Lower San Gabriels: Hiking the Mystic Canyon Trail

When I first moved to Los Angeles to be a college student in 1999, I never thought I would stay long enough to explore its mountain ranges. Yes, indeed Los Angeles has quite a few hiking trails! It's now spring and that means perfect weather to hike around-yey! I revived my dormant hiking self by joining one of my hiking meet-up groups this lovely Saturday morning to explore the lower San Gabriel mountains in the city of Glendora. We met at the bottom of the Mystic Canyon Trail/Big Dalton Trail. It was a moderate hike at 6 miles RT with an elevation gain of 1580'. It took us several hours to complete the hike but I don't have the exact number since I like to lose track of time when I don't have to lead a hike. The first half-a-mile was the steepest but the rest was pretty easy. I hiked with a friendly group of people to include two tough and adventurous dogs! I am going to admit that I've encountered many canines that can easily out-hike me! At the peak of the trail I was able to see a fairly nice view of the city of angels as I bit into my sandwich and a piece of dark chocolate-what a great way to spend a Saturday early afternoon!

The Transpacific Fruit

In 2007, while traversing through Vietnam, I was introduced to a lovely fruit called a dragon fruit or also known as a pitaya. The dragon fruit I ate had reddish-pink skin with a white flesh inside filled with tiny specs of black seeds. When I ate it in Vietnam, it tasted sweet and succulent! A couple of weeks ago, I happened to see the same fruit variety at a large Asian supermarket and was so excited that I decided to buy two--they were quite expensive. After patiently waiting a couple of days to let it ripen, I cut it open and finally ate it. To my dismay, it tasted very bland. I was wondering what could have happened and the only rational thought that came to my mind was perhaps it is best to let fruits that grow in certain areas of the world remain and be eaten there. I thought, maybe this fruit was picked at the wrong time and therefore, it will never taste as great as I once remembered.

Portland's Voodoo, Gastronomy and Oddness in 2 1/2 Days

Portland towards the end of February: Overcast with a little drizzle but nevertheless laid-back with a terrific light rail system running throughout the downtown area and beyond. After a lovely meal at Mother's Restaurant, I saw an imposing wall painted with "Keep Portland Weird" in bright orange paint...odd but neat! Of course, I had to capture it on my camera. So, one of my work directors suggested going to the famed Voodoo Donut, where they specialize in an assortment of donuts to include one shaped like a voodoo doll. My sister, cousin (another cousin) and I heeded the advice and embarked on a journey to the less famed part of town to wait in line outside Voodoo Donut. White waiting in cue, I briefly chatted with the folks in front of us and quickly learned that they were also tourists. Well, at first-glance it looked like most people in line were tourists! I opted to order two of the classic type of donuts and they were good but well, I didn't personally find them spectacular. That was my grand adventure in Portland and of course, I called a very good friend living in Haiti to share the Voodoo story, while waiting for my flight back home. Upon returning to Los Angeles, I wondered if I would ever live to see Los Angeles' subway-to-the-sea completed.

The Grand Finale: Sydney

After multiple overnight bus rides, we decided to save time and decided to fly into Sydney-our last stop. In Sydney, we met a long-lost uncle (don't ask how the family tree works out) and his niece. We had a terrific time exploring Sydney and even managed to see a show inside the opera house and catch the famed Derby Day--horse race where people get dressed and then drink at a pub/bar. By the way, I thought Sydney's Bondi Beach was overrated so I wouldn't personally recommend it. I thoroughly enjoyed my time walking around Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens, discovering Chinatown and many more but it was really expensive!

In a nutshell, exploring Australia was enjoyable but it's not my favorite travel destination. Everything such as food, beverages, snacks, etc. usually cost twice as much as here in the US and it didn't help that the US dollar was ailing our entire trip. We all had to budget carefully because the cost of the tours (yes, it was difficult to see sights if not on group tours) and all other incidentals. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that koalas and kangaroos are as just as adorable in person and I finally saw the elusive sea turtle while snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef located around in the Whitsunday Islands!

Going South: Rainbow Beach, Fraser Island and Brissy

We orginally didn't plan on going to Rainbow Beach but serendipity intervened when we got chatting with our Airlie Beach Lodge owner. She recommended that we instead go to Rainbow Beach, a very small town and well, we did. Our intention was only to use Rainbow Beach as a gateway town to catch tours to Fraser Island so we didn't get to explore much except for the Carlo Sand Blow (think a very large and scenic sand dune). One of the awesome things that happen when traveling independently is a chance to have random social encounters with fellow travelers and we met a couple of young Americans returning to travel throughout Australia after their study abroad experience a few years ago. They were kind enough to give us a lift back to our lodge, which was the nicest accomodation our entire trip.

Shortly after our arrival at Rainbow Beach, we took off on a three day tour of Fraser Island-little did we know that another adventure was about to begin! Fraser Island is a World Heritage Site and known to be the largest sand island in the world. Our tour group were mostly young non-American travelers sometimes taking a year-off to explore the world. Fraser Island was memorable for its many fresh water lakes, Dingo sightings (wild dogs), a pippy(clams that buried itself under the sand)race, getting bogged (stuck) in sand, conversing with inebriated but comical Aussies and my famed moment of renaming the Aussie rum, Bundaberg, to Polar Box as opposed to Bear Square. To sum it up, Fraser Island was a memory in itself.

Brissy...I liked Brisbane. Perhaps it helped that our Greyhound bus ride from Rainbown Beach to Brisbane was only about five hours long! We arrived in Brisbane on Halloween and to my dismay, we were so exhausted that we all fell asleep by around 7PM. It was a much needed rest period and the next day, we were back exploring.

Whitehaven Beach: A place that will take your breath away

After a couple of days in Cairns, the three of us decided to become intimately familiar with the Australian Greyhound bus system through a twelve hour rear-numbing overnight bus ride. The next morning we found ourselves dropped off in a small charming town of Airlie Beach where we struggled to walk to our lodge up what seemed to be a 10,000 feet elevation gain climb up the hill. We were greeted by a very friendly lady at the reception, who happened to own the lodge, and she taught me one of the most valuable Aussie word ever, TA, which is the abbreviated way of saying thank you. She helped us pick our tour to the Whitsunday Islands and the next morning, we were off to what I would describe as the most memorable place on the trip-Whitehaven Beach. I don't think words would do any justice to describe this place so I would add it to one of the places to visit before you pass this world. Remember that saying life should be measured by the number of things that take your breath away? Well, Whitehaven Beach certainly evokes that emotion! At that moment, I wished I had my own private boat so I could stay longer at this restricted national park.

West Coast Australia: Cairns, Cape Tribulation & the Daintree-the oldest rainforest in the world

Most of you probably know that I spent nearly three weeks embarking on a 1,000 + mile adventure of West Coast Australia back in October. Now, talk about needing a vacation from a vacation! I started that trip in a relaxed town called Cairns while I waited for my sister and cousin to arrive. Of course, prior to their arrival, I was off exploring Cairns and its vicinity. Australian cities seem to have lagoons, which are outdoor public swimming pools landscaped tastefully. I'm convinced they incorporate them into the city's urban planning because the ocean and beaches are inundated with poisonous stingers (jellyfish) several months during the year. In Cairns, I was fortunate enough to go on an introductory scuba diving trip, which I'm quite proud of considering that I learned how to swim a couple of years ago at the tender age of about 25 or 26. Scuba Diving in windy and choppy water conditions was nerve-racking! I would never do it again in those conditions and especially since the water was too murky to see anything...or maybe I was too focused on breathing and hoping I would survive. We quickly realized that it was challenging getting around without a car and since we didn't want to drive on the 'wrong side of the road', we decided to join a tour and explore the Daintree National Forest. On the tour, we had an animated and funny French tour guide (he and his wife decided to leave France) who filled us with more info. than we could possibly handle! The Daintree National Forest, which is dubbed the oldest rainforest in the world, was an amazing place and I wished I understood its ecosystem a lot more!

A Piece of Paradise in Palawan

How do I describe El Nido, Palawan? To put it simply, it is a very small beach front town (walkable from one end to the other in 20 minutes) with limestone karsts jutting out of the water, very laid back locals, hammocks (even the airport has them!) and tons of snorkeling and island hopping a few minutes away. It's very similar to the Krabi province in Thailand but there's only about 50 tourists on the main town strip and everyone else are locals! It's also 2 times cheaper than Thailand. I love that!

It's been heaven for me....life here is made up of eating, island hopping, snorkeling, eating, snorkeling, eating, drinking, relaxing on the beach front hammock and sleeping. This is what I call paradise!

Cebu Pacific wins 'worst airline title'

I never thought in my life that I would resort to sleeping in an airport's Muslim Prayer Room. Well, I did courtesy of Cebu Pacific's unorganized state of business.

My flight was officially cancelled from Bangkok to Manila except no one seemed to know at Bangkok's Suvarbhumi airport until about 4AM. After a very, very long day/night, I'm very happy to be in Manila.

Manila is a lot cleaner from what I remember in 2004 or perhaps I was only in the less developed areas of the city in 2004. The people, no matter how difficult their everyday struggle is, are incredibly generous. Anyhow, having a great time so far in my first home city...mabuhay!