HERE are photos of her Batanes getaway sent in by reader Jasmin Rose Limbo, a finance and administration coordinator in a maritime company in Makati City.
Jasmin writes: “I love to travel the beautiful islands of our country because ‘nature tripping’ is one of my outlets.”
The photo above shows Mhel, Glad and Jasmin at the Honesty coffee shop.
By Marlet D. Salazar, Contributor
INQUIRER.net
THE LOOK on the faces of the people on board varies. Some are calm; others tense. And one lady grips her rosary as if her life depended on it. But evidently, everyone is quiet. The waves are huge all right, but for a group of islands bounded by the China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, these seem to be perfectly normal.
A 45-minute faluwa ride to Sabtang on an overcast and windy day makes things a little more, well, exciting. A faluwa is the motorized boat used for island hopping.
A trip to Batanes has always been about fun, adventure, and tranquility. Without this experience, it would have never been as memorable.
By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net
TALK about the world’s biggest “marriage proposal.”
As you can see from the photo, someone posted the message: “Marry Me? Diana” on the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101. (This article from UK-based The Inquirer claims it’s a fake proposal to drum up business–Ed.)
Taipei 101 is one of Taiwan’s tourist attractions. While Taiwan does not really market itself as a major tourist destination, it attracts a lot of visitors as one of the world’s major electronics manufacturing hub. Usually, foreign investors come to Taipei to discuss business with their Taiwanese counterparts and afterwards leave. However, the few foreigners who do have time to kill find that the country is not just ready for business, but is also a source of pleasure littered with pockets of attractions. The capital, Taipei, itself is big enough to give a sense of wonder to the lucky visitors.
By Alex Vergara
Inquirer
WHILE there are still many parts of booming India that remain woefully underdeveloped, New Delhi, especially its tony five-star hotels and restaurants, is more the exception than the rule.
Nokia, the Finnish cell phone giant, recently launched its seven new phones in India’s bustling capital of nearly 15 million people.
It’s quite seldom one sees an airport that’s worse than the NAIA. But apart from the seeming chaos at the old Indira Gandhi International Airport, the rest of New Delhi is like one big garden consisting of wide, tree-lined boulevards and long stretches of embassies and government buildings.
By Sharon Robas-Macawile
Inquirer
WE’VE heard and read so much about Ilocos, its sights, beaches and food.
So when the opportunity for us to visit the place comes, my hubby and I pack our bags and prepare ourselves for the Ilocandia experience.
We’ve always wanted to go to Ilocos not only to enjoy the beach but to learn something about the rich historical and cultural stuff the region is known for.
IT’S Cebu Business Month, and the Queen City of the South aims to strengthen the country’s tourism industry as it plays host to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Tourism Congress from June 14 to 15 at the Cebu International Convention Center. The event is being organized by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Here’s an excerpt from Irene Sino Cruz’s story for the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
Mila Espina, chairperson of the tourism congress committee, said Cebu was prepared to promote tourism further as it has laid the groundwork for links in the Asian region.
By Augusto Villalon
Inquirer
I REALLY didn’t know much about Guimaras except that it was an island off Iloilo distinguished by its sweet mangoes, a Trappist monastery and, of course, the massive oil slick that still looms down part of its coastline.
My recent survey assignment in Iloilo specified checking on surviving urban heritage, but it also called for identifying cultural landscapes in rural areas. After a few days of taking me around to show why he was so proud of his city and province, my colleague and guide, Eugene Jamerlan of the Iloilo Cultural Heritage Council, picked me up in my hotel one morning with the idea of visiting Guimaras that day because he knew we would find the right landscapes there.
A few minutes later, we sailed away from the flat coastal landscape of Iloilo and docked in the main port of Guimaras, a compact town built along the lower slopes of the very green, rolling Guimaras landscape.
By Leila Salaverria
Inquirer
TOURISTS from South Korea can fly directly to Kalibo, Aklan, and need not make a stopover in Manila if they would like to go to Boracay Island, the Bureau of Immigration announced last week.
Kalibo town is now a limited port of entry for foreigners after the BI opened its office there to service international flights, according to Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.
Libanan said in a statement that the bureau started its Kalibo operations on May 11, processing the documents of the 65 passengers of the maiden flight of an Asian Spirit jetliner that brought tourists from Incheon, South Korea.
By Joei Villarama
INQUIRER.net
WE thought the captain was playing a joke on us but the sandstorm turned out to be real — the plane couldn’t land in Ulan Bator so we made a giant U-turn back to Beijing (not an unusual occurrence for a regular visitor to Mongolia). We waited for hours in an airport hotel, trading stories with fellow passengers on what brought us all here.
There was a lawyer for mining companies, a manager for a chain of clinics across Asia, a person on a UN environmental project to combat desertification, a smattering of businessmen and tourists. Then there was me on a mission to see how my volunteer friends were doing. Hopping to four different homes in a week wasn’t a typical relaxed vacation but a discovery of the spartan life they led.
“Sharing Skills, Changing Lives” is the motto of VSO — the Volunteer Services Organization which sends people from different parts of the globe to contribute their expertise to development programs in third world countries. My friends Chielo Sta. Maria, Rayso Natividad and Willie Mercado were only four months into their VSO contract, but had plunged right into their jobs in livelihood security after only a month of language training and country orientation.
By Lawrence Casiraya
INQUIRER.net
I REALIZED how high that “thing” was when it became quite a pain the neck — literally.
I can’t say I didn’t have a clue what lay ahead of me during a trip to Kuala Lumpur a few months ago; interestingly, it was my first time in the Malaysian capital, covering a Yahoo! event.
KL is home to the mighty Petronas Twin Towers, and to remind first-timers they won’t miss it is probably best said with a hint of sarcasm. This truth was magnified further — perhaps, literally as well — because I stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, located right beside Petronas, affording me a great view from my hotel room.
