Travels – LRN NCL

Tomorrow in Toronto

Tomorrow in Toronto. Yes, tomorrow. Cause it was as if it was just a day after we visited Vancouver that we decided to fly out to Toronto. I guess, we couldn’t get enough of Canada. First few things though, there are distinct differences between Vancouver and Toronto that I noticed. Vancouver would be your suburb spot, while Toronto would be your city type of place. They each have different personalities and it would take someone with probably a similar personality to appreciate either of the two or actually could be the opposite (who am I to generalize haha). Though for my personal taste, I think I enjoyed Toronto more. Probably because I’m more of a city girl than I reckon and I like the feeling that everyone’s active and busy – it gives me the idea that I’m not alone in the world (chos).

Anyways, since it’s Toronto, here are some of the things that remind me about the trip. (Get it)

Tasteful. Thrilling. Tremendous. Timeless. Transcendent.

Tasteful.

First connecting flights were already filled with so much food. From Appetizer, Main Course to Dessert. It makes you want to sleep right afterwards. My fave part was the dessert since wine was served with cheese. Mmm.

We tried Poutine – the very well known french fries in Toronto and we just had to grab a bite of this famous snack. Knowing that Potato Corner is so hyped in the Philippines, imagine if we bring Poutine. Potato Corner, NYFD and Taters might have a run for its money.

We also tried the Chocolate joint in a delightful place called Distillery District. Had some coffee and saw how chocolate was made. Mej nakakagutom.

We got to try Five Guys also! I liked Five Guys more than In n’ Out actually, probably because they gave out free peanuts at the counter and I like peanuts (yung Sung-Song). Hahaha! But seriously, their burger was tastier for me.

Thrilling.

Toronto was all sorts of thrill. Was super excited to hop on the plane.

Seeing these two rainbows hopping amongst the clouds outside the airplane window made me have giddy feelings. ❤

Next was when I woke up from our connecting flight from Vancouver and saw all these lights below me. The 6th!!! City lights!! *Cue in Drake (my sweetheart)

This is Toronto.

On the highway headed somewhere, you could see that there was a fork with another lane headed to USA. We almost took that lane if not for our GPS telling us to stay right. Little did we know, a few months after, we made our trip to the US as well (to be written in next post). Must have been a premonition, haha!

We finally got to see the famous CN Tower as well. It was pretty cool.

Look at my mom breaking her back trying to take our photo hahaha!

Dropped by Toronto Zoo also and found some furry friends that are rather rare in the Philippines. Snow leopards and white wolves (GoT? Hahaha!)

Bearssss playing tag! Suuuper cute! Watch! Hahaha!

Ipads everywhere at the Toronto Pearson Airport was a cool thrill! Hehe

Tremendous.

Niagara Falls.

Needless to say, it’s pretty explanatory how tremendous it feels coming into a few meters from Niagara Falls. When I first saw this, I instantly became quiet while the words “there is a God” came into my mind. True story.

With my little sister 🙂

Watch and see how amazing it feels upclose:

And from afar:

Timeless.

Timeless experiences. Timeless photos. Toronto was timeless in every sense of the word.

As such that Toronto is timeless, also is family.

Thankful to my parents.

#sistersquad #yapsisters

Transcendent.

I could go on and on about how travel persists to be a transcendent experience. But because it’s true. You may find yourself already coming to grips with yourself but you never really know unless you’re placed in a situation where you have no choice but to adjust.. to move.. to transcend. There are a lot of situations in my life where I neither chose nor expected to go through challenging struggles, but I did. And it made me a better person. And in the end, I knew exactly what I wanted. It rings like chimes when they say that we have to stay true to our hearts. Because we have to. There’s no other way.

We owe it to travel to bring us to a different place with ourselves. But in the end, it’s up to us to let it permeate.

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Thanks Toronto ❤

And I love you, Canada, also.. Trudeau. Hehe ❤

Xoxo,

Laur

Five for Vancouver

Hey guys! How are you all? It’s been a long time since I’ve posted on the blog! I let a whole year pass without posting anything. Guess 2015 flew faster than I expected. But.. I’m back! A few friends actually told me to revive my blog and I’ve been meaning to but somehow other things like work and other events fell in the way. Fortunately however, I am back with sharing some of the few things I did in 2015. And I’ll start off with my recent trip to Vancouver, Canada.

Vancouver was actually an unexpected trip. My parents just suddenly thought of taking a trip to Canada. It’s been quite a while since we had a family trip, after all. It was a very fast-paced period being that, we didn’t have Canadian Visas yet and we applied all in just a span of a month. Sooner or later, we were already boarding a plane and flying out to the other side.

So I’d like to give you five things about Canada, specifically about Vancouver that got me enjoying and wishing to come back:

Eating in Vancouver

One of the things I really wanted to try out was eating at a legit diner in Vancouver. You know how in the movies, you see people being poured a cup of coffee in the morning while they sit at a cushioned couch, waiting for their order of breakfast. That’s what I really wanted to try. Luckily, on our first day out, we were looking for a place to eat for breakfast and were able to pass by a diner. Wee, I was so happy! 🙂

I ordered this meal

Next thing, I wanted to try was the famous donut shop in Vancouver, Tim Hortons! Mmmmmm. Western people really have this thing for coffee and donuts and they eat it for breakfast as well. Look at my sister smiling.

What should we get? Hmm, let’s see..

We also got to eat at this country restaurant for dinner. I noticed that steak or baby back ribs were really a hit. We also got to eat at A & W which I remembered had branches back in the day in the Philippines but weren’t able to last.

So we ate..

And ate..

Until we had too much to eat and had to go to the toilet hahahaha! Sorry little sis!!

2. Dressing in Vancouver

I had to take some getting used to with the weather in Vancouver. Summer was at its peak in the Philippines so experiencing a very cold climate was not that easy. We had layers upon layers of clothing and I didn’t know all those clothes could fit in my body.

Having these very thick jackets, sweaters made of wool, uggs (is that the correct spelling) were super heavy to carry while you were walking. It’s a bit hard especially if you want to bring your phone or other stuff with you but can’t seem to place it out of all the layers of clothing you’re wearing. Now I know how these Western people do it when they put their jackets on the rack and their shoes at the door.

3. Sightseeing in Vancouver

To say that Vancouver was beautiful would definitely be an understatement. If I could have a dollar for every profile photo / cover photo – worthy place that we went to, I would have a huge budget for shopping. There were just so many breathtaking places that got us oo-ing and aa-ing for the whole day. It really makes you wonder that there is such a big world out there and it’s a waste not to explore it.

This was at Stanley Park, British Columbia

At different skylines overlooking the city and the bridge

Going hiking

4. Experiencing AMAZING things in Vancouver

There’s something about travelling to a different country that makes you feel that every place has a story and that you’re visiting in a chapter where the story is taking place. You feel like an uninvited visitor passing through but that’s what makes it so surreal. You see. You experience. You breathe it in. And that’s one of the best feelings in the world. Vancouver wasn’t any different. The place will let you in and make you feel those things.

Capilano Suspension Bridge

I remember having a hard time parking since the parking machine was electronic and you had to slide your credit card to get the parking ticket. The weather was super chilly like the chilly type that you feel like you’re in a refridgerator 24/7. Maybe it was because of the river that was nearby, the river that was under this very long bridge, the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Isn’t this amazing?!

You could imagine my face when I first saw this very long bridge.. Underneath there was a flowing river, creeped up by thick trees of different shades, enough to make you feel like you’re in one of those wildlife adventures.

Take a look at the video:

Stanley Park, British Columbia

It wasn’t exactly Stanley Park that got me so amazed, although the park was utterly beautiful as well. What got me so amazed was the phenomenon that happened while we were in the park. We were busy taking pictures of the green fields and the flowers all around when suddenly, there was a small rock that hit my head from the sky. I thought it was bird poop or an acorn that fell from a tree. One by one, they kept dropping and dropping. I picked a piece from my head and found out that it was actually a pebble of ice – so solid you can actually put it in a drink! Then, I realized that we were actually in the midst of a hailstorm! A hailstorm! Can you believe it? I remember back in grade school when we had to learn about the different types of rain and never thought of experiencing one other than the usual drizzle or downpour in Manila but a hailstorm? That’s actually one for the books. In just under 10 minutes, the pavement was full of pebbles of ice.

Watch!!

Steveston, British Columbia

We also went to the set of the TV Series “Once Upon A Time” which happened to be in Vancouver as well. It was definitely awesome to set foot on an actual town where “Once Upon A Time” was shot. My sisters and I are avid fans, especially my little sister, Ena who watched and downloaded the series from episode to episode. If you also watch OUAT, you’re in for a treat. Take a look at the photos.

The legendary lighthouse where they all convene whenever something apocalyptic is gonna happen

Look how happy my sister is. Two thumbs up! 😉

And we saw Granny’s Diner, Storybrooke Bakery and Mr. Gold’s Pawnshop where all trinkets like Belle’s teacup and treasure chests can be found! ❤

Whistler Blackcomb

And last but not the least, the most epic of all these experiences was Whistler Blackcomb. To set foot in Whistler Blackcomb and experience SNOW were among the best life experiences anyone could ever ask for. I’ve been dreaming to experience snow ever since our last trip to America and we were so happy to see mountains, not green, not brown but white! You can bet it was freezing out.

My sister and I holding the snowballs we made before we went into a snowball fight. Hahaha!

Not having gloves would instantly make your hands freeze. It will only take you a matter of seconds before your hands go numb and you won’t be able to move it. Always better to have gloves on.

Check out the video and see all the snow madness:

5. Finding myself in a different country

I must admit before coming to Canada, I wasn’t exactly myself or at least, I had a hard time finding myself. Recounting and backtracking, I might have not been myself for the year that passed before. A lot of things happened and I caught myself in a bit of constant confusion for finding out what I want and who I want to be. Sakto, 25 ako nun. I might have been going through that quarter-life crisis everyone’s mentioned. It’s true what they say, you never really know unless you’ve experienced it yourself. Definitely served as a reminder to me never to judge people and what they’ve gone through. So for that trip, I think it was a trip of reconnecting to who I was and who I wanted to be, at this point in time.

I’m thankful to this place for giving me back that sense of who I was.

Hopefully, this time around, I would have a better knack of keeping in tune to what makes me happy and what I believe would make my life fulfilling.

Going back to the basics resonated more than ever before and realizing that life is definitely what you make it.

Xoxo,

Lauren

Finding myself in Legaspi

So I flew to Legaspi, Albay for the weekend. It was mostly for work but I didn’t expect what I would find from this trip. What I found was something more important and more precious than work, it was an unfound pride for my father’s side, the family that pioneered the civilization of Legaspi City. I discovered a lot about my clan – the Yap clan. And how blessed I am. And how negligent I was to find out that the heritage I came from was not any ordinary heritage. It was a heritage built on hard work, determination and pure perseverance. All I knew was that my grandfather, Santos Yap (he had his Chinese name changed to Filipino) migrated from China to find greener pastures in the Philippines and with him he brought his 4 children from his first wife who already passed away. Then he found my Lola, Lourdes Yap, a good-natured, kind and patient woman who was very religious, always prayed and went to mass at the church next door to their big wooden house. They had 12 children, my dad was the 8th child. Yeah, you could say they were pretty busy haha!

What I didn’t know was that Lolo was one of the richest and most successful businessmen in the city. Our family owned the biggest supermarket in all of Albay. It monopolized all distribution of goods from rice to sugar and that our family owned acres of land good enough to fend for five generations of Yaps or more. A family of 16 children and then, grandchildren. That would be a lot. I was surprised to not really realize this and didn’t take the time to appreciate what my family built for the past 70 years. It was definitely worth the trip.

My cousin (left side) Ansyl Cadag accompanied me. We ate at Small Talk – the supposed dating place of Bicolanos. Haha! Tried their popular “Mocha Max”. It was good 🙂 Continue reading “Finding myself in Legaspi” →

Puerto Princesas – Palaweñas at heart

We went home to Palawan for the Labor Day weekend last May. As you all know, my mother’s side lived in Palawan. Whenever we have the time or there’s a holiday, Palawan would be the first place to go to. There are a lot of memories that happened in this place, memories that date back all the way to my childhood. Lola’s Bahay Kubo. Amelia Pensionne. Mama Pinang’s sari-sari store and her divine food concoctions. Kevin, my cousin the notorious who lived here until he was 9 then moved to Manila. All these memories I have greatly cherished growing up and this weekend was one more memory to add in my precious Palawan memory compartment.

THE Bahay Kubo

Aka bahay ni Lola. I was greatly delighted to see my Lola again. She used to stay with us in Manila until she finally decided to go back to her house here in Puerto. I haven’t seen her this radiant and happy. I guess the saying “There’s no other place like home” does ring true.

I missed Lola so much! Too bad, I didn’t get a picture taken with her. This is my tita.

I was so happy when I saw this salon in front of our house. The building where the salon is at is actually my tita’s so it was super convenient for us to go out of the house, go straight to this salon and get our nails done. Yeah!

Just the usual tricycle ride we always do when we’re in Puerto. I love the tricycles around here because it’s so big. It can fit four adults in the seat area comfortably and can even put maleta’s on a partition at the back. I wonder why Manila’s tricycles are not like the tricycles here. It would be a great convenience if they would copy Puerto’s trikes.

Continue reading “Puerto Princesas – Palaweñas at heart” →

Ceven things in Cebu

Ceven, as in the number seven. My attempts at being witty come at such inopportune a time I baffle at the poorly thought puns that come out of my mind. Nevertheless, there were indeed seven things in Cebu worthy of such notice and it’s only fitting that I recount the cool stuff that happened during our trip this summer. These seven things have indeed made our simple Cebu trip a trip to remember.

Ceven things:

1. Marco Polo Hotel Staying in Marco Polo was like staying in a haven of comfort. It was a relief to know that after a whole day’s exhaustion from doing a lot of activities and going around the city, we would be going home to this place. That’s my older sister on the top right corner and my uncle on the bottom right. And that’s my younger sister trying to be sneaky and whatnot around Marco Polo.