December Travels

For us, December has really been a great month for travelling. For the past three years, we had been blessed with the opportunity to go on a trip during this joyous month.

2005 - Camiguin Island, Mindanao Philippines
2006 - Bali, Indonesia
------ Singapore
2007 - Hong Kong
------ Macau

But each year, we do spend Christmas here. There really is no place like home on Christmas. Aside from family and friends who warm our hearts, the Christmas Spirit can really be felt here. Though times may be hard, the atmosphere is really festive. Afterall we do have the longest Yuletide season celebration.

We hope to find time to organize the photos and post them on our blog soon. Looking forward to travel again on December next year or even earlier.



What other months are the best for travels and to where?

For a trip Camiguin, summer would be the ideal time to visit the place. Also, it would be great to be there for their lanzones festival. Just forgot what month that is. In December, we were not able to partake of the various fruits that make Mindanao famous because they were not in season.

Going to Bali, i guess, summer is also a great time to enjoy their beaches. But is their summertime the same as ours here in the Philippines? Even in December, it was hot and humid out there.

A December trip to Singapore is just fine. Orchard Road is full of Christmas lights and so are the shops. And just as great is going around in HongKong in December. The cool weather makes walking about much easier. But i guess their respective sale seasons are also something to be looked forward to. When are they?

Taste of the City 2

Tickets to "The Taste of the City 2"

Last December 6, 2007 (it was a thursday), various restaurants and locators in Taguig set up their booths inside the Tent in The Fort, also in Taguig. They had samples of their food ready for everybody to taste. It was to be a culinary showcase.

We got there at 7 pm and thought it was a little early. But since there was a crowd in front of the Tent already, we decided to go in. We presented our tickets and we were given a whole bunch of claim stubs. It was a good move to enter at that time, as there were just a few seats left unoccupied inside.

When we claimed our plates (you also had to present a stub to get them and give the different stubs at every booth thereafter), there were also a lot of people lining up so we decided to go ahead and sample the tastes of the city.

When we got to the first booth, we saw that there were only a few dishes there and servings were quite small. Well anyway, there were so many more restaurants who had set up their places, so we just continued on to the next one to have our plates filled.

We had to buy our sodas to go with our food and we had our "taste of the city". There were "hits" and "misses" with the food we got. And after the first round of savoring them, we looked at our stubs to decide where to go with our palate. With small portions given out, it was just really a sampling of the menu of the different restaurants. They were hardly filling. But there were more and more people gathered at the lines and more were coming in. We decided to go to the ones closest to us and sampled more food.

By 8:30 pm, the crowd was overflowing and organizers had to set up more tables and chairs. Even if there were a lot more of booths to visit, we decided we already had our fill. We just got one more stub and got our small cup of coffee to cap a great gastronomic evening.

Dolphins up in the air

Dolphins standing on their tails

The Dolphins and their Trainers

The Dolphins

View from the tents

Because of a slight drizzle, we moved to the tents where there were seats to view the dolphin show. Luckily, the light rain shower was over after just a while.
(Note the three dolphins up in the air after jumping from the pool).

Waiting for the Dolphin Show

View from the grandstand

Slight Rain

Rain Clouds forming.

There was a slight drizzle while waiting for the dolphin show to start. But this did not dampen our spirits. A little rain is good for us.

Pool Enclosures before the dolphin show

A view of the pool enclosures where the dolphins were scheduled to put on a show for Ocean Adventure, Subic visitors.

Ball Balancing Sea Lions

The Sea Lions

Seats were quite near the stage and its great for taking nice pictures.
(There is a sea lion show scheduled for Dec 2007 i think in MetroWalk in Pasig)

The Sea Lion Marine Patrol

Aside from the dolphin show; this was really a highlight of an Ocean Adventure visit. Be sure to check out the schedules. It was worth the wait.




The Sea Lion Show was truly enjoyable. (This is what Sentosa does not have). The Sea Lions were a delight and well-trained. The venue was quite packed as there were many local and foreign tourists. Kids and Adults were having a very good time.

Ocean Adventure's Animal Encounter Programs

The Park in Ocean Adventure

After our late meal, we went around the park inside Ocean Adventure. We still had some time to go before the scheduled shows.

Late lunch at Ilanin Bay Cafe

Since we arrived at the Ocean Adventure Park in between the scheduled shows; we decided to grab a snack (late late lunch) at the Cafe inside.

Ocean Discovery Aquarium

The Ocean Adventure Park in Subic is comparable to similar attractions at Sentosa in Singapore. In Sentosa, though the aquariums were not in the same vicinity as the dolphin show, a ticket purchase allows entry to both attractions.

The dolphin show in Subic was just as exciting and there even was a sea lion show; while in Sentosa there was none when we went there last December (2006). The aquariums however leaves a lot to be desired. This is where the Ocean Adventure Park can greatly improve on so the Ocean Discovery Aquarium can be an attraction in itself.

The Ocean Park in Manila (at least the Oceanarium part) is scheduled to have a soft opening this Decmber 15, 2007. Hope to visit it soon.

Ocean Adventure Schedule and Program Description

We got in early in the afternoon. Entrance fee was around PhP 500 per person i think.

To Ocean Adventure

After a wonderful time at the Zoobic Park and its different attractions; we set out for the other highlight of our Subic Trip; the Ocean Adventure Park. So after asking for directions, going on for several more kilometers and looking for some signs, we found it.