Ruby Loves Adventure

A good place to surf, waves are very tame, perfect for beginners.
Its sand is smooth but dark. Glad to have been to this place.

An amazing place to go to. Limestone cliffs and pristine turquoise waters await you. It is also a budget backpacker's dream. A fan cooled room onky cost us P 400 a night. That is $10, $5 per person, as there were 2 of us sharing the room.

I just want to share this photo, and hopefully many more to come :)

Tagged as the new "Boracay", Calaguas Beach in Camarines Norte is the ideal definition of roughing it. With no resorts, no running water, no mobile phone signal and no electricity on the island, why would you possibly want to go there?

Simply put, the simple living lifestyle and the gorgeous, fine, and pure white sand beach that surrounds the area. Two hours by boat from the Paracale Port, this magical island is definitely something of an unexpected hidden wonder for me. So, what is there to do within the island? You could choose to island hop and be dropped off at deserted beaches (if you're lucky enough!) and bum and swim your day away in turquoise blue waters that are so clear you could see the sand at your feet. If you opt to choose within the island, you could opt to walk the stretch of sand, on to the rocky patches where photo ops are ideal, and discover hidden beaches on the other part of the island.
Then again, these beaches are not as fine as the campsite.

Aside from the feeling of remoteness and the roughing it, it is an ideal place to stare at the stars - something you don't see everyday in Manila.

To get to Calaguas Island, you could take a packaged tour (which most people tend to opt for to avoid bringing loads and loads of stuff in the island) or to do it yourself, you could charter a boat from Paracale, which is an hour away from Daet.

Note that the island doesn't have electricity nor resorts, so you'll have to bring your own provisions (ie water, food, flashlights) and tents. If you choose to do the package tour route, you could get an all-in package. I took the travel factor tour instead of DIY as I travelled alone to the island. :)

However, if you are used to the finer things in life, be really prepared to expect only the basic of amenities, there are no airconditioned tents, and if there is no wind then the tent could be stifling if you choose to zip it up, the fresh water is 10 pesos per bucket - so if you need to take a bucket shower be prepared to pay for it. The toilets need to be flushed manually (you'll need to pay P10 if you plan to poo to flush it down) and they are not exactly that clean. Also prepare to brush your teeth using mineral water and just spit anywhere - there are no sinks located in the island.

So if you were going there, bring:
- Loads of wet wipes (you're going to need it)
- Toilet Paper/Tissues
- Food/snacks
- Lots and lots of water
- Your swimsuit
- A book to read
- A sarong to lie on
- A change of clothes

I'm upgrading.. Yay! :) Guess I haven't been to loads of other places yet, even though I feel I have!



My Lakbayan grade is C!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!
Created by Eugene Villar.

This blog post is typed entirely on a plane from Manila to Bangkok in an effort to be more productive.
I've shelves the books I'm trying to read or study now in an effort to make this trip an entirely travel-related one.

10 things to do in siem reap:

1. Eat a luk lok.
It is a Khmer dish which you could get in either beef, pork, or chicken. You canget this anywhere in Cambodia but the one near Pub Street (forgot the restaurat name) is the best one I had.

2. See the sunrise at Angkor Wat.
If you are ok with hoardes of other tourists vying for a spot near the left side of the Wat (this is where the pond is. The right side is mostly a dried up pond with an amazing white horse roaming freely). It is worth doing at least once. My favourite spot is in the temple itself where there is a structure outside and you could feel the heat of the sun as it rises. Amazing stuff.

3. Touch the boobs of one the Apsaras in Angkor Wat.
Hey, everyone does it, right? Maybe for good luck or otherwise? Why do you think they're shiny?

4. See the Bayon temple.
Trust me, this is a site worth seeing. I "kissed" one of the stone faces. You should too!

5. See Preah Khan.
This is one of the most amazing temples for me. A Greek temple in the middle of the Asia, huge trees destroying the structures, walking among the rocks of ruins. Amazing.

6. See the temple which looks like a fountain.
For the life of me, I cannot remember the name right now but going there, you have to walk through an elevated walkway which passes through water. How in the heck was this discovered, I will never know (until I google).

7. Party like crazy in Angkor What? Bar.
Get a t-shirt when you buy two buckets. They are potent but worth it.

8. See the Giant Puppet Parade.
If you are in town in one lucky February day, its like one big street party in Pub Street. Amazing!

9. Buy elephant pants at the Central Market. Eveyone (well, nearly everyone) is wearing one so join in! It will be useful when you need to go to the temples and don't have pants! (Well, i only brought one pair with me so dress appropriately girls!)

10. Pub Street.
Shops, restaurants, bars. 'Nuff said.

So there you have it, my top 10 Siem Reap things to do. Do you have a list of your own? Share them :)

This week, I've been reading and discovering a lot of travel blogs. It is quite fun reading what other people think and their experiences are as they are embarking on their journey of a lifetime. I'm quite jealous, to be honest! So, as I try and embark on a similar journey (hopefully), I kind of want to share a personal post on what savings and travel mean to me.

When I was way younger, like in primary school, I always had a tendency to spend beyond my means. Whatever I wanted, I would normally buy, provided that I had enough money in my pocket. There was this one time when I was in fourth grade that I bought too many books at a book fair and basically had nothing left for lunch and snacks. It was only around 12 noon and well, I overspent too much! Good thing a kind classmate gave me some coupons so I could buy food and the local school bus was there to take me home. Otherwise, I would have been screwed.

During summers, I would never even have enough money saved up! Well, I was such a loser way back in the day and no one in our culture/country would normally just go out to find jobs during the summer or go to the beach like Westerners do. I normally spend my summer at home, playing computer games or watching a heck of a lot of telly. For two freaking months. Boring eh?

Then came high school and well, I got to enjoy what life has to offer. My mum is open to me going out to several beaches and/or resorts during summer with my friends, and I was forced to learn how to save.

However, that all went out the window when I first started working and earning my first real paycheck. I got addicted to spending too much on material things and ended up with credit card debt, and on top of that, trying to pay for my last trimester in university.

I was in debt, and I didn't know what to do about it.

Six years later, here I am. More financially stable and about to embark (hopefully) in a huge savings goal to eventually go on my dream trip. I wouldn't expound on that today, but maybe a bit more when I am closer to the goal (and the date), and well, if everything is more in place. It took forever for me to be what I am right now when it comes to money and the discipline that it takes for me to not spend too much and live within my means.

Here's how I did it:

1) Understand that you have a problem. Five+ years ago (and well, even when I was really young), I knew that I was an impulsive shopper. If I liked something, boom, I would get it. And when I thought that all these clutter started piling up: clothes that I did not wear, books I would never read, bags I would never use, it began to dawn on me that I could have used that money for something else. Knowing that you have a problem is always the first step, and once you acknowledge it, you know you are truly on the way to "rehabilitating" yourself.

2. Read and research. I knew that I was an impulsive shopper so I spent down times at work trying to read other blogs on how to save money and how to curb my spending. It took more than a year of practice for me not to go to malls, and just delaying my gratification. It did work, eventually. I read a ton of money blogs, to be honest, bought two books on how to save and invest (thank you so much Rich Dad, Poor Dad - you are one of the reasons why I turned my life around).

3. Once you have done your research, practice what you've learned. This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do! Well, it took a lot of patience and practice, and eventually I got the discipline to do this. I made charts, Excel spreadsheets, the works! I tried everything that they threw at me and when I found out what works for me the best, I stuck to it and made it my own, with a twist.

4. Save, Invest & Save some more! Other travel blogs out there have savings tips, and well, they helped me too, but some of these tips, I already do know by heart. I love how these blogs convert the price of one Starbucks latte to an overnight hostel stay somewhere here in SouthEast Asia. I guess it's just a matter of putting things in perspective. Need a new iPad? Well, x number of lattes in Starbucks = 1 iPad. Same for travel!

So, as I embark on this huge savings goal, hopefully, these tips help you too.

Oh, and did I mention I'm Asian? I do work full-time at a multinational company at the moment, but I definitely don't have a salary of a Westerner nor do I have a trust fund. If I can do it (save for a big trip or some other reason) then anyone could!

Philippa Gregory presents the first of a new series set amid the deadly feuds of England known as the Wars of the Roses.


Known as the queen of historical fiction, Philippa Gregory is well known for her TUdor novels, one has even been made into a movie (The Other Boleyn Girl, anyone?). The White Queen is the first novel I've read from her and I can say it was a bit disappointing.

I expected detail, but I didn't expect detail to the point that parts of the novel is redundant - another character already said one thing, only to be repeated a few paragraphs later by another, and that goes on again and again. I also don't like the magic factor. Mixing magic with historical fiction don't really go well with each other, but who knows? Maybe in the old times, they really do believe in curses, magic, and whatnot. Not that it is true!

I originally liked the first part of the novel, but got bored when King Edward died and the story was all about Elizabeth. For some reason, her character became bland, desperate and annoying. When King Edward was still around, there were tales of wars and of love (of course, their love story was part of it).

I forgot to say that this book was the first of a trilogy which focuses on the three strong women within the House of Lancaster: first book is about Elizabeth Woodville (who married Edward, who became king), the second is about Elizabeth's daughter, aptly named Elizabeth as well (and makes things hellishly confusing as in the old times, your child's names are normally named after the parents or aunts or uncles or grandparents!), and the third is based on Jacquetta (Elizabeth Woodville's mother). Now, would I say that I'll buy the second and third part? Hmm maybe if they were on sale (like for $2 or less. I definitely won't buy it full price).

What else can I say about this book? It could be better - I think that it was rushed at some parts, and more detail could have been given about the places and more background on the characters could have been explained (then again Philippa Gregory has this tendency of releasing a few books per year so she could just be writing without considering any of these factors, but that's just me).

I'll read The Other Boleyn Girl some time and hopefully that book would be to my expectations!

Summary from Goodreads:
Jason has a problem. 
He doesn't remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper. His best friend is a kid named Leo, and they're all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for "bad kids", as Leo puts it. What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret. 
Her father, a famous actor, has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he's in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn't recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on? 

Leo has a way with tools. 
His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What's troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper's gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god.

The spinoff of the Percy Jackson series! In this series, there are three new demigods serving as the main characters: Jason, son of Zeus; Piper, daughter of Aphrodite; and Leo, son of Hephaestus. Add the complexity of the Roman gods (well, they're the Greek gods too, only with different names and a harsher alter-ego), and we've got the makings of a good tale.

There was a lot of twists and turns that have been integrated with the older characters, and some new information to learn: the alter egos of the Greek gods that we were so familiar about, new gods, and new supernatural creatures like the storm gods, the giants, and ogres alike.

This book is also one of the longest I've ever read: 500+ pages. Albeit the font size and the spacing were quite big, it was still a challenge for me! Told in the perspectives of the three main characters, who alternate every two chapters, Rick Riordan nicely patched up the story so no one reading the book gets lost at what's happening within the other characters.

I do like how the characters do grow in the end though, although one annoying factor for me would be the so called love story between Piper and Jason. Ugh, mushy much? I also like Tempest and Festus - they were minor characters but they tugged at my heart! haha. I had always loved animal characters, don't get me wrong!

Quite a good read too, the ending would leave you hanging for more (specially as I'm expecting Percy and Annabeth to have bigger roles in the second book) - I sometimes hate reading book series, it would "force" you to buy the whole set just to complete the story! But well worth it though!

Summary from Goodreads:
Since childhood, Rosie and Alex have stuck by each other through thick and thin. But they're suddenly separated when Alexx and his family move from Dublin to America.

Their magical connection remains but can their friendship survive the years and miles?

Misunderstandings, circumstances and sheer bad luck have kept them apart – until now. But will they gamble everything – including their friendship – on true love? And what twists and surprises does fate have in store for them this time ... 

This is the second Cecelia Ahern book that I've read, and well, this does not disappoint. Written in a series of letters, emails, text messages, and chat messages, it chronicles the story of Rosie from when she was six years old until she was fifty. It seems she has everything going for her during her first few years in life: she has her best friend Alex, was about to embark on a university degree in Hospitality/Hotel Management, until fate suddenly interferes with all her plans, leaving her in Ireland while Alex was in America, when his dad got a job.

It was quite a cute story, of course, some elements are a bit easy to guess. In some parts, her story was absolutely heart tugging, in some, you just can't help but want to scream to Rosie because she lacked the drive and ambition and just let fate ground her in what she currently has instead of seeking out the bigger and better things she feels she deserves. But oh well, every character for themselves, right? I can't like everything about a novel :p

The chemistry in the characters were so cute, it made me want to cry. However, how can anyone be so stupid at times? How can that character not ask the right questions at the right times? *sigh*

Quite a unique book, and definitely one that I would remember. Just goes to show that when life give you lemons, you make lemonade. And when you fall down, you always have to remember to pick yourself up and just continue living!