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 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