The Year that was 2011

2011 has come and gone and while we may have been grounded most of the year, we were not without some amazing trips!

The Philippine Scene

There really is no place like home. And there are so many places in the country to see. This year, we featured the shores of Calatagan, Puerto Galera during the Malasimbo Festival, Boracay, and Donsol.

 

 

We also did a few cultural trips, in and out of Manila: the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo and Pasig, and a tour through Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan.

 

What else did we like about the local scene?

Art and Music

We’re never without an event to attend. This year, there were a lot of exhibits that featured the current generation of artists. Some stand-outs included the recent INK exhibit at the Ayala Museum, which runs till mid January 2012. The museum also featured Japanese illustrators in an exhibit called Manga Realities.

 

And who could forget Heima Home & Lifestyle’s Heima 3.0, which included our friend Fozzy Castro-Dayrit‘s beautiful calligraphy. The woman can make paper look as scrumptious as the best red velvet cupcake you’ll ever eat.

As far as music was concerned, we caught a few shows on camera and wrote about the events here. Patti’s first photography gig came in early 2010 when she was invited to be a photographer during the Musicfest press conference with Boyce Avenue, the Jabbawockeez, and Kris Allen.

  

At the start of 2011, we lucked out with this concert, photography-wise: Janet Jackson’s Number Ones World Tour which kicked off right here in Manila:

Then there was Jam for Japan, the fundraiser at the Ayala Museum where musicians performed and the public donated to aid the earthquake victims.

While we’re on the subject of events taking place in 2011, here’s one topic we wrote about a lot, much to our surprise.

Sports

Blame the Azkals, who feature in 17 of our posts. We still can’t get over how much football has grown in the Philippines, albeit somewhat controversially. Ignoring that, we sum up the team’s highlights for the year with these three photos:

 

And we’re proud to say some of the biggest game-changers off the pitch are good friends of ours. We shall name them now:

  

Ebong Joson, the Blue-Haired Fanatic, for being so instrumental into turning Philippine football into the state of absolute, amazing madness that it is today.

Bob Guerrero, for taking off his commentator hat off every now and again to contribute his photography and writing skills to LMT. And for letting us hitch with him to/from Rizal Memorial Stadium whenever the need called for it.

Thanks to Craig Burrows for allowing us to use his photos in Azkals: 100% Pinoy Pride, and to Tin Samson-Santos and the Dine Asia team for allowing us to contribute the story The Azkals and the Fan Phenomenon to your magazine.

Bogey, Dee, and the rest of Escola de Samba de Manila for lending their beats to the Azkals games.

Glenver, for having no shame in actually getting Anton del Rosario to do this for Patti’s birthday. Kind of creepy to this day. But much appreciated! And to these guys for making the surprise party so much fun.

 

Next: Formula One. We learned as early as August that two-time champ Mika Häkkinen was coming to Manila in November. Johnnie Walker Philippines launched the Step Inside the Circuit party series leading up to that moment.

 

Before meeting the Flying Finn, we went to Singapore and caught a glimpse of the race from Marina Square. Here’s McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton zipping by:

Then, in November, back in Manila: Mika visited as part of the Join the Pact campaign. As Johnnie Walker’s Responsible Drinking Ambassador, Mika called on Filipino motorists to stay in control by joining the pact to Never Drink and Drive.

A very powerful statement and one we fully support. (Join the Pact now by clicking here.)

  

Our sports coverage this year also included our own primer on wakeboarding at the Camsur Watersports Complex.

Christy also included Filipino boxing champ (an understatement indeed) Manny Pacquiao in her Mexico series, which brings us to our next topic.

Trips Abroad

We each took a turn visiting a place in Asia we had never been to before, in the dead of winter. Christy headed for China in January, and Patti went to Taiwan in February.

Our only trip out of the country together was the three-day excursion in Singapore, where we reconnected with some good friends, chased after Formula One cars, and ate. A LOT.

There was also Christy’s impromptu trip to Mexico which begins with a tour of DF and a newfound love affair with tacos, and concludes with the Manny Pacquiao sighting we mentioned a while ago.

And while we didn’t fly much this year, we did manage to fill in the quieter periods with past stories of Christy’s trips to Europe, specifically Prague, Athens and Santorini, Edinburgh, and Sardinia.

  

 

And of course, what’s any trip if we don’t talk about

Food

And we tried a lot of different places, but this year, we got to highlight Pinoy dishes through Patti’s features: My Filipino Food Story, The Filipino Breakfast Table, and Who’s Hungry?.

 

But one final treat we got to sink our teeth into was our role as

Brand Ambassadors

HTC invited us to help them launch their new phones, the Rhyme and Radar together with fellow travel blogger Jerik of Pinoy Boy Journals for the Explorer. That was quite an experience, definitely one we won’t soon forget. And we LOVE the phones, naturally. Thank you, HTC!

That about sums up 2011 for Life’s My Trip! It was the year we celebrated our first anniversary and what a year it has been. Thanks to our friends and relatives for being so supportive, and for being a huge part of our trips. We’re looking forward to spending 2012 with more of you.

And with that, we conclude with this beautifully done work of calligraphy by Fozzy, which we hope inspires everyone of you to follow your dreams to experience the world for all the gorgeousness that it’s filled with.

PREV CHRISTMAS GREETINGS!