By Berniemack Arellano, on August 24th, 2011%
To go where no man has gone before... Traveling has become one of the increasing hobbies of every Filipino nowadays, thanks to cheaper airfare and greater accessibility. Of course, one seeks the adventure, exploring new horizons, cultures, environment and experiencing fun at the same time.
 In traveling, there are risks. Read the signs before venturing out into the unknown For most young viajeros and viajeras, fun and adventure is always entailed with every new destination they get through. And for some people, “fun and adventure” may also mean leisurely “making love to their partners,” or straightly speaking—“have sexual intercourse with someone.” That’s thrill and adrenaline rush rolled into one. Of course, it might get involved with having to “play all the night with that ‘unknown’ someone.” Making love in Boracay or Puerto Galera or anywhere with an unknown partner may just bring you somewhere in the dark, rolling in the deep, and probably would end up as a nightmare instead.
Continue reading Travel Safely: Travel and HIV Awareness
By Berniemack Arellano, on August 17th, 2011%
Morning approaches in the highlands of the T’boli people. The lake was placid and the air was cool. The fog hugs the ground and the water surface and the canoes make ripple of the lake’s serenity. Hay paradise…Psst Marc, bugtaw na! Lakat pa ta sa lotus pads sa Pag-asa! (Marc, wake up! We’ll be going to the lotus pads in Pag-asa). We jump started our morning right in Lake Sebu, as Marc of Explore Iloilo and I had a mission that morning—to seek the fabled lotus gardens of Lake Sebu, the flower mostly associated with the T’boli people, other than the t’nalak cloth and the brass bling-blings they have.
Continue reading A Bloom of a Hundred Lotuses of Lake Sebu
By Berniemack Arellano, on April 26th, 2011%
 Google Mapmaker Ever since I was a kid, I held fascination over maps. I buy maps—err; I let my parents buy me some maps. From the cheapest school maps to book atlases perhaps. Geography is my favourite subject in school. This is where you get to memorize the provinces of the Philippines and its capitals, per region, their culture and history. I sleep with the old Manila book maps back in the 1990s. I bring them at school. Maps have been my obsession-seeing places, imagining places and even memorizing the way how to get there. In other words, GPS has been programmed already since the 1990s, hehe!
Maps have given me comfort. It is one way to see the world—for me. Atlases at least gave me some glimpse. Yet it’s not enough. Postcard perfect photos, very shallow write-up, outdated facts and not so detailed maps were the limitations of these. Internet back then was still very limited and expensive—and was turtle slow if we compare it on today’s standards. So, I just go to the library and browse every atlas or any other books relating to culture, history and geography of the places. I’m not also that rich to go to Disneyland or Paris or NY…these were my humble flying carpets.
Continue reading Draw, Explore, and Serve the People: Mapping the Philippines and I
By Berniemack Arellano, on April 6th, 2011%
Most of the Philippine travel blogs are written in English, and some in Filipino and other vernacular languages of the republic. Understandable enough since these are the main modes of communication here in the country and the rest of the world. However, I ought to think of something different. Something that is “not normal.” How about writing your travel experiences in Spanish?
Hence, ViajeroFilipino.com came into my mind-the Spanish sister of HabagatCentral.com.
Continue reading A Filipino Travel Blog in Spanish
By Berniemack Arellano, on March 18th, 2011%
 The official yet may not be the final logo of Pilipinas Tara Na At first glance, I thought it was some sort of a Grade 1 to 4 textbook cartoons. Second, it does look like Batibot or some sticker from the 1980s. But look closely, its Department of Tourism’s “Pilipinas, Tara Na” (en. Philippines, let’s go! | es. ¡Vamos Filipinas!) official logo! Lo and behold, after the failed “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” fiasco, it seems that we have another logo going down the drain!
Continue reading Give that Pilipinas Tara Na logo to DepEd Instead!
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Travel Safely: Travel and HIV Awareness
To go where no man has gone before...
Traveling has become one of the increasing hobbies of every Filipino nowadays, thanks to cheaper airfare and greater accessibility. Of course, one seeks the adventure, exploring new horizons, cultures, environment and experiencing fun at the same time.
In traveling, there are risks. Read the signs before venturing out into the unknown
For most young viajeros and viajeras, fun and adventure is always entailed with every new destination they get through. And for some people, “fun and adventure” may also mean leisurely “making love to their partners,” or straightly speaking—“have sexual intercourse with someone.” That’s thrill and adrenaline rush rolled into one. Of course, it might get involved with having to “play all the night with that ‘unknown’ someone.” Making love in Boracay or Puerto Galera or anywhere with an unknown partner may just bring you somewhere in the dark, rolling in the deep, and probably would end up as a nightmare instead.
Continue reading Travel Safely: Travel and HIV Awareness