I just realized that in my years of blogging here, I haven't made a proper About Page. Since I normally snoop in the About pages of the other blogs, I figure I might as well make one as well.

So, how to start. Well, my name is Ruby, as you probably already know. No need to specify my age, I'm just an average girl with many interests and created this blog mainly to share my experiences, reviews, and anything under the sun to friends, family, and uh.. the world who may happen to stumble upon this blog. I currently live in Manila, in the Philippines. 

Posing in front of a phone booth. London.

I have a bazillion interests. At the moment that I write this, it's:

1) Traveling - I adore going to new places, and seeing new things for the first time. It is such a humbling experience to be an unknown place, learning as I go along. I think I learn a lot more when I travel than when I read. My favourite place in the world is London, England. I could live there! Second favourite would be Rome, Italy. Although I've never been to Rome, it is definitely in one of my to-go places.

I work a 9-6 job, but I try to travel every month as much as I can. How? By making the most of holidays, weekends, and time off at work. I am lucky enough to get 20 days of paid vacation, which combined with holidays and with weekends can definitely stretch off.

To date, I've been to a few countries, in order of the places I've been: Hong Kong (1994, 2009, 2010), Singapore (2000, 2012 - when I watched the Singapore Grand Prix), United Kingdom (2008, 2011), Malaysia (2009), Macau (2010), South Korea (2012), China (2012), Vietnam (2012), Brunei (2012), Cambodia (2013), Thailand (2013).

I've made incredible memories in each and every country that I've visited. I am currently considering long-term travel but so far I'm enjoying the perks of having a constant stream of income while traveling. I just adore budget airlines and the seat sales they have.

I am also a backpacker - and while I do love staying in luxury resorts and hotels (if there is an excellent deal and if I am in the company of a special someone), you would normally find me in a hostel dorm, trying to make sense of the new place I've just landed in. 

2) Books - most of my blogs relate to books and my reviews about them. Living in the third world, it often is harder to a) come up with money that I can use abroad (which I now found a way to go around and I find that I travel so much more than when I first wrote this About Me page - hence I don't read as fast as I did), and b) Manila is one of the places where books are cheap, cheaper than the US, the UK, or basically anywhere else. There isn't a book I wouldn't want to read. I feel that it is a good thing to spend time on: when I travel to and from work [hey, it's ALWAYS traffic in Manila], while I wait for a flight, or on a queue somewhere. It provides lessons that I adore and would eventually use on my travels.

Now that I've switched to travel as a passion, my favourite reads include Lonely Planet guide books, travel memoirs (Bill Bryson I'm looking at you), other travel blogs, lifestyle design, historical fiction, biographies, marketing, or young adult fiction. Then again, I always want to read fiction books - anything I could get my hands on that's cheap (and normally second hand)

Meet & Greet with Boys Like Girls. Jan 27th 2010. SMX

3) Music - I adore boy bands and boybands. No question about that. I would spend a lot of money on concerts IF I absolutely adore a certain band. I do post my reviews and photos on Facebook and the other site. Normally if I get free tickets to some other bands, then yes, I'm willing to see that band/artist, just for the sake of experiencing them.

4) TV/Movies - I was a huge couch potato but then again, I'm not anymore. I love watching telly series when bored (maybe on a plane, or when I've finished typing crap up on my computer and want to take a rest, or just want to chill and relax) however, it has declined significantly since I started traveling a lot. My favourite tv shows now are travel shows on NatGeo Adventure and TLC. They provide ideas on where else I could go next! 

Anything else you need to know? You can contact me by emailing me at: rubs.escalona [at] gmail.com