travel

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Early Spring Asia Adventure (Parts 3 and 4)

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Part 3: Back in Manila and On to Cebu

It was Holy Week in Manila when I got back from Tokyo, and on Maundy Thursday, we went on a day trip to Tagaytay City for lunch with the nieces. It was more family get-togethers over Easter Weekend, dinner with another group of old friends early the following week, and another appointment at the foot spa before the beach resort vacation lined up later in the week.

Cebu City is the 2nd largest city in the Philippines and the destination for our 4-day beach resort vacation. After a brief hour flight from Manila, we arrived at the Bluewater Resort in Maribago on the island of Mactan where the airport is also located. The next 4 days was a flurry of sea- and pool-side relaxation, making sure to sometimes dabble in the art of doing nothing. Each day started with buffet breakfast at the resort restaurant that soon gave way to day trips of sightseeing and touring the local attractions, souvenir shopping, restorative and soothing massage at the resort spa, and taking in the varied flavors of the city at must-try local restaurants and the downtown Friday night food market. It was the prefect combination of a beach vacation with the amenities and offerings of a major big city, quite different from last year’s Boracay Island beach resort experience.

Part 4: Birthday Week

The days flew by and now it’s final week in Manila. It’s also my birthday on the 14th, and that kicked off a series of get-togethers and celebrations with family and friends for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. It’s really been the theme of this and every trip of mine to the Philippines: spending time with loved ones, catching up on each other’s lives and sharing memories, always over food. It’s always about making new memories to go over when we get together again in the future, and once again over food. It’s a delicious cycle, one that I can never get tired of.

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Early Spring Asia Adventure (Parts 1 and 2)

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[18 March - 18 April, 2026]

I spent a good month from the 2nd half of March till mid-April in the Philippines, with side trips to Japan and Cebu City, while staying in Makati, Metro Manila as home base. As usual, those days were filled with lots of get-togethers with family and friends, and as with most Filipino get-togethers, lots of food. Here is how I spent that holiday month, in four parts.

Part 1: Arrival and 1st Week in Manila

The first week was a frantic few days of family get-togethers, shopping, a haircut, and spa appointments. I also went to the Saturday weekend market, walked a 5K on a Sunday morning in the area business district, cooked the family dinner that same night, visited old friends in the neighborhood where I grew up, and went on breakfasts, lunches, and dinners with family and old friends throughout the week. I was trying to get as much of what I can accomplish that week, before I head to Japan the following weekend.

Part 2: Japan

After the first week in Manila, I traveled to Japan for the first time as a tourist, having been there many times before for business when I worked at Honda. It was a short 5-day stay in Tokyo, but packed with meet-ups with friends and former colleagues, sightseeing, shopping, and of course, eating.

Narita Airport, Japan

I stayed in a natural springs onsen hotel in Asakusa, a stone’s throw away from Senso-ji Temple, with its famed 5-storied pagoda, and Nakamise-Dori, the crowded and hectic shopping street leading to the temple. The hotel’s onsen was welcome relief at night before bed after a full day’s worth of walking and sightseeing (at least 20,000 steps every day!). My first couple of days were spent just enjoying the area, mixing with the large crowds of tourists visiting and photographing the temple complex, and sampling in the local cuisine at a matcha cafe, a taiyaki shop, a trendy coffee shop, and dinners of yakiniku and the best tonkatsu I have ever had anywhere. I also met up with Cort and Keiko who also happened to be in Japan at the same time, visiting Keiko’s parents in Nagoya, but at the time, staying at the hotel across the street from mine (actually, our meet-up was all planned for).

The third day, I took the train to Kamakura to see Harry and Junko, another couple of former Honda colleagues who now live in the area. It was a great day for sightseeing in the small, charming coastal city just south of Tokyo. Harry and Junko were the perfect hosts, and ensured we made the most of the time I was there. We visited several temples and parks, soaked in the near-full bloom cherry blossoms that adorned the city streets, dined on home-style onigiri for lunch, and enjoyed some craft-brewed coffee at a local roastery.

On my return to Tokyo, I did a little bit of shopping at Tokyo Station for some souvenirs (mostly chocolates and cookies) for the nieces back in Manila. I also met up with Cort and Keiko later at Ueno Park to view the cherry blossoms in that area, which are some of the best in Tokyo. Then it was izakaya dinner to end the full and busy day.

Cherry blossoms in Ueno Park, Tokyo.

The fourth day was quite rainy, and a perfect opportunity for indoor activities. Still hanging out with Cort and Keiko, we went to Ginza and spent most of the day there walking around, a bit of window (and actual) shopping, snack breaks, and lunch. Then it was back to Asakusa for a final evening of izakaya dinner and drinks before they head back to Nagoya, and I to Manila the next day. A final lunch of tonkatsu at the airport the next day capped my time in Tokyo, for now. I’m sure I will be coming back.

Asakusa Station, waiting for the train to take me to Narita Airport.

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Month-Long Vacation in the Philippines

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[1 February - 1 March, 2025]

Here’s a day by day video account of my recent trip to the Philippines during the entire month of February.

I originally planned this trip over the 2024 Christmas holidays but with cheaper fares during the dead of winter, plus a great excuse to avoid Ohio’s coldest month of the season, turned out this was, weather-wise, the best time to visit the Philippines. A couple of friends from Ohio, Cort and Keiko, joined me during the last two weeks of the month, which became the most jam-packed travel days of the trip.

The first two weeks were spent visiting and spending time with family and friends, all around food get-togethers, of course. The second half was spent with an island trip to Boracay Beach, a road trip north of Manila to the Spanish heritage town of Vigan, and finally, a visit up the mountains to the summer resort capital of the Philippines, Baguio City, where the temperatures were pleasantly spring-like cool, sans the heat and humidity of the city.

Already a month long, but still too short, it was a great reminder that a break from the craziness back home is just a “short” altogether 24-hour journey away!

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Spain Vacation

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[11-22 September, 2023]

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on this Blog, even as I try to continue to do so as frequently as I can on Today, but this trip to Spain warrants a bit more words than just photos or videos.

This trip was originally planned for December, 2021 but due to travel restrictions because of COVID-19 (remember that?), it’s been pushed back almost 2 years to just this past month. The wait was worth it, though, as this was a whirlwind tour de force of Spanish culture and cuisine all packed in a short, 11-day vacation. Plus, it was time spent with my lifelong best friend and his family, and this has been the longest time that we’ve spent together in a very long time.

Madrid was the epicenter of this trip, with quick visits to the Centro attractions: Plaza del Sol, Plaza Mayor, the Palacio Real (Royal Palace), the main shopping district of Gran Via, and the modern museum, Reina Sofia, highlighted by Picasso’s masterpiece, Guernica. An evening of tapas, churros con chocolate from San Gines, a bocadillo de jamón Iberico, and a trip to the Real Madrid official merch store, we hardly scratched the surface.

‘Guernica’ by Picasso, at the Reina Sofia National Museum, Madrid.

Madrid was very quickly followed by trips to Toledo, a nearby neighbor city in the same Castille/La Mancha province as the capital city, then to Andalusia for the cities of Sevilla and Granada, and finally to Basque country, notably Spain’s foodie capital, San Sebastián.

Toledo was the former capital of Spain, a UNESCO heritage city with no modern buildings. We took a Rick Steves-prescribed “city walk” that took us to the Alcázar (Army Museum), lunch at Plaza de Zocodover, a wonderful tour of the amazing gothic Toledo Cathedral, delicious snacks of mazapán treats in Santo Tome, and finally a visit to the El Greco Museum, all in a very long, very packed day.

Toledo, Spain’s former capital city, sits on a hill surrounded on three sides by the natural moat of the Rio Tajos.

Next, a high-speed train to the Andalusia region in Southern Spain, for the cities of Sevilla and Granada.

Due to our limited time, we were able to visit only two of the most highly recommended sights in Sevilla: on day 1, the Sevilla Cathedral, the 3rd largest church in the world, after only St. Peter’s Basilica and London’s St. Paul Cathedral; and on day 2, the Real Alcázar, the 10th-century royal palace built by the Moors that’s been a lavish residence for Spain’s rulers for over a thousand years. In between, we were also able to visit Plaza de España, a popular filming location for Hollywood hits like Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (Episode II) and Lawrence of Arabia.

The unquestionable superstar in the city of Granada is the Alhambra, the last and greatest Moorish palace and one of Europe’s top sights. Attracting over 8000 visitors a day (!), it was pure luck that we were able to get exactly the tickets we wanted just a day before our planned visit. Nowhere else does the splendor of Moorish civilization shine so beautifully. The Alhambra is a mind-blowing place, truly one of the most beautiful examples of world architecture I’ve ever seen.

Basque Country (El Pais Vasco) is the culinary capital of Spain, and San Sebastián is the culinary capital of Basque Country, with more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than anywhere in the world. Needless to say, I was in foodie heaven! Our three days in San Sebastián were a scandalous array of food adventures one after the other. From pintxos and raciones of the most exquisite examples of Basque cuisine paired with the best local hard cider (sidra) and sparkling white wine (txakoli), finished with delectable sweet treats like Basque burnt cheesecake, hopping from bar to bar in Old Town is a serious physical sport. Mixing influences from mountain, sea, Spain and nearby France, Basque food is reason enough to visit this corner of Spain.

This vacation was definitely one for the books, a shining example of what world travel can be: a soul-filling immersion of local culture and cuisine, experienced with dear friends in the most beautiful places.

The following videos capture my most memorable moments of the trip, with all the sights, sounds, and tastes of these amazing 11 days.