bike_packer's VirtualTourist Home Page

Halloween in the City By the Bay

Sad to say, it's not the whole family traveling together this time. Tatay and Hani making a great escape. "Sorry Nanay, Baggi, Raya & Yasmin!" We just checked out the places for you to enjoy hassle free when it's your turn.

"The Family That Travels Together, . . . . "
- "Stays Together " <<Traditional

- "Brings A Lotta Things" << Nanay Mayet
- "Stays Together in one Big Hotel Room" << daughter, Hani, 15
- "Eats food on Great Local Restaurants" << son, Baggi, 10
- "Swims Together" << daughter, Raya, 9
- "ehh, Just Give Me Food" <<daughter, Yasmin, 4
- "Magastos! hahaha!(huhuhu pala)" << Tatay Boyet

By the way, my family lives in Quezon City, the biggest city in Metro Manila. And school breaks for the kids mean the whole family touring somewhere else.

When not travelling out-of-town, one activity my family loves is biking on weekends. The Family That Bikes Together. . . . . .Stays Fit

My family has been to Banaue 3 times. The scenic view of the Rice Terraces is awesome and we just love the place - the gotta-hug-somebody cold weather and the pine-scented mountain breeze. That makes Banaue a favorite sidetrip everytime we go home to my hometown of Claveria where I spent my younger years. That's far up North in the "Nature-Adventure-filled" province of Cagayan.

Other places we consider as Pit Stops on our long road trips to the North are:

Baguio City - The Summer City that is always "In Bloom".
Vigan (the age old city center is a Unesco World Heritage Village) - Back In Time Adventure.
Bangui Windfarm at the northern tip of Ilocos Norte. These towering beauties in the coastline makes the town of Bangui as the Renewable Energy Capital of the Philippines.

Time Magazine chose the "Butanding" (local name for whale shark) Interaction Program in Donsol Bay as the Best Place For An Animal Encounter" in this planet.

It was the 2nd time around Whale-shark Watching for the whole family in this place in 2 years. The thrill and excitement is as high as the first time. And the need to save these big yet gentle creatures from being killed and caught (due to the impression that they are maneaters) should be a real concern. They are harmless!!! Once swimming side by side in the water, you would surely love them. Can't help yourself to touch them even just for a very short moment.

The stories behind the encounters are longer than the real moments, hard to describe indeed in words of the real fun and excitement of swimming with these amazing as-big-as-jeepneys fishes out in the open sea.

Touring the Visayas this Summer of 2006, we had island fun and amazing discoveries at "Cool BOHOL". The tarsier encounter, floating restaurant on a river cruise, the wonderful Chocolate Hills; and the white sand and clear waters of Alona Beach in Panglao.

The 11-day road-trip brought us to some of the most wonderful places in the Visayas.

-a glimpse of Laidback Samar

-Leyte - "We Shall Return" was indeed the 2nd time for the family.

-Cebu Heritage Tour from Cebu City/Mactan Island down to the southern towns of Cebu Island.

-A refreshing break at the City of Gentle People - Dumaguete City

-The City of Smile - Bacolod

-Driving around and a quick look of Iloilo City and Beyond.

-What's New in Antique! - exploring Mayet's homeprovince.

-Barefootin' in Boracay - The Finale!

May 15 every year is Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon. Kiping flowers in Color Explosion adorn the houses. A thanksgiving festival for bountiful harvest, Pahiyas is the most colorful Festival in the Philippines.

The view of Mayon Volcano is majestic anywhere you look at it when in Albay in Bicol. The perfect cone shape is very symmetrical that the shape seem not to change wherever you view it as you go around the towns of Albay at the perimeter foot of Mayon.

Other enjoyable and interesting family destinations of ours are:

1. Boracay, the ever-famous white and fine sandy beach and favorite tourist destination in the Philippines.

2. Corregidor Island, sightseeing and historical/educational tour as well >> the tour gave us a better perspective about how PEACE should reign among us.

3. Baguio City in Bloom and beyond.

4. Camiguin Island makes you "Come Again!"

5. Guimaras Island

... and most fulfilling way to see places, but my work as a Transformer Engineer has brought me without them to the most unlikely places, mostly off-the-beaten paths throughout the Philippine archipelago. Lately, we've been powering-up isolated islands needing power generators as start-ups or additional ones. Being the ever-curious and nature-lover travel bug, I always find time one way or the other to explore these places. 2005, my work has brought me to:
1. Catanduanes - Roughing It Up With Nature
2. Samal - Island Garden Paradise.
3. Marinduque - Moriones Island
4. Tawi-tawi - Backdoor Gateway down South.

What a great opportunity to explore these islands and it always surprisingly amazes and surprises me to find out the uniqueness of things/places each has to offer.

And of course, everytime I could bring my ever-reliable MountainBike, I do it. The most convenient way to explore the inner and remote villages of the islands.

The 8th Tour Of the Fireflies is on April 23, 2006. The biggest gathering of cyclists all around Metro Manila advocating the use of bicycle for travelling around for a Cleaner Air.

FLASH!!! FLASH!!! A Coconut Tree W/ 2 Crowns! Whew! BELIEVE IT OR NOT!