Notes, Lyrics, and the Road: My Travel Playlist

In a race to tick off six provinces from my 80 before 30 list, I'll be on a five-day adventure around Northern Luzon in a few days. It's going to be a long road trip, and I know exactly what my friend and I would need as the countryside beauty up north seduces our very eyes -- a lot of cotton candies for our ears!

These two are buddies -- travel and music.

Music is one thing that I couldn't travel without. It goes where ever I go. It puts me to sleep while trying to bay out boredom in a slow boat ride, or calms me down while waiting for a delayed flight, or keeps me up while on a long bus ride.

I'm sharing with you some of my favorite travel songs. These are the songs that make me want to run away at least for a little while, make me imagine speeding off on a long highway on a beautiful sunset, inspire me to live in the moment and catch the breathtaking views of each place I go, or cast the spell of good vibes of an otherwise gloomy day, and songs that simply make me look forward to going back to a familiar place -- that which I call my home.

Hit the play button! Hit the road!

Enjoy! :)

(Disclaimer: I do not own any of the videos used in this blog. Credit goes to the owners.)


Norah Jones - Come Away With Me

"And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me."

Apo Reef Series: A Love Affair with Diving and Snorkeling

I grew up in a beautiful island where we live 10 minutes bike-ride away from the beach. But truth be told, I don't know how to swim.  I've developed a certain animosity towards swimming after an unfortunate pool incident back when I was taking my swimming class in college. (For some mind-boggling reason, though, I passed the subject.)

When I started traveling and got the chance to see the best beaches in the Philippines, I've been handicapped not to cross the borderline of the shore and the sea unless a life-jacket is strapped around me. And since swimming and I aren't exactly friends, I've always thought that I couldn't enjoy surfing, snorkeling,  diving and some other water activities.

Despite this, I feel so drawn to the sea that it has become my refuge each time I feel high or low (emotionally). And just recently, I have fallen in love with diving and snorkeling.

Here's what I learned: You don't need to be a pro swimmer to be able to dive and snorkel. You only need the proper gears, do proper breathing, and get a full sense of adventurous spirit. :)

Magnificent dawn at Apo Reef Island with the calm sea and the changing hues of the sky

I've been to some amazing diving and snorkeling spots in the country, but the underwater treasures of Apo Reef and Pandan Island are two of the best that I've seen so far. I found myself frolicking in its massive and diverse underwater garden when I went there. Everything down here awed me. 

Apo Reef Natural Park is the largest atoll-like reef in Asia. Some of its dwellers include colorful fishes, schools of jacks, snappers, stingrays, manta rays, sharks, barracudas, crevice-dwelling moray eels and gobies amid gardens of soft and hard corals. Also, the 29-hectare Apo Island is a nesting ground for hawksbill and green sea turtles while the other two islets near it are home to migrating birds and some resident birds like the endangered Nicobar Pigeon. *Information from Sablayan Municipal Tourism Office*

The crystalline blue-green waters greeted us as we pushed towards the island

2013: Go Somewhere You've Never Been and Do Something You've Never Done

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness.

 I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, 

and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. 

And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself." 

-Neil Gaiman-

Neil got it all in. Well almost. He left out something important to me -- to travel. I hope to travel massive this year. I hope to do more crazy and adventure-filled travels, to meet more interesting people, to chase more sunsets, to surf and dive more, to visit other Philippine churches and mosques, to have more bus and RORO rides, to be able to swim well, to ride a bike, to fly a kite (again), to score a mountain or two, to eat more exotic local dishes, and to have more relaxing beach bumming experiences.  And maybe, just maybe, somewhere down the roads of 2013 I’ll be able to find the love that will travel with me for a lifetime! (yihhaa! confetti and wine!!)

In terms of travel, 2013 is a big one for me. Hopefully this year I’d be able complete my 80 before 30. This is my personal challenge to travel to all 80 provinces of the Philippines before I turn 30 years old. As of now, I've been to 52 provinces, and still have 28 to visit. I’m ecstatic with this year’s roster of provinces because I'll be visiting less touristy and some off-the-beaten track destinations like Abra, Apayao, Quirino, Marinduque, Romblon, Biliran, Tawi-Tawi, Sarangani, and Dinagat Islands.

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas! I just want to say "Thank You" to all of you who've been sharing with me this small space in the world wide web. You are all awesome! May you and your family have a wonderful time today! 

And of course, 2013 is just around the corner! Have a happy new year, too! 

Cheers, 

Che Gurrobat l www.backpackingpilipinas.com

Apo Reef Series: A DIY Guide to and around Sablayan

I was caught off-guard when my friend told me that we’ll go camping at Apo Reef.  I was unprepared for a tent accommodation since I thought we would just go snorkeling and beach bumming there. Who goes beach camping late November, anyway?  But since I didn't do my own research about our destination, I conceded. The night before our scheduled flight to Occidental Mindoro, I had to crazily leave out some stuff in my backpack that does not qualify as a “camping essential.”

Little did I know that despite joining in a bit unprepared, this trip with my fellow kaladkarins Janet, Ciel, Muy, Lira, Marvs and Angel would rank high among my favorite travels this year.   

Break of dawn at Sablayan Sea Port

The early morning sun was beating down lightly as we arrived at San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. Since it was just in time for breakfast, we managed to snag a quick fix of good-old coffee and tapsi meals in a carenderia near the terminal. We all know that it was going to be a long day so we had to prepare ourselves up well. After breakfast, we hailed a trike to drive us to the nearest bus terminal going to Sablayan. The bus we got into was Manila-bound but we were told that we would be dropped off at Sablayan. After about an hour waiting for the bus to fill up passengers, we started rolling along the dirt rough road of Occidental Mindoro.  

The bus ride from San Jose to Sablayan was almost agonizingly painful. I find it very appalling to see a major thoroughfare left in such destitute state. I hope the LGU takes an immediate action to make better of the impoverished road system in the province. 

After two hours, we safely made it to Sablayan. We headed straight to the town tourism office to register and pay dues for boat rental and guides. It was decided that the trip to Apo Reef will have to be put off for the next day so that we could prepare and buy all the provisions we would need in the island, and to give some more time to see what this small town has to offer.

The infectious smiles of the children of Mindoro

PHOTO BLOG: Apo Reef is God's Magnificent Underwater Garden

I’m having a serious case of writer’s block today. I'm eternally stuck in the first paragraph that I've been so achingly composing for about an hour now. I want to scold myself because I shouldn't be having this dilemma especially that I’m writing about one of my best and favorite travels this year – trip to Apo Reef.

How could I not write about my first 50 feet dive experience? How could I not weave words to describe how it was to chase sea turtles and a manta ray, or to spot a shark, or to swim alongside colorful and overly cute fishes, or to see a beautiful underwater garden?

Maybe I’m not in the mood to write, but I’m definitely not in the mood to be selfish. :) And because there are some things that are better seen than read, I’ll share here some of the pictures I took while exploring the magnificent Apo Reef. These wealth of still photos are but snap shots of the massive underwater wonder of the entire reef. Believe me, there's a lot more down there! For now, I hope the pictures could somehow suffice your curiosity. 

I’ll share my prose in the coming days!

Special thanks to my friend Muy for allowing me to borrow her camera during my dive and to Angel for capturing some of the most adorable underwater photos. I wish I'm a marine biologist or scientist so I could properly identify -- well at least scientifically -- all the species I saw down under. :)

This school of fish does not follow any traffic rules

Nemo's lair

They get rowdy down there sometimes

---

Shark spotted!!!

Underwater garden

starfish

A sea turtle at Pandan Island

A rare and beautiful capture of a sea turtle swimming with a yellow fish in an almost subliminal way

The manta ray

My first dive documented. :)

Because change is good... go backpacking Pilipinas!

"Life is like the surf, so give yourself away like the sea." - Y Tu Mamá También

I feel an unbearable lightness these days. Changes are unfolding. Brilliant ideas are pouring in. Backpacking Pilipinas is evolving. 

With the prodding of some of my closest friends, I caved in to giving this blog its own rightful place in the world wide web. From www.backpackingpilipinas.blogspot.com, it's finally www.backpackingpilipinas.com! Yey!

There are also so many exciting ideas brewing on my mind right now. From completing the challenge to travel to 80 provinces before I turn 30 (almost close), to doing more volunteer works (yehey!), to taking some roles that I have yet accepted (yehehey!), to writing more often for this blog (fingers crossed). I can't wait to share these to you all in the coming days. 

I want to thank  you all for dropping by (reading my posts during your lunch break), staying with me (reading my emo and personal entries), and backpacking with me (on the road, under the sea and anywhere!). Thank you!

Special thank you to all those who liked this page at least three times this year! It just hit me that Facebook likes are wiped each time I change my domain. hehe Thank you! :))

Happy Backpacking Pilipinas, everyone! Enjoy your holidays! ;)