by: Mhe-anne L. Ojeda
As part of my new year tradition, I took the opportunity to do a tiger look
(i.e examine intensely,I mean) on how the year of the Tiger went for me. Generally, I can say that 2010 was a good year, with
Travels, Friends and
Family standing out as common themes.
I will write about these themes in separate blog entries to have a shorter more reader's friendly write up over the next three days.
Today, I am happy to share how my travels had been during the year of the Tiger.
TravelsThe year of the Tiger was filled with travels around the country and bunking with locals in Asia on a
monthly basis except for the month of
September (
my busiest month work wise to allow a birthday leave for the whole month of October!).
Tiger kicked off with my first ever
Butanding adventures in Donsol, Sorsogon, a visit to Mayon Volcano in Albay, and another volcano in Talisay, Batangas with my long awaited Taal Volcano crater tour during a trip to Tagaytay in
January.
February rolls in with a quick flight to Bohol, a tour of Pampanga (Clark and Lake Shore) and Manila (Ocean Park,Rizal Park and Intramuros) and an almost daily road trip for ten days around Subic, Tarlac and Zambales to watch my friend's
Reid participation at the Tour of Luzon cycling competition where his team Kelly Benefits Strategies winning the Championship.
March was the start of a full blast CS experience when I and friends Jean,Arlene and my brother Allan, bunked with the locals of Ho Chi Minh City, enjoying Vietnam's biggest and busiest city, tasting delicious
pho (soup) and saying "
Xin chao" ("Hello") to those we met as we explored pagodas, Reunification Palace, War Remnants Museum and a trip back memory lane to Cu Chi Tunnels.
In
April,I was quite busy with work that required me to stay put but still I was able to have series of road trips towards the end of the month to my hometown in Camarines Norte for my cousin's wedding, Camarines Sur and Naga for my Papa's birthday on April 29 and immediately traveling back home for our family reunion in Paradise Ranch in Clark Pampanga from April 30 - May 1.
After breathing in a little, I traveled to Cebu City mid of
May to attend the LDS Temple VIP Open House and for the first time indulging in a beach experience in Maribago and Tambuli resorts.
June is noted for a couple more road trips to Dasmarinas, Cavite for a friends' wedding and to Sta.Maria, Laguna to attend the Oath taking of my friend Atty.Tony Carolino as the town's new elected Mayor while
July stood out as the month for my dream come true Caramoan Island get-away and gutsy attempt at Naga's CamSUr Wakeboarding after my failed US Trip.
In
August I was back in Pampanga to visit Nayong Filipino as part of the tour for the second day of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Anniversary Conference.
The highlight of
October was of course my birthday trip to the capital of Sabah state in Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu, indulging in street food and night entertainment with CS friend Chel, tasting the beauty of the countryside and letting our hearts pumped with the flying adventures at Sapi Island.
The birthday fun was immediately followed by a trip to Taipei,the capital of Taiwan first to experience CS traveling around Danshui,Keelung and Banciao with CS Chloe and wrapping up good with a rendezvous with my prince,scaling Taipei 101 in
November.
Another highlight for
November , was my vacation in
Cebu City with my whole family on board the Cebu Pacific airlines, and explored the beach and the city's vibrant tourists spots, nightlife and street food.
And before the Tiger year came to a close,
December ushered my first of a series of trips in Pangasinan for a special work assignment.
With all these trips I consider myself lucky and ever grateful to Heavenly Father for the blessings that allowed me to enjoy life to the fullest and to grow through the beautiful places I see and the wonderful people I meet on the journey.