Itinerary: Western Europe in 15 Days

High up in the Monserrat Monastery in Spain

I've been meaning to pick up where I left off eons ago, with my previous series of posts. But it dawned on me that the relevant photos are in my external hard drive and there's no way I can read it using my tablet. Before I can settle this predicament, hopefully in a matter of days, I'm starting a kick off post about my fleeting Euro trip that I wish, had lasted forever. You know what they say. All good things come to an end.

Anyway. I seriously have no idea how to go about this because I could write forever, detailing even to the tiniest bit. But I guess that would be a little too much. Even my old self someday, would not appreciate.

So here it goes.

2013 Travel Roundup

Happy New Year! It may be weeks already from January 1st but the Lunar New Year is coming up so, my greeting is still appropriate. Agree? Anyway. Thank heavens for I can still find enough reason for everything!

Updates on this blog have been really sparse at the end of 2013 and it occurs to me that this recurring absence is nothing but a part of a natural course. Ups and downs. Highs and lows. Joys and sorrows. Bitter and sweet. Synonymous to my life actually. For this blog is of course, one of the many threads that knit together and consequently becomes me. I like to believe that I have these numerous aspects in my life, to make myself sound interesting. lol

Before I succumb to self-indulgence and before my patience runs out from writing on a tablet, here's what my 2013 has fared. To preempt myself, I think it has been a great year. Generally.

☀ February in South Korea

Clad in Peter Pan-ish attire, I braved winter for the first time in South Korea. It was also my first official solo trip to a country where the only people I knew was a scanty number of its celebrities. I had to come up with some names to my folks, you know.

Burnham Park in Baguio City

As I have gotten older and if I say so myself, much wiser, I eventually outgrew my excitement towards malls. Back in the day (those long gone student days), the common hang-out place that easily came to mind, was the mall -- the mall here, the mall over there, and the mall everywhere. The centralized air-conditioning may have attributed to the popularity of these enclosed and integrated complex in the country. Given that we practically have sunny days all year round or when it rains, one can while away inside the mall, yet again.

But having gone out of my comfort zone, I came to realize that there's more to life and the world, than what the malls can offer. An alternative that requires less the dough is much more welcome.

So, what about parks? Parks where the community can come together. Children can play real games aside from the console. It will be a refreshing patch of green in a city of concrete. Like the famous Burnham Park in Baguio City.