Boracay Favorite: Puka Beach

No trip to Boracay is complete without going to Puka Beach. Away from the maddening summer crowd and unstoppable building craze in White Beach, it's the epitome of tropical paradise - a quiet and almost empty stretch of white sand beach extending into azure waters.

Photo by Sands Castro

A lovely picture in our favorite Puka with two of my best girls and constant travel buddies:

There are no chic restaurants, swanky bars or popular food stalls but there's this:

A personalized and cozy picnic set-up of delicious home-cooked Filipino dishes under the shade of trees.

I've never spent more than a few hours in Puka. But for my next Boracay getaway, I'll make sure to spend days lounging in this yet undisturbed piece of paradise.


Photos courtesy of Ms. Jean Borromeo :)

Palawan Series: Culion

A former leper colony - this was the only thing I knew about Culion before I stepped foot in Palawan. It's not your usual tourist destination so people don't talk about it. But when I went there last March for Sidetrip Travel Magazine's coverage for its summer issue (out this May), I fell in love with the quaint coastal town.

Yes, it usually isn't on the regular tourist map but it's worth a trip. It has the requisite Palawan natural attractions like sunbleached isles, mangrove swamps, and hidden falls but what sets Culion apart is its intangible beauty. Culion and its people exude a certain kind of strength and pride owing to their history. Walking through its narrow town roads, you can feel a sense of triumph in the air and it's most evident when you talk to locals who, at one point in their lives, have experienced the stigma of being afflicted with leprosy or knowing or living with one.

But Culion has managed to overcome it all - the disease (Culion has been leprosy-free for years), the stigma, and the disregard to embrace the wonderful possibilities nature and history has laid out before her. And so, I think it's apt that I show here not the usual tourist attraction photos as well but beautiful pictures that reflect Culion's hope, spirit, and beauty.

A new dawn awaits Culion...


Photos by Joseph Manayan

My Happy Thought

Needles, especially of the medical kind, scare me. I detest injections (who doesn't?). IV (intravenous) medications are torturous and whenever I have to undergo them, I have to have a warm and strong hand to hold on to during the excruciating process, almost always Mama's comforting hand. That and a happy thought I can drown myself in.

Early Monday dawn (while Bebeng was ravaging Manila and other parts of Luzon), I had an IV medication for a major allergy attack stemming from a pain reliever I took. It was the first time I needed something much stronger than my tried and tested regular antihistamine drug. I was beyond anxious and I started snapping at the slow emergency room (ER) nurses and firing questions at the attending doctor, who looked way too young to be in the ER (she turned out to be nice when I calmed down but I still believe she shouldn't be at the ER yet).

I was holding my tita's niece's hand (they brought me to the ER) when the nurse started checking for the "right" vein. She finally found one after two painful attempts but all the while I was very much aware it wasn't Mama's hand I was holding (for her own sake by the way, I conveniently omitted the ER part when I told her about my allergy attack) so I desperately tried to find a happy thought I can latch on to to take my mind off the grim scenarios running in my head. It didn't take long to find my happy thought.

Yoah was my happy thought (no, not Charlie the Cow). I relived his vibrant laughter in my head, the teasing way he says "Mommmmmmyyy," the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, our quiet reading times and rough and noisy plays, and the feel of his soft, little body tucked lovingly into mine. Before I realized it, the IV medication was almost over and a tingly feeling was rushing over me, trying to lull me to sleep but I fought it. I was busy pestering the young doctor to take my vital signs again and again and (unsuccessfully) assign a nurse to just watch over me the entire time.

I've already recovered from that episode, thank you, Lord, although I'm still going to be under medication for the next several days. But that experience made me realize how powerful prayer is, that I should really be more health conscious and actively doing something about it, and lastly, it is important to have a happy thought always.

And Yoah is my happy thought - he inspires, motivates, and drives me. He keeps me strong and centered in the face of challenges and fear. I can only wish I will also be his happy thought if and when he needs one.

Big thanks to my tita, her sister, and niece for taking care of me and to my childhood friend, Doc Gabby, for cheering me up and the wonderful (and sometimes shocking) pieces of advice :)

P.S.
Will continue my Palawan Series very soon. Please bear with me :)