My expectations about traveling to Ghana were a combination of fear and excitement. I was afraid because of the current socio-political standpoint of the nation’s legal framework against homosexuality which is found in the 2021 Promotion of Appropriate Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill of the country. The bill is set to criminalize the promotion,…
Category: UNESCO World Heritage Site
Moses supposes his toes are roses? The Sinai Experience
Finally, I have been to Egypt! I told my friends. Too excited, they anticipated stories about the Sphinx and the Pyramids but instead I recalled my Sinai experience first and thought it would also excite them. Did it excite them? Well, I think it did. From Eilat in Israel, the first Egyptian city to welcome…
En Route Jerusalem: The Bahá’í Gardens in Haifa
On the fifth day of our Holy Land Tour, we left the Northern District for Jerusalem en route the Modern City of Haifa, the Ancient City of Caesarea, and the Village of Eir Karem, our gateway to Jerusalem. For this trip, we went to see the Stella Maris Church on top of Mount Carmel. We…
Walk Like a Cosmopolitan Nabatean: Petra and Wadi Musa in Jordan
My very first encounter of Petra was based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr., a professor of archaeology, who in 1981 was tasked to locate the ark of the covenant. In 1989, his adventures continued as he traveled to the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, leading to arguably the most stunning feature…
Mechelen, a little magical town in the Flemish region of Belgium
In 2018, I prepared myself to miles of walking, after finishing a Summer School at the Antwerp University. My plan was to exhaust all UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) in the Flemish region of Belgium. However, plans usually are just there to guide your anticipation and excitement. For a strange reason, my plan of visiting…
Iceland’s parliament’s birthplace at Þingvellir (Thingvellier)
I never imagined myself visiting what many Europeans call the most isolated place in their region: Iceland. Never did I also imagine to be traveling there during a pandemic. But in June 2022, I found myself strolling around Reykjavik, eating fermented shark, and being so cozy with the Nordic summer with single digit temperature. The…
Palawan: Arguably, the Philippines’ Best Island (Part 2 of 2)
As stated in the first part of this post, the locals (particularly, the boatmen and the tour guides) analogize the stalagmites and the stalactites formations of the cave as artistic sculptures or masterpieces by renowned masters. One formation I will never forget is attributed to Da Vinci: Palawan’s Last Supper, which as our boatman in…
Palawan: Arguably, the Philippines’ Best Island (Part 1 of 2)
My family and I were supposed to travel to Palawan in April 2020. We had to cancel the trip because of the onslaught of the pandemic. But above all, we were grieving over the losses of two loved-ones in the family: my partner and my dad who both succumbed to cancer in March and April…
Melbourne's Expo House and Royal Gardens
I am writing this post while the entire Luzon was on an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). It is the 7th day since the ECQ and right now, Barangay UP Campus (and the entire academic town of the University of the Philippines Diliman) is on lock down. This COVID-19 situation is really so scary and so…
From Shanghai to the Classical Gardens of Suzhou (Concluding Part)
An hour away from the Suzhou city center is the ancient city of Tongli! This ancient water city is one of the six famous ancient towns to the south of the Yangtze River along with the towns of Zhouzhuang, Yongzhi, Xitang, Wuzhen and Nanzun. When my Chinese colleague learned that I was traveling to Shanghai and was…
Tanghal Kultura 