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.

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