The Travel Peoples

Feeling the need to travel and drink kopi tarik, but the world is still plunged in virus chaos? Fret not because this simple video teaches you how to make that national drink of Malaysia, the kopi tarik. It is also famous in neighboring Indonesia and Singapore.  My husband is a coffee lover. When he came to Malaysia, he could not stop raving about kopi tarik. He does not like to try the instant coffee form or those in cans that are commercially sold. So we watched one kopi tarik vendor how she made it. Then we made one at home using our premium VerraCoffee Benguet variant. Pretty easy. Specially pressed.  According to Google Translate, tarik means "to pull." I just don't know how it relates to making this sweet beverage. Although my guess is that, traditionally, the one who makes the coffee pulls a kettle containing the coffee up in a manner that pours the drink to the mug. This is because the nose of the kettle is long and pointed. But if you don't have that kind of...

  Here's a video captured by author Lia Ocampo when she spent a holiday in New Mexico.  She wrote: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is an annual event that happens for nine days in October in Rio Grande Valley. Enchanted special-shaped balloons ascend and create a majestic view in the sky. This event is one-of-a-kind and should be on your bucket list. Explore the Old Town while you're there and immerse yourself with their unique culture and cuisine. Watch more travel adventures on her YouTube channel .

Goodbye, 2020! You are the most unfriendly when it comes to travel. Yet, you are the best in bonding people confined at home. (Or you could also be the worst in breaking bonds between family members who are annoyed at each other. 😁) If there was an award for "the most anti-social," you got the grand slam! You even used Zoom and other new platforms to your advantage!   Nevertheless, 2020 is a bitter-sweet year for me. Downs and ups, it left a lot of new memories and discoveries. It also brought in some milestones and achievements that I could never imagine happening during a pandemic.  My heart breaks for those whom we've lost due to COVID-19. Some strong souls survived, but they still feel the lingering effects. This disease will never bring anything good, especially to the affected individuals. But when it comes to life lessons, there will always be something beneficial for the soul. And somehow, I cannot accept that these life lessons would have to come from a teeny we...

  At Baltimore's Inner Harbor  The Spirit of Baltimore offers a three-hour dinner cruise. Two decades! That's how long it took for me to see again my third-grade seatmate and close high school friend, Anton (or Doc Anton as we fondly call him), at his home in Maryland. The last time that we saw each other was at our clique's out-of-town trip to Tagaytay City after high school graduation. I will not mention any more numbers here so as not to give you an idea of how young we are. Haha!  But it was such a sweet reunion. Both of our families met. I got acquainted with his two cute kids. I am particularly charmed by Emma, the little girl. The other one is Kenzo, the older brother. Emma's quiet demeanor, at least when with guests, gave that mysterious vibe that challenged me to make her come out of her shell. I hope I succeeded with our short bonding time!   We drove for about three hours from New York City and arrived at his home late at dinner time. Anton has not ch...

  ( Photos and story by mentor/inspirational author Lia Ocampo. A frequent traveler and sunset fanatic, Lia has visited almost all major tourist destinations in the world. Find out more from her blog site  A Diary of World Travels . ) Germany is a country with a landscape of forests, rivers, mountains, and beaches. The Capital is Berlin, which is home to nightlife and art. Munich is known for its Oktoberfest and beer halls. This story will only talk about Munich and my Oktoberfest experience. There is nothing best than to experience the real Oktoberfest with your best friend.  Marichu was my college best friend. She beat me with the “Ms. University of Batangas” crown. We have many wonderful memories and I love her. We don’t see and talk as much as we used to, but we are still great friends.  Her family traveled to Europe, so we decided to meet up in Germany.  We made it happen.  Oktoberfest is the world’s largest Volksfest held annually in Munich....

  (Photos and blog by Jay De Jesus, a community manager of an embassy in Singapore. He is an online expert or a “social media DJ” as he calls himself, Google Local Guides contributor, and blogger. Follow him on Twitter @jaydj and his blog sites jaydj.net and aidemlaicos.net) Accidentally added and ticked this off my “Travel Bucket List.”   Sentosa is one of the most visited places in Singapore.  Known as an entertainment destination with the likes of Universal Studios, Resorts World, Sea Aquarium, and Madame Tussauds Museum, this island located in the southern part of Singapore, is also a good destination for nature lovers.  There’s a coastline you could check out from Siloso beach to Palawan beach and all the way to Tanjong beach, each with their own features. I took the Sentosa express, the tram that takes you from the main island to Sentosa Island. I got off Beach station, the last station. I leisurely walked towards the left not really knowing what to expect...

  ( Photos and article by inspirational author and passionate flight attendant Lia Ocampo <authorlia.com>. Read more of her travel blog on  http://flightattendantworld.blogspot.com/ ) It was my first layover in Ottawa, Canada, so I explored the city. I took a bus from the hotel to downtown. It was a bit far but an easy relaxing ride.  Byward Market is a famous place to walk, eat, and shop. Benches were available for people to sit and enjoy the sun. So why not sit with the crowd and enjoy the nice weather.  Did I say I finished the whole 12 inches pizza? Yes, I did! I ordered my favorite pesto pizza which was really good, plus it was half the price, which made it even better.  I was planning to take half of the pizza for my lunch the next day, but it will be oily and messy, so I ate the whole pizza! It was thinly sliced anyway, so it wasn’t really that filling.  I call this day my “splurge on pizza day.” The bad thing was, I couldn’t aff...