Balancing Work and Wanderlust: My 2024 Travel Calendar As I Strive To Get 5/5 APR At Work

"One a year, go somewhere you have never been before."

I have this line from Dalai Lama pasted on a page of one of my diaries. As far as I'm concerned, I'm following this for the rest of my life.

Side Note: My monthly brunch with my best friends is not on this post. You may reach them here: https://bit.ly/2024_The_Exploderz_Brunch_Diary.

JAN (Weekend Travel): My year started with a trip to Zambales with my work circle. It's a weekend trip lang since lahat kami eh sadyang busy the following week. We just

needed a breather from everything we did during the holidays. And I'd say, goal achieved!

Sobrang chill lang ng experience namin sa Limliwa Beach Resort: watching the sunset while having random conversations with cocktails in our hands, swimming even before the sun rose the next day, and also, having that seafood lunch right before we went home!

Then, came the last weekend of the month. This was my second year attending the Lupi Festival in Lumban, Laguna through the invite of my partner's friend.

Aside from the festival experience of suddenly getting wet because the people had a free pass na mangbasa on that day, I super enjoyed our side trip to Liliw where we got to see artisans-made shoes and slippers plus got to have coffee and kesong puti cheesecake at Arabela.

FEB (Art Appreciation): Nothing much happened this month except randomly discovering the yummy food of Bistro Ravioli. This month was supposed to be the Art Appreciation Month of 2024 pero wala kaming naging ganap kahit isa sa museum.

But to still enjoy the public holidays sa buwan na 'to, we went to Binondo the day before Chinese New Year for that Chinese food goodness. We also had coffee sa isang rooftop cafe, sarap ng flat white nila.

Mabuti na lang talaga eh hindi kami sa actual na Chinese New Year pumunta, napakaraming tao, hirap na hirap kaming maglakad, parang pila papasok sa concert venue ni Taylor Swift if ever man na magkaroon dito sa Pilipinas.

We are yet to have a proper Binondo Food Crawl but I'm hoping that we'll have one before this year ends. Probably dalawa lang kami ni Art para hindi mahirap magdecide kung saan kakain at ano lang ang kakainin.

Last entry for this month ay ang first time coffee experience namin sa The Usual Coffee. It's a nearby coffee shop, siguro mga 15 minutes from our house. Your usual coffee orders lang ang nasa menu nila, talk about being true to their name, right? The good thing about it eh talagang perfect ang pagkagawa nila sa bawat order. I had Sea Salt Latte but it's the best I ever had.

MAR (Food Appreciation): Pagpasok pa lang ng buwan, may entry na kaagad ako. My constants sa work and I spent three nights sa Dasol, Pangasinan. Dagat pero super calm, hindi mo talaga ramdam ang alon.

Chill lang talaga: kain, tulog, Netflix, inom, repeat. Ganda sanang mag-island hopping pero sobrang init kaya hindi na namin pinush. Tampisaw na lang sa mababaw ding beach nila kaya sobrang enjoy din kami kahit na wala kaming activities.

Kahit na medyo disappointing ang accommodation na nakuha namin, we found new friends sa restaurant kung saan kami kumain ng pitong beses dahil sa sarap ng mga luto nila. It's just called La Manila, managed by two friends na chefs ng Philippine Airlines bago mag-pandemic. Sa trip na 'to first time kong natikman ang Tequila Rose at Baileys.

It's our second time attending the Manila Coffee Festival, una noong introductory year nila. Ang daming bago this year. Pero ang pinakatumatak sa akin eh ang chocolate coated coffee beans. Sarap! We bought a jar and three tin cans, inuunti-unti namin ng kain. Though grabe ang tapang, kapag antok na antok ako, I ate five pieces at naitatawid na ako until end of my shift.

This month, we also tried a new restaurant sa Glorietta, new to us, at least. It's called Mamak Kopitiam. I super enjoyed their strawberry syrup coolers and roti. Sarap ng dips ng roti nila, my fave dip was the one that kinda smelled like bagoong pero may hindi ako ma-figure out na ingredients that probably made it the Malaysian version.

Since mawawala na rin sa Ayala Museum ang Hymen, oh Hymenee ni Juan Luna, we decided to see it for the second time since libre din naman ang entrance. All I can say is nagkaroon ako ng deeper understanding of the painting when I saw it for the second time. That feeling na nagkaroon ako ng rush of ideas dahil sa nakita kong painting, I couldn't explain the feeling pero para siyang pinagsama-samang rage and love. Maybe intense passion is a better to describe it?

On another subject, it's my first time meeting my online Filipino teammate since malipat ako ng department last July 2023. It was just a very short meet-up, we just had coffee but what I liked about it was we were able to set up a then monthly teambuilding kahit na dadalawa lang naman kami.

Dapat luluwas kami ng Metro Manila for the Holy Week and enjoy the beach kaso ang sobrang traffic paalis at pauwi ang naisip namin. So we just stayed in a nearby hotel on Maundy Thursday, visited seven churches for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, and went to Taal, Batangas on Black Saturday. We were supposed to attend an Easter Mass pero nagkasakit ako kaya we just stayed at home.

APR (Birthday Travel): This is my partner's birthday month so we went to San Juan, La Union to celebrate. We spent four days and three nights in San Juan savoring the food, coffee, and some alcohol of the nearby restaurants, cafes, and bars in between enjoying sunrises and sunsets on the beach.

I finally had a photo beside a surfboard on the beach! And of course, my morning taho ritual on the beach sa unang umaga ng travel.

For the places that we went to, I enjoyed Karruba Cafe and Bakery for its creative pastries, Sabong Fried Chicken for its honey-bagoong fried chicken, Shogun Cafe & Bar for its cocktails and coffee, Putik Friends Pottery Studio and Cafe for its coffee and mugs, and Kabsat for its delicious dishes.

Disappointment for me ang Coco Mama saka El Union. Coco Mama kasi ordinary dessert lang siya, nothing new. I thought it's something na hindi ko makakain anywhere else. El Union, dito ako sobrang na-disappoint. Akala ko napakasarap ng dirty horchata nila, without the cinnamon, ordinary coffee lang na nilagyan ng gatas.

We also had a side-trip to Luna, La Union to see Bahay na Bato and Baluarte after naming mag-check-out sa hotel. Iniwan na lang muna namin ang mga gamit namin sa hotel since pwede naman daw, para wala kaming gaanong dala. Nag-enjoy ako sa Bahay na Bato. Well, it's a museum kaya given na enjoy talaga ako doon. Although the second part of this side-trip which was the Baluarte, one of the old lighthouses of La Union eh medyo na-disappoint ako. Ang ganda ng view, yes! But since hindi naman managed ang lugar, ang daming tambay sa mismong lighthouse, hirap makakuha nang maayos na photo, kailangan mo pang magpapicture sa mga nag-o-offer doon na mag-picture sa'yo bago umalis sa background ang mga nakatambay na locals.

All-in-all, sobrang nagustuhan ko ang trip na 'to. I'll probably go back to learn how to surf. Maybe on my birthday next year?

Chill at Papakape's Pop-Up Cafe in Luneta Park.

Dulaang UP's Kung Paano Nanalo Sa Karera Si Rosang Taba and roamed around UP Diliman's acad oval after a very long time.

MAY (Anniv Staycation): No idea yet.

JUN (Class Break): Weeklong Vacation (Ilo-Ilo, Bacolod, Guimaras)

JUL (Travel Break):

AUG (Travel Break):

SEP (Birthday Travel):

OCT (Travel Break):

NOV (Travel Break):

DEC (Winter Holidays):

Zambales 2024: An Attempt to Boost Work Productivity On The First Month of The Year

"Tara sa Zambales sa January 6!"

Sabi ng work friends ko sa Telegram groupchat namin.

This was how our planning started two weeks before this weekend getaway. After 30 minutes, we already had one: meet up in Eton Centris at 09:00 AM and go to Liwliwa, Zambales, and just walk in on any of the resorts there. January 06 came. I woke up around 07:00 AM and immediately had my morning coffee. After two hours, I was already at Eton. Since my friends were late, I decided to have a chai latte and flatbread in the nearby coffee shop.

Anyway, they arrived after almost 1.50 hours. Well, I didn't mind waiting for them. I had a book with me, What If It's Us, that I had been wanting to finish so I brought it, anticipating that my friends would be late since two of them were coming right after their shift at work. After 3.50 hours of shenanigans on the road, we're finally at the resort. Since we did not reserve a room days before our arrival, we got the room farthest from the beach. However, this was also a good thing. The place had a poor cellular connection. Since we're near the reception area where wi-fi was available, we're able to access the internet.

We had a late lunch right after checking in. Then, we rested for a bit. Around 05:00 PM, we went to the beach to watch the sunset. While waiting, we enjoyed some cocktails from the beach bar and some pica-picas from the resort's restaurant. We didn't have dinner anymore since we were very full already with the pica-picas that we ordered. Around 09:00 PM, we went back to our room and called it a night because we planned to have an early morning dip. Morning came, around six o'clock, and we were already at the beach enjoying the waves.

After almost two hours, we decided to already have breakfast. I had pancake and bacon which I thought would have been better if the bacon was a little more bacon-tasting. After all the eating and taking a bath, we rested until 11:00 AM, so we still had time to pack our things before we checked out. Less than an hour on the road after we checked out, we were buying ripe and green mangoes for pasalubong. We also had a mango smoothie that's almost puree.

The highlight of this trip aside from having cocktails on the beach while watching the sunset was the Putok Batok Gang lunch before we went home. We were not new to the place because we also had lunch in this restaurant when our team went to Zambales last 2022. But I have to say this, the experience that we had this time was a downgrade of what we had before. We ordered the same item on their menu, a combination of crabs, shrimps, and clams with cajun sauce. But the crabs were no longer fresh when they were cooked because their meat was sticking to the shells already. So eating the crabs was a little unpleasant.

After lunch, we decided to have coffee in Subic, at High Grounds Coffee House before driving home. We were expecting to be in the metro around 06:00 PM but made it before 05:30 PM, just because our friend was driving like a NASCAR driver.

From this trip, I learned na sobrang random pala talaga ng work friends ko pagdating sa mga gala. But this is what I like the most sa circle kong ito. Hindi kailangan ng mabusising plano para makapag-travel. Kahit nga wala kang budget eh, they will cover for you and just pay them back on the next pay-out, minsan nga, pay-outS pa. Also, everytime na kasama ko sila, ang mga frustration ko sa trabaho na hindi ko masabi sa ibang tao, nasasabi ko sa kanila. And I think they feel and do the same. Kung baga, we're each other therapists during our trips. Sa sasakyan pa lang, we laugh a lot already about random things. Random as in random, like out of the blue na ang pasok ng topic ng usapan tapos we'll suddenly burst out laughing.

Sa totoo lang, sila ang isa sa circles ko na everytime kasama ko sila, ang gaan lang ng pakiramdam ko. It's as if nawawala na lang na parang bula ang mga pasanin ko sa trabaho.