Chasing Adventures in the Mountain Province of Sagada!

The tranquil Sagada in Mountain Province, a remote town that is fifteen hundred feet above the sea, 275 kilometers north of Manila, a town that has so much to offer to anyone who chooses to experience its distinctive charm. With its cold weather, marvellous cliffs and caves, supercilious rice terraces and waterfalls, delicious foods and delicacies, wealthy heritage and traditions, Sagada guarantees everyone an extraordinary experience with nature and culture.

Ganduyan  is the old name of this exquisite town in Mountain Province. During the Martial Law, Sagada was the hideout of hippies, political activists and some artists. 

Having relatives in the town was a huge factor for us to easily go around, take pleasure in and go for an unlimited escapade. Need I say, my relatives were the ones who started weaving since the 1960s, hence they were popularly known as Sagada Weaving.

...and so discovering this spectacular Sagada begins with these places that you must visit:

Church of St. Mary the Virgin which was established by the American missionaries. It is a vibrant Protestant Episcopal parish considering that Sagada is the only town in the Philippines with only less than 5% catholic population.

Echo Valley and its Hanging Coffins that serves as a view point if you want to see the famous Hanging wooden coffins of Sagada. Note that a local tour guide is required to trek closer to the hanging coffins where it is believed that it will prevent the departed bodies to be taken by beasts and also they strongly believe that souls would rise up easily from there compared to burying them underground.

Burial Caves of Lumniang that shelters coffins from what they believe the bad elements. Stacks of coffins are neatly organized so as to prevent the people from stealing bones as souvenirs. 

Bokong Falls (the small falls) which is just a few minutes rice field walk from the town center. It is about 20 feet high and the depth that is approximately 17 feet just under the drop off point. There are no shower areas or dressing areas nearby so it’s just letting your clothes dry as you walked back to your hotel.

Bomod-Ok Falls (the big falls), which is a challenging 2 hour trek in the Bangaan Rice Terraces (the real life Farmville) in search for the Mother Falls where tourist can do some cliff diving. 

Sumaguing Cave creates the challenge among tourists of getting inside the cave and being rewarded with stunning rock formations, stalactites and slagmites. It also makes your creative mind work as you can think of too many things as to what a certain rock formation is. It was dark inside that every guide brought a lamp to help us see the trail. Steepy and slippery, one must hold tight to the rock formations and also the trek was also made hard by the bats' guano all over. At some point, you'll need to remove your footwear as it would be easier to walk barefooted on the steep rocks. You'll surely disregard all the snags in getting inside with the cave's amazing and spendid beauty. There were various rock formations with funny and interesting names. Some of these formations were called rice terraces, turtle, chocolate cake, king's curtain, bear, pig pen, elephant and a pregnant woman. It took us about 4 hours to explore the cave. 

Last but not the least is the prominent Sagada Weaving which is the home of quality woven products since 1968 where you can purchase some souvenirs.

Dont limit your challenges. Challenge your limits by chasing adventures in this spectacular Sagada!

The nicest views in Nice, France

What’s nice around Nice, France?

The Old Town (or Vieux Nice as the locals call it) this triangle-shaped Old Town is one of the city’s main lure and a must-see for any tourist. Aside from the huge amount of historical sites, there are also heaps of activities buzzing both day and night, which makes it perfect to wander around, to get lost in and to get a drink or a good traditional meal at the same time as enjoying the distinctive baroque Mediterranean vibe. 

So here’s a quick tour to make sure you don’t miss any of Nice nicest parts, even though I’d advise the most audacious is to just get lost in the rove of the streets – after all, it’s too petite to get really lost and the sea is never too far away.

Starting from Place Massena, just take the pleasant rue St François de Paule, which is lined with sophisticated shops with the striking Belle Epoque Opera of Nice on the right.

Just after the opera on the left, you will get a glimpse of the large Palace Square and straight down the road until you hit the pedestrian area where the street becomes the “Cours Saleya”.

The Cours Saleya is running parallel to the sea, is one of the liveliest streets of Old Nice.

In the morning, the central part of the street becomes a market: mostly for flowers but also for clutter sales or fruits and vegetables depending on the days. The strip is also lined with plenty of restaurants which are reasonably priced.

Once you get to the end of the Cours Saleya, you can either turn right and head towards the waterfront and enjoy some extravagant views over the whole Baie des Anges from the Castle Hill, or else go further left is the rue de la Préfecture which heads back towards Place du Palais and comes to life in the early evenings at around 5 or 6pm. The street is lined with bars mainly English-style pubs  and some pretty decent restaurants.

North of the rue de la Préfecture, towards the top end of the triangle, the streets get narrower as cars are banned and this is the ideal place to just wander around the area up to Place Garibaldi to the north.

This area is full of bars and restaurants, especially the southern end, around Place Rossetti, which is another of the nerve centres of the Old Town and an ideal place to just sit down and have a drink on a terrace, under the shade of the beautiful baroque Cathédrale Sainte Réparate, built in the late 17th century.

As you head north of Place Rossetti, towards Place Garibaldi, the roads get slightly less lively and a bit more down market with plenty of kebab and fast food shops and a few excellent restaurants.

Just bear in mind when walking around Old Nice that it’s not just a tourist area but also a prime residential neighborhood – plenty of expats and locals live there due to its central location, mainly the younger ones given that most buildings are 4 or 5 stories high and don’t have lifts. This explains why there are plenty of grocery stores and regular shops catering for the locals, especially in this part of the neighborhood.

Once you’ve reached Place Garibaldi, you can either walk towards the port or head up the Castle Hill for some stunning views over Old Nice.

The French Riviera (Côte d'Azur), this sprawl of pebble beaches and zillion-dollar houses has always captivated sun lovers, socialites and myself. The French Riviera which still remains to be my fave destination in the World.

You'll nver be “READY".But u can be “READY ENOUGH".

If you’re waiting for the stars to line up and everything to fall into place before you leap and make your dreams your reality, I have some sobering news for you: YOU'LL NEVER GET THERE!

That sounds a bit harsh, doesn’t it?

If I didn’t have personal experience in this area, maybe I wouldn’t be so harsh. But I know that waiting until we are “ready” before we listen to our soul and have the guts to make big changes in our lives can be absolutely paralyzing. And I also know that life isn’t perfect – it’s messy and disorganized and chaotic. And we will always have more to learn and more ways to grow.

We are never going to be “READY". But we can be “READY ENOUGH".

If you think that you have to have a certain degree before you can leap, you’re missing out on all of the living that you could be doing right now.

If you think that you have to do all of these things to prepare for your leap, all of that preparation will continue to keep you from leaping.

If you think that you just need a little more time to be good enough or smart enough or ready enough, you’re setting yourself up for a lifetime of paralysis.

You’ll never leap. You’ll never change. You’ll never do anything but wait and plan and talk about it and write about it and think about it but never actually do it.

That’s definitely not what you want, is it? It’s not what any of us wants.

We all have such good intentions. We all have such beautiful hopes and dreams for our lives. We want to leap – we really do. But we’re afraid to. And so that scared part of ourselves convinces us that we need to be ready before we do anything too drastic. We need to be ready before we leap into the unknown. We need to be ready to make sure we’re completely prepared for whatever will come our way.

It's like saying:

I definitely am going to get onto that stage and speak. I really feel that I was born to do this. But…I’m really not ready to do it yet. I would probably need to join a speaking group and practice. Maybe in a couple of years or so, I’ll be ready. Definitely not yet.

This is what I know for sure: we will never be ready. EVER. Not in a million years. We will never feel that everything has lined up perfectly and we are 100% certain that when we leap we will land on our feet. And if we wait for everything to align before we take that leap, we’ll be waiting forever.

This is where faith comes in. Knowing that when we leap toward our dreams we will be fully supported by the universe is how we can jump off of the cliff before everything has come together perfectly. 

And guess what? Sometimes we jump and things don’t happen how we planned – our book isn’t flowing out of us, our coaching practice doesn’t take off right away, we panic on the stage, and being alone is harder than we imagined. This is the messy part of life – the unpredictable part – the part that we try so hard to avoid. This is where faith is extra important. We have faith that we are fully taken care of even when things aren’t looking that great.

We can’t see the entire picture – we only see what’s right in front of us

We don’t know what’s on the other side. We don’t know what’s going to happen when we take a leap of faith. We don’t know how our life will turn out. And there aren’t enough hours in the day or months in the year to prepare us for this. There isn’t anything we can do to be completely ready. Nothing. And isn’t that freeing to think about? Isn’t that amazing, actually?

Knowing that we will never be ready allows us to leap right where we are in this exact moment!

You may not have the confidence or the degree or the experience to leap toward your dreams, but you do have the heart and the willpower and the inspiration to do it anyway. You are ready to live fully.

And living fully is something that we can all do right now. We are all ready for that.

Can you think of anything that you’ve been putting off in your own life because you didn’t think you were ready? How would your life be different if you took the leap anyway? Would you be willing to take that leap of faith now? 

Live, Laugh, Learn and LOVE!

TO LOSE BALANCE SOMETIMES FOR LOVE IS PART OF LIVING A BALANCED LIFE!

There goes my favorite line from the movie: Eat, Pray, Love... that made my way to self forgiveness, loving myself more and obtaining the balance I needed in life to keep moving towards self fulfillment and happiness!


The movie itself made me realized how to forgive myself and mostly love myself more and go back to the center where God and peace can be found. This is the best way for me to find that balance I have been searching for. Yes we all go through failed relationships and experience pain and sadness but there comes a point in your life when you are just exhausted giving love that you find yourself unloved....this is the time where you learn to stop, let go and walk away from the drama that's making you miserable. It's going to be a challenge to keep walking without looking back but realize that you are doing yourself a favor. Start by accepting the situation... pour it all out until the day that you become numb about it... embrace brokenness and surrender it all to God. 

From my experience of brokenness I have experienced Gods surprises from the moment I surrendered everything to him, He opened me to the best things in life. Believe that He puts certain people in our lives to mold us to be better persons because He certainly is preparing us for the Best of the Best in our future. Forgive yourself and the other person or persons involved and give yourself that peace of mind you deserve. Remember to value yourself and give yourself a chance to be loved again without forcing it. You deserve a Love that is given out of free will from your partner and perhaps the phase of being single is a calling from God too to renew your relationship with him. Respect yourself and acknowledge that your past is a stepping stone for you to your goals...because this is just one of Gods test for us to grow. Don't jump too easily on a new relationship just to forget your past because it wont simply help.... its best to love and complete yourself first and by the time your ready trust that God has the RIGHT ONE ready for you too. Its all about being the person God wants you to be and having an overflowing love that you can share with that person. Everyone of us gets through difficulties but put in mind that if God brings you to it, He will certainly bring you through it. Sit back, relax, enjoy life and open your hearts and eyes to His surprises (nothing beats his miracles in life).

A good friend once told me that Life is not all about Love...there are some realities and responsibilities that we need to do to be fulfilled in this lifetime. True enough that Life is about living each day to the fullest.... and Love in Life is NOT only by having that perfect relationship (with the RIGHT ONE).... there is also what we call Love for Yourself (by fulfilling yourself) and Love for your neighbors. Now that's what i call living a balanced Life - Trusting God, Loving yourself and Sharing that Love to Others.

‎I've come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call "The Physics of The Quest"- a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest Physics maybe goes like this: "If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting(which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments)and set out on a truth-seeking journey(either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared - most of all -to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself....then truth will not be withheld from you." -- Eat, Pray, Love!

Ending the Year 2012 with a Leap of Faith! (",)

Year 2012 has turned out to be my nightmare .... yet this year has taught me more about MYSELF. Things I never taught I can be and I will be because of the situations that God has allowed me to experience. 

This year I've learned:

1. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to Disagree. I have learned that sometimes its better to apologize than to be always right and fight. Its not a weakness, rather than it is a sign that you are more understanding than someone else.

2. Silence the Mind. This way it gives you time to think before saying or doing something. Peace of Mind is the best gift you can ever give to yourself because in doing so you can accomplish many things more efficiently and effectively.

3. Don't compare yourself with other because you don't have any idea what their journey is all about. God gives us different challenges depending on what we need to improve and realize for ourselves.

4. Embrace Brokenness. Everyone has been broken and has experienced pain. The best remedy is to go back to the center with God and submit to him your broken heart and trust that in His time He will give you a new heart that's fulfilled and more spirited.

5. Let Go. Just keep loving and when its not for you, you have to learn to let it go. Don't push yourself to something you are not welcomed because it gives more frustrations to yourself. 

6. Love yourself. Make yourself happy and fulfilled before you can finally share it with someone. Find yourself and find your balance.

7.  and to Believe in Miracles.... every thing and every one changes.... but if you have that strong Faith in God, He will reward you with something far better you wished for.

This 2012 has made me realized that despite the trials I had to face, I was never alone on it...I had Gods grace with me all along. I chose to fight for something that wasn't given to me yet I knew in myself that I did a good fight. I was scared the entire year and the greatest lesson was to JUMP INTO THE LEAP OF FAITH. LET GO and LET LIFE HAPPEN! Trust Gods will and let Him bring you life's surprises. 

When I look back on my life, I see pain, mistakes and heart ache. When I look in the mirror, I see strength, learned lessons, and pride in MYSELF.

Cheers to a Better, Bigger, Brighter 2013 Everyone!

In God's Time

Growing up as the eldest of 5 kids in the family, my parents would always tell me that "I was the luckiest". Indeed, I am and somehow people knows me as "The Brat" (very impatient)

As a child, I recall how my dad and I would always sing "Somewhere Out There" by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram... there was even a betamax (back in the 80's) copy of it to which my dad kept. That song, always reminded me how my dad wanted to see me one day with my God-given Prince.

The thought of growing up scares me, but nevertheless it became easy with the overflowing love my family and friends have been giving me. I was a late bloomer in the sense that i focused on my career at the age of 18 being a TV Sportscaster and only had my first boyfriend at the age of 25. I remember at that time I prayed for two things: a great love life that will sweep me off my feet and an opportunity to see the world. To my surprise, both were given at the same time... I had the time of my life traveling yet it neglected my long distance relationship with my partner. The following year, I agreed to compromise to save the relationship yet it was a test on God again as my partner needed to focus on his career.

Yes, I was Impatient and yes I want things my way --- which gave more damage in my relationship with my family, friends, the people around me and God. From that moment, I stopped and reflected how "timing" played an important role in my life..."In Gods Time" I kept telling myself! 

The next thing I knew, I came back to the center with God and focused on myself. I believe that He was the only person who can make it right for me.  At this point I started loving myself more, making myself fulfilled, happy and overcoming my insecurities. 

The Bible became the food to my heart with this very nice verse:

“Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone – to have a deep soul relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God, to a Christian, says, “No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and content with being loved by Me alone – with giving yourself totally and unreservedly to Me – 

with having an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with Me – exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other desires or longings. I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing – one that you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you. You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things – keep experiencing the satisfaction that I am. Keep listening and learning the things I tell you. You just wait. That’s all.

Don’t be anxious. Don’t worry. Don’t look around at the things others have or that I’ve given them. Don’t look at the things you think you want. You just keep looking off and away up to Me, or you’ll miss what I want to show you.

And then, when you’re ready, I’ll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you would dream of. You see, until you are ready, and until the one I have for you is ready (I am working even at this moment to have both of you ready at the same time), until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I prepared for you, you won’t be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me, and this is the perfect love.

And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love, I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me, and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty, perfection, and love that I offer you with Myself.

Know that I love you utterly. 

I am God. 

Believe it and be satisfied.”

This helped me rebuild the "Ms. Independent" image I always had.  I recall an incident when I graduated college and had plans of working in NYC but God didn't allow it to happen because His plans for me are better. A year after, I got this once in a lifetime opportunity to travel around the world. True enough, that it was far better to experience the World than to be in NYC.

At this point, I learned to utilize my time of singleness to prepare myself to become a godly spouse, and to work on building and strengthening the most important relationship I’ll ever have: my relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Consider the possibility; you may be ready for what God has for you, but somebody else who is going to be involved is not ready yet.

Learn to trust His timing.  Don’t go in a hurry; don’t grow impatient; don’t try to force doors to open.  Don’t try to make things happen in your own strength.  Let God do it His way.

The sad truth is, if you push hard enough, and if you’re so stubborn that you must have things your way, God will sometimes allow you to undertake a project without His blessing or at the wrong time.  The problem with that, of course, is when you start something in your own strength and in you’re own timing, you’re going to have to finish it and maintain it in your own strength. When you let God start something, He’ll finish it for you.  He’ll provide everything you need.

When we try to force open doors and make things happen in our own strength, the end result is a constant strain on us and a drain on our resources.  Life becomes a constant struggle.  Nearly all joy, peace, and victory dwindle from your existence.  That is not a place of contentment and satisfaction.

The lesson here is to be PATIENT and to TRUST his timing. In His time it’s not going to be one second late.  At exactly the right time, God is going to bring the perfect person into your life, and he or she will not be one second late!

Let Go of whats wrong in your life and Let God make things right!

Take this time to focus on yourself and give yourself a chance to grow. 

And always remember in choosing the right person: He/She must love everything you hate about yourself, He/She is proud to be with you, He/She is not afraid to say "Im Sorry" and He/She is ready to grow with you.

La Dolce Vita in Sorrento, Italy

Land of the Mermaids. Land of Orange and Lemon Groves. Land of Colors. This small city in Campania has earned a plethora of alluring names. 

Legendary for its sea cliffs, the town's steep slopes look out over sapphire waters to Ischia, Capri and the Bay of Naples.

The birthplace of Limoncello liqueur offers several fine diving, great sea fishing, boat cruises and tempting restaurants. 

According to Greek legend, it was in Sorrento’s waters that the mythical sirens once lived. Sailors of antiquity were powerless to resist the beautiful song of these charming maidens-cum-monsters, who would lure them and their ships to their doom. Homer’s Ulysses escaped by having his oarsmen plug their ears with wax and by strapping himself to his ship’s mast as he sailed past.

Dominating its own little bay-within-the-bay, Sorrento's seaside vocation is given historical depth by its wealth of Renaissance palazzi and Romanesque churches. 

We all know how undeniably Italians are fashionable and if this is one place in Italy to find cheap trendy clothes and apparels.of marquetry and wood inlay, you might want to check out Museo Bottega Della Tarsia Lignea.

Another interesting attraction is the Museo Correale di Terranova, which was  once the home of the brothers Alfredo and Pompeo Correale, counts of Terranova -- an old aristocratic family of Sorrento -- who donated their villa and private collections to the public.

The place gives a unique overview of the decorative art from the 16th to 19th century

Visitors can also take a boat to Naples and the islands, or sail round Punta della Campanella at the tip of the Sorrentine peninsula to visit Positano or Amalfi.

These and a lot more at the very scenic Sorrento... piacere la sua vacanza a Italia