Happy Steps travel blog

Bring the outdoors into your home

Travel bugs are fond of going places, and for them, the best places for vacation are the beaches and mountains, where they can be with nature to have that much-needed R&R.

Those who are busy though and can’t have their vacation yet could use their creativity and imagination to bring the outdoors inside. How? Just make your home interior look like one of those log cabins in the mountains or a beach resort cottage, lol. Yup, bringing nature into your home can make you feel as if you’re on vacation.
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The traveling family

It’s still summer, and this means “escape” time!

Many families are on vacation right now, like our family friend who went to Davao to visit her hubby in his current work assignment. Needless to say, the whole family is there, this means the three children are on a holiday with them as well.

Last vacation, if I remember it right, the whole family was in Cebu, as the hubby was assigned there.
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Special Feature: Personal insights about travel by CB

Hi all! This is Part 2 of the Special Travel Feature on my good friend CB, as he answers some travel-related questions.

Do check out Part 1, Jordan tourist attractions (Petra, Dead Sea, Mt. Nebo and more) by CB, where he shared with us his memorable trip to the famous tourist attractions in Jordan in Western Asia. Thanks CB!

Q. Any personal insights about travel and going places?

CB: “Before travelling to a world destination of your choice, you must try your best to at least do the following:

- Do ample research about the famous landmarks before travelling because this is one of your primary missions there.

- Study the norms and culture beforehand as many countries have different ways of interaction and behavior. Continue reading… »

Dreaming of a Nordic cruise

During our family trip to Europe last summer, we visited my big sis in the Nordic country of Finland. We really enjoyed our trip and it was memorable for us having travelled all the way from the tropics to the chilly Northern part of Europe. We could have even gone to Sweden since it’s just a cruise away. Too bad, big sis had to settle some important travel documents so the Sweden trip didn’t push through. I hope next time we visit Finland, we can finally go on one of those cruises to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Continue reading… »

Travel during the holidays: presence is more important than presents

Nothing compares to being with our loved ones during holidays and important occasions, right? Thus, most of us would really take time to plan ahead for vacation by delegating tasks or completing projects before due date, and of course making sure to have enough financial resources, such as getting cash advance loans, for travel during the holidays. A trip or a visit to family and close friends during special events is worth more than just sending over some electronic greetings or material gifts. I couldn’t agree more with the saying that presence is more important and meaningful than presents. Continue reading… »

Travel Channel presents the Travel Bug Treatment Center: What kind of a traveler are you?

How do we observe and view the sights as soon as we step into a different city or rural area? Are we adventurous not only with exploring a new hiking trail but also when presented with a weird-looking dish? Do we consult the map or easily ask a stranger when lost? One’s travel personality and preferences usually come up when on a trip, particularly when visiting an unfamiliar place.

So, you want to play a little game and find out what kind of a traveler you are? The Travel Channel presents the Travel Bug Treatment Center at ihavethebug.com, where those who got the travel bug are given a set of questions and choices.
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Scenic city views of Bangkok from Baiyoke Sky Hotel, Thailand’s tallest building

There’s something magical about being high on top of a building and viewing the world below, seeing things so small, observing life from a towering perspective. Tall buildings stand proud among their neighbors and they usually offer observation decks or revolving floors for visitors to get beautiful cityscape views from above.

Bangkok’s cityscape as viewed from the Observation Deck at the 77th Floor.

During our family vacation in Thailand, it was such a memorable experience for me being at the top of the country’s tallest building, the 85-storey Baiyoke Sky Hotel in Bangkok. Currently it is the 42nd among the world’s tallest buildings. We had a grand 360-degree view of the whole city and beyond as we were at the Observation Deck at the 77th floor and the Revolving Roof Deck at the 84th floor.

At dusk, it’s fascinating to see the gradual lighting up of the streets and buildings below (view from the Revolving Deck at the 84th Floor).

Bangkok’s maze of buildings and expressways at night.

I just stared in awe at the tiny moving vehicles, buildings of different shapes and sizes, curved roads and expressways. I wished time would just stop as I indulged myself with such a spectacle.

Since we went up the hotel late in the afternoon, it was an added bonus for us as we watched the greyish afternoon skies gave in to the colorful colors of dusk and then we were treated to a lovely sight of the city’s evening lights below. It was truly an unforgettable sky-high treat for me.

Incidentally, there are those who wouldn’t dare go up on such high-rise buildings. Some would even feel dizzy just looking down below. I know somebody who went up the Empire State Building’s observation tower, just for the record, but he’s actually scared of heights. While others would be delighted with riding on glass-walled elevators, giving them a nice view of the city as they go up, some are not comfortable with it and would just close their eyes.

So far, the highest building I’ve been to would be the Baiyoke Sky Hotel. How about you? What’s the highest structure you’ve set foot on? Does going up a high building or tower intimidate or excite you? Now I wonder how it would feel to be high up the supertall skyscraper Burj Dubai in UAE, reigning as the world’s tallest man-made structure today.

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Due to SPAM, I have disabled further comments on this post. If you have something important to tell me regarding this post, just send an email to happysteps1107 at yahoo dot com. Thanks and happy travels!

First plane ride experience: boring, exciting or scary?

Hello all, this blog has been silent for a week (sorry for that) since we were in Cebu for my nephew’s graduation. Thankfully we live just few minutes from the airport, and the flight from Bacolod to Cebu is just 40 minutes. We arrived just in time for dinner at my big bro’s house in Opon.

Short distance flights are usually uneventful and boring for me. There’s really nothing much to do and there wasn’t even an in-flight magazine to while away the time. What made our recent flight to Cebu a different experience was this cute little girl:

My cousin Bea

It was Bea’s first time to ride on a plane and since I was her seatmate, I tried to make it a fun travel experience for her. I let her sit beside the window. As we were comfortably seated before takeoff, with our seatbelts fastened, she was smiling but told me she was a bit afraid especially as she saw the plane’s spinning propellers outside. So I told her that we pray first for safety and protection. After that I told her that later we will be seeing beautiful miniature views of the city and the mountains below; and we will be flying through the clouds as well.

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Gaining weight during vacation

I’m a bit hesitant to step on the scale these days. Yup, I’m guilty of overindulging myself with fatty and unhealthy foods during the recent holidays. Thankfully, I’m not alone as I read from most bloggers that they too have done some overeating during the holidays. This should not keep me complacent about my current weight though. Truth is, I really need to eat more healthy food and go back to my regular exercise schedule. No more alibis about how life becomes hectic during vacations.
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After the holidays

What a whirlwind of activities our family had during the holidays. We had a simple reunion for Christmas with my siblings and their families who traveled all the way from Cebu, Finland, Thailand and Prague. The opening of gifts was a memorable and fun event not just for the kids, but for the grownups as well. Aside from my brothers and sisters being here with their families for vacation, we also had some guests from Iligan, my uncle and his family who stayed with us for few days until New Year. You can just imagine how our house looked like with all rooms filled up and kids running around.

With all our guests gone now (except for the Prague bunch), it’s getting quieter with just few of us left. Sigh. I miss seeing the kids playing around, the usual family chitchats and the busy look of the kitchen (imagine having three cooks at once). I wonder when the family would be complete for Christmas again. Now it’s time for cleaning up the holiday storm that hit our house, and especially for taking off those extra pounds gained.

The joys (and woes) of travel

Travel bugs have this feeling of joy and excitement when they’ll be going on a trip. Here are some reasons why travel brings with it so much fun and happiness (you can add your own reason too):
- getting to meet new faces
- learning a new language (even just the basic or survival phrases)
- experiencing a different place and culture
- seeing street signs in a different language
- tasting native cuisines (and even exotic food!)
- shopping for local souvenirs and handmade items
- taking photos of the views (and having your photo taken as well)

…and so much more!
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A dream trip or a new gadget?

If you’re given a choice between going on a trip to your dream destination and buying a new gadget, which would you choose, granting that both options have the same cost and are not really part of your needs? Well, for travel bugs like me, the first option would be an easy choice.

I remember when we had our training in Italy, and I bugged my co-workers to spend a day in Venice. I also used part of my finances during that training to travel to nearby Vienna instead of doing a lot of shopping like my companions did. I chose to visit as many new places as I could because the training was just about three weeks and considering the costly airfare needed to travel from Asia to Europe, I just had to grab the chance to travel to nearby destinations and maximize my stay as well.

Similarly for kids, it’s just like a choice between a trip to a theme park or a new high-tech gadget such as a game console or the latest mp3 player. Hmmm…I wonder how my nephew who’s fond of playing computer games would react to this if being asked to choose.

Where’s the beach?

One of the things I miss these days is going to the beach. A weekend at one of the beaches here in Negros would do, such as Lakawon, Jomabo or Punta Bulata, but these days, most of my time is spent catching up with work. I need to work harder since the holidays are coming up soon.

Anyway, I hope to do more than just being soaked in the sea next time, maybe do some boating and going to the nearby marine sanctuary at Punta Bulata and see the colorful corals. The last time we’ve been to Punta Bulata, I was hesitant about riding a boat that would take us to the corals.

Would you ride in a boat such as this to go to a nearby island?

If only the boat wasn’t that small, I wouldn’t worry about being on it considering that the island destination is a bit farther though it can be seen from the shore. Hopefully, next time, I would be braver though.

Food tripping during vacation

I enjoyed my recent vacation, it was fun visiting my two sisters in Finland and Prague and especially playing with their cute and active kids. The only downside to my vacation was the weight I gained during my stay there. Thanks to my sisters who never ran out of ice cream, chocolates and other calorific foods in their refrigerators. Add to that was the food tripping and dining, tasting of local food and delicacies which made me think I had to enjoy them a lot while still there.

The day I arrived in Manila, the guard at the condo was glad to see me but I wasn’t happy with what he told me, “Ma’am tumaba ka!” (You’ve gained weight!). Ouch… then another friend of Mom commented the same thing. Another Ouch! And here at home my Aunt and another relative told me I needed to lose weight.
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Dear travel bug, where’s your next destination?

A traveler’s next destination could be any place and any distance from where he is based – within his hometown or a city few kilometers away, on a neighboring island or far-away in another continent.

Going on a holiday doesn’t necessarily mean high-profile vacations in world-class resorts. It could be a day trip to a friend’s cottage in a nearby district, or a weekend at a relative’s house by the beach.

The journey to the place is made even more memorable especially if it’s your first time to ride a small boat or an airplane. For some travel bugs, it’s the companionship that counts the most, enjoying relaxing moments with friends and loved ones. Going home we bring back the stories about the time spent out of our comfortable homes, when we explored the world in another place even if it was just few miles away.

Looking forward to the holidays

October is here again, another great month for us to enjoy! After our recent family vacation, I’m looking forward to working full blast and keeping up with some pending projects. My happy steps would probably just be here at home, but who knows, there might be some surprise trip coming up. We might squeeze some time though for an ongoing celebration just nearby – October is an exciting month for Bacolod City which is currently celebrating its 29th Masskara Festival from October 1-19.

I am not usually a big fan of this event though. Last Sunday we were at the public plaza and the crowd was just too much! The streets along the Cathedral and downtown were closed to vehicles and all sorts of vendors are lined up selling food, toys, clothes, footwear, and of course masks! Let’s see if we can visit Bacolod within this week and maybe I can take some photos as well. Anyway, we’re looking forward to my siblings coming home for the holidays. Yey!

Travel and the environment

Traveling is fun but unfortunately it also brings with it some disadvantages to the environment. Fuel consumption brought about by travel results to carbon emissions which consequently contribute to global warming. So what should travel bugs do? We love our Mother Nature, this is why we go on sightseeing tours to see its wonders around the globe, but we should also be responsible about how our travels impact the environment.

This is where the concept of carbon emission offset comes in; to do a positive environment-friendly activity to compensate for doing an activity that uses fuel consumption. There are companies and organizations where you can purchase carbon offset products. On a larger scale, it also helps to be involved in community projects for the environment and donating to environmental conservation causes.

Basic carbon offset activities at home are not really difficult and only needs a little change in our lifestyle, such as conserving electricity, recycling, waste reduction and management or buying eco-friendly products.

For industries, it is essential to have a waste audit implemented. Finding out which types of waste are produced, the amount of waste generated and many other factors. More information about recycling can be browsed over at the Veolia Environmental Services website, a company focused on recycling in Australia. Informative articles about recycling are being featured, such as how to implement a recycling system in your workplace which involves staff education. Other topics such as recycling tips, recycling for business, industry and home, and details about their resource recovery facilities can be browsed at this recycling Australia site.

A world of benches: Prague

Waiting for us by the roadside or under the trees, benches provide not just a breathing space for passersby to rest but a chance to initiate a conversation and meet new friends.

At a neighborhood in Praha 4, Prague

Whenever I see an empty bench, I would often wonder how many people have stopped by and rested on it, and how many brilliant ideas, endless arguments or crazy jokes have been exchanged among friends and strangers with the bench as their silent witness.

Thus I have acquired an interest in taking photos of benches recently. I have my virtual collection of benches captured by the lens and I’d like to share some of them in a series of posts.

A lady leisurely reading by the wall, Vyšehrad Castle, Prague

Inside the Vyšehrad Castle grounds, Prague

By the fountain at Justicní Palác, Prague

Bench around a tree, at Kutná Hora, another town few hours travel from Prague

Happysteps.net: Moving forward

Celebrating a blog’s birthday can be a similar experience to your own birthday. It brings the blogger to moments of pondering about where her blog is heading to, particularly with how to improve and make it better.

For instance, I have so many plans for happysteps.net and here are just few of them:

- Change my blog template. (This is an immediate need for me, especially as I look at my blog everyday and seeing a lot of space eaten up by the header image. But I am also here in Europe on a vacation so I had to make the most of my time here, right? I still want to visit some museums and galleries here in Prague. The new template will be given attention when I’ll be home next month.)
- Add an Entrecard top dropper list (this should have dofollow links) in the sidebar.
- Organize my categories (yeah, it’s a mess!).
- Add a favicon!
- Add a gallery page.
- Add an Entrecard list page (featuring my faves – organized according to fast loading sites, quality content, reciprocal droppers, EC widget above fold, blogs with top dropper lists, blogs featuring their advertisers, etc.)
- Register in more blog directories
…and so much more!

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Näkemiin Finland!

My 40-day Finland vacation will soon be over and it’s time to say bye to the cold summer weather, the midnight suns, and so much more. I am grateful for having stayed here in Pori at my big sis’ flat which is located right at the heart of the city, near the Eetunaukio Square which has an open stage where shows and programs are regularly held. On Tuesday afternoons, we can even hear the music of the brass band playing.

My stay here has added more to my travel memories such as having a picnic at the Kirjurinluoto Park and walking by the Kokemäenjoki River, dropping by the Central Pori Church (Keski-Porin kirkko), checking out the Jazz Street during the recently concluded Pori Jazz 43rd Festival, learning about Pori’s history at the Satakunta Museum, enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon at Yyteri Beach and shopping around some of the department stores and shops in the city center.

With niece Az and nephew Rj at the Satakunta Museum

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Work-related travel

Who’s in Uganda now? It’s none other than cutie sis’ hubby for work purposes. He will be staying there until first week of August yet, so that means a different work environment for him and… the chance to tour around. Anyway he was there last time and was able to visit and see some of the wildlife… so I think it really is an interesting country, yeah? I do hope cutie sis (with baby C) would also be able to join him when he will be assigned to Uganda again.
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When travel bugs mix business with leisure

One reason for travel is attending trainings, seminars and conferences – from small private meetings to large conferences. For instance, my first travel to Europe was because of a company training. After our classes, my companions and I would tour around the city and shop a bit or visit some tourist attractions. My officemates who were left behind would wish to have their names included in trainings so they can visit other places too. My Mom and brother were also able to visit Goa in India to attend an international business conference.
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Some travel bloopers

This didn’t happen to me but to my parents, cutie sis and her 10-month old baby C. They missed the airport shuttle and consequently their flight from Amsterdam to Prague. Anyway, it all happened because baby C needed to change her diapers (it leaked, ewww!) and as a result they were late. Thankfully there was another airport shuttle just in time and they were accommodated for the next flight. It was such a thrilling and memorable travel experience for them!
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On travel, computers and data security

Packing up for travel, sorting out my clothes, accessories, personal effects, toiletries, gifts and stuff can either be a breeze or a tough task depending on my destination and how many days the vacation or affair will be. Of course, my ever reliable HP laptop Pavi is always with me as my handcarry. Coming here in Finland though was a bit of a challenge since I had to bring with me some computer parts as requested by big sis – motherboard, RAM, video card, hard drive, wires, connectors and cables and yes those tiny screws. What I did was to wrap the motherboard, video card and RAM chips in paper and the hard drive in bubble wrap. Then I put them inside my laptop carrying bag with some clothes in between for some shock resistance.
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On jet lags and body clocks

My body’s circadian rhythm seems to be disrupted. Ugh… a case of ‘jet lag’ as they say when the body clock’s natural patterns (for eating, sleeping, hormone regulation and other functions) are out of sync as one travels to a different time zone. In my case it’s a 5 hours time difference, so it’s quite a lot of getting used to and it proved to be more challenging than I thought especially since I come from the tropics and find myself now in a Nordic country with cold outside temperature even when it’s summer. Brrrr! How I envy those locals wearing their sleeveless shirts and shorts while I wrap myself in sweater under the  sun.
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Happy steps in Finland

Finland, being one of the members of the Schengen states was easier for us (Dad, Mom, cutie sis, baby C and me) to travel from Czech Republic without needing a visa. Since it’s where my big sis is based with her family, going there from Prague was an idea we were toying about and we’re glad to have finally visited this part of Northern Europe.

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Finland is calling!

After spending a week here in Prague, I’ll be off to Finland today to visit my big sis and her family. This time, I won’t be alone to travel since I’ll be with my parents, cutie sis and baby C. My trolley bag is packed already. And yes… I am excited to go on another trip and be in a different place again. Big sis will be meeting us at Helsinki, then we will travel by bus to Pori where they live. My blogging life has been put on hold a bit. I’ve just been busy especially with the travel preparations but I will be posting more updates and photos next time. I’m wishing everyone an exciting week ahead.

My Manila-Prague trip

Over all, my trip from Manila to Prague was just ‘perfect’ and I am thankful for the little things that made it such a breeze.

The night before my flight, I was still busy trying to organize my luggage and bags while chatting with my cutie sis in Prague and finalizing things. With just few hours of sleep, I woke up drowsy and tired, feeling so tense and excited at the same time. After a quick breakfast, securing my techie bro’s condo (tidying up the place and turning off the main power switch) and getting everything ready, my companion and I waited at the lobby for a taxi to pick us up. I was a bit worried that I would be late for the 10:45am flight.
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I am one busy travel bug these days

Hello folks!

No updates from me for few days since I’ve been busy preparing for my Europe trip. I’ll be going to Manila early tomorrow morning, then stay there until my trip to Prague on Saturday. Am I that excited? I am thankful to God for making this trip possible especially the granting of my Schengen visa and for providing the financial resources.
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When geeks travel for techie stuff’s sake

In my previous post, I wrote about some of the usual reasons for travel. But how about going to another place for techie stuff’s sake? My sis’ geeky hubby traveled all the way from Prague to the UK driving his car with a friend just to get these items he purchased online – two Dell servers, minidisc car audio player, minidisc desk player and about 8 hard SCSI drives. LOL, these are yummy items for him! He had the purchased items shipped to his friend in the UK since the seller is also from UK, thus delivery was free. They had to bring a car since the servers were big and heavy.
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