Third Stop: Siem Reap

I just came back from visiting Angkor Wat (and the other million temples near it). It's a must see for everyone before he/she dies!

I woke up at the booty crack of dawn to make my way to the temple before sunrise. After buying a 3-day-pass for a whopping $40, it was all climbing steep steps from there. I managed to make my way up to the top despite being scared as hell (if I fell, who will know that I did?!) and it was like this personal triumph over a goal that I never knew was a goal of mine (uh, did that make sense?).

For two more days, my hobby will be temple climbing. Naks! HaHa!

And for anyone wishing to be tanned, no need to go to the beach; just go to Cambodia and the heat will make you browner than UPS. I guarantee it!

Live from Kuala Lumpur

I tried to blog in Jakarta, but for some reason, the Blogger website wouldn't work correctly at the internet shop. Boo!

So now, here I am at a posh internet place at the Suria KLCC Mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I'm a pathetic budget traveler, I tell you.

Anyway, so many stories to tell...and upload.

Starbucks City Mug update: I bought 5 in Indonesia! Mwahaha! And I think there's a couple more here in Malaysia that I don't have. I seriously don't know how I'll be able to lug them all around S.E. Asia. Read: I'm a dork.

Wish some of you were here...to take my picture. ;P

Here I Come

I'm leaving for Jakarta in a few hours. Aja!

I can't believe I'm actually doing this. Good job, dear self, good job.

See you soon MONAS, Petronas, Angkor Wat, Killing Fields, Ayutthaya, St. Paul Ruins, and Hong Kong Disneyland!

The Next Bachelorette

My Manila bachelorette days are over: I moved out of the condo today.

Goodbye 2-minute rides to the mall. Goodbye 10 minutes to get to work. Goodbye to food deliveries. Goodbye to peeing with the bathroom door open. Good things don't last indeed.

It was one whole year of adulthood; no shame that I learned how to feed myself, to put a roof over my head, to take myself to the doctor when I'm sick, to have an opinion on the best toilet bowl cleaner (Toilet Duck, hands down!) just now at the still-very-young age of *ahem mid-20s. It's never too late to learn something new afterall.

Consequently, I'm back in San Mateo, Rizal. I'm going to go nuts if I now meet a relatively good-looking guy and he's from the city. Can we say "wrong timing"? Go ahead, say it, Kuya Heinz! LoL.

Destination: Baguio

Lil and I woke up early to check out all the tourist sites before we had to checkout at noon. Red Lion Inn provides free breakfast of any "-silogs" you want (which was great for us penny pinchers).

After asking for directions from a Red Lion staff, we hailed a jeepney to go to Mines View Park (Php7.50). Compared to the last time I was there, I didn't have to fight my way to get a decent picture taken. We were early enough that we beat tourists to the area. However, just like my last trip, I really don't find Mines View Park spectacular. After all, where the hell are the mines that I was supposed to view? I saw more mines on our way up here from La Union.

The usual Php10 horse photo-op was there, but we didn't give in. Instead, we opted for the Mines View sign and the sunflowers background.

Next stop was The Mansion (Php7.50). The jeep was not supposed to go there directly, but I guess since we were the only passengers at that time, the driver decided to go on that route instead so we were able to get dropped off right in front of The Mansion. Woot. Again, it was early enough that we were the only tourists there. Woot woot.

We walked across to Wright Park where we had to be imaginative of what to take pictures of. It's all about coming up with right poses. HaHa!

We saw the ponies and their pony boys after walking down the flight of stairs. I'm sorry, but that place stinks, literally. It's a good thing that the ponies with the pink mane aren't maarte (I do wonder though if they are girls) and aren't throwing a fit about the smelliness of the place.

Saving one jeepney ride, we trooped down to the Baguio Botanical Garden to take a picture of...the sign. We knew the place was nothing spectacular so we just decided to take a picture with the sign outside. Can you say turista? This is where an Igorot woman was feeling artista and wanted to get in the picture with me. I kept telling her no, but she wouldn't stop. Afterwards, she kept insisting that we took a picture of her anyway. Uh, Ma'am, if you looked like Christian Bautista, may chance pa na mangyari yun. ;P

One of the places that I've never been to in Baguio was the Philippine Military Academy. After getting clear instructions from a passerby (Baguio-enos, or whatever you call people from Baguio, are the most helpful with directions), we rode a jeepney (Php7.50) to Burnham Park where we rode another jeepney to go to PMA (Php14.50).

I left my ID in Red Lion so I thought I wouldn't be able to get in, but it turned out that you only need one person in your party to leave his/her ID at the gate. Score! The jeepney dropped us off at the heart of PMA, in front of Melchor Hall.

When I got there, I told Lil, "If the government can make all our streets looking like the ones in PMA, our country would look great!" The PMA grounds can compete with the Fort Ilocandia Resort grounds in aesthetic appeal.

I found the PMA Museum weird with its Caucasian mannequins (couldn't we find Filipino-looking ones?). Then, I thought about if the U.S. and the Philippines went to war, the Philippines would lose hands down since everything that the Philippines knows, they learned from the Americans. Lil then reminded me, "And that's why we try to avoid starting a war with them."

I saw the sign for the "Chivalry Battalion" which got me smiling. I'd like to meet the soldiers from that battalion, please. HaHa!

I posed "at rest" in front of a building and two soldiers passed by and said that I should be saluting instead. I took that opportunity to ask them for a photo-op. I told them that they had to salute, too, but I guess that was pushing it. If I had a choice, though, I had wanted a picture with the "hiking" soldiers, the ones with backpacks on them that I saw hiking on the side streets on our way to the PMA. Rawr. HaHa!

When I saw the PMA Information Center, I got excited thinking that they had a map to provide, but all they had were t-shirts. I gave in and bought one (Now I have a UP shirt, a PMA shirt, and still no Ateneo shirt).

While riding the jeepney on our way to Melchor Hall, we saw a couple of landmarks and Lilian and I decided to walk back towards those...which eventually led us back to the front gate. When we got to the Gregorio del Pilar statue near the entrance, an army jeep passed us by and told us to go around to the other side--we were walking on the wrong side of the road. I kept my mouth shut and just did what I was told. I wouldn't want to start any wars, you know. Hence, I didn't get to read the plaque located in front of the statue. Dammit!

By the time we got back to Burnham Park, it was nearing 12PM already so we had to go back to Red Lion to checkout. I still have not been to the Grotto of 262 steps! Grr! I had also wanted to go to Natividad to check out the strawberry fields, but I guess it's not meant to be this time around.

After checking out, we went back to SM Baguio, by way of taxi. We had been wondering how much the base rate was and to satisfy our curiosity, we rode one to the top of the hill. It turned out that the base fare was Php25; Php5 less than in Manila.

We checked out Baguio Cathedral after lunch since it was just a stone's throw away from SM. Then, we headed for the bus terminal. When we got there, a bus leaving for Cubao was pulling out so we hopped on board. I didn't get to buy any Choco flakes or cavity-inducing peanut brittle, but I guess my body will thank me later.

The Dagupan Bus terminal in Cubao was full of people when we got there at 9PM. It was a zoo! It's one thing to see the news reports of crowds on TV, but it was another to be around the mayhem. I wouldn't want to be in Baguio during Holy Week!

And that's the end of my Northern Luzon trip--No rice terraces, no Igorots, no mummies. HuHuHu. I'm still trying to scheme something though for right after my S.E. Asia trip and before I leave for Seattle. Anyone want to come with me to the Cordilleras?

Not So Destination: Banaue

Instead of taking the 10PM bus to Baguio the night before, our lazy butts decided that we would wake up late and take the 8:15AM bus instead. This was the biggest mistake of our Northern Luzon trip.

Partas looks clean and great from the outside, but the bus kept bobbing up and down which caused me headaches; I say the shocks are the culprit. I prefer the Autobus buses. And Partas buses stop multiple times and they unload people/baggages so slow! Blasphemy! The Autobus to Vigan stopped only once and the conductor practically threw us out of the bus when it was time to get off in Bantay.

The ride to Baguio was scenic though. The bus just kept climbing and climbing to greater heights. Ang ganda! We finally got to Baguio at about 3:30PM. Famished, we opted for the Jollibee right on Gov. Pack Road (where most of the bus terminals were). This is when we decided that we would stay in Baguio overnight instead of going to Bontoc and arriving at past 9PM that night. This was the second biggest mistake of our Northern Luzon trip.

Since we didn't research Baguio (since we didn't plan on spending a night here!), we were lost cows. The last time I was in Baguio was in 2002 and of course, I was with family with our private vehicles and I didn't have to worry about finding accommodations or finding my way around. We walked down Session Road (oh, so this is Session Road) and checked out a couple of guesthouses. They were all overpriced for what they were. Finally, we decided to follow Lonely Planet and find the Red Lion Inn on Wood Road.

It was only a Php7.50 jeepney ride away...behind SM Baguio. Red Lion Inn doesn't win any prizes for its ambiance. It had a clean private bathroom and it was P800/night so we took it. I had a sheet to cover the bed with so I didn't care much plus we were only going to spend one night there, so no worries. The staff was helpful as well.

Since it was nearing nightfall, we decided to just veg in SM Baguio instead of checking anything out. The climate, as always, was cool so walking was no big task at all (Tell me to walk to SM Megamall here in Manila and I would have to think twice about it). It seemed like Team Unity was following us because they had a welcoming party at El Cielito Inn where all their banners were hung outside (In Vigan, there was a welcome banner for them too).

In SM Baguio, we were sucked back to our usual Manila lifestyle. Walking into a modern mall was the third biggest mistake of our trip. This was when Lilian said to me, "Huwag na kaya tayong tumuloy sa Banaue?" Ahh crap. We had been keeping tabs with our expenses since the first day of our trip and we were averaging Php1,000/day so far. Since we had planned on a 7-day trip, we were on track to spend Php7,000 which was out of Lilian's budget for the trip. I, on the other hand, had just received my severance pay, so I could keep on going.

By the time we were getting ready for bed, I told Lilian, "I know I'm going to regret it, but sige, huwag na tayong tumuloy sa Banaue." Ahh crap again. If the Banaue Rice Terraces could scream, they would've made this sound: NooOOOooooOOOOoo!!!!

Destination: Pagudpud

I know I've said that I was beached out. No more white sand beaches for me. Well, how about one more? I figured I'm here in the North already so I might as well check out Pagudpud, the Boracay of the North.

After a Jollibee breakfast, Lil and I walked over to the minibus station. A minibus is a smaller bus (duh!) with no airconditioning. This was not a problem at all as the two-hour ride was breezy (Php70).

"Ading, ading, dito na!," the conductor told us when the bus stopped in front of the Pagudpud City Hall. Not knowing where to go, we went inside the City Hall to ask for details. Since we were not staying in a resort, we were to go to the Municipal Beach Park, which we found out charges Php20/person. The attendant there said, "It's for maintenance." He issued official receipts so I quit giving him a hard time.

Just like when I first got a glimpse of the Boracay waters, Pagudpud took my breath away, too. Picture-perfect! Absolutely beautiful! God is great!

It was 11AM when we got there. I dragged Lilian towards the northern tip of the place (Curious George never stops!). The difference between Pagudpud and Boracay? Boracay still has the best sands: white, powdery, and you never sink while walking on them. In Pagudpud, walking to where you want to go on the beach was harder because you sink with every step you make.

When we got to the tip, we found out that there was nothing there, but a rocky beach front and fishermen's houses. By this time, it was noon and we decided to stay at a hut and bum around instead of walking back under the hot sun.

We eventually headed back at 1PM, by cutting our walk in bits and pieces whenever we found some sort of shade. If we tried to do the walk straight through, we would've ended up with a heatstroke for sure.

We had lunch at the only restaurant there at Bamboo Bistro (the one on top of the hill) where side dishes cost Php100 (good for two people). We ordered the grilled pork, but found it all to be 75% fat. Boo!

The minibuses stop coming after 1PM to where we were dropped off so we had to get to the main highway first to catch a minibus that would bring us back to Laoag. The tricycle driver asked for Php60. The final price became Php40 after I hemmed and hawed. >=D

We ended up sitting at the waiting shed alongside tricycle drivers who were waiting for passengers. We missed the first minibus because we were chatting away, asking them how to pronounce "Bangui" since we planned on stopping there before heading towards Laoag.

The ride on a minibus to Bangui Viewdeck is P10. Bangui Sea Wind Project is the only one of its kind in S.E. Asia. Ten white windmills (at least that's how many we saw from the viewdeck) by the sea generate power...make that only nine because one of them wasn't moving at all when we were there.

Again, Lil and I found ourselves by the side of the road. Although, it took us longer to catch another minibus--a whole half hour. Instead of sitting next to eachother, we each took a window seat. We would've stopped to check out the Burgos Lighthouse, but it was perched on a hill and it was probably only accessible if you had a car. Instead, we just rode the bus the rest of the way.

What I noticed with the Ilocos countryside (versus others that I've seen) is that it's clean: the rivers had no trash, the roads were paved, and the houses were made of cement (not shacks). People looked like they live a comfortable lifestyle. Now I understand when Pen says she prefers to live in the probinsya. Ilocos would be a nice probinsya to live in.

Back in the city center of Laoag, we walked past the Ilocos Norte Museum after hours so we didn't get to see what was inside. Further along, we looked at the Ilocos Norte Capitol (Bong-Bong, you there?), the Laoag City Hall, and the Tobacco monument thingie where I posed like I was smoking a cigar.

Having seen the Sinking Bell Tower from afar, we kept wondering if that was THE Sinking Bell Tower we've read about. It didn't look like it was sinking nor did it look like it's leaning to the north. Walking up to it, we did find out that it was indeed the one. The entry door was lower than the street.

Since we were dehydrated from the day's beach trip, we headed over to Max's Restaurant for my bottomless sago't gulaman. I now have a new record: 4 glasses. Mwahahaha. I felt like an oompa loompa afterwards, though. HaHa!

Destination: Laoag

At breakfast, I met Ate Judith, the eldest of the five sisters. I have almost completed the family tree: Si Inang na lang ang hindi ko pa nakikita! At this rate, it's a race between Pen and Kuya Heinz's family: which family tree will Mina complete first? HaHa!

I revised our plan again. Instead of hitting Laoag that morning, we went with the family to the beach nearby. En route to the beach, Ate Joy showed me Ate Len's newly bought sea-side property. My gulay, haciendera na si Ate Len! HeHe!

At the beach, I watched the kiddies play in the water. Ang kyut-kyut! Grabe! Sarap kainin! We could've served them alongside all the food! Again, I have seen one of these events in one of Pen's litratos! Since it was April 1 (Operation Bawas Timbang in full effect), I skipped the rice and concentrated on the ribs, singkamas, and guinataan. Yum, yum, yum!

I kept telling Ate Joy that I loved this place better than Boracay since there were no vendors lurking around. It was just a perfect place to bum around and enjoy the cool sea breezes. Promding-promdi ang atmosphere! Loved it!

By 2PM, we said our goodbyes to everyone. Ate Joy provided a car and driver to take us around Laoag, telling me that it would be hard to get around all the sites in Laoag because they were all far apart. Again, this was the same set-up that I had when I visited Tacloban in 2005 when Raissa's dad provided a car and driver for me, too. Mukhang humahaba na ang listahan ng guests ko in Seattle. HaHa!

Heading north, we came to Batac first, the birthplace of former President Ferdinand Marcos. There, we went to the Marcos Museum, which was surprisingly so small. For someone who was regarded as a hero in this part of the Philippines, I would think the museum would be huge and full of his memorabilia. Dinaig pa ng Crisologo Museum ito. But I guess, the highlight was supposed to be the Marcos Mausoleum, where the former president lies in state in a covered glass. Thanks to the eerie choral music and pitch black room (except for the ones lighting the body), this place is as spooky as it gets. I wouldn't want to be alone in the room at night.

The next stop was Paoay Church...which was closed on Sundays. Boo! The belltower was used as a lookout point for the Katipuneros. There was nothing to do, but take pictures.

We moved on to the Malacanang of the North, the former office of President Marcos whenever he was in Ilocos Norte. The place was typical of the houses we saw in Vigan: huge rooms with huge living rooms. What I noticed the most was all the airconditioners in each room. I'm sure the Marcoses racked up the electricity bills when they were in town. The backyard and veranda had a nice view of the Paoay Lake. Outside, there was a swimming pool, tennis court, volleyball court, and a dorm--now all unusable. Tsk.

Last December, Cebu Pacific had their Laoag flights on sale and I wanted to go, but the only place I could find on the internet to stay at was the Fort Ilocandia Resort with rooms going for Php5,000/night. I decided to check this place out this time around and see what I missed.

FIR was built for Irene Marcos’ wedding reception; now it's a huge resort with everything you could think of. They have a beach (with no people), go karts, swimming pools, fish pond (being built), restaurants, and of course, beautiful gardens. If I were getting married, I would want my wedding photos here. Ang ganda! I'm sure lots of money go into maintaining the beautiful flowers and lawns.

Our last stop was the St. William's Cathedral where a Palm Sunday mass was going on so we couldn't go inside. While getting in the car, I looked behind me and noticed someone familiar. Then it clicked: it was Governor Bong-Bong Marcos and Irene Marcos with husband. Maybe Doris is right: I have a "famous people magnet." HaHa! Their body guards were around them, but you wouldn't notice them at first because they were wearing civilian clothes. I've seen Imelda Marcos up close before, so now this is another family tree I can try to complete. HeHe.

The driver eventually dropped us off at Hotel Tiffany, a place I found on the internet. I would highly recommend the place. They have cable TV, hot water, clean facilities, and friendly staff. There's a diner downstairs, a Jollibee across the street, a Max's restaurant a block away, and a mini-mart near Jollibee (which sells overpriced bottled water and drinks!). The minibus and Partas bus stations are also within walking distance. You can't go wrong with the place!