A few weeks ago, I wrote about Corregidor’s new Adventure Challenge in SIM.
Organized by Sun Cruises, this new way to enjoy Corregidor is styled after reality show The Amazing Race. You get to race through the ruins, crawl through tunnels, trek through forests, and explore some of the island’s sites you wouldn’t normally get to visit. Continue reading
If you’ve done the historical day trip tour and adventure tour in Corregidor, here’s a list of other things you can do on the island if you decide to stay overnight.
1. Catch the famous Corregidor sunset. The view from Battery Grubbs, overlooking Bataan, is great. I think the ruins also look more dramatic with a sunset silhouette. Early risers can catch the sunrise tour at the island’s tailside the next day. Personally, I prefer sunsets.
While researching motorcycles in video games, I thought I might as well make a list here from games I have played. I’m not really a fan of driving/racing games and prefer RPG/adventure so I’m sure I missed out on a lot. Be sure to check out the links for videos of the motorcycles in action.
Cloud Strife
Holy week in Manila is great. There’s no traffic on the roads, making it an ideal time for road trips. This year, we decided to do a “Visita Iglesia” via motorcycle to several churches, targeting the Rizal/Laguna area.
The tradition of visiting seven churches on Holy Thursday is said to have originated in Rome when early pilgrims visited seven pilgrim churches as penance. The ride itself in the morning was pretty good, but towards noon, the scorching heat going back (especially through Cogeo and Marikina) did feel like penance. Continue reading
Day 3: On the road to Ilocos Norte: Buguey and Claveria
Our first stop on the bus ride from Cagayan to Ilocos Norte was at the coastal town of Buguey, also known as “the crab capital of the north.” We were warmly welcomed by our hosts with fresh buko juice and crab sandwiches as an appetizer to a sumptuous seafood feast at the El Presidente Beach Resort.
My article Weekend Easy Riders on places you can motorcycle to from Manila on a weekend is out in today’s issue of SIM.
A lot of these are in the Rizal/Laguna area since it’s easy enough to drive to via the Marilaque route. Below are a few more photos of the places featured that didn’t make it to the magazine due to space constraints. Take note that travel times really vary on the routes you take, traffic and your speed.
Daranak and Batlag Falls
Daranak Falls Continue reading
Night 2: Eastern Hawaii Casino and Resort
Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. in the CEZA complex in Sta. Ana is another option for those looking for a relaxing place to stay while visiting Cagayan.
Like Sun City, the hotel mainly caters to Chinese tourists who play in the casinos. Despite our brief stay, we found the service quite good and staff very friendly.
Day 2: Island-hopping in Palaui and Cape Engano Lighthouse
On the second day of the Lakbay Norte tour, we headed off to the port of San Vicente in Cagayan where boats were waiting to take us on our island-hopping trip to Palaui.
After a 40- minute boat ride through relatively mild waves, we made it to our first stop at Siwangag Cove, a marine sanctuary in the northwestern part of Palaui island. The rough sandy beach was covered with tiny white corals and hermit crabs.
Then, we boarded the boats again towards another island where Cape Engano, a Spanish lighthouse completed in 1892 stood majestically on top of a hill. This time, the waves were much stronger and the swells made our boats drift almost like a roller-coaster. At times, we lost sight of the boats in front of us. Continue reading
Earlier this year, I joined the second leg of Lakbay Norte 2, a media tour around provinces in the North. The six-day tour, organized by the North Philippines Visitors Bureau (NPVB) took us to the provinces of Cagayan and Ilocos. I’ve written about the whole trip for Sunday Inquirer Magazine titled 10 Things to do in Cagayan and Ilocos so now I’ll be posting a series of blogs and more photos from the trip.
Day 1: Cagayan food-trip
A delay in our morning flight to Tuguegarao from Manila caused what was supposed to be a leisurely morning snack, lunch and dinner spread out during the day to be jam-packed into a series of meals after our mid-afternoon arrival. Continue reading
Check out NorthBound’s latest issue featuring “100 Reasons to visit Pangasinan.”
The eighth issue also includes a short article I wrote about our trip to Adams Village and Anuplig Falls during the Lakbay Norte 2 Media tour earlier this year. I also wrote about the trip highlights for SIM and will be doing a series of more detailed posts on this here.
The handy magazine (which includes a calendar of festivities and directory of places to stay) is published by the really cool people of North Philppines Visitors Bureau (NPVB), a non-profit group promoting tourism in the Northern provinces.
For more information or to download previous issues, check out their site here.