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My Queensland Adventure

September 27th, 2010 | Posted in Travel Tales - (4 Comments)

Had it not for Romzkee who requested me to write about our recent trip to Australia, I probably would never have recalled our Queensland adventure and finally get it into writing (cos if the Australia trip isn’t blog-worthy, then I don’t know what is!). How awfully lazy and ungrateful of me when it’s the least I can do for Palace Adventures who sponsored our trip last July 29 to August 11, 2010.

Below is the entry I wrote for Palace Adventures which is really just a summary of our “ocular visit.” Just thought I’d share it in here, too. If you’re a close friend of mine, you know that there’s more to this entry than its positive, upbeat tone. LOL.

Read on!

I knew that my first time in Australia (and my first trip outside Asia!) was going to be special, but I didn’t expect it was going to be an adventure. And what an adventure it was! Australia is a very beautiful country that has a lot of surprises in store for its first-time visitors. You think the central business district is lovely? Wait ’til you see the beaches.

I was given a chance by Palace Adventures to visit the exciting places outside Brisbane. First stop: Hervey Bay.

I particularly loved how peaceful it was in Hervey Bay, a place often visited by backpackers from all over the world. We stayed at the cozy Palace Adventures dorm where we had access to pretty much whatever we needed.

A visit to Hervey Bay is incomplete without seeing the whales. And that’s what we made sure we didn’t miss: a whole afternoon spent watching and waiting for the humpback whales! These amazing marine mammals didn’t disappoint us. They kept going around our boat, bobbing up and down the water, and just strutting their stuff. Apparently, they love to do people-watching the same way we do whale-watching. It was like watching the Discovery Channel live!

Dolphins also came out to play that day (more like, steal the show).

Next stop: Fraser Island!

Outdoor camping is something I do once in a while, but my experience on Fraser Island was totally different. It was all new to me: meeting backpackers all the way from the other side of the globe, having a tour of the island aboard a 4wd, encountering a dingo, seeing bodies of water of different shapes and sizes, witnessing an actual shipwreck, and being on top of a cliff watching dolphins and whales play in the water below. And only on Fraser Island did I see stars that clear and bright!

Here are some of the tourist spots on Fraser Island we went to see:


Basin Lake


Lake Birrabeen


Champagne Pools


Eli Creek


Maheno Shipwreck


Lake Mackenzie

Now I understand why backpackers are raving about Fraser Island tours. Fraser Island backpacking is definitely an experience you won’t soon forget.

Last and final stop: The Whitsundays!

From the Brisbane domestic airport, we flew all the way to Proserpine to get to Airlie Beach. Just like Hervey Bay, Airlie Beach is also a well-known tourist destination where everything is quiet and simple. It is the place to have a relaxing vacation. Walking up and down the Main Street, having a cup of joe and freshly-baked sausage rolls at Brumby’s, enjoying free wifi at McDonald’s, bird-watching at the man-made Airlie Beach Lagoon, and strolling around town via the Bicentennial Walkway are just some of the carefree things we did. The weather is just perfect even at winter: not too hot, not too cold. After spending two days in Whitsundays, I can definitely say that it has become one of my favorite places.

For a tourist like me, it’s a must to go sailing in Whitsunday Islands, the Abel Point marina being the departure point. This is to see first-hand the lovely scenery of Australia’s Queensland coast bordered by the Great Barrier Reef. It is admirable how the natural beauty of the beaches are being preserved making the group of Whitsunday Islands a national park.

We went sailing on the beautiful sailboat called “Waltzing Matilda” and I gotta say, the Waltzing Matilda has the friendliest crew! They made our stay in the boat very comfortable. And the food prepared for us was just exquisite, I’d love to go back just to enjoy it again. We sailed from one point to another to go snorkeling or just chill out on the beach — it was great time to kick back and relax.


Spectacular view of the Whitehaven Beach


Hill Inlet


The course we took: Abel Point → Dumbell Island → Esk Island → Tongue Bay → Airlie Beach


The Whitsunday Islands tour has made me a happy tourist!

Thank you, Palace Adventures, for the tour of a lifetime!

There’s a Kuya Kim in all of us

August 21st, 2010 | Posted in Travel Tales - (5 Comments)

After posting my favorite photo of me with Bentley the koala taken during my recent trip to Australia, I was reminded of my other photos taken in different places that I also wanna share. When traveling, having pictures taken with animals is just as common as posing in front of historical sites and famous tourist spots — especially if they are endangered and are not easily found elsewhere. Hee. View my Matanglawin moments below! :)

The endangered Tarsier found in Bohol, Philippines

Squirmy Squirt in Tanjung Benoa, Bali

Ack! I almost died. 0_0

Pagasa's long-lost cousin

Monkey business in Uluwatu, Bali

Shark attack at the Siam Ocean World in Bangkok

Aboard elephant named "Tombun" in Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Tigers in Thailand make great pets!

Kangaroos in Brisbane, Australia

And... my fave picture with a koala at the Koala Sanctuary

I hope I’d have the chance to see more not-so-common animals around the world to add to my Matanglawin Chronicles. :D

“Inception” is Possible

July 21st, 2010 | Posted in Entertainment - (5 Comments)

(Warning: semi-spoilers ahead!)

So I saw Inception two nights ago, and just like the rest of Leonardo diCaprio’s movies, this too blew my mind away. I read an interview article wherein Leo mentioned that he was fortunate to have the opportunity to choose the movies he does. And judging by the movies he has made in the last few years, we can definitely say that he’s got taste. The Departed, Blood Diamond, Shutter Island are among the best I’ve seen recently. And his latest movie, Inception, is just as mind-boggling and exciting.

I found the movie intriguing because I, myself, am a big dreamer – literally. I dream almost every night. Most times they’re vivid enough that I can tell people the details of what I dreamed about; and sometimes they’re not that it causes me to spend a few moments each morning “digging deep into the recesses of my mind” to remember what my dream was about (srsly! it stresses me out, lol.). And as for “Inception”, I think I’ve done it to myself once.

Believe it or not, I mastered driving in my dreams before I did in my conscious state. When I was maybe 14 or 15 years old, I got obsessed with driving. For a time, it’s all I could think about — that I must learn how to drive. My dad and my brothers taught me the basics, and they did make me practice from time to time, but I get too scared when I’m on the road, especially a busy one. Once while practicing, I halted and froze in an intersection! The cars behind me were honking loudly while there I was, panicking behind the wheel, not knowing what to do next. Good thing someone was there to remind me to calm down. I got out of there alive, but barely. Lol.

Even though fear took over me, my desire to learn was more intense that I had to do some improvisation. So I learned how to drive in my thoughts. And because I’ve been thinking about it too much, my subconscious of course joined in the fun. And so, for weeks, I practiced driving in my dreams. Yes, while I was asleep! In my dreams, I usually wasn’t driving an ordinary car, but a monster truck complete with those huge wheels! (Go figure.) I would take out the truck from the garage, drive around the city, and when I was done cruising in it, I would drive it back home. The details of my dreams felt real — from turning the keys in the ignition, to shifting gears, balancing the pedals, turning corners, driving in reverse, and parking! My mind was responding accurately to what I was seeing in my dream: the other cars and jeepneys on the road, the pedestrians crossing the street, the sidewalk, and other obstacles.

After some serious practicing (in my thoughts and in my dreams), the fear I had when I’m driving went away. It’s like I suddenly got used to the chaos in the streets that it didn’t bother anymore. I was able to remain calm and do my thing to get from Point A to Point B. Then one day, I was able to drive on my own, for real this time, without supervision. And it was the greatest feeling in the world! At that age, at least. :D

Cobb: “The seed that we planted in this man’s mind, may change everything.”

How silly of me trying to relate my story to the movie Inception, HAHA!! The way I learned how to drive is of course not like what happened in the movie, but I just found a slight connection in there somewhere and used it as an excuse to tell this story. LOLLL.

Obviously, the movie is just fiction, but it does prove something that is real and true: that the mind is so powerful that it can enslave us in so many ways.

I’m mentally tagging Inception as one of my favorite movies. It’s a visionary masterpiece! Looking forward to Leonardo diCaprio’s upcoming films. And Ellen Page’s, too. Good job, June-bug! :)