:): January 2012

I just finished the itinerary for my solo (side) trip this March and I can't wait 'til it happens! I think it will be the most exciting alone time ever. :) Sana lang panindigan ko lahat ng plano ko dun. hehe :)

Honestly, hindi ko naman talaga ginusto at first ang mga "Alone time in a foreign land" moments ko, bilang hindi naman ako adventurous, complete opposite of being street smart, at baligtad akong magbasa ng mapa. Minsan, wala lang talagang choice. But just recently, I discovered that traveling alone is equally fun and memorable as doing it with friends and family. :)

Alone time moments in LA, DC, Orlando, New York, San Diego, Macau and Hong Kong :)

First challenge: Immigration. Sadly, may mga issues talaga ang mga Immigration Officers sa mga taong mag isa nagta-travel, especially siguro pag Filipina. I've heard and been warned with different horror stories of travelers being harassed in the airport kasi pinagdududahan na magbebenta lang ng kung anu-anong illegal sa ibang bansa. Ilang beses na rin akong napagtaasan ng kilay at tinanong ng "mag isa ka lang?" at "ano'ng gagawin mo dun?" sa immigration. May time din na na-"detain" at na-interrogate ako ng mga TSA officers for about 30 minutes sa Atlanta airport!

Hotel Reservation. A huge percentage of travel expense goes to overnight stays in hotels. Imagine pag mag isa ka lang, wala kang kahati sa bill! Isa lang akong swerteng empleyado ng IHG na may napakalaking discount sa lahat ng IHG hotels worldwide! Minsan libre pa! ;)

Free stay at Holiday Inn Macau and $50 stay at Holiday Inn Universal, Hollywood

Commuting. Before diving to my any alone time challenge, isang mabusising research muna sa google maps ng directions. Minsan inaabot talaga ako ng ilang oras para lang malaman kung paano makarating from airport to hotel nang hindi nagtataxi. Hahaha. Kakuriputan lang. Buti na lang! Buti na lang talaga napaka-efficient ng transportation system sa US and Hong Kong. Lagay mo lang ang origin at destination, lalabas na ang bus number, train station, pati oras at length of travel.

Sana balang araw pwede ng maresearch sa google maps ang Merryhomes to Divisoria. Ride tricycle from Jade St. to labasan. Transfer to FX bound to Buendia, Taft. Alight at Manila City Hall. Ride a jeepney to Divisoria. Enjoy your shopping! hahaha :)

Start with the most complicated subway as a training ;)

New York Subway Map

If you have limited time to explore, you can opt to book a double-decker HOHO bus. You can also find a lot of tourists having alone time like you. ;)

Alone Time in Hop On Hop Off bus in LA

Getting Lost. Pag matigas talaga ang ulo mo na wag mag taxi at baligtad kang tumingin ng mapa, ganto mangyayari sayo. hahaha :)

Stupid Me ;)

From Kowloon Ferry terminal, hinanap ko yung bus station to Hotel pero hindi ko makita! Malamang nasa kabilang side ng street ako. Lakad lang ako ng lakad with my huge bags and pahinto hinto sa mga malls para sumagap ng wifi for google maps. Dagdag mo pa ang challenge ng language barrier sa pagtatanong ng directions. Buti na lang talaga maraming Pinoy sa buong mundo!

Minsan blessing in disguise din naman mawala, sa kakalakad at paghahanap ko ng nawawalang bus station, nakarating ako sa magandang spot for the Symphony of Lights show. Amazing. :)

Picture Taking. Syempre, ito talaga ang pinaka importante. Ano pang saysay na dumayo ka sa isang lugar kung hindi ka naman magpapapicture? Di ba? hahaha. Pinakamadaling paraan, e picturan mo yung paa mo sa isang popular destination.

My itchy feet in Times Square, The Mall and Fisherman's Wharf.

Different ways of taking your own picture when you're traveling alone.

I-picture-you-you picture-me ang pinakaluma at gasgas na paraan ng pagpapa-picture, magvolunteer na picturan ang isang couple tapos kunwaring aalis pagkatapos, pag nag offer sila, great! Pag hindi, e sabihin mo ng "would you mind taking my picture?"

Cactus Garden at Balboa Park, after I "volunteered" to take a picture of an old couple.
The lolo took my picture in return of the favor. Sweet. :)

Dapat nga lang, prepared ka sa mga gantong output. Wag ka ng masyadong demanding. Mag thank you ka na lang. hahaha :)

Picture with the Hollywood Sign. Promise andun talaga siya sa likod.
Poorly focused picture at Hollywood's Walk of Fame after mong mag effort umupo sa sahig! hahaha
Badly framed picture with Shrek.

You can always depend on your vanity picture taking skills. I'm sure nasimulan mo na yan sa pagpapractice inside your room or bathroom using your cellphone. Yung mga level ng profile pictures sa friendster dati. Just make sure na i-zoom out mo muna yung cam mo. Or else...

And the most effective, picture-perfect, humiliating and hassle way of picture taking. This:

My loyal travel buddies

Kailangan lang talaga ng tyaga at will power na mag set up ng tripod at onting kapal ng mukha na pagtinginan ka ng maraming taong dumadaan at nagtataka kung anong ginagawa mo. Wala namang nakakakilala sa'yo dun so kebs mo na lang.

Good Samaritans and Kababayans. In one way or another, makaka-encounter ka talaga ng mga mababait na tao kapag mag-isa ka lang. Most of them Pinoy talaga. May tutulong na buhatin yung bag mo pataas ng train platform na walang elevator, may manlilibre sa'yo ng souvenir habang nag uubos ka ng dollar sa airport, may mag ooffer na bigyan ka ng baryang pamasahe pagsakay mo sa bus, may magpapahiram ng ballpen, mag-ooffer na picturan ka, tuturuan ka ng tamang direction, magsa-suggest ng magandang tourist attraction, magbibigay ng hotel room ng may magandang view, dadagdagan ang serving ng binili mong merienda and the list could be endless! Medyo konting caution at common sense lang kasi may mga possible dangers din. :)

More than the hassle and cons of solo travels, marami din namang mga advantages that you will never experience had you not went there alone. Based from experience, mas marami akong napupuntahang interesting spots pag mag isa ako. Kung gusto kong mag lola moment pwedeng pwede. Kakain ako sa gusto kong kainan. Minsan nga nagugulat na lang ako how I've changed into an (slight) adventurous person that I never was. Mas lalo rin akong naging independent, responsible for myself and a good planner. To my closest friends, don't get me wrong. Baka akalain niyong ayoko kayong kasama sa mga out of town/country trips. Naniniwala pa rin ako sa kasabihang "It's not the place. It's the company". hahaha. :)

I'll end this post with a poem and video na sobrang naka-relate ako. Pinanood ko siya 4 times straight! :)

Tanya Davis – How To Be Alone

If you are at first lonely, be patient.
If you’ve not been alone much, or if when you were, you weren’t okay with it, then just wait. You’ll find it’s fine to be alone once you’re embracing it.

We can start with the acceptable places, the bathroom, the coffee shop, the library, where you can stall and read the paper, where you can get your caffeine fix and sit and stay there. Where you can browse the stacks and smell the books; you’re not supposed to talk much anyway so it’s safe there.

There is also the gym, if you’re shy, you can hang out with yourself and mirrors, you can put headphones in.
Then there’s public transportation, because we all gotta go places.
And there’s prayer and mediation, no one will think less if your hanging with your breath seeking peace and salvation.

Start simple. Things you may have previously avoided based on your avoid being alone principles.
The lunch counter, where you will be surrounded by “chow downers”, employees who only have an hour and their spouses work across town, and they, like you, will be alone.
Resist the urge to hang out with your cell phone.

When you are comfortable with “eat lunch and run”, take yourself out for dinner; a restaurant with linen and Silverware. You’re no less an intriguing a person when you are eating solo desert and cleaning the whip cream from the dish with your finger. In fact, some people at full tables will wish they were where you were.

Go to the movies. Where it’s dark and soothing, alone in your seat amidst a fleeting community.
And then take yourself out dancing, to a club where no one knows you, stand on the outside of the floor until the lights convince you more and more and the music shows you. Dance like no one’s watching because they’re probably not. And if they are, assume it is with best human intentions. The way bodies move genuinely to beats, is after-all, gorgeous and affecting. Dance until you’re sweating. And beads of perspiration remind you of life’s best things. Down your back, like a book of blessings.

Go to the woods alone, and the trees and squirrels will watch for you. Go to an unfamiliar city, roam the streets, they are always statues to talk to, and benches made for sitting gives strangers a shared existence if only for a minute, and these moments can be so uplifting and the conversation you get in by sitting alone on benches, might of never happened had you not been there by yourself.

Society is afraid of alonedome. Like lonely hearts are wasting away in basements. Like people must have problems if after awhile nobody is dating them.
But lonely is a freedom that breathes easy and weightless, and lonely is healing if you make it.
You can stand swathed by groups and mobs or hands with your partner, look both further and farther in the endless quest for company.
But no one is in your head. And by the time you translate your thoughts an essence of them maybe lost or perhaps it is just kept. Perhaps in the interest of loving oneself, perhaps all those “sappy slogans” from pre-school over to high school groaning, we’re tokens for holding the lonely at bay.
Cause if you’re happy in your head, then solitude is blessed, and alone is okay.

It’s okay if no one believes like you, all experience is unique, no one has the same synapses, can’t think like you, for this be relieved, keeps things interesting, life’s magic things in reach, and it doesn’t mean you aren’t connected, and the community is not present, just take the perspective you get from being one person in one head and feel the effects of it.
Take silence and respect it.

If you have an art that needs a practice, stop neglecting it, if your family doesn’t get you or a religious sect is not meant for you, don’t obsess about it.
You could be in an instant surrounded if you need it.
If your heart is bleeding, make the best of it.
There is heat in freezing, be a testament.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Sunday, January 15, 2012

The Adventures of Ms. Topakin in her Solo Travels

Saturday, January 14, 2012

2011 in Photos