Malacca Getaway 2014

8th August 2014, Friday (Day 1)

Queuing to get on the coach

Decided the day before to go Malacca for the weekend as it was public holiday on Saturday and company off day on Friday. So my friend and I went ahead to book the coach to go Malacca today and i booked a hotel for around $50 for 2 nights. I still went to my old company to visit my friends and delivered goodies from Philippines to them in the afternoon...hahaaa...After the lunch and chat, i went home to take my bag and went off to meet my friend. We met @ Bugis MRT station and then we walked to Textile Center to collect our coach tickets. And since there is still an hour away, we went nearby (Keypoint) and had egg tarts from KFC. We waited until is about time then we walked back to the coach agency (KKKL Travel Agency) to wait for our bus. The coach seat was very spacious and comfortable, but the driver changed our seats numbers. After everyone got on, the driver went off.

Our beds

It was around 8 plus when we reached the causeway and we went through the customs. There was a massive humans jam in the Malaysia Customs. Then we just tried to sleep on the bus when it drove to Malacca after the customs. We reached Malacca Bus Terminal and tried to find a cab to our hotel. The cab driver missed the hotel twice cos the hotel building is at the roadside, at a traffic light and he was also not sure where is it. On the third time, i had to tell him it's at the side...then he drove to let us off. Anyway we went in and checked in...it was a budget hotel and was simple. Got a simple room with 2 single beds side by side and heng...is with private toilet..But overall, it was ok though the building looks old lah...Then my friend went shower and i went to bed without shower... :P

9th August 2014, Friday (Day 2)

Wu Hua Rou.. Yum Yum!

Woke up feeling lazy too, wanted to go queue for the famous chicken rice ball stall...in the end lazed until 9 or 10 plus then got up to shower. Then we finally got out of our room and then we walked towards Jonker Street for chicken rice ball stall, but along the way (before we reach Jonker Street), i saw the stall (that previously i had breakfast when i was in Malacca in 2011), so i asked my friend whether she tried it...Then we went in and had our breakfast there, cos she said she haven't tried it before. Had yam rice too....the food was still nice too. After the meal, we continued our walk down...walked along Malacca River too and saw a crocodile swimming in the river. The weather was very hotz too, already sweating...Walked past a museum for Zheng He, we went in to take a look (admission fee $10 ringgits)...We had a guide to tour us around and do the explanation. After the tour in the museum, we went to have lunch. I missed Jonker 88 shop and so we were walking 2 rounds like that...hahaha....Managed to find the shop and it was still packed with people, as usual. They had moved their cooking inside the shop now (Previously, they were doing the cooking outside the shop). Anyway, we bought a bowl of Asam Laska to share and the small bottles of coke and sprite costs $3 ringgits. There was another lady sharing table with us, told us the bigger bottles also costs $3... -_-"
After the lunch, we walked to Manokata Parade to find the Millie crepes...my friend knew the way and she is bringing me to walk all around the area....hahahaaa....

Nadeje

Queued for a while for table when we reached Nadeje, it was moved to level 1, outside now. Still having good business...We ordered 2 Millie crepes and our drinks...It is still so nice...and we were siting directly under the aircon...full blast...shiok....After that, we went in to the mall and walked around...having an event with some Korean pop boy band group and a lot of people were looking. We just walked around (forget to look for A&W..curly fries...ahhh...) and then went back to San Shu Gong in Jonker Street to buy our goodies. I got instant coffee and my favorite peanut candy...heheee..Then we walked back to our hotel to put the stuffs first. We rested in the room first and my friend went to shower cos cannot tahan the weather...really very hotz..hahaha...My friend was asking for fishball crackers...-_-"...i also don't know where to buy there...We just nua in the room until around 5 plus or 6 pm...then we went out again..then my friend asked the staff how do we go back to the terminal to collect our bus tickets for the return trip. She told us to take a bus to go there and it doesn't seem a very friendly way. Even the bus stop we need to walk a distance to catch the bus. And there was also a group of students at the lobby..i told my friend tonight will be a noisy night for us.

Carrot Cake

Then we left the hotel and walked back to Jonker Street again for the night market. We walked along the Malacca River again, until to the ship museum there. Then, we walked back to the night market, a lot of people too. Found the egg tart (that i had the 1st time i came Malacca)...nice...Then we had sausages too, Luo Han Guo drink (my friend don't want to drink at first..she thought it's some herbal tea....hahahaa).  Bought carrot cake (bought back to hotel but didn't eat cos ended up sleeping), satay, some dim sum too. After all the food, we went back to our hotel. As usual, my friend went to sleep while i was bathing...kekeke....And really, there were a lot noises outside our room throughout the night (Doors banging, people talking and running....).







10th August 2014 (Day 3)

White Chicken

Woke up and feeling lazy again..and is the last day in Malacca already. Got up and went shower, we headed out to try queue for the chicken rice balls shop. It already having a queue when we reached there and it's really very hot standing outside. We waited for quite some time before it's our turn. And they don't really ask you how much you want to order...like very standard, if the group is small, half chicken and 5 balls each. The balls were smaller, compared to the first stall i ate when i went Malacca the first time. And it was nicer here, the chicken also very smooth and they also provided a plate of chicken livers and intestines (which my friend was happy to eat them)...kekekee...We ordered another 3 more plates of rice balls. And when the uncle was taking payment from another 2 guys (sharing table with us) told the guys that we 2 had already ate 25 balls...hahhaaa...Overall, it was a good and nice meal (next time sure go back and eat again)...hehehe...After that, we walked to the Church of Xaiver, there i brought my friend to the ice cream shop (which we found on the last day of my 2nd Malacca trip). We each had a cup and had a hard trying to finish it too..hahahaa..Then we walked back to the hotel to collect our bags and do check-out. We took a cab to Equatorial Hotel where we went to the McDonald's for a while before the bus (from Superior Coach) comes. Lousy bus, cannot see the seat number and the seat was small too. Next time don't book from this coach company. Then we were off back to Singapore.

Hotel Stayed:
Aldy Chinatown

Manila, Philippines Trip (Day 11)

3rd August 2014, Sunday

Chefs in the hotel restaurant

But the abdomen pains kept coming on and off but at least i stopped running to the toilet. And my friend was very worried until she wants to send me to hospital as the hotel doctor only comes in @ 9 am but if i go hospital we won't be able to fly back. But whole morning, she just stayed by me while i rested... :)....Later i asked her to go down have breakfast first when i got up to shower. After my shower, my friend came back very excited..telling me that the breakfast so very nice and was dragging me down to have a look. She tabao 1 apple and 1 banana back for me though...hahaaa....

So we went down and she showed all the food in the different station but i was still not ok to eat all the food. So i took the chicken congee to eat instead, and she was trying to ask for banana which the waiter told us they run out of banana...hahahaa...After eating breakfast, we went back to the room and rest for awhile while waiting for time. Then it was time to leave for the airport (ahhh...) and my abdomen pain also stopped acting so often...We went down to check out and got the hotel staff to help us flag a cab...Waited for some time for a cab to come in...then we reached the airport...

There was no ac in the airport and my friend still need to pay some airport taxes before we can check-in our luggage. When we were going out of the customs, we also need to pay $550 peso per pax to the customs (don't know what it is for...). Really, there is nothing to do in the airport, no shopping too. So we just went in to the waiting area and waited for the plane to come...I ended up sleeping throughout the whole flight...even the meal i got no appetite to eat (just ate a little)...My friend said me like on drugs...kept sleeping...hahahaa...And so we landed back in Singapore...Sianz...Then we went and buy wines and went back separately and my trip ended...

I had a lot of fun in this trip and the experience i had was also different too (all the hiking, caving...etc). And my friend's family, they are all very nice and funny too (her older brother has a serious look but still can tell funny jokes and her youngest brother is also very crappy...hahaa..) and will remember them. Philippines is beautiful in its own ways and there are a lot of places and food to see and try (I can never dare to eat the balut...broke the deal with  my friend...hahahaa). Sometimes really have to appreciate Singapore for some of the things we are being provided....hehehee....And i only remembered 3 words from my friend - "Oo" (Yes) and "Dito" (here) and "Magandang Umaga" (Beautiful Morning) which she always greet me everyday... :)....

Bulacan, Philippines Trip (Day 10)

2nd August 2014, Saturday

The 'Famous' Taho

Today is the last day in Bulacan, i woke up slightly late and found my friend and her family were helping us to pack all the goodies (mangoes and sweets) with newspaper and putting them into small small boxes. Then i went down and to select which photos we took for the past days to print. I selected a few photos to print, so i no need to print when i get back to Singapore (free prints here...heheee). While doing all these, the 'Ta Ho' man is here again!! This time, we managed to get him and my friend bought for me to try it...Nice!! Is soya beancurd with small small pearls and is sweet...I got 2 cups to eat... :)...My friend's brother then told us there was strawberry flavor in Baguio and we didn't eat it when we were there...Missed it already...hahahaa....After that, we all had breakfast and her sister in law made us sausages for me and my friend, specially for us...hohohoho....
They even ate baluts for breakfast...Oh ya...the breakfast is with rice too..like eating lunch or dinner...not breakfast...haha...They even used buffalo's milk (bought from an auntie when she passed by the house) to make white white cheese.....

Inside Bus

After breakfast, it was getting quite late, almost to 10 plus, 11am. And we need to get ready to catch bus to Manila. Then we went shower after all the packing...After showering and everything done, is time to say bye bye to my friend's family. I thanked her sister in law for everything and she still asked mi to go back the next time i visit Philippines....Very nice of her.....My friend's brother drove us to the bus terminal, but the bus to Manila has just left. So we went another 2 more bus terminals to ask but ended up back to the 1st bus terminal...heheee...Anyway we waited for a while before the bus came. Then we said bye bye to my friend's brother and family...They are all very nice people...had a good time when staying with them. And her nephew is a sweet and smart boy who like origami too (advanced level)...i lost to him (but he don't know how to make a star using straws)...hahahaa...Then the bus went off and it's a 2 hour ride to Manila.

Vikings

We reached Manila @ around 4 plus, then we took a cab to our hotel. The hotel lobby was very spacious and was very big too. After check-in, my friend said they upgraded our room. And so we went up to check our room. Hmmm....not as nice as the hotel room we stayed in Baguio...and here the rate is double the price of Baguio hotel. We can see the sea on the right side of our room balcony. We went down to explore the hotel first (saw the food in the hotel restaurant, like not very nice leh), then we went off to our dinner place. My friend specially reserved table for this dinner. It is called Vikings, she said is a popular buffet place and have to reserve. If not, there won't be available tables for walk-in. We took a cab to SM - Mall of Asia, one of the largest malls in Philippines. There is a globe outside the mall too and there are really alot of shops, consists of 2 blocks too. But it was getting close to our dinner reserved time, we walked to the dinner place first. Quite a distance away, and there were alot of people queuing already when we reached Vikings. We waited for awhile before the staff announced that they are ready for customers to go in and we waited for our number to be called.

Sashimi!!

We were shown to our table and there were a lot of different stations for the buffet. They even got Singaporean chicken rice (which i didn't try...hahaa). Ordered a weird blue fish to bbq too, not nice one, got a lot of sashimi slices. While eating, my friend's sister and husband arrived. We all ate together and they chatted. They even tried to speak with me in Mandarin as the husband is learning Mandarin now. He is a German and they are living in Germany now. But there is one question that he tried to ask me in Mandarin but i cannot catch it... :P....Then it started to rain and the winds were very strong (like going to have typhoon like tat)....We stayed on while waiting for the rain to stop and they chatted (at a point they talking about family issues again)...I just went toilet to run away first...hehehee....As it was getting late and we still need to buy our goodies in the supermarket, we went and took a cab. My friend's sister even gave me a purple rock (fengshu type) as a 见面礼. Me and my friend then alighted near the overhead bridge and said bye bye to her sister and husband. Then we ran off and walked back to the supermarket. Went Max's Restaurant to get the Carmel bars, and went to the supermarket to get dried mangoes (but don't have 7D ones, only Cebu ones). And i got some instant noodles and instant juices and some other stuffs...hahahaa....After done shopping, we went out to take a cab. There were a lot of cabs driving by but the cab drivers were all asking for a fixed price and all don't want to go by meter. And the price they asking is double the original price for the same distance.

After a few cabs, my friend gave in and we boarded the cab back to the hotel. My friend said she needs to go out tomorrow morning and wants me to stay in the hotel myself while she is out...I joked with her can i go to the theme park next to the hotel...She looked back at me with her eyes opened big big...hahahaa.... Finally reached hotel...so tired already...My friend lied on the bed and dozed off very fast...So i went for shower and then sat in front of the TV and wrote my journey again. Suddenly my stomach was having pains and soon i was having runs...and also started to vomit too. Whole night cannot really sleep and it was raining heavily again...Think 2 or 3 plus i woke up my friend and let her know...She called the hotel reception to get some medicine for me. But i didn't eat the medicine and tried to sleep back. I was having very sharp abdomen pains (very pain until cannot stand up). At 1 point, i just sat on the carpet while my friend was doing packing...hahaaa....She called the reception again to get the hotel nurse to come and have a look. The nurse came around like 6 plus (or later...can't remember)...asked me a few questions and he gave some pills for mi to stop the vomiting and told me to drink Gatorade (ekkk...). 
Then i slept back after eating the medicine. My friend was saying i didn't get sick when i ate all the food from the roadside stalls but when we ate the food from Vikings, i got sick...hahaaa


Hotel Stayed:
Sofitel Luxury Hotel

Bulacan, Philippines Trip (Day 9)

1st August 2014, Friday

Live Fishes

Woke up @ around 7 plus, super lazy to wake up but my friend wants to bring me the wet market. So had to wake up to get ready..then my friend heard a guy calling 'Ta Ho' outside, she tried to get her house maid to stop the guy to buy..but we missed it..the guy had walked away... :(...Today no more riding of motorbike on our own...hahahaha...her sister in law had asked for a motor tricycle to ferry us to the market instead. Then we went to a stall to have chicken congee, which i don't find it nice plus i wasn't having the appetite to eat cos stomach pain.Then we made our way to the wet market after we had our breakfast in the house.We went around buying our food for lunch in the wet market, we bought catfishes, splash flower,sausages, white corns and pork. Saw smoked fishes too, their fishes are all still alive, swimming around. Then it started to rain heavily again....After buying all the food, we left and went back to my friend's brother house to cook the food. Along the way, we bought peanuts and ice cream too.

My Friend's Farm

When we reached there, we went to rest in their mini shop because they don't us to help out in the kitchen.But it also kind of bored, nothing to do too and is still raining heavily outside. Then we went to sit inside the house, to watch TV too. There were a lot of houseflies flying around too and the ground was wet too due to the rain...Then i saw the catfish being washed and cleaned, my friend was chatting with her family. Then later, we went back to the other house to get camera & water bcos my friend forget to bring out earlier) and the motorbike we borrowed. I rode the motorbike back while my friend walked back. Then we just waited for the food to get bbq and ready to eat. While waiting, we also did some origami and watched tv to pass time. Then we had our lunch together and my friend looked happy chatting and spending time with her family... :)....After the lunch, we went to see my friend's farm. Even my friend's brother in laws also came along. It was a long distance to the farm, then my friend was telling me, feet will get super muddy if want to walk into the farm and her mango trees are more inside. Although i don't really want to get muddy, i still went to the farm...Got a white color cow there too and we went further in...Got bitten by a red ant some more (got a hole on my toe)...then she showed me her mango trees but she said they were dying and she also showed me how big her farm is....Then we washed our legs after coming out from the farm.

Green & Yellow Mango Juices

Then we went back and along the way, we went back to my friend's classmate shop again and bought some sweets too. But when we reached the house @ around 7 plus, then we had our shower and need to go out for dinner with my friend's sister in law family. It was a long way to the dinner place, i ended up falling asleep on the van. We had a nice dinner there (liked the soup), and the mango juice was super big cup..i ended up taobao back...hahaaaa...Ended up sleeping on the van again on the way back...and the stupid lizard poo on my bag again...The dogs in the house also very unfriendly, kept on barking at us.

Bulacan, Philippines Trip (Day 8)

31st July 2014, Thursday

Banana Tree

Woke up @ around 7 plus today, my friend said i snored lightly last night...hehee...i must be really tired last night. Then we went down to have breakfast, the house was big, 2 levels..our house is upstairs. After breakfast, we prepared to go out. Then we walked to my friend's brother house, which was down the street. They had a small mini shop there and we went in to sit down first. My friend requested her nephew's wife to lend her motorbike to us. I rode with her back to the house first, then my friend walked back alone. Then i tried to balance the bike and rode the bike around the area first....Tried a few times round but the road was bumpy...and also fell down once, luckily just escaped with abit of bruises, no major injuries...hehehe....Then my friend kept asking me to try again and again cos i will need to ferry her round the town. My friend's sister-in-law was afraid to let me ferry my friend around...don't look confident enough...hahahaa..Then my friend's brother rode his bike and arrived the house.

Our Roasted Pig

Then he ferried my friend and i rode the motorbike to their old house (which is now occupied by her brother). There, she introduced me to her sis and brother-in-law from Germany and his brother's wife family. And they got many dogs! @_@.....i was trying to avoid the dogs lor.....Then my friend distributed the food we bought from Singapore to them, and she showed me her old room and her mum's cross-snitch arts. There were many of them, but all kept in the room, untouched, collecting dust. They were very nice, really pity just to keep them lying there. Then my friend chatted with her sister, and later she showed me her mango trees next door. And one of the dogs stepped on my toes when she walked past me...bully ah..they said the dog is like this 1, everytime step on people's toes...hahahaa....Then we rode back to my friend's brother house again to rest for awhile first and we had leche flan and coke to cool down. Then my friend's brother took us in his motorbike to see the roasted pig. Then we arrived at a shop and went inside to see, a big pig was being roasted behind...and later will be delivered to my friend's sister-in-law house for our lunch.... :P

Baby Buffalo

Then we went out again to try to ride the motorbike again. I rode a few rides again but when i tried to ferry my friend behind, i can't balance the motorbike....kekekeee...So we need to swap, my friend got to try to ferry me around instead. While we were riding the motorbike, the food also came. Then we went in to have our lunch...Got roasted pig, ice cream and some other food. The roasted pig skin is very crispy and inside the pig, there were 2 chickens. The ice cream is a super big container, inside got 2 types of ice cream (1 is gelato). After lunch, we went out..my friend rode the bike, ferried me out. We went to see her buffalo and it like long way...it was a nice ride (saw her old school, the school her mother taught, rice fields, mountains)....but when we were going in a small alley road, she had a fall with the motorbike (got a cut on her knee). I saw a man with 2 buffaloes and just asked her whether the buffaloes were hers. But she recognized the man, and started to chat with him. Then he brought us to his house and showed us her buffalo (4 years old)...she said the buffalo didn't showered, so cannot sit on it to the field....really alot of houseflies flying around the buffalo...hahahaa.....There were chickens with chicks and ducks with ducklings running around too. Then later he invited us to his house, and my friend chatted with him for a while to catch up. The weather was also hotz hotz and sweaty......got a glass of coke to chill.

Our Little Guide

Then we left as it was getting late, then we rode off further towards the mountains (also don't know where i going...we just kept going on the road..hahaha). Then came to a place where there are many statutes of the 12 chapters of crucifixion of Jesus Christ and they were placed along the stairs. They were also statutes of different angels at the foot of the stairs. We just stayed for a while and then we went off again. Then we arrived @ Biak Na Bato National Parks, then my friend asked some locals there whether is it safe to go ahead because it was raining and the ground was wet..But don't know what they saying...hahaa...Then the small boy brought us to walk a bridge and underneath water was gushing by...dirty waters...cannot go and swim there..kekeke....We ended up at a memorial shrine...also don't know what is it (the board is not in English...). Then we went off..she rode off to visit her cousin's mum in somewhere and it was also getting dark. After visiting, we went off....along the way, she saw her old classmate's shop (Cristy's) and we stopped by. Her friend gave us some sweets from her shop as a gift... :P... Then we went back to the house, finally home....had our dinner too...and i don't know why i ended up with more bruises on my legs...My friend's driving was ok...just on the brake was always very hard....hahahaa....Then i found that the lizard in our room had poo on my backpack too...kekeee...

Hundred Islands, Philippines Trip (Day 7)

30th July 2014, Wednesday

Island that we stayed overnight

Woke up on the hard floor and was still feeling tired, my phone totally don't want to on which we may have problem as we need the phone to be up to contact my friend's brothers for picking us up later. But my friend still managed to get her old iphone to work and called her brother for the pickup time tonight. Then we still dragged ourselves up, i even gave up brushing my teeth and we smell. There was no water in the toilet too. Then we just bought a cup instant noodles from the stall and had our milo for breakfast while waiting for the boatman to come back to fetch us. After breakfast, we walked around the island (it is called Quezon Island) first, then we left the island out to the sea for snorkeling.The boatman brought us to a floating platform and we wore our life vests. We jumped onto the floating platform and put on the goggles. My friend was teaching me how to breathe through the goggles...hahaa....The goggles was made of plastic and it really doesn't taste nice...

Mouth of the Cave

Then we went down into the water (the water damn salty...@_@), there was a rope and we can use the rope to support. But the water wasn't very clear, still able to see giant clams and some small fishes swimming. Then later, we tried to swim away from the rope, my friend went away from the rope first..i was still clinging on the rope. And she was also yelling at me not to swim too near to her, she scared she will drag me down into the water...hahhaaa..After some time, i also swam away from the rope and was swimming far away from them...ops...she was saying that i swam too far away...hahaha...After some time in the water, we went back up to the floating platform. But we had a problem to climb up the platform, as we need to use the climb the rope up. And i was wearing my normal clothes to swim and my pants was collecting water. So tiring to climb and my leg got cut and bleed abit....also don't know how i got the cuts. Then after that, we went to another island called Marcos Island, the boatman (who was actually a young kid) told us there was a cave (named after Marco's wife) on the island and we need to jump off the rocks to get into the water. When we reached the cave, there was bats up in the cave and the height look high to jump. Me and my friend were discussing who to jump first, and i let my friend jumped first.

Islands

She really jumped down, and she waited for me in the water. She said she will kill me if i dont jump..hahaaa...But i couldn't find the courage to jump into the water, i was like standing at the edge for like more than 15 minutes (or more). Until my friend had to swim back to the shore and come up again and it started to rain again. Really...no courage to jump... >_<....and cannot jump together due the area was surrounded by rocks. So it is a bit dangerous for 2 to jump together. So we turned back up to the shore....and then we swam to the back by going from the shore side. Then when looking up to the rocks (where need to jump down)...it doesn't look so high...When we were swimming, i noticed there were tiny poos floating in the water...all from the bats above. Then the boat chap also wants to jump down from the rocks, after seeing us previously and laughing at me too...hehee...and he really jumped down. Then we swam back to the boat..really tired from the swimming. My energy is almost used up, and plus my pants are still collecting water. Very hard to climb up to the boat, then we went to the next island, where we had halo halo for snacks first. We were told that actually there were 123 islands now, not 100 anymore. And there was a small island, separated out from the others. They called it Lonely island...kekekee....After eating the halo halo, we need to climb up 100 plus stair steps up to get a nice view of the islands from above. The boatman told us there was an island called Virgin Island, and it was called that as the people said there were once 3 ladies who came to the island and went into the cave. But they lost their virginity when they came out of the cave.

Poh Piahs

Then we went off after taking photos and went to Children's Island. It was called Children's Island as the water near the island was very shallow (more for children). We went to swim again...but there was nothing much to do and cannot see 'nemo' fishes too. We stayed until around 12 plus (i think), then we went back to the boat. Then we went back to the city where we went to have a shower for 20 peso per pax. I went in to shower first, when i came out my friend was saying this was my longest shower. But i think this was my fastest shower and our bags were all wet cos the bags were placed on the board in the boat (with water inside). Feel good sia after the shower.....and then we left to the bus terminal to take bus to Tarloc..Then we went to have lunch in ChowKing (which i keep seeing around Philippines city). My friend was saying the food quite good, but i don't find the rice very nice (abit disappointing). And she was saying it was expensive, compared to those food we ate earlier. But the fried poh pians are still not bad. She said the soft drink was from the dispenser, so she still don't let me drink....@_@...So i had to drink my mineral water. After lunch, we went to the bus terminal and the bus haven't come yet. We just sat there and wait for the bus to come, got a otak-like snack too.

TV in the bus

Later the bus came, we got up and sat down and the bus left after all the passengers went up. And it was a long ride (around 3 hrs plus) to Tarloc. There was tv on the bus too and the driver on the tv for the passengers to watch. But i think most of the people are sleeping, i think i was disturbing my friend from sleeping....hahahaa....We reached Tarloc like around 7 plus, then we went into a restaurant to wait for her brothers to come pick us up. We ordered something to eat too while waiting. My phone was still dead, cannot power up with battery pack too. So have to depend on my friend's phone to contact, but she said her brother didn't reply her from her smses. We also don't know whether her brothers will be able to find us too. Luckily her brothers still able to find us at the restaurant. She looked happy upon seeing her brothers...hehee...Then we went off, her brother was driving a jeepney and it was his personal one. We sat at the back, and the ride was also very long. And i was dozing off with the wind blowing too.

BBQ Catfish

Then we stopped at a restaurant on the roadside, and they ordered bbq catfishes. They ordered 3 catfishes and some small dishes. The catfish tastes quite nice too....After eating, her brothers were trying to fix the car and me and my friend waited in the restaurant when it is ready. After a long time, it was really ready and we can hit the road again. We reached my friend's sister-in-law house @ around 10 pm plus..i was so tired and sleepy already...Inside the house, they were starting to have supper..got to eat again...@_@....I can't eat much too...hahhaa...after eating, they started to have family discussion, which i don't feel right to sit there (although i don't understand what they were saying but can see they were like going towards heated arguments soon). Kind of weird too, so i went to sit on the sofa to watch tv first. Then later my friend asked me whether i wan to go shower and rest in the room first. She brought me up to the room first, got aircon and 2 single beds and got tv too.. :P....But my friend needs to go back down to discuss her family issues first...and it was getting so late already. She ended up going to bed at around 2 am plus and still ended up arguing with them. And there was a lizard in the room, making noises too. I fell asleep while writing my notes.

'Hotel' Stayed:
Tent @ Quezon Island

Baguio, Philippines Trip (Day 6)

29th July 2014, Tuesday

Dragon splitting water

The beds were so nice to sleep until we were so lazy to get off the beds...hahahaa...So we lazed on the beds until 7 plus, and my friend was feeling feverish again...And i told her we just skip the 100 islands next and just proceeded to her hometown instead, so that she can rest there. But she doesn't want to, so we just woke up to go to the bell church again. Then we went out and took a cab back to the bell church, along the way, my friend was saying there got people carrying ta ho (like our tou hua) going to house to house to sell. But we were in the cab, cannot buy...and she kept telling me is very nice... -_-" (make me wanting to eat it). Then we arrived at the bell church, and went in. There were alot of bells and dragons statues in the temple. But i don't recognize the gods inside, doesn't look like buddhist too. And we were also wondering why it is being called Bell Church when it is not even a church...hahaha....Since there were nothing much to see, then we left and went to find breakfast.

Pandesal Breads

We came to a small shop, which is selling breads. And my friend bought some small breads and a milo. The breads were very nice to eat and soft soft, and i dipped inside my milo to eat too...heheee....And it was a super cheap breakfast, we kept ordering the breads to eat...After the breakfast, we went and took a cab to go to Wright Park for our horse ride. There were a lot of horses there, waiting for people to ride them. The rate is $300 peso/1 hr and $200 peso/half an hour, so we took the half an hour ride, just go round the park. Then we got on our horses, but my horse don't want to work today. It wasn't willing to move, so the owner was trying to get it move...hahaha...Luckily it started to walk. The 2 horses owners were 2 young boys, still schooling. Then the horse owners just pulled the horses to walk around the park, it was also muddy on the ground too. My friend started to chat with the boy who was pulling her horse, then we rode the horses out to The Mansion. The boy pulling my horse was wondering why they walked out to the road...kekeke...But we had to breathe in the smoke along the way.

Horses to ride

Then we got off the horses and got to know the names of the 2 horses, Tori and Black Hawk. Then we walked to the mansion but it wasn't open to public. Then we looked at our map and see where to go next. So i chose to go to the botanical gardens to see, then we made our way there by walking. Along the way, there was a guy selling poh pians and we bought 2 to eat. It was nice, different from ours. Then we continued to walk to the garden, and we reached the garden. When we walked, i see the garden like not very nice and no flowers to see. So we didn't walk much in there and it was also about time to go back to our hotel for check-out. Then we took a cab back to the hotel. During the ride, the cab was behind a jeepney and the driver can't overtake it. And we were like breathing all the smoke coming out from the jeepney. >_<....After we reached the hotel, we went around to explore the hotel and the garden until is about time to check-out. They even have a corner for fortune-telling. After packing our bags, we checked out from the hotel. The hotel staff still gave a green colour tea to drink, it was refreshing. Then we took cab to go the bus terminal to take our bus to another town (don't know what name.... :P), so that we can change bus to Alaminos city. We had our lunch at the nearby stall too, dishes simple but it was still nice to eat. Think it was about 3 hours plus journey...Then we reached the bus terminal, and when waiting in the another bus, my friend went down to buy snacks again. Got a fried chicken skins and ice candy, then she went to the opposite streets to get some rice cakes. But the bus driver wanted to go off, i shouted on the bus driver to wait for my friend. Then he pressed on his honk to get my friend's attention, hehee....but she didn't know. Then later she hurried back to the bus. And off we go......Along the way, my friend chatted with a lady from Phuket, who just went to hundred islands earlier. She was telling my friend that we can go buy food and stuffs to bbq there.

Hotdogs and Sasuages

We reached Alaminos city after 1 hour plus ride. Once reached, we got a motor tricycle, to go to the wet market. We bought 3 big sotongs, pork belly and other stuffs (water, charcoals, a big bottle of water,etc) and we went to the tourist center first. Then at there, my friend went and discuss with the people there and got the package. We are going to pitch tent and stay overnight in the island...heheee...Then later she went with them to settle some documents, which took quite a long time. I was already very hungry and after she came back, we took the tricycle to the port for our boat. It wasn't really a port, instead we need to climb down the rocks and onto the boat. By then, it was already 6 plus, going to 7 pm. Then we went off and it was getting very very dark. And there was lightning too, then it started to rain abit too. Along the way, my handphone battery got too hot and my friend asked me to off the phone first. And when we reached the island, it was super super dark, there was a building there with light though. As the wind was very strong and it looks like going to have thunderstorm, the boatmen told us that they will pitch the tent under the roof first, then move out to the sands when it is not so strong. But later they told us they were not going to stay with us over the night. So we will be there on our own....hahaa...It was really pitch dark, even the bbq area don't even have light. Was just depending on the torchlight by the boatman. Then they helped us to pitch the tent and bbq our food and while we waited to eat. The tent was kind of hot, the wind is not blowing into the tent. Then my friend told me that we going to go out with her sister when we reach her hometown. I got kind of moody and told her don't want. She felt upset about it. Then we saw 3 people walking around the beach with a pail and scooping. My friend asked the boatman what are they doing. Then my friend very exciting pulled me along out to go see...ohh...the people were catching crabs in the sand. They looked at the holes in the sand and started to dig and try to catch the crabs out. And they did it very fast, like just seconds they caught the crabs already. My friend dragged me to try hold the crabs. But i don't feel like holding, and was pulling her away... :P...

Then later we went back to eat the food, it was ok though but just the sotongs were too chewy, cannot bite or chew off. We even had a beer, and then the boatmen went off with some of our food, leaving us there. There was really nothing to do there, except there was cats meowing away and like looking for food in the dustbins (My friend hates cats and worried the cats will come and dig our leftover food...heheee). And it was really dark, and my lightsticks were not bright enough too. Then we went into our tent to get ready to sleep. It was kind of hot inside the tent, and we don't have pillow, except my travel pillow and we were sleeping on the floor (which was hard)...Then my friend took out some paper and started to fan me so that i can sleep...hehehee....I was super tired anyway and i just fell asleep quite fast. But still woke up in the middle of the night due to the heat, we we were like sweating while we sleep and my phone went dead too....hahahaa...And so this day ended.

Baguio, Philippines Trip (Day 5)

28th July 2014, Monday

Early Morning

Woke up super early again to catch the sunrise again (went for shower, but someone was bathing in the male toilet next door, so the water become super small and i was shivering..so i gave up), this time my friend booked a van with the hostel owner but she said this is more expensive. But we still went with it, so we packed our stuffs and went down to have our instant cup noodles and paid for our stay there. Everything costs around $1500 peso. Then we said goodbye to the owner, she was a nice lady and she thought i was a Filipino...heheeee....and all the suntanning from the previous 2 days (although it was raining in the afternoon), i think i got darker...hahahaa.....Anyway, we left with the van and the driver took us to inside the forest up on the mountain. There were already some people sitting there, waiting to see the sunrise. It was super cold, as it was like 4 plus in the morning. But i don't see stars up there this time, we just sat there and waited for the time to pass.

Floating Clouds

Around 5 plus, the sun started to come out...on our right, we can see the clouds floating...very beautiful...like you can stand on them too....hahahaa....Then i went down to the path, and my shoes were sticking with the twigs and the mud. Cannot get them off my shoes soles...grrr.....Anyway i finally got to see the sunrise, as my friend was telling me the clouds was like floating at the same level as you and then you can see the town behind when they clear away. (We been trying to go see for the past 2 days...but seems no luck with it...hahaaa). After that, we went back to the town as we need to catch our bus back to Baguio....Argh!! Have to leave Sagada already.....It was really a fun experience in Sagada, and it was a small town that everyone can just talk to anyone and they like know each other around the town. We alighted in front of the church, and waited for the bus to come. The bus came around 6 plus, my friend bought 2 rice cakes from there and we boarded. Later there was one lady who came up with the white corns. My friend asked her where she bought them and she went down to go buy them back.

View from Bus

The corns are white in color and shorter than our normal yellow corns. And they tasted nice too. Then the bus went off and is the same up and down roads back to Baguio, which is 6 hours ride too. Past by the mountains and small towns (cannot remember the names and the bus was very shaky too). Along the way, there were people carrying baskets coming up the bus and asked anyone whether want to buy them. But this time round, i was dozing on and off on the bus, don't know why so tired. The wind was also blowing very strongly and it was cold. Then at some point, an auntie sitting in front of mi suddenly vomited outside the window beside her. I was like...@_@....I quickly tried to close the window but i can't pull down. My friend woke up and asked me what i trying to do...hahaa...then she helped me to close the window. Then she went back to sleep... :P....Then we stopped at the pit stop for toilet break and snacks. I went down to the toilet, the floor was wet and further in, there was no door toilets...and the ones in front were with doors but not able to lock. And need to take a small pail of water for pouring in the toilet bowl. My friend went next after i came back to the bus. And she came back with paos and bulats (it was her favorite food...hahaaa). The pau was char siew and is nice....yum yum...Then the bus continued on the way, until we finally reached Baguio Bus Terminal.

Comfortable Beds

We took a cab down to our hotel, Camp John Hay - The Manor. The pollution was very bad in Baguio, all the smoke coming out from the jeepneys and cars. You can feel your throat going dry and the smoke was very bad. Then we arrived at the hotel, the lobby was very nice, looks like a 5-star hotel. And we checked in, my friend said her brother had recommended this hotel and it was expensive too...about $100 sgd plus per night...hehehe...Then the hotel staffs brought us to our room, when we first entered, we were like....Wahhh!!!....the room was very big and got 2 very big beds, got tv and a balcony too. Outside the balcony was a garden. The toilet also very nice and got hot shower!!....Got wifi too....I was so happy but we only stay 1 night there...haiz....Then we rested for awhile. While resting, i told my friend about that auntie vomiting in the bus, she was saying that she was wondering why i was trying to close the window when i told her previously i don't want the window to be closed. We were both laughing so hard at each other...hahahahaa.....My friend also said the cab driver almost don't want to ferry us to the hotel, he thought we don't have money to afford it. The beds were so nice to lie down...shiok...I told my friend there was a weighing machine too...we had to weigh ourselves and see how much we gained from the past 4 days...hahahaa

PMA

We finally dragged ourselves out to find lunch...we walked down the road and went into a bar and grill restaurant. We ordered a chicken sisig and a long beans dishes with soft drinks. The food was yummy, but my friend was saying here costs more expensive than in Sagada. After lunch, we made our way to Philippines Military Academy (PMA). My friend said her brother went to the academy and completed there, so she had many memories there. Before entering the academy, the guard will collect ID card to keep and then he let us in. The academy is very big, is like another town inside. But the museum was abit sad and it costs us $10 peso each to enter. My friend was also giving an introduction at the things do in the military and the buildings. There was this wall, where the badges of all the classes were displayed but there was 2 or 3 badges already faded away (can't even see the words and images). There were tanks, big guns, helicopter, plane to see too (but there were spider webs around them..no cleaning done).Then we walked slowly back out of the military, i was sneezing away but the weather wasn't very cold....Thought i got a cold already...my friend kept saying she will kill me if i get sick...hahhaaaa.....We tried to get a cab to head down to the Buddhist temple once we came out of the military.

Mini Fried Chicken

Once, we reached, we walked up to the entrance but it was closed. It was a Buddhist temple but it is called Bell Church in the city. Anyway, we can't enter, then my friend saw there was a stall selling something interesting. The stall selling fried small small chicken and it was as a whole (the head and intestines were still with it). She went and ordered a cup (consists of 3) and a cup of fishball (i think...hahaa). It was put with vinegar, tastes abit sour sour, quite nice. I see the mini fried chicken with the head, i don't dare to try already....hahaha...but it does smell yummy and i tried the mini drumsticks....and it was really nice (not what i expected)...I was asking my friend how she ate the whole thing even with the bones....hahahaa....Then we went out to take a cab to go to Good Shepherd. But when we arrived, it was also closed but the stall was still opened, which we managed to buy their local product, Ube (Yam) jam and some other snacks. Then we took the cab to Mine's View Park, which was nearby. But we cannot see the view down from the park, cos the clouds were covering the view and it was a patch white. So we just sat down to rest for awhile, then we went to the shops around the park to see whether we can get some souvenirs back. After shopping, we took a jeepney back, this time we sat in front (beside the driver) so no need to squeeze in the back.

Half Chicken (Yum Yum!!)

The driver told us that the city market sells alot of the tee-shirts, we alighted there. It was opposite the bus terminal we alighted earlier when we came back from Sagada. There really got a lot of shops but nothing interests me, cos the designs looks alot like the ones i saw in Sagada. And i was very hungry... >_<.....After going round the area, we finally going for dinner. We took a cab down to SM Baguio City..It was big shopping mall too with alot of shops in it. We came upon a restaurant called Classic Savory, selling chinese style food. We got a fried rice and a half chicken..the food was good sia...nice...After the dinner, we were looking for desserts. Wanted to go a cafe called Cafe by The Ruins, saw it was with good reviews online but it was near to their closing time, so we gave it a pass.
Went to the cafe next door and bought a lemon tart instead, then my friend dragged mi to Jollibee to buy their peach lemon pies (Singapore Jollibee doesn't have this dessert and it was her favorite too). And you really will see Jollibee around, don't really see much KFC and McDonald's' around. Then we took a cab back to our hotel. Long day today...went back to have our desserts and had a super nice hot shower...ahhh... ^_^...

Hotel Stayed:
Camp John Hay - The Manor

Sagada, Philippines Trip (Day 4)

27th July 2014, Sunday

Egg Tart

Woke up super early again wanting to see the sunrise, but my friend was feeling feverish suddenly and she even vomited. So i decided not to go for the sunrise, and just go to the cave only if she feel better. But my friend wanted me to go for the sunrise still but i don't feel nice to go alone. I smsed the lady from the group we met in the waterfall to let her know we are not going to see the sunrise. So we just remained in the room and slept back. I woke up @ around 7 plus again, and i heard pigs screaming outside the room. I got up and take a look, i saw there were people trying to grab and tie 2 giant pigs going to bring to market. And the pigs were struggling, they put a pole and tie the pig to it. And it looked very heavy. After that, we managed to wake up and head down to Lemon Tart House to have our breakfast. And they were having egg tart which is only available on Sundays.

We ordered our breakfast and egg tart when we arrived. It was very yummy... ^_^...and the place was cosy too. The egg tart is nicer than the lemon tart. The tables are short short, and the customers will have to sit on the floor. There are 2 table with short short chairs. And they have free wifi too...hahaha...After breakfast, we walked out to wait for the guide for the cave. The guide name Gareth, then we told us that we need to walk 2km to reach the cave. We were thinking we had already hiked 3.8km the day before, so 2km was nothing for us....hahaha....And so we started to walk, the guide also apologized to us that the sunset driver didn't reply to us. The guide told us that Sagada was once buried in the sea and it was later found.

Coffins stacked in the mouth of the cave

 Along the way, the guide showed us the hanging coffins and then we had to climb down a long long steps to the burial cave. The steps weren't easy to climb down too, but the guide was just walking down the steps like it was nothing. We were taking a longer time to climb down...hahaha... we saw the burial cave, there were alot of wooden coffins stacked on top of each other and they were stacked up on the top. The guide gave us an introduction on the coffins there, he said the coffins were already 100 to 600 years old and there were no names indicated on the coffins. So the descendants also won't know which coffin belongs to who. And the coffins were shorter than the normal coffins, this is due to the natives believe that when a person dies, he/she will be return back to the nature and the body will be put in a curl up position (like inside a womb). That's why the coffin is shorter in size. But when Christianity was introduced in Sagada, the natives changed the position of the body to lie down fully and so the coffin size changed to the normal size. To present day, the people there do burial in cemetery but there are still a small percent of the people who still choose to be bury there in this way. The people also believe the coffin is the home for the dead. The guide was telling us that this burial will cost much more and it was more harder as it required a lot of people to carry the coffin and the body down the mountain road. And there are rituals to be done for the burial too. So the people will have to separate the coffin first and re-built it again in the cave first and then they will form a line down from the top to the entrance of the cave. And they will pass the body down  from the the top, and the guide said this is called 'Basketball'. So they will say go basketball when this is required...kekekee....The guide also told us the wake can last for days, depending on how long the relatives come back and the people were more to welcome the souls of the dead to come back to visit them.

Cave Entrance

Then we made our way back up to the road, which means we need to climb the long steps up again. Finally we reached to the top, and we still need to walk to the Sumaging cave. After walking for some time and while walking, the guide had weaved rings from some small branches on the ground (he said this is what the guides do whenever they are bored), we reached the mouth of the cave and the guide told us there was 245 steps down to the bottom of the cave. The guide went down first to prepare the lantern while we slowly climbed the steps. He gave my friend a headlight where she had to wear it on her head.Then the guide told us this is called spelunking (caving), of course my friend already knew it. And he showed us that we need to go down on fours inside the cave too, he showed 2 types of crawl, monkey crawl and crab crawl. So he was telling us as the rocks were slippery too, need to be very careful when climbing down. And so we started our journey down the cave, really need to squat down to climb down the rocks, there was a part where there were bats living upstairs and so he told us not to touch on the rocks down beneath as they were covered with the bats' poo....hehehee....After some time, i had to use my hands to hold on to the rocks, regardless whether it is dirty or not. The rocks will become your support. Then we reached to a point where there was clear water flowing and there were brighter lights shinning. There were people taking photos there and we had to take off our slippers to climb on the rocks. Then the guide told us to take off our slippers n hid them on the rocks in a corner. The guide told us the rocks were flowing stones, and which the water was flowing down the rocks. At first he was telling us to climb down the rocks with the water flowing down to get to the bottom. I was scared to climb down, and my legs were wobbling too. Eventually i climbed down the rocks, and the guide showed us the different stones formations inside. And the water was very clear and cold too, i felt cooling in the water too. Then he showed us at a point, and asked us whether seen snakes before. Then he said it was a joke, snakes cannot live inside cave. It was a stone formation that looked like a very long snake...hehehee....Then the guide told us to climb down a gap down to the lower level, the guide was just climbing down without any problem. I was still wondering how i going to do that....

The King's Curtain

Then after the guide went down and placed the lantern and bag, he came back and told us to climb down by stepping on his legs to help us down. After we climbed down, he showed us the formation named, The King's Curtain (There was a queen, king, princess and a prince 'hippo' previously and turtles too). Then he asked us which way we want to go, 1 is the shorter way and the other way is the longer way and we need to climb inside and the water level will come up to chest level. He also told us that some people they just stop at the center point and don't continue into the cave which is like a waste there. So we chose the longer way as i thought it will be more fun. And there was a really small gap that we need to climb to get inside. Then we walked down along the rocks, it was filled with rushing water too. Then the guide showed us a stone formation that looked like a big bear lying on fours. After that we came to a point that the water was rushing down very strongly and we need to use the ropes to help us climb down. After we climbed down, the water level was quite high and it was icy cold. I was shaking in the water and we had to walked in the water to get to the other side. Then we came to lowest point in the cave. It was cooling and it was beautiful inside. The guide helped us to take our photos too. Then we made our way back to the center part by more climbing on the stones. Then when i saw the rope to climb up, i was so happy that i shouted that we made it back....hahaaa..We climbed up by using the rope up and the guide asked me to crawl inside a small area. But actually, you can walk by it. When i came out, my friend was laughing happily at me, then the guide told me that's what they do for every first timers in the cave. As my friend was not the first time in the cave, she knew it along too...hahhaa....After this, we need to climb back the same route with the same rocks back up to the cave entrance.My friend had a slip on the rocks while climbing. It was really tiring to climb up, as i was really tired from the climbing up and down but it was fun. We completed the whole journey in about 2 hours and i enjoyed it...hehee.. :).....And i survived!!!
My friend was saying we should go for the cave connection instead but the starting point is from another entrance....heheheee

My Lunch

After we climbed back up to the surface, we were all wet and tired. I washed my hands using our water bottle. Then the guide asked us ready to walk back down to the town. Luckily there was a guy driving a pickup and the guide asked him whether can give us a ride down. We managed to get a hitch ride on the pickup, so we don't have to walk down. i just sat there, looking around while my friend chatted with the guide. Then we went back to the hostel first to shower once we got back. The hostel owner saw us and asked whether the caving was fun. After the shower, we headed out again to have our lunch. We went to Sagada's Especialty, there was no other customers except us. And the dogs' smell was very strong in the place. But still, we ordered our lunch to eat. The fried chicken was super nice...After the lunch, it started to rain again. We walked back to our hostel and we ended up sleeping again.....Hahahaa....the weather was so nice to sleep...Woke up @ around 5 plus and waited for the rain to stop. Then we went out to walk around the town and went to the shop opposite our hostel. It was selling their bags made from weaving by hand, and there was a lady doing the weaving too. This is their local products that people will buy, quite good quality too. I bought 4 coin purses and then we left. We then passed by Salt & Pepper cafe again and we went up to have blueberry tart (My friend was niaming to have it when she woke up from her nap...hahaa). After the tart, we went down to the sausages stall again and bought hotdog & sausage again....yum yum....Then we walked along the street...till we reached Maferre country inn. There, there are photos of the old natives villagers inside, where customers can view them but cannot take photos of them. As we were not so hungry, we ordered a soup and a sandwich. The soup was quite nice but don't find the sandwich nice. There was a angmo couple who ordered 2 plates of spaghetti there (1 after another). After the dinner, we went back to our hostel to rest and my friend tried to do some packing as we will be leaving Sagada the next day. Tonight, it was very quiet, there was no dogs barking or crickets singing.

Sagada, Philippines Trip (Day 3)

26th July 2014, Saturday

Not able to sleep throughout the night, as the dogs and the crickets were having 'party' during the night. Even the lizards in our room were also having fun. Woke up @3.30 am to get ready to go see the sunrise. But it was sooooo freezing cold, ended up didn't shower. Went out and see the dark sky, it was filled with a lot of stars, it was soooo beautiful (you won't see it in Singapore). And at the ground, there were 2 people torching a giant pig in the dark. Then we smsed the driver to check with him whether he is coming to pick us up @ the agreed time.While waiting, we ate our fruits.But the driver didn't reply us back, so we ended up going back to sleep instead. But my friend was very upset and angry that the driver didn't reply us back and caused us to miss the sunrise.

My Breakfast.. ^_^

We woke up again @ already 7am plus, then we just got ready to have our breakfast. My friend was still upset with the driver. then we went to the restaurant just beside our hostel. The name is called Bana's Cafe and Reston, and there was a small dog running around. We ordered our breakfast and sat down outside. My friend was reading newspaper and i went around taking photos while waiting for our breakfast to arrive. It was a foggy morning too and can see the clouds floating.We ordered mountain tea as drinks, my friend added honey into it. After some time, our breakfast came and it was nice...very filling breakfast. After breakfast, we walked to the bus stop there. There was a morning market opened and it was filled with people selling vegetables and fruits. Everyone just laid a mat and started selling their stuffs. It was also crowded with people buying and selling. We bought mangoes again and steamed peanuts to bring up to the Big Falls (called Bomod-Ok Falls). Then after walking around the market, we went to the bus stop to find the jeepney that goes to the big fall. As there were alot of parked jeepneys and they were going to different places. So will need to ask the drivers to confirm the route. But before we got up on the jeepney, my friend saw a stall selling cup corns. The corns were white in color and it was mixed with coconut milk in it (sometimes like our corn cup here). Then we went up to the jeepney and waited for the jeepney to leave. But the driver will wait until the jeepney is full, then they will leave.

Jeepneys @ Bus Stop

After some time, it was filled with around 18 people inside and a few kids. Amazingly, everyone is cramped inside and in the middle was packed with all the big heavy market bags of everyone on board. And when someone boards the jeepney with their big heavy basket, the other aunties on board can just open up and see what were being brought and they will chat with the owners when they returned. I tried to move one of the baskets in when my friend was saying the aunties were asking for help to move the baskets in the jeepney. I can't even move an inch on the basket and my friend can just move them in...then she said to me, Filipino ladies are very strong and there was another lady with a kid, replied us that it is very true. One of the passengers even have a super big basin and stuffed it into the jeepney. But it was pressing onto my knees, my friend scared i will be uncomfortable on the ride. She tried to help me lift up the basin and it was very heavy too. Anyway, the jeepney finally moved out, and we were all cramped in it....hahaha....Even on top of the jeeyney, there were people sitting. And whenever there got people wanted to alight, they just shout at the driver to stop. And they will alight and pay the driver.

Hiking Steps

Finally, we reached the stop to go to the big fall. There were 2 ladies sitting at the table at the stop there, collected $ and arranging guide to bring people to the Big Fall. So we had our guide, Peter to bring us down. He asked us to choose our bamboo walking sticks, told us that we need to hike 1.9km down to the fall and then hike 1.9km back up again. So we started to hike down the mountain trail, there were just steps down and really need to depend on the walking stick to help us climb down (as the steps were very steep). The guide was walking very easily and he was just wearing slippers and don't even have walking stick to support him.He even helped my friend to carry her bag and our fruits. We passed by mountains, corns plants, rice terrace (even walked round it and people doing rice harvest too). And there were 3 villages on the left, center and right side. We also see their mining factory below and the toilet doesn't look nice to go in...hahaa....And in the village, there was a small shelter where the guide told us that it was the village's town hall. The government will send representatives down to the village and have a session with the villagers, where the villagers will talk to the representative on what problems they are having and what help they need. There was a small shelter for black giant pigs too, they were sleeping inside. Accordingly to the guide, the natives don't normal wear their traditional clothes now but only wear them during weddings and ritual. Sometimes when there are strong storms, the villagers will conduct rituals by sacrifice 1 pig and 2 chickens and they will stop doing all work for 3 days. So during this period, it will be their holidays. We also saw 3 people were using a trolley machine to deliver their goods up and down to the opposite mountain.

Bomod-Ok Falls

After the village, we walked till a metal bridge where there were holes and below is the clear water from the fall flowing down. And we were near to the waterfall, and we were both sweating. Finally we reached the waterfall and all the hiking was worth it. We saw a 3 Filipino trying to do a jump shot for their photos and they were having fun too. We took some photos with the waterfall too, then we went down to the water. My friend went down first, and started splashing water on me when i was climbing down. The water so damn cold but it was very clear and refreshing. I was also shaking from the cold. We just splashed water onto each other and having fun.... :)....Then later the 3 Filipino also came down the water, but they were coming down very slowly as not to be too wet. My friend saw them, she started being naughty and splashed water onto them...hehehe....We sat on a rock while chilling our mangoes in the water, my friend started to chat with the other group. They were working in South Africa previously and their contracts had ended, and they had come Sagada to play. When one of the ladies asked us whether we were working mates, my friend paused for awhile before answering...hehee...And when she asked me whether we had known each other for very long, i just replied that ya, we had met for 20 years...hahahaa....Then we were eating chips and mangoes there too. The other group even offered us soft drinks...lol...One of them even told my friend that i looked very happy. Then they told my friend that they were going to see the sunrise tomorrow morning, so my friend asked them whether we can join them and share the transport fee with them. Then they wanted to leave, so we got one of them phone number and we stayed in the water for longer time.

Kids playing basketball

3 kids came along and wanted to play in the water too, my friend gave them 1 of our chips. They looked happy while eating it....kekeke....but they just threw the wrapper in the rocks. Then we just stayed on the rock and see the big waterfall, it was really nice and relaxed just by sitting there enjoying the water and view. Then it was time for us to go back cos the last jeepney time is around 1 pm plus. So we had to walk back the same route again. Don't feel like leaving there....i was shaking from cold when i came out of the water. My whole clothes were wet and didn't bring extra clothes too. So we just walked back up the trail again but this time we had to climb up the steps now which is more tedious. And my clothes dried up quite fast as the sun was quite strong. We took 1 hr plus to climb back and it seems alot faster when we climbed back up. Finally we were up back to the stop, waiting for the last jeepney to arrive. My friend started to chat with the ladies there while waiting. The ladies also asked me whether it is nice down there. My friend told them that i don't want to leave the place...hahahaa....Then the jeepney came and we boarded. Luckily this time wasn't so crowded, i almost doze off on the ride back to the town.  As we both hungry, we went for lunch first.

Egg Noodles @ Salt & Pepper

We went to a cafe named Salt & Pepper, we ordered 3 dishes and soft drinks. While waiting, we saw a small shop down the street selling bbq sausages and intestines. Then the food came, the portions of the dishes were big and it was heavy for us..My friend still stood up and walked for awhile to digest...hahahaa....The food was very nice and yummy. But it was really very full, so we went out to the shops to see whether we can find any top-up cards and to walk walk abit. We managed to get the top up card and it started to rain again. As we were still very full, we decided to walk to the dinner cafe to change our reservation time to a later time so that we have more time to digest our lunch.Then we also went to buy t-shirts and coffee beans. Then we walked back to the hostel to have our shower. Since it was raining heavily, so we just ended up taking nap in the room.....hehee....We woke up @ around 6 plus, but it was still raining outside. We just waited until 7.30pm, then we made our way to the dinner cafe. We passed by the same bbq shop opposite Salt & Pepper, i got the sausage and my friend got the intestines to eat. It was soooooo nice....Then we continued walking up to the cafe, but we were both still very full from the lunch. It was a cozy place in the cafe, there was even a fire place. Then our food came, the portion was very big too and we were really eating very slowly....kekeke....And throughout the meal, we were thinking that if the last dish comes, don't know how we going to finish it as it was a whole chicken dish...hahaha....

Potato (don't know what)

But after some time, the chicken dish didn't come. So my friend went and asked the staff, then she was told that the chicken dish was not in our order. So we were so thankful that we don't have to eat the last dish...hahaa...Then one lady from the group we met in the waterfall messaged us for drinks but we rejected as we both don't drink.....heheee....So we walked back to the hostel, along the way, we bought the sausages again....cannot resist it...kekeee...I got a hammer keychain too. My friend ended up sleeping while i do my writing. Later she woke up to eat the fruits we bought, it was very sour and she showed her sour face...so funny....hahaha.....And so we ended up our day.