Notes on Kalibo–Caticlan Transfer

I'm starting to think that Boracay will be a yearly pilgrimage for me. I was captivated by its charm ever since my first visit last year. So when the I found out that PAL had a seat sale to Boracay last December I didn't think twice and booked a ticket for January.

The flight from Manila to Kalibo was thankfully uneventful. The weather was nice and cooperating albeit the strong winds and news of typhoons at the eastern parts of the Philippines. The newly built terminal was a surprise. I found out that Zest Air and China Southern flies direct to Kalibo now from Shanghai.

We boarded a van for the 2 hours transfer from Kalibo Airport to Caticlan Jetty. Earplug in my ear set to my "lullaby" playlist on my i-touch and I was prepared to doze off the whole duration of the trip. But the cramped seat and the breakneck speed driving keeps me awake. I had 3 American girls behind me giggling and suddenly exclaiming "I want that puppy" and "three" and "awww cute" and "that's five, no six!"

They were counting the Askals, or Stray dogs. Apparently, there are no stray dogs in their countries. Oh well, I was not sleepy and I joined their fun, counting the dogs by myself. I got easily bored and made my own list of anything too.

So here are the notes on List of Kalibo to Caticlan Thingeys;

4 cell phone calls answered by the driver while driving.

34 stray dogs

8 cows grazing at the grassy roadside

1 cemetery

14 schools

3 twenty-songs-playlist

5 albums (Finished 500 Days of Summer OST without skipping)

9 Y-fork roads

3 CUBAO - PASAY BUSSES!

4 miles of seaside road

a group of Kite surfers

3 foreigners seating behind me, giggling, laughing and enjoying the local sceneries

4 disgruntled local couples who can't take the 3 noisy foreigners

lost count on vehicles overtaken, I stopped at 33.

1 hour and 56 minutes Travel

Also I managed to acquire two new foursquare badges. "I'm on a boat" and "Explorer" Badges. Yey.

Backpacking Bicol - Details on Distance Travel Travels II

Balading Beach

Let me tell you something about Sta.Magdalena. If you look at google map and zoomed at the southernmost tip of Bicol, you will see the port city of Matnog, the jump-off point for bus going to Visayas through Samar. Trace the shoreline to the right and you will see another town almost facing the Pacific Ocean. That's Santa Magdalena. It looks like an island town, There's the sea in front, Mountains at the back and rice fields in between. My dad was a fisherman and my mom was an amazon hehe. Perfect! The place is so isolated that not even the Japanese were able to access it during WW2! (I asked my granpa what was he doing during that time and he said he was just plowing his fields) Unbelievable! To think that Gen.Douglas McArthur landed on the shores of Samar which is visible on a clear day if you look east. Apparently, the trip to my place was considered a quest those days. Jap and American soldiers alike have more possibility of being swallowed by a constrictor, poisoned by snakes and tarantulas, or drowning in quicksand... than being killed by a bullet.

So from Sorsogon, we travelled south inland, passing rolling hills and mountains, separated by rice fields with Mt.Bulusan looking closer. The aroma of the ocean is so omnipresent here, that I gleefully updated BPNM and CM that we are really near every 15 mins, that lasted for almost 2 hours hehehe. (Blame it to my oversensitive olfactory system due to my more than average-size smelling organ) I just hope they enjoyed the trip, there's no rolling hills and greens at Tarlac (BPNM's province) or fog covered mountain/volcano at Pangasinan ( CM's) At last (for real) we all smelled the salty air and saw a glimmer of blue somewhere behind a hill. BPNM was a little confused, she associates palm trees with beaches not with rice fields. We arrived at our not so finished house at nightfall and proceeded to clean up. Well, at least the bathroom has strong waters and immaculately white tiles, very out of place in a rundown house of ours. We raided my Lola for dinner, she didn't know we were in town.

The next day we went beach combing! I woke up with the crow of roosters and the smell of macopa burning. The essence of rural living! Then our first problem occurred to us, we have a stove but no gasul. No Gasul, No food! Question: How do you solve a problem like that? Answer: Realize that the whole barrio is your relative up to certain degrees once, twice, thrice removed.Hehehe.

We went to Balading beach, and once again the trip on the previous day was well worth it. We were rewarded with semi-white sand beach, not as powdery but soft and comfortable enough. The beach was gently sloping up to breast-deep waters. And the best thing? We were alone! After the girls finished applying copious amounts of sun protection and stripped off in their 2 piece (abeng and elek, maglaway kayo!) they proceeded examining the waters if it is cold enough to check if anyone will notice if they were to pee, and I proceeded to the formidable SAWANG (BPNM is a living testament to this) , to snorkel.

Balading is not a beach for sissies. Although on high tide the beach can only go as high as neck deep, and there's an ample meter of sand under your feet to safely wade to, beyond that is a rich seabed of fauna. There are seaweeds, anemones and occasional corals on the seafloor. A dream for snorkels, and nightmare for seaweeds-are-icky-they're-touching-my-legs wimps. There're no waves at Balading, the waves crashes a good distance away (20 meters or so) where the Sawang starts. Sawang is the local dialect for sea wall. You can walk the whole 20 meters in knee deep waters, and when you see the water turns dark blue, you know you're at the edge of Sawang already. Here I spent my time snorkeling, diving, and chasing school of nemos. I reckoned it is a good 10-15 feet deep, but the waters are so clear it could be 20-30 feet deep. There were corals hanging at the seawall, lots of fishes taking refuge and some occasional coral snake. There was a resident little octupus there as well but I didn't get to shake tentacles with him. Once I saw a big fish with a horn in front of its head, looking like a shallow water version for an anglerfish (later food for us).

I was so amazed that I successfully coaxed BPNM to go snorkeling with me. She said she'd done snorkeling at Galera, but she failed to mention that she was wearing an effing life vest! There're no life vests here, only my snorkel set and an extra pair of goggles. So we dived at the edge of Sawang, we were making these thumbs up signal like a pro diver, and I was pointing here and there so she could see the fishes. I'm no aqua-man, so eventually I have to surface and breath (she had the mouthpiece and I only have goggles) , I accidentally released her hand... and she panicked! Even with the constant reminder not to panic if I accidentally released her hand she still panicked. She even forgot she can breath because she still had mouthpiece! So there she was trashing and drowning the only person who's trying to make her float. I dived and pushed her upwards, She almost lost my aqua shoes (which she borrowed), My whole body and extended arms where all under water (but i still can't feel the bottom) It all happened so fast and I'm still baffled how I was able to react with calmness under the situation (for example I saw my aqua shoes sinking "sayang aqua shoes ko!" and I dived to retrieve it, THEN I went back to BPNM to push her up,WHILE consciously biting my shoe to avoid it from floating again! )Fortunately she had a survival instinct to turn and face the seawall and paddled frantically towards it. The waves carried her towards to semi-safety --- semi-safety because she was scratched, wounded, and shaken by the wall. But, still she was safe, battered but safe AND apologizing for the lost shoe!

All this happened when Churchmate was busy picture taking at the safety of the shallow waters and catching starfishes. The true amount of bodily harm came to view when we surfaced. BPNM legs was scratched by the sharp rocks of the Sawang, and a skin was opened in one of her toe, and was bleeding profusely. If there were sharks around, I'm sure they'd show up before Glock 9 or Francis M finished a word. And so, feeling guilty (me), stupid (BPNM) and oblivious (CM) we went back up to shore to heal the wounded (I had several scratch in my palms and fingers). You have to give it to BPNM, in a near death experience, all she taught was apologizing to me because she panicked "OK lang pare, nag panic ako" Maddapakingshe.... Tamang guilt trip! (later that night, in our inuman session, she said she confessed thinking "is this it? This is a pathetic way to die!")

We were there almost for a half day, from 9am - 2pm. We had our lunch at the Resort's resto. Newayz, I was asked by my Lola to get some buko for her. My uncle's house is just walking distance from the beach and so we walked. I thought, I'll experience being a monkey for a while, I really wanna climb a coconut tree. But instead, my uncle asked me to carry a very very long panungkit! Everyone is a sissy these days! What happened to hard labor! My mom even climbed a coconut tree once when I was younger (being the amazona she is) We ate the first 3 felled bukos on the spot. We had no spoons so we used the coconut's hard skin. Newayz, we got around 7 or eight bukos, oozing with juice. Which ChurchMate geekily pointed out - is a form of Isophrophyl Alcohol! - which was confirmed by wounded and limping Butiki when it trickled down her legs and hands "POTA HAPDI! "

That night, we ate dinner at my Lola, with 7 Bukos as pambayad. Only to find out that what she needed was NIYOG for GATA not fress BUKO! I'm really messing up my bicol dialect.

Backpacking Bicol - Details on Distance Traveled

Donsol, Sorsogon. Part 1

Rewind, 3 year 6 months ago, there was a trio who planned on backpacking on the wild places and provinces in the Philippines. This includes coordinated and overlapping sick, emergency and vacation leaves. I don't have any problems with this because I used to have a very understanding boss (back then at cargo)--- who actually throws me out the office whenever possible. The case is different with my travel buddies; Butiking Pasay No More (BPNM) is an events coordinator whose boss thinks that taking a holiday on Christmas eve and holy week is a punishable crime; and Church-mate an auditor at the number 1 auditing firm in the Philippines who haven't had a vacation for 2 years from her work. We were all thinking of going somewhere a cell phone signal can't reach us --- and in the Philippines, there are many such places.

Fast forward a year later (same time April). After filing our vacations 5months in advance , I was given 2 weeks leave ( I think I've offset 1 year-worth of holiday duty) Butiking Pasay No More 5days and Church-mate 3 days. Talk about quality time. But Church-mate, having foreseen her unforgiving boss' decision thinks she can scheme a way to extend her vacation for another 3 more days.
We've decided to go to my province at Bicol, Sorsogon. Swim with the whale sharks, see some sights and beach comb. The month of May was fast approaching and the season for whale shark sighting is quickly passing us by. (our plans has been moved again and again from march to April )
At 4 pm, I met CM at the bus station at Pasay. Up until the day we were supposed to leave, we still haven't decided yet on which time and route do we take ( no tickets, no reservations). The plan is, get on the 5pm bus going to our province in Sta.Magdalena, Sorsogon, and plan from there on how to go to Donsol and beyond!!! But.. we have to scratch that plan because Butiking Pasay No More is nowhere to be seen until 5.30pm. We inquired at the ticketing office and found out that there is a 6.30pm bus that will stop directly at Donsol. So wrapping our things up, we took this one and only escape to Manila.

So off we go to the south! I was separated with my two companions, they were seated near the back of the bus, while I was at a seat behind the driver. However, before the bus departed, I was able to haggle the seats beside me that was occupied by a lone passenger, so I quickly went to BPNM and CM and happily announce that we got the front row seat with an ample leg room. We also had a good view of the road ahead... and the various horrors we are about to see and experience. It seemed that the bus driver was as excited as us to get to our destination. The moment we reached the farther parts of SLEX, our manic driver NEVER slowed down below 90KPH!. Well, we might have slowed down to around 60 whenever there's a hard turn, but I was busy holding on to my dear life (to notice the speedometer). You might think that for a 50 seater bus weighting around 1-1.5ton, will not go higher than that, but to my disappointment and the delight of driver it did! We broke the law - the Law of physics! We are now running 120KPH on an obscure highway, somewhere in an obscure province, overtaking EVERY-effing-vehicles! It's a 10hour ride, and i can't sleep. I glanced at BPNM every now and then but she's sleeping... or so it seemed, her knuckles were white because of holding the armchair too hard. Honestly, I never ever saw a vehicle (trike,van,cars,other buses) in front of us that we didn't overtake! Imagine overtaking in a blind curve in a zigzag road. I may sound overreacting but you have to experience it to believe it. (ride AMIHAN!) I also learned that the average time of travel from MNL to DONSOL should be 12hours, not 10hours like we did.

After an adrenaline filled 10 hours or so, we approached Albay, with the Mayon Volcano in the Horizon. I have to admit this is the first time I was able to see Mayon at daytime (we always passed it when it's too dark whenever we go to Sorsogon) Newayz, it just exploded a few weeks before we arrived and we can still see the destruction. There were houses swept off by lahar an occasional bridge that collapse and a group of tents somewhere downtown. In the past, whenever we go Albay and its outskirts, we can only see the tip of Mayon because it's covered by the tall houses and apartments. But that is not the case this time, Mayon looms at the Horizon, unchallenged except for a jagged outline of rambles (even the trees were gone) Nevertheless Mayon is still overwhelmingly amazing.

So we reached Donsol (there were only 4 of us left in the bus, all passengers got off at Pilar). There were trike drivers cajoling us that they'll take us to the Tourism center, but what we need is breakfast, or at least a decent coffee. We asked around, and of course the drivers said that they could drive us. Good thing we were city trained to refuse pesky drivers and barkers, because the market and a carinderia was just 5 mins walk away. At the eatery we interviewed the proprietor, who happens to be a vacationer herself and really lives at Las Pinas and occasionally go to Quiapo and Divisoria to buy cellphone accessories and Dvds. Her carinderia was one of a kind. There were towers of Betamax tapes. Yes, Betamax tapes stacked up and looking like the Tolkien's Two Towers. She was kind enough to call a tricycle driver (maybe a relative) He took us to the tourism center and the whale shark sighting embarkation site. We were only asked to pay 15pesos, for a journey of 20mins or so. In pasay Flores to Buendia cost 20 and that's just a 5min trike ride. We gave him 30pesos.

We paid 100bucks to for registration and was asked to watch the orientation video. the boat ride cost 3500 for 7 person and there were only 3 of us! Good thing there were other 2 travellers who wanted to see some whale sharks as well. So the five of us were directed to the boat, which is manned by a Butanding Interaction Officer (BIO). A heavy-weight looking weight lifter with the aura of a hardened military man. 30 mins off shore, in deep ocean, we circled for about an hour before we spotted our first whale shark. It was just a baby by the looks of it - just as long as our 10 meter Banka - said the watcher. It swam beside us for just a few seconds and it was gone. By this time we were so excited and rearing to dive, I didn't dare took off my flippers. I believed I was a strong and good swimmer, so I confidently refused the life jacket ( I wanted to dive with the shark) and only donned the flippers ( for propelling power) and goggles ( I can't dive with snorkel ). Dear, I was wrong, the moment the BIO spotted the beast, he shouted DIVE! NOW! (like our ROTC officer) and I jumped, surprised, against my will. The moment I jumped I began to sink, It was my first time with a flippers and I'm not used in pedal kicking my way, I'm a frog style kicker! Needless to say, I only catch a glimpse of the tail and lost face in front of everyone hehehe. On the next dive I swallowed my pride and put on the life jacket but still without snorkel. It went well, and the whale shark passed under me! Butiking Pasay No More, lost her enthusiasm on swimming because the the BIO officer was a Marcos Incarnate. If he said dive, you dive, regardless if you're ready or not. He doesn't like looking back and swimming towards you if you seem to be drowning, but he easily gets disappointed if you can't keep up. Churchmate on the other hand, was just a plain wimp. The premise is, if you want to go near the beast, you should know how to swim. And even if you don't know how to swim, that's what life jackets are for. Floating Jackass solved! Now the only problem is, how to propel yourself fast enough to swim with the beast, and how to manoeuvre to avoid the beast (I'm 5'11 and I'm sure I will fit into their mouth with plenty of spaces to spare... If they decided that humans are tastier than plankton) I was so engrossed and amazed by the experience that when I surfaced, I realized that I am alone ( the BIO was a few meters far from me) In open waters! It took the Banka around 3 minutes to get to me (that's a long time if you're threading in deep dark sea)

*** Tip : if you are afraid of open waters this activity is not for you. After jumping out, the boat will goooo faaarr awaaay from you. To leave you and the whale shark at peace, you see, they hate motorized bankas. The boat will circle you in a radius in which they just look like a stick in the horizon. (50 meter lap swimming training is no use in open water with waves)

After 4 dives and 6 whalesharks seen, we decided to call it a day. So we returned to the quaint betamax walled carinderia, and ordered our lunch. BPNM and CM wanted to experience the true bicol express but I strongly suggested againt it. So I ordered something like pork or beef (im not sure) with tomato sauce (menudo, mechado, pochero, I forgot) and they ordered Laing Bicol Express each. One spoonful of ulam, equals to 1 plate of rice and 3 glasses of water. In the end, they shared with my ulam, and bought another viand.

We thanked (and payed) Manang Proprietor and asked how to commute to Sorsogon. We learned that there's no direct jeep or bus from there, and the travel to Sorsogon city is another 2 hours. It's 1pm and the sun is being overly generous with its sunshine and warmth. We rode another 30min jeep to an intersection and waited for an FX that will bring us to Sorsogon, unfortunately we wasted 30 mins in waiting only to be advised that all FX or VAN passing there were all full. We have no choice but to take a non air con regular bus. The trip could be scenic if not only for the dust and heat.

Sorsogon is a developing city. Proof of this a Jollibee outlet there ( a recent addition some 5 years ago ) From sorgoson, is another 2 hours journey to Sta.Magdalena, my town in the middle of nowhere.

Melaka in My Mind

Notes on Melaka that Blows the Mind

I don't want to  divulge on the history of the Melaka, or the tourist spots or what to see,nor the tourist traps to avoid, because we have Google and Lonely Planet for that, but instead I want attempt to describe the Melaka impressions on my mind. If there is one place I'd rather be lost, It would have to be in Melaka. It is the kind of place that I wouldn't mind wandering around and couldn't care less wherever my feet brings me. The city exudes of history, both melancholy and vibrant alternating in every turn of the corner. From the quaint streets Jalan Tun Ali to the chaotic energy of Jonker Walk, back to the silent avenue of Hong Tua Mall, to the seedy corners of Ocean Plaza, and straight up to eerie Bukit Cina, every building, every sight have different personas you'd just like to know.  

It was Friday, past 6PM but the sun was just about to begin its descent. The weather was neither here nor there, cloudy and greyish but the rain was undecided if rain should fall. The air was thick and humid. I took my chances. The hotel is located at Jalan Tun Ali, a discreet street with a derelict factory building on my side facing a grand looking hotel, a road junction is at the far end. I was trying to locate Hong Tuah Mall to get my bearings. At least according to the tourist map, I've decided to make it my landmark. When we talk about a "Mall" a humongous building full of shops comes to mind. Throngs of people should be inevitable. But instead I was greeted by a metal plate on a polished slab of rock, raised in a dais welcoming me to Hong Tuah Mall. It turned out that Hong Tuah Mall is a 1.5KM stretch of shops and cafe along Hong Tuah Boulevard. Supposedly, as per the welcoming plaque the place should be teeming with tourist and revellers. Looked deader than a ghost town. Perhaps it was weather, or the holiday, but all shops and cafes are closed.  Whoever printed the map must have thought that a creek is the same as a river, because I got past it without noticing it (but i did see and smell a creek/canal) I ended up at OCEAN mall, and old mall with refusing to give up. This is where Melaka becomes interesting. The city was awarded as a Heritage Site. The whole area of shop houses are taken with utmost care. Whole streets and districts becomes pieces of history unchanged for many years (except maybe their interiors) Imagine modern day Vigan, that's what it is.In a bid to preserve history, even the newly constructed residential houses are fashioned after the old ones.  On the other hand, recent structures seemed to be abandoned and neglected. Ocean plaza looms like a giant dilapidated factory, and the buildings around it are greying with age. Melaka wants to be both Old and New at the same time, but it really is New but Old in a sense. The highlight of my stay was Jonker street. In Philippines, I like Quiapo by day and Malate at night, just for the sake of people watching. Jonker is like Raon Street on a weekend multiply by ten. Multitude of people walks, bargains, eat, performs, sells, gawk, cook, laugh, take pictures all at the same time in a stretch of a 10-foot wide street. I'm a people person, hence Jonker jives with my personality. The name itself sounds funny. Going Bonkers at Jonkers.

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I find Melaka one of the the most interesting places I've been to. I'm a big fan or architectural wonders, historical sites, and happy people. If I have time, I will definitely go back.

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Moving Window with a View: Tanjong Pagar/ China Town

For some reason, I find that my daily commute have been the highlight of my day.

Tonight I'm riding a bus again, but this time taking a different route and stopping at some places.

The contrasting image of a high-end facade of towering builings and their sombre backalleys just behind each other really interests me. They're like different entities coexsisting with each other but the fact is they're not. They are the same, but still diffent. I feel like Batman walking in between the streets of Gotham.

Walking really makes me hungry, even if I just ate 2 hours before.

One of my favorite hobby is to stare at all cars passing by until all of them blended their colors and become one streak of different colors like a rainbow and the road will become two-toned of black and white and the street lamps become yellow dots and the whole scene looked like a long exposed shot painting. I know It's weird after realizing I've been at it in a few minutes, standing motionless but hey, each to each own yeah?

Needless to say, I'm a big fan of sssslllloooow shutter speed, and I like fast moving objects too much I make slow moving objects looks fast. Am I making sense?