Most Memorable Food I Ate While Traveling

I got the idea for this post from The Poor Traveller. Not sure if it was Yoshke or Vince who asked on their FB page what's the most memorable food you've eaten while traveling. I used to travel a lot for work, so there's usually something I remember from each country I've visited. 

So here's a few I still remember:

Pakistan

Brain and balls! Definitely memorable since I was the only one brave enough to try it, haha. I did it for my scout brother, Badar. The brain's texture was definitely something I've experienced for the first time. I think I was too weirded out after the first try and didn't have a second serving. Eating it is supposed to do wonders for you. The balls normally known as soup #5 in the Philippines, but in Pakistan it's prepared differently. I think it was grilled? My memory is a bit fuzzy about it since we ate it in the dark (there was a power outtage). So since it was dark my colleagues tried it too.

Vietnam

Scorpion! They told us it can be poisonous if not cooked correctly. Also best not to eat too many since sometimes it can have a side effect. I just tried a tiny bit and it tasted like crab. 

South Korea

Raw octopus! It was still moving when it was served to us. It was honestly hard to pick up with chopsticks since it was slippery. I ate it with a lot of soy sauce and just swallowed it immediately, haha. I had a bit more when it stopped moving (I was scared it might get stuck in my throat!). 

Bangladesh

The spiciest chicken nuggets in the world! My scout brother, Monirul, invited us to his home. He knew I don't eat spicy food so he had his cook make me some chicken nuggets. I was so excited, but was so shocked with their idea of "not spicy". The nuggets were freshly made, but still had bits of pepper in it. Needless to say, I drank a lot of water that night. 

Taiwan

The best chorizo in the street market! I don't really like chorizo, but eating a stick of it in the street market was truly unforgettable. The closest I could get here is the one from Dayrit's. 

General Santos, Philippines

Tuna sashimi, of course. We got to experience tuna being carved right in front of our eyes. That meant bottomless sushi for the whole night! 

Zurich

Very expensive plate of pasta! We had an allowance for food, but that plate of pasta cost two-thirds of my daily allowance. It was good, but after that I would just buy ready to eat food from the nearby supermarket. 

Japan

Uncle Fumio's sukiyaki! Celebrating New Year in Japan was a very unique experience. We stayed at Uncle Fumio and Tita Pet's home and got to celebrate new year with them. To this day I couldn't forget Uncle Fumio's sukiyaki. It's the best one I've tried in the whole wide world!

I'll try to remember if there's any more memorable dishes I've had when I used to travel, so I'll leave this post open-ended! :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

　

Lakwatsera Fridays: Our Happy Family Vacation in Bohol

When Sweetie said he had some travel fund expiring we tossed around ideas on where to go. We decided to go to Bohol since that was the last place we visited in 2019. It felt bitin so we thought we needed to give it closure. We defined our trip goals since we had to work around my medical condition. You really need to plan properly when traveling with someone who has health issues. 

We originally planned to go in June to celebrate their birthdays, but they both had the flu. We re-booked it a few weeks later to avoid the rainy season. Well, it was a blessing in disguise because a waterspout appeared during the week we were supposed to be there and it was a wet week. The weather was perfect the week we were there. 

Friends have been asking where we stayed and what did we do. Finally finished our travel diary vlog, so here it is --

After a lot of deliberation we decided to stay at Modala Beach Resort. It had a mall adjacent to it which saved us the trouble of taking a tricycle to the town to eat. We were so happy that one of a favorite restos, Mooon, had a branch at the strip. We also finally got to try eating at the Bohol Bee Farm restaurant. That also meant we had ice cream everyday we were there. Well, you can also check out our "Happy Tummies in Bohol" vlog here -

It was a really great family vacation for us. We were able to rest and relax and staying under the sun effectively reset my sleep pattern! My body is finally back in Asian timezone haha. We were also able to pamper our bodies with a massage and foot scrub. It was overall a chill and happy vacation and we'll probably come back soon!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Places I Want to Explore More

I haven't gone out for almost a month now and it's starting to drive me crazy! My activities have been limited also since I've been having slight fever on and off. I'm getting a blood test tomorrow to determine if I have an infection. To keep busy I water the plants and have started a new quilt project. Well, like many others, I've been scouring through old photos to remind myself of life before the pandemic. 

One of my wishes is to visit again some of the places I've been to. I never really had the chance to explore most of it because I was busy with work. Here are a few of the places I want to visit again:

Yeosu-si, Korea - getting there was an adventure in itself. It's a a city located in the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. I was luckily upgraded to a suite because I could smell smoke coming from another room and it caused a severe asthma attack. The reward was a beautiful view of the bay. My colleague said it was a fishing town and it reminded me of our hometown, Pasacao in Camarines Sur. (more here)

Switzerland - I had a chance to go see the Swiss Alps, but my doctor prohibited me because it was too cold. He was right because there was a cold snap when we went to Zurich. I'd love to see more of Zurich though because they have beautiful places to see. I was only able to see the river once because it was too cold. Maybe I'll get to visit again someday. (How I survived -6'C).

London, UK - I've been to London twice, but I didn't get to go around also. The cold really gets to me. I was only able to walk to Buckingham Palace because it was near my hotel and that was all I got to do, haha. So I must visit London again someday. (snippets)

New Zealand - I was in NZ for less than 48 hours for an event and meetings. I didn't get to go around and was only able to visit Spotlight (priorities, hello!), haha. I'd love to explore this country more someday. 

Australia - I've been to Australia several times and got to visit Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. We were able to do a day cruise thanks to Tita Chu. I've also been able to eat in some nice places, also thanks to Tita Chu. I'd love to see more of this country though and hopefully meet my cousin's super cute baby. (Australia posts)

Taiwan - I've visited Taiwan a lot and I've been to several provinces also, but believe or not I have done what tourists do! It was all work, work, work. I only managed to go to the night market, thanks to Shin Yee. Sigh, would love to see more of the country. (Taiwan posts)

Japan - I think everyone can agree that Japan is one of the places we'd all love to explore. I even tried to learn the language! Hope to be able to explore this beautiful country again and see Tita Pet, Uncle Fumio and my cousins again. (Japan posts)

Since it's impossible to travel for now, I'll probably look for some places we can visit nearby. Hopefully, with the cases going down we can eventually go out and explore. What about you? Where do you want to go?

#BeKind #StayHome

Proof of Travel Life

I was feeling unwell yesterday. I guess it's still part of the effects of the vaccine. I didn't want the day to waste away so I parked myself on the bed to sort out some stuff. I decided to work on my travel bags. 

I normally bring two hand carry bags whenever I travel. One is a tote bag and the second one is a backpack or a bag with wheels. I emptied the bags yesterday and found a treasure of hotel pens hahaha. Apparently I just kept tossing them in the bag and it added up. I was happy with the find because it means I don't need to buy a pen for a long, long time. Tossed out piles of receipts and asked help from Sweetie to shred print outs of tickets and hotel bookings. 

One thing I learned through the years was to keep a small amount of currencies from different countries. My job required me to travel a lot. I normally don't bring a lot of money, but you always should have enough cash to cover taxi rides and give tips. When I go back home I would keep the currency in an envelop for the next trip. Now that travel is suspended I'll just exchange the money back since some countries may change their bank notes and render my cash useless. 

Sorting through my stuff was also a trip down memory lane. I had the opportunity to meet many wonderful people and learn about their cultures. Traveling wasn't easy for me especially the past three years (I had falls), but I was happy to be there to serve and help. With my health now I don't think I'd be able to do what I used to do. The best treasure I found yesterday were the happy memories and the opportunity to make many new friends across the world.  

And I think I found the money to buy a new sewing machine. Yay!

CB////*Yr2/185 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/206 #NewG262 #Home21 #Xmas73 #StayHome #BeKind

I Miss Flying

It's been over a year since I walked down the aisle to my assigned seat on the plane back to Singapore. I was a frequent flyer, mostly for work. I like flying. I use the time to read, sew, watch movies I missed, sometimes I write and sometimes I conk out when I'm really tired. 

I like seeing the fluffy clouds, the different terrain in every place. The different kind of planes at airports. The myriad of people representing different cultures. It's really sad we're in this situation now where we can't travel. The memories have to be enough for now. In time we can all travel and be merry again. 

CB///Yr2/30  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/57 #StayHome #BeKind   

My First Visit to Korea

Last February I shared the time Sweetie and I visited Korea. I also visited the beautiful city of Yeosu. I have so much blog backlog and I remembered I never got to share that first time I visited Korea. 

My first visit to Korea is truly memorable. I went with friends from work. We always joked that it was a test of friendship since we spent our first night in a traditional Korean home. It was Myra who wanted to try it and we gave in. We all decided even before we went to bed that we were going to move to a hotel the next day. It was an experience like no other, but the need for conveniences won. 

After transferring to a hotel we immediately visited two palaces: the Changdeokgung and Gyeongbukgung Palace. All I remember now is we walked a lot. I guess at that I was already starting to have issues with clotting and I got so tired easily. At Changdeokgung Palace I parked myself at the museum steps while waiting for the girls to come back and get me. 

That same day we met a Kpop star who taught cooking at our office! That was a memorable experience! I should have probably asked him if I'd pass to be a Kpop star since I was mistaken to be one in Pakistan! Hahaha. 

By evening we dined out and ate yummy Korean barbeque. What was memorable for me was trying soju for the first time! They mixed it with beer and I absolutely loved it. I found it really tasty since it matched the grilled pork perfectly. We conked out immediately when we got back to the hotel. 

The next day we went to Seoul Skytower and Namsan. We took the cable car going up to the Namsan Tower. We decided to dress up for the day just for fun. We spent most our time there just taking photos and I remember laughing and laughing. There was a Latino guy who even asked to take a photo with me! That was so funny. 

After Namsan we went to a market since I wanted to buy fabric. That was where we had our second funny incident for the day. We were so hungry we went inside one of the shops. We immediately found a seat and tried to observe what other diners were ordering. We belated realized that everything they offered were raw food! OMG! We weren't ready to have that so we apologized to the server and moved to another resto. 

For our final full day we went to Nami Island. We just commuted and took the train. It was so cold! It was the perfect timing to visit Nami Island because the leaves were all orange and yellow. We rented a bike-trike (I'm not sure what it's called). It was an exhilirating experience to see the whole island through biking. I had so much fun doing that. After visiting Nami Island we also went to Petite France. 

We spent evenings roaming around Myeongdong. I learned a lot about beauty products visiting the shops. It was useful for me since Sweetie and I spent time in the same area when we visited last year. I wish I could visit Korea many more times in the coming years. I'm also interested to see the different provinces. Hopefully when things start going back to normal, maybe next year or the year after. I'd really want to visit all the wonderful people I've been meeting from Korea. I shall be back!

#CB45  #WFH39 #StuckAtHomeDay76 #StayHome #BeKind #ThrowbackThursday #TravelThursday

Frequent Flyer Habits

My first plane ride was to the US when I was four years old. It was our grand family trip which my parents organized because my brother and sister were on a long break. I remember going to Disneyland, Great America, watching Mr. Rogers and learning to cross the street to get the newspaper. We went home on my birthday and I celebrated it three times - at my Mom's best friend's home in San Francisco, on the plane and in Manila.

It was my first time to fly alone to the US when I joined my current job. I shed some tears when I arrived in San Francisco because I felt it was such a grown up thing to do. It was a huge learning experience for me and I've had to figure flights, hotels, getting from one point to another eversince.

I've done some crazy traveling in the last 10+ years. More than 90% of my travel has been work related, all memorable nonetheless. Here are some things I do whenever I have a flight.

1. Come to the airport early. I don't like rushing and I can't run.
2. Visit airport lounges selectively. I only go to the lounge when I'm at an airport I frequently visit or when I have some work to do.
3. Check out the airport bookshop and buy a magnet. I usually also check if there's any interesting tea to bring home for Sweetie.
4. Drink celebratory milk tea (where available). I have my favorite spots in Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan.
5. Make sure I have water. I always bring two bottles with me, one for water and one for coffee to avoid buying plastic bottles.
6. Wear a mask. I'm immuno-compromised so my doctor advised me to always wear a mask when traveling. I read though that germs abound more at the airport, but I wear a mask usually for take-off and landing. I could feel the air is very dirty during take off and landing. This is usually very obvious during haze season. So protect your lungs from dirty air!

One thing I need to work on though is reducing my handcarry. It's hard though because I have essentials I can't put in the check-in luggage (meds/essential oils). It really helps though that I use a Chromebook and it's much, much lighter than previous devices I used to bring with me.

What about you? What are your frequent flyer habits?

Long Flight Travel Tips

I have scaled down my travels in the past year. I'm not getting any younger and I now have preference to do more strategy work than implementation. Sometimes though I still have to travel.

Here are some things I always have whenever I travel:

1. Water bottle - long flights tend to dry you up and you may end up with a sore throat (and other sickness) if you don't hydrate. I always request the stewardess to fill up my water bottle at the beginning of the flight and they always indulge refills as well.

2. Extra shirt and face towel - a change of clothes mid-flight help keep the blues (and the baho) away.

3. Toothbrush and toothpaste - not all airlines provide this so it's best to have it in your hand-carry. (Also try to bring some mouthwash if you can).

4. Lozenges - sometimes even when you drink lots of water your throat would dry up. Lozenges help.

5. Entertainment bag - you can only watch as much movies and TV shows throughout the flight. I always bring a tiny quilting kit with me so I have something to do with my hands. I also always have a book with me.

6. Pen - for filling out immigration forms.

7. Compression socks - to keep DVT away!

And one thing I try to do is assess what I really use during long flights so I can trim down what I put in my bag. 

Battling Jetlag

I haven't blogged for over a week. I'm blogging now because I am slowly losing the battle against jetlag and I have to keep awake so I can adjust much faster. Historically though it takes me at least 2 days of coma-like sleep after coming back from the West to get up. I hope to battle this though since I need to travel again by Monday.

Here are some tips that my friends have given to battle jetlag:

1. Stay out in the sun for a few hours.

2. If your arriving at night, don't sleep on the flight so you can sleep at the proper time.

3. Take meds (I'm scared of doing this though).

4. Never give in to a nap if the sun is still out.

5. Just keep busy.

I've unpacked, did 3 loads of laundry, bugged my son most of the afternoon, nagged Sweetie, drank coffee, Coke and milk tea (okay too much caffeine isn't really good), but so far the best deterrent to falling asleep is putting a lot of stuff on my bed so I can't lie down. Ahh, maybe I should listen to Madonna to keep me up for at least a few more hours.

What do you do to fight jetlag?

Hello from California

It’s been almost 7 years since I’ve last been to California. In the last few years my team’s hub was in Europe so I never had the chance to come back to the US. I am marking my 8th year in Google on my birthday this year (yup my work anniv is also my birthday!). I always tell my friends, “Tumanda na ako sa Google!”. 

People always ask me how I got my job. I got it because I took the chance (even though the job description was really intimidating) and applied online. I never expected I’d get a call from the recruiter. I actually almost back out of the final interview because my Mom was in the hospital. My parents pushed me to go through the interview. And during the final-final interview I was also very sick with a 41’C fever. I just remember they asked about stats that day. I must’ve rambled the right numbers despite my frying brain coz shortly after that they said I was in.

The last 8 years of my life has certainly been very eventful. I learned a lot and have been stretching myself beyond my limits. I never imagined that I’d be able to do the things I’ve been doing and I’m still in awe of the opportunities given to me. I still remember that manghuhula at the Ad Congress in Cebu in 2005 who said, “You have a big star in your right hand. You will have bigger responsibilities and will be known for your work.” I told him, “I just got promoted maybe that’s it.” I never expected what was in my future.

I look back fondly in my last trip to the US. I was certainly at the crossroads when it came to my love life during that time. I was praying hard to find the right one because my September 2007 deadline was near. I told God back then that if I didn’t find the right one by September 30, 2007 it was a sign that I should dedicate my life to service. I was already planning to take my doctorate back then. 

But lo and behold, as I was being shown the coastline of San Francisco by a friend, Jay (who was in Manila) kept SMS-ing me and saying that he missed me a lot. My friend was so pissed because my head was down reading messages throughout the stretch of the coastline. Ay sorry naman. When I got home, through my jet lagged brain Jay and I became a couple on Yahoo messenger (yes! Yahoo! Hahaha). And the rest of our love story is history. 

I feel this trip truly marks a new chapter of my life. I have a year old heart still ticking (sometimes noisily with the ring attached to the valve). There are a lot of challenges, but with my family, friends and colleagues, everything should be alright. 

Cheers! 

*Wrote this on the plane to SFO.

Goodbye London!

At the airport now waiting to board my flight back to Singapore. This officially marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life. A new adventure is awaiting!

To my family, friends, communities, colleagues in Asia, see you soon!

*Hopefully won't be badly jet lagged!

Up in the Air

All day up to midnight!

Abangan ang adventure!

Airports

I love hanging around airports, so I usually go at least 2 hours earlier before a scheduled flight (it's the requirement anyway). Some people hate the wait, but I spend that time being productive (like doing this blog post right now).

Here's five things I do while waiting to board the plane:

1. I go online. I always make sure my laptop/phone is fully charged so I can: (a) check my mail and do some work; (b) check-in Foursquare; (c) say hello to friends on Twitter and Plurk and give traffic information in case I have friends going to the airport as well (traffic was quite heavy today).

2. I write/blog. So I'm doing this post because I kept getting disconnected from mobile internet. I knew I should've loaded up my other dongle. Sometimes I get so busy with work I'm unable to post as much as I used to in my blogs. This blog is the only one I've been updating in the past 2 months.

3. I eat. I always try to drink a glass of my favorite iced milk tea at Kopi Roti, but I fly PAL most of the time so I usually end up eating at Delifrance (I wonder when they're going to add more restos at NAIA 2). There are more food choices though at NAIA 3, especially at the boarding gate area.

4. I read. I catch up on my reading whenever I travel. My companion for this trip are Bo Sanchez and Malcolm Gladwell. Serious stuff, haha.

5. I people watch. There are days when I give my brain a rest, so I'm just happy to observe other travelers. There's definitely a difference between those who travel via PAL and Cebu Pacific. Most people who travel via PAL are either foreigners or business people. Those who travel via Cebu Pac in my observation (and well assumption) travel for fun.

Well it's almost time for me to head to the boarding area and I have to finish my Kopi Roti iced tea with milk and siewmai (yes that's how they spell it). My next post will likely be about my first trip to Zamboanga!

The Great SG Challenge

Five years of riding the LRT every single day gives you really good train-riding skills. I rarely ride the MRT or LRT now (coz I'm lazy to go up the stairs), but I was definitely challenged this week when I had to commute to work (I just usually wake up and work is just about 10-steps away from my bed). I could take a taxi, but I decided to take the more "adventurous" route by taking the MRT. 

When you become as lazy as me when it comes to commuting, you'd realize that commuting is HARD. It took me an hour to get to work the first two days, but one of my colleagues challenged me to find a better (that means less walk) route and I'm happy to say that I've cut my commute time by 15 minutes and the route home is much better since there are more sites (meaning SHOPS) to see.

I also realized that I probably stood out from everyone else here in Singapore because:

1. I'm not wearing black or any of their regular colors.
2. I don't have bangs and I certainly stood out more when I had my hair up.
3. I've been wearing sneakers the past few days coz my feet were sore from walking on my first day.
4. I carry this huge bulky bag with my laptop, unlike all the girls who seem to be carrying stylish bags.
5. I'm FAT! All the girls seem to be just half of me (boo!). I wonder if they eat at all.

Oh well... and I'm feeling a bit homesick huhuhu.

Bloggers Raid Puerto Galera

It was yet another adventure. A few weeks ago I posted an invitation for a short vacay in Puerto Galera. Early morning Saturday we met up at Petron South Super Highway and pushed forward to the Batangas Pier while munching on Jollibee burger type pancake with longganisa-egg-and cheese. Weird? Try it, it's good especially with ketchup (sorry Rico, I'm a ketchup person).

We felt like celebrities being adulated by crazed fans. It was just a feeling... more like being annoyed by pesky shipping line salespeople. Marc even got tapped on the head. The fastcraft wasn't available and we were forced to take a bangka to White Beach. The ride was okay, the long wait before leaving the pier wasn't.

Arrived at White Beach around noon and we had quite a hard time finding 3 rooms in one resort. Abe took up the cudgels of finding the rooms. He got the 3 rooms that were beside each other, but the warm, fuzzy feeling was soon exchanged with fear because he realized his camera bag (with his really expensive camera and filters) was missing. We were all quiet for a few minutes worried that he might have lost PhP100K worth of his gadgets. Good thing he found it in one of the resorts we were checking out. Whew!

After lunch we proceeded to the resort... until Abe realized he forgot where it was. We were all joking that he must've cleared his cache and lost all the cookies. Lucky day it was, the person who helped him find the room suddenly popped out of nowhere. Since it was too hot we settled in our rooms for a nap and then spent the rest of the afternoon by the seashore getting massages and taking photos. It unfortunately rained and we had to proceed back to the room (Marc's balat Sharms said).

After dinner I met up with an old friend and got lost. I never thought finding your friends in Galera would be so difficult. Smart's signal was bad (and most of the bloggers had Smart phones), so I had to wait for someone to call me and tell me where they were. I think we went around at least thrice before we found them in front of one of the sowsi hotels. The mindoro sling looked like it was working wonders. Everyone looked buzzed, but they were all talking about blogging! Aaaargghhh...

We just chilled the next day by the beach and had a bikini photo shoot (sorry it won't be posted!). Tried to get a tan, but then one day isn't enough. I didn't take any photos! I did bring my idiot cam, but with Jayvee, Sasha and Abe and their Canon toys who needs to take photos? Check out their blogs for the fab photos they took. (Photos posted here were taken by Abe).

We took the last boat ride back to Batangas. It was packed, but the nice sunset and the full moon made up for the discomfort. We had two stop-overs. One at Petron at the Star Tollway for a bladder break and then dinner at Cafe Via Mare at Total SSH. And then we bid our goodbyes and went home.

Thanks to Jomar and Jay for being my wireless chaperones. Haha.

Here are photos from the weekend (click on my photo).

2007 March 3 & 4 Puerto Galera

Next stop: Davao! My sched is here.

Postscript: Updated costing (here it is Annalea)

Gas (Manila-Batangas-Manila) - Rico loaded up about PhP1,000
Batangas Pier Parking Fee - PhP200 for 24 hours + PhP10 for every additional hour
Tollway Fees - PhP200 max.
Bangka to White Beach - PhP340 two-way (for group of 10, PhP280 coz you get 1 additional free ticket)
Room - PhP1,500 for 4 people
Food - PhP150 max per meal
Massage - PhP200
Mindoro Sling - approx. PhP300/pitcher

I didn't buy anything, just food. I must've spent about PhP1,600 only coz Rico paid for the gas (thanks Rico!!!).