Ruby Loves Adventure

I am a weekend warrior. I love going out every single weekend and trying to make the most of it. This is something I was not able to do much when I was back home in Manila. This will be a monthly series wherein I will present how much I have spent and where I've been to. I will post it as soon as the first weekend is up, updating it every single week until the month is up. Good concept, eh?

This is to show everyone that travel can be cheap and your time can be spent wisely, even if you have a 9-5 job, like I do. You don't need to quit your job and travel the world. With a lot of balance, you can enjoy your life and stability of earning a fixed amount every single month.


AUGUST 2014 WEEKEND WARRIOR BREAKDOWN

August 2, Saturday
Skydive Palatka, Palatka, Florida - $125 Groupon for a tandem dive.
$85 - Photo & video Package.
One of the best things I've ever done is skydive. I would always, always recommend this to other people!
Those who are brave enough, that is.
Outlet Stores at St Augustine, Florida
Disney Store - $35 (2 plush toys, a shirt, and a mini figure) - what can I say, I love Disney?
VF Outlet - Also bought a hoodie and pajama set for $15
Bath & Body Works - Got my friend a gift (Can't disclose the amount here because he might see!)

August 3, Sunday
Stayed at the pool - did a few grocery shopping but that doesn't count as travel. Spent - travel-wise.

August 9, Saturday & August 10, Sunday
Did not spend much because I mostly stayed at home! Just read, hung out, etc. My boyfriend had to get his car fixed on August 9th so that was the reason why I was not able to go somewhere.

August 16, Saturday
South Florida Aquarium, Bradenton, Florida - $18 for 2 people Groupon deal.
This was sooo worth the money! I got to see Snooty and two of his manatee friends in action! That was really the highlight of my trip. The museum was quite informative too - and I loved the Spanish square.
Bought a souvenir shirt for $12 - not bad! Good thing I can fit in a kid's size shirt :)

August 17, Sunday 
Myakka State Park, Sarasota, Florida - $6 entrance for two people in a car.
$6 - a gift for my mum when I go back.

August 23, Saturday
Universal Studios, Florida - Own a year pass which cost us $170, bought in January 2014.
- Around $10 for 2 glasses of Butterbeer (mmm yummy)
- Lunch and dinner for $20 approx (per person) - ate at Moe's Grill and Panda Express
- $17 for Parking for the car
- $20 for an owl souvenir from Diagon Alley
- $38 gas
- $20 arcade games
A full day of fun in Universal Studios. Rode the Men in Black Ride, the Mummy (SO HOT), the Harry Potter train from Kings Cross Platform 9 3/4 to Hogsmeade, and Twister. Was in the queue at the Gringotts ride for an hour only to have the ride break down on us (NOT COOL!)
Nevertheless, i did enjoy the new Diagon Alley - if you're a big fan of the Potter series, this will eat up your hard earned cash. You can buy almost any souvenir that you can think of and spend lots of money on food and beverage within this part of the park. I did also like the Dragon that breathes out fire every 15 minutes though, and the attention to detail that the park did! Knockturn alley, and all the knick knacks at the shop. Production Design at it's finest! I'll definitely be back at least twice more to make the most of my year long pass. I haven't ridden in all the rides yet!
The boyfriend also got me a few Simpsons toys (Lisa) and he paid for the game I played (where I won Maggie and Santa's Little Helper). We make sure to visit the arcade every time to play. We both like the games and I like the toys - makes for a great souvenir.

August 24, Sunday
Paddleboarding - All Wet Sports
Down by the creek in Beach Boulevard, my boyfriend and I went stand up paddleboarding.
- $20 via Groupon
SUP is so much fun! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who would want to try something new.
Best if you can find a groupon to offset your costs a bit. Sometimes groupon gives additional percentage discounts so try to time your booking for that!

That week too, a package arrived - It was a GoPro Hero 3 - an advanced birthday gift from my boyfriend!(my birthday is in a few weeks and he wanted to give me the camera before we went on our Puerto Rico trip) I spent $14 to buy a head mount for the camera so we can use it at the Bio Bay tour.
We tried it in the pool and it's working lovely so far!

August 30, Saturday 
Hilton Head, South Carolina
Lunch - Golden Corral $9 per person
Gas - $20 per person
Sea Pines Resort -$6 per car ($3 per person)
Souvenirs - $9 (tshirt from Camp Hilton Head)
Water - $1.50 (was sooo thirsty, it was such a bloody hot day)
Went shopping at the outlet stores in Hilton Head but I'm not gonna say how much we spent ;)
Dinner - Bluffton: Captain Woody's Bar & Grill - $10
Hotel - Country Inn & Suites, Beaufort, SC: Free using points

August 31, Sunday
Beaufort & Hunting Island , South Carolina
Entrance to Hunting Island - $5 (per person)
Water - $1.50
Hunting Island Lighthouse Entrance - $2
Lunch - Plums Restaurant - $15

I made a pretty little excel file for it - below are just travel expenses (no souvenirs or water) for your reference & exact location:

Amount	Activity (all for 1 person)	Location	Date
125	Groupon - Skydive Palatka	Palatka, FL	2-Aug
85	Photo & Video Package - Skydive	Palatka, FL	2-Aug
9	South Florida Aquarium	Bradenton, FL	16-Aug
3	Myakka State Park Entrance fee	Sarasota, FL	17-Aug
5	Butterbeer	Orlando, FL	23-Aug
20	Lunch & Dinner (Moe's & Panda Express)	Orlando, FL	23-Aug
8.5	Parking - Universal Studios	Orlando, FL	23-Aug
10	Universal Studio Games	Orlando, FL	23-Aug
20	Gas Share	Orlando, FL	23-Aug
20	Groupon - All Wet Sports Groupon	Jacksonville, FL	24-Aug
9	Lunch - Golden Corral	Hilton Head, SC	30-Aug
20	Gas Share	Hilton Head, SC	30-Aug
3	Sea Pines Resort Share	Hilton Head, SC	30-Aug
5	Hunting Island Entrance Fee	Hunting Island, SC	31-Aug
2	Entrance to Hunting Island Lighthouse	Hunting Island, SC	31-Aug
15	Lunch - Plums Restaurant	Beaufort, SC	31-Aug
359.5	Total for August

Washington DC. Ahh, such a wonderful place to be in. It all started one day when I saw that there was a Memorial Day holiday coming up in May. Being one that makes the most of traveling during a holiday, weekend + extra days off, this is the perfect time to fly. 

The Philippine Embassy in DC. I didn't think I'd be giddy to see this but I was!

So a few months before May 23-26, 2014, we looked for tickets and chanced upon $200 roundtrip tickets from Jax to Reagan via US Airways. And of course we jumped on it (this was the time when the boyfriend and I were just starting out with the points & miles game so everything was really in cash)

Our hotel was a $100/night deal at a placed called the Normandy Hotel (I'll probably post a trip report about the hotel when I'm not lazy)

Since I am very, very particular about trip planning, one of the things I really wanted to do was go up the Washington Monument. It was closed for a few months because of some damage but luckily, it will be open a few days before we got there. Bingo!

It is highly advisable to reserve tickets to the Washington Monument in advance by going to Recreation.gov - the tickets are free but if you buy them in advance, you will have to pay a service charge. No worries for us - my boyfriend and I are lazy louts and would rather do something else with our time than queue up for two hours hoping to get tickets (but what if we don't?) - the service charge is very minimal - for the two of us we only paid like $5 and that includes shipping to my apartment. Score! (Of course, this only works if you live in the US. But fear not if you live outside the US, you can opt to pick up your tickets at the ticket counter on the day that you're supposed to go up). Booked our tickets for May 24th, 10:30 AM and we're all set!

The ticket is timed, so you'll have to be there at least 15-30 minutes before your timed ticket and sit down at one of the marble benches and wait for your turn to go inside.

Before you go in, the park ranger will group you in batches (me and my bf along with 8 other people) then you'll have to go through an airport style security check (bags will be X-Rayed), and no food  is allowed inside. You'll then wait outside the elevators which will take you up the monument.

Since we were the first two inside, I got a chance to get my photo taken with Mr Washington himself. OK, a statue, but that's close enough.

There are two windows in every side of the monument (8 in all) and overall has breathtaking views of the National Mall & surrounding areas (if you went there on a clear day - when we were there it was very clear and sunny. Perfect weather, really).

Do take the time to take photos and marvel in those windows. I myself am a history buff and do love taking on amazing views, we ended up staying much more in the place than we expected to! Check out our photos in the rest of the post below. Please do not take and use them elsewhere without my permission though. You can grab hold of me on the contact me page on the right side of the page if you would want to use them.

You should notice that there is a red light blinking up on the top of those two windows/viewing areas. Not sure what it's for though! I theorized it could be for airplanes - they do land quite close to the city center (via Reagan airport) but I could also be wrong!

Once you are done with the viewing area, you'll go down one level into a mini museum showcasing how the Monument was built, various trivia, etc - this is where you'll catch the elevator back down from the top.

Watch out while you're elevator though! There are many commemorative stones that were donated by various states, some of them more interesting than the others! I managed to take a photo of some of them but unfortunately I didn't get to upload them! Oh well.

That concludes the Washington Monument trip.
Depending if you're a big history buff or not, it will take around 2-3 hours to do everything (including waiting for your turn to go up the top, waiting for your turn at the windows, taking pictures and then going to the other windows)

Enjoy the photos in the blog - my camera is amazing isn't it?

It was a plus that we were there during Memorial Day weekend cos there was so many events going on!

MLK Memorial

WWII Memorial

The White House

Me at the Monument

The  boardwalk was nice - there were loads of birds in the pristine beach and there was not much people there. Not sure if it was because people didn't want to go because it was winter or that the park was nearly closing when we were in the boardwalk area.

Realizing that we only had 40 minutes left before our boat tour was scheduled to leave, we had to leave too.

But you do have a chance to look at some photos I took from the trip! Sheldon says hello!

The Sheldon toy was actually given to me by my boyfriend when we were first going out - I saw it in Barnes & Noble, thought it was cute but didn't buy it. Little did I know he'd surprise me with it a few days later!

Posting so everyone could see photos that I took using my Sony H20 while on vacation in DC.
The Smithsonian National Zoo is free to go to - they have a wide variety of animals there, and they are very, very well cared for. The zoo also acts as a research area as well.

The zoo is on the red line, you can go down at the zoo stop. In our case, the hotel we are staying in was just a mile away from the zoo (around 1.6+ KMs) so we took a leisurely walk through the Adams-Morgan neighborhood. Although we only spent a total of 3 hours at the zoo (spent the time there while waiting for us to be checked in our room at the Normandy), it was definitely not enough. I'll definitely go back here on my next DC trip - whenever that would be. :)

Enjoy the photos, but if you plan to use them commercially, please let me know and don't just steal them!

Mommy Panda munching on some bamboo

Asian Elephant

Duckie

Look, it's Timon!

Peekaboo I see you!!

Cuteeee!

Magilla Gorilla - amazing how they're like humans

Galapagos tortoise - can't wait to see you in the wild!

Another one of those bloggers that I've been following for a while. Finishing the Tim Ferris book and moving on to another non fiction, I picked this up from the library on a whim as I was looking for another book to read.

Suprisingly, I was very disappointed as soon as I read the last page of the book. Here, I thought it would be like a very inspiring book about how to not conform but some of the points in his book don't apply to me and my life choices, and most of it just revolves around him.

Sure, there's some points that I like about his book, but in total, 99% of what is in the book was just a repetition of his experiences, and 1% was where you can get to reflect on your own life choices. Hmmm bad ratio, if you ask me.
Like, how many times do you have to say your story about how you went to Africa because you read about this doctor who gave up his practice in California to live on a ship and help those in war torn African countries? He practically related the story like 5 times in the book.

What I also liked was there were loads of feedback from other book authors whose titles I may just check out after my non-fiction pile to read is done.

I won't stop reading Chris Guillebeau's blog - that is still very inspiring, but I would just recommend anyone who would want to pick up this book to just borrow it from your library (which I did, thankfully) and not waste precious $$$ on it. You could get most of the content free on his website anyway - www.chrisguillebeau.com/3x5

Book borrowed from: Jacksonville Public Library
Rating: 1.5/5

“John L’Heureux has built a gripping story of love, genius and betrayal.”

--JM Coetzee, Nobel Prize for Literature, Booker Prize Winner

“Deeply enjoyable, The Medici Boy soars like an operatic aria, before breaking our hearts.”

--David Henry Hwang, playwright, M. Butterfly, Chinglish

“L’Heureux’s is certainly one of America’s greatest living writers. I’d put him in the top ten...And now he’s come out with his first new novel in ten years, The Medici Boy, and it’s a masterpiece, the most ambitious, beautiful, and complex novel I’ve read this year…”

--David Vann, Financial Times of London

Astor + Blue Editions is proud to release perhaps the most passionate work of master storyteller, John L’Heureux, in The Medici Boy [ISBN:  978-1-938231-50-6 (Hard Cover); ISBN: 978-1-938231-48-3 (E-book); US $25.95; Historical / Literary Fiction; 346 Pages, April, 2014].  Described as “one of America’s greatest living writers” by the Financial Times of London, L’Heureux returns with a long-awaited new historical fiction novel; the result of years of research—backed by a Guggenheim Grant—on location in Europe.

In this well-conceived, historically accurate rendering, the Renaissance worlds of art, politics and passion collide. With his distinct style and rich, sinewy narrative, L’Heureux ingeniously transports the reader to Donatello’s Renaissance Italy—directly into his bottega, (workshop), as witnessed through the eyes of Luca Mattei, a devoted assistant.

While creating his famous bronze of David and Goliath, Donatello’s passion for his enormously beautiful model and part time rent boy, Agnolo, ignites a dangerous jealousy that ultimately leads to murder. Luca, the complex and conflicted assistant, will sacrifice all to save Donatello, even his master’s friend—the great patron of art, Cosimo de’ Medici.

John L’Heureux’s long-awaited hardcover delivers both a monumental and intimate narrative of the creative genius, Donatello, at the height of his powers. With incisive detail, L’Heureux artfully renders the master sculptor’s forbidden homosexual passions, and the artistry that enthralled the leading—and competing—powerbrokers of Renaissance Florence: the Medici and Albizzi families. The finished work is a sumptuously detailed narrative that entertains while it delves deeply into both the sacred and the profane within one of the Italian Renaissance’s most consequential cities, fifteenth century Florence.

###

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award-winning poet, novelist, and short story writer, John L’Heureux has taught at Georgetown University, Tufts, Harvard, and (for more than 35 years) in the English Department of Stanford University where he was Lane Professor of Humanities.  There he received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and earned it again in 1998.

A prolific writer, L’Heureux has written more than twenty books of fiction, short fiction and poetry.  His works have appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Harper’s, The New Yorker, and have been included in dozens of anthologies including Best American Stories and Prize Stories: the O. Henry Awards.

John L’Heureux has twice received writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and in 2006 he was awarded a Guggenheim Grant to do research for The Medici Boy, his new novel.

He is retired and lives in Palo Alto with his wife Joan.

###

You can check out the cinematic book trailer in the link below:

http://youtu.be/cqY4isZMjlI

 
 Also, this book has got some press from the Washington Post: 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-world-the-medici-boy-by-john-lheureux/2014/05/04/82984268-cf1c-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html?wprss=rss_entertainment

Do check it out when you can! 

I picked up this book on a whim from the library. It was finance week and it was one of the featured finance books. I first looked at the book and noticed Ali Velshi - he hosted a CNN business show way back when I was living in Manila and I used to watch said business show everyday.

What can I say about this book? Not much. I read it within a week, it was quite thin at around 170+ pages. It was full of tips on how to speak money with your partners, how to prepare for university/college, how to manage your portfolio (invest, invest, invest) and prepare for retirement.

The beach - although you can't swim there

Travel, for me, is a drug that keeps me moving. It keeps my mind sharp and alert - by making me want to explore more, find more places (which the internet had made it very easy to do), and just know more.

In this post, I focus on Cumberland Island National Seashore. I initially learned about this place from a colleague of mine when I first moved to America. However, he did not say there was a tour. My persistent research showed me to this website:
http://www.nps.gov/cuis/index.htm

**More after the jump -- click on the title link to get to the full post**

Ok, imagine you can only work for four hours a week and the rest of the time, you can do whatever you want. Would you like that type of life?

That is the main reason why I picked up this book in the first place. It was early 2013, and I was hit badly by the travel bug. I had been backpacking for 2 years and really, really wanted to find a way to escape the desk job and find a way to create other income streams so I could travel the world, which is a great passion of mine.

I first bought the book when Fully Booked in Alabang opened. I searched long and hard for it and was thrilled when it was available - it was pricey (in Pesos) but I bought it anyway.

I started reading the book... only, I had to leave a few months later for a new life in America. As the book was quite bulky, I had to leave it at home - only to reunite with it when I borrowed it from the Jacksonville library (YAY).

So, the concept of the book is simple, the New Rich, as the book calls, mostly wants you to look for ways to become more productive by eliminating, automating (or outsourcing), and batching tasks. And for employed workers, to negotiate a remote working agreement so that you can go ahead and live elsewhere while keeping a steady source of income in your pocket.

It also explains the concept of mini-retirements, where you go stay in one place for a while, 3 months, 6 months, however long it takes, before moving on to another place. Every time you move to a new place, a new series of challenges would ensue: how to adapt in the new environment, how to find new friends, and how even the most mundane tasks you do back home are so much different abroad.

Book also provided suggestions on what to do after you have let go of the 9-5 grind, and the main point was continuous learning - which I totally agree with. This is the reason why I keep reading books and travel! Nothing fills up the mind more with ideas of where to go next, and what to do in a certain place (like learn a language and soak up their culture).

The book also warns us that too many options can lead us to become unproductive - as we spend a lot of time mulling over certain decisions, this would mean our attention is somewhere else, and attention is important for us as it consumes our time. It all ties up!

I loved this book - one of the reasons why I have two copies, one of which I'll probably give away to a friend who may need this as well. I have taken a leap - although not the same one as Tim did, but I managed to move to two different countries c/o my company, enabling me to get the best of both worlds (staying employed & living in an entirely different continent from where I used to live in).

Do get a copy of the book and apply some of what's there - I suggest writing down your action points and goals so you could always take a look back at what you've written and see if you did manage to reach your goal.

Rating: 5/5
Published by: Crown
Book borrowed from Jacksonville Public Library.

In my "winter" outfit

Last November 2013, I had a chance to go to South Carolina for a weekend trip. It was a nice, pleasant time to go - and of course, it would tick off one State in my goal of visiting all 50 states in the United States.

In this travel blog, I feature Magnolia Plantation - this used to be a plantation in the old times (yes, where the slaves were, farming for their masters) but has now been opened to the public who want to tour the massive grounds.

Lovely autumn scenery while hiking - look at those leaves!

There's three parts to this plantation: the swamp, the grounds, and the house. There's other areas too but those are the ones I went to so far. We got one free entrance ticket by donating a canned item to the plantation, but the swamp we had to pay an extra for, which was fine.

Even though it was freezing that day, I enjoyed the long walks, the nice colours of autumn, and the natural scenery of the place. For someone who came from a place that does not have four seasons, it is a welcome change indeed.

The Magnolia plantation house

One of the things I loved was the animal watching - there were all sorts of birds around the area. Ture, I'm not really a bird watching enthusiast but since they're there, might as well, right? I've never seen birds like that back home before: pelicans, ospreys, egrets, vultures, even. Back home, the most common birds are little ones called the mayas. In here, the most common ones I see on an almost daily basis are ducks. Also pigeons and some little birds that I don't know the name of.

Seeing a swamp is amazing too - I have never really seen swamps before. Apparently the swamp in the plantation has alligators living there. Unfortunately for me, no gator sightings this time.

And that pretty much concludes my Magnolia Plantation trip. To be honest, I've forgotten how to get to Magnolia Plantation. I think we just googled the directions from the hotel in Charleston and it's roughly around 30 minutes and we're there. Parking is free within the compound.  I've uploaded more photos below that you can peruse while I am out trying to create a new blog post.

Have a nice weekend you guys :)

I've fired up the purple Lenovo netbook because I had to back up some photos from my camera - I have an upcoming trip to Savannah, Georgia in a few days and I definitely need the extra megabytes of space that I could get.

Anyhoo, while I was looking through some old photos, I figured I might as well start uploading them one by one here in the blog so the miniscule number of people reading my blog can actually enjoy some of the photos I take, and not just it being saved down in a computer, being forgotten somewhere.

Most of these photos were taken during my first month in Jacksonville so these were all new to me.

First photo on the left - my employer, Deutsche Bank. They had recently expanded their operations in Jacksonville, FL and I managed to move from the Manila branch to the US. Yay!


 This photo on the left is the Cumer Museum - don't kill me if my spelling is wrong. Normally you have to pay to get in but the museum has free entrance every Tuesdays from 6pm until it closes at around 9. Great, huh? This photo was taken on a Saturday morning, while I was on my way to the Riverside Arts Market every Saturday under the overpass.

And yes, I did get to go in the museum on a Tuesday. There's a lovely garden area inside - they have an English garden and an Italian garden and it overlooks St John's River. A nice place to just chill out and relax.

Photo on the left is Tinseltown USA - the movie theater on the same street as the office and my apartment. While movies here in America cost a lot ore than Manila, my first time to watch a movie here was two weeks after I arrived. I saw Gravity and also saw a few other films here and there.

Normally I don't go to cinemas because of the cost, but it is good to treat myself every now and again.

So there you have it - a brief tour of Jacksonville for now :)

This is currently the place I love and I'll post blogs every now and again on places I've been and what I've been doing :)

It's a nice and sunny day outside in Jacksonville - and I realize that I have been posting mostly about my book reviews than concentrating on my travels - so, this is one of the first that I'm posting since I moved to America nearly 6 months ago.

Hanging out at the boat deck during the cruise

One nice November weekend, my boyfriend (then friend) asked me if I wanted to do a sunset cruise in Amelia Island - and I said yes, of course. Anything for a new experience right? I do not remember how much it costs but it departs from Amelia and tours you around the nearby river areas - where you can see Fort Clinch, and parts of downtown Fernandina Beach. Mostly it tours you around the Cumberland Island area - where there were wild horses roaming around.

Wild horses, you may think? Oh yes - they're really wild. They don't have an owner, and apparently they have a shorter lifespan than normal horses. Aren't they cool?

The sunset was bloody amazing - if you check on the photo I have uploaded below, you could just imagine yourself being in an African safari - it was just that pretty! Plus the reflection of the sun in the water was just so pleasantly nice.

Wild Horses at Cumberland Island - we were lucky!

On the way back to Fernandina Beach from the cruise of Cumberland Island, it got so bloody freezing - hey, what did I expect? It was November! I thought the weather in Jacksonville would be warm (Florida = warm weather = NOT) but I was proven wrong - it was definitely really cold. Maybe because we were in the water - and that's what made it worse.

Sunset view while on the cruise - amazing!

Getting to the cruise/Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach - I do not remember which tour company we booked the cruise from but just google Amelia Island cruises and you should be able to find one or a few companies offering this service.

Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach is around 40 minutes from Jacksonville and can be reached by I-95 or by A1A. To be honest, the drive down A1A is better and more scenic - you get amazing views of the water as you drive through the coast.

Other things to do - While waiting for your cruise, you could walk around Fernandina Beach, which is a quaint little town. You could eat at some of the local restaurants and shop at some of the boutiques they have. I do like some of their kitschy souvenir shops. They could be quite overpriced but you are supporting some local stores, and not chains! You could also do a short day trip at Fort Clinch - a Florida State Park, where there is a preserved 19th century fort and a nice long boardwalk. You could also walk down the beach while there. It is a nice and tranquil place to just relax and just spend the day pondering.

I had a really wonderful time during this trip - and it was only just the beginning :)