Reliza's Blog Spot

The next day after I arrived in Sunny Beach, I went down to the front desk to ask them to fix my key fob just as the security guard said the night before. I went to the front desk, but nobody was there. The house keeper told me to go to the other building.  I went to the other building and the daytime security guard fixed my key fob, but when I asked her for the password for the internet, she said it was only for the  common area (like the swimming pool and the lobby). She asked how long I was staying and when I said 3 months, she said I should get my own. I told her I would, but I needed it just for now. She gave me a temporary one for 5 days only. 5 days have expired. My plan was to go to Vivacom. It’s popular here in Bulgaria. It’s walking distance. That’s why I chose Sunny Beach, it’s walkable to everything. I went there and I found out that they don’t provide internet for 3 months, they only do contracts.  Walking back to my place, I felt like crying. Not ha...

What a find! Cantaloupe ice cream in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria…Ahhh! The simple pleasures in life. I would have not noticed it if I didn’t see a lady taking pictures of the ice cream display. How could she not? It looked beautiful. And when she turned around, I realized she was a Filipina. The first and only Filipina I saw in Bulgaria, so far. It was a happy accident, another serendipitous moment. Those kind of accidents happen to me a lot when I travel. I don’t know why. Maybe because serendipity is always on your side when you follow your dream. The last time I had something similar to a cantaloupe ice cream was super long time ago in the Philippines. It’s called, “ice candy.” We shred the cantaloupe, add some sugar and make a drink out of it. We put it in skinny long bags and freeze them. Some people even sell them from home. My grandmother did. I never had corn on my pizza before. Surprisingly, it was delicious. This is chicken and corn pizza. It looks so much bigger in perso...

I was scheduled to see my vacation home for the first time in April of 2020. In today’s world of cyberspace, long distance real estate is not a foreign concept. Lots of inventors buy multiple real estate properties without even seeing them.  There is only one thing specific I want for my dream home, a bedroom with a door that leads to a balcony or a patio. After a thorough research and with power attorney, I was able to buy a property in Bulgaria in November of 2019. Sadly, I was not able to see it in person as planned in April of the following year due to the coronavirus that caught the whole world by surprise. The month before I was scheduled to travel, US President Trump issued a travel ban for 30 days. The ban was prolonged as the virus continued to spread. To be on the safe side, I didn’t reschedule my flights until September of 2020.  By summertime, international flights started departing from the San Francisco airport to Europe, until   July 1st when the ...

When I left New Jersey and went back to California, it hurt my relationship with my boyfriend to a point where he stopped answering my calls. Eventually, I gave up trying. This is why they say long distance relationship never works. I had a dilemma. My vacation has already been approved by my employer and I had already bought a non-refundable ticket long before all these happened. I decided to just go and see what happens even though we haven’t spoken for months. I thought I would give it one last chance.  Since I was not sure what was waiting for me when I got to New Jersey, I needed a plan B. What would I do during that long weekend all by myself in case he refused to see me? It was that time of the year when they light the tree in New York City, the  lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Plaza which happens the wee...

Santorini was my ultimate dream travel destination. I thought it was the most beautiful place I have ever seen, but when I got there I was a little disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still the most beautiful place I have ever seen, but it’s not the place, it’s the people. I mentioned before that while I was searching for places to visit in  Santorini , I found Mykonos by accident. When I was there, I noticed that the people were friendlier. I even made a couple of friends.  I met a nice well-traveled man at a bakery cafe. He has been working all over Europe and just came home to Greece. We had a nice chat over coffee and decided to keep in touch via Facebook. And while I was walking on the charming black and white narrow cobblestone streets of Mykonos, this old Greek g...

      One of the benefits of travel is that I get to meet faraway friends. Every time I travel I meet at least one new friend. When I was in  Santorini,  I met two nice Filipina ladies traveling together. One was a local from Athens, Greece and the other one was from Canada. They have become my Facebook friends since then.  I flew straight to New York from  my  Venice/Santorini   trip and from there took the taxi to New Jersey to start a new life there. Soon, I learned through Facebook that two of my schoolmates from high school live not too far from me, one in New Jersey and the other one in New York.  We got together eventually. It was strange in a good way. I have not seen them since I was in high school in the Philippines, so it w...

    My story started earlier than I thought, even before  Venice . I used to see those Sandals Resort commercials on TV and just seeing that white hammock by the crystal clear turquoise blue water, gave me that longing to be there. I have not seen water that beautiful before. I never expected it would actually come true. It’s funny how things happen when you least most expect them.  I won a free trip for two to Cancun. Of course, there was a catch. It was one of those timeshare trips. My new business was struggling and I didn’t have any extra cash to spare for a trip. (Like I said, it happens when you least most expect it). It was year 2008 and it was the first time I traveled abroad since I came to live in the US 23 years earlier. I went with my boyfriend. When we got there, the water looked even more beautiful in person than on the screen. It was like looking at a post card.  We didn’t book any tours, we just planned to endure the timesha...