Mount Pinatubo is to rent a 4x4 vehicle...

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:12:59 -0800

The only way to get to Mount Pinatubo is to rent a 4x4 vehicle from the jump off point at Sta. Juliana / Pinatubo Spa Town. The 4x4s look cool but they don’t have air-conditioning and the road is really dusty so you’d definitely get a fun, bumpy and dusty ride. As much as I like the outdoors and 4x4s, I’m not a big fan of dust. BUT, I was spared from it because our friend decided to bring his car - thank God! haha. You can bring your own 4x4 to Mount Pinatubo as long as you pay the PHP500 car fee - it’s cheaper than renting the 4x4, you’re only taking the 2-hour hike, and you’re willing to get insurmountable amount of dust on your car haha. The heavier duty 4x4 cars in photo are the only cars allowed to take you to the 4-hour hike jump-off point. Someone I know who took that route said it had deep ditches & huge rocks you’d be driving on. Based on the Top Gear shows I’ve watched, I don’t think the Subaru we rode in was made for that kind of drive; a Land Rover perhaps. But I don’t think a Land Rover owner in the Philippines would be willing to test out his Jeep there.

If I go back though, I wouldn’t mind renting the local 4x4s. I want to know how I’ll cover up lol. It’s also a good way to support the indigenous people living there…