The purpose in life..

It's been a long time since I'm here blogging. Most of the time I just share photos and articles. But this morning. I was reading an article in the newspaper which was talking about how a girl quit her job to travel and find herself. And it got me thinking. 

A little background about the article. This girl's a Uni graduate and came out to work in the corporate world. She got tired of climbing the corporate ladder and wanted to find herself. So she took off to Guatemala for 3 weeks. Hoping to find what she really wanted in life. There she met travellers who are as lost as her and did not know what they wanted to do with their lives either. Until she met a yoga instructor (who is now her boyfriend) and she opened a restaurant there and an agency helping others to look for jobs for Spanish teachers. That was 4 years ago that she left Singapore and she seems to have found her purpose in life. 

What I want to share here is this. If you want to find yourself. You do not need to leave the corporate world. Neither does it guarantee that once you leave and travel you will be able to find yourself. And I strongly disagree with the fact that travellers are lost. I have met and known travellers who know exactly why they are travelling. And travellers who are travelling to find themselves - but not lost. 

I've a full time job and in the corporate world. I face the corporate ladder and dog-eats-dog world every day. But do I know what I want to do with my life? I do. I know that this job I have now allows me to earn enough to continue travelling when I have the time. But it doesn't mean that I lose myself when I stop travelling. 

In the 9 years that I am in this full time job of mine. I travel. I travel to places that I grew up dreaming of. Never thinking they will come true one day. I travel alone. Living by the day.

Travelling opened up my eyes to the places beyond the horizon. It made me come back more appreciative of what I have and taught me things that education did not.

One of the first few places I travelled to alone.. Malacca, Malaysia.

Another one of the first few places I travelled to alone.. Taken at the foot of Mount Phousi, Luang Prabang, Laos. 

I didn't only take the less trodden path. But I splurged once in a while when I went to DisneyLand in Hong Kong. Universal Studios in Osaka. DisneySea in Tokyo. Of course with every splurge it came with a price. But have I ever regretted spending more money than what I brought over? Never. I worked so hard back home. Why shouldn't I treat myself a little better when I'm away?

With Mickey in DisneySea, Tokyo! 

I learnt to appreciate the beauty of Mother Nature. Especially when I started backpacking to The Philippines.

Kids playing on the sand bank in Batanyan Island, Cebu, Philippines. 

A 8 hours banca ride from Coron to El Nido, Philippines. 

Sunrise in Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

I made new friends along the way and hung out with them.. Just like a local. =) 

My friend and I sitting on the ledge of a waterfall in Siquijor, Philippines. 

And a family and me rafting away in Bali, Indonesia.

 I went to places that I never even dreamed of sometimes. Learning the ways as I go along. 

On top of one of the 5 peaks in Mount Hua Shan, Xi'an, China.

Floating down the Yellow River on a pig skin raft, China.

Drinking horse wine - neat - once we got down the bus in Inner Mongolia, China. 

And to fulfill my dream of getting to Tibet. I planned and on a whim. Signed up for the tour and off I went! My first destination that was crossed off my bucket list! 

Beautiful beautiful Lin Zhi, Tibet, China. 

Of course a visit and climb to the Potala Palace is a given! Lhasa, Tibet. 

Another place on my bucket list was to backpack to Sri Lanka. I love the hospitality. The people. The nature. What I didn't really enjoy was the food.. Coz I came back home and swore off Indian food for a good 9 months!

Sunrise from our 'tent' in Madulkele, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Across us was the Knuckles Range. Breathtaking!

Finally seeing the fishermen on stilts in Galle, Sri Lanka!

Just not too long ago. I took a 3 weeks break and went back to the Philippines and decided that after procrastinating for so long. It's time to pick up scuba diving. Never have I accomplished something that I'm so proud of. Till the extent that I'm thinking of doing the divemaster course too!

My Open Water session in Camiguin, Philippines.

Fish feeding in process in Batangas, Philippines.

Heading down into the unknown off White Island in Camiguin, Philippines.

And seeing a white tip reef shark so close while down under in Maldives is the icing on the cake!

I learnt. Through backpacking and staying in hostels. And through driving on road trips. I don't need to leave the corporate world to find my purpose in life. I know what I want and I go for it! 

Falling in love..

Suddenly missing my second home much. Perhaps coz yest met someone from there and he mistakenly thought I was from his homeland too. Hahaha.

My love affair with the Phils started when I went Manila for class in November 2010 and hopped over to Cebu City and looked for Janice's brother with Aqing. That wasn't that memorable a trip as it was still a strange place to me but I remember the seafood and awesome sunsets we saw. 

So in the January of 2012. I decided to risk it and head over for the Sinulog (for another time) and after the festival. Gino (the brother of my friend - whom I kept in touch with) brought me over to Bantayan Island. And the story begins. 

A bit of background of my home. Philippines is divided into mainly 3 regions: Luzon. Visayas and Mindanao. Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands and covers almost 300,000 square kilometers with a population of more than 98 million people with an additional 12 million Filipinos living overseas. There are hints of influences from Malay. Hindu. Islamic and even Chinese elements in the country to this day (Wikipedia).

So. The Batanyan Island is located in the Visayas and on the west of the northern island of Cebu. We stayed at Santa Fe. The eastern side of the island in a place called Yoonek Inn (1 minute walk to the beach). As on the beaches and shorelines. Bancas (their indigenous boats) are seen dotting the landscape. Below is an example of how a simple banca look like. 

And the beach that was of where we were staying was super peaceful not to mention beautiful. As a typical locally grown Singaporean (I sound like a fruit don't I? 'Locally grown and produced in Singapore' =)). I have never EVER seen a beach so white. So powdery. It left me speechless. The waters seem to reflect the blueness of the skies. And the skies were such a sight to take in. Robin blue with clouds stretching endless across. I love how the colours are seen in these 3 photos below. And yes. Shamelessly they are my watsapp wallpaper and main wallpaper in my phone. And my laptop wallpaper for work. <3

And like any other part of Philippines and many other countries. A wet market is a place that despite the fact I don't quite like the wet and fishy smell of the place. It will continue to be a place which will attract me. Like how some people are attracted to shop or visit museums. Me? Wet markets please! =)

We also took an island hopping banca and went ashore to an island named Virgin Island. It's a private island and only when the owners are not in can guests drop off and explore the place. Being a private island definitely has its perks. As we went ashore. Another group of 4 were juz leaving the place. Perfect! Practically as we roam about on our own. Besides the caretakers and the one who steered the banca to the island. We were the only 2 guests around! Yet another peaceful place and yes. I fell in love harder and faster. <3

Of a culture I was still a bit foreign to (even though I had spent 5 days in Cebu City). Drinking is something that cannot be missed. Breakfast lunch and dinner. Always. Me being the conservative me only drink at night. But in the Virgin Island. I drank with them in the hot afternoon too. =P 

No surprise that I drank after dinner then? =P Thing was. I had a beer (San Miguel Pale Pilsen) before Gino dared me to drink tequila. My first shot of tequila ever. I guess I gave a lot of firsts to my love yeah? =) So. 40% of El Hombre tequila. Took 1 sip and I could feel the burn! God. No matter how I sucked on the body salt and lime I could feel the alcohol burning a hole through and through. =/  And I could feel me swaying and getting a bit high. Hahaha. 

But no. It didn't end there. Gino finished up the rest of it in a single gulp and ordered another 2 beers. O.O San Miguel Light. I can safely tell you. That night was one of the highest I would have. And that was what pushed me to me drinking more often and raising the bar at my alcohol tolerance level. =) But beer preferred over hard liquor please. =)

With fresh seafood. Awesome beaches and beers. What more could a girl ask for? =P I am in love. Through and through. <3