Monday, March 10, 2025

Happy 20th Anniversary to My Blog!

Happy 20th anniversary to my blog!


Since I started this blog 20 years ago, I have written a total of 2,046 posts (including this one). This means that I am averaging one blog post every 3.57 days. Not bad.

Considering that I almost stopped blogging more than a decade ago, it's amazing that I have continued to write - sometimes quite extensively - throughout the years. What kept me going was this short post about Valentine's Day. How? I found myself reading some of my old blog posts until I got to this particular post. I realized that I had completely forgotten about it! It was such a wonderful experience to suddenly be reminded of something that made me smile. As such, I declared to myself that I would keep writing so that I could capture more of these memories.

The biggest value of my blog to the people I know has been my travel posts. Whenever I have friends traveling to places I had been to and who are asking for thoughts and ideas, I share my travel posts and usually, they find my posts helpful.

I updated the list of all my travel posts that I wrote in my 15th year anniversary post to include trips I took since 2020. I have also added links to all the throwback travel posts I wrote about during the pandemic.

International travel

KENYA
JAPAN
SOUTH AMERICA
My South America Trip Summary and Final Thoughts, South America Trip of a Lifetime, Prepping for our South America Trip, South American Wildlife, South American Food and Drinks, Challenges before and during our South America Trip, Condor Travel, Journeyou, and Going on a Tour versus DIY
PERU
Machu Picchu!, Aguas Calientes and Getting to Machu Picchu,  Cusco, Sacred Valley, Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba, Lima, Casa Qorikancha in Cusco, Tunupa in Sacred Valley, Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, Palacio Del Inka Hotel in Cusco,
BRAZIL
Rio de Janeiro, Iguassu/Iguazu Falls
ARGENTINA
Perito Moreno Glacier!, Buenos Aires,  El Calafate and Patagonia, Museo Del Filete in Buenos Aires, Casimiro Bigua in El Calafate, Loi Suites Iguazu Hotel, Hotel Kosten Aike in El Calafate
RUSSIA
Overview, Kremlin and Red Square, more Moscow sights, Moscow Metro, Sergiev Posad, Vladimir and Suzdal, Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg walking tour, the Hermitage, palaces around St. Petersburg, more St. Petersburg sights, Russian ballet, final thoughts, navigating the Moscow Metro, Travel tips
ICELAND
Summer holiday in Iceland and Austria, Blue Lagoon and Hallgrímskirkja, Glacier Lagoon, whale-watching in Reykjavik, the Golden Circle, Dettifoss and the Jewels of the North tour, last day in Iceland + suggested itinerary
TOUR OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN
Overview, Oslo, Norway in a Nutshell, Bergen, Stockholm
BRUNEI
Overview, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin and ame'asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosques, Empire Hotel and Country Club, Kampong Ayer and Royal Regalia Museum, Travel tips and suggested itinerary, final thoughts
SWITZERLAND
Lucerne landmarks, walking around Lucerne, Locarno and the canton of Ticino
SOUTH KOREA
2011: Overview, Seoul, Incheon, travel tips and final thoughts
2019: Return to Seoul, Seoul City Tour and the Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul Food, DMZ Spy Tour, Nami Island and the Garden of Morning Calm, U2: The Joshua Tree Tour in Seoul
AUSTRIA
Summer holiday in Iceland and Austria, Overview, Vienna, Salzburg, Sound of Music tour, Final thoughts and travel tips
LEGOLAND AND SINGAPORE
Overview, Legoland Malaysia, Universal Studios Singapore (part 2), Final thoughts
FAMILY TRIP TO SINGAPORE
Overview, Universal Studios Singapore, Singapore Zoo, Suntec City, and the Merlion, Marina Bay Sands
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Overview, Amsterdam sights, other Amsterdam experiences, final thought
DENMARK
Copenhagen, more on Copenhagen, sights surrounding Copenhagen
LUND AND MALMO, SWEDEN
Lund, Malmo sights, more Malmo sights
BELGIUM
Belgium, living in Brussels 1, living in Brussels 2, Ghent, Bruges
UK

I also have almost 30 posts about my life in Lund, Sweden from January to June 2007. There are too many posts to share them all here so you can look through my 2007 posts to find them. Special mention: Photo finishes at the train station Part 2 still remains to be one of my favorite blog posts ever.

Local travel

SAGADA
Overview, Sumaguing Cave, Hanging coffins and other Sagada sights, Sagada terraces and falls, Banaue Rice Terraces, final thoughts and tips
KALIBO
Visiting Kalibo for Ati-Atihan, Sadsad, Sunday Mass and Final Day Festivities, Primavera, Peil, Ramboy's, La Esperanza Hotel, Final Thoughts and Travel Tips
BORACAY
Boracay, La Cozina, Lemoni Cafe, Epic, Cafe Del Sol, Don Vito, Boracay Mandarin Island Hotel 
BATANES 

*****

I started this blog on a whim and I almost stopped after a few years before I decided to keep posting. Now that my blog is on its 20th year, I am very thankful that I have continued because I can very easily look back at all the amazing things that have happened in my life. I have always known how fortunate I am to have had all these opportunities but getting to read and relive all these incredible memories and experiences I documented in my blog over the years makes me feel even more grateful.

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Friday, February 28, 2025

Punta Fuego Weekend

I recently spent a weekend at my friend's beach house in Punta Fuego. I arrived on Friday night and I left on Sunday morning. It was a wonderfully chill weekend.

Sunset at Punta Fuego

This was a first time to go to Punta Fuego. One of my closest friends, Mike, and his wife recently had a beach house built there. He had been asking me to join them for a weekend but he would normally ask me at the last minute and I would always have a conflict. I felt bad declining his invitations all the time so a few weeks ago, I messaged him so share my free weekends in February. We finally agreed on a date and a couple of our other friends to join us.

Club Punta Fuego

Mike was one of the first few people who introduced me to the world of board gaming. While I get to play quite a lot, he doesn't get to play as much anymore. As such, the plan was for us to play as many board games as we could that weekend. It was funny because as soon as I was done having breakfast that Saturday, we started playing. We opened with Wondrous Creatures, which I think is a relatively new game. I actually really liked it and am now thinking of getting one for myself. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo but it does look nice. We played a few more games that day, including Harmonies twice, Canvas twice, and we ended with Bruges.

Harmonies (we played this twice and I was never close to winning haha)

I hadn't played Bruge in ages but I think I have a near-perfect Bruges record because I think I may have won this game every single time I played it (or maybe I came in second once). I actually thought I was going to lose this time around but I somehow managed to win in the end (by seven points). Cool!

Bruges (I won by 7 points!)

While the main theme of the weekend was board games, we did get to enjoy a few more things. First, despite the rains earlier in the day, the skies were clear in the late afternoon. This gave us an opportunity to enjoy and take photos of the beautiful sunset at the beach.

Beautiful sunset

We also had amazing food all throughout our stay. Mike's wife is an exceptional chef and she prepared fantastic meals for us while we were there. For lunch, we enjoyed Korean food. After lunch and while playing games, she served some Iberico ham and a variety of cheeses. It was so fancy and everything was so good.

Iberico ham and cheese

For dinner, we had a combination of Spanish and Mediterranean cuisines. It was truly delicious. Needless to say, I ended up overeating that entire weekend.

Spanish and Mediterranean dinner

On my way home on Sunday, I passed by Tagaytay to purchase a few items: I got coffee and raisin bread from Bag of Beans, ube jam and burong mangga from Good Shepherd, and buko pie from Cecilia's. I have now made up my mind: Cecilia's is my favorite buko pie haha. Since I was passing by Tagaytay, I decided to take a few photos of Taal. Thankfully, it was still a bright sunny day, giving me a chance to take some clear pictures.

View of Taal from Tagaytay

I'm really happy that I was finally able to join Mike for a board gaming weekend at his beach house. I'm also really thankful that he and his wife were such gracious hosts and that we were treated to amazing food the entire time. They told me we should do this again soon and I hope we can make this happen soon.

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Tuesday, February 25, 2025

A Safari-themed Birthday Party

I just attended Andrei's first birthday party. His dad is my cousin's son so I think the official name of this relationship is "cousin twice removed" but I don't know anyone personally who actually uses this term. I'll stick to calling him my "grandnephew" even if it is inaccurate haha.

Andrei's Safari-themed birthday party

The party was absolutely grand! It had a safari/animal/Lion King theme and I was really pleased about it because (1) it reminded me of my trip to Kenya and (2) I now have so many clothes in this color scheme haha. There were many parts of this program, including a fantastic musical show where a few artists performed some songs, including the Circle of Life. They were really good!

Performers entertaining the crowd with Circle of Life

There was also an expert who talked about many different kinds of animals. At some point, he asked audience why snakes flick their tongues and when he wasn't getting a response from anyone, I yelled "to hunt for prey" which the expert said was correct. He further talked about the Jacobson's organ. Cool!

Amazing decor all around the venue

Of course, you can't have a party without games. I actually won a prize during the "Name that tune" game. I initially didn't want to answer any of the questions because I wanted the kids and other people in the audience to win the prizes. But when Be our Guest from Beauty and the Beast was played and no one seemed to know what it was, I decided to raise my hand to answer. My prize: a cute little tumbler. Cool!

I won a tumbler!

There were several animals at the venue, including a huge albino python that people could take photos with. I actually wanted to have a photo op with it but then I saw that at some point, it was carefully placed on the floor. I didn't want to have the python that was just on the floor put over my shoulders because I was going to have dinner with friends that night so I decided to skip that plan haha. Still, it was really good to be part of this incredible party.

The cakes were amazing!

Happy birthday, Andrei!

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Saturday, February 15, 2025

Cobra Kai Never Dies!

After 6 seasons, Cobra Kai ends its run. And, for fans like me, it does so in spectacular fashion. Wow!

It was already announced a while back that Cobra Kai Season 6 would be the show's final season. I learned that it would be split into 3 parts, with part 1 being released in July 2024, part 2 in November 2024, and part 3 on February 13, 2025. I actually didn't want to watch parts 1 and 2 when they were released because I didn't want to wait months for part 3 to come out so I purposely watched parts 1 and 2 quite late. In fact, I only finished part 2 a few days ago. Even then, I still couldn't wait for part 3!

When part 3 was released, I binge-watched it after work and I finished it that same evening. This show ended up being my Valentine's Eve date haha. I really loved so many things about it!

SPOILER ALERT: PLEASE STOP READING NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE DETAILS OF COBRA KAI SEASON 6, ESPECIALLY PART 3!

  • The show started out with Johnny and Miguel being in Cobra Kai and it ends with Johnny and Miguel representing Cobra Kai in the best possible way.
  • Miguel wins the boys' tournament of the Sekai Taikai! He won the All-Valley Karate Tournament in Season 1 and he closes out Season 6 winning another trophy!
  • Johnny gets to fight again. Not only does he win his fight, he brings the Sekai
  • Taikai title to Cobra Kai! It's the first time since even the first Karate Kid movie that we see Johnny win.
  • Johnny asks Daniel to be his sensei in his final fight. When he wins, Johnny asks Daniel to join him and together, they raise the trophy in the end. I loved it!
  • Daniel finally feels at peace with the existence of Cobra Kai and he even wears a Cobra Kai gi.
  • Another brilliant reconciliation was between Tory and the Larusso family.
  • In part 2, Johnny saying Miguel is his son too.
  • I absolutely loved the scene between Johnny and Kreese. William Zabka is so good! (He's always been good but this breakdown scene allowed him to display his depth and range even more. That scene still lives in my head rent-free!)
  • I also thought that I didn't want a redemption arc for John Kreese but it was done so well. That said, I felt the ending for his character was just right; for me, there was no need to make it better. He had caused so much damage to so many people - including Daniel - over such a long period of time that I felt the ending was just right.
  • Cobra Kai partnering with Miyagi-do to train their students and that final conversation between Johnny and Daniel in the end was icing on an already very delicious cake.

To be honest, there was just so many more amazing moments. I know that critics don't normally like plots that are too cliche, that have these perfect endings with everything neatly tied up in the end. But as a fan of the show, it really couldn't have been better than this.

While I am sad that the show has ended, I am glad that it ended on such a good note. As Dr. Seuss said, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." I may have been late to the party, only becoming a fan after season 5 had already been released, but I am still a fan. I look forward to watching and rewatching this show in the future.

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Thursday, February 06, 2025

A Jam-packed Start to the Year

Things continue to be busy - in a good way - for me this year. A big highlight was a family reunion with my mom's side of the family. Many of her cousins who are now based abroad were in town. It was good to have this celebration shortly after Auntie Isabel passed away so that we could all be with each other and be there for Uncle Albert. After lunch, Uncle Albert asked me to sing some songs while he played the piano. We ran through several songs until Uncle Albert said he wanted to rest and my Tita Eileen told me after that I just made Uncle Albert very happy. Before we called it a day, Manang Neneng gave each family a box of chocolates and because she had extra, she gave me my own box when Tita Pinky reminded her that I don't live with my mom. Cool! The Lindt chocolates she gave me were very good and it was hard not to eat more than a few pieces each time.

Lindt chocolates I got as pasalubong

There were more get-together. My really good friend Mike celebrated his birthday recently and we met up at Grace Park in Rockwell. I ended up ordering the Caesar salad, which was really good...

Grace Park Caesar Salad

...and the Spinach Fettuccine Veal and Beef Bolognese, which was really good too. (My friend ordered the Pappardelle Al Telefono and couldn't finish it so I tried some of it and it was also delicious. Maybe I will try that dish next time.)

Grace Park Spinach Fettuccine Veal and Beef Bolognese

I also had dinner at Nono's with my colleagues and we were also joined by an ex-colleague. I had one of my favorite Non's desserts that night, the Lemon Torte.

Nono's Lemon Torte

I met with another set of friends for lunch. Eliza requested the Ortigas area while Meg requested Shangri-La mall so that it was easily accessible via MRT. I told them I had a BFF card so we had lunch at Modern Shangai before moving to Secret Recipe for dessert.

Visually stunning floral ceiling at Secret Recipe

Of course, I can't really go an entire month now without having at least one board game night, and I've already had three in just the first month of the year. In one of these game nights, I also finally got to play a game that I owned that I still hadn't previously played up until that night: Coimbra. I've had this game for a while now but I only got to play it now. It's an interesting game and I really enjoyed playing it, although I don't know if that was in part due to the fact that I won this game by a pretty large margin.

Coimbra board game

While my social life has been quite jam-packed, I have also been really busy at work. My work highlight in just the first 37 days of the year was giving a presentation to almost 300 leaders of our company. I had to discuss a relatively complicated topic which was becoming more and more important for us and I had only 25 minutes to do it. It was difficult to prepare for, in terms of trying to make it easy enough for hundreds of people to digest and understand so that they can take immediate action and to articulate everything in as concise a way as possible since I only had limited time (and I wouldn't be able to hold people's attention span if it was longer than 25 minutes anyway). Thankfully, the feedback was generally positive. I was really proud that I was able to give my entire talk without any cue cards or presentation notes. It took a lot of practice to do that and it's been a really long time since I last gave a talk to a huge crowd so I'm glad I was able to pull it off somehow.

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Saturday, January 25, 2025

Dionne Warwick One Last Time in Manila

I just watched Dionne Warwick's One Last Time in Manila concert at the New Frontier Theater. And oh what a magical and memorable evening it was!

Dionne Warwick One Last Time in Manila

Dionne is a musical legend with a sublime and exceptionally distinct and recognizable voice. A lot of her songs have stood the test of time, many of which I love. So when my Mom learned about her concert and asked me to get her a ticket, I decided to watch along with her.

Dionne's concert was held at the New Frontier Theater in Cubao

Dionne is known to be the muse of legendary composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. As such, most of the songs that she performed that evening were songs written by Bacharach and David. This was her set list that evening:

  • Walk on by
  • Anyone who had a heart
  • You'll never get to heaven (if you break my heart)
  • I'll never fall in love again
  • Message to Michael
  • This girl's in love with you
  • I say a little prayer
  • Alfie
  • Do you know the way to San Jose
  • If I want to
  • I'll never love this way again
  • 99 Miles from LA
  • What the world needs now is love
  • That's what friends are for

Her voice may not be as pristine as it was in her prime - after all, she is 84! - but it was still magnificent! And she is still such a force. She continues to have that gorgeously husky and unique tone that is both sophisticated and soulful. Her incredible and expressive phrasing makes it feel as if she was a storyteller sharing something deeply personal with the audience. While her range is no longer as consistently wide as it was in her younger years, she was still able to showcase her power. It really was such a privilege to be part of the audience that night.


I was probably the biggest fan of Alfie in the entire audience that night so I was really happy when she sang it and I cheered loudly when she was done. During Do you know the way to San Jose, she introduced the members of her band. I can't remember if it was in that same song or another one but each musician in the band had a moment to shine during an extended instrumental. Another highlight was the audience participation part of What the world needs now is love that had us all singing back-up for Dionne.

As she got ready to close her concert, she told us that our paths may not cross again - after all, her concert tour is called One Last Time - and that actually kind of made me a bit sad. She then went into her final song of the night, That's what friends are for, and the audience sang along with her. Before she got off the stage, it looked like she hugged herself and I took that to mean that she felt the love from the audience as we all stood to give her a very well-deserved standing ovation.


As she slowly walked off stage, she signed some autographs for the people in the front rows. It kinda made me wish I was there too.


Thank you, Ms Dionne Warwick, for coming to Manila and entertaining your Philippine fans one last time!

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Saturday, January 18, 2025

New Year, New Experiences

The year has just begun but already, I have had quite a few new experiences. One of these is spending Three Kings Day with my family in Manila Peninsula.

Manila Pen lobby on Three Kings Day

In the Philippines, Three Kings Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of the year. When we arrived, the lobby was decorated with a nativity scene that showcased the gifts of the three wise men: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Nativity Scene display at the Manila Pen lobby

I had a discount voucher for Sunday brunch at Escolta and I thought it would be good to enjoy a buffet meal with my family to close out an amazing holiday season and before the craziness of the year starts. I love how beautifully the hotel is decorated. We've seen it sparkling in the evening and now we saw it during the day.

Escolta at the Manila Pen

Even the interior of Escolta was decorated to celebrate Three Kings Day. Cool!

Three Kings Day decor inside Escolta

Another set of new experiences: having dinner and dessert with Che at Greenhills Mall and getting to try a new place. Che and I agreed to meet for dinner in Greenhills after New Year and we were thinking of a place to eat. I don't know if social media was spying on our conversation but after we agreed over chat to meet in Greenhills, I got an ad for Cafe Kulture. It looked interesting so I suggested it to Che and she agreed. I ordered their Shrimp Aglio with Cherry Tomatoes which was pretty good.

Shrimp Aglio with Cherry

I had wanted to order a donut for dessert (it was their only dessert) but we were told that they had already run out. As such, Che and I decided to move. I suggested that we try SuperSam.

Supersam at Greenhills Mall

I suggested this place because I had eaten here once before - I ordered the Strawberry Croissant - and I really liked it. I also loved the fact that they serve decaf.

Strawberry Croissant from SuperSam which I tried late last year

As it turned out, SuperSam was an even better choice than we had originally thought. Che saw the history of this restaurant in one of the menu pages. The name is meant to be a contraction of the phrase Super Samahan, which was the main driver for setting up this business. Apparently, they started out as a means to help people who lost work during the pandemic by providing a source of income. They started out as a food delivery service before being established as a restaurant about a year later. That's amazing! It suddenly made me want to support SuperSam even more. However, we had just had dinner so I just ordered coffee and a dessert. I really loved the strawberry croissant I had previously but I wanted to try another item on their menu. So this time I went with the Dark Choco Croissant. It was good too! (Hopefully, I can visit SuperSam again in the near future.)

Dark Choco Croissant

Another new experience: buying Mamita's lasagna and enjoying it with my family. I had tried this before, during one of my board game nights, and I really liked it. So one weekend, I decided to place an order. They have two pick-up locations, Scout Gandia and Blue Ridge. I decided to order from their Sct Gandia branch.

Mamita's along Scount Gandia

I ordered a family try of their Special Lasagna (P1,150). When I got home, my mom saw the name on the box and said she had seen Mamita's as well on her social media feed. I'm happy that my family enjoyed it as well! Mamita's also has a lot of other dishes that you can order from their website. I am sure I will order from them again in the future.

Special Lasagna from Mamita's

A friend of mine flew to Japan over the holidays and I asked him if he could get me Tokyo Milkcheese Factory cookies (I know they cost a lot less in Japan than they do here in Manila). However, my friend went to Hokkaido and he was told that Tokyo Milkcheese Factory wasn't available there (because, well, it wasn't Tokyo haha). Instead, it was recommended that he get Shiroi Kobito cookies so he did. I tried this before, when another friend brought home a box and gave me one piece. This time, I had a whole box of the Chocolat Blanc Et Langue De Chat cookies. It was really good! Hokkaido really has a lot of very good dairy products!

Shiroi Kobito Chocolat Blanc Et Langue De Chat cookies

Finally, I attended the milestone birthday of my friend Martin. He is heavily involved in the cultural scene of the Philippines and during his party, he invited two musical prodigies: Vien who plays the harp and Dirk who plays the cello. The entertained the party attendees with beautiful music, some of which I had never heard before but some of which I was quite familiar with. A highlight of their performance was getting to hear them play The Swan from The Carnival of the Animals. I know this because there is a popular ballet dance called the Dying Swan that is choreographed to this musical piece. It was such an enriching experience to hear this music performed live, and so beautifully.

Musical prodigies Dirk and Vien

This really has been an awesome start to 2025. I can't help but feel very thankful to have so many wonderful and enriching experiences that I get to share with my family and friends.

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