Have I or Have I Not Forgotten WordPress?

As the title says; have I or have I not forgotten wordpress? I’d say for a little while I did. A little while is like a couple of months since the last blog. Been so caught up with my new job and at the same time I’ve started my university course. So 24 hours a day isn’t enough for me. If only I could double myself up so there would be two May Anns. To think about it, two in my case is not enough…so make that three May Anns. One will be at work, one will be doing school work, and the other will be doing nothing but relaxing and doing leisurely things. Sounds perfect, right?

I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before somewhere, but I’ll say it again anyway. I’m gonna try and blog about something at least once a week. Why the need to blog? It’s because I like and enjoy writing. It brings out the sense of creativity in me that I normally don’t get the chance to let loose during my daily routine these days. So till’ next time…

Behind my blog name

What’s the story/reason behind “questfortheunknown”?

When I started this blog site, I didn’t exactly have any idea what I’ll call it but I know what I want to put in it. I eventually came with “questfortheunknown” after I realized I don’t really know what I want other than the old “I want to travel!”. I made this blog site to write about my travels and the things I learned during these times.

Back then I thought maybe once I have actually done some traveling, I’d get to realize what I want to do with my life that is more realistic instead of simply having the dream to travel the world. Realistic in a way that is inside the box that many people follow. Like what kind of “career” I want to be trying to get into. But without feeling forced to do it for money and hating everything about it.

However, looking back and looking at the now. I’m still confused… but my purpose for this site has changed. It’s not just gonna be a blog site for my travel writing. It will be a blog site where I can write about anything and everything that’s going on around the world or with myself. Whenever I find the time to write really. When the time comes that I am driven to wake up in the morning with passion and love for whatever I’m doing then I can say I have completed my quest for the unknown.

A National Park

This image truly shows what many parts of Philippines are like. So when they call the slums a national park, it does sorta make sense. Maybe the people that decided to make it a national park were drunk when they actually made that decision to call it a “national park”. Considering how lousy the politicians that govern the Philippines, they were most likely drunk at that time and still is, I’m sure.

What the sign says:

“THIS AREA IS A NATIONAL PARK. CLASSIFIED UNDER PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION NO. 478. UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES.”

This photo was taken right outside Subic Freeport Zone in Olongapo City, Philippines.

Where the heart is…

I’m back from my small backpacking trip in the Philippines. One month isn’t enough is all I can say. I left my heart out there. Simply being on the road is where I ought to be. Although, I know I have to face this moment since it couldn’t last that long but I sure did leave my heart out on the road where it has always been.

I shall pick it up soon I hope…

ATMs in the provinces.

If you are out in the sticks in the provinces here in the Philippines, make sure you get enough cash before you leave the main business district. Otherwise, you will pretty much be in deep shit….exaggeratedly said.

Spent almost two hours this morning looking for an ATM machine that actually works. My cousin and I rode the motorbike to get to the town from their house, the only ATM machine there is out of service. Been down for goodness know when, but ever since I got here it never worked. They should just demolish it, at least people will know there isn’t an ATM machine in that town anymore.  So we went to the next town that has only one ATM machine as well. For some reason that too was out of service. I had no choice but to make my cousin drive his motorbike with me on the back to the next town in search of an ATM machine that does work.

After inhaling nothing but toxic black and grey smoke which I can feel is all over my skin and hair and avoiding cops that will stop you for not wearing any helmet. Oh, and crazy jeepney/bus drivers that always try to race each other. We finally arrived to the town that has all the local banks and atm machines that do work.

I think I’m pretty much getting tired of this place now. There’s nothing much to do or see. If only there is a beach nearby like in Palawan where I can soak my body all day in this scorching heat. This province has nothing but rice fields after another rice field.

In the midst of my trip

Where to start when you have so much things to share. I’ll just do a little update and when I finally do get to sit down in front of a computer all day then I will delve into proper discussions about my experiences here in Pino land.

I left Palawan on Friday and am now in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, a place known for being the capital rice growing province in the Philippines. I didn’t want to leave El Nido after just having been there for 5 days. I still wanted to do more beach bumming and learn to dive. Well now, I have a  reason to go back there someday again.

Things I enjoyed and learned while in Palawan:

1: Beach bumming

2: Learned to ride a motorbike

3: The live bands that play classic rock and reggae

4: Stuffed squid and tuna steak

5: Met other travelers  from all over the world

6: The beaches

7: Realized I’m not as good a swimmer as I thought I was

8: Everyone I met there including the locals are all hella nice and friendly.

9: Cleanest province I’ve ever been to in the Philippines

The only negative thing I can say about Palawan, especially in El Nido is that tourism is slowly, if not has already killed the natural living species in the ocean. Like the corals…when I went snorkeling, most of the corals I saw are all dead. I asked our tour guide of the boat why all the corals are dead and he said it’s because of the anchors. When the boats bring in tourists onto the shore the boatmen carelessly drop their anchor. And of course dynamite fishing. I then asked another boatmen why the corals are dead, he blamed the weather and global warming. It’s so sad… but I’ve been told by another local that artificial corals are being scattered all over the place so that it will spread and take over the dead corals. I dunno if this is true though.

I’d go back to Palawan anytime again for sure. Next time I’mma learn to dive and check out the Japanese wrecks in Coron.

I’m here in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija now. Everytime I’m here I get the traveler’s diarrhea. My stomach was gurgling all night last night and the previous days… I think it’s the water. Although, I try not to drink it all that much but there’s nothing else but soda and shit. I also have the cold…I dunno how I got it since it’s so hot here and there’s no AC where I’m staying.

Yesterday, I had a motorbike accident…  thank goodness I only got out of it with like 7 minor scratches on my hands and right leg. My face and head is fine, no additional brain cells damaged!!! I don’t understand why there are humps on the secondary roads here. It’s stupid and considering they aren’t that big they’re hard to see, especially if you’re not familiar with the roads and your eyes are wondering off somewhere. Lesson learned, always watch the road!!! I still blame those damn humps, they should be painted red.

Anyway, that’s it for now. I’m not posting blogs as much as I intended to because it’s hard to sit and stay focused on what I want to say. I’ll try and work on it though…

Day 1 in Puerto Princesa

I left Hong Kong at 8:25am flight bound to Manila yesteday. I was excited to leave so I left home earlier at 4:45am when the bus was at 5:35am.  The plane landed on the ungroomed ground of Manila airport around 10:20am in the rain. Waited at the airport for my flight to Puerto Princesa that’s supposedly sheduled to leave at 3:45pm, but it was delayed for 15mins due to traffic in the air.

After hours of continously sitting down and walking for a minute or two, I finally arrived in Puerto Princesa. Exited the plane then got out of the aiport right away…only to have people bombarded me with tour/hotel offers, or a van to take me to the places I want to go and see, or a tricycle. The tricycle was only 50 pesos and it took me to the inn that I’m staying. The driver kept advertising himself by telling me he can do city tours around PP and other tours around that he is connected with. He gave me his number and told me to just contact him if I need a city tour ride/guide. I just simply accepted his number cause’ I didn’t wanna be mean. Lol! But as if, I need a tour guide to tour me around this small town.

The streets of Puerto Princesa isn’t like any other streets I’ve seen here in Philippines. They’re actually cleaned. I also don’t feel as paranoid when walking these streets. It helps ease my paranoia when there are no topless druggy looking men covered in soot here as opposed to in Manila. The Pino guys are really annoying. They keep staring and hollering every time a pretty girl walks by as if they’ve never seen one before! Grr…

Anyway, I won’t make this an every day detailed diary. Just… this time. So, that’s it for now.

One step closer to my first real adventure.

This is it! I have booked my first solo backpacking trip to Palawan, Philippines. A one way ticket with no specific day-to-day itineraries of the activities I will be doing, places I will be seeing, or where I will be lodging.

Although, I don’t have everything written down stating when and what. I have a basic idea of where I want to be at. I’ve done some readings on other travelers that blogged about their time in Palawan. Thanks to them I have made a short list of cheap backpackers accommodation which I will be checking out when I get there. MUST reasonably try to bargain without making myself look like I ran away from home with nothing but a backpack, some coins and a few notes. Although, I am not white and I can speak the local language, I still expect to be scammed considering I will look like a “tourist” no matter what I do. Nonetheless, I should say a word of thanks to those that have blogged of their travels to Palawan. I now have a certain knowledge of prices/schedule for public transportation on the island.

Basically, this is the only sorta “plan” I came up with for this entire backpacking trip:

Hong Kong – Manila – Puerto Princesa – Sabang – El Nido – Coron – Manila – Nueva Ecija – Pangasinan – Manila – Hong Kong

I am not sure how long I will be staying in one place or when I will be moving on to another. So until I feel like it is time to move on from one place to another and make my way closer back to Hong Kong, that would only mean how long my trip is going to be and when I’m running out of moolah.

If one takes time to google Palawan Island, you would no doubt likely get images of beautiful crystal clear water with white sandy beaches and a great number of travel agencies bombarding you with the “cheapest” resort deals. So of course, one would think it would be pricey. No shit, it would be pricey if I should stay in a resort that offers TV, wifi, breakfast buffet, fancy rooms, and tour packages. This isn’t going to be a honeymoon with myself.

I’m going on a backpacking trip to see and experience the island. I’m simply going to take on what I have been dreaming and lusting since the need to wander arose!

Hello, WordPress!

I am one of the many people out there that have chosen WordPress to host the blogs I  intend to post while on the road. However, that doesn’t mean I will only be posting “travel blogs” because I know I’m one to digress from one thing to another, regardless of the main purpose.

The main purpose of creating another new blog site is because I intend to keep this site focused on nothing but some “serious”  writing. So there will not be any post of random animated images of elephants on a trampoline, or images with words of wisdom, and the similar random crap I do on my Tumblr .

With that being said, this is another window for you to peek through my mind. I may or may not know you, doesn’t matter, I hope you enjoy reading what I have to say. Peace.