Planning Your Trip Itinerary

I started to pack early for my trip to General Santos on Thursday.  I like to plan things ahead of time and planned out this trip as early as January.  Ironically though,  here I am trying  to make last  minute changes on my original plan.  I just realized that I should have sat down with my husband regarding the activities I have planned to do this visit and missed out considering how his work schedule might be affected.  Anyway, I decided to throw away my list and to go with whatever plans my husband has made for the duration of my stay there.  After all this is suppose to be my birthday leave, so I want this vacation to be enjoyable, hassle free and relaxing for me.

I believe that planning your travel and itinerary is always a good thing.  It gives one a perspective of how & what your trip will be like.  This will also give you a chance to double check on the details of the trip, add to it and take out what you want to do without.  I'd like to share with you this article which I know will be helpful.

How to Plan a Trip Itinerary

An itinerary is practically a schedule of events you want to happen in your trip.  For instance, when taking a trip by plane an itinerary describes the flight to your destination (from departure to arrival) and again, your return trip (also from departure to arrival). When going on a trip to an unfamiliar location, it would be wise to always set up an itinerary before taking the trip.  Here's something that might help in setting up your vacation’s itinerary.

1. My idea of a vacation itinerary is one that has loosely scheduled events that I want to happen on a certain day and roughly at a certain time.  So, when you are setting up your itinerary for a vacation, all the events that are supposed to occur and all the things that are to be accomplished should be in it.

2. Schedule these events and the things you want to accomplish across the days of your vacation to balance it out.  Places to see that are in close proximity with each other should be set on the same day or in sequence to each other.

3. Keep in mind that in a vacation, events should ideally be loosely scheduled across the days.  Moving on from one event to another should ideally be based on what you want to do rather than being dictated upon by the hours and minutes.

4. Things that need to be accomplished may be set towards the end of the vacation or in the later part of the day whenever possible.

Remember that you are on a vacation and it is more important to relax and have a good time than to complete everything you have put in your itinerary.

 

A Trip to Roxas City

I took two days off from work to check out  Roxas City  in the Island of Panay,  popularly known as the "Seafood Capital of the Philippines".  I  have heard so much about this place.   I wanted to explore and check it out myself.

This was one of those days where I surely welcomed the slow pace of traveling.  No rush, no panic, no deadlines to meet.  We were just taking all in stride and going thru the normal pace of “cruising”.

My husband and I took the 9:00 am ferry trip from Bacolod City to Iloilo City via Surper Cat. The trip was a bit rough and choppy this morning because of a low pressure area affecting the region. Despite of this however, I was able to keep the "gooh-spitting dragon" in its cave and my motion sickness in check making the trip a relatively pleasant one.

We arrived in Iloilo City on time.   We were fetch by a friend who brought us to a car rental shop where we got our vehicle for the trip to Roxas City.  We met up with an  Electrical Engineer that my husband's company was hiring for the work needed at a processing plant he is setting up for the company  in Roxas City.  The meeting was  brief and we quickly grabbed  lunch at a "dimsum"  place   in SM Mall,  bought some "munchies" and headed off to Roxas City.

 We then came by a "highway stop" a place in Passi (town)  called "Midway" which was literally halfway between Iloilo and Roxas City.  It is a fresh market of sorts selling fresh farm produce (fruit & vegetables) and a restaurant stop where travellers can take time out for meals and snacks or even just a coffee break before proceeding with their travel.  “Midway” is open from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, all the days of the week except Monday’s.  It is a nice cozy place which managed to combine modern design concepts yet keeping the warm farm ambiance.  Guests enjoy the fresh country air breezing thru widely opened french doors overlooking the highway at the front section and the organic vegetable & fruit farm behind the restaurant.  They have clean restrooms which is what I always check-out in places I go to.  Clean and nice smelling restrooms always leave a good & lasting impression on me.

“Midway” also has a convenience and "pasalubong" store, in case you want to grab something to bring for your host and friends.  What impressed me most however was the pleasant and friendly waiter, named Leo, who surprisingly still remembered my husband as having come thru and ate here even thou it was just my husband’s first time and that is was already four months ago!  I kidded my husband and said that he must have either given a big tip then or must have said and done something unforgettable to be remembered like this! LOL!!!  It always feels good to be remembered and welcomed in any place, right?

After taking a few pictures, we were back in the car and continued our travel.  We arrived in Roxas City a little over 4:00 pm and checked-in at SkyGarden Hotel, a new hotel in the downtown area just across a Gaisano Mall.    We settled for a room with twin beds (P1,400 including breakfast for 2) since all the rooms that had double beds were on the “noisy side” of the building facing the main thoroughfare.  The hotel was nothing fancy but I must admit that it was clean.  Linens smelled freshly laundered, pillows where soft, the room was spacious and most importantly the bathroom was clean and immaculately white.  The other great thing about it was that it had wifi internet connection in the rooms.  We took a good three hours rest before meeting up with my husband's clients who invited us out for dinner. 

We met up with our Hosts at Coco Veranda . A seafood restaurant by the sea. I was looking forward to an evening of sumptuous seafood dinner and I was not disappointed.  We had steamed lapu-lapu with oyster sauce, clam soup, baked oyster, seafood vegetable mix and fried rice.

While it was a business dinner meeting for my husband, I actually enjoyed it because our hosts, Manong James and his son Gara, were really nice and interesting chaps.  I could see their sincerity and humility, and cannot help but admire the unique “father & son” relationship that they had.  Absolutely “no air” in them despite of their wealth and business success.   I could not help but pray and thank God for who they were, that God may continue to bless them in their enterprise.  The evening ended with the promise of a new business opportunity and a box full of live crabs for us to take home!  A present from our hosts

The following morning was a lazy day for me. I stayed in the hotel to catch up with sleep, while my husband attended a business forum where he was asked to make a presentation on business opportunities related to his project. 

We took a quick tour of Roxas City and felt that I just had to take a picture of the famous Roxas Family Residence and the beautiful seascape fronting it before heading back to Iloilo City.  While travelling back, I found myself savouring the moment of peace and contentment.  Taking a snapshot of this time together with my husband reflected that this all started from friendship....... our differences and similarities bared, now we are grounded on our commitment to each other to last our entire lifetime.  I am indeed extraordinarily blessed to know that my friend is someone who loves and adores me.

A Cool Saturday Getaway

Its been a week now that I have been up until the wee hours. And last Friday, after a full day schedule and late night out, I finally decided to take 1/2 tablet of the "sleeping vitamins" that my aunt takes. 

The funny thing though, I was caught off guard at how fast the pill took effect on me. I ended up crawling to my bed after a good 10 minutes when it hit me.  I was laughing myself into dreamland. I woke up refresh and rested.  The only hitch, was not being able to wake up early the following morning to bring my boss to the airport.  Good thing, I have angels who I call friends to save me.

We have planned a Saturday "bonding time" up the mountain where my friend's vacation house was located .  It was a block away from a notable tourist spot in Negros Occidental,  Buenos Aires Mountain Resort .  Going there from Bacolod City would usually take about 45 minutes to an hour.  As we passed by the Resort we saw that it just opened to the public after it was closed for a month or two for renovation, repairs and maintenance.   It is maintained by the Bago City local government and supported by the Department of Tourism. The resort offers varied accommodation and facilities for day-trippers and visitors planning to stay overnight or for few days. 

For day-trippers, the resort offers open cottages while those planning to stay longer have a choice to stay at the hillside hotel located further up. Or they can opt to stay at some closed cottages along the slopes with pathways leading up to the hotel. Those who prefer not to hike up can stay in one of the family suites in a rowhouse beside the Administration Office building.

But our group had a better place.  It was spacious , cozy place with great view overlooking from the verandah.  The rain and cool air  makes you feel like you are in Baguio minus the pollution.  Lunch was  simple (green salad, pasta and chicken adobo) but we all ate with gusto.  After lunch, sleeping time was the next big thing.  We each found our own nook to doze off on a cool rainy afternoon.  We finish off the afternoon over a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee, a simple snack of bread with cheese and chips.

At that moment I felt lucky and blessed to have wholesome friends whom I can just relax with,  no demands, no pressure, no pretense.  When it was time to go, I let out a contented sigh, .... after all it was a fun weekend getaway for us up in the mountains. 

Let's Get Moving

I feel warm and inspired to continue this "blogging" thing.  Last Sunday dinner with my in-laws was fun, filled with love and encouragement as we discussed my brave venture into the internet world of Blog.  All agreed that this will be my sort of "catharsis" (to borrow my niece, Mox term).

Towards the end of the evening, I got an instant hands-on tutorial from my sister-in-law Karina on how to manage and improve my blog.  Our family is blessed with internet gurus and Karina, "Ying" as we fondly call her is one of them.  She toured me thru the basics and taught me some techniques that I did not know existed.  It was exciting and an overwhelming experience . Yet it also gave me courage to believe in myself again (and pick up the pieces of what ever self esteem I might have lost over the years). I could do this. Knowing now that I have a choice to set aside my insecurities and let this oozing confidence take the better part of me........I can see my husband 's smile as I type this words......So all I can say now is......"Bring it on and Let's get moving!!!!"

A Moving Experience (Should have been my 1st Blog)

It’s a bright early morning here down south. I now live in my in-laws (on the top room of the house) and on weekends in my parent’s house up north in Silay City. This is where I’m seeking refuge for a couple of months (or for another year or even two) before I will finally move to General Santos and join my husband, Jimmy.  I can’t believe I actually managed to leave our home considering I have been so attached to it and the neighborhood.  This was our 1st real and permanent home after years of moving.  We have lived here for 14 years now.

Since all the kids are now in Manila and Jimmy in General Santos City, I’m left to myself in the company of our two dogs, Aldo and Jack… and of course my ever loyal Yaya Russel.  We have considered and thought about renting out our home and two months ago, we finally decided to do it.  Our new tenants moved in yesterday.

Before all that, we went through a process.  Jimmy took a one week leave from work to do the packing of our stuffs,  since it was difficult for me to take a leave from work at that time. I never imagined that packing our stuffs and putting them away in the attic (until the next time we will be able to retrieve them again) was going to be an emotionally difficult task (especially on the children’s stuffs…baby albums/pictures). I allowed myself to spend as much time savoring each nook and cranny of our home.  I also allowed myself to express my deepest emotions to Jimmy about leaving and we respected each other’s  grief, giving ourselves space for tears to flow as we faced the reality of leaving precious memories behind. 

We prepared ourselves for the move and vowed to gradually inch ourselves out of our home to avoid abruptly causing so much emotional pain. We encouraged one another for the adventure that lies ahead and the mystery of what the future holds.

Saying Goodbye to the times we’ve had is saying hello to the time to come.  I can’t thank enough my husband, my sisters and friends in the community for challenging me to take the plunge and encouraged me to consider this leap of faith.  Still, I can’t help but get sentimental as I was in fact actually leaving.

My First Blog

I'm setting up this new blog to share not much of my actual travels but more so of my travels in the world of life. And of course,  of future plans to travel the many beautiful places of this world called "earth".   I'm hoping that before the end of the year I will be able to travel with my family, my friends and who ever. This will be my belated "project".....so many plans, all in the paper, all in the calendar.... but no actual happening..... So here we go....Let's travel.....