Bolinao-Patar: Our Vegan Trip

Bolinao-Patar: Our Vegan Trip
03-04.03.2018

Bolinao is a town on the west coast of Luzon Island, in the northern Philippines. The Spanish colonial St. James the Great Parish Church dates from the 1600s, and has an exterior made of black coral stones. The University of the Philippines’ Bolinao Marine Laboratory supports the conservation of giant clams and other sea life. Atop Punta Piedra Point, the 1903 Cape Bolinao Lighthouse overlooks white-sand Patar Beach.

Folk etymology attributes the name “Bolinao” or this remote fishing enclave from the fish piece “monamon” but commonly called “Bolinao” by the Tagalogs, Bicolanos and the Visayans. A theory also points out that once upon a time “pamulinawen” trees grew luxuriantly along its shores, thus, the Ilocano migrants who crossed the Lingayen Gulf named it phonetically similar to the name of the tree. Nowadays, however, such tree does not exist anymore.

Unofficial records narrate the story of an Italian missionary named Blessed Odorico who said the first mass in Bolinao Bay, baptizing several locals while he was on his way to China. He took refuge in what is now known as Bolinao during a storm in 1324. Two centuries later, an account narrates the arrival of Juan de Salcedo and his crew reached Bolinao and chanced upon a Chinese Sampan who captured a native chieftain. Salcedo and his men liberated the natives and the latter immediately pledged vassalage to the King of Spain.

According to oral history, the town of Bolinao used to be a small settlement in what is now Barrio Binabalian in Santiago Island, then having a population of just over a hundred families. It is said that Captain Pedro Lombi founded the town of Bolinao in 1575. A decade later, Dominican Friar Esteban Marin became the first Spanish missionary to evangelize the people of Bolinao. For two years he worked in Bolinao before he was assigned as prior in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

The Dominicans ended their service in 1607 to be replaced by the Augustinian Recollects headed by Fr. Jeronimo de Cristo and Dr. Andres del Espiritu Santo. At this time, the old town of Bolinao was still located along the coast of Pangasinan. Due to pirate attacks, the town was transferred to the mainland in 1609.

This town formerly included the neighboring town of Anda, but Anda became an independent municipality on May 26, 1849.

The Bolinao Skull is a skull dated between the 14th and 15th centuries A.D. recovered in the Balingasay archeological site in Bolinao. The Bolinao Skull is the most well-known artifact from the site, noted for the intricate gold ornamentation formed in the shape of scales on the surfaces of its teeth. However, 67 other skulls containing teeth with less extensive gold ornamentation were also found at the Balingasay site. The skull is now displayed within the National Museum of Anthropology in Manila.

We were planning to visit Bolinao for some time now but it always gets pushed back until we forgot about it, then last February, we planned to go visit the place but something happened and got pushed back again, and finally on March 3, we finally did visit the place but on a really tight budget. We left manila on a last bus trip to Boliano riding Voctory Liner which was around 2230hrs, the trip was so slow with all the stops along the way, thinking the driver might be sleepy with all the stops that we made for him to drink coffee and have a cigarette.

Arriving at Bolinao station at around 0500hrs and decided to just hang around the station but did otherwise, we then walked through to the nearest 7-11 convenience store to get something cold to drink and along the way we bought freshly baked malungay pandesal, and sat while having a bit of breakfast. Then we heard the bells of the church for the morning mass and decided to head for the church, where we sat for a bit, but we had to relieve ourselves so we decided to go to the nearest opened restaurant to use the rest room, where we also ordered hot champorado or chocolate rice porridge with our milk, but when they served it, the taste was stale and had to return it.

Headed back to the church and heard the morning mass, and afterwards we walk along the highway, heading for Tummy Teasers to meet a relative, and with the pleasantries and catchup stories done, we were then accompanied to Patar, where we would be staying for the weekend, and the place that we chose to stay was Rock View Beach Resort, which was a photographers paradise because of the rock formation and the hut which has its iconic look. While checking the place out and looking at the huts we decided to just take the room at newly constructed place and freshened up. We were told by the management that there is a service tricycle that would take us around and decided to take it.

Our first destination for the morning was the Cape Bolinao Lighthouse, at Patar rises 351 feet (107 m) above sea level atop Punta Piedra Point, a towering hill of solid rock which is the sharp point of Cape Bolinao itself. It was built by the Americans in 1903 on a 351- feet (107 m) high promontory at the western part of Cape Bolinao, the lighthouse still sends signals to vessels passing by the area.

The lighthouse provides a panoramic view of a portion of the 1,269 hectare Cape Bolinao Dendro Thermal Ipil-Ipil Plantation on a land area where archaeological excavations have revealed relics from the 14th to the 15th centuries. Filipino, British and American engineers constructed the lighthouse in 1905.

According to the Bureau of Geodetic Surveys, the land elevation is 250 feet (76 m). Visibility is 20 miles (32 km; 17 mi) at mid-sea towards the lighthouse in Poro Point. The winding stairway has 6 platforms with 20 steps or rungs for a total of 120 steps plus 14 more to the illumination room, or an over-all total of 134 steps.

The Cape Bolinao Lighthouse bears the history of this place and how it was created from scratch. This lighthouse was already declared as a cultural heritage site and now that this lighthouse has just become a tourists’ spot – no more the beacon lights glow, no more the ships are guided, but the lighthouse is still standing to proudly tell its history.

Arriving at the place, went around and took photos of the place with every angle possible. I wanted to climb the lighthouse but it was locked and nobody was there to ask if I could go up. Before 0900hrs, we then decided to head for our next destination which was the Enchanted Cave.

Enchanted Cave, The name itself portrays about its mystical beauty. The entire place is really enchanted since it is like a huge coral reef that emerged from underwater. Local people and tour guides believes that millions of years ago Bolinao was under the sea due to the discovery of coral rocks (limestones) and fossilized giant clams around the area.

The water inside the cave is clear and not salty. Its depth is estimated to be around 3 ft. to 6 ft. There are certain areas inside the caves where the cave management authorities will restrict you to enter for safety.
Enchanted Cave offers underground pool with crystal clear spring water, natural sea rock hill terrain retouch with a kiddie pool and a white lady figurine, natural sea rocks in their natural forms as discovered, mini forest with hammocks under the trees, enchanted cave’s miniature village, cabanas which are readily equipped with electricity, public CR, and sari-sari store (convenience store).

By the time we were done going around Enchanted Cave, it was too hot and humid that we decided to head back to the resort and rest. Arriving back, we went to our room to cool down a bit and waited for our lunch to be served. And then we can hear other guests arriving and lots of people running around.

Lunch was served to us at the huts near the beach, and our lunch was Pinakbet or mixed vegetables and rice (had to order another cup of rice because the vegetables were so good) and for dessert, we had the Binunguey (Glutinous Rise soaked in Coconut Milk, cooked inside a bamboo – a local delicacy of Bolinao) which we bought earlier. After eating lunch, we just lazed around the hut because of the nice view that we had of the beach.

Late afternoon came and began shooting the famous Rock View while the tide was low and after a good number of shots till sunset, a friend arrived and was invited for dinner at Punta Riviera Resort, we ordered their veganized Chop Suey and Vegetable Spring Rolls and coconut juice, while we went around this huge place with a bridge going over a river and lots of places to go around, we settled in on a table when the owners of Tummy Teasers arrived to join us, then the band started playing and we could not hear ourselves, and transferred to a table a little bit quit so we could chat. After dinner, we were served fresh fruits, courtesy of the owner, and before leaving we were given a box of pizza which was veganized for us by Tummy Teasers for our mid-night snack. We were brought back to our lodging and had a bit of a snack and went to rest for the night.

Woke up around 4 in the morning hoping to catch the milkyway and galaxy but when I went out it was cloudy and the full moon was shining, so back to bed for me. Early the next morning, I had a chance to shoot the rock formation again before people crowded the beach again, then had breakfast of fried bananas, bread and the pizza that we had in our usual place of lounging near the beach then we just lazed around till it was time to prepare for our trip back to Manila, we decided to leave Rock View Resort at around 1100hrs but since there were others before us who were being transported back to the town proper, we just waited for our turn just lazing around near the beach. Paying for our stay in Rock View, with JR (one of the owners) who cooks and serves our food and he would be the one who brought us back to Bolinao, and the service that we took yesterday to go around was given to us for free.

Heading back to Bolinao, we stopped at Tummy Teasers where we had lunch of our now favorite veganized Pizza and was also given two boxes of fresh vegetable and fruits by a friend who we had dinner with, to take back to Manila, we were brought to the bus station but the owners of Tummy Teasers, and waited for the bus to leave, and left Bolinao around 1400hrs and arriving in Manila late in the evening, but had time to eat some Binunguey and mangos to go with it.

We wanted to try travelling to places while being a vegan and not going to any vegan eatery and to try if we could eat and have our fill for the day, the trick is to as kindly the owner of the cook if they could remove all meat product in the food that they would serve us which they did and we are so grateful to them. Our trip was also a stress buster for us because of the stress we do at work, and this trip crosses out a list on out travel destinations. We are looking forward to going back to Bolinao and visit the Nursery of Giant Clams there. Till the next destination.

Contact Persons:

Rock View Resort
(0905) 261 6686

Tummy Teasers
(0999) 999 0923



Note: I am a vegan and do not condone killing or eating any meat products, photos taken are for documentary purposes only


All photos are owned and copyrighted by Joey Rico (also known under these names: alien_scream).
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, copy, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos, without his explicit permission, is punishable by law


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

Romblon: The Marble Capital of the Philippines (Our Vegan Travel) 26-31.12.2017

Romblon: The Marble Capital of the Philippines
(Our Vegan Travel)
26-31.12.2017

We have heard a lot of good things about Romblon, the scenery, the beaches, and the places that other people talk about. We planned this trip way ahead in advance where we would take the bus heading for Batangas Port and take the 2GO Travel, and head first to the Island of Romblon, then transfer to Tablas Island, where we would be staying in Looc, then transfer to Odiongan for the night and take the 2GO Travel back to Batangas Port and take the Bus heading for either Lipa City and back to Manila. But what, we did not factor in, was the weather.

Having a strong tropical depression across the archipelago less than a week ago, it was likely to rain when we left Manila taking the Jam Liner, heading for the port of Batangas and arriving at the port with a long line of people trying to buy a ticket for a ride home for the holiday vacation. As time passed by, we were soon at the check-in counter and then waited at the lounge for the boarding, which was at least 2 hours more. The announcement came at around 1850hrs that they were opening the gate for boarding, heading over at the pier, we were told to line up and drop all our bags to the ground, where the K-9 sniffed them for any drugs or explosives. We were then allowed to enter the ship after checking our tickets and then ushered to our bunks by the friendly crew. We were bunked at the tourist class and rented linens for the beds and tried to settle in, then walked around to check the ship.

We left the port of Batangas at around 2000hrs and was scheduled to arrive in the port of Romblon at around 0600hrs, as we settled in our bunks and ate the food that we brought along for dinner which we ordered from Falafel Elijah, We tried to rest for the night, but since the bunks were too close together, it was hard for me to rest for the night because the guy beside me snored so loudly like a freight train. Early the next morning, there was a food cart going around selling Champorado or sweet rice porridge for Php30, and by 0700hrs, we were docking at the port of Romblon.

Arriving at the port of Romblon, on a cloudy morning, with a drum ensemble greeting the passengers at the port. We started walking through town and was about to take the tricycle going to where we would stay and was told that it was just a few meters away and decided to just walk and see the food stalls along the way. Arriving at Parc Bay Mansion, we were greeted by Ritchie, who was waiting at the road and showed us in the lodging to check-in and then led us to where our room was. After a brief rest, we walked around town looking for a place to eat for breakfast. We found a food stall, who agreed to cook pancit without any meat products and we ate it with the vegan longganisa that we brought with us. Having our fill, we then walked around the plaza to look at the marble items they are selling, then while going around. Carol felt a bit ill and had to go back to our lodging, while I decided to visit San Andres Fort.

Climbing up the 200 steps to reach 373 year old Fort San Andres, with an elevation of 1500 feet, paying the visitors fee of Php20, I entered the fort and started to take photos. Fort San Andres was built to guard the Romblon town, against pirates and also to reinforce the dominance of Spaniards on the common folk during those days. It overlooks the town as well as the sea, which made it perfect to notice any intruders coming towards Romblon; either by sea or through land.

One could see this fort looming over the hilltop. After the restoration, the steps have been a depiction of sea life, as well as the on-goings in the locality. Though, there are no vaults inside anymore, the feeling that one would get once inside the fort is very similar to being in a vault. The numerous massive columns in square structures are made to withstand any attack or siege; perhaps even local revolt.
The tower that this fort has gives complete and spectacular view of an entire harbour. This was meant to watch over the crucial junctions of logistics, as well as any susceptible movement around the harbour.

Since 2012, when a massive restoration project got over, the place was more accessible and beautiful than the ruins before pre-restoration. The fort attracts a lot of archaeological experts, architects and historians, as well as students who are interested in 15th century Spaniard history and architecture. Photographers gather here very often because they can get a panoramic view of the entire town and the Romblon port. This part is exponentially in favor of the trigger happy photographers.

After Fort San Andres, I headed for the center of town and headed for St. Joseph Cathedral, One of the oldest Roman Catholic Church, which was located in barrio Poblacion. It was constructed for the Recollect Fathers between 1640 and 1726 by talented local artisans using coral blocks and bricks. Since the church was still locked, I went around the vicinity to take some photos and went back when the doors of the church were opened.

Next spot to visit is the Fort Santiago, which is on the other side of the harbour from Fort San Andres. Fort Santiago is a good hike along Calvary Hill, asking directions to my destination, I was adviced to take the shorter route but decided to take the longer but scenic route, passing along a cemetery, and stations of the cross which took me to the top.

Upon reaching Fort Santiago where only the ruins could be seen was a tall tamarind tree. They have started clearing the area so as to show where the foundation of the fort was, and had another view of the harbour from here.

Going back down, I decided to take the shorter route and saw the danger involved because of the slippery rocks and the sheer drop on the side of the cliff.

Reaching the main road, I decided to walk along the highway and thought of going to Bon Bon Beach and look at the sand bar. After passing the 1.3 MW power barge of the National Power Corporation along the way, I decided to head back into town because the skies became gloomy. When I arrived at the lodging, I took a bath and decided to rest.

We had a late lunch, going back to the food stall where we had breakfast and ordered pancit and lomi all without any meat products, then decided to walk around town again heading back to St Joseph Cathedral and then to the marble shops then back to our lodging and rest. Then the rains came.

It was raining all night, and when morning came, it was still drizzling on and off. We prepared for start of the day, ate breakfast, checked out of our lodging, then headed for the registration center for the trip to San Agustine Port, Tablas Island at 0730hrs, and by 0800hrs, we left the port of Romblon. Since it was a gloomy day, the seas were a bit rough and rocked our boat, good thing the captain knows how to read the waves and slows the boats every time a big wave comes.

Arriving at the Port of San Agustine at 0900hrs and was looking for a ride and then decided to hire a tricycle for the trip to Looc. We loaded all our bags at the back of the tricycle and started our journey to the town of Looc, passing along the coastel road, then the rains came again, good thing the tricycle had a plastic covering so we would not get wet.

Arriving at the town of Looc at 1020hrs where we were dropped of at Looc Hardware, where we were invited to have lunch with them. We were served steamed fish, and dinuguan and some pork innards but politely declined them saying we do not eat any meat products and brought out the food that we had, which was vegan cup noodles and mushrooms. After lunch, we had a chat with the owners, they showed us their other businesses and then we were brought to the place where we would be staying, and it was still raining.

We arrived at Buenavista Paradise Resort, and checked in our lodging, The resort consists of 4 cottages, a main area for eating, a bar and great view of the sea, we then just lazed around because of the rains sipping some coconut juice, and come dinner time, we were served a large plate of mixed vegetables sauteed in oil, along with some vegan tapa, then went back to our cottage and lazed around.

The next morning, the rains stopped and I went down to the beach and had a little walk then headed back to the resort and had breakfast which consists of bread, fruit jam, papaya and vegan noodles. Then it started raining again while we headed back to our cottage and when the rain comes you just have to stay indoors so as not to get wet, which is what we did. Lunch consists of a big plate of mixed vegetable sauteed in oil together with vegan tocino which we brought. Late in the afternoon, the rains has stopped and took photos at the beach but noticed that my filter was a bit dirty and upon checking, the coating got stripped off. Dinner was a platter of pasta cooked with tomatoes and basil with oil and for dessert, green mangoes dipped in salt with chili, then rested for the night.

Waking up early in the morning the next day and the sun finally came out, went down to the beach and took photos, heading back to our cottage and ate breakfast which was fried bananas, then fixed our things took photos with the owner and the caretakers, then our ride to Odiongan arrived, loaded out bags on top of the tricycle and said our goodbyes to the owners and boarded the tricycle heading for Odiongan.

Arriving in Odiongan, we then proceeded to where we booked our stay which was Centro delas Islas Filipinas Hotel, which is just beside the gate of Odiongan Port, eating our lunch which consits of rice and the vegan noodles which we got on our trip to Tokyo. After lunch, I headed out and walked along the roads looking for some interesting places to take photos. Dinner was just rice and tomatoes with soy sauce, then rested for the day.

Morning came and breakfast was mixed vegetables with soy sauce, and the skies became gloomy again, and since our ride back to Batangas port is at 1400hrs, we had nothing to do but to just wait around the hotel, at 1200hrs we entered the port of Odiongan and checked in.

Our ship arrived around 1400hrs and were told again to fall in line for the dogs to sniff the bags and when cleared, we boarded the ship and were ushered to our cabin, which consisted of 4 bunks.There was a couple already there coming from Caticlan, and then settled in our bunks and in short time, we were on our way to Batangas Port. As we had free meals on this trip, we requested if we can have a vegan food and they obliged to do our request, we were served steamed mixed vegetable with rice and had a grand time eating while we were being rocked by the waves. Having our fill, we headed back to our bunk and rested for the duration of the trip. Hearing the announcment that we are nearing the port of Batangas, we fixed our things and then the go signal to depart the ship came, we disembarked and headed for the bus to take us to Lipa city but there was none, so we took the tricycle and headed for the grand terminal in Batangas, where we waited for a bus and spent the new year at the bus terminal together with the crew of a convenience store.

Finally a bus arrived and took it heading for Lipa City and then was picked up by Carol’s sister where we would be staying, by 0300hrs I was fast asleep on the bed for the next day will be traveling early back to Manila.

Since we did not factor in the weather on this trip, and Carol having fever most of the time, we did not get to see the great beaches of Romblon and Tablas Island but we had a grand time relaxing and even spent the new year on the road, just the two of us. Hopefully next time it would be another adventure we would never forget.

Contact Persons:

Parc Bay Mansion
Ritchi Samson
0921.575.7760

Buenavista Paradise Resort
Ate Lorie
0999.848.2096



Note: I am a vegan and do not condone killing or eating any meat products, photos taken are for documentary purposes only


All photos are owned and copyrighted by Joey Rico (also known under these names: alien_scream).
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, copy, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos, without his explicit permission, is punishable by law


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

Nihon-Koku 2017 – Yokohama Trip (Day 3)

Nihon-Koku 2017 – Yokohama Trip
(Day 3)

Waking up relatively late after the haloween celebration the night before, we headed out again heading for Yokohama, taking the train from Horikiri-Shobuen transferring lines at Nippori Station, heading for Yokohama then transferring lines again heading for Motomachi-Chukagai station where we would be visiting Yokohama Chinatown.

Yokohama Chinatown (Yokohama Chūkagai) is Japan’s largest Chinatown, located in central Yokohama. A large number of Chinese stores and restaurants can be found in the narrow and colorful streets of Chinatown. Various events and festivals such as Chinese New Year around the beginning of February are also held at Chinatown.

Yokohama Chinatown quickly developed, after the port of Yokohama had been one of the first Japanese ports to be opened to foreign trade in 1859. It became the residence of the many Chinese traders who settled down in the city. Today, there are more businesses than actual residents living in the area.

Four colorful gates stand at the entrances to Chinatown, and five more gates can be found within. The Kanteibyo is a gaudily colored temple in the center of Chinatown. Constructed in 1873 by Chinese residents, it is dedicated to the Chinese god of good business and prosperity.

The main attraction of the Yokohama Chinatown, however, is the cuisine offered at its many restaurants and food stands. Popular favorites include steamed buns (manju), ramen noodles and a wide array of other Chinese dishes, many of which have been Japanized to a certain degree.
Expect a lot of sumptuous dishes here! Everywhere you go, you’ll see Chinese restaurants, some seemingly trying to outdo each other with their ornate fixtures. Most restaurants have an all-you-can-eat course, and for anywhere between 1,500-4,000 yen, you can order all the dishes you want. While some impose a time limit (usually 90 minutes), some restaurants don’t. On the menu are plenty of hearty dishes: various types of dim sum, meat dishes, vegetables, fish, soups—you name it, they probably have it! Many also offer Peking duck as part of the course, but frankly, the strips of Peking duck tend to be so tiny that it hardly feels like you’re eating Peking duck. Still, you get what you pay for, and you’ll probably be too full from everything else to care too much, anyway. But if you really want a generous portion of some juicy Peking duck, some restaurants have it, but be prepared to pay up.

If you can save some of your appetite to try the snacks and street food, go for it. (Alternatively, skip the all-you-can-eat course and go from one shop or stall to another, trying different things.) The smell of the food wafts through the streets, making the food too tempting to pass up. With large nikuman (meat buns), shumai (pork dumplings), shouronbou (the Japanese term for xiaolongbao, steamed buns with soup inside), tea, fried sesame balls, egg tarts, and more, Chinatown has so much food to offer that you’ll probably want to try everything!

After a good walk from the station we arrived at Yokohama Chinatown, here we saw lots of streetfood where you can feast on, and in one of the stalls we got a pancake like bread mage out of flour with onions. Then walking around till we reach a place where we would eat our lunch, which was tofu slices and pad thai, we requested the cook to remove all meat products when cooking. After a heartfull lunch, we headed back to the street and wandered a bit more, after which we headed back to Motomachi-Chukagai station, heading for another stop, which is the Ramen Museum. Transferring line at Yokohama, heading for Shin-Yokohama station, from here, is a bit of a walk to the Ramen Museum.

You might be familiar with the Cup Ramen Museum in Yokohama, but Tokyo’s second city also has a second ramen mecca. You may not be able to design and make your own cup ramen here, but you can eat your way through bowls and bowls of carefully selected ramen dishes from all across Japan (and I know which I’d prefer). The museum was opened in Shinyokohama in 1994 and was, at the time, the world’s first food-themed amusement park. Based on the Showa-era streets of 1958—the year instant ramen was invented—the restaurants are in back alleys and a central courtyard, and inside are fully modern. The museum has a well-stocked shop, some informative displays and a few extra attractions on the Showa streets: certainly enough to occupy an afternoon.

Styled perfectly to recreate the atmospheric and somewhat dingy streets of times gone by, the ramen town of the museum is brilliant. You can’t help but be impressed when you step inside, and it’s hard not to get a giddy level of excitement at the thought of exploring the alleys.

The restaurants are split between two levels, with plenty of space for queues on the bottom level, and space for snaking lines along the upper-level streets.

The nine restaurants have been chosen to showcase the best of Japan’s ramen, and include different examples of noodle, broth and topping. Whether you like tonkotsu or miso, shio or shoyu—there’s something for everyone. The best part, however, is that you can try the smaller “taster” bowls if you want to try more than one.

At just over 500 yen each, they are still pretty filling, but at least alleviate the stress of having to try one out of nine. Four of the restaurants offer vegetarian as well as pork-free dishes, giving an unusual amount of options where there are usually few. Standard-sized bowls of ramen are around 800 yen, with all the regular options of ramen restaurants for toppings and sizes. If you look around each restaurant’s vending machine you’ll find a full multi-lingual menu and it’s easy enough to match color-coded dishes to their corresponding bowls or to use price to match them.

With nine to choose from, even the biggest ramen fans may not be able to manage all the taster bowls, so here’s a guide to tempt you in and help you choose:

Ryu Shanghai Honten
A rich miso base with thick noodles, this is a warming seafood, chicken and pork combination with some original elements. The unusually thick noodles are folded over 32 times and if you like things spicy, you can enjoy the dollop of raw miso which, sits top the spicy miso ramen option. The restaurant has a vegetarian menu and non-pork options.

Rishiri Ramen Miraku
Thick noodles in a rich scorched, shoyu sauce are a tough combination to beat and luckily this branch of the popular store is easier to reach than the original. Located on the Rishiri Island, it takes over 8 hours by ferry and plane, and is only open for two hours a day. The use of kelp sourced from the island lends it a savory depth rarely found and helped it to reach the Bib Gourmand standard. No vegetarian or pork-free options available.

Yuji Ramen
Only opened on March 16th, 2017, Yuji has a unique twist on tonkotsu: replacing the pork bones with grilled tuna to create a light, cloudy soup. Having spent years working with fish wholesalers in America, Yuji’s shop owner created the “tuna-kotsu” with no other animal-sourced ingredients. No vegetarian or pork-free options available.

Muku Zweite
A popular European ramen shop, this places uses flour more commonly used for pasta and pizza to create thick noodles for their rich tonkotsu and shoyu broth. The restaurant has a vegetarian menu and non-pork options.

Komurasaki
A much lighter tonkotsu than you might be used to, the broth at Komurasaki is both light and mild, but still full of flavor. With traditional toppings, roasted garlic and thin noodles the Kumamoto specialty is a great option if you want to try a few bowls that day, as it isn’t too rich. They have a vegetarian menu and non-pork options as well as dumplings.

Shina Soba
With a light shoyu base, Shina Soba is known for its umami flavor, and the owner has even been nicknamed the “Ramen Demon”. Using chickens he feeds himself and with over 30 specially chosen ingredients, you’ll enjoy the bowl immensely, even if you can’t put your finger on exactly why. They have a vegetarian menu and non-pork options available.

Nidai-me Genkotsuya
Nicknamed golden soup ramen, this shio/shoyu ramen uses fatty cuts of tuna and plenty of kelp in their pork and chicken bone soup. They also serve jumbo dumplings if you need something different, as well as having vegetarian and pork-free options.

Sumire
Listed as the most famous miso ramen shop in Japan, Sumire certainly has high expectations to reach, but reach them it does. The rich broth is full flavored and thick, and very moreish. The noodles are firm and hold up well in the miso broth—definitely a good one to hit up on your visit! It may be worth noting that the taster version does not come with meat. No vegetarian or pork-free options available.

Good to know:

To make the most of your ramen day here are some bonus tips:
• With free re-entry for a day, you can enjoy lunch and take a break for a stroll around the area before heading back for dinner, if you are keen to try as many bowls as you can
• Wifi is available in the museum, the ID is ramen and the password is 19940306
• Don’t forget to look for the English menus available at each vending machine
• Lunch time and dinner are popular with local salarymen who buy year-round access, so if there’s a long queue maybe check out somewhere else and try a little later as queues seemed to fluctuate a lot
• The museum has its own TV channel called Ra-Haku TV focusing on ramen history and development
• There are no reservations so you will have to queue
• Each adult is expected to buy at least one bowl of ramen

Entering the floors at the basement is like entering a different world or a blast from the past, with its old setup and old item including a telephone booth, a TV on the window and even an old camera shop. The ramen smelled good and we bought tickets for a small bowl and entered Komurasaki, thinking that we could share so we could try other ramen, but the rule here was no sharing and I got the bowl all by myself… making sure the what I ordered was the vegetarian with no meat products in it, and they said that they use soy based broth, so I’m good.
You could stay here and just walk around the place and try out other ramen shops, which we did and after a while we headed out back to Shin-Yokohama heading for Ueno, where we met up with the rest of the group.

Heading back to our lodging, and buying some breakfast food for the next day, for we would be heading out to another fun filled adventure to Hakone.

TIP: Japanese People are so disciplined that when using the escalator they always stay on left side when standing

TIP: learn some Japanese words like:

Thank you : Arigatou

Thank you (This is more polite than Arigatou.) : Arigatou gozaimasu

Excuse me or I’m sorry: Sumimasen

TIP: download the apps @cityrailmap and Google Translate, and you will never get lost

Note: all time stated are Philippine Standard Time, unless otherwise stated

Note: I am a vegan and do not condone killing or eating any meat products, photos taken are for documentary purposes only

All photos are owned and copyrighted by Joey Rico (also known under these names: alien_scream).
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, copy, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos, without his explicit permission, is punishable by law

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

with Carol Maralit, Dolly Arevalo

A Table for 26 Persons Please: Trip to Vietnam (Part 2)

A Table for 26 Persons Please: Trip to Vietnam (Part 2)
ITLOG_No. 19
(07.05.2013-11.05.2013)

Waking up around 5300hrs (VN Time) and prepared for the day ahead, having our early breakfast and then waited for the others in the group, at the lobby of the hotel, with the van arriving to pick us up, we piled into the van and then picked up others who would be also joining the tour. After all of the persons for the tour were accounted for, we headed out for our first stop, which is the Handicapped Handicraft.

Handicapped Handicraft, is a stop over going to Cu Chi Tunnels, here is where victims of the gas “dioxin”, which the Americans sprayed across the rice paddies and fields to kill the vegetation so that the Vietcong has no where to hide, but it did not only kill the vegetation but also others, this was called the “Agent Orange”

After travelling for about an hour, we arrived at the place and started to go around, since we were here the last time we were in Vietnam, I just took photos of the workers there then waited for the others at the van.

Then back to the road again to travel for almost 2 hours, later I have learned that we were near the border of Cambodia, and have arrived to the place called Cao Dai Temple.

Indigenous to Vietnam, Cao Dai, is in fact a fusion of the teachings from Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, with elements of Christianity and Islam. Founded in the 1920′s, Cai Daism was seen as the answer to the ideal religion and they also worship western icons with the like of Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare and even Joan of Arc. The religion has about three million followers, all in Southern Vietnam and there are several Cao Dai temples in the Mekong Delta too but none as grand as this.

(Built between 1933 and 1955) The structure of the nine-story Cao Dai Temple is part pagoda, part cathedral and part mosque – representing the ideology behind the religion. The exterior – fluorescent shades of pinks and yellows, rococo walls and mosaic-mirrored tiles that glint in the sun seems to find their delicate balance in the chaos. To it top off, the exterior that is already a feast for the eyes, are further ‘accessorized’ with multi-colored dragons of all shapes and sizes. Above the main entrance is the all-seeing Holy Eye, the symbol of the Cao Dai sect. The interior, needless to say, is just as engaging as statues of Jesus Christ, Buddha and the Hindu god, Brahma, stand side by side.

This is where I was told a lot of times not to go where it was prohibited, I was even told to not to sit on a part of the temple (because I was taking photos). And I noticed that all around the temple is an image or a carving of the third eye. Our guide then told us to gather back to the van so we could have our lunch, which is near the temple, and the food tasted ok with bird cages all around and you could hear them sing aloud.

After lunch, our next stop would be the Cu Chi Tunnels, and this time it started to rain. We were awakened by our guide telling us if we still want to continue with the tour, he said that for those who does not want, just stay in the van, but for those who wants to, then follow him, se we went down and headed to the entrance. Others on the group bought those pink disposable raincoats to protect them from the rain, good thing I had my rain covers and rain protection with me.

Cu Chi Tunnels is about 40 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City in Southern Vietnam. The Cu Chi Tunnels are an elaborate underground community made up of 250 km of tunnels and chambers below the city.

The tunnels were dug with simple tools and bare hands during the French occupation in the 1940s, and further expanded during the Vietnam War in the 1960s to provide refuge and a defensive advantage over the American soldiers. Despite all the bombings in their town, the Cu Chi people were able to continue their lives beneath the soil, where they slept, ate, planned attacks, healed their sick, and taught their young. Some even wed and gave birth underground, but over 10,000 lost their lives here.

A well-defined walking track loops around the area, with things to see spaced at regular intervals, including examples of how people lived and what they ate. There is a 30m section of tunnel, which visitors can crawl through (not recommended for the claustrophobic), examples of traps used during the war, and the remnants of bomb craters. Warning: Many travellers put themselves into small ventilation holes for phototaking. It is great fun but consider your body before getting in as some had difficulties getting out and had to crawl to the exit point.

After the tunnels and some firing of the rifles, we were then brought to an area where you could sample some tapioca and tea, which is what the Vietcong would eat. Then by 1700hrs (VN Time) we were back on the road again, and headed back to Saigon City, and by 1800hrs (VN Time) we knew we were near the city already because of the heavy traffic and lots of motorbikes going in all directions. We were then dropped off at the hotel for a brief rest and by 2000hrs (VN Time) we headed out again to eat dinner.

Dinner was in an Italian restaurant called “Casa Italia”, where the manager and and another person were fellow Filipinos and we had a nice chat with them, ordering pastas and pizzas including a bottle of wine the complete the dinner.

After dinner, we headed to Bui Vien, which is like the Malate area in the Philippines. Bui Vien is a street connecting Tran Hung Dao street and Cong Quynh street in district 1. It is named after a famous diplomat and mandarin under the Nguyen dynasty. There are a wide variety of hotels, art galleries, gift and fashion shops, restaurants and travel companies.

After a couple of drinks, we then took a cab and headed back to the hotel not after buying some iced coffee for the night.

The next day was spent shopping for souvenirs and things to bring back home, after breakfast, we then headed for Saigon Square then transferred to Ben Thanh Market to but stuffs. Heading back to the hotel, we then met one of our CouchSurfing friend, which we invited to join us for lunch at Nha Hang Ngon.

Ngon Restaurant is one of the famed and well-established restaurants in Saigon – Ho Chi Minh City. The term Ngon literally means ‘delicious’ food and this restaurant is known to serve authentic Vietnamese local cuisine stylized like street food yet offering a hygienic ambience. The restaurant is credited with serving a variety of noodles, rice dishes and finger food at a reasonable price of a 50% hike compared to road-side stalls. Being a highly popular venue with locals this place is mostly crowded and packed during the lunch hours with both local residents and tourists. The interior with diffused lighting and banana plants gives it an, other wise serene out look.

In due course this restaurant has become a genuine Saigon – Ho Chi Minh institute serving local dishes and has a highly chaotic ambience full of laughter, shouting and clanging of cooking accessories and another special feature is the open-air kitchen. You get to experience a comfortable seating arrangement with a regular table or a seating arrangement in either the balcony or the courtyard. Decoration wise the main building is having different cooking stations at different corners and each cooking station specializes in respective regional cuisines. Prices of main courses vary between VN$ 7000 to VN$ 55,000.

After lunch, we together with our CouchSurfer friend Thuy, headed for a café to have some iced coffee and we were taught how to drink it, which is after drinking the iced coffee, you follow it up with a cold tea or in Vietnamese it is called tra (pronounced cha) to remove the bitter taste of the coffee.

We then headed back to the hotel to pack our things and rest, at around 1800hrs (VN Time) we gathered in the lobby of the hotel for us to go out and eat dinner for the last time together in Vietnam, we took the taxi and headed for SH Garden Restaurant.

Terrace Restaurant, located at the corner of two of the oldest boulevards of Saigon – Nguyen Hue and Le Loi – established in the 1930s’, where romantic memories of an old Saigon can suddenly come to you. A variety of delicious traditional Vietnamese dishes are served in a nice and simple family style. Upon entrance you meet an old and unique wooden elevator taking you to a banana and lemon grass garden on the terrace with the sound of country music, which promises to bring you a cozy and sensual feeling.

This is where I was a bit disappointed because I have packed my tripod in my bags and this was a nice place to take photos of REX Hotel in front and the rotunda. But had to make do using the ledge to brace the camera. And the menu here is placed in an iPad along with the normal menu, so you can see the photos of the food you are ordering and they have nice food shots.

After dinner, we then headed for Kom Back Dang to have some dessert of ice cream. And the variety of ice cream that they have, we ordered different kind and had a taste of each, including the durian ice cream. Walking back to the hotel and collecting our bags, we took the taxi heading for the international airport. Upon arriving, the counter was still closed and we had to wait for it to open, and waited also for our companions to arrive. Checking in our bags and headed for the immigration area, which is where I had some problems, first the machine that verifies the passport bogs down and had to wait for about 10 minutes for it to be back to normal, I ask the immigration officer if I could transfer lanes but did not answer back, then at the security check, I had to bring out all my stuffs in my hand carry bag including my laptop and cameras for them to scan it thoroughly, alas I was through and head for the lounge area.

Here we waited a little bit longer for our flight back to Manila because it was delayed again. Finally we were allowed to board the plane at around 0030hrs (VN Time) and left Vietnam 30 minutes later. It was a stable flight and had a chance to take a couple of zees, then came an announcement that we were experiencing some strong turbulence and had to put on our seatbelts. Landing at NAIA at around 0400hrs (PH Time) and we were picked up to be brought to our respective houses.

This trip was somewhat different for us, different because we were used on staying on inns and pension houses. Different because, of the food that we eat, we usually try as much as we can to eat street foods, but this time we ate in a classy restaurants that we could not have eaten. Different because, we were 26 in a group and with that lot of persons, it would be a rowdy crowd and would annoy some people who would like to have a quiet time. Different because, this was the first time I had been with the family of my partner, and for this I thank them for accepting me to their clan.

Till the next adventure we would take!

All photos are owned and copyrighted by Joey Rico (also known under these names: alien_scream).
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, copy, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos, without his explicit permission, is punishable by law

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

A Table for 26 Persons Please: Trip to Vietnam (Part 1)

A Table for 26 Persons Please: Trip to Vietnam (Part 1)
ITLOG_No. 19
(07.05.2013-11.05.2013)

Going on a trip requires a lot of money to spend for accommodation, transportation, food, plane ticket and other things. That’s why we work our arsses off, so that at the end of the day we could plan a trip and enjoy a well-earned holiday. Since I’m doing freelance work, I had to work double time to earn money for trips. Our budget for trips are spent on lodging which for us means, staying at backpackers inns, staying with friends or relatives, or even go Couchsurfing, where we meet a lot of new friends.

Instances where opportunity knocks, grab it!

We were invited to join a trip to Saigon with my partner’s family, our plane tickets and accommodation plus food will be paid for, we said why not! We would be visiting Saigon again after almost 4 years and would like to visit the place again, but this time no more 12-hr bus ride to Seam Reap. I wanted a tour of the Mekong River, but I was alone in wanting to visit the place, so we settled for a day’s tour to Cao Dai Temples and Cu Chi Tunnels. The planning of this trip was stress full on my partners part because she was in charge of booking most of the plane tickets plus setting up the accommodation of each person at the Blue Diamond Hotel (which for us would be a luxury, since we are used to staying at backpackers inn), and also the places where to eat… and we were a group of 26 individuals including at least 4 kids.

We were scheduled to leave at 2250hrs(PH Time) and we were out of the house 1500hrs (PH Time) to pick up the others on the group. From our place in Quezon City, we headed for San Juan then to Wack-Wack for a total of 10 persons in this group and 4 others waiting at the airport (the other group composed of 11 persons left for Saigon at an earlier trip). After the usual check-in of our bags, we headed for Pancake house and had our dinner there, after which, we passed through immigration and security checks, then waited at the lounge area at the gate. Then an announcement came over the PA system that our plane would be delayed for about 30 minutes and we would be waiting a little bit longer. At around 2110hrs (PH Time) we were told to board the plane, se we gathered our hand carry bags and trooped to the counter to board the plane, leaving Manila at around 2130hrs.

Arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport at around 0050hrs (VN Time) and passed through immigration, heading for the foreign exchange booth to have some Vietnam currency to pay for the taxi, while I got city map for at the stand for the group. Since we could not find any vans around like the previous trip, we opted to get 3 taxis to take us all to the hotel, we were the last group to leave the airport and arriving at the hotel at around 0200hrs (VN Time), where we got our room assignment and then rested for the night.

Waking up around 0600hrs (VN Time), and prepared for breakfast, where we would be eating a complimentary buffet breakfast at the restaurant of the hotel by 0700hrs (VN Time). After breakfast we headed back to our room and just lazed around because we would be meeting up with the group at around 1030hrs for lunch, having taken our group picture, we then took a taxi and headed for our first lunch together as a group to Cha Ca La Vong where they only serve one thing in their menu, which is snake head fish.

One of Hanoi’s most famous specialties is Cha Ca La Vong (La Vong grilled fish pies). The dish was invented by Doan family and has quickly become so popular that the name of the street where it is served was changed into Cha Ca (fish pie) from its former name Hang Son (Paint Street).
To have tasty pie, the fish selected is Hemibagrus with solid fresh, less bones and good scent. Fish bones are left away to keep fish meat only, then, it is seasoned with fish sauce, pepper, saffron and galingale. After that, the processed fish is grilled by coal heat and turned upside down to make both sides baked.
When serving, an oven of coal is needed to keep Cha Ca always hot. It is served with rice vermicelli, dried pancakes, roasted peanuts, sliced onion leaves, basil and shrimp paste with lemon and chili.
Hanoians often eat this dish while sipping some alcohol in the cold weather. If you are in Hanoi, you should come and explore the grilled fish pie yourself.

While you sit down at the table, the waiter starts laying there some seasonings includes a bowl of well – stirred shrimp paste sauce mixed up with lemon. After dropping the liquor, he will decorate the bowl with a few slices of red fresh pimento, a plate of grilled grounded nuts of gold yellow color, various species of mint vegetables o­nions in small white slices. 

To many customers, the sight of such seasoning already greatly stimulates their appetite. A few minutes later, fried fish, yellow in color and flagrant in smell put o­n a plate of anethum vegetable, is brought in. But that is not all. A few seconds more, as soon as a cauldron of boiling fat is brought in, the waiter starts pouring it o­n each bowl of grilled fish, thus producing a white smoke and sputtering noise.
Now, this is the time for picking and choosing what you like from the dishes on the table; sticking them into your bowl. Everything in all dishes should be eaten together.

Because we were a group of 26, with at least 4 kids, we were directed at the second floor of the restaurant and we were seated at a long table at the end, far from other customers, because we were a little bit excited. The people who served us were somewhat confused on how to serve a large group of people. After lunch, and some blessings given to us, we then headed for Trung Nguyen Cafe to have a taste of some true Vietnamese coffee.

Trung Nguyen coffees are one of the most sought-after pleasures by tourists when visiting Vietnam. These rich, multi-species, heirloom coffees are deep-roasted but never burnt, giving you a uniquely delicious coffee experience.
Vietnamese coffee is traditionally packaged as ground coffee to be brewed in the regionally popular Phin Filter (as served in Southeast Asian coffee shops and restaurants) or French Press, but will brew well in drip machines. If you are looking for a unique gourmet coffee experience that you can brew in your Keurig machine.

We got something to drink, while I got some cold pineapple shake because I could not drink coffee, while the kids got something to eat since they were not used to eating fish with lots of vegetables, and then ordered a lot of bags of coffee to take back home

Heading back to the hotel to change a bit (it was hot and humid) and get some things for a tour to the War Remnants Museum, (in which we have been before, but wanted to take more photos), when we were about to leave, it started to drizzle and with the kids with us, we took a taxi going to the War Remnants Museum, arriving and paying for the entrance, I was surprised to see that the exhibit has changed, it used to be just occupying 2 floors now it occupies 3 floors and the exhibit for the agent orange has its own exhibit at the 2nd floor.

The museum comprises a series of themed rooms in several buildings, with period military equipment placed within a walled yard. The military equipment includes a UH-1 “Huey” helicopter, an F-5A fighter, a BLU-82 “Daisy Cutter” bomb, M48 Patton tank, an A-1 Skyraider attack bomber, and an A-37 Dragonfly attack bomber. There are a number of pieces of unexploded ordnance stored in the corner of the yard, seemingly with their charges and/or fuses removed.
One building reproduces the “tiger cages” in which the South Vietnamese government allegedly kept political prisoners. Other exhibits include graphic photography, accompanied by a short text in English, Vietnamese and Japanese, covering the effects of Agent Orange and other chemical defoliant sprays, the use of napalm and phosphorus bombs, and atrocities such as the My Lai massacre. The photographic display includes work by Vietnam War photojournalist Bunyo Ishikawa that he donated to the museum in 1998. Curiosities include a guillotine used by the French and the South Vietnamese to execute prisoners, the last time being in 1960, and three jars of preserved human fetuses allegedly deformed by exposure to dioxins and dioxin-like compounds, contained in the defoliant Agent Orange.
According to travel reports from foreign visitors, the exhibits are “blatantly one-sided” with a “a heavy dose of anti-American (and South Vietnamese) propaganda”, “full of propaganda” and “need to be taken with a grain of salt”, but “they do graphically portray the horrors of the Vietnam War. US anthropologist Christina Schwenkel wrote in a 2009 book that while the description “war crimes” has been dropped from the official text, the museum still exhibits pictures that are considered controversial and perhaps unrepresentative like that of a “smiling U.S. soldier proudly displaying a VC head as a war trophy” accompanied by a caption that is still hinting at a criminal element, in this case: “after decapitating some guerillas, a GI enjoyed being photographed with their heads in his hands”. Schwenkel’s book also mentioned how the Vietnamese regime “borrowed images from the West and inserted them into a “distorted” history”, using images of the War to substantiate their version and views on Vietnam War history.

Having taken my fill of photos, we then walked back to the hotel, passing some shops where they sell sports equipment and thought that I will get some for my kids. I then decided to walk to Notre Dame Cathedral and take some night photos of the place but was disappointed that the church has no lights at night, so I did get off some shots, then transferred to the street corner and took some photos. After which I decided to take a photo also of the Opera House, but got confused on the way and got lost, I did not know that the Opera house was just the next block where I was standing, since we have to meet up at the lobby at around 1900hrs (VN Time), I headed back to the hotel, when I arrived, our friend back in the Philippines was there, and we invited them to have dinner with us in a street corner near our hotel, which the kids say was the best dinner they had, they even ate pigeons.

After a heavy dinner (which I ate a lot), we said our goodbyes to our friends and then headed for the night market at Ben Thanh Market, where we got some souvenirs to take back home, heading back to the hotel and dropping by to buy some iced coffee, we then called it a day, because tomorrow we would be visiting Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels.

All photos are owned and copyrighted by Joey Rico (also known under these names: alien_scream).
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, copy, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos, without his explicit permission, is punishable by law

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

Puerto Princesa, Palawan (Part 2)

Puerto Princesa, Palawan
Visiting the Underground River: One of the New 7 Wonders of the World
ITLOG_No. 18
(07-10.03.2013)

Waking up a little bit late than usual and having breakfast leisurely, because we would be touring around the city this day. We had called the tricycle driver, which brought us from the airport to the lodge to take us around the city, and even suggested where and when to eat for lunch and what places to visit. We started off at around 1100hrs heading towards Irawan to the Crocodile Farm, but upon arriving we were told that the tour would not start till 01330hrs, so Dong, our driver took us to another place near-by which is Irawan Eco Park, where we were dropped off and he had to run some errand but will be back.

Irawan Eco Park is situated amidst a lush jungle where you take a multicab going from the main office to the part where the zip line is, upon arrival we were given a list on what activities we would like to do in the park and since Carol did not want to try the zip line, we opted for the Carabao Ride, and the Butterfly farm, since it was around 12 noon already, we also ordered some crocodile sisig and crocodile adobo for lunch. We were then told to wait at the entrance while the carabao that would pull the cart was brought around and was hitched to the cart, then we were told to ride the cart and was brought to the Hagedorn Eco Home, where the guide told us that he usually stays there and rest.

After the tour of his house, a multicab arrived and brought us up the mountain where the butterfly farm would be, and it was a little bit of a long dusty ride, because we rode in the back of the multicab. Arriving at the place was a big shed where you get your gear for the zip line and other souvenirs and a waiting area, but we were directed at the back where the butterfly farm would be. With our guide telling us about the butterflies and how she takes care of them we were then brought around the whole farm looking at different species of butterflies they have, while the others who tried the zip line could be heard above. We were then directed to wait at the big shed for our ride, and we were brought back to the main building where we were ushered to the tables where our lunch would be served. The Crocodile sisig tasted really good even the Crocodile Adobo taking our sweet time savouring our food. After our lunch we then headed back to the Crocodile Farm and we were told to hurry up and catch up with the start of the tour.

Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center formerly known as the Crocodile Farm and Nature Park, it serves as the sanctuary of the Philippine Crocodile that is endemic to the country. The Philippine Crocodile is currently included in the endangered species list and the conservation center is making ways to increase the number of the species. Aside from crocodiles, the center takes care of other animals like ostriches and endemic to the island of Palawan, like the bearcat.

Palawan Wildlife Rescue is located south of the Puerto Princesa city center. One has to take a ride of about 30 minutes to the rural south of the city and is a few minutes from the Iwahig Penal Farm. One may hire a jeepney or multicab to bring them to the park, which is far off for tricycles to reach. City tour packages regularly include the park in their itinerary.

At the entrance of the park, a signage of the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center meets the guests. Behind it is a mini reservoir for the park and a water tank, which are surrounded by an oval roadway. The mini reservoir is located just in front of the main building.

At the main hall of the main building, a skeleton of a huge seawater crocodile named “Rio” which is encased in a glass chest. And on the wall beside it hangs the skin of the said crocodile. This crocodile was caught somewhere in an island and was killed after it devoured a child. This remains of the crocodile showcases how big salt-water crocodiles can grow.

Aside from the giant crocodile remains, a skeleton of a Sperm Whale is also displayed near the crocodile encasing. The skeleton was retrieved from a dead whale found on the shores of Puerto Princesa. Also within the building is a small museum about crocodiles and other fossils.

We walk around following the group and upon reaching the pens at the back we saw “mac mac” the biggest seawater crocodile in the farm, which is 17 feet long and was basking in the sun, there is also “Valentino”, who is about 16 feet long.

After the Crocodile farm the next stops were the Mitra Ranch and the Baker’s Hill where we bought some hopia to bring back home. Nothing much to see in the said places, but the scenic view of Honda Bay. Along the way to Mitra’s Ranch, we had a tricycle trouble and was transferred to another tricycle to continue with our city tour.

Our next stop was at the tiangge, where they sell those cheap souvenirs and picked our way getting some to bring back home. Then we headed for the Baywalk, where I took some photos of it and then headed for Plaza Cuartel.

Plaza Cuartel is where a Japanese Garrison burned a number of American prisoners inside the tunnel and only 11 people escaped, as the inscription says “In this site which is a former military fort during the Second World War, happened the burning of more or less 150 American prisoners-of-war by the Japanese soldiers on 14 December 1944. Some survivors swam the sea to going to Iwahig [penal colony put up during the Commonwealth]. The remains of the dead were transported and buried at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, 1952.” With the names of those who perished inscribed in the monument and how they perished is a reminder what horrors war can bring.

Across the street is the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. In 1872, a Spanish expedition proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of Mary as the patroness of Puerto Princesa. That same year, the first mass was celebrated here. However it took almost a century before the cathedral on Rizal Avenue, going to the pier, was built in 1961 under then Bishop Most Rev. Gregorio Espiga. The angular structure departs from most churches in other parts of the Philippines, providing visitors with an interesting glimpse of unconventional religious structure.

The century-old cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Parish has been known as the center of spiritual refuge for locals and visitors of Puerto Princesa City.
Located at Barangay Liwanag along Rizal Avenue, the main thoroughfare in the city, the blue cathedral is an eye-catching edifice because of its unique architectural design in the district.

The pointed arches remind you of Gothic castles and buildings built during medieval Europe but unlike them, the Immaculate Conception Parish is predominantly made of cement, and not limestone. Nonetheless, the sight of the towering cathedral evokes different emotions.

The cathedral was built during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the late part of the 1800s. Since then, it has become part of every Palawan local’s spiritual refuge, especially during the war.

Spanish Colonizers founded the settlement in Puerto Princesa on March 4, 1872. Scanning the Palawan shoreline for a capital site, the Spaniards found a steep hill and an extensive plateau, which they deemed was ideal for settlement.

Father Antonio Muro leveled a portion of the hill to make way for a chapel, the same location of the cathedral, which used to be a small church then, the historic Plaza Cuartel and local Rizal Park. By 1961, the locals changed the small church into the big cathedral it is known today.

The church’s patroness is the Immaculate Concepcion of Mary, the same icon found in Sta. Cruz, the capitol of Laguna province.

During my early morning visit to the cathedral, I saw a handful of locals who lived nearby the barangay reciting their prayers and offering flowers to religious icons in the church. According to my guide, the popularity of the church also relies on the countless blessings and miracles granted by the town patroness.

It was around 1700hrs, so we decided to have an early dinner, which would be in Badjao Seafront for a different kind of ambiance.

Badjao Seafront is perched over the water at the end of a raised boardwalk over mangroves, is fairly high class in terms of service and table settings, but it’s the sea and mountain views that raise it above the ordinary.

Walking through the boardwalk along the mangroves, we reach the restaurant and was seated at the sides of the restaurant where you could hear splashes of the waves against the post the restaurant and the mangroves, we decided to have a light dinner this time compared to the dinner we had the previous nights and ordered Sizzling Squid, Seaweed Salad and Clam soup, which we shared together, relaxing and relishing the view of the sunset.

After a relaxing dinner, we were then met by our tricycle driver, and told us a place about a cashew factory where we could buy cashew to bring back home, after passing by the place and buying some cashew, we headed out to Iwahig, for the Firefly Watching. I remember when we were kids, we would catch some fireflies and put them into a bottle to see them light up and since the fireflies in Manila are all gone (which is a sign of pollution), it was nice to see fireflies again.

We arrived at the Iwahig Firefly Watching at around 1900hrs and after paying for the banca we were ushered to the waiting area for our turn to ride the banca. After using the lifevest and the Salakot hat, we were told to hop on the banca where our guide told us all about fileflies, the people working at the area and the location of the place. It was nice to see not only the fireflies but the sky full of stars, we were having a great time rowing along the banks when we did not notice that we were back at our starting point and got off.

After a long trip back to our lodge and paying for our tour, we then freshened up for the night and rested for tomorrow would be the highlight of our trip to Puerto Princesa, which is the tour to the Underground River. While I was cleaning up our gears and packing our bags, 2 other guests came in the lodge and learned that they are with our group on the tour the next day.

Waking up around 0500hrs and preparing for the day, then waited for our breakfast to arrive, since it was a Sunday, the store in front, where we buy our drinks were closed, and had to be contented with what we had. The van, which would pick us up, arrived at around 0800hrs, after getting our identification cards and payment for the environmental fee, we boarded the van and headed for Sabang. Along the way, we stopped at Halfway Rest Area, where our guide and driver had a bite to eat, and we were told that since we were early leaving the city proper and the other van was still back in Puerto Princesa with the original document for the Underground River, we were told that we would pass by Ugong Rock to kill time and not get bored at Sabang Port.

Arriving at Ugong Rock Adventures, we were greeted by the staff with a little orientation on the place and told us that those who were interested in exploring the cave and the zip line would just register, and head to the fitting area for the gears. We decided to forgo this adventure and just had some halo-halo at the store, when I noticed that one of the safety crew was an old woman named “Marquita”, having a chat with her, she told me that she was 78 years old and would guide visitors inside the cave but did not try the zip line, she also told me that the other safety crew older than her tried the zip line but was on her day off so I did not get a chance to meet her.

Moving on the Sabang Boat Terminal, where we registered and waited for our turn on the motorized banca, talking with others in the group and had some ice cream. Then our guide told us the it was our turn to ride the banca, and boarded it heading for the Underground River, another registration in the entrance, we then walked about 50 meters to the entrance of the Underground River and then waited for our turn, which gave me an opportunity to get some photos around the area. Our guide told us to go ahead and board the banca ahead of the group, wearing our life vests and helmet for the tour, we boarded the banca and our guide started paddling towards the entrance to the Underground River.

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 kilometers (30 mi) north of the city center of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. The river is also called Puerto Princesa Underground River. The national park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the northern coast of the island. It is bordered by St. Paul Bay to the north and the Babuyan River to the east. The City Government of Puerto Princesa has managed the National Park since 1992. The park is also known as St. Paul’s Subterranean River National Park, or St. Paul Underground River. The entrance to the Subterranean River is a short hike from the town of Sabang.
In 2010, a group of environmentalists and geologists discovered that the underground river has a second floor, which means that there are small waterfalls inside the cave. They also found a huge cave dome, measuring 300 meters above the underground river, incredible rock formations, large bats, a deep water hole in the river, more river channels, another deep cave, marine creatures, and more. Deeper areas of the underground river are almost impossible to explore due to oxygen deprivation.
On November 11, 2011, Puerto Princesa Underground River was provisionally chosen as one of the New7Wonders of Nature. This selection was officially confirmed on January 28, 2012.

The park has a limestone karst mountain landscape. The main attraction here is St. Pauls Underground River Cave – a more than 24 km long cave, which contains an 8.2-kilometer-long underground section of Cabayugan River. A distinguishing feature of the river is that it winds through the cave before flowing directly into the South China Sea, and is navigable with a boat up to 4 kilometres in from the sea. The cave includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers, including the 360-meter-long Italian’s Chamber with approximate 2.5 million square meters volume – one of the largest cave rooms in the world. The lower portion of the river up to 6 km from the sea, is subject to tidal influences. Until the 2007 discovery of an underground river in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River was reputed to be the world’s longest underground river.
The area also represents a habitat for biodiversity conservation. The site contains a full mountain-to-the-sea ecosystem and has some of the most important forests in Asia. It was inscribed by UNESCO, as a World Heritage Site, on December 4, 1999.

After the tour of the Underground River, we headed back to Sabang Boat Terminal, where we were directed to a hut were we would have our lunch, a buffet lunch was prepared for us and got some vegetables and fish with some fruits. We then boarded the van and headed back to Puerto Princesa, where we would be catching our flight back to Manila which was at 1750hrs, dropping us off at the lodge and collecting our bags, we were then brought by the tricycle to the airport and then checked in our bags and was glad we were not late on our flight. We then headed for the waiting lounge and relaxed a bit waiting for the plane to arrive. By 1800hrs we were told that we could board our flight and trooped out to the tarmac and boarded the plane, settling on our seats and with the usual drills on the plane, we were off the ground at around 1820hrs, and headed for Manila, which we arrived at around 1930hrs, collecting our bags and catching our ride back to our house for some needed rest for the next day would be a working day.

Did we enjoy this trip? We were still in Puerto Princesa, and we were planning for another trip back to the place but this time going to El Nido. I for one, really enjoyed this trip and seeing for myself the stories I read and hear about the place, not only that but visiting one of the New 7 Wonders of the World and a World Heritage Site, bringing our list to 4 out of 5 World Heritage Sites visited, the only place in the list we have not visited is the Tubbataha Reef, well maybe in the near future.

Stay safe till our next Adventure! Happy trails!

All photos are owned and copyrighted by Joey Rico (also known under these names: alien_scream).
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, copy, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos, without his explicit permission, is punishable by law

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

New Year Celebration at KL (Part 2)

New Year Celebration at KL (Part 2)
With a Day’s Trip to SG
ITLOG_No. 17
(29.12.2012-02.01.2013)

Being tired from the trip to SG the day before and returning back to KL at around midnight so we woke up late, we then went out and look for a place where we could eat breakfast, which was near Low Yat Plaza, where I got Nesi Lemak for breakfast, then walking to the doughnut store, carol got some Green Tea Doughnuts for dessert. After breakfast we started to walk around Low Yat Palza

Low Yat Plaza or commonly referred to as PLY, is an established commercial shopping centre specializing in electronics and IT products in Malaysia. As an IT related product shopping centre, Plaza Low Yat, the most well known and most established among competitors and is to Kuala Lumpur what Sim Lim Square and Funan is to Singapore. In year 2009, Plaza Low Yat, has been accorded “Malaysia’s Largest IT Lifestyle Mall” by the Malaysia Book of Records.
Located at No.7, Jalan Bintang, Off Jalan Bukit Bintang, Bukit Bintang Central, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, PLY offers a great variety of single products with its collection of inter-chained stores. This is in contrast with streamlined arrangements in other electronics malls. Therefore, PLY allows the consumer to have greater buying power and freedom in selecting the products or electronic parts they wish to purchase. Most parts that are sold here are bargain prices and many stores also offer their services to assemble the parts tailor-made to the customers’ specifications.
Each floor within the complex has its own specialty, specializing in laptops, mobile phones, etc. Eateries and cafes can be found at most of the floors.

We then transferred to BB Plaza, where we ate at Johnny’s Restaurant at around 1300hrs, which after our lunch we parted ways with the group and headed back to Low Yat Plaza again to look for stuffs, and then headed back to our hotel to rest our feet.

At 1600hrs, we headed out again and took the GO KL City Bus which they say was meant to cut traffic jams and to boost spending by tourists (and I think it really does). We got down at KLCC and walk around and take photos of the Petronas Twin Towers at day time but there was a little bit of rain and decided to just go around Suria Mall where there were lots of sales going on around. Deciding to head back, passing through by a stall where they sell Durian fruit, and ate some, and walking around Jalan Alor to buy some souvenirs to bring back home. Buying some rice and with the food that we brought with us, we ate our dinner at the hotel, and took a nap after.

Waking up at around 2200hrs, we then headed for Paradise Lodge to meet up with the group then started to walk going to KLCC, passing through the newly built walkway which was not there the last time we were in KL. Setting up in our spot along the park facing The Petronas Twin Towers, we waited for the countdown of the New Year, which was filling fast with people with loud horns blowing.

When the countdown started, the horns got louder and I waited for the fireworks to start, then it started, first, two sets of fireworks started shooting up, then another set started shooting up, then nothing… I had set-up the camera at the wrong place, the beautiful fireworks were bursting behind us and there were a bunch of trees covering them (sigh), anyway it was a thrilling site because the fireworks display was long and there were no other fireworks going off (unlike in the Philippines where the fireworks are all around and the smoke overwhelming), no bad smell of the smoke but your ears would really be ringing with the loud horns all around. This was a thrilling experience because it was different celebrating the New Year in a different country, with a different culture, and a different way of celebrating the New Year.

After the fireworks display was done, everyone started to leave and slowly filled the street going back to where they would be heading next, as for us, we headed back to our hotel and rested our tired bodies.

We woke up around 0800hrs the next day and thought of trying something different for breakfast, so we ate at KFC, where we ordered a blueberry pancake platter, an egg sandwich and a blueberry tart with coffee and juice. Taking our sweet time to eat breakfast after which we then headed for Paradise Lodge to meet up with the group but decided not to tag along with them and instead to walk going to KLCC. Passing through the elevated walkway again and through the mall, we took photos of The Petronas Twin Towers from all possible angles that we could take, then riding the GO KL Bus back to Bukit Bintang to our hotel and wait for the meeting time at around 1800hrs for dinner at Al Amar Express, in front of Fahrenheit 88 Mall.

At 1700hrs, we left the hotel and headed for Fahrenheit 88 Mall to meet up with the group and eat dinner, arriving earlier, we decided to go around the mall and see the shops there. By 1800hrs we met up with the group and ate dinner at Al Amar Express, where I ordered a Shawarma in a plate and tried to finish the food that the others ordered. We even got a complimentary dessert from the chef who was a Filipino from Cebu. After dinner the group decided to go around Bukit Bintang/Jalan Alor to buy some souvenirs, but I decided to go to the Petronas Tower to take my night shots. Bringing the kids back to Paradise Lodge riding the GO KL Bus, I then started walking to KLCC to catch the last light of day, but was not fortunate enough because when I got to KLCC the sun has set. Setting up the tripod at the bridge in the park, I started taking photos of The Petronas Twin Towers, then transferring to the other side and took another set of photos. Being contented with my shots, I took the GO KL bus back to Bukit Bintang and headed for our hotel, we then started to pack our bags so as not to be rushed the next day, then watching a movie on TV we fell asleep.

The next day started at 0800hrs, preparing for the day we then checked out of our hotel and headed for Paradise Lodge to meet up with the group, where we were told that we would be eating lunch at KLCC. We all waited for the GO KL bus at the bus stop a bit longer than usual and when it arrived, we all piled in the bus and got down at KLCC. Looking for a Chinese restaurant, we were directed to the fourth level and ate lunch at Spring Garden Restaurant, where displayed on the entrance were awards for best restaurant from 2003. We ordered Prawns with Salted Eggs, Vegetable Noodles, Beef with vegetable and Yang Chow Fried Rice.

After a good lunch, we walk back to the bus stop and we head back to Paradise Lodge to check out of their rooms and waited for the Van to bring us to the airport. When the van arrived, the others piled into the van while we waited for the other van to arrive, when it arrived, we then picked up another group and then was brought to the airport. Arriving at the airport, we then took a group photo then head inside to check in our bags, after passing through immigration, we got something to eat at Café Espresso, then walk around to the duty free shop to buy some souvenirs and spend our last Malaysian Money with us, I even saw a cognac worth almost Php200,000.00 (whew!). Lazing out if the lounge for our delayed flight, by 1930hrs, we were then told we could board the plane, we collected our things and headed out to the plane, settling in our seats. With another long flight back to Manila, I tried to have some shut-eyes but could not, so I just sat back and relaxed, arriving in Manila around 2330hrs, passing through immigration and collecting our bags, we then piled in the vehicle that would take us home and dropping off every one.

Our trip to Malaysia this time was something different in experience, celebrating the New Year in a different country, seeing how others celebrate the New Year, experiencing a no firecracker New Year, and the thing that I like most, was how they take care of their tourism industry, where the government spend more for the free rides so the tourist could go around KL easily and would easily spend more.

Would we be going back to KL and Malaysia?

With the newly opened LEGO land, the other places that we have not yet seen, we would be excited again going back to Malaysia and experience more Truly Asia.

All photos are owned and copyrighted by Joey Rico (also known under these names: alien_scream).
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, copy, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos, without his explicit permission, is punishable by law

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

New Year Celebration at KL (Part 1)

New Year Celebration at KL (Part 1)
With a Day’s Trip to SG
ITLOG_No. 17
(29.12.2012-02.01.2013)

I had never spent the New Year Celebration away from home lest out of the country, and was very excited when my partner planned a trip with her family to spend the New Year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a trip to Singapore to Visit Universal Studios. This would not be my first time to visit KL, because we visited Kuala Lumpur some time in the past. The plan was to fly in to KL on the 29th of December, then hire a van to take us across the border to Singapore and visit Universal Studios then travel back again to KL that day. The last time we did visit two countries in one trip was when we visited Vietnam then crossed over to Cambodia. We had our plane tickets booked months before and then some pitfalls came in our life that we could not side step, but this would not dampen our spirits and have a good time in our holiday.

We were scheduled to leave at around 1400hrs via Cebu Pacific Air and was picked up at the house at around 1030hrs, arriving at the airport and checking in our bags, we all ate lunch at Pancake House, where I ate spaghetti and some waffles. Passing thru immigration and then to the final screening, where they did not let us remove our shoes anymore, then waited for our flight at the lounge. Our flight was delayed for about 30 minutes and by 1200hrs we were ask to board the plane, after about half an hour we were on the tarmac and ready to take off. It was a long flight for me considering this was my second time to go to KL and got a bit bored on the flight.

Arriving at KLCC Terminal at around 1800hrs, passing through immigration, then collecting our bags we headed for the exit. As usual, like I always do when we arrive at a foreign airport, I look for maps that would be available in the airport, and got a map of KL and others. As the van arrived to pick us up, we then headed for KL by 1900hrs, the driver said that only 10 persons maximum can ride in a van and they are strict about it, passing through a long highway like our NLEX or SLEX but the toll that they paid was about less that Php50.00, and they were traveling more than 100kph going to KL. We were dropped off at their respective hotels, and for us, we were dropped off at our hotel, which was Comfort Inn, which was in the vicinity of Bukit Bintang, were almost all the malls were located. When we arrived at the hotel, we were told that our room was not ready yet and would wait till 2200hrs for it to be ready, so we took this opportunity to go to Jalan Alor and ate dinner at some food stalls, where we ate spicy seafood rice and beef hofan noodles. Than walking a bit around the place to see what other things they sell in the place, we then ate some Turkish Ice Cream, where Carol got the Durian flavor, while I got Chocolate. Returning to Comfort Inn where we planned to take a rest in the lobby and wait for our room, then the one in charge said that it was ready and that we could go up to our room, we then headed for our room and fixed our things for our trip to Singapore the early the next day and then rested for the night.

Waking up at 0400hrs and prepared for the day, going to the lobby to wait for the van that would pick us up, while waiting we witness a fight between two groups which started then one car hit the sides of another car, a long discussion started and a heated argument, then came the fighting which drew a lot of people and jammed the street. Because of this, the driver of the van did not see us hence he passed us and had to go around to pick us up. Heading for Paradise Lodge to pick up the others, then by 0530hrs, we were leaving KL, heading for Singapore, which would take us about 4 hours of travel. Stopping at a roadside gas station to use the rest room and buy nesi lemak for our breakfast. After a short travel we were then told to transfer to another van, which would take us across the border to Singapore. After about an hour of travel, we passed through the Malaysian Immigration to exit then headed for Woodlands crossing to pass through Singaporean Immigration to enter and have our passports stamped, where one of our companion was stopped for not declaring that he has with him cigarettes and was told to pay a SGD5.00 fine.

We were now in Singapore and we first wanted to visit the One Fullerton and take some photos of the Merlion and its surroundings. I was not happy with the photos that I took because it was cloudy that day and our driver was rushing us to take us to our next destination.

The Merlion (Malay: Singa-Laut) is a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish, used as a mascot and national personification of Singapore. Its name combines “mer” meaning the sea and “lion”. The fish body represents Singapore’s origin as a fishing village when it was called Temasek, which means “sea town” in Javanese. The lion head represents Singapore’s original name — Singapura — meaning “lion city” or “kota singa”.
The symbol was designed by Alec Fraser-Brunner, a member of the Souvenir Committee and curator of the Van Kleef Aquarium, for the logo of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in use from 26 March 1964 to 1997 and has been its trademarked symbol since 20 July 1966. Although the STB changed their logo in 1997, the STB Act continues to protect the Merlion symbol. Approval must be received from STB before it can be used. The Merlion appears frequently on STB-approved souvenirs.
The merlion— a mythical creature with the body of a fish and the head of a lion— occurs in a number of different artistic traditions. Lions with fishtails can be found on Indian murals at Ajanta and Mathura, and on Etruscan coins of the Hellenistic period. Merlions, or ‘heraldic sea- lions’, are an established element of Western heraldry, and have been used on the coat of arms of the cities of Portsmouth and Great Yarmouth in the United Kingdom; the City of Manila; and the East India Company.

After some ice cream and some popsies, we got back to the van and headed for Sentosa to go visit Universal Studios. Our driver let us down at the drop-off area and was told that we should be back at 1800hrs for our trip back to KL. Going to the second level, we then waited to our tickets near the entrance of Universal Studios. Upon entering, we were told that no food was allowed inside and as Filipinos we brought a lot of snacks and drinks. We were told that a locker was available at the side of the entrance, while trying to rent a large locker, the card that we were using got stuck and had to call the staff, then we tried other cards but still we could not rent a locker, so the staff told us that she would let us use a large locker for free, which was nice of her (and I forgot to get her name). Entering Universal Studios and walking around were we were amazed on how full the place is, we then headed for Loui’s Pizza to eat lunch, I got pasta with sausage and a large slice of pepperoni pizza with a large cola.

Universal Studios Singapore is a theme park located within Resorts World Sentosa on Sentosa Island, Singapore. It was a key component of Genting’s bid for the right to build Singapore’s second integrated resort. On 8 December 2006, the Singapore government announced that the consortium had won the bid. Construction of the theme park and the rest of the resort started on 19 April 2007. It is the second Universal Studios theme park to open in Asia (Japan being the first), and the first in Southeast Asia. The official plans for the park were unveiled to the public when Universal Studios Singapore released a park map to the public on 20 October 2009. Universal Studios Singapore has since attracted more than 2 million visitors in the 9 months from its opening.
Universal Parks & Resorts markets the park as a “one-of-its-kind theme park in Asia” and promises that the park will be the only one of its kind in Southeast Asia for the next 30 years.

After lunch, we then went our separate ways and would meet by the entrance at 1730hrs, Carol and me first visited Light, Camera, Action, which was a large soundstage used in movie sets and was hosted by no less than Steven Spielberg, but in video form. We were grouped with others and were headed for the front row where I saw that the floors were wet and thought that the water would splash on us and I was carrying two cameras and was protecting it. With 3D sound effects and some visual effect plus things flying around and walls flying away, then the fire came burning through the water and felt the heat intensifying and then a large ship came through the huge doors and the boats that were hanging came falling down and splashes of water came our way then all of a sudden it stopped and you could hear a voice saying reset, that was a thrilling experience. We then headed out and met Beetlejuice and took some photos of him with Carol, we then saw the line in Transformers The Ride was short, not unlike earlier that the line was long, little did we know that the line snakes around inside and it took us more than an hour to ride it but it was really worth the long line, using 3D glasses and the ride moving though the scenes, even getting wet with water where in the scene one of the bots leaked oil, moving forward, back, side to side, up and down then after the exciting ride it ends, exiting to a store where they sell merchandizes, as usual when you pass by a place where there are merchandizes like these most of the people passing trough would have the urge to buy, we bought some key chains, ref magnet and pins as souvenirs of Universal Studios.

With lots of people in long lines, a day spent here would not be enough, and would be spent by the days end, when the time came for us to meet at the entrance we saw a lot of people sitting on the floor resting. We all met up at 1730hrs and headed for the drop-off area to wait for the van, by 1800hrs we boarded the van and headed back to Woodlands Crossing to cross back to Malaysia.

Passing through both immigrations, we traveled along till we reach a place where bus stops and the passengers rest and eat at the place, this is where we will change vans again for the trip back to Malaysia. Here we ate our dinner where I got nesi lemak again and then waited for the van. Heading out again we were so tired the we did not notice that we were nearing KL, and after dropping the others at Paradise Lodge, we were dropped off at Comfort Inn and then rested for the night.

All photos are owned and copyrighted by Joey Rico (also known under these names: alien_scream).
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, copy, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos, without his explicit permission, is punishable by law

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

Selamat Datang ke Kuala Lumpur

Selamat Datang ke Kuala Lumpur

Selamat dating (səlamat dataŋ) or Welcome in the English language is a greeting which you will usually hear when you arrive in Malaysia.

Malaysia (pronounced məˈleɪʒə/ mə-LAY-zhə or məˈleɪziə/ mə-LAY-zee-ə) is a federal constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,355 sq mi). The country is separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo (also known as West and East Malaysia respectively). Malaysia shares land borders with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei and has maritime boundaries with Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population as of 2009 stood at over 28 million. Malaysia has its origins in the Malay Kingdoms present in the area in which, from the 18th century, became subject to the British Empire. The first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements. Peninsular Malaysia, then known as Malaya, was first unified under the commonwealth in 1946, before becoming the Federation of Malaya in 1948. In 1963, Malaya unified with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore. In 1965, Singapore opted out of the federation and became an independent state. Since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDP growing an average 6.5% for the first 50 years of independence. The economy of the country has, traditionally, been fuelled by its natural resources, but is now also expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce and medical tourism.

Landed at KLCC Airport via Cebu Pacific Air from Manila at past 0100hrs after which we took a taxi in the airport where they ask where your destination is then pay in the counter then go to the taxi stand (been reading in the net that you have to ask first for the price of the fare going to your place before riding to be sure of the payment and beware of Indian taxi drivers because they charge you triple the fare). On our way to KL we passed by rows and rows of palm trees, which the driver says, that Malaysia is the number 1 exporter of Palm Oil.

Arriving at Paradise Hotel, we checked into our room and tried to rest a bit for we would be up early for the trip up to the Petronas Twin Towers. Waking up at 0530hrs and headed out to Petronas Twin Tower by 0600hrs, walking along Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Ramlee and upon reaching the Towers there was already a long cue and it was not 0700hrs yet. We waited in the long line till the ticketing booth opened at 0830hrs and was given a number, which was Number 110 (after a while they were not issuing anymore tickets and they closed the entrance already to those who wanted to get tickets). They started asking what time they would want to go up the Sky Bridge, we got our tickets and were scheduled at 0945hrs, and better more it is free. Went to the snack bar and ate Nesi Lemak and got my daily dose of coke for breakfast then headed to the Petronas Exhibit Hall to see how the tower was made and other stuff including some puzzled which really got me thinking till someone told me how to solve it (thinking out of the box). By 09300hrs we were called at the assembly area where we were issued tags and then watch a presentation about Petronas, then headed to a security check then up the elevators to the Sky Bridge. The Sky Bridge is the only area where tourist are allowed to go (starting October 1, 2010, they started a tour to the top level of the towers plus a dinner) and were only allowed to stay for only 10 minutes.

The Petronas Twin Towers was designed by Argentine architects César Pelli and Djay Cerico under the consultancy of Julius Gold, the Petronas Towers were completed in 1998 after a seven year build and became the tallest buildings in the world on the date of completion. They were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur’s race track. Because of the depth of the bedrock, the buildings were built on the world’s deepest foundations. The 120-meter foundations were built within 12 months by Bachy Soletanche and required massive amounts of concrete. Its engineering designs on structural framework were contributed by Haitian engineer Domo Obiasse and colleagues Aris Battista and Princess D Battista.

The 88-floor towers are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art, a reflection of Malaysia’s Muslim religion. Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb (albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements). Tower 1 was built by a Japanese consortium led by the Hazama Corporation while Tower 2 was built by Samsung C&T and Kukdong Engineering & Construction, both South Korean contractors. The sky bridge contract was completed by Kukdong Engineering & Construction. The notable event was that the South Korean Samsung C&T started construction later than the Tower 1 but completed building faster and became the first.

Due to a lack of steel and the huge cost of importing steel, the towers were constructed on a cheaper radical design of super high-strength reinforced concrete. High-strength concrete is a material familiar to Asian contractors and twice as effective as steel in sway reduction; however, it makes the building twice as heavy on its foundation than a comparable steel building. Supported by 23-by-23 meter concrete cores and an outer ring of widely spaced super columns, the towers use a sophisticated structural system that accommodates its slender profile and provides 560,000 square metres of column-free office space. Below the twin towers is Suria KLCC, a shopping mall, and Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, the home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

While at the Sky Bridge, I talked to the guide and asked the way to Batu Caves and directed me to go below Suria Mall were the train station is (which is located at the bottom of the Twin Towers) and take the train to Taman Melati and then take a taxi to Batu Caves (which was better than taking a taxi from KL to Batu Caves). She also mentioned the Hop-on Hop-off Bus, which will take you around KL and to most of the tourist attractions in KL.

After the tour was done we passed by the gift-shop and looked around, since we will be going to other places yet we did not get anything but will get something before we leave KL. We headed our way to Suria Mall and looked around then went to the train station below and got ticket for a trip to Taman Melati after about 7 stops we got off the train then took the taxi at the taxi stand (the driver was Malay) and took us to Batu Caves. Along the way, I was marveled by the road system and railway system that they have.

Batu Caves is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples, located in Gombak district, 13 kilometers (8.1 mi) north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill. Batu Caves is also the name of the nearby village.

The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old. Some of the cave entrances, were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people (a tribe of Orang Asli).

As early as 1860, Chinese settlers began excavating guano for fertilising their vegetable patches. However, they became famous only after the limestone hills were recorded by colonial authorities including Daly and Syers as well as American Naturalist, William Hornaday in 1878.

Batu Caves was promoted, as a place of worship by K. Thamboosamy Pillai, an Indian trader. He was inspired by the ‘vel’-shaped entrance of the main cave and was inspired to dedicate a temple to Lord Muruga within the caves.
In 1890, Pillai, who also founded the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur, installed the murti (consecrated statue) of Sri Subramania Swamy in what is today known as the Temple Cave. Since 1892, the Thaipusam festival in the Tamil month of Thai (which falls in late January/early February) has been celebrated there.
Wooden steps up to the Temple Cave were built in 1920 and have since been replaced by 272 concrete steps. Of the various cave temples that comprise the site, the largest and best known is the Temple or Cathedral Cave, so named because it houses several Hindu shrines beneath its 100 m vaulted ceiling.

Climbing the more than 200 steps was a feat to make (even old people climb the steps), where monkeys freely roam around and take food given to them. Arriving at the top you could see an entrance where upon entering you will be see a big cavern about 100 meters high where statues are erected at the sides. Then climbing another flight of steps you come to an open space where there is a Subramanium temple where devotees offer prayers. After going around and taking some photos we headed back down and had lunch at Restoran Rani, where they serve vegetarian Hindu food on a steel plate covered with banana leaves. I ordered their Rani Thali and was given a plate with all the stuff plus, if a finish one part, they fill it up again. Then gave me some sort of dessert which look somewhat like buko pandan. As we were leaving I met a man making Roti canai (pronounced “Chanai”) and wanted me to take his picture. Went around and saw all those sweets they are selling which I did not get their names but looks like sapin-sapin and kutsinta.

Heading back to KL, we took the taxi to Gombak station and took the train back to Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC). I noticed that the train we were riding has no driver… we were riding in an automatic train where it stops at every station and even slows down on turns.

Arriving in KLCC, we headed out to the park and took some photos of the park and the Petronas Twin Towers then went to the bus stop where the Hop-on Hop-off bus will pick up passengers (which was the last stop of the Hop-on Hop-off Bus tour). The Hop-on Hop-off Bus is a double-decker bus with its back part open for tourist to take photos, you pay about RM38 (for adults) which is good for 24hrs, which will take you to most of the major spots in KL including the Petronas Tower, Menara, Bukit Bintang, Arts & Crafts Center, KL Bird Park, Petaling Street and many others. After paying for our tickets, we got on the bus and headed to the Malaysia Tourist Center (which is technically the first stop of the tour), where we stopped for 10 minutes to wait for passengers, then headed for Menara Tower.

The Kuala Lumpur Tower (officially known as Menara Kuala Lumpur; referred later as KL Tower) is a tall tower located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Its construction was finished in 1995. It is used for communication purposes and features an antenna that reaches 421 m (1,381 ft), which currently makes it the eighteenth tallest freestanding tower in the world. The roof of the pod is at 335 m (1,099 ft). The rest of the tower below has a stairwell and an elevator to reach the upper area, which also contains a revolving restaurant, providing diners a panoramic view of the city. Races are organized yearly where participants race up the stairs to the top. The tower also acts as the Islamic falak observatory to look for the crescent moon to mark the beginning of Muslim month of Ramadhan, Syawal, and Zulhijjah, to celebrate fasting month of Ramadhan, Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Aidiladha.

Next, was a stop at the Arts & Crafts Center, where there is a store, a museum and a work area where locally made products are sold and are shown how they are made to tourists like the Batik. Here we were not allowed to take photos, I wanted to try making of Batik but we had to move on to our next stop, which was Bukit Bintang.

Throbbing with activities of various kinds 24-7, the hip and happening Bukit Bintang remains Kuala Lumpur’s trendiest shopping and entertainment district. Combining historical charms with contemporary chic, this area has managed to retain its popularity over the years, both with locals and visitors alike. This bustling area offers everything from shopping centers to nightclubs. Due to its central location, it is fairly easy to get to Bukit Bintang from anywhere in Kuala Lumpur via public transportation.

At Bukit Bintang, we went around the malls hoping to buy some cheap stuff (which was on sale) then headed to Low Yat Plaza for some serious electronic buying.

A stylish and well-integrated shopping mall, Low Yat Plaza joins the cream of favorite’s retail and entertainment establishment in the heart of Bukit Bintang offering spectrum of fashion, food, phone, computer, software and family recreation as well as thematic concepts.

Low Yat Plaza is becoming too popular for technology lovers. It offers very intensive computer hardware and software, verities of mobile phones and etc. You can get all you want here + value for your money.

After buying the stuff we were about to head back to the hotel but it was raining hard, and like in Manila when it rains, comes the traffic, it took us almost half an hour to get back to the hotel when it takes just 10 minutes to walk. After leaving our things at the hotel and resting a bit, we took the monorail back to Bukit Bintang and had dinner at a roadside stall, we then headed for a road where stalls were set-up at the road side, where you seat down and eat Mangosteen and Durian. Then we walked going back to our hotel and rest, for tomorrow will be another day of going around KL again.

All photos are owned and copyrighted by Joey Rico (also known under these names: alien_scream).
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, copy, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos, without his explicit permission, is punishable by law

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

Ulingan: Project Pearls/Photokalye

Ulingan
Vitas, Tondo

Mga batang naglalaro sa tambak na basura,
Lumalangoy sa dagat na puno ng basura,
Naglalanghap ng usok na galing sa mga ginagawang uling.

Sila’y may mga sipon at ubo,
May mga sugat ang mga paa.

Sa tulong ng Project Pearls,
Naka pag bigay ng pagkain, bigas at mga damit para sa kanila.

Salamat po sa inyo!!

All photos are owned and copyrighted by Joey Rico (also known under these names: alien_scream).
All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, copy, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos, without his explicit permission, is punishable by law

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.