Guimaras Island, Philippines | Travel Diary

Alubihod Beach, Guimaras

It's been a while since I last blogged, and I've missed it a little. I started this site to keep some memories from my student exchange stint in Europe...and now I realise there's more stuff to remember now that I'm home. My beloved country, the Philippines, is just as beautiful as any European nation! Now that's established, let's get on with it!

Last Glimpses of Paris: A Photo Diary

My plane back to the Philippines from France was originally set for the 23rd of December, so I could celebrate Christmas eve there. I had my plane ticket and everything. But then things changed, and I decided to stay in Europe for Christmas and New Year's. 

I emailed the attachée for higher education of the French Embassy in the Philippines, and asked if I could change my flight to the 2nd of January (because they booked and paid for my flight tickets, as a part of my grant from the embassy). Thankfully, the attachée was very nice AND was from Lille! She told me it was possible, and in the end I got a flight ticket leaving on the 5th, not the 2nd! Even more perfect. I had more time to spend with Jarne!

The two extra weeks flew by, and it was time to say goodbye for the meantime to Europe and to Jarne. 

Mr. J accompanied me to Paris, because my flight was from CDG. We took the ever-reliable iDBus, and that is where this photo diary starts. :)

Noir et Blanc à Paris ft. La Tour Eiffel

Part 3 of the Paris in Black & White series Jarne and I took in December 2013.

See Parts One and Two :)

Noir et Blanc à Paris: Walking the streets

Part 2 of our Paris in Black & White Series, taken in December 2013.

*See part 1 here*

Notre Dame

Travels with J: Barcelona, Spain - 15 to 18 November, 2013 (Part I: Days 1&2)

Barcelona, view from the towers of Sagrada Famiília

Barca was the first trip Jarne and I planned to have. We booked the tickets more than a month in advance, since we were flying with the (in?)famous budget airline RyanAir. We scored roundtrip tickets from Charleroi, Belgium to Barcelona for about 65 Euros (around P4,000) per person. Not bad!! 

Château de Versailles: 29 October, 2013

The château 

I have always wanted to visit the famous Versailles, and I am very thankful for being able to see it :) 

I went to Versailles with Jenny, my sister's officemate (Ate didn't want to come with me because she'd been there twice already yada yada yada :P ). So I met up with Jenny at the RER Station near Notre Dame in the morning and off we went! 

France with My Sister: 28 October - Le Mont Saint-Michel

My sister has been to France numerous times, but she never had enough time to visit Le Mont St-Michel, one of the most beautiful sites in the country. Built between the 11th and 16th centuries, LMSM has a Benedictine abbey perched on it's peak, with a small surrounding village. I didn't see any monks, what I did see, though, were about a million Japanese tourists, all trying to communicate that they want to buy all the souvenirs in the shops. It's so funny how they think French people can understand Japanese. 

Stockholm: 17 to 22 October, 2013

My only relatives who live in Europe are my cousin Karol and her family, who live in Stockholm. I hadn't seen them for around 5 years, so I was determined to see them.

Ate Karol, her husband Pele, and the younger of her two sons, Uriel, live in Sundbyberg (her older son Michael is currently studying at Parson's in NYC).  Sundbyberg is a municipality in Stockholm county, just north of downtown Stockholm city. It is a part of the Stockholm urban area, so it is still served by the Stockholm city metro (or T-bana).

Belgium Escapades with J: October 2013 - Ghent

Belgium has plenty of cool old cities. And I love old cities. And I love Belgians. So of course I went. Of course with J.

Belgium Escapades with J: October 2013 - Antwerp

"I love you" - Under a bridge next to Antwerp Berchem train station

 Jarne lives in Antwerp, with his twin brother. The headquarters of Jarne’s company, Twinski, is based in A-town.  Twinski creates websites, apps, and other cool digital stuff :3

So I paid Jarne a visit and he showed me around his turf :P

Belgium Escapades with J: October 2013 - 2nd trip to Brussels

Parc du Cinquantenaire

For my second trip to Brussels, I didn’t ride a train. I carpooled with Aurelie, a Belgian lady who was headed to Brussels after her weekly visit to her French boyfriend. I use covoiturage.fr to find carpool opportunities—some cost only 5 euros, which is a third of the price compared to TGV.

Belgium Escapades with J: October 2013 - 1st trip to Brussels

The famous pissing boy of Belgium, Manneken Pis

What I wanted to see the most in Brussels (besides Jarne :P) was Manneken Pis. I think it's a good representation of how I see Belgians--they're naughty, sometimes they're annoying, but in the end, very loveable. The story of this statue is interesting, because there are many. The most prevalent legend behind the boy is that a long time ago there were two troops battling, and the duke of one of the troops was a 2 year old boy. The troops put the young duke in a basket and hung it in a tree for encouragement.  From the tree, the duke peed on the enemies which led them to lose the battle :P

Amsterdam + Zaanse Schans: 5 to 6 October, 2013

CICE Voyages (a travel organisation for students in the North of France) had a trip to Amsterdam for only 45 Euros, so I invited my German friend Laura to come with me. She brought along Beatrix for more fun! The CICE bus left Lille at 7am, so I had to get up at like 5am since the meeting place is an hour away from my place. I had just come back from Brussels the night before, and I was dead tired, so I was like a zombie the next morning.

Bruges: 14 to 15 September, 2013

In Bruges

Belgium! The land of chocolates and fries and beer!

Going to Belgium from Lille is cheaper than going to Paris, so why not?! In fact, I can drive to the Belgian border from Roubaix in 15 minutes! I went to Bruges for the weekend with my fellow Lasallian exchange students. I don’t get to see them a lot, because they live in Lille (in a really nice apartment). 

Paris I: 7 to 8 September, 2013

Dream. Come. True.

MNL-PEK-CDG-LIL

I'm in France!