Thailand’s famous Ayutthaya Ruins should’ve been our next destination in Thailand, but the cab we hailed offered to take us to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market instead. We readily agreed.

The boat fee was quite expensive, but we took it in stride. The first quarter of the ride was as touristy as it gets, with both sides of the banks being littered with vendors selling souvenirs. But everything changed once we reached the old market. We approached hawkers on boats peddling bowls of pad thai, noodle soups, and whatnots. But they were nothing once we tasted a spoonful of coconut ice cream. It was the best ice cream I’ve had. Ever.

Flying from Nepal to Thailand, we dropped our backpacks in Bangkok and headed to the resort town of Pattaya.

I was looking forward to the warmth of the sea after days of seeing nothing but the crazy-crowded urban cities and the misty mountains of Nepal. I was really looking forward to plunging into the waters of Pattaya and rinsing myself of the grime of the city. But alas, what greeted us on Pattaya Beach instead was a beach over-crowded with umbrellas and a very uninviting sea.

Oh well, it’s still definitely better than nothing. :)

Our last destination in Nepal takes more than five hours of very scenic bus ride from the city of Kathmandu.

Pokhara is so vastly different from the previous cities we visited in Nepal. No grand temples here, no brick-paved roads, no crazy traffic. It was simply us, Lake Fewa, and the snow-covered range of the Himalayas on the far horizon.

Alright, we were only able to have a little peek of the Himalayas due to the hazy weather, but the butt-numbing bus ride to this place was well worth it even just for the the lake and the very chill-out atmosphere. And oh yeah, the buff steaks at the nearby restaurants rock too.

Spending two days in Kathmandu and three more in Dhulikhel, we were now ready for Nepal’s cultural capital, Bhaktapur.

If Kathmandu is crazy and Dhulikhel is laid back, Bhaktapur is a mix of both places. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is filled with unbelievably old architecture; it’s like stepping into a time machine and going back in time, only thing is, the hordes of tourists and shops also step back with you.

The walled city charmed us so much that we decided to stay for four days.

After the maddening daze of Kathmandu, we decided to head out to Dhulikhel, a quieter town recommended to us by a friend. He said life here is more laid back. And he is absolutely right.

I guess Dhulikhel is really not on most tourist maps since we encountered only a few backpackers roaming its very quiet streets.

It has its own tourist spots, like the Namo Buddha, where it is said that Lord Buddha gave his life to a starving tiger and her cubs, and its old town bazaar, but what really impressed on my mind during our three-day stay here were its very friendly people. Even though the language barrier is very strong, it was absolutely no problem. Well, especially after four glasses of their home made chhaang beer.

If you think Manila is crazy, think again.

My jaw dropped to the dusty roads of Kathmandu the first time I went out of Hotel Ganesh Himal, our lodging of choice at Nepal’s capital city. The place is crazier than a chicken coop during feeding time. The streets, which are more like alleys, are dusty and narrow as heck, but the traffic is as hectic as can possibly be. Motorcycles, trucks, rickshaws, street hawkers, and pedestrians all battle for space with horns and honks like there’s no tomorrow.

But once you get past that, Kathmandu is a really beautiful place. It’s full of interesting people, curious wares, grand sweeping temples, and archaic architecture.

The cliché that goes that there is beauty in chaos cannot be more true than in Kathmandu.

I didn’t have any expectations when I booked a flight to Penang in Malaysia. The only reason I scheduled a flight was due to my buddy’s aunt who lives there.

Honestly, I thought Penang was too quiet for my taste. But that was before I found out about George Town.

It’s an 18th century district in Penang, a UNESCO World Heritage certified site, that houses beautiful old shops and houses. Think Vigan City, only instead of only having a single preserved street, it has a whole city filled with it.

It totally blew me away.

Soaring 1,482 feet above sea level, Malaysia’s Petronas Towers blazed like a cool beacon in the sultry Kuala Lumpur evening.

I have very little expectations from this city, having heard not a few good things about it from a friend. But impressions can be very personal. Kuala Lumpur took me by surprise as soon as I stepped off the bus that fetched us from the airport. The city is clean, the street food are delicious and the people are very warm and friendly.

The moral of the story, don’t judge a place until you’ve actually set foot on it.

I’ve read all about the famous Angkor Wat during my time as an architecture student back in the day. I was amazed at how grand it was and how intricate its details were.

After more than a decade, here I was, getting lost along its beautiful corridors with sunlight filtering through its intricate arcade. It is beautiful and grand, I can give it that, but it’s not as super awesome as I pictured it on my mind.

So while everybody’s going crazy about Angkor Wat, we were going gaga over Angkor Thom.

Christmas is fast approaching, and with all the tragedies our country is going through, it’s almost unbelievable that it’s just but a month away. But Christmas won’t go away, even with all that.

And as with past years, Makati City is once again making the evenings glimmer with the wondrous Ayala Christmas Lights and Sounds shows. I was able to watch the previous years’ presentation and it was by pure chance that I got to see this year’s.

It’s as magical as the first time I stood under those old trees, mouth agape at the thousands of glittering stars. Enough to make you forget—even for a little while—and remember that it’s still indeed the most wonderful time of the year.

I have witnessed Ilocos’ iconic windmills spinning during the golden hour before twilight. I have seen it twirl its white blades during a storm. And now, due to another day of postponed boat trip to Babuyan Islands and a miscalculation in time planning, I’ve now witnessed these giants spin their propellers against the evening stars. I was speechless, it was simply magical.

It was impossible to resist the call to visit Babuyan Islands, one of the northernmost groups of islands in the Philippines. Some say it’s the most beautiful in country, but I have to see for myself. The trip entails riding a grueling fourteen-hour bus ride from Manila to Claveria in Cagayan then transfer to a five-hour boat ride to the islands.

The island transfer did not happen though; we got stuck at Claveria due to inclement weather conditions. For the meantime, we checked out what Claveria has to offer. We made do with what we have.

I distinctly recall a recent conversation I had with some fellow travelers about Japan and how financially impossible it was for ordinary backpackers like us. Over beers we mulled how one traveler we know spent more than a hundred thousand pesos for a two-week stay in the land of sushi and Hayao Miyazaki.

Those thoughts were running in my mind as I was training my camera upwards, over blooming cherry blossoms and the colossal Tokyo Tower. I cannot believe that not a month has passed since that exchange and I am now actually in Japan.

MY UNENDING GRATITUDE GOES OUT TO SONY PHILIPPINES FOR MAKING THE SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE, POSSIBLE.

Calitang’s long stretch of white sandy beach at El Nido looks postcard-perfect at a glance, but underneath its crystalline waters hide a dangerous roiling threat. Its constant rolling waves look pretty fun; and indeed, riding and swimming against it is loads of fun. The games however stop when the undertow wrench you far out to the sea. Swimming towards the shore becomes futile as the waves pull you farther and farther; the only hope you have is to call for help towards the people at the shore.

My deepest gratitude goes out to Kuya Fernan, Rolan and Fred; our family wouldn’t have come out of that beach complete if not for their efforts.

Sunset view of Cadlao Island from an entirely different perspective. I stayed in Corong-Corong the first time I visited El Nido and I’m now staying at its opposite location.

Now I really have to beg your pardon. I know I already owe you guys a whole series on El Nido when I went there last September, but here I am again, posting another run of postcards from the same place. Backlog posts would really be the end of me.

One of the places I really look forward to visiting while in Davao was the Vanishing Island sitting in between Davao City and Samal Island. Like most sandbars across the country, the island only appears during low tide.

We only have a few hours before it gets eaten by the sea again and as luck would have it, we were greeted by nothing but flat gray sky as far as the eye can see. Good news for the ladies hiding from the sun, bad news for photographers looking for the perfect beach sky. But all was not lost. I found the starfish I’ve been forever on the lookout for, a rare six-armed wonder enjoying the overcast sky by the beach.

I have seen pictures of the reknowned Monfort Bat Sanctuary in Samal Island prior to our trip to Davao. I know it’s a Guinness World Record holder for having the most concentration of Rousette fruit bats in a given area, but it really didn’t give me that I must visit this place vibe.

Earlier, with nothing better to do, we decided to drop by the place before doing the requisite sunset shoot. And I’m so glad we did. The Bat Cave, as the locals refer to it, made me feel like a National Geographic photographer even for just a few minutes.

I honestly don’t know where to begin our Davao tour; I have absolutely no idea what to see, no clue where to go and no inkling what to eat. The only thing I know is Pearl Farm, one of the most famous resorts in the Philippines, is located somewhere in the area. That was the first thing I jotted down while planning the trip and that was also the first place we went to after our plane touched down in Davao City. I guess we ain’t gonna get a better welcome than this.

I swore off going back to Puerto Galera’s White Beach. It was more than six years ago since my first and last visit but I still recall the heavy and rowdy crowd, the unsightly shoreline filled with docked passenger boats and the chaos of the resorts fronting the beach.

But for some reason, here I am again. I guess one shouldn’t really base things on first impressions. Gone were the crowds and the docked boats, the resorts are still in disarray but it somehow looks better than what I remember. I never thought I’d say this, but Puerto Galera’s White Beach can be beautiful too.

While Cebu City's Sinulog and Kalibo’s Ati-Atihan Festivals were raging through the first month of 2013, a lesser known festival on a not so known part of Luzon was also making its own thunderous waves across the streets of Bulacan. Named after the town’s biscuit-like delicacy, Bustos’ Minasa Festival made its presence felt to the throngs of crowd who witnessed the intense acts these newcomers wholeheartedly delivered. Give this festival a few more years and I can definitely see it competing with the biggest fiestas the Philippines.