So early on my last day I left my lodge after paying the night before and thanking them with a little tip, I walked to the airport. I got in around 6:00 and had them hand check my bags, and then went to get my ticket. Turns out that my bag was 3kilos overweight and so I had to pay some money for that. Then I checked in and waited in the waiting room. There were a lot of people waiting to leave as well. It was going to be a packed flight.
Anyway, so the plane lands from coming in from Manila and unloads and then we see them load everyone's luggage and then about 20 minutes later, we see them pulling some of it off. Then some of the staff come in and say that those who have their luggage out of the airplane must come and claim it.
Turns out the airplane was too heavy and these peoples bags couldn't go to Manila with them yet. Luckily my bag did. So after about an hour and a half delay because of the luggage fiasco, we took off. Some people though would have to wait for their bags to show up in Manila a day or two later. God is good, huh? :-D
We landed in Manila and I took a taxi to my new lodge (Friendly's). It's in the heart of the city, so I was excited for the change of pace. My last lodge in Manila was outside the city somewhat. So I go to the lodge and check-in only to find out I can't check in until 12. They let me go to their rooftop terrace though. I did and found out I was very tired, my neck hurt and I didn't feel very good.
Finally they let me check into my room and find it to be very small with just a bed and fan. I crash though and fell asleep till 5pm that night. I then was a little hungry and wanted to find some dinner. So I walked down the street trying to find some place. Finally I walk past one place where the guy invited me in to check the menu. I see chicken and pork adobo on it (one of my favorite filipino dishes) and decide to stay. So I saw that it was only 250 pesos, so I also ordered an iced coffee drink for 150 pesos too. So I eat the meal and find out that I still wasn't feeling perfect, but it was still good. I get the check and find out the meal is 620 pesos! WHAT!? How? I guess what had happened is that I ordered from the filino special price and since I was american, I had to pay more for that meal. I paid it and went back to the lodge to rest. That evening I went up to the rooftop and just chilled and watched some movie.
Then the next morning I woke up fairly early, went to starbucks which was just a block down the street and had a pastry and a strawberries and cream drink :-D Then I hung out with one of the guys at the lodge who invited me to play cards with him. That was cool. Then in the afternoon I went to the Mall of Asia again.
I'm glad I went again because this time they had a big thing going on where they were going to have a concert with some big name people. Also, they were going to have fireworks as well.
So I was going to have dinner there, but I decided instead that I'd walk around to the different food stall/stands in the mall and see what sort of food I could eat. So I walked around and had some good stuff. I also had some delicious fruit drinks. Mmmm, I wish there was more fresh fruit here in Korea.
After that I watched the fireworks which were really spectacular and then watched the concert.
The other neat thing was that today was Earth Hour day and it's big here in the Philippines. You would see signs everywhere saying Earth Hour at 8pm where a lot of businesses were going to turn off their lights for one hour to support the global warming issue. So all the SM malls in Manila were going to be supporting this. Mall of Asia is one of those malls. So it was neat that at around 8pm, you saw a lot of businesses starting to put candles in their stores, or restaurants using candles and shutting off their lights. It was very surreal and very cool at the same time.
Then after all that and the sweet concert I got to see, I went back to my lodge. I found out, that while I was at the mall, the lodge was having a wine and cheese night. I got in and the lodge owner was like "dude, you missed all the wine and cheese". I was fine with that though, and found a bunch of the people upstairs already had a bit too much to drink. So with that, I went to my room and went to bed.
The next day I went to church again, and then had to leave almost immediately after to get my plane.
All in all, the trip was amazing and incredible. I would recommend batanes to anyone and everyone who is seeking a place where many tourists don't go and where you can seek to find peace and tranquility and yet at the same time feel the wind and turbulance of the seas in nature. Ah, I want to go back already :-D
Friday, April 4, 2008
Trip to Batanes, Day 6
This day I started out early again with a Jeepney ride back to the dock to take another boat to Sabtang. Again, I got lucky and got right on a boat without having to wait for it. The water was calm for the first half, but then the second half I felt like I was on a roller coaster. The rest of the people on the boat took it pretty well.
Got to the island and said "hi" to the canteena owner and asked him if he knew where I could rent a motorcycle to go around on. So then he runs around asking all these people who have motorcycles if I can rent them. I'm thinking "uh, I dont' want to take someones motorcycle." Finally he talks to one of the ladies that works in his canteen and she goes and gets her motocycle. So I get on it and try to start it, and me not really knowing how to ride a motorcycle must have looked pretty dumb. So finally, they look at me and then he talks to the lady and he says that she will take me to where i want to go if that's fine with me.
I say "YES" and so she goes to change her clothes to something more comfortable and we're off on a motorcycle on this almost deserted island to see some beautiful sights. So after about 6 miles we get to the first place called Chavayan. I have to say this was one of the most beautiful tropical locations I've been too. It looked like a mini Hawaii or something like that. So I stayed there for like an hour just taking pictures and stuff while the lady that drove me there probably went to someone she knew's house.
After that it was back across to where the boat dropped off and then another 2 miles to go to this place called the Arch. It's a natural rock arch along the coast on a beautiful white beach. We go there and it was just as beautiful as the place before. So we chill there for 45 minutes just listening to the waves crash and watch the sand crabs go across the sand. It was surreal to be there and to think how lucky I was to get opportunities like this. She then drove me back to the boat dock just in time for me to find a boat that was leaving.
I got on this boat and the ride back was one of the craziest boat rides I've been on. Every time it felt like the wave was going to come in the boat, the boat would sway the other direction. It was nuts. Everyone else in the boat though seemed to think it was normal. Needless to say, when I got back to Batan and was on dry land, I was a happy camper. I chilled out at my lodge that night and for dinner went to a restaurant called Casa Napoli. I got a hawaiian pizza and it was delicious. Then I went to bed.
Got to the island and said "hi" to the canteena owner and asked him if he knew where I could rent a motorcycle to go around on. So then he runs around asking all these people who have motorcycles if I can rent them. I'm thinking "uh, I dont' want to take someones motorcycle." Finally he talks to one of the ladies that works in his canteen and she goes and gets her motocycle. So I get on it and try to start it, and me not really knowing how to ride a motorcycle must have looked pretty dumb. So finally, they look at me and then he talks to the lady and he says that she will take me to where i want to go if that's fine with me.
I say "YES" and so she goes to change her clothes to something more comfortable and we're off on a motorcycle on this almost deserted island to see some beautiful sights. So after about 6 miles we get to the first place called Chavayan. I have to say this was one of the most beautiful tropical locations I've been too. It looked like a mini Hawaii or something like that. So I stayed there for like an hour just taking pictures and stuff while the lady that drove me there probably went to someone she knew's house.
After that it was back across to where the boat dropped off and then another 2 miles to go to this place called the Arch. It's a natural rock arch along the coast on a beautiful white beach. We go there and it was just as beautiful as the place before. So we chill there for 45 minutes just listening to the waves crash and watch the sand crabs go across the sand. It was surreal to be there and to think how lucky I was to get opportunities like this. She then drove me back to the boat dock just in time for me to find a boat that was leaving.
I got on this boat and the ride back was one of the craziest boat rides I've been on. Every time it felt like the wave was going to come in the boat, the boat would sway the other direction. It was nuts. Everyone else in the boat though seemed to think it was normal. Needless to say, when I got back to Batan and was on dry land, I was a happy camper. I chilled out at my lodge that night and for dinner went to a restaurant called Casa Napoli. I got a hawaiian pizza and it was delicious. Then I went to bed.
Trip to Batanes, Day 5
So this day I woke up fairly late and went downstairs and asked if they had bfast. They asked if I wanted rice and I was like "um....do you know where I can get a pastry" and they said "oh, the owner just came back from Manila and brough some dunkin donuts. So they then gave me 2 donuts and coffee. It was so nice of them to do that. Especially when who knows how long it was since they had dunkin donuts.
So after bfast I ask the owner what else I should do while in the island and asked about a spring I saw online where it overlooks the ocean. She told me where it was and tried explaining it and how I could rent their motorcycle but if I wasn't experienced I probably shouldn't take it. So after 20 minutes of trying to figure out how I could go to this place, she says she can call their tour guide who runs a trike around town to take me there for a good price.
So around noon, the trike owner comes by and takes me on a journey.
We took the trike to a place called Diura fishing village. This was one of my absolute favorite places on Batan. It was remote and still very much culturally in tact. It's what it is. It's a fishing village. All these people do is fish. They catch a fish called Dorado. There was some drying when we got there. So we started walking past the town to get to a spring that had an afinity pool overlooking the ocean. We had to stop though and pay a little fee to the village since I was a tourist though.
Then we walked on and continued past a place that just looked like a giant rock pile. My guide though tells me that this too used to be a village, but it's been deserted. The island gets hit with 6-8 typhoons every year! That's why you can really only visit it for like 3 months out of the year.
Finally we reached the spring and it was beautiful. It was so tranquil and I wished I had my swimming suit to go swimming in it. But of course, there was a couple there too, so I probably wouldn't have wanted to go swimming.
Anyway, we then walked down to the beach where my guide showed me a cave there called Crystal cave. We had to walk over some huge rocks and into little cravases to get to it. It was an awesome place, but he said it used to be even better before all the crystal was taken out of it.
Then we walked back to the trike and he asked if I had seen the old lighthouse. I hadn't and so he offered to drive me to it. So we drove to this old beautiful lighthouse on the island and I took a bunch of pictures of it and the beautiful green hills around me.
Then he took me back to my lodge, and I paid him nicely for the journey and then had a dinner of pork at my lodge which was good again.
Then I watched the sunset and went to bed. Tomorrow I would be off to Sabtang again to see some more sights there that I had missed.
So after bfast I ask the owner what else I should do while in the island and asked about a spring I saw online where it overlooks the ocean. She told me where it was and tried explaining it and how I could rent their motorcycle but if I wasn't experienced I probably shouldn't take it. So after 20 minutes of trying to figure out how I could go to this place, she says she can call their tour guide who runs a trike around town to take me there for a good price.
So around noon, the trike owner comes by and takes me on a journey.
We took the trike to a place called Diura fishing village. This was one of my absolute favorite places on Batan. It was remote and still very much culturally in tact. It's what it is. It's a fishing village. All these people do is fish. They catch a fish called Dorado. There was some drying when we got there. So we started walking past the town to get to a spring that had an afinity pool overlooking the ocean. We had to stop though and pay a little fee to the village since I was a tourist though.
Then we walked on and continued past a place that just looked like a giant rock pile. My guide though tells me that this too used to be a village, but it's been deserted. The island gets hit with 6-8 typhoons every year! That's why you can really only visit it for like 3 months out of the year.
Finally we reached the spring and it was beautiful. It was so tranquil and I wished I had my swimming suit to go swimming in it. But of course, there was a couple there too, so I probably wouldn't have wanted to go swimming.
Anyway, we then walked down to the beach where my guide showed me a cave there called Crystal cave. We had to walk over some huge rocks and into little cravases to get to it. It was an awesome place, but he said it used to be even better before all the crystal was taken out of it.
Then we walked back to the trike and he asked if I had seen the old lighthouse. I hadn't and so he offered to drive me to it. So we drove to this old beautiful lighthouse on the island and I took a bunch of pictures of it and the beautiful green hills around me.
Then he took me back to my lodge, and I paid him nicely for the journey and then had a dinner of pork at my lodge which was good again.
Then I watched the sunset and went to bed. Tomorrow I would be off to Sabtang again to see some more sights there that I had missed.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Trip to Batanes, Day 4
So my second day in Batanes didn't end up as crazy as my first, but it sure does come close. So I got up early and took a jeepney to the boat dock where I would find boats going to Sabtang. I got there and to my luck, found one that was just pulling out. I quickly got on and took my first boat journey of the trip. The boat was a fairly small wooden boat compared to the waves we were encountering, but it was fun and was only about a 45 minute boat trip to the island. When we got off, we weren't at a dock, so you just jumped out into the waves. It was docked in the sand and thus couldn't help but get a little wet.
Well, I looked around and realized I knew nothing about the island. So I thought, I'll just look at my map and walk around the island. So I got out my map and started walking. Pretty soon though I realized the island was a lot bigger than I though and so after about 2 hours of walking and seeing beautiful sights, I decided to go back to the boat dock and maybe come back once I knew more about he island and could maybe get a bike or motorcycle. I got to the boatdock and sat down. Two men approached and the one introduced himself as the tourism dept. guy and the other was a canteen owner. The tourism guy said I had to pay a tourist tax of like 100 pesos and so I went to his office and paid and signed a paper. Then the other guy offered me a big meal for 250 pesos. I decided to take it because he said I'd get lobster :-D So I waited for a long time for my meal, but it was worth it. I had some great vegatable I don't know what it was, fish soup, pork adobo, rice, a drink, and LOBSTER! It was all soooo good. After the meal, I then took a boat back to Batanes. The canteen owner told me that I have to come back to Sabtang and he told me the places that I want to go and that I need to rent a bike or motocycle next time.
Anyway, back in Batan at the port I waited for a jeepney to come back to take me to Basco where my lodge was. None seemed to be coming and these three people with motorcycles/scooters came by and asked where I was going. When they heard, they offered me a ride. So to not pass up a ride on a motorcycle, I said sure. It turns out they wanted to be my tour guide. They asked me for places I hadn't been on the island. So I told them I hadn't been to Radar Tukon, Fundacion Pacita, or the wind turbines. So they insisted that they take me to those places. So off we were, two on one motorcycle, and me and this other guy on one. Turns out these people that took me are working on building a new lodge on the island. The guy driving my motorcycle was from Taiwan. He was friendly and spoke a little English. Well, so then the rest of that afternoon they took me around the island to those places....showing me all around. Eventually I got back to my lodge around 4pm and thanked them a lot and offered to pay them, but they refused. I should've known.
Then that night for dinner, they didn't have anything prepared at my lodge so they recommended I go to the grill haus down the street. I did and ordered some really good fish there. Yes, eating fish was a theme of this trip. The fish was soo good again. It was funny though, because as I was sitting there at the restaurant eating this meal all by myself, they put on some country music. It was the sad kind of country music and made me feel a little alone for once. It was all good though as my meal made up for it. Although the whole time there was a cat there that wanted my meal too. He'd jump up with his front paws on the table, but I'd always shoo him away.
After the great meal, I paid and headed back to my lodge for the night. I had no clue what I'd do the next day, but that was alright.
Well, I looked around and realized I knew nothing about the island. So I thought, I'll just look at my map and walk around the island. So I got out my map and started walking. Pretty soon though I realized the island was a lot bigger than I though and so after about 2 hours of walking and seeing beautiful sights, I decided to go back to the boat dock and maybe come back once I knew more about he island and could maybe get a bike or motorcycle. I got to the boatdock and sat down. Two men approached and the one introduced himself as the tourism dept. guy and the other was a canteen owner. The tourism guy said I had to pay a tourist tax of like 100 pesos and so I went to his office and paid and signed a paper. Then the other guy offered me a big meal for 250 pesos. I decided to take it because he said I'd get lobster :-D So I waited for a long time for my meal, but it was worth it. I had some great vegatable I don't know what it was, fish soup, pork adobo, rice, a drink, and LOBSTER! It was all soooo good. After the meal, I then took a boat back to Batanes. The canteen owner told me that I have to come back to Sabtang and he told me the places that I want to go and that I need to rent a bike or motocycle next time.
Anyway, back in Batan at the port I waited for a jeepney to come back to take me to Basco where my lodge was. None seemed to be coming and these three people with motorcycles/scooters came by and asked where I was going. When they heard, they offered me a ride. So to not pass up a ride on a motorcycle, I said sure. It turns out they wanted to be my tour guide. They asked me for places I hadn't been on the island. So I told them I hadn't been to Radar Tukon, Fundacion Pacita, or the wind turbines. So they insisted that they take me to those places. So off we were, two on one motorcycle, and me and this other guy on one. Turns out these people that took me are working on building a new lodge on the island. The guy driving my motorcycle was from Taiwan. He was friendly and spoke a little English. Well, so then the rest of that afternoon they took me around the island to those places....showing me all around. Eventually I got back to my lodge around 4pm and thanked them a lot and offered to pay them, but they refused. I should've known.
Then that night for dinner, they didn't have anything prepared at my lodge so they recommended I go to the grill haus down the street. I did and ordered some really good fish there. Yes, eating fish was a theme of this trip. The fish was soo good again. It was funny though, because as I was sitting there at the restaurant eating this meal all by myself, they put on some country music. It was the sad kind of country music and made me feel a little alone for once. It was all good though as my meal made up for it. Although the whole time there was a cat there that wanted my meal too. He'd jump up with his front paws on the table, but I'd always shoo him away.
After the great meal, I paid and headed back to my lodge for the night. I had no clue what I'd do the next day, but that was alright.
Trip to Batanes, Day 3
So on Monday I had to get up around 3:30 to get to the domestic airport to catch my flight to Batanes. I got a driver to take me there for an absurd price of 500 pesos ($15). It was like a 15 minute trip. But it was early in the morning. So I got to the airport and waited and waited to check in. I never knew so many people to domestic flights in the Philippines.
Finally, I got checked in and waited for my flight. In between I got some bfast. My plane finally took off and I was on my way to Batanes. The flight is about an hour and 10 minute flight almost directly north. It was in a nice aircraft that can land on like a 1500 meter runway or something crazy like that. It's a jet type aircraft, but somehow lands on really short runways. So we make our decent and land in Batanes. As I look outside it looks like something from Jurassic Park. It's green everywhere, hilly, and theres a big mtn that dominates the horizon. This airport is small. You get out and you have to wait for them to bring all the luggage out to you. Then they just lay it all on the ground in piles and you pick up your piece. Then you just go to where you find transportation. Out front there are people greeting each other and I quickly realize I'm one of the very few tourists here. I felt very alone at that moment. Anyway, I knew where I was staying, but I didn't know the location. So I ask a guy how I can get to Shanedel's, and he says he can get a trike driver to take me there and that he knows the owners daughter. So I got in the trike he recommended and after a few minutes, got to my lodge. Driving through the streets I notice all the houses there are made of stone and concrete. It's a small town with a beautiful, peaceful feel to it.
I pay the trike driver and try to check in. Turns out that I didn't really have a reservation even though I thought I did. So then the lady shows me a room and she's like "here, this is our only one. We just have a double with aircon". I'm like, um, okay. Then she says that it would be 1200 pesos a night. At that, I ask, is there no single, fan room? She then says "oh yeah." She sounded surprised that I, a tourist, would want a fan room. The nice thing about the fan room is, that it was 350 pesos ($10 a night). So I checked in, and then asked the owner if I could rent a bicycle and get a map of the island. She said a previous guest left a bike I could rent for the day and she gave me a map. With that I made my first day quite an adventure. I got started with all this around 7:30am. I first went up to the north part of the island checking out a lighthouse and the coast. After doing this and passing my lodge again, I thought "hey, that's not that long, I'm going to bike the whole island!". That was my first mistake. I biked and biked and biked. Up hills, and down hills. I was on a nice paved road and it was pretty easy to start. I was checking out all these sweet places I had seen online.
I went through a couple towns and found the honesty coffeeshop. This place, you just go in and buy what you want and leave the money on the counter. No one is there to man it. If you don't have change, just come back later and pay. So I got a coke there as I was terribly thirsty by this moment. So I was about 1/2 the way there. From this point on was just plain hard. I got to a town where I thought I could continue my journey and found that I needed to backtrack to find the right road. The "right road" was actually a path. On part of the path there was a gate that said I was about to enter a free roaming zone for livestock and that they weren't domesticated. I was a litte nervous, but knew there was no other way to get to my lodge. So I went through and only encountered one bull and he was nice. Have the rest of the trip back to my lodge though I was walking my bike instead of riding it. I got to one town before the town my lodge was in and walked into a sari sari (convenience mart) and asked for C2(my favorite drink in the philippines). It's a flavored green tea drink. They had 2 and must have seen my excited look on my face as by this time I was very sweaty, exhausted, and about to pass out. So I quickly drank those two and had enough energy to get back to my lodge. After about 7 hrs after I started I got into my lodge, showered and hung out by the seating area overlooking the ocean.
The lodge lady came over and asked if I wanted dinner there that night and I said yes. I'm so glad I did, as I had a delicious fish fillet. No clue what type of fish it was, but it was grand.
I then took the rest of the night to rest and sleep for my next day. The next day I'd be going to Sabtang. A small island to the West of Batan. You have to get the boat around 6:30 is my lodge owner said.
Finally, I got checked in and waited for my flight. In between I got some bfast. My plane finally took off and I was on my way to Batanes. The flight is about an hour and 10 minute flight almost directly north. It was in a nice aircraft that can land on like a 1500 meter runway or something crazy like that. It's a jet type aircraft, but somehow lands on really short runways. So we make our decent and land in Batanes. As I look outside it looks like something from Jurassic Park. It's green everywhere, hilly, and theres a big mtn that dominates the horizon. This airport is small. You get out and you have to wait for them to bring all the luggage out to you. Then they just lay it all on the ground in piles and you pick up your piece. Then you just go to where you find transportation. Out front there are people greeting each other and I quickly realize I'm one of the very few tourists here. I felt very alone at that moment. Anyway, I knew where I was staying, but I didn't know the location. So I ask a guy how I can get to Shanedel's, and he says he can get a trike driver to take me there and that he knows the owners daughter. So I got in the trike he recommended and after a few minutes, got to my lodge. Driving through the streets I notice all the houses there are made of stone and concrete. It's a small town with a beautiful, peaceful feel to it.
I pay the trike driver and try to check in. Turns out that I didn't really have a reservation even though I thought I did. So then the lady shows me a room and she's like "here, this is our only one. We just have a double with aircon". I'm like, um, okay. Then she says that it would be 1200 pesos a night. At that, I ask, is there no single, fan room? She then says "oh yeah." She sounded surprised that I, a tourist, would want a fan room. The nice thing about the fan room is, that it was 350 pesos ($10 a night). So I checked in, and then asked the owner if I could rent a bicycle and get a map of the island. She said a previous guest left a bike I could rent for the day and she gave me a map. With that I made my first day quite an adventure. I got started with all this around 7:30am. I first went up to the north part of the island checking out a lighthouse and the coast. After doing this and passing my lodge again, I thought "hey, that's not that long, I'm going to bike the whole island!". That was my first mistake. I biked and biked and biked. Up hills, and down hills. I was on a nice paved road and it was pretty easy to start. I was checking out all these sweet places I had seen online.
I went through a couple towns and found the honesty coffeeshop. This place, you just go in and buy what you want and leave the money on the counter. No one is there to man it. If you don't have change, just come back later and pay. So I got a coke there as I was terribly thirsty by this moment. So I was about 1/2 the way there. From this point on was just plain hard. I got to a town where I thought I could continue my journey and found that I needed to backtrack to find the right road. The "right road" was actually a path. On part of the path there was a gate that said I was about to enter a free roaming zone for livestock and that they weren't domesticated. I was a litte nervous, but knew there was no other way to get to my lodge. So I went through and only encountered one bull and he was nice. Have the rest of the trip back to my lodge though I was walking my bike instead of riding it. I got to one town before the town my lodge was in and walked into a sari sari (convenience mart) and asked for C2(my favorite drink in the philippines). It's a flavored green tea drink. They had 2 and must have seen my excited look on my face as by this time I was very sweaty, exhausted, and about to pass out. So I quickly drank those two and had enough energy to get back to my lodge. After about 7 hrs after I started I got into my lodge, showered and hung out by the seating area overlooking the ocean.
The lodge lady came over and asked if I wanted dinner there that night and I said yes. I'm so glad I did, as I had a delicious fish fillet. No clue what type of fish it was, but it was grand.
I then took the rest of the night to rest and sleep for my next day. The next day I'd be going to Sabtang. A small island to the West of Batan. You have to get the boat around 6:30 is my lodge owner said.
Trip to Batanes, Day 1+2
So, I decided I'd blog a bit about my trip to Batanes. Mostly for my family, but also for my friends so that you could see what kind of a place it is and the sort of stuff you could do and how you'd go about it, if you ever go there.
Well, to start my day, my flight came into Manila at about 1am. Now, to set the scene, Manila is a pretty shady city during the day, let alone at night, so I was a little intimidated at first knowing I'd be getting in so late. I was hoping there were taxis. So, I got in, went through customs easily and then went to where there was a sign for taxis. These taxis were ones were you first went to a guy at a table and told him where you wanted to go and then he wrote down a quote for how much it would cost. So I told him my inn and the location and he wrote down the price, gave me a paper and then I handed that to my driver. My driver didn't exactly know where I was going to, so luckily I printed out directions before getting there. (tip: always have directions)
So I finally get to the lodge after getting lost for a bit because my taxi driver turned the wrong way. Luckily I noticed after a while and told him I think we were going the wrong way. I give him the money and he claimed he doesn't have any change (small chance of that being true, but it was only a little so I let it fly). I got into the lodge and crashed in my dorm room. Luckily this night I was alone in my 6 bed dorm room.
So I woke up the next day and had bfast of bread and coffee and struck up a conversation with a couple from Holland and they told me about how they were doing wash because the day before their clothes got splattered with blood from an easter procession they saw where the people there were beating themselves. Crazy! I thought. Anyway, I also asked them what sort of things there were to do and they said I should probably go check out Tagaytay where a volcano was or check out Fort Santiago. I opted for Fort Santiago as it gave me more time and I didn't really have time for Tagaytay. So at close to noon I ask my hostel owner how I can get to Fort Santiago by public transport (jeepney, bus, or trike). They did, and I started on my venture to Fort Santiago. First I got in a trike that took me to a main road. Then I took a Jeepney to an area of town called Baclaran. Every Jeepney seems to go here. At Baclaran it seemed like a shady part of the city, but I had to find a jeepney to go to the Fort Santiago area. I looked and didnt' find anything, so I asked some people. They poined down an alley to a major highway. I walked down there in the scorching heat and didn't find the jeepney I was looking for. What I did find was a taxi that wanted my business. So they haggled with me and I got in for a short 10 minute ride to Fort Santiago. While there I checked the place out and it was a neat cultural place. Don't really know anything about it though as I didn't get a tour guide. Yes, I'm cheap. So after Fort Santiago, I wanted to go to Mall of Asia. Well, I thought I could just walk out of Fort Santiago to get to the main road. Well, after walking around for 10 minutes, I couldn't find anything like a main road and I was walking down these streets where it was just me, my camera, and some local kids. So, eventually a trike comes driving by asking me where I want to go, I tell him and he asks for too much, so we bargain back and forth while I'm still walking and I eventually just ask him to take me to the main road for like 30 pesos ($1US). He does and I have no clue how to get to Mall of Asia without taking a taxi. So I eventually took a taxi to the Mall of Asia. I then hung out there for 3 hrs just walking around the whole mall (it's huge), and checking out the ice skating rink there. I watched the sunset and then I took a taxi back to my lodge.
Back at the lodge I met the owner who insisted that I eat with him and his staff. That was cool...so I did. We had chicken feet for dinner, and sardines. It was actually quite good and he was all interested in the US and American Culture and stuff. Even asked how the lodge could be improved. They just started in January. Anyway, after that I wanted to hit the hay pretty early, so I went to bed around 8, and got woken up around 10 to people coming into the dorm room. There were guests finally. The awkward thing was that it was three females. So, I introduce myself and pretend like I wasn't sleeping at that absurd early hour and then after chatting a little they invite me to have drinks with them out in the little patio area.
So I grabbed an orange soda, and chatted with them. It was cool as I found out they all worked at an international school in Shanghai. Turns out, the one worked at a school up in some other town in China, but actually knew Brent here at our school as he talked to their school about how to do boarding. Anyway, we talked and chilled for like a hour talking about our different schools. Then I went to bed. It was funny because the one girl warned that she talks in her sleep. I didn't tell them that I did as I thought I wouldn't.
Turned out the next morning I woke up and saw them eating bfast. They said that I yelled in my sleep that night. Ahhhh, can't get away from it :-) They were headed to Boracay. As for me, I was headed to church. So I managed to do public transportation to church. After church I went out to eat with some people I knew from Faith Academy, and then I found an internet cafe and then went back to my lodge for the rest of the night. Soon it'd be my trip to Batanes.
Well, to start my day, my flight came into Manila at about 1am. Now, to set the scene, Manila is a pretty shady city during the day, let alone at night, so I was a little intimidated at first knowing I'd be getting in so late. I was hoping there were taxis. So, I got in, went through customs easily and then went to where there was a sign for taxis. These taxis were ones were you first went to a guy at a table and told him where you wanted to go and then he wrote down a quote for how much it would cost. So I told him my inn and the location and he wrote down the price, gave me a paper and then I handed that to my driver. My driver didn't exactly know where I was going to, so luckily I printed out directions before getting there. (tip: always have directions)
So I finally get to the lodge after getting lost for a bit because my taxi driver turned the wrong way. Luckily I noticed after a while and told him I think we were going the wrong way. I give him the money and he claimed he doesn't have any change (small chance of that being true, but it was only a little so I let it fly). I got into the lodge and crashed in my dorm room. Luckily this night I was alone in my 6 bed dorm room.
So I woke up the next day and had bfast of bread and coffee and struck up a conversation with a couple from Holland and they told me about how they were doing wash because the day before their clothes got splattered with blood from an easter procession they saw where the people there were beating themselves. Crazy! I thought. Anyway, I also asked them what sort of things there were to do and they said I should probably go check out Tagaytay where a volcano was or check out Fort Santiago. I opted for Fort Santiago as it gave me more time and I didn't really have time for Tagaytay. So at close to noon I ask my hostel owner how I can get to Fort Santiago by public transport (jeepney, bus, or trike). They did, and I started on my venture to Fort Santiago. First I got in a trike that took me to a main road. Then I took a Jeepney to an area of town called Baclaran. Every Jeepney seems to go here. At Baclaran it seemed like a shady part of the city, but I had to find a jeepney to go to the Fort Santiago area. I looked and didnt' find anything, so I asked some people. They poined down an alley to a major highway. I walked down there in the scorching heat and didn't find the jeepney I was looking for. What I did find was a taxi that wanted my business. So they haggled with me and I got in for a short 10 minute ride to Fort Santiago. While there I checked the place out and it was a neat cultural place. Don't really know anything about it though as I didn't get a tour guide. Yes, I'm cheap. So after Fort Santiago, I wanted to go to Mall of Asia. Well, I thought I could just walk out of Fort Santiago to get to the main road. Well, after walking around for 10 minutes, I couldn't find anything like a main road and I was walking down these streets where it was just me, my camera, and some local kids. So, eventually a trike comes driving by asking me where I want to go, I tell him and he asks for too much, so we bargain back and forth while I'm still walking and I eventually just ask him to take me to the main road for like 30 pesos ($1US). He does and I have no clue how to get to Mall of Asia without taking a taxi. So I eventually took a taxi to the Mall of Asia. I then hung out there for 3 hrs just walking around the whole mall (it's huge), and checking out the ice skating rink there. I watched the sunset and then I took a taxi back to my lodge.
Back at the lodge I met the owner who insisted that I eat with him and his staff. That was cool...so I did. We had chicken feet for dinner, and sardines. It was actually quite good and he was all interested in the US and American Culture and stuff. Even asked how the lodge could be improved. They just started in January. Anyway, after that I wanted to hit the hay pretty early, so I went to bed around 8, and got woken up around 10 to people coming into the dorm room. There were guests finally. The awkward thing was that it was three females. So, I introduce myself and pretend like I wasn't sleeping at that absurd early hour and then after chatting a little they invite me to have drinks with them out in the little patio area.
So I grabbed an orange soda, and chatted with them. It was cool as I found out they all worked at an international school in Shanghai. Turns out, the one worked at a school up in some other town in China, but actually knew Brent here at our school as he talked to their school about how to do boarding. Anyway, we talked and chilled for like a hour talking about our different schools. Then I went to bed. It was funny because the one girl warned that she talks in her sleep. I didn't tell them that I did as I thought I wouldn't.
Turned out the next morning I woke up and saw them eating bfast. They said that I yelled in my sleep that night. Ahhhh, can't get away from it :-) They were headed to Boracay. As for me, I was headed to church. So I managed to do public transportation to church. After church I went out to eat with some people I knew from Faith Academy, and then I found an internet cafe and then went back to my lodge for the rest of the night. Soon it'd be my trip to Batanes.
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