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...