Siquijor: Salagdoong Beach

The sun's rays kissing the white sands of Salagdoong Beach in the late morn was blinding my sleepy eyes. I just stepped out of Hotel Agripino. I yawned and stretched (and heard my idle bones crack) and trudged to the shore.

Blinding white.
Shervin, equally sleep deprived but already donning his board shorts, walked beside me. After semi-circumnavigating three islands in the Visayas for six days, we agreed on taking a breather. A preggy backpacker is in dire need of one every so often. The habal habal ride and trek to Casaroro Falls we did a couple of days back left me bushed.

And that beach before us was the perfect spot to laze. Well, that and our hotel room with a view of Maria Bay.

Siquijor: Surrendering to Serenity

I sat to compose myself. The sweltering midday heat was infuriating my hormones. Twelve weeks into the pregnancy and there I was in Dumaguete Port battling morning sickness yet brushing off the idea of slowing down. We were waiting for our ferry to Siquijor.

A calming welcome. View of Siquijor's shore upon docking.
Shervin and I have been traveling for five days already with the route Cebu-Dumaguete-Siquijor. Quaint-quainter-quaintest was indeed how we rolled, and what I truly needed. I was jaded to bits.

10 Things I Like About 2010

2010 ain't as grand as 2009. Last year I worked overseas, backpacked in 9 countries (did my first long term travel too), got hitched, and honeymooned during winter. This year isn't so bad as well. I may have only traveled a few times, but these trips were done either while I was pregnant or with our newborn in tow - which for me, a once carefree drifter, are such amazing feats!

With my newborn in Tam-Awan Village Baguio City, a minute away from my nomadic family's first home. Moving in's one of this year's highlights.
Hereunder are the top 10 things I like about 2010...

Casaroro Falls

I swallowed hard. It's going to be one tough ride. Amidst the pandemonium of habal-habal drivers offering tours in our faces, I was fidgety and dazed. I was never comfortable journeying aboard motorcycles, let alone riding it with another passenger aside from the driver on an unpaved road and two months pregnant.

Nevertheless I was determined to do so, with a hesitant go signal from my husband who shared a habal-habal with me. We made sure our driver knows the consequences if something terrible happens to us.

Mighty Casaroro Falls.

Bantayan Island-Cebu City: Losing My Temper

I shamelessly snapped at someone, which rarely happens by the way. Whenever I'm on the road, my head almost always floats inside a sunshine-y bubble. Ecstatic to satisfy my hunger for a new adventure.

And sadly, I blame my 2-month pregnancy for the short fuse. So how did this happen?

About to leave Bantayan Island's port. Still in a good mood.

Rushing Through Sta. Fe

This was not how I envisioned my Bantayan Island visit. Our entire trip was enveloped with time constraints. Not to mention I was two months pregnant which forced me to move a bit sluggish and overly wary.

Sta. Fe was the only municipality we set foot on. And this is where the island's white gleaming beaches are, so that alone made us slightly content even though we only had an hour to frolic in the water.

Sands fronting Marlin Beach Resort, just a few meters from our guesthouse.

Manila-Cebu City-Bantayan Island: Nothing A Preggy Backpacker Couldn't Handle

Aboard a plane, we giggled our way from Manila to Cebu. We were a party of four. Biggest group of people I ever flew with. There was me, my hubby Shervin, my sister Gabe, and my friend Xhy. All of us scored seat sale tickets, P840 each one way. I was the one who booked the flight and well, loosely organized the trip.

It was my third time in Cebu and I finally had the chance to visit Bantayan Island. But with a 1-hour 10-minute flight, 3-hour ordinary bus ride, and a 1-hour 15-minute ferry trip in one day... At two months pregnant, I shall say getting to the island wasn't a breeze.

Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island. Its port in a distance.

Voyaging Visayas: A Prelude

Cebu-Dumaguete-Siquijor-Bacolod may be a common route for Pinoy backpackers, but a bit insane for the preggy traveler. Had I known I was on the way, I wouldn't have planned such intense trip.

The initial itinerary primarily revolved around meeting up with a couple of hubby's friends (whose sole purpose for visiting the Philippines is a tattoo) from Australia. And blame it on a seat sale's allure, I booked a flight from Manila to Cebu, then a flight from Bacolod back to Manila.

Yes, that meant a plentitude of intercity bus rides and ferry crossings in between. And no, morning sickness did not spoil our voyage.


View Voyaging Visayas in a larger map

The Travel Junkie Is Now a Nomad Mommy!

Happiness [is] only real when shared.
- Chris McCandles, Into The Wild

Yesterday, at 8:23 AM, in a hospital which used to be a hotel... the Pinay Travel Junkie turned into a nomad mum.

Meet Luna, our new backpacking buddy!

1st Blogversary: A Year of Growth

I've got a dream, I've got a dream
And I know I can share it if you want me to
If you're goin' my way, I'll go with you
- Jim Croce, I Got A Name

That dream was to travel around the world. It seemed far fetched for me - a Filipina who earns just enough to pay for my bills, and well, my parents'. But because of my palpable hunger for adventure and street-garnered knowledge, with magnanimous sacrifices, I began to make it happen.

LoQal.ph interview with blogger Pinay (then 6-month preggy) Travel Junkie about backpacking while pregnant. One of this year's highlights.
And this day exactly a year ago, "Confessions of a Pinay Travel Junkie" was born so I could share my wanderful experiences to my fellow travel addicts.

Magalawa Island: The Babymooners

The term "babymoon" these days pertains to the final vacation of a couple who are expecting a baby. Babymoons almost always are spent in luxurious resorts which provide pampering services, especially for the soon to be mom. In our case, it's far from such. Even at six months pregnant, our weekend babymoon was the usual P1,500 camping affair.

A happy, shiny 6-month preggy camper.

Mother's Day at Manila Zoo

My first Mother's Day! Okay, so I'm not a full-on mum yet since I'm still 5 months on the way but hubby and I already felt like celebrating. My OB-Gyne found out through ultrasound that I have a low-lying placenta two weeks ago, so going out of town was strictly not an option.

Then we're left with the urban jungle. So where did we go (title's a dead giveaway)? Just a two-kilometer stroll from our place is the Manila Zoo. I decided it was about time for a revisit.

Almost 5 months preggy and playing with a Burmese Python. Notice the snake getting too comfy resting between my legs?

Into the Rainforest

Nature lovers who flock to Sandakan are certainly pumped up. Sure it's a gateway to ecotourism, but many are not aware that this rainforest has also witnessed a dark past. Nope, I'm not just pertaining to the diminishing number of wildlife. A POW Camp was once set up in Sandakan, and a gruesome "death march" which started here claimed the lives of hundreds of British and Australian prisoners (more than a thousand died in the camp alone).

Sandakan POW Camp diorama.

Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary

Sabah, Malaysia will leave ecotourism, jungle tourism and wildlife sanctuary fanatics infatuated. If not, madly in love. As written on one if its brochures, "Eco-treasures from mountain high to ocean deep". In Sandakan alone, there are at least 5 destinations where tourists can learn about ecosystem protection. Due to time and budget constraints we were only able to visit 2, but we managed to squeeze a poignant memorial park in between.

Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary, feeding time.

Valentine's Day Date: Camping at Pulau Mamutik

Our second Valentine's Day together and we still haven't celebrated it over a romantic candle-lit dinner in a swanky resto. As a backpacker couple, we have more than a dozen other mushy ideas of our own. And yes, camping is one of them.

Our tent, Hurley. His first trip overseas.

The Preggy Traveller

Some if not most people have this notion that marriage and long term travel will never have good chemistry, let alone backpacking with kids in tow. I am determined to prove otherwise (if you are too, throw your hands up at me!). Hubby-slash-backpacking buddy and I do not have our bundle of joy yet, but am 3 months on the way.

Bantayan Island trip at 2 months without hubby. The first pregnancy term is considered crucial, take extra care.