For young professionals working tirelessly five days a week, there has to be some sort of stress buster and a much needed get-away to escape from the daily grind and give their soul and body a refreshing respite. Sometimes however, going out of town can bring more stress, with traffic and travel snafu getting in the way. It's therefore understandable when these 20-something hard-workers choose to spend their...

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It was summer of 2010 when I first saw this beach. I was on top of a hill overlooking a gorgeous seascape. I instantly fell in love with her beauty and I promised to myself that I'd go here next time I go home. But it wasn't until April of this year that I got to see her up close. A relatively short visit but a very memorable...

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Some provinces in the Philippines still practice a traditional ritual that turns young boys into real men. In Romblon, we call it 'paltak', a circumcision rite that involves the use of sharp knife to cut the foreskin of a boy's jewel, pulpog (beating) style. I didn't know that it's slowly being eradicated until one sunny day in April when I went hiking to the mountain to visit a local...

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There has been talk about Carabao Island being developed as a world class tourist destination. Rumor has it that the Air Transportation Office under DOTC has already greenlighted a multi-billion project which includes the construction of an international airport on the island. They say that such an airport will feature state-of-the-art facilities which promise to accommodate even big aircraft doing international flights. If all these were true, then...

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Said Beach As the motorcycle we were riding on snaked its way down a one-laner path to Nausa, a small village in the northern part of Carabao Island, I asked our friendly and accommodating guide, Kuya Darwin why Hambil took its moniker after the country's national animal (even though I already knew the answer.) "This place was once home to several carabaos," he told us. "Funny, I don't...

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As kids, I and my cousins used to watch the flickering lights in the sea from the window sill of our grandmother's house while waiting for supper to be served. Lights coming from small fishing boats glimmered like small constellation in the sea, but it was the light emitted by old lighthouse that was predominantly visible from afar. It danced in the night in a slow, constant rhythm....

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