Thrills of traveling in a big group

If you think traveling in a big group is such a hassle, then you haven’t met the Clemente sisters. Jaclyn “Chinkee,” Rachelle “Lei” and Suzanne “Sansan” Ticzon Clemente, daughters of Belco Marketing, Inc. executives Salvador “Benny” Clemente and the former Ophelia “Ophie” Lovina Ticzon, have had the good luck to see as much of the world at such a young age. And they actually crave for so much more, with all three girls seeing Europe as the ultimate travel destination.

The girls all travel together, always with their parents, sometimes with their aunt BMI chairperson Belen Lovina Ticzon-Martel and her husband Harrison Plaza’s Don Antonio V. Martel Jr. and their cousin Antonia Martel. The only exceptions are school trips and special events, like Sansan’s football tournaments in Finland, Sweden and Denmark.

They actually look forward to traveling together. It’s not much of a hassle considering that they all share the same interests.

“Our age difference is only two years each, and so we somehow have the same likes and dislikes,” explains Lei.

Chinkee graduated with a degree in political science from the Ateneo de Manila University in 2001. She is currently involved in the family business as business development manager of Belco Marketing, Inc. Born on October 4, 1978, she was the Millennium Muse of the Quezonians 1923 and 2001 president of the Young Quezonians. Sister Lei, born on Aug. 5, 1980, graduated with a degree in behavioral science from the De La Salle University in 2002. She was the 2002 Muse of the Quezonians 1923, and is now part-owner of a cellphone store and helps out in the family business. Youngest sister Sansan is currently a senior at the College of St. Benilde majoring in hotel, restaurant and institution management. She was born on June 25, 1982. They are all graduates of Assumption College high school.

“Despite the occasional bickering, I truly enjoy traveling with my sisters,” says Chinkee. “We have reached that point in our lives where we really take pleasure in each other’s company and look forward to spending time together. Since we have different tastes and personalities, we sometimes disagree on what to do first, which sights to see or where to eat. Another problem would be stamina. Walking isn’t one of my favorite activities, especially in the scorching heat. Both of my sisters can walk around the whole day, while I usually have to rest by mid-afternoon if I have plans of going out in the evening.”

Says Lei, “As much as possible, my parents would always want us to go together wherever we go. We hardly go on trips without them, except the trips we had to go for school.”

The first time all three girls traveled abroad was a trip to Hong Kong. Sansan has no memory of that trip because she was quite young then, but Chinkee and Lei are still esctatic about that trip.

Says Chinkee, “We would be given shopping money and then we would go nuts at Toys ‘R Us at Ocean Terminal with our cousins. When we’d discover that we have overspent and we have depleted our resources way before the end of the trip, our grandparents would quietly slip us a few more dollars to keep us from sulking miserably in our hotel rooms. That was the beauty of traveling with our lolo and lola.”

“I think I was around six or seven years old,” adds Lei. “It was so much fun but what I really like most of that trip… It was the first time we bought so much toys. I think we actually finished up our pocket money just on toys, but it was okay. We had fun anyway.”

Surprisingly, they miss most their rooms when they go abroad. Chinkee can’t live without all her four pillows to get a good night’s sleep, while Sansan shocked her mom years ago when she managed to slip into her suitcase a really dirty small pillow she was attached to. Lei is your usual clothes horse: “I’m the type of person who has a difficult time to decide what to wear, and so whenever we go on trips I have to think about what clothes I should bring. Even if I want to bring them all, I can’t.”

What they can’t live without on their trips, aside from their kikay kits, are their cellphones (“Also doubles as an alarm clock,” says Chinkee).

Chinkee remembers her trip to France last July 2002 with the Martels and her aunt Juliet “Tita Beng” Ticzon. It took her to the Louvre, Versailles, Lourdes and Biarritz. “It was my first trip to France and I immediately fell in love with its culture and people. Everything about the place was magical, from the beautiful architecture to the breathtaking views of the French countryside.”

On the other hand, Lei remembers two unforgettable trips: New Year’s eve in Sydney, Australia in 1997 and Honolulu, Hawaii.

She saw Sydney with the Martels, her cousin Vincent Ticzon and her grandmother Nena Ticzon. “It was the first time I celebrated New Year away from home,” she says. “The fireworks was spectacular, which we watched from our hotel room at the Inter-Continental Hotel.”

In Honolulu, she thought it was cool to be able to walk the streets in whatever she wanted to wear. “You don’t have to worry what other people think or say about you wearing shorts or sandals only,” she adds. “The cool thing there was that you get to ride a limo whenever you want, since some of their cabs are actually stretch limos.”

Sansan recalls that when she was seven or eight years old, during a trip to New York, she sat on all the chocolates she got from the food tray.

The sisters are unanimous that Boracay is the ultimate destination in the Philippines (“It’s like you can forget about the whole world when you’re there,” says Sansan), but they have a soft spot for Cagbalete Island just off the coast of Mauban, Quezon.

“Partly owned by my father’s family, it’s very quiet and has remained very pristine and practically untouched,” says Chinkee.

Europe is now their ultimate destination. Chinkee singles out Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain as places she would like to see: “Italy for its rich history and exquisite food, Germany because my boyfriend was born and raised in Hamburg, Switzerland for the snow-capped mountains perfect for skiing, and Spain for the mystique and excitement of its cities. I’m hoping my parents will send me and my sisters to Europe on an educational trip. If not, it would be the perfect honeymoon destination with my future husband.”

Lei and Sansan look forward to seeing Spain, particularly Ibiza. Says Lei, “It would be great to visit Ibiza since I’ve seen how the people there have so much fun. I guess it would be one hell of an experience.”