My Space. My Life

Do you remember during interviews they often ask you this question: “How do you see yourself in the company __ years from now?” Well, I;ve been asking myself that question lately. Not for my career but with my life. You see, I am quite a dreamer. Everytime I travel to and from work, I daydream about a lot of stuff. My dream house, my dream car and a whole lot more. Now I asked myself that question, and here’s my most recent answer. I am saying most recent because this may still change but I hope not too much. Anyway, I see myself and the husband living in our dream house with hopefully a kid of our own. Not too big of a house but just enough for our family. I see myself as a stay at home mom to my kid enjoying his/her growing up years and travelling with me and the husband. Sigh! I’m feeling all giddy tuloy thinking about that dream of mine.

If you are planning for a trip and don’t know where to go, may i suggest a place? A place with pristine white sand and deep blue waters. A place of luxurious accommodations. A place where you could really relax and unwind. Want to know where? Try the Riviera Maya in Mexico, and you will never go wrong. There are a lot of activities to do like scuba diving on the Great Maya Reef, the worlds 2nd largest! But if you will book and stay at Karisma, I doubt if you will want to leave their place. Imagine their Gourmet inclusive concept, perfect for food lovers served in sleek and sensual sit down locales and bars, a beach butler to cater to your needs. Beach beds with retractable curtains to give you a wonderful view of the ocean. It’s like staying at the penthouse of a 5 star hotel but on the beach! Just writing about it makes me want to hop on the next flight off to a Mexican-Carribean vacation!

My friend is going to Paris for a business trip - again. Gosh how I envy her! I would want to work for a company who would send me on business trips in the different parts of the globe! My friend says I should be careful with what I wish for as traveling often can be really stressful and tiring. I don’t know, i guess I love traveling that much so I guess these won’t bother me at all.

It’s funny though that after several trips to France, she is still asking me for suggestions on hotels in France. She says, the company would be paying for it but she sisn’t really need a super posh place as she will be staying there partly for business and partly for a vacation. She actually needs suggestions on hotels in 2 places. She needs a list of hotels in Paris where she would be staying first (and the longest) and she also needs suggestions on nice hotels too!

Did I say I envy her? Sigh. I wonder when I can visit France, I hope soon.

As I was going to work today, I realized I dreamt of every popular destination I could think of and never even thought of one close to our country’s history - Spain. The rich culure and the beauty of this country is just breathtaking. I’d love to see the Torre de Bujaco in the province of Caceres. It was used as a defensive bastion of the knights of order and was known as the Clock Tower during the 16th and 18th century. It is one facinating castle!

Another interesting place is the Muralla de Avila which is a series of walls enclosing the old military town, Avila. It’s outside has been lined by churches for tourists and locals alike. It would be a great place to do a photoshoot! If you plan to visit, there are several hotels in Spain that offers really great deals.

I would personally go for one of the quaint inns but if I am to visit all the wonderful sites of Spain, then a hotel would be the way to go. Maybe in one of the hotels in Barcelona, where one will find Museo Picasso. Or maybe I could stay in one of the hotels in Madrid, the largest city in Spain and visit the Royal Palace of Madrid. Ah, the wonders of Spain, the diversity of its culture, the beauty of the country. One of these days, I will visit you!

Since I have this dream of travelling to different places in the world, I decided to, once in a while, write about the places I want to visit. Just a disclaimer though, I am no subject matter expert. I haven’t been to these places (just planning to ). So please bear with me. If you have things to add, please feel free to do so

So I’m going to close my eyes and let my imagination wander to our destination today: Australia. I have three places in mind: Sydney, Darling Harbour and Melbourne.

Let’s start with Sydney. Sydney is a metropolitan area and is the most populous city in Australia. It is also Australia’s largest financial center where you can find the Australian stock exchange. Two of Sydney’s most popular tourist spots are the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. I would love to see the Sydney Opera House as my mother in law has been raving about it when she went there. It would also be interesting to note that the Harbour bridge is the widest long-span bridge in the world and the highest steel arch bridge according to the Guineess Book of World Record. I am getting excited by the minute! I wish I was like Marlin and Dory of Disney-Pixar’s Little Nemo and just swim to Sydney but alas I’m not. But at least I get to stay at a Sydney Hotel when I am there.

Next stop would be a 20 minute walk away from the Sydney Opera house. Darling Harbour - one of the world’s great waterfront destinations. Darling Harbour is a great place to just relax and unwind. It has a lot of attractions like the Sydney Aquarium (can Nemo be here? lol!), The Powerhouse Museum and of course the Harbourside Shopping Centre. If you are already in Sydney, getting here is pretty easy, you can take a ferry or water taxi, by the Sydney Monorail or Metro Light Rail. But since I want to be where the action is, I’d probably stay in a Darling Harbour Hotel.

Let’s leave the Harbour for a minute and just go back there after. For now, let’s visit Melbourne. It is less than 200 years old and is a very modern city. It has a futuristic design which adds a fascinating mix of architecture. With a constanyly changing skyline, it is indeed a place worth going to. Melbourne is all about lifestyle so it is no surprise that it has been named the world’s most liveable city (according to an international poll). They have a notoriously changeable weather though but I’m used to that. Heh! So what can you see in Melbourne? There are a lot but I’d love to visit Melbourne Zoo and the Melbourne Aquarium. It would be fascinating I am sure. There’s also a Camera Museum! Hmm interesting! With all the many places to visit, I’d probably would want to stay at a Melbourne Hotel (at least for one night). And oh, If you are planning to visit, August 30 is Melbourne Day so there’s going to be a lot of fun activities there I am sure.

So let’s go back to real time. Sigh! I sure am including Australia in my next travel plans. Wouldn’t you?

We are going to Ilocos in July! Yey!!!  I’ve been wanting to travel somewhere for ages!  I think the last time the husband and I went out of town was March of 2005. Sheesh! 

This is exciting for me as I’ve never been to Ilocos - my mother in law’s hometown.  I can’t wait to stuff up on the Bacarra longganisa, go to the beautiful beach of Pagudpud, visit historical Vigan with it’s exquisite jars of clay, and most of all, take all the pictures I want! Finally a chance to practice taking pictures!  I’ve been cooped up in Manila too long.

 Now it’s time to save up some more for that trip!

Before anything else, I’d like to thank everyone who answered the mini-meme. Really loved your answers and learned a lot from them.

So, here’s my answer:

1. If you had all the money in the world, where would you travel (somewhere you haven’t been to before)?
Definitely Paris. That is my dream destination. Italy comes in a close second.

2. What about that place (/those places) draws you?
For Paris, it would be the quaint shops and the romantic feel of the city. For Italy, it would be the history and culture of the place.

3. When you travel, what is your usual purpose (i.e. shop, learn about the history, learn about culture, pure R &R, etc)?
Definitely learn about the history and culture of the place. Of course it doesn’t hurt to shop too *wink*

4. Give one travel tip.
I’m not much of a traveler. I love travel but I don’t have a lot of chances to do so. From my short travel stints, my only tip would be to pack only what you need.

Check out the comments on my previous posts and visit the answers of Buge, JennyL and Meeya. They shared great travel tips!

My cousin arrived at New Jersey, USA Friday. We got a call from him yesterday and how I envy him as he was telling us all about that wonderful city! More and more, my passion for travelling is being rekindled.

My imagination took on new heights as he told us about going to ellis island and seeing the statue of liberty. He was gushing about how millions of immigrants from around the world began their new lives in America. He said he felt like he was one of them lol! My cousin has the same wierd immagination as I do! We re both usually like that when we travel. We learn about the history of the place and we imagine being there during that time. Makes travel more interesting don’t you think?

Anyway, we sort of burnt the wires as he told us plenty of more stories about Jersey City. Talk about excitement! In a span of 2 days he was able to visit and explore a lot of places there. The Liberty Science Center, The Waterfront, The Central Railroad Terminal and lots more! By the time he ended his travel stories, I was on the verge of holding up a bank so I could get some money to go there instantly! I am insanely jealous of his trip! (Insert drool here!), aww how I wish I was there, taking in all the sights with my trusty camera. I swear, once I am able to travel, this blog will become a travel blog of sorts lol! Oh and if you were as curious as I was about Jersey City, this is a great site with wonderful information.

So with that said, let me leave you with a sort of mini-travel-meme:

1. If you had all the money in the world, where would you travel (somewhere you haven’t been to before)?
2. What about that place (/those places) draws you?
3. When you travel, what is your usual purpose (i.e. shop, learn about the history, learn about culture, pure R &R, etc)?
4. Give one travel tip.

Okay, so I am tagging Mia, Amore and Ate Jen but feel free to answer the meme if you want. I’d appreciate it if you’d leave a comment with the link to your answers . Who knows, one of you might be in for a small surprise!