Category Archives: Travel
I am not sure if this ever happened in the history of our country but last Holy Thursday both the NLEX and SLEX had really bad traffic. This is the photo I posted in my previous entry where my family was stuck for more than hour just waiting to pass the SCTEX toll booth to enter Subic
And here was a news article with the same problem on the SLEX- even worse than the one in SCTEX. That is why it is always best to leave and come back ahead of the crowd or just do not leave at all during long breaks if you can avoid it
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Arrived in time for breakfast at Gourmet Garage!
Yummy beef tapa 🙂
Excited to see what’s new again at Gourmet Garage!
So nice to see Renato, Jules and Tita Tess in Subic and also Tita Yvonne all dining at Gourmet Garage!
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It’s a totally different world out there and it’s so nice to view our country from the air! Truly a blessing to be given this opportunity again. My first view was Solaire!
Mall of Asia beside Solaire
We have a nice skyline!
Hong Kong? 🙂
Port
TREES TREES TREES!
A house in the middle of nowhere
Anvaya Cove!
Ocean Adventure- there is actually a helipad by Ocean adventure so you can land near there
30 minutes from Manila to Subic – with extra tour of Anvaya cove 🙂
Going back from Subic to Manila
Manila Yacht Club
Royal Subic!! WOOHOO!
That’s Javier!!! Waving at us from Gourmet Garage!!! Bye Javs!!
The other part of the group took the car and it took them 6 hours to get to Subic since it was Holy Thursday. We passed by SCTEX to look and see what was happening. They said they were stuck here for an hour or more just waiting for the toll booth to enter Subic. So glad we took the heli and be able to save time! We went back when they had just arrived
More views from the air
Wondering who lives there
The church and school that sank during the flood in Pampanga I think – I forgot where this was
Up close
the school
More photos
Venice Filipino style 🙂
Smokey Mountain that is cleared already
The boats that used to transport the trash
Approaching Manila
I love this shot! I asked James to take a photo from the front of the heli- this is approaching Manila
Or is it NYC? 🙂 Beautiful skyline
Hong Kong? 🙂
Roxas Boulevard
Approaching airport
Thank you Lord for a safe trip!
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I should never have ridden that heli, I am enjoying it too much! 🙂 A friend, Archi Po, owner of Lionair, offered us a round trip ride, so we took the opportunity to take it to Subic!
Previous entry: My First Helicopter Ride April 11, 2013
They escort you from the gate to the hangar
Oh my gosh! It’s smaller than Tito Rob’s!
WOW!
There were many of this. James told me that this helicopter is easy to maintain just like a car which explains why it is popular
Boarding
Archi arrives to greet us
Thank you Archi!
Goodbye
We took off similar to a plane
Fits only 4
For more information, click below to go to their website:
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As soon as we arrived it was lunch time and Tito Rob and Tita Helen hosted lunch at the Clubhouse which served Filipino food. We enjoyed and hopefully one day we can come back, I want to try the food in the different villages 🙂
We bumped into a lot of familiar faces 🙂 Definitely in good company at Balesin Island
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And we finally arrived at the airport
We all fit in the Heli together with the pilot
We were greeted by Boly, the General Manager of Balesin. Dad and Mom know him because he is the husband of one of our Managers in Starbucks, Macy, who is based in Cebu
Plenty things to do in the island!
Beautiful landscaping
Clubhouse
Very interesting to meet Marco Diaz, nephew of Gloria Diaz and cousin of Illac Diaz. Marco was the one who developed the island and made it self sustainable. He told me that what he does is the same as what Illac does for the poor though he does it as a job and for resorts all over the world. He used to work for the Taj group
We did not go anywhere by land except to the club house for lunch and to this very beautiful and humongous Balete tree! Tito Rob made sure he brought us to see this. He told us a story about the Banyan tree in Hong Kong that was in between the Conrad Hotel and the Island Shangri-la Hotel. The Banyan Tree there is known to be the most expensive tree in the world since the two hotels had to build around the tree to preserve it. And Tito Robbie said that this Banyan tree in Balesin is even bigger than that one in Hong Kong
Only Smart network available on the island!
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I have been hearing so much about Balesin from friends. I am so happy I was able to visit and finally see this place.
Tito Rob is the expert as he has been here more than 30 times already. He is such a great ambassador of the place – he really promotes it to all his friends, and I am fortunate he is friends with my Dad and Mom who tagged me along! 🙂 Tito Rob made a good point that It’s only a 30 minute ride from the helipad ( located nearer home than the airport ) to the Balesin airport. Though a plane ride takes 25 minutes, the real time is longer because you have to go to the airport, wait to board, then board the plane. By the time you add up the time for all that – it would be more than an hour from stepping out of your house till the Balesin airport. Unless of course you are taking a private plane ( though you still have to drive to the airport ) 🙂
This is the island as you are approaching it – I was at the back seat of the heli so I could not take a better photo
The photos are in order of how we saw the island. I thought this was a great way to see the island since we had a limited time only to stay
We started approaching the airport
then we turned left to go around the island
That’s us flying over the island
Taken from their website ( Click below to go to their website )
St. Tropez
Still under construction – Costa Smeralda
Mykonos
The view of the island from the tip
Phuket
Bali
landing after the tour- approaching the runway
These are the photos leaving the island
The villas are the Balesin villas which is the Filipino part of the island
This is the Spa which hopefully I can come back to one day
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I try to avoid plane rides and helicopter rides because in reality I am scared! Though its hard to avoid plane rides, its easier to avoid helicopter rides 🙂 But a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to ride a helicopter for the first time ever in my life! I was so scared but I did not want to miss the opportunity. Thank you to Tito Rob and Tita Helen for making my first helicopter ride a very nice and fun experience. To me this is a blessing and I am grateful
It’s really a different view from the top! Now I understand why real estate people really have to go and look from above to be able to get a feel of the land and it’s surrounding areas. It’s just a totally different world from up there. Here are some shots I was able to take from the helicopter
Leaving Taguig travelling to Balesin by helicopter
Looks overpopulated with not much greens 🙁
But as you move farther- it becomes so green and beautiful
Wondering what this is…hmmm..
Tita Helen says her niece calls this area broccoli 🙂 It does look like broccoli
From the broccoli area we are now over the mountains
And then you will see the island of Balesin. Watch out for this in the next feature. Meantime, the next shots are taken on the way back from Balesin to Manila. Tito Rob flew higher this time and we went over the clouds
Caliraya as pointed out to me by Tito Rob
Pagsanjan
Pasig River
Entering the city
The NEW SM Mall in Taguig
American cemetery
The round about in Serendra before landing back in the helipad
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