It’s been an awesome two weeks of vacation Sydney, Australia. I know that my memory will fail me and would not remember every bit of places I have been to here in Sydney in the coming years that is why I will utilize this blog this time as a personal journal on what I have visited, done and experienced in the first week of my stay.

Nightly, before I go to bed, I would note in my cellphone all the major things I have done and have been to. I will just transfer verbatim the notes from my cell phone.

Feb 28 – evening arrival at Kingston airport; clubbing at Columbian and The Shift at the popular Oxford Street

Feb 29 – walked at Hyde Park and went under the shade of the parks towering fig trees; prayed at the mother church of Australian Catholicism, St Mary Cathedral; visited Sydney’s icon, Opera House and Circular Quay; got awed at Sydney Harbour and massive iron presence of Sydney Harbour Brdige; walked at Pitt street; went clubbing again at The Shift

March 1 – Watched the 30th Sydney Mardi Gras Parade at Oxford Street; attended the sold-out big and bold Mardi Gras Party held at the Royal Hall of Industires in Moore Park

March 2 – Got lost at historic buildings of The Rocks; watched a street performer at the Central Quay; had coffee at Starbucks

March 3 – Crossed the Harbour Bridge; went beach hopping, first to Balmoral Beach then to Manly Beach then walked towards the wave-free Shelly Beach and finally to Bondi Beach; ate the famous Aussie fish & chips; saw the edge of Australia through it’s enormous cliffs stopping the Pacific ocean at Sydney Harbour National Park

March 4 – Went to Central Station; ride a two-hours train going to Katoomba, west of Sydney; saw the 3 Sisters rock, Echo Point and Scenic World in Blue Mountains; ride an awesome cable car and heart-pounding scenic railway to witness an Aussie rainforest; walked at a miner’s track in the middle of the rainforest in Katoomba

March 5 – Went to an aquatic hot-spot called Sydney Aquarium and came face-to-face with native creatures at Sydney Wildlife World; saw for the first time the famous kangaroos and koala bears; walked at Darling Harbour.

Kulang ako ng baon ng English, super nose-bleed tuloy!

Spending 4 days in Thailand was simply breathtaking.  I got to experience a culture that is totally different from the Philippines.

With their new-fashioned airport, I was astounded.  With their exquisite Buddhist temples, I was bewildered.  With their fast moving Tuktuk, I was stupefied.  With their terrible road traffic, I was shocked.  With their gigantic Central World, the biggest mall in Southeast Asia, I was amazed.  With their majestic Grand Palace, I was entranced.  With their enticing spicy food, I was delighted.  With their relaxing foot massage, I was pleased.  With their unexpected hospitality, I was surprised.  With their orange-clad and slipper-less monks, I was enchanted.

But nothing measured up to the experience I had in Thailand when I walked along the bohemian street of KhaoSarn Road.  It is considered the backpackers’ home and tourists’ cubbyhole in Thailand.

Aside from the never ending hive of activity, I found almost everything in KhaoSarn Road.  Trendy stylish clothes, rare exotic street food, pumped-up trance dance clubs, swank voguish bistros and coffee shops, incalculable money changer stations, inimitable roadside artists and performers, soothing massage salons, low-priced bling-blings, hair-raising hair-braiders, drunk smelly tourists, lost tourists, happy tourists, dancing tourists, tourists victimized by pickpockets, suspicious looking fortune-tellers, countless budget guesthouses, worn-out sleepy Thai policemen, juvenile henna tattoo artists, fake driver’s license fixers, etc. 

I may not fell fully in love with Thailand, but I definitely enjoyed and was truly impressed on the liveliness of KhaoSarn Road.

Yun nga lang… walang BINATOG sa KhaoSarn!

On our way (me with friends) for an overnight swimming gimmick last weekend to hushed Nagcarlan and tranquil Liliw in Laguna, I chanced upon noticing the sign at the back of the truck in front of us…

Ganon?! Meron akong oras noh!

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The pleasure trip was mega fun and delightful.  The outing gave me the opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.  It was my first time to visit these lovely towns.  It’s not too remote yet not too metropolitan.  It’s like a perfect hideaway, an archetypical Filipino province, a place that has a class of its own.

 

Thanks guys! I had a blast!

It was a hasty decision joining friends in Boracay.  Josel, Joel, Bill, Don and Mark all came from Australia to have a 2-week holiday in the Philippines.  They have chosen to chill out in the white sands of hedonistic Boracay, the world-class majestic beach in the central part of the country.

After having dinner with them, Baby and Karen-Friendship at Cafe Adriatico upon their arrival from Australia and a round of champagne at Sofitel Hotel, I decided to join them for a much needed yet short holiday.

Last April 20, 2007 I bid tah-tah to Metro Manila and boarded an Asian Spirit plane bound to Caticlan.  The 4-day experience was truly awesome.  There was never a dull moment with those fabulous Aussies.  The fun even got better when precious Karen-Friendship and her boyfriend Denton arrived and joined the following day.

Being under the rays of the golden sun for 4 days made my skin really dark.  I don’t like this tan epidermal color, but my Aussie friends actually loved it.  They said that I actually looked better in my new full-on grill marks.  Josel even told me that I looked healthier.

What I enjoyed most was the parasailing event.  I never imagined that I could actually do it.  Seeing those big parachute-like hemispherical canopies up in the air gave me shivers.  Ayayay!  When it was our turn (me, Josel and Bill) I felt my goosebumps had goosebumps!  But when my feet were released off the speedboat gaining some height, it was nothing but smooth sailing experience.  It was actually relaxing and breathtaking up in the sky seeing the whole island of beautiful Boracay.

I was so thankful to have joined… It was a wondrous ultimate gemba!