We touched down Troy in Canakkale, Turkey. Studied all these back in college under Sir Dave's class. It's just amazing to see all the remains and evidences right before me! We even watched Troy while on the bus to relive all the greek-trojan battles as they fought for Helen. There was a wooden horse that was recreated on site -- the so called gift given by the Greeks which caused firing up the entire city of Troy.
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It's amazing how a person can be in both Europe and Asia at the same time! Turkey is Europe's biggest. :) We cruised the Bosphorus during on our first day. This is the body of water which separates Europe from Asia. The winds were intense. Good thing we had real good apple tea to save us from the cold. We appreciated the vastness of the sea as well as the architectural structures! I included a snapshot of the gorgeous Blue Mosque. Majority of the folks are Muslims. They don't cover themselves though, since one of their heads, Ataturk believed in equality of rights for the women. I need to highlight how Turkey's Ice Cream is extremely good. Rich chewy yum because of the goat's milk ingredient. One would need to use a knife to cut through the ice cream. Magnum was addicting as well. :) We averaged feasting on 1 per day. Yikes! Good bye diet. :)
We sure didn't let the Tornado Signals affect our weekend getaway! 10 of us took an ultimate roadtrip to Hocking Hills State Park! We all had a wonderful time! See for yourself! Pictures say it all!
We started at Edjan's Mansion! Hit off a quick breakfast brunch at Wendy's! Then took the ultimate road trip to Hocking Hills! We went from Old Man's Cave to Logan Lake. We had good lunch buffet at Old Dutch that was ubber affordable! 8 bucks! Headed back and passed by breath-taking Cedar Falls. Fun and excitement didn't end there. We headed for Jefferson's for Outlet shopping. 10 of us went home tired but ubber happy! :) There goes my last offsite with the wonderful folks of AIA! We left early Wednesday on Feb 8, 2012 to head for our respective airport assignments. Despite the inevitable flight delay, that definitely didn't stop the fun from heading our way. When we touched down Palawan, we finally got reunited with the rest of the GIA-ers who took other flights. It was a 30 minute bus ride to the pier for us. This was followed by an intense 1 hour boat ride! I am grateful for good weather. Thanks to Serc, I survived! After glimpses of the countries virgin islands and the great vastness which surrounded us, we finally spotted our destination - Dos Palmas Island Resort. We were greeted with the friendly folks riding their kayaks. They were throwing pink orchid petals towards our direction. The background was filled with sounds and beats coming from the tribal gongs and other island instruments. We had a scrumptious seafood buffet waiting for us every meal which everyone enjoyed. We first nailed the learning pieces in the conference room. Then the intense competitive spirit already sparked among the 3 tribes even with just the indoor activities. It was a challenge between Team Samburu, Team Boganda, and of course Team Waka-Waka! We had to prepare for our performances for the Socials Night. We were greatly entertained by Chams & Ayo, our hosts. We ended the night lighting up and releasing 12 chinese lanterns up to the sky which contained our commitments, celebrations, and sentiments of gratitude. Some of which got stuck but hey it's the thought that matters! A night of drinks and fun awaited us until past midnight! Happy we got to celebrate Willah's Birthday!!! :)
Day 2 was loaded with a very pack agenda! The tribes raced around the island to deliver one challenge after another. From physical to mental. Lifting coconuts, kayak challenges, and even testing how well we mastered our brands and variants! Teams did the craziest things given their passion for winning. Hahaha! Extra proud to be part of the winning team -- Waka-Waka! Great teamwork and strategizing guys! After all the fun and games, AIA headed for island hopping to Puting Buhangin for an awesome lunch picnic. The view was simply scenic. The team even headed for the beach to splash around and get wet. The rest of the time was devoted for specific AO-Agendas. It was always good learning for us. By late afternoon we took a break and rode the speed boat towards a floating hut for some snorkeling fun! Buffet dinner awaited us. The word sleep was forgotten since folks went for night swimming, karaoke, drinks, billiards, table tennis, and bonding. Before I end, I have to shout out! Thanks AIA for the superb company! Props to Org Culture for all the hard work & preparation which exceeded expectations! Special thanks too for the accommodating Dos Palmas staff for making it an enjoyable 2 day getaway for AIA! :D The next day was yet another early drive for us! Checking out Beverley Hills the afternoon we arrived. Feasted on good sandwiches at La Patisserie. We invaded Hollywood at Night where I finally got to be in the home of the stars! Saw the hand prints and the famous Hollywood stars all over the ground! It was chilly but we had great shabu-shabu dinner with Aunty Lele and Uncle Charlie! :-) The following day was Thanksgiving! Wheee!!! We headed to checkout so many tourist attractions! Universal Studios City walk, The Grove, Farmers Market, Beverly Boulevard. Then we had our Turkey Treat at Norms! A lot of shops were close of course during thanksgiving but we were definitely most after the feel of the place. That's all that mattered to us. The next day was our last day in LA and we had to cap that by going to the Happiest Place on earth! -- Disney California Adventure which was the new extension of Disneyland! I haven't been there for over 10 years so it was already worth revisiting! Thought it was a good idea since loads of people still go for the original Disneyland Park. The benefit for us was of course less people and shorter queues for DCA. Soaring California was our first stop where we got to witness varied views of all California highlights while riding a giant swing! There were different scents per place we visited. Palm Springs, Golden Gate Bridge, LA, Yosemite etc! We checked out the Grizzly River Ride which I'm sure King will enjoy! It had 2 drops guaranteed to get you wet and wild hehe! We had this cute kid Riley riding with 5 of us making the ride all the more worth remembering! We put a check on Ariel's Under the Sea adventures which was a recap of the Little Mermaid story! Also revisited Muppets Vision 4D, Monstropolis, and of course DCA's rendition of the Aladdin! :-) Diane and I went for the Hollywood Tower which I remember being so afraid of as a child! We were on Fast Pass thus a quicker line up. The elevator took us from one floor to another as we headed to the top. You get to witness the old look of the hotel every time the elevator door swung open. People started getting zapped digitally. There was a mirror with our reflections getting zapped as well. This ride unlike the one I've tried out in Orlando was dropping up and down like crazy! It was fun! Got us awake for sure! We rushed to the Paradise Pier where Jenix, Aunty Lele and Uncle Charlie waited to watch Disney's view of Bellagio. It was a marvelous recap of all my Disney favorites! From Aladdin to Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, Little Mermaid and the list goes in a hologram effect amidst the misty fountains in full rainbow colored effect. Such a great way to end the trip! Brought us all into a state of high for weeks and even until today!
We had to get up early for a road trip of a life time! :-) We headed for the famous Grand Canyon!!! It was one large pretty sight. Brought the tripod to take photos of the three of us together! Some people would ride the helicopter. We were content with the basic package. I almost wasn't very much interested to check out the Canyons anymore at some point. I said I didn't need to waste so much hours just to view rocks. I was wrong it's a wonderful must see! I forgot to mention that we encountered some adventures before we even reached our perfect destination. We actually overdrove and ended up somewhere along Route 66! It was only later on when we realized that it was the famous scene of the movie Cars! As we drove,we witnessed views of vast rocky red mountains and a desert covered with cacti. This was a first time for me. I've seen almost all of natures wonders except the desert. It was cold and pretty despite the nothingness! We drove back to PH that same night to sleep it out! :-)
We got lost during our road trip to the Grand Canyons. But check out this ranch we randomly found. It was windy cold. We had good lunch surrounded by cowboys serenading us to country music.
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Welcome!All about the traveling Queen who wanted to share with the world the little and great discoveries that have brought her joy.
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