Dream Travel Abroad

I love to travel, I really do. I dreamed of travelling to famous places, landmarks, astonishing beaches and landscapes around the Philippines and the world (why?I'm just dreamin'... :p ). 

Yes, you read it right...Around the world. 

and No...I still haven't applied for a passport... not yet... I prefer to buy some more time, since I'm not yet done with my local dream.

My friends invited me to join them on their travel to Singapore, Malaysia, Hongkong, or Macau on some occassions but I always begged off. I am not more of a "Disneyland" and "Universal Studios" person nor a fan of skyscrapers and boutiques. But that doesn't mean I don't want to go to these places...Of course I would love to go to there, it's just that I have other interesting places on my mind... Places that is soooo ME...

If and when (crossfingers) I finally decided to apply for a passport -this will only happen if  first, I already have a budget for my dream travel abroad, 2nd if I'm already satisfied with my local dream travels- 

I would love to spend my first international travel on one of my dream places in the world. 

I would have wanted it to be in Barbados Island

                                                  (picture from tripadvisor.com)

or Seychelles

                                              (picture from thebestbeaches.org)

or  Maldives 

                                          (picture from pictures4travel)

and Brazil

                                          (picture from picsfrom.com)

But it was like shooting the moon. With my present financial condition and other responsibilities, getting to these places means suicide. So I'm settling myself to a more realistic and attainable "First Dream Travel Abroad". (crossfingers)

Being a beach lover, I would like my "First Dream Travel Abroad" to Phuket, Thailand or other Islands in Asia. 

or Kotakinabalu

and of course, The Republic of Palau. I instantly fell inlove with the place when I first see it on television as the venue of a certain reality tv show.

Dreams do come true...I just wish mine will be a reality in the near future :))

WHO am I???

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it. 

-Bruce Lee

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Who am I? I was always asking this question to myself for quite some time... It is one of the reason why I chose "The Quirky Pinay" to be my blog name. 

According to Urbandictionary : 

Quirky : 

                Having a peculiar character. Standing out from the crowd for the sake of it

Uncoventional, suprising, odd I believe everyone has their own peculiar character.I am no exception. In a way I am different from the usual girls, I mean, woman of my age... I even consider myself eccentric at times (hehehe). I don't usually conform to the norms of our society and I celebrate my individuality with so much gusto :) One day you could see me in a posh hotel eating dinner or at the streets eating fishballs and the next day on top of the mountain, drinking with my friends. You could see me walking at the red carpet In flashy clothes and glamour but believe me, I love laidback life and I'm not afraid to get down and dirty :) and be unfashionable You could see me partying all night with my girl friends or my boy friends... nyek :) and then next you could see me bonding with the kids

or the kids at heart.

I can be seen tough and lady like or even like a kid @ play. I am a complexity of things... So now, I'm asking... Who am I? :p

Bantayan Island, Cebu

i long for the smell of the ocean, the crashing sound of the waves, the feel of the sand on my feet, the chillin' morning breeze... 

ohhh how i wish to be in your arms again...your water washes all my fears...I could swim all my worries away... With you i feel so alive...i promise i'll be back, one of these days...i'm gonna leave the city to meet you again. - Bantayan Island, Cebu City

Of Conquering my Fear

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
You must do the thing you think you cannot do. "


~ Eleanor Roosevelt

I CONQUER MY FEAR!!!

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When I was young... I mean younger, I wasn't afraid of gettin' hurt, experiment on things and try new experiences... Well practically because I care less about myself being the "happy go lucky" type of person...I said it, that was before... As I grew older and responsibility has been put over my shoulder (naks!) I started to feel the fear... It was not my life anymore... There are people who depends on me... The fear started to build up and I started to stay away from my past life (chos!)

But I can't totally stay away from the challenge... The Emergency Awareness Training in our office requires every participant to do the rappelling and the zip line with the improvised harness. It scared the hell out of me... My size???doin' the rappeling? with all that ropes? NOOOOO!!!

It's a two-day training, at first I was firm saying I wouldn't do it. But everyone did it and so I was leave with no choice... I HAVE TO DO IT.

When I stepped on the ledge to get ready, everything in me is shaking... Did I need to say that I have this fear of heights? Even looking down from a two-storey house makes me dizzy what more with doing the rappeling from 12th floor to 10th floor of our building?! Arggghhh!!! Everyone is looking at me, my friends are there to support me, the trainors giving me last minute instructions but everything is blurred... All I hear is my heart beating so loud it hurts my ears (I dunno, but this is what I felt). When I loose my grip on the rope and I became unsteady, I thought it was the end of me... I was screaming... Yelling at them to hold the rope tight...I was about to cry. I was so glad, they were so patient with me... And then slowly I did it... I slowly moved down, even calling the photographer to took a picture and then I smiled... I DID IT!!!

I've done the first part... I thought it was that already... When they asked me to do the zip line after everyone has been finished, I tried to begged off... But I saw all their eyes at me... and after some demands on my part (like double rope) I give in... This is harder than the first one. In rapelling, I was facing up and walking at the wall, here in zipline I was looking down and I was really really dizzy. I was shouting 'til my lung's out...waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!!!! It was just a brief travel but it feels like days before I feel my feet touched the ground. I can't even stand straight 'coz my knees were shaking hard... After all the agony (char!) I've been through... I could say... I CONQUER MY FEAR!!! I did it!!!

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"I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit."

~ Dawna MarkovaCONQUER YOUR FEAR!!! Slide for life :p

Laid-Back Bohol Travel Adventure (Cebu-Bohol Part 2)

Bohol is part of the Central Visayas Region and just an hour ferry ride away from Cebu City. :) When we booked our ticket to Cebu City, we have already agreed to explore Bohol as well.

We booked a roundtrip ferry ride to Tagbilaran one week before our travel date, so as to avail the return trip promo. We got our ticket for only Php 830 round-trip. We chose to travel early in the morning, so as not to be shocked with the big waves (its our first time to ride a ferry). We already had our contact in Tagbilaran port, Mang Pedring who will be our service driver/guide in Tagbilaran. We rented the van for Php 3,500 for 1 1/2 day.

We only have limited time, so we started to explore the usual tourist destination of Bohol.

Blood Compact Site in Bool, Tagbilaran City

The site was made in honor of the historical event "Sandugo" between  Miguel Lopez de Legazpi of Spain and Rajah Sikatuna of Bohol.

Baclayon Church

Baclayon Church or the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is one of the oldest church in th Philippines. The church is made of coral stones.

Note: If you're wearing short shorts/skirt and sleeveless blouse upon entering the church, do not be shocked if somebody approached you and put a shawl to cover your legs and arms. They're conservative with the attire.

 Tarsier Encounter

 Tarsier is the world's smallest primate which was always mistaken as a specie of monkey. These little creatures are nocturnal and is part of Bohol's trademark.

Note: when taking a picture of tarsier, turn-off your flash. Tarsiers are suicidal creatures when they're stressed-out/pressured/afraid. Camera flash aggrevates the stress on these creatures.

Bohol Man-made Forest

Bohol man-made forest are mostly composed of mahogany trees which stretches about 2kms. It was a project of Boy Scout of the Philippines in Bohol (that's according to our driver Mang Pedring).

Bohol Man-made Forest is on the main road going to Bohol's famous Chocolate Hills. Tourists stop at the area to took pictures. Be careful with approaching vehicles when taking pictures in the middle of the road, like what we did in this picture :)

The Butterfly Garden

Heart Pumping Cebu City Adventure

A Heart Pumping Cebu City Adventure

is part of my June 2010  Cebu-Bohol Travel Adventure with my two officemates cum travel teammates. We've got the airline tickets for only P1,235 each Manila-Cebu-Manila.

Our Cebu Adventure focused mainly in the city. We only have limited time so we make the most out of it.

We arrive at Cebu International Airport 15 minutes pass ten in the morning. We immediately headed off to Cebu Business Hotel since according to my researches, it offers nice accommodation at a reasonable price. Well, I'm not disappointed. Cebu Business Hotel is indeed a good choice for travellers with limited budget. They offer discounts during weekend stays. We paid only 800+ for a De luxe room which is quite big for the three of us. The regular rate is 1700+ but we're discounted 50% off. Nice  :)

After settling our payments and putting our bags in our room, we get ready on our first destination. We do not have planned itinerary, we just want to experience Cebu City, the normal and chillax way :)

First Stop : Taoist Temple

The Taoist Temple is quite far from the city. We hired a taxi to bring us there but the place was not accessible from the main road. We asked the driver to wait for us while the taxi meter is on instead of hiring the taxi on a fixed amount of 400-500 pesos.

The temple is located in Beverly Hills Subdivision in Cebu City which offer a scenic view of the downtown.

The entrance to the temple is a replica of the famous "Great Wall of China". Too bad, I don't have a picture :(

After wandering in every corner of the temple, we headed off to Larsian in Fuente Osmeña. It is a place to go when you want to pig out on BBQ's or anything grilled. From the usual pork and chicken BBQ to every internal parts of pig and chicken, to grilled fish, squid, and my favorite Cebu Longganisa. There's many eatery inside the LARSIAN, you could chose any eatery you want to eat, anyway, they offer the same kind of food...GRILLED.

My friend Glenda can't help but order extra extra extra rice...7 rice...FOR THE WIN!

The special rice of larsian called "PUSO"

Our trip in Cebu will not be complete without a trip to famous landmarks and sights like the Sto Nino church and the famous MagellansCross.

The highlights of our Cebu Travel is the heart pumping Crowne Regency Adventure. The Edge Coaster and the Skywalk.

Cebu is a nice place for food, gimik, thrill and adventure.