Travel Guides
This archive is a collection of detailed travel guides by a traveler for travelers and backpackers on a budget. It also includes itinerary, places to visit, where to stay and sample budget.
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Planet Dive Resort in Mabini, Batangas (Review + Travel Guide)
I filled my lungs with much air that it could possibly take in, held my breath and descended into the world beneath the blue swells, piercing through currents. For a moment, I was wrapped again in silence, calmness and saltwater; surrounded and fascinated by countless vibrant corals and fishes of different colors, species and size. I could only hear my resounding heartbeat and what seemed like crackling sounds underwater. I swam gracefully past the crevices and in between two large rocks that is richly wrapped with gaudy life that is beautifully undisturbed. My body was free falling – giving into the weights, defying buoyancy, sustaining it with my finning. My…
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Coffee with a View at Duyan Cafe, Silay City
It started out gloomy – the clouds seemed dense and heavy. There were no warm sunshine hues that I have always looked forward, too. Fine drops of rain started to hit the window pane of the room where I stayed for some nights in that city. Then, it hit me – that day was the start of the most colorful street dance competition in the town, the highlight of Bacolod City’s Masskara Festival! “No, it couldn’t be pouring. Not today,” I uttered. My prayers and the energy of my positivity emanating from the bathroom while I shower might have reached the heavens above as I saw golden rays through the curtain…
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Surprisingly affordable and Instagram-worthy AirBnB accommodation in Siargao!
If it’s a pretty fine resort or hotel accommodation, it’s expensive. Or at least it’s what I have always thought? Before, I used to check into more than decent air-conditioned room accommodations because I would want to get a satisfying rest enough to get me ready for the adventures on the next day. But then I realized, I shouldn’t be spending that much for a place where I’d only stay for few hours of slumber. My perspectives have shifted after a year or two of traveling. I have gradually turned into a traveler-on-a-budget who usually checks in to room sharing, dormitory type of accommodation because these are way cheaper; hence,…
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Metro Eats: Finally Tried Denny’s Diner (A Review)
Looking for a place to dine is always a challenging one in the Metro as there are indeed a lot of choices out there. There goes the ones with new taste and new twists – a fusion of everything. They look enticing that a gastronomic adventure sounds a very good idea. While some are into a food exploration, some have already confined them selves into restaurants where their taste buds are familiar and in favor with already. I am a picky eater which makes me part of the latter. I don’t like trying new tastes that much as I don’t want to end up disappointed. However, word of mouth and…
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Bookaway: An Online Express to a Transit from a Paradise to Another
I recently went on a 17-day solo backpacking in Palawan and it’s seriously one of the best thing I’ve ever done in my entire existence (so far). Considered as a home to some of the best islands not just in the Philippines but the world, Palawan indeed has a lot to offer which can effortlessly make everyone fall in love with it. I have heard of and seen people who have shared their backpacking trips and stories to a town or two of this province. Given a long break from my job and in the best season of the year, I thought of doing a long backpacking, too. Good thing, planning…
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Maris Coral Garden Dive Resort is a Diver’s Paradise! (Travel Guide + Review)
For the past years that I have been traveling around the Philippines and mostly from an island to another, I have developed a deep connection with the ocean. My reunion with the natural waters always gives me the feeling comparable to catharsis. Its sight is but entirely a purging of emotions; thus, allowing me to feel brand new and be able to feel again in the next chapter. Chapter One is pure bliss, the here and now with the brine and all the life it envelopes. There is something about it that just sets things right for me. Falling in love deeper with it has led me to skin diving…
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Experience Serenity and Exclusivity in the Newest Resort in San Juan, Batangas – Seashore Beach Club
It was my first time in San Juan, Batangas, a town that is two to three hours away from Manila depending on the traffic, and I’ve always known it because of Laiya where resorts are always fully booked. I was told that we’ll be going to Brgy. Calubcub, which I just honestly heard for the first time. We drove along paved roads with towering coconut trees on the side and where there were no commercial buildings until we reached Seashore Beach Club in San Juan. It was a sunny summer Saturday yet and there’s not much people on the beach. It was not yet fully furnished during our visit but I…
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Tribe and Trek Zambales: An Adventure that Matters with the Yangil Tribe
When I started traveling, all I cared about was nothing but good photos of me and the scenic spots of the spectacular places that this world hold. I got nothing but a romantic and ‘touristy‘ outlook into going to places. However, my perspective shifted when the ugly truth hit me hard. If not seen on the news, I’d see for myself the alarming amount of trash particularly plastic in the ocean carried by the waves and current from the community nearby or from the tourists who intentionally left it at the shore, dead endangered sea creatures being washed ashore or found floating in the waters in the morning, closed trails…
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Hirasei Japanese Restaurant in La Bella Tagaytay
Amongst the lush, towering trees sits a haven for people whose souls are aching for a relaxing loft. A Mediterranean-inspired place that possesses its own grandeur in terms of coziness and cuisines that are truly remarkable and dainty. A place that is purposefully made to warm everyone’s shell-shocked hearts. La Bella Tagaytay is a place where diversity of sanative commodities are found from organic yet delicious foods that are perfect for vegan guests, a library that breaks the stereotypes of book genres, and hidden restaurants in Tagaytay whose food are indeed delectable both to the mouth and the eyes. Since it aims to expressly give its clients the world in…
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Where Nature Meets Adventure: Mountain Lake Resort, Cavinti, Laguna
Wide spaces and fresh air are always my greatest breather. My heart and my mind are in an instant state of relief and decongestion from all the worries and anxiety as the vastitude takes it away from me. There is this freeing feeling in my core; sensing a tinge of giddiness in my bones, allowing frivolity in my life, absorbing every element in my soul – as I see the blue sky a canopy to a land covered in green that grows luxuriantly everywhere. I embrace everything in peace and silence – all these I felt the moment I set foot in Caliraya Spring Mountain Lake Resort. About Mountain Lake…
