30 Adventures @ 30

The Big Three-Oh! Today I am officially not in my twenties and I realized that this is something not to be sad about but be thankful for. God has indeed showered me with a lot of blessings and I am counting them today.:D

Thank God for creating these wonderful places and giving me complete body parts and a sound body so I could experience these things. Thank you to my parents who have taken care of me and allowed me to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Thank you to my sisters and friends for sharing these experiences with me. Thank you to my husband, photographer/videographer, financier and constant adventure buddy. Most, if not all, of what I will be listing here we did together. Since magtetrenta ka na rin this year, damay ka na dito.:)). Those adventures before I joined the workforce I did not include anymore.

#1  Paintball (February 2006 ata)

I remember this was before we were together but my FB timeline where I got this picture indicates otherwise:

Good thing Au let me borrow her sister's camouflage attire or I would have been killed. Wait a minute, I would have been killed regardless because I had a bad eyesight and no war skills. But at least I had some protection. :))

#2  Banana Boating (April 2006)

We had this in one of our company teambuildings which was held in Verde Island.

#3  Wild Water Rafting (July 2006)

This was during our trip to Davao. Thanks to my college friend Cheche for organizing this trip in her hometown. Our sore arms after this was definitely worth it. :))

#4 Tiger feeding (February 2007)

I got to feed my favorite animal in Zoobic Safari, Subic.

#5 Pagsanjan Falls (August 2007)

On our roadtrip with our officemates to Laguna, we took a boat inside the waterfalls in Pagsanjan.

#6  Knee Boarding (January 2008)

We visited my high school friend Denden in her hometown and she took us to the then-new CamSur Waterports Complex. Since we were beginners and they had no practice lake for wakeboarding yet during that time, we did the kneeboarding. After several water gulps and arm sores later, I was finally able to complete the loop just in time before our hour session was finished.:)) Thanks Den and Pop for the motivation and the videos.:D

#7  Camping at Anawangin (March 2008)

I agreed to do this after much convincing from Pop. My impression of camping is sleeping on the ground and using next-to-nothing toilets and I was not wrong.:)) On the plus side, I can now say I survived a night sleeping outside and we had some fun with Pop's college friends. Also, I ended up sleeping in the hammock instead of the tent(which made me sweaty and sticky).:p

#8  Parasailing (April 2008)

We availed this on our first trip to Boracay at noon. Suffice to say, iba na kulay namin afterwards.:))

 #9  Spelunking at Sagada (July 2008)

 After a total of 12 hours of travel, we navigated through the wet, slippery and tight cave of Sagada.

#10 Snowboarding at Mt Buller (June 2009)

This was during my trip to Australia for an onsite assignment for work. I wanted to take advantage of their winter season there so I booked a trip to Mt Buller with my teammates and officemates who were also onsite (coincidentally all guys). I thought it was going to be super cold but later realized that I went overboard with my clothes. Aside from the the snowboard boots being to heavy, I was sweating from piling too much clothes on so I had a hard time getting up every time I fall from snowboarding. Snow noob/amateur move there! :)) Good thing I had company to help me or else I'll probably just sit there with my sore butt frozen in the snow. :))

#11 Reverse Bungy and #12 Extreme Swing (July 2009)

While touring Singapore, we tried these attractions in Clark Quay. Website here. Unfortunately, we did not have a video of it as we did not have a friend along to take it for us and their rate was quite pricey.

#13 Luge and #14 Segway (July 2009)

Also on our tour of Singapore but this time in Sentosa.

 

#15 Lasertag (August 2009)

This one is accessible in malls. It started as Friday night activity at Market Market with our officemates and I eventually introduced it at ATC to my sisters during weekends. We also tried lazer maze and lazer mini golf.

 

#16 Wallclimbing (August 2009)

Another accessible activity at the mall. I don't exactly remember when I started trying this but I know three malls where they had it: Southmall, Powerplant and Market Market. On those three separate occassions, I had a different set of companions.

#17 Shooting Range (Sept 2009)

Looking to find an outlet to vent out work stress, my officemates and I checked out this place at Park Square. We've been there twice.

#18 Superman Ride, #19 Tree Drop and  #20 Interactive Free Fall (October 2009)

As my birthday surprise* for Pop, we went to Treetop Adventure in Subic with Pop's college org friends. (*the celebrant arrived earlier than the guests). With the name of the place, how could this not be an adventure.;)

Superman Ride

Tree Drop

 Interactive Free Fall

#21 5k Marathon (October 2009)

This has been the only marathon that I did and I (together with a group of friends) was in the lifestyle section of the newspaper for it! Amazing! We thought when someone approached our group for an interview and a picture that it was only for a small publication but it turned out that it is one of the country's leading newspapers. If only I knew, I would have taken a shower that early morning.:))

#22 Scuba Diving (February 2010)

I went to Coron, Palawan with the almost the same group of friends as in the marathon. There, we got to explore the wonderful world of scuba diving. Our cameras are not equipped for such depth but it was amazing seeing those colorful corals and fishes.

#23 Helmet Diving (April 2010)

This is one of our activities of choice on our second trip in Boracay.

#24 Zorb (April 2010)

This is another activity of choice on our second trip in Boracay.

#25 Swimming with dolphins (August 2010)

Needing to outdo my birthday surprise to him, Popy surprised me (and my sister Angel) with a trip to Subic as well. He took us to Ocean Adventure to swim and play with the dolphins. Gaya-gaya, may "Adventure" din dun sa name ng place.:)) But it was an adventure indeed! :D As an added bonus, we had participation in their dolphin show and interacted with a seal.

#26 Climbed Huayna Picchu (April 2011)

It was holy week when we travelled to Peru to see the majestic Macchu Picchu. Having no previous experience with mountain climbing, this was somehow a penance for me though it was absolutely fulfilling. I was so sore and tired that I had to stop and sleep mid-descent but I did it, I reached the top! *High-fiving my 27 yr old self*

#27 Wakeboarding (November 2011)

My first attempt at wakeboarding was in Lago De Oro, Batangas. They have practice lake where beginners can learn the sport. We went there with our lunchmates from work. When I took my mom and sisters to Bicol, CWC already had a practice lake so I introduced the sport to my sisters as well. Nabitin sila so nag Nuvali rin kami.:)

 

#28 Universal Studios Orlando: Islands of Adventure (January 2012)

Of course, there's adventure again in the name of the place.:)) The rides were so cool. The Harry Potter and The Simpons rides are a must.

#29 Swimming with the butandings (May 2012)

Back on my first trip to Bicol (#4), I already did this but I didn't have a waterproof camera during that time. This is the second trip and I came prepared.

#30 Traveled to 7 European countries in 12 days (April 2013)

Ok, so it is not as impressive as backpacking but this is our honeymoon so we needed it to be somehow relaxing.:p

Others:

• Mudsliding (March 2010): I got to try this in one of our company teambuildings. This feels like the kind of thing they show on movies where they depict college dorm parties so I felt I had to do it.:)) Can't remember if I should add ziplining in the mix.
• Ate "exotic" foods: We tried cuy and alpaca on our trip to Peru. Can't remember if I tried anything else.

Bucket list: 

Like North Face's slogan, "Never stop exploring" so I hope I get to continue having more adventures like:

• Mini-golf/Go Kart: we're doing this a week after my birthday with our Tucson friends 
• Skydiving: Seems like this is on most people's list
• Hanggliding: we're planning to do this on Popy's birthday 
• Fishing: Catching your own food seems to be fulfilling
• Eating Contest: Wala lang, trip lang! :))