Flying SEAir on a vacation trip is unlike any other regular flight. The planes are much smaller than the usual 737s that fly the usual city routes. Sometimes, it feels like business class.

Although the planes are smaller, like the SEAir Dornier 328, and could be a little bumpy at times, there are some surprising perks. Like you get to see the landscape and the terrains much better from the cabins and taking pictures through the 35 minute trip to Microtel Boracay is much more enjoyable.

The Cabatuan Church in northern Iloilo is one of the oldest churches in the country.

My folks on my father’s side used to live there. We still have some farm lands there but we never took care of it anyway.

More pictures of my family on my dad’s side (Olandres-Bolaños family) here.

My recent trip to Pagsanjan, Laguna was capped with a boat ride to the Pagsanjan Falls. Unfortunately, the view of the falls wasn’t that amazing as I thought it would be.

For more pictures of Pagsanjan Falls in Laguna, check out the photo gallery.

A week-end trip to Subic, Olongapo City for a ski ride, Zoobic Safari tour and kart racing.

More pictures in the gallery.

Balay Indang is a hidden secret of a bed and breakfast place off of Indang, Cavite. Usual route for overnight travelers is via Tagaytay, then Mendez in Cavite.

Here are some pictures of our first visit at Balay Indang last month.

Complete meal on the main house features fresh salad from the garden.

Off Mickey Mouse fruit along the pathways in the garden.

About a dozen rest houses and cottages scattered across the entire property for some peace, privacy and quite time.

I grew up in a small town in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras and every Sunday our family would go to Alubihod beach which my grandparents own. Alubihod is just 4 kilometers from town so all five of us would take the family motorbike and spent the entire Sunday swimming or having boats rides.

I still have old pictures of me (7 or 8 years old) running across the sandy beaches. The sand is almost as white as that of Boracay’s, but less refined. The beach front was still empty with just a couple of huts or cottages we’d use to stay and eat out during lunch. About 20 years ago, only a small number of family houses of our relatives are standing just a few meters away from the shore. (Mostly cousins to the second degree.)

Haven’t been back there for years now though. I frequently invite my high school classmates to take a vacation over there. Guimaras is just a few kilometers from Iloilo City by boat. It usually costs Php5.00 but I think it could already be Php10.00 – Php15.00 per head. Once you dock at the Jordan pier, you take a Nueva Valencia jeep to town about 30 kilometers south. Another tricycle ride from Poblacion town to Alubihod would cost about Php 25 – Php 50 depending on the number of passengers.

Alubihod is now sub-divided into several resorts, the bigger one would be Raymen Beach resort which is owned by my mom’s cousins and Rico Beach Resort, owned by my uncle, the youngest of my mom’s siblings.

I will definitely take a lot of pictures once I get to visit back home.

The SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City is the home of the largest cinema in the country – the IMAX.

View the Picture Gallery here.

Costa Marina Beach Resort at Samal Garden Island, Davao.

More pictures at the gallery.

The cross at the top of Mount Samat in Bataan is dubbed the Dambana ng Kagitingan or the Shrine of Valor.

See more pictures at the Gallery.

Malapascua Island in Cebu

Malapascua Island is well-known for watersports leisure, and scuba diving in the Visayas Region. The main scuba dive sites are, Shark Point where tresher sharks can be seen almost every morning. Seldom there are also hammerheads and manta rays spotted. Lapus Lapus dive location is rock formation down to 20 meters and there are also beautiful soft corals with small reef fish and also forgfishes, lionfishes, scorpionfishes and nudibranches. The Malapascua Lighthouse is a good dive site for night dives. There are also many sponges, scorpionfishes, seahorses, lionfishes and frogfishes to see too. Gato Island is 40 minutes by boat. There are many dive spots around the island; one includes a cave to dive through.

Malapascua also called Logon is located about 8 km. north-east of Cebu mainland and 25 km. west of Leyte.

How to get to Malapascua.

Malapascua is located only 8 km off the north coast of Cebu, in the Philippine Visayas. Tourists must endure a dusty, bumpy three-hour bus ride from Cebu City to Maya, followed by a 45-minute banca trip.

You can get there with buses like “Cebu Autobus”, D´Rough Riders”, “Air-Con” from Cebu to Maya. D´Rough Riders”, “Air-Con” buses leave from Cebu City´s Northern bus terminal for Maya at 5 and 6 am. If possible take a direct bus to Maya, because buses that make a detour to Hagnaya allow for 30 minutes extra. The last D´Rough Riders and Cebu Autobus ordinary leave at noon for 4 1/2 hours ride.

Likewise, you can hire a cab or private car from Cebu City to Maya for about Php 3,000. It’s a bit expensive but the 3 or 4 hours of travel will be more enjoyable and you can always make a pit stop to take some pictures along the way.