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Hiking Mt. Pinagbanderahan / Mt. Gulugod Baboy

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Quick overview:

  • It’s an easy, beginner-level hike.
  • Anilao, Batangas is a 3 to 4 hour trip from Manila.
  • Mt. Pinagbanderahan/Gulugod-Baboy takes 2-3 hours to ascend and less than 2 hours to descend.
  • The trail starts with an asphalt road, then a muddy forest ascent, and the topmost section to the summit is open grassland with little to no shade.
  • You can go swimming at the rocky beaches below, or rent a boat to Sumbrero island or the other nearby beaches.
  • Mobile data is available in the area, but not in the islands further away.

Mt. Pinagbanderahan, also sometimes called Mt. Gulugod-Baboy*, is one of my favourite hiking destinations and it is also my number one recommendation for first time hikers. It has a relatively short yet mildly challenging ascent and the summit has an excellent 360-degree view of Batangas and Balayan bay.

One of the best things about going there is that you can make your visit to Anilao a two-in-one trip. Right after your hike, you can cool down and swim at the rocky beaches near the foot of the mountain or rent a boat to visit Sumbrero island, Marikaban island, or any of the other beautiful beaches of Anilao. The region is famous for scuba diving too, and there are lots of resorts and scuba diving schools in the area if you’re interested.

*Note: Mt. Gulugod-Baboy (“Pig’s spine”) is actually a different, smaller mountain right beside Pinagbanderahan.

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East Asia Travel in 2022? Here’s Some Quick News

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It has been a long while since we last traveled somewhere outside the country as a family, and with these past two years of quarantine plus a great amount of stress from some other matters, my mother wanted to travel somewhere to have more happy memories. With vaccines now widespread and the world slowly opening up, we thought it’d be a great idea to try and travel somewhere soon.

Apparently, things still aren’t as easy for us as there are some hurdles that we all still need to overcome. Since we’ve already been to a few countries in Southeast Asia and my mom doesn’t want to repeat traveling to the same country(s), we decided on three possible destinations in East Asia: Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. Here’s a few things we found out while doing research in those three countries.

But first, Dubai…

Why did we start thinking about traveling again? Well it all began when my mom’s more well-off friend invited her to go to Dubai. Of course, she liked the idea and so we started collecting the requirements for her Dubai visa. 

My mom is deathly afraid of traveling alone though, and her friend who was part of a 10-day package tour wouldn’t offer to pick her up from the airport or accompany her back. As an alternative plan, my mom wanted to bring my brother and I and we’ll just go do our own thing there. Sadly, Dubai is extremely strict with their visas, and since my younger brother is unemployed there’s just no chance that he’ll be able to join. My mother also just can’t leave him behind. 

Due to that we decided to cancel Dubai and look for another destination.

On a final note, my mother tried contacting her “friend” for info regarding the visa and everything… but she never responded. Maybe that friend only invited my mom to brag about their Dubai trip and didn’t expect her to actually accept.

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10 Tips on How to Prepare for Your First Hike

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Sometimes, it’s fun to just go on a quick adventure and take a nice vacation from the hectic and stressful life in the city. Not all of us want something extreme, like rock climbing or white water rafting, so a quick hike up a scenic mountain trail can be just the thing for a quick weekend out.

If this is your first time hiking, then here are some tips on how to prepare for your first hike!

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Want to Save Money Traveling Abroad? Avoid This Mistake!

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I read that when traveling abroad, you should shop around when you’re trying to exchange your currency for the local one. I had no idea how important that tip was until it almost ruined our multi-country trip.

When we traveled to Vietnam and Thailand last March 2019, we made sure to prepare a good amount of cash for the trip. We made sure we have more than enough for food and transportation, tourist attractions, and souvenirs. The hotels and guided tours were all paid in advance. On the last third of our trip, however, we were quite surprised when we realized that we somehow spent most of our travel fund and we needed to cut back on all expenses.

It was really odd as we weren’t splurging at all. We didn’t do a lot of shopping and the cost of meals and transportation in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok were very similar to Manila. We budgeted for it all, so what happened?

  • Did our cash get stolen? No. We were extra careful and we always checked.
  • Was it the food? No. The meals we had weren’t that expensive.
  • Was it the tourist attractions? No. We actually budgeted for all of those.
  • Was it the taxis? No. They cost the same and we didn’t use them that often.
  • Was it the souvenirs? No. We didn’t do a lot of shopping.

So what drained our travel funds?

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