Thursday, December 16, 2010

YES.

I traveled. I saw. I conquered. Boo. Yah.



the gist
Upon graduating from college, I decided to avoid the real world for just a bit longer to travel! So I'll be spending the next 3 months wandering around Southeast Asia on my own! I don't have a set agenda really other than my travel dates. SO BRING IT, ASIA!

destinations
09/14 - 09/20: Philippines (Manila)
09/21 - 10/04: China (Shang Hai, Xi'an, Beijing)
10/08 - 10/14: Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, Mekong Delta)
10/17 - 10/20: Palawan Island, PI (Puerta Princesa)
10/21 - 10/27: Halftime break in PI
10/28 - 11/04: Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Kanazawa...)
11/07 - 11/14: Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai)
11/17 - 11/22: Negros Island, PI (Dumaguete)
11/23 - 11/30: Philippines (Manila, Tarlac)
12/01 - 12/07: Cebu & Bohol Islands, PI
12/08 - 12/13: Philippines (Manila, Tarlac)
12/14: back to California!


photographs
China (albums 1 & 2)


Vietnam


Palawan Island, PI

Japan (ablums 1 & 2)

Thailand (albums 1 & 2)


Negros Island, PI


Cebu & Bohol Islands, PI

Monday, December 13, 2010

packing is an art.

Not quite what I'm doing, but SUPER COOL No really, it is. & although I was a Visual Arts major, this is not a medium that I excel at, unfortunately.

I've been playing Tetris with my belongings for the past hour or so. Now that everything fits, I'm playing the oh-crap-I-forgot-about-the-weight-limit-and-this-weighs-waaay-over-50lbs-I-need-to-repack-everything-so-I-don't-get-charged-$50- UGH game. It's not very fun, thus here I am, writing.

Today is my last day in the Philippines but it really didn't & still doesn't feel like it. While walking around earlier, I kept reminding myself that what I was seeing, smelling, hearing were things that would not frolic with my senses anymore on a daily basis, that it would be at least a year before I was back in PI. As a emotional & sentimental person that gets ridiculously attached to places, people & things, I expected to be a blubbering, nostalgic idiot on the side walk, strolling & sniffling. But I wasn't, and I think I know why now. It's because I know I'll be back. There is no doubt in my mind that I will come back to Asia. It's like visiting a friend down the street (except that street is an ocean... minor detail)- you're going to see them later, so why be upset?

Nonetheless, it is strange to realize that I'm leaving tomorrow. I still remember when I first arrived in September. I masked my nerves & terror with idle, babbling chatter when my Aunt picked me up from the airport. Now, 5 countries, 15 flights & a little over 100 postcards later, here I am- 3 months older and (hopefully) a bit wiser. I set out to discover & learn, and I can confidently report that I have done both. It's been a mixed bag of experiences, most of them good but admittedly some bad, and I don't regret anything (maybe except for not going to a wedding, but that story deserves it's own post). Friend, if you have not yet gone on your own journey abroad, I hope that you do. The world is amazing (understatement), and you need to meet it.

Looking forward, I can't wait to be back home & to see my family! A mere 24 hours separates me from hugging them silly!!! YAY! I am so thankful for those darlings, & for their love & support throughout this entire trip. Mom, dad, Gen, you RULE and I couldn't have done any of this without you! And my Aunt & cousin rule pretty hard, too. They've put up with me as a roommate for 3 months without complaint, welcoming my quirks & ridiculousness. And don't even get me started on how much I owe my Aunt for all that she's done for me. She pretty much has claim over my first born.

And now it's time to get back to packing. Asia, it's been real. Real AWESOME. Thank you for the whirlwind adventures! Can't wait to see you again!

Oh! And this is cool: I fly out of Manila on December 14th at 805am, and I arrive in California on December 14th at 805am. Ohhhhh time difference!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

four days.

Strangely enough, I'm not freaking out about my dwindling time here. At least not right now. I can't speak for the Binas of the future, who have full potential to spazz/flip/lkdngoiaherngjh8ysdkn at the thought of the upcoming life shift... But presently, I am the coolest cucumber. I am a cucumber in a freezer, in the side shelf buried in ice cube trays & ice packs. In Antarctica. Too much?

It really tickles me that I've been in Asia for 3 months, living a life that's so foreign, culturally & physically, from anything I've experienced before. But I'll stop writing about that for now. I'll leave all that for my last day here, when it'll be more appropriate. Besides, I still have to finish writing about Bohol & Cebu! (I've pretty much given up on Japan. But who knows, maybe (aka probably) during lapses in the upcoming job search (may all that is great & powerful & magical in this world grant me the luck of 7 unicorns eating four leaf clovers in fields of rainbows for that search), I'll catch up.)

So. After the nuzzle-worthy Chocolate Hills, I visited the equally nuzzle-worthy Tarsier Sanctuary in the town Corella. It had been a slow day, judging by the sleeping front desk attendant who was drooling into her palm propped under her chin. Other than bored, she was very nice & set me up with a tour. The tour was disappointingly shorter than expected, but still pretty cool. A guide took us into a semi-wild enclosure where 10 of the creatures lived.

Tarsiers are not the smallest primates in the world, as many ads in PI suggest, but they are quite tiny - about 10 - 15 cm in length, not including the tail. They have huge eyes (that are actually roughly the same size as their brains!), long fingers & toes, & furry bodies. They are nocturnal & live in trees, so when I visited that afternoon they were all adorably hugging & spooning branches. When I first saw a tarsier, two things came to mind immediately: 1) God, does that look like Yoda (learned later that they actually inspired his character design!) & 2) God, do I want to HUG IT. Unfortunately, for us & them, human touch stresses & terrifies them. In fact, most tarsiers that are caught & caged for tourist purposes die shortly after capture. Accustomed to solo, quiet life styles in the forest, cities, cages & in the company of loud, grabby tourists are awful environments for them. Some stop eating, or even bash their heads against the cage bars, essentially committing suicide. It's heartbreaking, and yet more & more are stolen away from their natural environment everyday for tourism profits & to replace ones that have already died. Le sigh. But the sanctuary exists to help this situation! Thanks to them, the numbers of the species are at healthier levels, and they are protected from snatchers & modern predators such as domesticated cats.

Realizing that I had been at the sanctuary longer than planned & thus might have missed the last jeepney to Tagbilaran, I all by ran back to the main road. I was pretty much in the middle of nowhere & I stood at the side of the road, wishing & hoping, for about half an hour, without so much as a dragon fly passing on the asphalt. Then! A dude on a motorcycle appeared. A knight on his noble steed if I ever saw one. He offered me a lift and I later ended up watching the latest Chronicles of Narnia film with him and his friends! Yay friendship!

Okay, I'll cover the Loboc River in my next post!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

it's the final countdowwwwn!

*Cue totally sweet synthesizer solo*

I have a week left in Asia. A WEEK. Holy balls. I can already taste America. It's a lot like apple pie. & super fattening. YES.

So, I'm in back in Cebu. I just checked into my hostel after a 2 hour ferry ride, during which I watched Batman Dark Knight. I would have preferred to watch the ocean, but they tinted all the windows of the boat to paste up huge advertisements. LAME. So no beautiful sunset on the water for Bina & the other passengers. Womp. But I did get to watch the Joker make a pencil disappear. (Miss you, Heath!)

Looking out the windows of my cab as we drove from the pier to the hostel, I felt thankful that I had ditched Cebu early & extended my stay in Bohol, a schedule shift that has left me with just one day here. Now, I'm sure Cebu is a nice city, but it really is just unfortunate timing that it should be last on my travel itinerary, as I'm more than exhausted with big, Asian cities at this point. And I don't think my lungs can handle much more of the urban pollution. I feel like an 80 year-old smoker, wheezing & hacking. You have to admire the locals' lungs of steel!

Bohol was a lovely island! I stayed in the capital city, Tagbilaran, also known as the "City of Friendship." (Dawwwwww!) It's located in the southwest corner & was Bohol's first city, developed because it was the most ideal point of entry onto the island. The streets are narrow, the buildings small, the people lively & friendly (thus the name), and the city has an overall quaint & cozy feel. Well, as cozy as you can get in tropical heat. Zooming out from Tagbilaran (which is such a fun word to say, btw!), I was overwhelmed by all there is to do & see in Bohol. But I managed to narrow my list to the Chocolate Hills, tarsiers & the Loboc River.

I checked out tour packages first. Finding them all super expensive (2000 pesos! Eeegad!), I visited them on my own with the help of the lovely internet & the hectic but efficient (hectically efficient, if you will) public transportation system. (I think, though, that I just find public transportation in the Philippines crazy because I'm used to the mapped out subway systems, & scheduled bus routes. Even in the absence of maps & schedules, the locals love & use the jeepneys & buses just fine without any problems.) I ended up spending less than half what I would have on the organized tour, which allowed me to, without any guilt, splurge on pasalubong (souvenirs, that are usually food, given to friends & family). I bought otap, peanut kisses, rosette cookies, peanut & chocolate crunch rolls... ohhhh man! Friends & family in America- GET EXCITED & HUNGRY! But anyway, back to the sights of Bohol.

First, the Chocolate Hills. I took a 2 hour, scenic & breezy bus ride through & to the center of the island. The bus had no windows & I stuck my head out wanting to know why dogs love it so much (& because I could). I TOTALLY get why now. The old woman next to me, Lola Eunice, laughed then offered me a banana as if in payment for entertaining her. Awesome! Anyway, we passed through many towns & small villages, rice fields (my favorite!) with water buffalo, colorful streets of houses with equally colorful clotheslines hanging out front, women setting out rice grains to dry on bright tarps... the Philippines is so beautiful!

The bus dropped me off at the entrance to the Chocolate Hills complex. I walked up a dusty road then continued on hiking to the observation deck at the top of a central hill. The road wrapped around the hill, one side bordered with trees & wild flowers while the other opened up to a splendid view of the hilly & chocolaty landscape. (Though they aren't particularly chocolaty right now. As it's the rainy season, they're lush & green these days.) At the top, I climbed a long, steep staircase to the deck. The view from there was spectacular- palms slow dancing in the wind, blue skies with cloudy pillows, & these strange hills, peeking through natural & cultivated terrain. There are over a 1500 hills & they extend for over 20 square miles. & they are so adorable! I never thought hills could be adorable, but there I was, swooning & wanting to nuzzle them. (& they made me think of Super Mario World. Teehee.)

Alas. All my roomies are asleep & I feel awkward with my computer screen blaring in the darkness, & the sound of my keyboard thundering in the quiet. Time for bed! I shall continue later! Good night, world!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

UGH.

Really, just UGH. Maybe I've become travel weary, or perhaps I'm unfairly using other countries as bases for comparison, but being a solo, budget traveler in the Philippines can be frustratingly difficult. (Like now, but I won't bore you with those details.) It is doable, obviously as I've been successfully hopping from island to island & city to city. However, it involves some annoyance & "UGH!"s.

First, it's surprisingly difficult to find affordable accommodations. There are plenty of fancy resorts & expensive hotels, but cheap places (that are inhabitable) are pretty rare. I had gotten used to $5 - $8 hostels (whining over places that cost $9+), and expected similar prices in the Philippines. Alas, in a lot of the places I've gone to, the average rate was about $30. CRINGE. For an unemployed & steadily-getting-broke college grad, that hurts. Fortunately, I managed to find deals that were at least under $20, but only after spending about 3 hours at a time searching & sifting online through accommodations that a) had no reviews, b) did not know how to list their website on search engines, c) did not even have a website, d) had NO CONTACT INFO WHATSOEVER. Call me a demanding and whiny (which I totally am in this post- sorry) child of this communication & technology generation, but that is frustrating. But I managed! & when I go to bed at night on those at-least-under-$20 pillows, I feel like I earned it. Sort of.

Philippine tourism also is not very friendly towards solo travelers. A lot of tour packages & excursions require a minimum of 2 people. This isn't always a problem, as it's not too difficult to find another lonesome traveler with whom to join forces. But when you can't in a crowd of friends & families, and you thus end up not being able to go-snorkeling-with-sea-turtles-off-the-coast-of-a-gorgeous-island, it really blows. And while doing things on your own is always an option, it can be a very difficult one that can end up being more expensive than the already pricey tour packages. For instance, I paid many pretty pennies to go to see the Underground River in Palawan (which I do NOT regret in the slightest, that trip was awesome!), but before I shelled out for the organized tour, I researched how to do it on my own. My patched together directions included several local jeepney & bus transfers (note: the public transportation system in PI is difficult to navigate as a non-local, but does become easier to follow with practice), & then renting a boat & hiring a boatman, all of which totaled higher (monetary-wise & effort-wise) than the organized tour.

Before I get too harsh on PI, let me also say that there are many things here that pacify my frustrations with it. First & foremost, the FOOD. The food is cheap & amazing. The tropical fruits are delicious, the traditional dishes are mouthwatering, and the desserts are to DIE FOR. Hopia, sago, halo-halo, polvoron, bibingka, leche flan, ube ice cream, cassava cake... YES FOREVER. And just being in the Philippines is enough to make me un-mad at it for being so ehhh towards solo travelers. It really is an awesome country! It has so many beautiful physical & cultural landscapes that are such delights to discover & explore, & I've been having an awesome beyond awesome time here (previous whines aside). The "Ooo"s and "Ahhh"s will always over power the "Ugh"s.

So, final thoughts: If you're traveling in the Philippines by yourself, get excited because there's a whole lotta awesome to see. But also be prepared to pay a bit more for hotels/hostels, & to have the fact that you're alone rubbed in your face a lot by travel agencies. My advice: be amiable & make friends with people in your hostel or hotel. I mean, you should do that anyway, but you can also coordinate group excursions & split costs with them. Also, if you can ride a motorcycle, consider renting one. I met a lot of solo travelers that did & they absolutely loved it! They could take off & go wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted! If you do it though, don't be an idiot. As much as I embrace challenges & think they're character-building, if you don't think you can handle the rocky, off-road portion of the uphill mountain trail, please please please don't try to. I have heard too many stories of over-confident tourists zipping off on motorcycles only to zipper down & end up in the hospital.



On that note, YAY PHILIPPINES! You may annoy me sometimes, but I still love you.