Work-life balance is one of the benefits (lacking for a proper term) the company where I work boasts a lot. They sure do give us that alongside some budget to do a little R&R anywhere the team wants :)

My team <3

That's why last February 19-20, our team had a short vacay at Bolinao in Pangasinan. It was a quick one as we had to go back to Manila the next day.

We first dropped by Manaoag Church early in the morning.



We got at the resort around lunchtime already since one of our convoys got lost. Haha! Cooked our meals then headed to the beach right after.

 

My team

White beach!

Later in the afternoon, we toured the small town of Bolinao. We went to Bolinao falls where we did a bit of boating and cliff diving.

These two are just so pretty, no?

4pm na. Fresh ka ba? HAHAHA

The girls who jumped

We went back to the beach afterwards to watch the famous Bolinao sunset.



The next day, we went island hopping. The tides were high on that day and it was raining a bit which made our boat rides a lot more fun and thrilling, I must say. :P There was an area with a beautiful rock formation. We climbed that specific rock and jumped from the top, 35ft above sea level.

35ft, baby.

With the locales

Hah! Time definitely wasn't enough for this trip. There's so much more to see in Pangasinan and a lot more to talk about ourselves. Hopefully, we get to do another one before our demob dates :P Thanks team and hope you liked the video compilation I made <3


Bolinao 2016 from Lean Jess Dela Cruz on Vimeo.

Coron, Palawan has got to be the most beautiful place I've been to in my 25 years of existence. Read more to know why.


Last August 4-6, 2015, I was fortunate enough to visit Coron with 3 of my friends - Pao, Leandro, and Nicki. We've been waaaaaanting to go to either Coron or Batanes but we all know how expensive a Batanes trip could be so we settled for Coron, at least for now. Don't get me wrong here, guys. Coron isn't a second option of some sorts here. We really just wanted to see both of the places, regardless of which goes first :)

Constant travel buddy

Pao, Lean (Me), Leanders, and Nicki: Your Coron Krew

Oh and allow me to mention how lucky we are since we were able to book a roundtrip flight c/o Cebu Pacific costing us a little over P2000 (P2521.08, to be exact), terminal fee included. Due to our limited budget, I did my best to search for the best packages that would be worth our money. Fortunately, I was able to find one online from Coron Island Loop Tour Services. This travel agency offers everything you are going to need on your stay there, from accommodation, tours, lunch, etc. Name it, they probably have the solution for it! We availed their 3D-2N Budget Package which includes airport to hotel transfer and vice versa, accommodations with private T&B, shower, cable TV, and toiletries, breakfast, group island hopping (one boat for the four of us with fuel, tour guide, and safety vests), a half day city tour, pier tricycle transfer, sumptuous set of lunch by the beach and picnic snacks, and complimentary drinks c/o the hotel. All that and more for only P2290.

We stayed at Sea Horse Lodge, a newly opened backpackers hostel in Coron. We got a quad room and we looooved their roof deck especially at night!

Their roofdeck where we played cards and drank beer til the wee hours

On the first leg of our tour, we went to Siete Picados, Smith Point, Kayangan Lake, and Maquinit Hotspring. And may I just say, grabeeeeeeee yung Maquinit Hotspring. The 30 minutes we spent there felt like a total rejuvenation of mind and body. It took all our stresses and body pains away AND I'M NOT OVERREACTING. We didn't really wanna leave the place but it's getting dark so we had to go back to our hotel.

Maquinit Hotspring

Picture perfect

Kayangan Lake <3

When you have the lake all to your freakin' self

 After the short island hopping trip, we went back to town to have dinner.

We continued with our island hopping tour the next day. On the second leg, we went to CYC Island, Coral Garden Reef, Atuwayan Beach (where we had our lunch), Skeleton Ship Wreck, Banol Beach, Diwata Lagoon, Twin Lagoon, and Barracuda Lake. During this part of our tour, Pao and I were almost stung by a sea urchin!!! The tides kind of got strong so we were brought by the current to the shallow part of the seas. I was shocked to see that a sea urchin has gotten so close to my leg and I did panic a little (which is not good tbh). Good thing, our tour guide and boatman were prepared and led us out of that part.

Look who's excited! :D

CYC Island

We had lunch under this kubo

Lunch view

Nearing Barracuda Lake

If this isn't beautiful to you, Idk what is

On our last day, Pao and I left the hotel early to do a little hike up of Mount Tapyas. Mount Tapyas is known to be 210 meters above sea level with 721 steps before you reach the top. All efforts will be paid though as it boasts a 360 degree view of Coron, Palawan and some of the islands surrounding it.

Started from the bottom...

Now we're here!!! :D

Our flight was in the evening of the same day.

Thank God for giving us the Coron. Srsly, you have to visit the place at least once in your life especially if you're a Filipino! The place is marvelous and like what I've said in the early part of this blog post - it's the most beautiful place I've laid my eyes on in my 25 years of existence. It's breathtaking and I would definitely love to come back. I've actually told my friends that if ever there will come a time that I suddenly got lost and forgot to told anyone, I'm just there in Coron. So I do hope you would consider going and help the locals get a living there. Just please don't try to destroy it by any means. It's charming as it is. Don't even try modernizing or changing it.


Coron 2015 from Lean Jess Dela Cruz on Vimeo.

Til the next! x

My first trip this year came sooo early (January 13-15, to be exact)! Pao and I went with his best bud, and his SO to the beautiful island of Boracay.

 

 We purposely went there on a January so there'll be less people and more beach space for the four of us. Lo and behold, we got what we want! :D

Selle (who came all the way from her night shift), Justin, me and Pao on our way to Caticlan

We got there in the afternoon so we decided to hit the beach right away and watch Boracay's gorgeous sunset.

LOOK AT THAT BEAUT

 

We then headed to Astoria after sunset to fill our tummies. The next morning, we went for a tour where we got a glimpse of the thriving sea life of the islands. We went to Magic Island, Crocodile Island, and Puka Beach. Magic Island was actually closed at that time due to low tide but my being makulit and mapilit got us there. Lol! I've always wanted to try cliff diving despite my lack of swimming skills and I did it anyway! Thank God for lifejackets and a boyfriend. Haha!

I did three jumps in Magic Island, with three corresponding heights - the highest being 10 meters.

My apologies for the ugly photo :))

We had lunch at Crocodile Islands and no, there were no crocodiles there. After the sumptuous Filipino lunch, we went straight to do parasailing. Justin and Selle decided to go elsewhere and did jetski-ing instead. It was our first time to do parasailing and I must say that it has been the most thrilling yet serene 15 minutes of my life! It was breathtaking to be up there in the sky seeing how small the boats are below.

While waiting for our turn <3

This is the only photo we have

Beach bae

We went to infamous Hobbit Travern for a double date night in the evening <3

Photo with the cutest waiters and waitresses everrr

Our third and last day was spent lying on the beachside, buying souvenirs, and eating fresh seafood.

DROOL

What to buy?

You might wanna check our video below to see more highlights. Watch in HD and enjoy! x


Boracay 2016 from Lean Jess Dela Cruz on Vimeo.

I had no plans of coming to Taiwan before this trip happened.. And now, all I can think of is when I should go back.

Last September 17-22, 2015, I was given a chance by my alma mater (and still my school for my masteral studies), UP Diliman - Institute of Civil Engineering, to join the annual IDEERS (Introducing and Demonstrating Earthquake Engineering in Schools) Competition. The said contest is sponsored by NCREE and is held in Taipei every year. I went there with 2 of my teammates (JR and Cris) and Sir Eric, our coach.

I won't be talking much about the competition since I believe most of you is more interested with the leisure part of this trip :P But allow me to tell you that we finished on the 5th spot despite our lack of preparation and sleep days before the competition. Great job, team!

We only had a few hours to explore Taipei because of the competition. Good thing, the city is small and is very easy to navigate. Taipei is a walkable city and the main attractions are connected by its train system so traveling from one place to another is very convenient.

Chit

Rapid Trains

This is how the inside looks like

Taiwan also has very clean and artistic train stations. Some of them even look like they are temples!

See?

We toured the modern part of the city during our first night.

Their mall

Mandatory touristy shot HAHA

Homongous train station at center of their BD

A trip to Taipei will not be complete without going to Shilin Night Market. Shilin Market is their most famous night market catering to the hip and the young with a hundred shops to stroll at. Here you will find cheap but beutifully-made shoes, clothes and TDF street food. Yummmmm!

Only photo I had cos I got crazy roaming around huhu!

Being our engineer selves, we explored Taipei 101 the next day. Taipei 101 is also known as Taipei World Financial Center - and is Taiwan's landmark skyscraper. The said building used to be the world's tallest way before Burj Khalifa was completed. It is known to be the largest green building in the world and it houses the fastest elevator in the entire universe. How's about that for trivias? *wink wink*

Oh please excuse my face

How the inside looks like

The next day, we visited a few of their temples with our Taiwanese friend who toured us around as well.

Xing Tian Temple

 We also tried to score cheap gadgets in their own version of Gilmore :P

 

Our last destination (or so I thought) is Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall is one of their national monuments in memory of the former president of ROC.

White and clean

  

 Just when we were about to go back to our hotel, our coach invited us over to one last destination. He brought us to go hiking just so we could get the best view of Taipei 101. After nearly a thousand steps, thank God the view did not disappoint! We stayed there until after sunset and got the best photos we could of the city.

Baduy pose but who cares? :))

 I guess that's about it! I hope I can go back there probably with Pao or my friends just to taste more of their food. I'd love to go back on winter, especially now that VISA is lifted for those who have been to countries like Japan, Korea, etc. Til the next, Taiwan!



Check out my short travel video below:


Taipei 2015 from Lean Jess Dela Cruz on Vimeo.