Looking back at 2012

Happy New Year to all! It's already 2013, but I got to revisit my trips for 2012 only now since I was traveling up until the last day of the year. In fact, I have passport stamps for the first and last day of the year, and arrived home at exactly 12 midnight with no second to spare!

While 2011 remains the benchmark year for international trips, last year was not far behind. I spent a week in South Korea with UP AIT at the start of the year for Woosong University's Winter Culture Camp (Daejeon, Seoul and Muju). In March, I stayed in Singapore for a week, exploring many new attractions. 

Summer saw me back in Europe with a three week trip to the United Kingdom, which took me through many cities in England (London, Oxford, York, Lake District, Liverpool, Manchester, Stratford-upon-Avon, Cotswolds, Bath and Stonehenge), Scotland (Edinburgh, Highland Region, Isle of Skye, Glasgow) and Wales (Cardiff). 

The afternoon I got back, I switched terminals to fly to Malaysia and catch the Mount Kinabalu Expedition 2012 in Sabah. We also joined EVA Air's trip to Taiwan (Taipei and Hualien) in May.

A weekend trip to Thailand, a week in Myanmar (Yangon, Mandalay, Inle Lake and Bagan) and four days in Sri Lanka (Dambulla, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Colombo and Negombo), plus transit in Malaysia all happened in July. I had to beg off from international travel from the rest of July to November as we prepared for the very well-attended ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Conference in Vigan. And the effort was all worth it.

Pleasant surprises followed with back-to-back long-haul trips to Canada as part of the maiden flight of Philippine Airlines to Toronto, and ten days in Southern Italy (Alberobello, Matera, Naples, Pompei, Sorrento and Capri), Sicily (Taormina, Agrigento, Palermo and Cefalu), Rome and the Vatican City for Christmas until the New Year. 

Local destinations were exciting too! I realized I revisited many of our country's major tourism destination (Bicol, Bohol, Boracay, Cebu, Davao, Ifugao, Vigan, Palawan and Puerto Galera among many others), returning to some of them twice or even thrice this year. 

Here's my Travel Year 2012 album. I'm definitely looking forward to 2013!

Quezon City: Bagoong Club's Noche Buena Menu

You a have a few days left to catch the Noche Buena Menu of Bagoong Club! We got to try this menu last week and definitely enjoyed it. There are seven dishes in the special Christmas menu. Here they are:

I particularly liked the Mula sa Puso which is puso ng saging (banana blossom) sisig. It's a healthy twist to the popular Kapampangan dish.

Puso de Coco is banana blossom wrapped in gabi leaves and cooked in coconut milk.

Tinapambutido is crispy-fried smoked fish patties topped with laing.

Then there's Bagoong Club's Christmas twist to the staple lechon: Liemponillo. It's Filipino style cuchinillo pork liempo with asado sauce and whole scallions.

Krismanok is grilled glazed chicken rolled with ham and cheese, cooked in pineapple sauce.

Balut Adobo is deep-fried balut cooked the adobo way with a generous serving of garlic.

Finally, there's Sisig Paella. That's flavorful paella infused with delectable Pampanga pork sisig.

You have until the end of the month to catch this special menu at Bagoong Club!

Bagoong Club
122 Scout Dr. Lazcano
Sacred Heart, Quezon City
(02) 929-0544

Batangas: Sailing for beginners at Taal Lake Yacht Club

Ivan Man Dy talks about our Lake Sailing 101 adventure at the Taal Lake Yacht Club and lunch at Club Balai Isabel in Talisay, Batangas.

I had thought that layag was just the verb and I didn't realize that layag is also Tagalog for boat sail. Just like English, layag (the sail) is root word of the verb layag (to sail). Thus maglalayag sa dagat literally translates to sailing in the sea. This was just one of the many aha moments I learned with our first sailing experience in Taal Lake in Batangas. We recently checked out the sailing activities at the Taal Lake Yacht Club (TLYC) upon invitation by their president Peter Capotosto to try out the sports activities of the club. And what a revelation it was!
             

Located in the town of Talisay just below the ridge from Tagaytay, we now add this to our list of fun things to do when visiting this highland city. Upon arrival, we signed a waiver and did a crash course on sailing. TLYC offers several options to enjoy the the waters of Taal Lake such as the Hobie 16 (feet) sail boat that is good for 3 people, kayaks, sail boards and even bangka rentals for Taal Volcano hikes. Our pick was the two-hulled Hobie 21 Sport Cruiser sailboat which was the biggest in the lot. With Peter as our captain and guide, we immediately headed off for the water.
           

Our day was perfect for sailing, with the onset of the amihan (north-east monsoon), Taal Lake was filled with endless gusts of wind that took our Hobie sail boat from a relaxing cruise to sudden bursts of speed which was very exhilarating! In between controlling the sail, determining the wind direction and guiding us as we controlled the rudder, our captain Peter explained to us the intricacies of this sport as well as discussed the environment issues currently confronting Taal Lake. In terms of sanitation standards, Taal Lake is rated class 2 which means that it is not recommend for drinking but just right for swimming and water sports like sailing.
       
For our lunch break, we made a spur of the moment decision to dock at the nearby resort of Club Balai Isabel. Good thing the resort's amiable president Nelson Terrible was there and he treated us to a sumptuous lunch buffet at the restaurant. What was once an old coconut plantation is now a nine-hectare fully-furnished resort with 228 rooms and a swimming pool, in case the lake is too big for you!
             
All in all, it was a very productive morning with fresh insights and new experiences to a tried-and-tested day-trip destination. Sailing is an individual sport as it can be a fun-group or family-oriented activity. They even allow for food and beer to carried on-board! Note that you will get very wet, so do not forget to bring extra clothes, towels and toiletries. Hobie sail boat rentals start at Php1,500 and goes up depending on the boat size and duration. Even better is that the rental fees can be charged on an hour's interval, perfect for first-timers who are initially testing the waters to this adrenaline pumping sport!

Thanks to Peter Capotosto of the Taal Lake Yacht club for hosting this trip. For sailing details, click here.

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Canada: Kingston Fortifications & Royal Military College of Canada

The first thing I researched when I learned I was joining the inaugural flight of Philippine Airlines to Toronto was the nearest UNESCO World Heritage Site to Toronto. And that was the Rideau Canal, which has several component sites from Ottawa to Kingston, Ontario.

Kingston was the nearest city, a three-hour drive from Toronto. And since we had one free day during the trip, we decided to rent a car and drive over to Kingston. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate that day. But we still decided to go for the adventure! 

Once the capital of the newly-united Canada from 1841 to 1843, Kingston was being prepared for this important role that was however cut short when Queen Victoria decided to move the center of government to Ottawa. In fact, a grand neoclassical Kingston City Hall was completed in 1843, one of the major landmarks of the old city center. On the way to the Kingston Fortifications, we saw a view of this historic skyline from across the Rideau Canal and St. Lawrence River. I was hoping we'd get to explore its weathered stone houses and historic streets, but the rains prevented us from doing that.

Our first order of business was getting to any of the Kingston Fortifications which is part of the Rideau Canal World Heritage Site. Fort Henry was closed for the winter. So our next choice was Fort Frederick on the grounds of the Royal Military College of Canada. The RMC is itself a very venerable ensemble of architecture and worth a visit if you like old architecture.

We had to brave the rains and cold to get to the Point Frederick, the southern end of the RMC grounds, where Fort Frederick is located. The two forts, together with Cathcart Tower, Shoal Tower and Murney Tower formed the Kingston Fortifications which protected the entrance of the Rideau Canal.

According to UNESCO, "The Rideau Canal is a large strategic canal constructed for military purposes which played a crucial contributory role in allowing British forces to defend the colony of Canada against the United States of America, leading to the development of two distinct political and cultural entities in the north of the American continent, which can be seen as a significant stage in human history."

We were wet and cold from the rain, and hungry since we missed lunch. So we called it a day and drove to the nearest fast food. On the way back, we stopped by the outlet mall off the Ontario Highway 401 exit, before driving back home.

How to get to Kingston, Ontario from Toronto
There are regular bus trips from Toronto to Kingston, Ontario. If you choose to drive, it's a 262-kilometer drive via ON-401 East.

Mangan Tamu! Giant Lantern Festival and Pampanga food tour on December 15!

The spectacular Giant Lantern Festival is coming up! And Ultimate Philippines Tours invites you again to journey to the central heartland as we immerse ourselves in things Kapampangan!

From Buro to Baroque, it's a fun-filled day as we poke around and get intimate with the very best of Pampanga's cultural offerings. Gaze at the jewel-box of a church in Betis while wading through the lahar-buried town of Bacolor.

We'll stuff ourselves silly with a pre-Christmas Kapampangan noche buena fare by Claude Tayag, one of the country's best known Kapampangan chefs! And to it cap it off, get a front row view of the most dazzling display of Kapmpangan artistry the Ligligan Parul (Giant Lantern Festival) of San Fernando! It's a tour with nothing but Kapampangan cool!

Tour will be on December 15, 2012 (Saturday) from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Rate is P4,500.00 per person inclusive of transfers from Ayala 6750 or Trinoma, tour and some serious food binging! E-mail reservations@ultimatephilippines.com to book a slot.