la carlotta's top trips for 2010

2010 was a year that i've been blessed to go travelling once more. from day trips to overnighters to the leisurely ones as well as the flash trippings, each and every one of them definitely made my year memorable. as one can well see, majority of these trips are undocumented in this blog save for a couple. and so, here is the complete list of my trippings in and out of manila for 2010. :)

philippine national railway. the very first flash day trip of the year. because my friend f and i were already in the tutuban area, we thought of riding the new air-conditioned pnr train from tutuban main terminal to bicutan station, then from bicutan to pasay road station just for the heck of it. :) this huge engine in front of the tutuban terminal once rumbled through the manila-dagupan line, which was the first railway line opened by the pnr in 1892.

avenida rizal on a rare traffic-less day. this is a drive-by shoot from a taxi. this day is also made memorable after spending some time at the really old isetann carriedo. i wouldn't be surprised if the people there are wearing bell-bottom jeans and psychedelic tops. lol.

taal, batangas. in the photo is the st. martin de tours basilica or simply known as the taal basilica. it is the largest church in asia that was built in 1575, destroyed by the eruption of taal volcano in 1754 and was subsequently rebuilt in its present location in 1755. it was destroyed again in 1849 by an earthquake and it took another 9 years to reconstruct it (1856-1865). wow. i am glad that it still stands strong to this day. the architecture, the aisle, floor tiles, crypt, chandeliers, and even the ceiling are a sight to behold. (click here and here for more of my taal trippings)

munting buhangin, nasugbu, batangas. first beach tripping of the year. haven't suntanned as much as i wanted but what matters is that i was finally able to step on sand, sand, sand and hear the gentle crash of the waves, waves, waves. no matter that this was during holy week and the beach was crowded with city mice. :)

camaya resort, bataan (may). second beach trip of the year. not only did i get a nice tan, but had a really good time nature-tripping. and oh, it was my first time to ride a banana boat too. thanks to kaps for the invite :)

the trip to baguio was one of the overnight flash trips i took with friends. the first day was actually quite relaxing. we visited several wood carving shops along asin road, and further down the road we went on to bencab museum, where the photo above was taken. it was an honor to meet the painter bencab himself and even have a photo taken with him and his dog :) still further down we dropped by peter pinder's place. peter pinder is another artist whose specialty is fiberglass art. it was the second day that was very flashy made by the Amazing Two-Hour Baguio Tourist Rush that ended with a bang courtesy of the Great Twenty-Minute Baguio Palengke Dash. ;)

iba, zambales (june). tagged along with a friend to a pastor's seminar for two days. this was taken on the beach on our first day there and my friend and i were fortunate to chance upon the fishermen getting ready for the night's fishing. also, this trip was one full of blessings that made it really memorable. awesome views, great roads, and even something as simple as an instant one-on-one talk during a stormy night can do wonders to one's spirit.

goin' bananas! found this huge clump of bananas on the trail during a climb to peak 2 in mt. makiling last july. it was a day climb which took my friends and i a grand total of 13 hours to get to the peak and back to the station, what with the rain, the fallen tree trunks from a recent typhoon, and a couple of hysterical newbies paranoid of all the limatiks that abound in the mountain that time of year. guess who's one of those hysterical, paranoid newbies? ;p suffice to say, it was a very funny and memorable climb that, thank God, didn't scare me off mountains for life. hehehe.

coron, palawan! i was able to visit this amazing place once more literally after ten years. so much has changed in this corner of paradise, but it has still retained its natural beauty and charm which makes me want to return for yet another visit. i don't think i'll ever grow tired of palawan. (click here for the palawan entry)

and that's it for my top trips for 2010. here's to more travels for you and yours truly this 2011. cheers! :)