SECRET PARADISE- CASIGURAN, AURORA

During the summer we took a 10 hour road trip to the very tip of Aurora province, Casiguran, where my grandmother grew up as a little girl before fleeing to Manila during the war.

We just recently learned that Casapsapan Bay in Casiguran is stunning and deserted. We would look out to the farthest point, as far as the white sand stretches, and find no one else but ourselves.

 

In the town proper there's a bakeshop with delicious fresh pan de sal, a blue Church on top of a hill, and no 7-elevens.




Most of its areas are untouched, uncharted. Everything is a rough journey.




But the whole of it gets the seal of approval from my brother, while the 6 of us squeeze in one tricycle.   

We spent the nights singing karaoke and standing under the rain trying to catch thunderstorms or the falling stars, making secret wishes and pretending we were walking on the sky.



I guess there are lots of pictures of space because I was quite amazed at how much there was.
It's a secret paradise. As of the moment, no other beach quite compares.

SPIRITUAL JOURNEY- SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA

Manila

THURSDAY, 2:00 pm- just escaped from work half-day in order to accommodate the much-awaited trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

3:00 pm- I decide to send some sentimental texts to my friends Kath and Isa and tell them I am ready for my spiritual journey in Cambodia. Considering I have been quite a mess lately.

3:05 pm- Kath replies, “what did you decide to do again?!”

3:10 pm- Isa replies, “I will pray for you!”

4:00 pm- my travel buddies, Lour and Misha arrive. The three of us have 9-5 jobs and three very different personalities. We volt in our hands and say, “spiritual journey! Break!”

7:00 pm- my last text in Manila is work related. I don’t bother to wait for the reply.

           

Siem Reap

SATURDAY, 2:00 pm- we visit Ta Prohm temple, a ‘jungle’ temple where large trees have begun to grow out of the ruins creating a stunning, eerie atmosphere. Also, known to have been the location where Tomb Raider was shot. The trees are massive and the canopies of their branches shade the ground. The roots wind and cling around the ruins. It’s uncanny. Trees have spirits.
 


FRIDAY, 8:30 am- we told the tour guide we would meet him at 8:00 am. It's 8:30. He tells us that we cannot wear our Tomb Raider short shorts to the temples. I’m thinking, holy cow, I didn’t bring anything past the knee. I pretend this scarf is a real skirt.

“Is that a wrap? Because they will not allow that,” he says.

“No,” I answer. But it is.

10:00 am- we visit the temple of Bayon, the temple of a multitude smiling faces. The tour guides all know which angles will produce funny picture illusions where it looks like you are kissing one of the temple faces. Kitschy fun.

11:00 am- I get rejected to enter one temple because they recognize that I indeed, was wearing a wrap.

11:30 am- I buy some pants.      


The spiritual journey reveals no revelations, but provided a much needed detachment from the black hole that is Manila. Cambodia is a rustic reminder of how small you can be in this big, beautiful world.
It’s humbling.


Read full article for Young Star here.

LEFT TO CHANCE- ZAMBALES, Nagsasa Cove

Long overdue video diary of our trip to Zambales.

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Everything they say about the sea is true. How the water glitters when the sun hits its surface. How its vastness reminds you of an eerie feeling of uncertainty. How listening to water crash into the beach, or waking up under the stars, or feeling the salt water tickle your feet-- everything is true that it can all be quite wonderful.