A Lesson In Life....

There comes a time when you must stand alone. 

You must feel confident enough within yourself to follow your own dreams. 

You must be willing to make sacrifices. 

You must be capable of changing and rearranging your priorities so that your final goal can be achieved. 

Sometimes, familiarity and comfort need to be challenged. 

There are times when you must take a few extra chances and create your own realities. 

Be strong enough to at least try to make your life better. 

Be confident enough that you won't settle for a compromise just to get by. 

Appreciate yourself by allowing yourself the opportunities to grow, develop, and find your true sense of purpose in this life. 

Don't stand in someone else's shadow when it's your sunlight that should lead the way. 

Work hard at what you like to do and try to overcome all obstacles 

Laugh at your mistakes and praise yourself for learning from them 

Pick some flowers and appreciate the beauty of nature 

Say hello to strangers and enjoy the people you know 

Don't be afraid to show your emotions laughing and crying make you feel better 

Love your friends and family with your entire being they are the most important part of your life 

Feel the calmness on a quiet sunny day 

Find a rainbow and live your world of dreams always remember life is better than it seems 

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good or bad luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, if they be events, illnesses or relationships, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. 

If someone hurts you, betrays you , or breaks you heart, forgive them. For they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to who you open your heart to. 

If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because they are teaching you to love and opening your heart and eyes to things you would have never seen or felt without them. 

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. 

Talk to people you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you either. 

You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it (",)

It's More Fun In The Philippines!

Globetrotter

It's in my bones!

Regardless of how I get there, I choose to see the whole world! I’m not definite if I am a progeny of Christopher Columbus, or part Gypsy, because I was born with a good deal of globetrotter in my bones! Yes, I've traveled in 107 countries and lived in several places. Granted, some places can absolutely be unwelcoming or even dangerous to visit yet every part of the world has its own distinctive experiences and rare, priceless treasures to find. And although some felt more like a "home" than others.... nothing still compares to coming home in the Philippines where my heart is!

Just as the Department of Tourism (DOT) and SMART has teamed up for a domestic campaign that encourages everyone from all parts of the globe to visit the country, to live more by having heaps of fun holidays all around the country.... and we Filipinos assure that you will definitely end up in saying “It’s definitely More Fun In The Philippines”.

Hail the Pearl of the Orient Seas, The Philippines which promises to give you an exceptional voyage.


Here are some reasons why:

1. Filipinos have a contagious natural sense of happiness amidst the economic adversities, which makes tourists love the country and its people. 

2. The 7,107 islands that are rich in natural resources highlighting on some of  the Worlds famous tourist destinations such as Boracay, Coron, Bohol and Bicol. 

World Famous Boracay

Ditaytayan Island in Coron, Palawan

Tug of War Fun at Malcapuya Island in Coron, Palawan

Swimming with the Whale Sharks in Donsol

3. The Food. Filipinos have a great passion in eating and not to mention has its own way of adding spices and flavors to a single dish. Come and try some of our exquisite foods such as: adobo, bicol express, pinakbet and balut.

4. The Vast Pool of Filipino Talents like Leah Salonga, Jessica Sanchez, Manny Pacquiao, and our well educated nurses,  doctors, and skilled workers who indeed are World Class.

5. and the top reason for me is the place where my HEART is – my Family and Friends! 

My Friends who are Family to me and my Family who are my Best Friends in the World c”,)

These and a lot more surprises from the Philippines --- which certainly is My Home, My Pride and My Heart! As the cliché goes, “A lady travels around the World in search of what she needs and returns HOME to find out that Happiness and Bliss are solely here”.

See you in Pinas soon for a "MORE FUN" holiday! c",)

The Square of Miracles @ The Leaning Tower of Pisa!

My Travel to the Leaning Tower of Pisa is best shared with friends from around the world...who like me love the adventure of being everywhere!

with some Indonesian friends

our bus ride from Lucca to Livorno Italy where Pisa is situated with Roger (Mr. French) & Clara

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most astonishing architectural structures from medieval Europe. 

It is situated in the Italian town of Pisa, one of the important tourist destination in European cities.

 "Lean but Mean" c",)

Tower of Pisa stands at 60 metres and until 1990 was leaning at about a 10 degree angle.

Although it was intended to be perfectly vertical, it started to lean during construction.

Tower of Pisa is more accurately referred to simply as the bell tower, or campanile.

The Pisa tower is one of the four buildings that make up the cathedral complex in Pisa, Italy, called Campo dei Miracoli or Piazza dei Miracoli, which means Field of Miracles.

The first building constructed at Campo dei Miracoli, Pisa, was the cathedral, or Duomo di Pisa, which rests on a white marble pavement and is an impressive example of Romanesque architecture.

The next building added was the baptistery just west of the dome.Then work on the campanile began. Before the work on the campanile was completed the cemetery, Campo Santo, was built.

Piazza dei Miracoli of Pisa is the most splendiferous assemblage of Romanesque architecture in Italy. Faced in gray-and-white striped marble and bristling with columns and arches, the cathedral, with its curiously Islamic dome and matching domed baptistery, rises from an emerald green lawn.

with Roger our ETO onboard (he's the guy in-charge of our internet and outgoing calls...those magicjack issues) lol ;p

Flanking one side of the piazza, the camposanto, or cemetery, is a gracefully elongated cloister enclosing a burial ground with earth reputedly brought back during the Crusades from Golgotha, the hill where Jesus was crucified, so that noble Pisans could rest in holy ground.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the piazza's crowning glory.

Although only a third as high as the Washington Monument, it was a miracle of medieval engineering, probably the tallest bell towers in Europe.

strike a pose

with our Entertainment Director, Mark Cotter

With 207 columns ranged around eight stories, Tower of Pisa looks like a massive wedding cake knocked precariously askew by a clumsy giant guest.

The construction of Tower of Pisa began in August 1173 and continued for about 200 years due to the onset of a series of wars. Till today, the name of the architect is a mystery

The leaning Tower of Pisa was designed as a circular bell tower that would stand 185 feet high. It is constructed of white marble.

The tower has eight stories, including the chamber for the bells.

The bottom story consists of 15 marble arches. Each of the next six stories contains 30 arches that surround the tower.

The final story is the bell chamber itself, which has 16 arches. There is a 297 step spiral staircase inside the tower leading to the top.

The top of the leaning tower of Pisa is about 17 feet off the vertical.

The tower is also slightly curved from the attempts by various architects to keep it from leaning more or falling over.

Many ideas have been suggested to straighten the Tower of Pisa, including taking it apart stone by stone and rebuilding it at a different location.

In the 1920s the foundations of the tower were injected with cement grouting that has stabilized the tower to some extent.

Until recent years tourists were not allowed to climb the staircase inside the tower, due to consolidation work.

@ the souvenir shop

with some Italian friends

an Italian dog at the park

rivedervi presto l'Italia!

A Leap Of Faith

A great man once told me that the greatest lesson in his life is not to let anyone hinder him for what he wanted in his life because no one else will give you happiness and fulfillment except yourself........and so did I... 

so here goes a note to My Future Child:


To My Future Child,

I am not certain whether or not you are lucky to have me as a mom. To many people’s eyes, I am a traveler, a wanderer, a free spirit---one with a nomadic existence. To some, I am a eccentric for I choose to challenge conventions and live life as I feel it should be lived. But to a few, I am a person of infinite passions, an individual who makes things happen because I opt to live my dreams.

I am a traveler, my child. And you have to understand that a traveler cannot give you all the material wealth your heart wishes. All I have is a treasure of memories and wisdom that I have prudently tucked in my heart, so when you come into this world, I will be able to let you experience what genuinely matters in life.


If at a very young age, you find yourself staring at the atlas and asking for a globe as a Birthday gift... If you find yourself eager to run around the neighborhood under a heavy rain or the scorching sun....and if you hear the sound of tribal drums from a distance calling you. Would you just shove these yearnings away and stay? Or would you chase the source of the beats that beckons you?

My child, I won’t ask anything of you but to live your life bigger than I did. It will be the utmost gift that you can give me. Don’t squander it. Explore, Dream, Discover and Experience! Get lost in the extravagance and romance of the great outdoors. Meet new people. Embrace the unusual and unfamiliar cultures. Don’t be afraid to take that one leap of faith that will change your life forever.

Do you know how an eagle learns to fly? Its mom pushes it off the nest. It strives and struggles. It gets terrified. But it never gives up. Now see how grandiose it soars.

I want you to be like that baby eagle. Jump, I command you, then conquer the skies! 

Love,
Your Future Mom

Inside the VATICAN @ The World's Largest Church!

So here goes my train ride adventure from Civitavecchia to San Pietro Station where the St. Peters Square, Vatican City is located. Thanks to Frommer's for making it manageable to go there on my own and not to mention there's a large number of Kababayans pretty scattered around Italy. The phenomenal experience of being in this most-sought after European destination and hearing mass with the Pope send chills down to my spine... that remarkable feeling that just gives you so much HAPPINESS and TRANQUILITY.

My Ticket from Civitavecchia Port to San Pietro Station

This way going inside the Vatican with hundreds of tourists from around the world

Entrance to the Magnificent Vatican

Vatican, the World's second-smallest sovereign independent state which only have a few hundred citizens and is protected by its own militia, the curiously uniformed Swiss guards.

The only entrance to the Vatican for tourist is through one of the glories of the Western world: Bernini's St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro).

As you stand in the huge piazza, you'll be in the arms of an ellipse partly enclosed by a regal Doric-pillared colonnade.

 two 17th  Century Fountains flanking the Egyptian obelisk

 Straight ahead is the facade of St. Peter's Basilica (St. Peter and Paul are represented by statues in front, with Peter carrying the keys to the kingdom),

Atop it stands a line of 140 crowd depicting saints, martyrs, popes, and the founders of the religious orders of the Catholic Church.

and, to the right, above the colonnade, are the dark-brown buildings of the papal apartments and the Vatican Museums. 

At noon on Sunday, the pope speaks briefly from his study window and gives his blessing to the visitors and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. 

Hearing an actual mass from the Pope send chills down to my spine

The Militia or Swiss Guards

St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square are used to accommodate a large attendance. Anyone is welcome, but you must first obtain a free ticket from the office of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, accessible from St. Peter's Square by the Bronze Door. 

  

hundreds of tourists who wishes to go inside the Vatican Church

 The reasons for Martin Luther's criticism of the Catholic church of "extortion," excessive hoarding of wealth, and constant donations as the key to Heaven are easy to see: a tour through the Vatican renders a visitor literally mind-boggled, stunned, and senseless at the unfathomable wealth, beauty, and majesty of the Vatican.

 Almost no building on earth holds comparison with the lavish and ornate qualities of St. Peter's Basilica. Although other cathedrals are similar and superior in many ways (such as Esztergom Cathedral in Hungary and St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna), no such masterpiece is so meticulously perfected, shined, honed, and maintained as St. Peter's.

An Armenian Saint statue outside the Basilica with small American  scripts at its bottom

 Almost every square meter of the small nation has the ability to amaze every visitor. Each room holds treasures of such incalculable value that one can barely comprehend the previous room before entering the next.

 There are the corpses of at least two former popes inside visible for public viewing, and many more "tombs" dedicated to the popes with no bodies inside.

  

 Other rooms offer interesting visuals: massive halls and corridors are adorned atop with glorious hand-painted murals dating back some more than 500 years.  

All of these massive painted murals are not simply attractive fillers to decorate the hallways; some if not most of these are far more impressive and intricate than the famous Sistine Chapel. 

Golds, Gems, Marbles and Jewels are just everywhere.

There are an endless amount of scenes drawn by Michaelangelo in the chapel, ranging from Adam and Eve to the creation of Man by God, to the life of Mary, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Disciples. All of the figures seem very muscular and firm, including the women considering the fact that Michaelangelo couldn't paint women.

 The basilica certainly is an architectural, economic, religious, and visual wonder almost without comparison or comprehension. SIMPLY BREATHTAKING! The Vatican was one of the greatest experiences in my life that I will surely visit again in the near future.