Way To Go, Elaine!

Elaine | 24 | Saved by Grace I now blog here: www.waytogoelaine.com

[vidalelaine]

When he was interviewed for the final Hobbit film, Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield) said something that totally resonates with me. "I have a secret feeling that we're all Hobbits. Deep down we all want to stay home and feel safe, but we all dream about someone knocking on the door and saying 'Come on an adventure and let's have a fun ride'". When I first started working, during Fridays, I was often asked by my colleagues about my plans for the weekend and it somehow struck a chord and it kept me asking, "Is it really required to go out on weekends?" Having used a large amount of energy for the whole week, on weekends, this hobbit (I know you'll agree, I do qualify to be one) mostly prefer to go straight home, revel into stories by reading books or perhaps by watching Kdramas (!!!) and crash out. But I do admit, going places from time to time really put things into perspective. So, if it involves laughing my heart out, filling my stomach with good food and indulging with the works of The Artist (and if I have a budget for it lol) then count me in. - After Elyu last week, we had a sudden Baguio trip that mostly consisted of playing frisbee at the park under the rain, dining in at Cafe by the Ruins, shopping for pasalubongs, visiting the night market and strolling through a myriad of ukay-ukay stalls and eating + sleeping our tiredness away. ✨ (at Baguio City, Summer Capital of the Philippines)

[vidalelaine]

Gastronomic Adventures at Raohe Night Market

A lot of those who’s already been to Taiwan rave about the country’s different variety of foods and most of the scrumptious meals can not only be found in high-end restaurants. One of the activities that the tourists are looking forward to when visiting Taipei is its night markets.

Truth be told, we really did not eat much during our stay in Taiwan. Such a bummer I know but because of too much exhaustion from touring, we rarely feel hungry. During our second day in fact, after eating our breakfast at McDonalds, we just had an ice cream at Yangmingshan and the next meal that followed was when we’re already at Raohe Night Market.

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Of Faith and Arts: IKEA House, Huasan 1914 and Every Nation Taipei

If you personally know me, it is no secret that I have a penchant for anything that is related to the arts and with the Lord. If you would ask me who my most favorite artist is, it would be Him — the one who created the heavens and the earth hence on our second day, aside from chasing cherry blossoms, we allotted time to immense ourselves with art and to visit the international counterpart of Victory Church, Every Nation. 

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SWEET SPRING: Cherry Blossoms Viewing at Yangmingshan National Park

“Traveling with friends is a test of friendship”, I heard some say. And a test it is indeed. 

We started our second day pouring our hearts out in our hostel’s common area. We’ve had our fair share of miscommunications on our first day that resulted to some confusion and misunderstanding but by God’s grace; we were able to settle things with open hearts and minds. In our original itinerary, we were supposed to be in a train bound to Taichung by 7am. But because of things that we weren’t able to foresee (a.k.a we pretty much spent half of our pocket money for pasalubongs and food on our first day), we decided to just focus on exploring what Taipei can offer.

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[vidalelaine]

Exploring North Eastern Taiwan: Yehliu, Jiufen and Shifen

The start has always been the hardest, at least in some cases. This is the stage where you have to be prepared and armed with the information that you will need, where you are going to discover new perspectives and personality. The start has always been the hardest. Most especially if it is your first time in a different country.

Just like any other beginning, we did not have it easy on our first day. After crashing a closed coffee shop to catch some sleep with only kimbap and coffee in our system, we breezed our way to go to Ximen where we are going to hop on a bus to start our tour out of Taipei. I take it back; we did not breeze through it. There were a lot of asking involved, tons of walking and a few times of getting lost around Taipei Main Station. It also didn’t help that the three of us are mathematically challenged. (That’s a secret, don’t tell anyone).

We managed to reach the meet up point on time but we still had to go back to Ximen station to find lockers for our backpacks. We initially planned to drop off our things at the hostel but we didn’t expect that the airport commuter train would take for an hour to reach the main station (the express train is just way too expensive for a one way). We were pressed for time, we were sleep deprived and it was as if we were forced to join a marathon we did not sign up for.

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[vidalelaine]

TAIWAN DAY ZERO

It was one ordinary day in August 2017. We were on our lunch break when we saw that one of the famous airlines are offering seat sale. I tried to check Cebu Pacific's website and luckily, I got in despite the web traffic. I initially tried looking up for fare prices going to South Korea but the tickets aren't as cheap as we want it to be and going there, we have to acquire a visa so I shifted and tried searching for Taiwan instead.

It was a random occurrence, really, finding a roundtrip ticket that only cost P1,500 per way and having someone who will say yes when I asked, “let’s go?” I picked a week after my birthday to serve as a gift to myself and what a timing because it is also the spring season.

“Why Taiwan?”

We pretty much received the same question prior to our trip and when we were there. Well, aside from the fact that the news of uplifting visa for Filipinos broke out, we found it the most affordable country to visit for our first international trip.

We’ve had a total of 6 months to prepare. Though there were some bumps along the way, we still managed to push it through and last March 12, 2018, through Cebu Pacific’s red-eye flight (this is the catch when you buy seat sale) with not more than 7kgs baggage, off we went to Taoyuan International Airport. We landed at exactly 2 in the morning and from there our adventure at the Land of the Milk tea began. 

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LIWLIWA: OF DANCING WAVES, SLEEPLESS DAYS AND LAUGHTERS

It’s already my second time traveling with the so called “Team Tokhang” (why the group is called that way only Johnny will know), a team that consists of 8 boys and 4 girls who just want to forget the stress brought by a week of dealing with tons of candidates and recruitment works. The first was when we went to Masasa, Batangas last November. While Masasa was not a remarkable experience for me, mainly because of all the feels I felt — it was my first time traveling with a large group, hence the introverted me felt drained by week long human interaction so there were times when I felt disconnected, I still had fun nonetheless and decided to join them again this time in Liwliwa, San Felipe, Zambales. READ MORE

[vidalelaine]

The constant moving of the bed woke me up. This has been the third time. "Sally might be having a hard time adjusting", I thought to myself. 

We've been awake for more than 24 hours before finally calling it a day. Maybe that's why she has been relentlessly shifting from both sides of the bed to figure out what is the best position that'll put her into deep slumber.

Having felt that sleep won't come anytime soon, I tried to recall the day that has been. 

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BEST FEATURES OF OPPOF1S

I discovered my love for photography when I first held a camera toy from a famous fast food chain when I was 10. Curiosity was what led me to insisting to my mom that she may let me borrow the family's film camera. I remember how amazing it was to finally see my photos in my hands and how heart shattering it felt when some (or all) photos turned out corrupted — only admiring the negatives.  But since I was still in high school then, I only got to play with it occasionally because of the film and printing costs.

As years went by, CONTINUE READING

[vidalelaine]

the sunday currently // 01

I haven’t been anywhere the past months, hence, the lack of new posts and photographs. So to keep this blog alive, let me join the bandwagon (better late than never *wink*) and start the Sunday Currently blog series!

Today, I’m currently…

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Hello From the Other Side of Mindoro!

We stayed there for only two days; rather short but entirely magical days I ever experienced. Over those enthralling days spent — waking up just in time for sunrise and hurriedly going to the shore to witness its entirety, walking along a paddy field going to the lighthouse and taking in the golden sunset and the 360 degree view, the abundance of incredible food and inspiring conversations, reunions and a handful of hugs and kisses, sitting in the edge of the boat — I was immersed in the present.

READ MORE:  HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF MINDORO

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HUMANS OF TALAOTAO

There's such beauty in taking photographs of people showing off their smiles but more so if they're in their unguarded moments.

In this light, I decided to make a new photography project that will showcase portraits of people whenever I travel.

See the first photo set here.

[vidalelaine]

MT. BALAGBAG: THE BATTLE BETWEEN MY LUNGS AND FAITH

Lub dub, lub dub, lub dub

We weren’t even far from the drop off point when the impact of climbing hit me — my heart started pounding and breathing became a difficult chore.

READ MORE:  MT. BALAGBAG: THE BATTLE BETWEEN MY LUNGS AND FAITH

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And that's where the beginning of the end... VIGAN

READ MORE: And that's where the beginning of the end... VIGAN.

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ILOCOS TRIP HIGHLIGHT: BLUE LAGOON BEACH SAND

Whenever you travel, there would always be a part in it that you would consider outstanding. May it be how you witnessed the sun kiss the shores of the ocean in the morning, how intense you felt while zip lining 50 ft. off the ground or how you and your companion(s) made past the cops after committing an offense outside of your country.

While those are indeed wonderful scenarios to be considered as highlight, ours was different. It probably won’t top those mentioned above but it was too special for my best friend and I that it felt just right for it to be called exceptional.

READ MORE :  ILOCOS TRIP HIGHLIGHT: BLUE LAGOON BEACH SAND

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THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

Whenever I look into my draft and see piled up backlogs, it always makes me question myself why I decided to post our Ilocos escapade per destination. I can’t even find the drive to write because it’s either I can’t find the words or I simply don’t have the drive. Most of the time, it’s the latter.

But I started it and so we will continue… Let’s go back to the 31st of October in Ilocos.

READ MORE :  THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

[vidalelaine]

MOUNTAIN WITH A HOLE: BANTAY ABOT

By the time we got out of the van, the sun has bestowed its wrath upon us. It was scorching hot that afternoon of October when we made a stop to Bantay Abot Cave, a yet another beautiful rock formation in Ilocos Norte. Bantay is Ilokano for “mountain” and Abot is “hole”, this formation is not really a cave but a rocky hill that has hole in the middle due to an earthquake that happened many years ago. 

READ MORE : MOUNTAIN WITH A HOLE: BANTAY ABOT