All posts filed under: Travels

Time Ticks Faster

Last month, this domain expired. It took me until the very end of its grace period to renew it again, because why would I? I had not written in over a year and seems like blogging isn’t a thing anymore. I had a phase where I wanted to open a Substack then realized, why would I? I still have this little space of mine on the internet that no one really knows anymore, so wny should I stop using it right? 2023 was the same. Everything feels just the same these days. Everyone around me is growing, adulting, experiencing life milestones, yet here I am.. still me. From extrovert to introvert. I don’t know how others perceive me, and frankly, I’m too busy thinking about how I’m being perceived to actually realize how I’m being perceived. Does that make sense? It makes sense to me. It’s been a while since I’ve written anything long form that’s not for work. Everything is consumed in little tidbits nowadays (you can check my TikTok watch time for that, …

Random Questions, Travel vol. 1

I’ve been working too much on professional projects these days that I’ve kind of forgotten how to write for myself. As I was browsing my feeds (hello Feedly, still alive) today, I came across the Travel Diaries section of R29 and decided that it’d be nice to answer some of the questions myself. Plane, train, or automobile? Living in the Philippines with such a diverse number of islands, there’s not much option to travel by car unless it was a local Cebu road trip. I guess it depends on the place. As much as I hate flying and being in planes, it’s the only way I can get to my favorite countries. I do love a good train travel, I feel like it’s what keeps me the most relaxed.

2019 in a (long) Jiffy

Hello, it’s August 1 of the year 2019! So much has happened this year, yet I still feel dumbstruck that’s it’s already August. I wish I could stop talking about time whenever I write in this blog, but it’s just something that can’t be helped. I wish blogging were more in the list of things I would like to do frequently, but it’s just something that can’t be helped. I wish I knew all the answers to life’s questions at 31, but it’s just something that can’t be helped. If this blog were to be around in 10 years time, I bet I still wouldn’t have the answers. Postgraduate Diploma: Done! The first half of the year was crazy in more ways than one. After coming back from a long Christmas and New Year vacation back home in Jakarta and a bit in Singapore, I was not ready to face my 2nd semester. It meant a 2-3 month practice teaching in a public night high school after work, and just more academic weight on my …

How I Got My Japan & South Korea Tourist Visa in Cebu

Updated note: this was in 2017, so things could be different now! I get a lot of questions from close friends about visa application experiences so I decided to finally write about one, especially in Cebu. I love how it’s fairly easy to get visas in Cebu now without having to fly out to Manila anymore. Why not take advantage, right? I will try my best to be as detailed as possible with this entry. I know many probably won’t read and just skim through so I will also make the requirements concise as well. The reason why I consolidated this post for both countries is that I applied to both in a span of a couple of weeks therefore it made obtaining my requirements a lot more time efficient. Introduction There are a lot of other blogs that provide more detailed process for different kinds of applicants. This post is about my own personal experience that’s why I can confidently write about it. I could say that I owe my knowledge to blogs for …

Manila Weekend Recap, Part 1

Prelude: When Bianca told me she needed help in planning her wedding, I gladly obliged, despite being a plane ride away. Whatever I could do, I tried to help. Fortunately and to our pleasant surprise, the church she chose had very limited slots and her chosen date was May 20 at 9am. I didn’t expect to be spending my birthday in Manila this year, but I was glad! It meant I would be spending it with the Jakarta famkada again, just like 2014 and a bit of last year. We (Mom, Jana, me) left on the 18th, taking the last flight out by PAL. It was an early night for us because we wanted to avoid traffic, and we did. What I hated the most was that our flight was delayed by 2+ hours, so it was quite a bitch waiting in the airport. The only thing that consoled me was PAL planes are better, so it was a very comfortable trip. I joked to Jana that we spend more hours waiting in the airport …