Aboard Happiness

It’s been 5 years since I last published a journal. Somehow, I suddenly missed writing my travel experiences. I want to relive the excitement of traveling especially after being restricted because of the pandemic. So, I decided to go back to writing and continue sharing my travel experiences with everyone. Reception Area First stop on my list of course is in our ancestral hometown – Lipa, Batangas. With one-and-a-half-hour drive from Makati, you will reach The Oldgrove Farmstead in Brgy. Lodlod, Lipa, Batangas. I t hink the best time to visit the place is around Dec-Feb where the weather is cooler.  Outdoor dining area We went there last Jan 2 nd and took the breakfast slot. Reservation is required as the restaurant has a limited seating capacity. Price for breakfast is Php 850 per person inclusive of self-guided farm tour entrance fee and breakfast set meal. You are required to pay a 50% down payment via bank transfer to confirm your reservation. Breakfast slot was very relaxed and q

This post is way overdue and for some reason, I have forgotten this in my draft folder. Anyhow, here you, and hope you enjoy reading. =) In June 1991, Mt Pinatubo in Zambales erupted and was considered as the second largest terrestrial eruption in the 20th century. Ash clouds covered almost all parts of Luzon bringing darkness and ash falls went as far as Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia. It killed thousands of Filipinos and destroyed agricultural livelihood, infrastructure and most especially the indigenous village of the Aetas.  Early morning 20km 4x4 ride with our tour guide start of the 5km trek After two decades of Mt Pinatubo's eruption, my cousins and I planned to trek to the Pinatubo Lake. The trek was scheduled on a Sat so we left Manila after office and stayed in our relatives in Bulacan as the call time is at 5am -- 5am we must be at the tour operator's site in Capas Tarlac. We left Sta. Maria, Bulacan at 3am and we reached just in time for the ori

In the corporate world, you will always be working as a team and you as a team has to decide whether to rise or fall. As I looked back and reflect on my career life, my stint at HP was the one I enjoyed and the most fulfilling. During the first 4 years of my career, fresh out from college, I was still on the learning stage on how to deal with corporate life doing typically an office staff does – office admin work, finance, sales and marketing. I was typically testing every aspect and finding the niche for myself. Then after 4 years, I decided that I have been staying too long in this company and I needed try something new on a bigger scale. Then an opportunity knocks from HP and applied for a position as an entry level Customer Engagement Advisor. Three things excite me the most upon knowing that I got accepted for the position, 1) new and bigger environment means more room for growth; 2) pioneer team transitioned from a different country to Manila; and 3) bigger team and more peo

It was my first time to go to this part of the Visayas region, hence quite excited for this trip. My goal at first was to cross the San Juanico Bridge which is the longest bridge in the Philippines. We took a PAL flight at 12:55pm and arrived Tacloban Leyte at around 3:30pm and went straight to the hotel. We took a jeepney ride to downtown Tacloban as our hotel is located there -- Ironwood Hotel . As we were passing through the city, I can't help but be amazed that this place was once hit by typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon. I looked at the locals and was telling myself, "how did they survive in that catastrophe?". The people are striving to bring back their own city and I must say after 3 years they have done a pretty good job in bringing back their city--their life.  How do I describe the people there? They are very simple, very warm and helpful. I can attest to this because we were once lost and don't know the way to Robinson's. We approached and asked

I travel often but I don't get to stay in very nice and expensive hotels for reasons 1) budget constraint; and 2) I only leave my things in the room as most of the time I am out. However, whenever I get the chance to score a good deal (wink wink here), I take it.  Last January, our family visited Boracay and stayed at Shangri-la resort as we got an employee discount because of my aunt. We are a party of 6 and we stayed in 2 Deluxe rooms with sea view. Maximum capacity of each room is 3 pax with of course a fee for the extra person. The room is very big and it has 1 Queen size bed and a sofa bed (which 2 people fit in), without breakfast. The room rate we got is really reasonable considering it is Shangri-La however, it still does not include the speedboat fee of PhP 750 per way. The moment we arrived at Kalibo airport, we were greeted by the Shangri La staff and head us to our van for the 2 hour landtrip to Caticlan. Then we waited at the lounge of the resort for the speedboat

It's been a while since I visited my blog but as promised I will be sharing with you the part 2 of my El Nido experience. I will keep it short this time and post more pictures. The beauty of El Nido is mesmerizing, the pictures does not justify the beauty of the island. For our day 2, we are off to our El Nido island tour.  We booked our tour through our hotel. Everything was well arranged and I am happy I took their service. We booked a private tour of Tour A which cost roughly around 4,500 pesos for 3 pax inclusive of lunch. I highly suggest to wear aquashoes because you will be doing alot of walking and the coral are quite sharp. Tour A comprise of the following islands:  Secret lagoon Shimizu island -- this is where we had our lunch Small lagoon -- where we did kayaking Big lagoon Seven Commandos beach -- our first stop of the tour Our lunch includes grilled pork, grilled fish, rice, watermelon and banana. The serving was pretty big for the 3 of us so we shared it