Five Things That Made Me Fall in Love with Ilocos

There are some places that, when you visit them, you fall in love with them and leave a part of yourself behind. Maybe because of the experience, because of how it looked, and how it felt. Maybe because of its history or its scenery. When I went to Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur last month, the tour package included a lot of stops in different places, but there were certain places that I liked the best and would love to visit again should I find myself once more in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur someday.

How I Fell in Love with Travel

Most people fall in love with travel on the first trip that they take away from home. Kids who go on camping trips that are destined to change them forever. Who go to Disneyland or DisneyWorld or what other form of Disney there is and enjoy the delights of their childhood while screaming from the top of their lungs as the roller coaster whisks them from one spot or another in an exhilarating, dizzying, adrenaline-rushing ride. Or teens. Teens who are off on a school trip or any other trip where they get to volunteer rebuilding a school or a church. It might not be to another country, but a one-week venture to some place where the sights, sounds, and smells are so different from what they know to be home. Others are already adults when they take that first step into the unknown. Perhaps it is to visit a relative or family members. Perhaps they finally decided to take that long vacation their best friends have been convincing them to take. Perhaps they want to see what is this fascination with flying and travelling that they keep hearing everyone talking about.

Not so with me.

Why The Hobbit (and Its Lessons) Make My Life Wonderful

Photo from here.

It all starts with a wee little man embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. Bilbo Baggins, certified Hobbit (a race of little people from the wonderful fantasy land called Middle Earth) and Peaceful Person gets the surprise of his life when a wizard storms into his door and declares him to be the fourteenth member of Thorin and Company, a band of dwarves with the mission of taking back Erebor, the once-majestic dwarven kingdom that has fallen into the hands, er, claws, of a dragon. Imagine Bilbo's bewilderment and protests as he declares himself unfit—and disinterseted—in such a venture. But curiosity and something else—perhaps a desire to see the world, to step out of the ordinary confines of a day-to-day life?—has him running off to join the dwarves.

First Experiences: "On My Way Home" Tour Manila (Pentatonix)

First experiences are quite the thing, really.
First time to attend a "non-sectarian" (as my friend put it), non-choir concert.
First time to watch Pentatonix (whom I have great admiration for).