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 2)

25th July 2014, Friday

Baguio City Market (Opposite the terminal)

We reached Baguio Bus Terminal @ around 4.10 am, didn't managed to sleep on the bus as usual. There, we had some snacks at the canteen and my friend also checked with bus company staff on how we can travel from Baguio to Alaminos City. Then we waited until its time (6.30 am) to go to another bus terminal to take our bus to Sagada. The cabs here were better than Manila, as the drivers will go by the meter, whereas the drivers in Manila will go by agreed price and sometimes it can go up to twice or thrice the original prices. After getting the bus tickets, we waited there for some time before the bus comes.  The bus came @ around 7 plus and we boarded the bus, the bus doesn't look comfortable to sit long hours and it was non-aircon too. Everyone was carrying big bags and trying to put on the bus. And off we went, this was a 6 hours ride to Sagada. 

View taken from bus

Throughout the whole journey, the bus traveled over 1 mountain to another, round up and round down, passing different small towns. My friend was sleeping on and off on the bus cos she said she vomit everytime she travel this same route....hehee....luckily she didn't vomit along the way...As usual, i was looking at the scenery instead of sleeping. It was beautiful, can see green mountains and mountains. And the clouds were floating in the sky, can also see houses below and the bus was traveling on the mountain road which was the same level as the clouds. Then the bus stopped at a pit stop @ some town, for the passengers to use the toilet and buy some snacks. After 10 mins, the bus continued again. Then it's mountains and clouds again....After many rounds of up and down the mountains, we reached Sadaga finally. It was raining and was cold, and we alighted. Then we walked to look for our resting place, we came to Residential Lodge. The owner got her staff to show us the room, the 1st room we seen is a double bed room and the toilet is common for like 200 plus peso per night. The 2nd room we see are bigger, for 6 persons and the toilet is with it. At the same time, there was another group of people looking at the room next door too. My friend found them too noisy and i was ok with the 1st room, so we went ahead with the 1st room.

Baked Chicken with Potato Rosti

We put all our stuffs in the room and rested for a while. We had planned to go the cave today but since it is raining, we can't do caving. So we went for lunch instead, we went to Yogurt House. We chose a table which was outside the balcony and facing the mountain. We ordered a Sweet Spicy Java Chicken with Rice and Baked Chicken with Potato Rosti, Hot Chocolate and Mountain Tea. The potato rosti was crispy and nice...Mountain Tea is not bad, got mountain smell..But don't like the hot chocolate, not very nice. And beside us, there was a group of Filipino chatting away and laughing very loud. There was also a dog downstairs looking up at us, as though it is waiting for food to be thrown down (It do look hungry too...hahaha). After the lunch, we walked down to the tourist information center (which is a small house along the street). But it was not opened, then my friend asked a lady from the opposite shop who called down the guide from upstairs. Then a guy came down and started talking to my friend in Tagalog. Later my friend explained, we can go to see the sunset tomorrow and after that or we go for the sunset and then either the Big Falls or the cave (have to choose 1 instead). So i chose to go to Big Falls and the sunrise way. Then the guide gave us the driver's number so we can message and arrange with him on the timing for tomorrow.

Lemon Tart

After this, we walked to Log Cabin Bar & Cafe to book our dinner for tomorrow. Along the way, we passed by the bus stop and saw an auntie selling rambutans. So my friend bought a bag of rambutans. It was always a buffet night on Saturday for the cafe, we had to make reservation for the dinner. But when we reached there, the owner was saying that there is no buffet dinner for tomorrow... :(...So we went for ala-carte instead and ordered our main courses too (2 big main courses).  Then we walked back, passing the same bus stop and this time, we saw the same auntie selling mangoes and another big fruit. So we bought them too...hahahaa....Then we walked to the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, it is the only church in Sagada and it was just a small simple church. There was no mass when we went there. There was supposed a cemetery behind the church but it was closed off. My friend said she and her friend went there when they were here previously. After that, we walked to Sagada Lemon Pie House to try their lemon tart. We ordered a slice of the lemon tart and mountain tea to relax. Then we walked down the streets to see some of the shops, got selling souvenirs and Sagada weaving products. Then we went back to our hostel as it started to rain again.

There is no tv in our room, the tv is in the living room outside and there is no aircon too. Luckily it was quite cooling from outside. Then i went to take a bath, the water was like....dripping out from the shower head...had to use pail to collect the water and bath with it. And the water was icy cold as the heater was not really strong, after some time, the water will become cold again. Anyway, i did managed to finish my bath. My friend was sleeping and had to wake her up to go bath....hehee....
After shower, we just rested and sleep. Hmmmm....what did we have for dinner?? Should be the mangoes and rambutans....hahahaa....

Hotel Stayed:
Residential Lodge