Celine's Life Adventure

This post is first of my PH vacation series: Day 0 of PH Vacation . Valentine's Day at Vancouver International Airport Day 1 of PH Vacation . Time with Family Day 2 of PH Vacation . Confirmation and Time with Friends Day 3 of PH Vacation . Errands Day 4 of PH Vacation . Interview and Ocular Day 5 of PH Vacation . High School Friends Day 6 and 7 of PH Vacation . Jomar's Hometown Day 8 of PH Vacation . Food and Pre-Cana Seminar Day 9 of PH Vacation . Last Day I'm sleepy. I'm writing this in the International Terminal of Vancouver International Airport (YVR) while we're waiting for the boarding of our flight to Taipei. We will have a transfer there for approximately 1.5 hours before our flight to Manila. Waiting near our boarding gate Why we're going back? We're going to Manila to organize and finalize our Catholic wedding in the Philippines in July. As you already know by now, Jomar and I are already married in Canada but we want to be bl

Ever since moving to Canada, I have not experienced dipping my toes in salty water. I also know Philippines has the best beaches in the world so I really wanted to experience the beach before going back to Canada. We decided to go to Anilao, Batangas. Ms. Myna and Mitch arranged the place and itinerary. Mama Chelle prepared a feast because she's celebrating her birthday as well. It's truly a trip celebrating life with friends. The day started with Ms. Myna picking us up from the condo with Kuya Michael (the fastest driver ever!). We met with Mama Chelle and their van on the other side of EDSA. We quickly stopped by Shell Magallanes to buy Mama Chelle's cake while their van went ahead. We met again in Jollibee along SLEX for breakfast. It's so great to see everybody! Mama Chelle, Mitch, the kids (Josh, Jarred, and Kaylee), Mama Nancy, Ms. May, and Ate Jonah. Jomar and I ordered the same food as yesterday. After breakfast, I purchased butter mamon from Red

As soon as I boarded my flight to Manila from Beijing, I fell asleep. I did sleep for an hour, watched Sing, then watched The Intern. I was in the last 2 minutes (2 minutes!!!) of the movie and they closed all in-flight entertainment because the plane had landed. I was sitting in the first row of the economy class and I only have my backpack to carry so I am the first person out of the plane (well, first person from the economy class since they apparently, give priority to Business Class).  I love saying Magandang Umaga! I am home. The Immigration was quick since I was one of the first few people out of the plane. After the immigration, I waited for my luggage which felt like a really long time but no more than 15 minutes. I went out and walked down the arrival extension area of Terminal 1 and saw Jomar. He booked an Uber and finally, home to my dearest Gateway Regency.  I unpacked and went straight to bed (around 2AM). Good morning Manila! I woke up at 5AM and decided to ta

During my first 12 months in Canada, I visited museums and tourist spots just to get-to-know the country and province a little bit better. I learned about the Aboriginal or First Nations or Native Americans before the Europeans came (the first immigrants). The designs here at the arrival area is inspired by the stories of the First Nations. It reminded me so much of the exhibit at the Museum of Anthropology (MoA) at University of British Columbia ( UBC ). The Legend of the Raven and the Fog Woman This airport and the appreciation and continuous support to remind immigrants on the history of this country is something I really love about Canada and British Columbia. Yes, a pond (but with fake fish) in the middle of all the boutique stores. YVR is inspired by nature. Boarding is in an hour. In the meantime, I will go back to my Code Academy lessons and I might grab a snack from either A&W or Church's Chicken (can't decide yet). Have a great day or night de

First post for 2017! I should write about my trip to Seattle last month but ... For this first post, I am going to share with you some photos I have when Jomar and I visited the Museum of Anthropology in UBC (University of British Columbia). This is Jomar's last weekend in Canada for this trip and hopefully he could come back soon with a working visa or a Permanent Residence card. View from the train station Anyway, our date started with my dentist visit. It's my first dentist visit in Canada and it's reassuring to hear that my teeth are doing well. Plus, it's nice that our work health plan covers for majority of it so not as much expense. After the dentist, Jomar and I went to Granville Island to buy this texting gloves we saw and he purchased this cute Rubik's Cube keychain for him and his brother. Fave view when walking to Granville Island

I love botanical gardens! When I was in Singapore, I spent a few hours at the Singapore Botanic Garden. It was very relaxing, sitting in benches under the trees, smelling the flowers, and enjoying the cool breeze. It was great! Now, that I am in Canada, one of my places to visit is the VanDusen Botanical Garden . Last Wednesday, Jomar and I spent 1-5pm walking around the vast land area. Hello Botanical Garden!

Same as last year and last 2012, here's a summary of all my travel this 2014. Thanks to Google+ Stories for making storytelling even better. :) 2 International Trips South Korea - Vacation (4 Days) Sri Lanka - Google Community Summit Asia 2014 14 Local Trips Gapan City, Nueva Ecija - GDG Student Developer Day (1 Day) Tagaytay City, Cavite - Vacation (Half Day) Los Baños, Laguna - GDG Campus Roadshow (1 Day) Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental - 5th ICT Youth Convention (2 Days) Davao City, Davao del Sur - University of Mindanao Deployment (14 Days) Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya - Region 2 Deployment (6 Days) Panabo City, Davao del Norte (6 Days) - Region 11 Deployment Indang, Cavite (5 Days) - Region 4 Deployment  Cabanatuan City. Nueva Ecija (6 Days) - Araullo University Deployment Dagupan, Pangasinan (7 Days) - University of Pangasinan Deployment Iloilo City, Iloilo (6 Days) - University of Iloilo Deployment  Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental (10 Da

Below is the Google+ Story of my 11 Days in Cagayan de Oro City. I'll probably write a more comprehensive post about it soon. :) For now, enjoy the story!

To end my 4-week in the provinces, I had the most amazing 6 days in Iloilo. Food trip galore! Below is my Google+ Story. Enjoy!

This is the third province I visited ever since I came back from Sri Lanka. Below is my Google+ Story.

Cabanatuan City is the Tricycle Capital of the Philippines because it's the main form of transportation is a tricycle. Anyway, browse through my Google+ Story below for the gastronomic adventure we had and the awesome people we met. I also placed a #Photosphere of the inside of the university. Views : Inside Araullo University by Celine Marie Barrozo

From September 1 to 5 (yup, fresh from my Sri Lanka adventure), I went straight to Indang, Cavite for work. Below is a Google+ Story of my 5 days in the small municipality of Indang. Update: I also added two photospheres of Indang, enjoy! Views : In front of Tropicana Hostel inside Cavite State University - Indang Campus by Celine Marie Barrozo Views : Main Gate of Cavite State University - Indang Campus by Celine Marie Barrozo

Day 1 - Manila-Singapore-Colombo My adventure started with our flight to SQ919. Singapore Airlines. It was the first time I am flying via the airline, and they have in-flight entertainment and a full meal. I am seated beside  +Benj  and  +Almondyseth . I watched 2 episodes of Family Guy, watched Maleficent for the third time, and was watching Big Bang Theory when we were about to land in Singapore. After less than 2 hours, we were in our flight going to Colombo, Sri Lanka. I fell asleep as soon as I sat in the comfy seats of the plane. I woke up when the food arrived. I started watching The Lego Movie (yay for in-flight entertainment). In the middle of the movie, I fell asleep, and the stewardess turned off the monitor of my film. Upon waking up, we found ourselves in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Day 2 - Google Community Asia Summit 2014, Day 1 Buffet breakfast. Keynote. Google I/O 2014 Updates. Lightning Talks. Buffet Lunch. Unconference. Gala night. Dancing. Huge seafood. Sleep... ye

After my six days in Nueva Vizcaya, I had two days to pack up and clean the condo in Mandaluyong before heading straight to the airport for another six days, this time in Panabo City, Davao del Norte. Here's a cool Google+ Story about my stay there. How to get to Panabo City from the Francisco Bangoy International Airport? I am sure there are other ways but going to Panabo, but Monique and I took a cab and paid Php500.00. They say that the usual cab price is Php 750.00 because the cab driver will have little chance to get a passenger going back to Davao City.

I spent almost a week in Cagayan Valley, specifically the province of Nueva Vizcaya. From the university district of Bayombong to commercial district of Solano, we've met wonderful people and ate tons of food. Here's a Google+ Story to highlight those days in the valley. How to get to Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya? We took the Victory Liner bus going to Tuguegarao and got off in the Bayombong. It's 8 hours long on the bus with around three stopovers.

Yup. That's right. I was in Davao City for fourteen days. It was the longest I've been away from Manila without family or boyfriend. Below is a Google+ story for you to enjoy. Happy travelling!

2013 has been a good year to me. I travelled a lot (more than I expected, actually), met new friends, and ate a lot of food as well. Just like last year , I will try to summarize my year of travel with this blog post. I've been to Bontoc, Mountain Province for the first time this year and I went there twice! It was my first time in Indonesia and Malaysia. I even went to Malaysia twice (once in Kuala Lumpur and once in Kota Kinabalu)! I've been to the Bicol Region (Legazpi City and Naga City), Misamis Region (Cagayan de Oro City and Ozamiz City), Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte for the first time! I came back to Pangasinan before the year ends and enjoyed the food there as well. I went to Baguio City and Cebu City four times this year!

The first time I was able to ride the plane was the year 2004. Our family is going to Hong Kong for a 3-day vacation. It was the first time I saw an airplane up close and as a teenager going up in a developing country - it's like a dream country. Below is the summary of what I remember from a trip that happened almost ten years ago: Eating hot noodles in one of the small eateries in Hong Kong. They served it in such big bowls! Having breakfast in McDonald's and was seriously shocked that they don't serve fries - they still have hash browns though. I was shopping galore at a Giordano shop which was on a 50%-off sale. Mother was asking a stranger for directions in Filipino - as it turns out the person she's talking to is from Malaysia. Riding the cable car in Ocean Park Riding the train which goes through the sea - seriously scary. I imagined a movie when the tunnel would collapse Going to their market and buying souvenirs Staying in a beautiful hotel Cold weath

My previous post ended with  +Jomar Tigcal , and I on our way to the Terminal to ride a van going to Naga City. After two hours (around 3:00 PM), we got off in front of SM Naga. Tricycle, taxi, jeepney, and vans were everywhere. My first impression was it is a progressive city and a whole lot busier than Legazpi City, Albay. We rode a tricycle and headed to our rest for the night: Naga Regent Hotel . Probably a review of the hotel in another post! After dropping off our stuff and resting a bit, Ms.  +Aileen Apolo  sent us an SMS informing us that we should have snacks in her cousin's place, Casa Moderna .  +Wayne Manuel ,  +Jomar Tigcal  and I got lost because there's a branch near our hotel - we went there first, and after searching for Ms. Aileen to no avail, we asked the waitress and found out that there are five branches of Casa Moderna all over the city! Quince Martires Monument

At last! After more than two months of staying in the city, I found myself in a new place again! I could not be happier when Jerome Locson invited Jomar Tigcal, Wayne Manuel, and I to be speakers for the Bicol Youth for Technology Exposure (BYTE) 2013. It was my first time to visit the Bicol Region, and I am ecstatic to be there! The event was on the 19th of October 2013. Instead of flying to Naga, Jomar and I took the flight via Legazpi to see the beauty of Mt. Mayon and explore what time would permit in Legazpi, Albay. Mt. Mayon seen in the Legazpi Airport