Thrilled to experience a new place at the turn of the year. Dumping some quick first impressions of Ko Samui, and a bunch of photos from Day 1.
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Surf towns have a distinct, laid-back vibe, judging from my visits to La Union, Baler, and Hale'iwa on the North Shore of Oahu. Among them all, tiny Liwliwa has got to be the chillest, stripped to the barest scene I've experienced.
On the 2nd week of December, we flew in to Dumaguete for 2 shows. On the 8th, we had a concert at the Luce Auditorium at Silliman University, followed by a Christmas tree lighting event at the plaza the next day. As with most of my work trips, so long as time permits, it doubled as a QuicKation, or so I've come to call them. Day 1 We were on a red eye flight, so breakfast was the 1st order of business when we arrived. While Casa Rubin prepared our rooms for early check-in, we ordered food at their restaurant Co[...]
I had quite the adventure last Monday, and leading up to it. I had been wanting to hike up Mt. Masalakot and Nalayag Rocks since I saw photos of its monolith, but this guy from Instagram warned me that there had been news of militia in the area in September. That's never a risk I want to take, despite assurances that they leave civilians alone. So I looked for another option, defaulting back to my favorite province of Rizal. 1st Choice Mt. Lubog was a promising choice, its altitude and difficulty pe[...]
After foiled plans to go to Bangkok (the forecasts predicted daily thunderstorms) and Bali (late booking during peak season made everything absurdly expensive), we decided on a more practical destination that we were sure to enjoy even with minimal planning. Ry and I drove up to Baguio for his short, and only, vacation leave of the year. Not wanting to just replicate our previous trips, we asked friends who live in or frequent the mountain city for new things to try. The response was a list of food, breweries, vie[...]
Parting from this island has always been bittersweet, but there was something else that made it feel like a goodbye.
These past few weeks, I've been a riot of emotions because I made one of the biggest decisions of my life. I felt muddled, unsure if my judgment was clouded, but I was sure some quiet time would help give some clarity. As with so many of my recent trips, this one happened with not much planning; a friend decided on a place and offered to provide transportation the night before, so I agreed. It was a treat for me to sit back and relax as I'm usually the one left with having to find all the details and rally people t[...]