"Living in London 2012!" sugarpuff's Profile

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Chinese New Year!

I now live in London and have done since June 2011. I have been very fortunate in the fact that I am involved in my THIRD Olympic Games which I'm sure you all know will be held in London this summer. It also happens to be Chinese New Year today, the Year of the Dragon, so I spent last night in Chinatown eating dumplings and other yummy dishes that reminded me of 'home'! This coming weekend there will be a big parade and show in Trafalgar Square which I'll definitely be going to, so I will upload some photos when I get those.

That's all for now, but in the meantime, Happy New Year!

Happiness

Tranquility...

I very regrettably am leaving Vancouver tomorrow and I am very sad to go as it has been an amazing 6 weeks here for the Olympics! BUT...Im off to New York (4th-8th March), then to LA (8th-16th March) and finally to San Francisco (16th-22nd March) before having two last days in Vancouver before going back to Gibraltar and then to Beijing!!! So if you're around, let me know!!!

I visited the PHILIPPINES towards the end of January this year only for 12 days but those 12 days have remained with me every single day since I've been back, to the point where all I think about is a way of going back there. Of course, I could just buy a plane ticket and do it all again, but I feel a plan greater than that brewing inside my mind!

I did a fairly typical route -

MANILA

PROVINCE OF PALAWAN

PUERTO PRINCESA

PORT BARTON

EL NIDO

I enjoyed Puerto Princesa a great deal, everything was easy, it's a city yet there was something more to it...something in the air gave me the sense of an adventure about to begin! Port Barton is where my heart and mind is currently at and El Nido, well, the water surrounding the islands was breathtakingly blue, but I certainly did not understand the hype many have bestowed upon it. Port Barton is where I see myself going back to in the near future, maybe even trying to do some kind of business there, but overall a place to let my thoughts wander. Living in cities does something to you. You don't realise it when you're there, but when you get a little bit of a break and then you come back to it, you try to think how it's possible for someone to live this sort of life day in day out. And all this, because of a beach I sat on for 5 days!

Since coming back to BEIJING, I have tried to think of many ways to do something related to Port Barton. I think it's safe to say that after the rest of this year has passed, it will be time to move on from China...try something new, and I believe the Philippines holds the key. Before going there I could find very little related to Port Barton, many of my Filipino friends had never even heard of it! And I was almost grateful to know little about it before going as it was even more of a wonderful surprise!

http://portbarton.ning.com

I have since set up this social network (above), much like a forum, discussion, blog page specific to Port Barton and how to get there. I have gone through MANY travel websites looking for people who may have been there in the hope they can add something special to my site...there are very few people. Maybe this is a good thing that not many know of this beach village, maybe it really is my time to make something of myself and get in, so to speak, before it gets taken over by the hoards! Who knows? But in the meantime, I invite you to have a look, sign up if you like and start chatting with other like-minded travellers about this little piece of treasure I hope to one day be a part of.

Trip Home!!!

That's right...I had just got back from one holiday (see above!) and then I was off home 2 months later for a 3 week holiday! It had been a year since I was back and as I wasn't up to very much, I could afford the time to go home and relax for a while. It was wonderful seeing my mum again who I hadn't seen since last May when she came to visit me in China (still need to upload those photos...ooops!), it was of course great to see my friends again. I'd heard that a lot of changes had been happening in Gibraltar over the last year, so it was good to catch up and see what 'home' looked like again! My GIBRALTAR pages shall hopefully get better than ever once I manage to find the time to upload all the new tips and update the older ones...you'll just have to wait and see!!!

Speaking of Gibraltar, here is some up-to-date news shown on the BBC website. (5th March 2009)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7923018.stm

Intro Updated Jan 22, 2012
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Comments (432)

RUMISABUNCU 19 hours ago Report Abuse

Hi Victoria, I visited your VT travel pages, they are really nice and also informative. Thank you so much to share your travel experiences with traveler.Greetings from sunny Antalya, TURKEY.rumi
swissfondue Mar 20, 2012 at 8:33 PM Report Abuse

Hi Victoria, have really enjoyed reading your pages. Your life seems very exciting but very busy!
In case you havent heard: Ian Thorpe has been training for months in an attempt to compete at the London Olympics but did not qualify at last weekends Australian Olympic team trials. Apparently he is going to continue swimming despite his disappointment at not making the team.

Heidi from Melbourne.
TooTallFinn24 Feb 19, 2012 at 11:33 PM Report Abuse

Planning a visit to Spain and Gibraltar in May from N. California and your tips have been most helpful. Got a lot more of yours to read but ty so far!
soundchaseruk Feb 17, 2012 at 9:31 AM Report Abuse

Belated Happy Birthday Victoria. I am off to China again this October and have to work out where I want to go. Thats half the fun of the trip for me. Iam working in bromley these days and stay down there in the week. get very bored at nights so if you want to meet up and talk China over a drink it would be nice. Keith
angiebabe Jan 24, 2012 at 3:49 PM Report Abuse

Hi and Happy Birthday...hope youve had a lovely day today - now Ive seen youve since moved to London!
suvanki Jan 24, 2012 at 11:32 AM Report Abuse

Happy Birthday..... Enjoy your Special day and Celebrate in style!
sdq Jan 24, 2012 at 10:54 AM Report Abuse

!!!!! Happy Birthday !!!!!
850prc Jan 24, 2012 at 4:48 AM Report Abuse

Happy Birthday, Victoria. :) Hope it's a great day. Hey, if you 'do' Facebook, e-mail me privately and let me know how to find you, and/or I'll tell you how to search for me (email addy).
johngayton Jan 24, 2012 at 2:38 AM Report Abuse

Happy Birthday Victoria - it's not beer time yet and so I'll have to make do with some freshly ground Brazillian coffee for the mo - Cheers!
cyndymc Jan 24, 2012 at 2:26 AM Report Abuse

Happy birthday, Victoria! May God bless you with good health and more exciting adventures :)