Blogging About Rome

You might not know but I'm also keeping a blog solely for my travel notes. Here's a recent entry about my trip to Rome last June. Be sure to also check out my other entries particularly on my big trip to Morocco.





Cheers!

Film Français et la musique

Since I moved here in Belgium, I developed this tendency to like and enjoy movies and songs that are in French. I guess it's part of integration to the Belgian society. Though, it will still be a long shot before I start understanding what they mean and I at the moment I still have to rely on subtitles and translation.

We watched the movie La Vie En Rose (La Mome) earlier in a French channel. It was in French so I didn't understand the movie but I will definitely watch it soon. It's a story about Edith Piaf, a famous French singer in the 40s-50s. It was the first time I heard of her name but she's particularly gained worldwide acclaim from her song La Vie En Rose.

Here's a youtube link of her video, s'amuser et à toute à l'heure!

Jerick Travels to Essaouira

I manage to quickly do a blog entry on Essaouira from our trip to Morocco last June. Click on the link below to check it out.



After a day in the hot and steaming desert, what better way to cool off than to go to the beach. So, of course, we thought and did something about it. READ MORE.

Fall in Brussels

After almost 25 days of having no heating, we finally manage to have someone fix our heating problem and as of yesterday, we won't be freezing anymore!

Well, it's November, signalling mid-Autumn. Temperatures are back to something like 10C and rainclouds  continue to hover over the sky. It's my second fall in Brussels and generally apart from the nice brownish leaves, I don't like the cold season.

Though, it does not mean that I have to be gloomy. For this time of the year, I think, it's a good time to chill-out inside the house and enjoy the night with a cup of tea. Of course, Friday and Saturday night are still for parties, but for the rest, it's going to be more into chill-out!

Jerick Travels to the Sahara Desert

Check out my new travel post on the Sahara Desert!

We went there on June but it took me until November to finally finish the blog entry. Do check it out.



After a day and a half of travelling, we reached the Sahara. From afar, the Erg Chebbi sand dunes towers the skyline like a mountain without the brown and green color. It was glimmering in light orange. And the road to it was “ deserted” apart from the camel herds.... READ MORE

Do your AIESEC internship in the Philippines

Hey guys,

I haven't blogged in a while, even though I promised that I will blog regularly. Anyway, but here I am.

Here's a cool video telling you more about the Philippines and why you should do your next internship there. Kudos to AIESEC Philippines for this cool vid!

My Oxford Photo on Schmap.com

Cool news Thursday: I got an e-mail today on my flickr that one of the images that I uploaded before was selected to be part of an online map in Schmap.com.

http://www.schmap.com/oxford/sights_jericho/#p=128450&i=128450_76.jpg

It’s a photo that I took of Oxford University when we went there last April. It’s not a photo for the Time Magazine nor for the BBC. But at least, it’s something.

Reviving Le Blog

I decided to update my blog again, which after 5 years is still running though not as frequent as before.

 I have two blogs. This one - http://jerick.blogspot.com... is basically will be on short microblogs about my life in Brussels in general (and mostly random musings) and my  nomadlife blog - Jerick's Travel Notes - http://jerick.nomadlife.org will be more on my travels.

Peace out, Tuesday is work day.

Filipinos in Brussels Tram 23

I'm now taking Brussels Tram 23 now as part of route going to my new office. It's a 20 minute ride from my office to home.  And as I am going back home today, I was seated with two Filipinos. It's quite rare to see Filipinos in Brussels but since I'm working near Bascule, where the Filipino community in concentrated, it's usually a common sight.

Anyway, seating next to them reminded me so much of the bus rides at home. They were gossiping about everything, from their live-in partners, other Filipinos here, and their dinner tonight. Though, it's nothing special, it was just a good reminder of home. :)

Moroccan Adventure: On our way to Sahara

WANNA RIDE?. This is what I call public transportation

They say that what we should value more is not the destination itself but the road tackled to get into it.

Our 40-hour journey to Sahara was filled with breathtaking places, friendly people, and many unforgettable experiences. Though we had to suffer sitting in a van for the entire day in blistering heat. We left Marrakesh early morning to join the tour to Sahara. I and Danco joined 5 other people - 2 British ladies in their 30s-40s, a Brazilian guy and a girl who are the same age as we are and our tour guide, Hammid.

Our first trek was through the Atlas Mountains. As we stopped to take photos and our guide was telling us about the mountains, Danco asked Hammid "Why are the Atlas Mountains famous?", and he replied "Because they are HIGH.". ah. yes. of course. :-)

HIGH UP THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS. Danco and I behind a stunning view of the Atlas. Below is a sample of the Berber village

We also passed by some interesting Berber communities. The indigenous people of North Africa, they are primarily farmers living on the edges of the mountain slopes. Typically, you can identify them by wearing a pointed hood. We arrived around lunchtime at Kasbah Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO heritage site made famous for being movie locations of Ben Hur, Gladiator and the upcoming Prince of Persia. The kasbah is a huge sand castle, glimmering in bright yellow. While at the site, we also had a taste of Moroccan cuisine - couscous and tangine with beef.

ALLADIN's CASTLE. The famous Kasbah of Ourzazate in Morocco.

DELICIOUS MOROCCO. Some tangine with beef.

After lunch, we drove through again through a bit of the Atlas mountains and through some towns. Sitting in a car for more than 5 hours, as you know, can be boring. Back in the Philippines, we used to just crank up the radio with some CDs. Our trip, on the other hand, we only have 2 CDs - Bob Marley hits and a CD with Arabic music. Bob Marley music is no doubt a driving music, but listening to it more than 8 times, it gets tiring. It was just too much "Three Little Birds".

By afternoon, we reached our end destination for that day, Dades Gorges. A gorge is a deep valley between cliffs usually carved by a river. You have to pass through winding roads to go the viewpoint. Upon reaching the top, both Danco and I had the "The world is amazingly beautiful" talk, well truly it is and it's only the beginning of our journey. We finished our day with some Moroccan music (with amateur drumming by yours truly) and a nice sleep in a hotel along the gorge.

ROAD TO HEAVEN. Perhaps one of the most stunning views ever, Dades Gorge. BELOW: LITTLE DRUMMER BOY. Enjoying the night with my drumming skills

We woke up the next day to continue our drive to Sahara. We stopped by Tondra Gorge, where instead of viewing the gorge from the top we walked from below. Again, it was breathtakingly amazing.

TONDRA GORGE. A nice view with one of your good friends. What couldn't be better than that.

A piece of advice though, be careful with your camera. I learned it the hard way. While I was crossing the river, I slipped with my camera on my hand. So, yeah, my 6 month camera went down into the water, never to work again. :(

Though I got pissed about my camera dropping into water, I didn't let it spoil my vacation cause after a few hours drive, we finally reached the Sahara..