Summer getaway in Bohol
By Erica Paredes
I wasn’t a Bohol first-timer when I flew over a few weeks ago, so I was really OK with just a relaxing trip with no real agenda.
I wasn’t a Bohol first-timer when I flew over a few weeks ago, so I was really OK with just a relaxing trip with no real agenda.
As much as I love to party and have something to do any hour of the day, sometimes congested beaches aren’t my thing, especially if I’m particularly stressed and need to get away from everything and everyone. At the same time, I’ve always been a concrete jungle dweller and like knowing that my beloved city vibe is close enough for me to be able whip out my heels for an evening of dinner and drinks if I’d like to, but far enough from everything for me to be able to tune the rest of the world out.
My favorite activity when abroad is eating. I will Google my destination to find interesting restaurants days before my departure. The problem with a lot of traveling and eating is, while I always have time to start a workout regimen, I am never motivated enough to sustain it, due to my love of food and my frequent travels.
It’s hard not to fall in love with Sydney. It’s clean, efficient and modern, but with an old world charm that can’t be beat. The Land Down Under, in general, has always been a paradox to me. On one hand, it is filled with old buildings and heritage houses and Victorian terrace apartments, and aboriginal carvings can still be found on the coastal suburbs.
Coffee has had to start sharing its popularity with the tea culture, which has been growing in the country these last few years. With more and more places offering afternoon tea sets and buffets, and from the sheer number of milk tea places mushrooming all over the metro, it’s safe to say Filipinos are crazy about this drink.
The Christmas holidays are probably the most stressful time of the year, as the pressure to give presents and the lack of time to go shopping looms over many of us. The few who anticipate the rush early enough beat it by starting their gift-buying as early as September or October, but most of us join the madness at the very last minute.
It’s not everyday one gets to sit two feet away from a major Hollywood celebrity, but that’s exactly where I found myself at the London Hotel in West Hollywood one balmy spring day in LA.
Before anything, let me be honest—I was never a fan of Los Angeles. Big cities where public transportation is not efficient, available or easily accessible have always been a big frustration for me. I don’t like having to ask people to break away from their busy schedules to take me around and I don’t feel comfortable driving in an unfamiliar place, so LA was never top of mind where spending a holiday was concerned.
One will have certain stereotypical expectations of Siem Reap, some of which are right but once there, you will soon find out that there is so much more to the place.
Like any other Asian country where cuisine is highly dictated by region, and authenticity depends on which family it was passed down from, Thai food has also opened up to interpretation in recent years, especially now that it has become familiar fare, even in Western countries.
Very rarely does the word “light” aptly describe the traditionally butter-laden and creamy fare one usually expects of French cuisine, so I was a bit thrown off, in a good way, with The Peninsula Manila’s visiting chef Patrice Martineau’s menu.
