August 26, 2018
Once people stop celebrating the old — be it buildings, history, or culture — they cease to exist. Many places are guilty of this disappearing act. But Santa Cruz is different. The city’s vibrant culture is centered on its past. Santa Cruz is liberated, liberating, accommodating, and hip. And true […]
August 26, 2018
While Montebello directly translates to beautiful mountain, not everyone has the stamina and the time to spend a full day exploring trails. Sometimes, it’s all right to be mellow. Enjoy quiet moments. Lounge in your hotel terrace with your favorite drink in hand. Stroll the neighborhood park. Montebello, California, is a […]
August 24, 2018
California charms dreamers: surfer kids rub elbows with the rich and famous. Hippies mind their own enclave away from the old money and nouveau rich. It thrives and flourishes in contradictions. Its varied landscape and terrain reflect the characters of the locals and visitors alike. It has the swells, the […]
July 28, 2018
I could say that Sun.Star has been a massive part of my writing life. I could still remember the thrill upon receiving Mayette Tabada’s email that my balak would be published on Sun.Star’s Weekend six years ago. Since that time, there has been two editors. Now, I’m under the […]
July 24, 2018
“It’s hard to find someone here that stays long enough that you can really fall in love,” I said to Simone, with a lit Kent in my right hand. The smoke circled, hovered a bit before it disappeared in Ha Noi’s bright summer sky. The day started gloomy, which made […]
July 4, 2018
So you’re away from home, traveling the world. You’re supposed to living the dream, having the time of your life, yet all you can think about is sleep. You my friend have a classic case of travelers fatigue! Don’t despair you are not alone. Sooner or later every road warrior […]
June 25, 2018
LAST UPDATE: JUNE 2022 This is your Cebu Travel Guide from someone who lived there for fifteen years. I had lived for fifteen years in Cebu City. First to pursue my degree. Then I hopped from one job to another right after college. A part ot this Cebu City travel […]
June 23, 2018
NOTE FROM JONA THE WITCH | This is the second installation of Danielle Balanga’s field notes from her sponsored trip to Samar for Backpacking with a Book. She represented this humble blog. You can read the first part of her Samar Travel Guide on BWAB. Here are three more interesting […]
June 9, 2018
Myanmar Travel Guide | Few places still have a certain magic and mystique around them the way Myanmar does. Steeped in history and culture, and having only opened its doors in recent years, it remains relatively unexplored by the rest of the world compared to neighboring Cambodia or Vietnam. Still unconvinced? […]
May 9, 2018
MISREADINGS: We Loved Our Lives More Than We Ever Knew | Lorrie Moore | A Gate at the Stairs Let me start with a confession. Lorrie Moore was a bandaid after my bedtime attempts and failures on reading and understanding Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, which absurdly became strings after strings […]
February 1, 2018
LAST EDIT: DEC 2019 YOGYAKARTA TRAVEL GUIDE 2019 | Things to Do in Yogyakarta | All right, let me start this with a little narrative that requires your five-minute attention span. If you can’t stomach a little storytelling, you can simply skip the first part and proceed to the next […]
December 10, 2017
CAMOTES ISLAND TRAVEL GUIDE | Camotes Island is a less known island destination in northern CeThese past few months, I was alienated from mountains because of stupefying vertigo attacks—a migraine aftermath, I hope, and not something life-threatening such as brain cancer or tumor. Vertigo made me incoherent—or to put it bluntly—plain stupid. […]