Philippantastic Philippines

Hello again everyone! Long time no blog! Excuse me for the lateness of this post, but the days of having free time seem to be heading out the window since midterms here at HKU have begun to appear on the horizon. I've started planning a research paper on Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and a presentation on "The Dangerous Women of Italian Cinema" so basically I've turned all my film papers into feminism/film papers. I feel like a real scholar!

But the problem with being a real scholar is, I guess, the scholarship. I'm spending a lot of time at the library here, watching films, writing about films, reading about films, and not spending a lot of time exploring Hong Kong! The workload for cinema courses is definitely more labor intensive here than at UCSC, considering that films aren't screened in class (long lectures+course readings+watching movies in the library instead of on netflix= oh jeez!).  Maybe it's better that way though. I feel like I must be learning more (did you know that the average person can punch three times in one second, while Bruce Lee can punch eight times?). Exploring a city can also be expensive and if I can't go out, I can't spend my HKD. But I figure living in a Asia is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I'll enjoy myself (within reason!) and try and be thrifty over summer to make up for my traveling expenses.

Besides the onslaught of homework assignments due this upcoming week, the reason I missed a blog post was because I was in the Philippines! A group of eight friends and I backpacked from Angeles to the Taal Volcano to Boracay and eventually to Tagbilaran in Bohol for our Chinese New Year break. It was one of the most exciting, perspective-shifting trips of my life, and since I took over 1500 pictures while in the Philippines, it's not something I'll be forgetting anytime soon (yes, I'm a tourist, so sue me). I'm going to try to summarize as much as I can, but there's so much to tell!

We started our adventure by flying into Angeles around 10:00pm to stay the night before continuing on to the Taal volcano. The air was exceptionally warm and humid, and since it has been fairly chilly in Hong Kong recently, everyone was completely delighted to realize that we would be having a tropical vacation during the winter! Oh joy!

We arrived at our hotel and weren't incredibly thrilled with the cockroaches and lizards in the building, but to me it felt like we were really backpacking. We're students! We can't afford things! So romantic!

After dropping off our things we visited an "American Cafe" and ate chimichangas, vodkas with mango juice, and I ate a lot of my friend's banana split until 1am. The area was a bit seedy (I was warned by one of my teaching assistants that Angeles was made to accommodate US army dudes looking for a good time) but the food was greasy and the vodka was $1 USD so we weren't complaining.

Street view of our hotel

The very cool back patio where we ate our breakfast

The next morning we headed off to the volcano in a private van, and needless to say, everyone was loud, excited, and restless. We were ready for some adventuring! Our driver was a nice Filipino man who answered even our stupidest questions ("SIR! SIR! HOW MUCH DOES A MANGO COST!? WHAT ABOUT A SMALLER MANGO!?"). About five hours later, we arrived to our destination.

Taal Volcano!

We decided to take a catamaran from this resort out across the water to climb the actual volcano, but I couldn't take my camera. The people who returned from the volcano before us were absolutely soaked and I wasn't going to risk my camera's life! The volcano hike itself was incredibly surreal. The grassy terrain reminded me of a Vietnam war movie, other tourists rode ponies up the dusty mountain side (we couldn't afford it) and the cracks in the ground emitted incredibly hot sulfuric steam. When we reached the top, one of our friends paid 30php to hit a golf ball into the volcanic lake. I bought a green coconut and drank the water with a straw.

Before leaving, we had a delicious barbecue lunch looking out over the water. This cat begged for food from us and I gave him some pork fat. I can't resist cute little animals!

Our next stop was an overnight ferry that would take us to Boracay. Besides being screwed out of a 75 cent terminal fee (it's the PRINCIPLE of the matter!) and dealing with the abomination that was a freezing, cold, tiny, gross shower stall, it was a lovely ride. We paid a linen fee for one pillow case and one sheet, and it was just enough to keep warm in the face of incredibly strong air conditioning.

We also went to sing what we believed to be karaoke at the strange, strange bar on the back of the ship. There were strobe lights and a jazz singer and everything seemed a bit out of place. Turns out, the entertainer for the night just let us use the stage so that she wouldn't have to sing. I sang an Adele song and got a standing ovation from some lovely Filipino people, but the boys stole the show when they sang Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On."

It brought a tear to my eye...

The next morning, bright and early at 6am, we were in Boracay! We spent two days in this delightful and touristy paradise. Our favorite activities included eating meals, drinking alcohol, laying on the sand, eating snacks, drinking mango shakes, laying on a towel, splashing around in the ocean, buying things at the incredibly cheap souvenir stands, and getting $7 USD massages on the beach. Life is good in Boracay.

This is an actual picture. I feel like it looks like a postcard!

Jesse and Morris splitting a romantic cake (it was probably the tastiest cake I had ever tried).

A few of the girls and I got bracelets/anklets (made by June) with our names inscribed on them! 

Chris and I shared some delectable seafood paella for about $3 USD each. 

The view from our massage tent. Oh my gosh, there is nothing like a massage on the beach during sunset. It was like a dream.

I also wanted to throw in here that Boracay has their own permanent mochi stand called Mochiko. If you don't know mochi, it's basically ice cream wrapped in rice dough and it's absolutely my favorite dessert in the world. Here's the thing though, I usually just buy green tea mochi from Trader Joe's and eat it at home. In Boracay, it was like 31 flavors! They had tons of different varieties of mochi and they were each more delicious than the last! I bought coffee, milk tea and red bean, but sampled blueberry, mango, strawberry and black sesame. If you're in Boracay, don't miss out on Mochiko!

The second morning in Boracay, we woke up around five am and trekked to new beach to watch the sunrise. It had started raining on our way over there and I was worried I wouldn't be able to take any pictures. Luckily enough, right as the sky began to shift to that early morning pinkish blue, the rain stopped and I had a field day with my camera. Here are a few of my favorite shots:

Everyone waited patiently for dawn to break...

It was a really lovely morning, and we followed it up with a big omelet breakfast at our favorite cafe. There's something special about adventures you don't expect to go on, and this was definitely one of the high points of the trip (all thanks to Chris, who found the beach and led us there in the first place!).

After our relaxing time in Boracay, it was time to hit the road again to get to Tagbilaran. So we took a ferry back to the ferry port, to take a 7 hour van ride to Ilo Ilo to catch another overnight ferry to Bohol. The ride to Ilo Ilo was particularly scenic (no pictures, my camera was in the back of the van, I'm an awful photojournalist!) and the lush tropical jungles and beaches we drove by were like something out of a magazine.

We reached the ferry (with only fifteen minutes to spare!) and saw what was to be the most interesting accommodations of the trip. Our beds were simply cushions on a metal frame on the very top of the ship. There were no walls, so the sea air blew right over you as you slept. I took some pictures the next morning of our beds.

Jenny brilliantly thought to bring a blanket along to the Philippines. I only packed a towel...

The view from my bed

I think the funniest part of the whole trip happened on this ferry as well, as we were all trying to sleep (and the blustery sea air already made this a fairly difficult task). Around 5am or so, we awoke to the sounds of roosters simultaneously crowing very loudly all over the ship. My friends and I looked around everywhere for the source of the sound, but were so drowsy and confused that we gave up and tried to sleep more. When we woke up a few hours later, we realized that almost all the other passengers of the ship had boxes with holes in them to hold roosters! I still have no idea why every single person had their own rooster on board an overnight ferry, but I can only assume it's the Filipino version of a portable alarm clock.

That afternoon we arrived at our hotel in Tagbilaran and enjoyed a relaxing rest of the day eating weird pasta at the hotel restaurant (the carbonara was sugary?), swimming in the hotel pool, and eventually finding ourselves at an incredible seafood restaurant/pool where we stuffed ourselves silly on deep fried crablets, cream dory, garlic rice, and other delicious things. We felt like royalty.

The next day was my favorite adventure of the whole trip, when we went on a countryside tour of the island of Bohol. Our favorite driver, Eddie, took us to several different locations and excursions in the course of one incredibly entertaining and diverse day.

Our first stop was the Baclayon Church, one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. It was completely breathtaking and transformed our group's usually carefree, silly mood into something much more reverential and quiet. This place really just felt holy.

The inside of the church was incredibly beautiful and solemn. 

Everyone gathers around the wishing well. I wished for longevity and health for all eight of us!

Next we visited the Floating Restaurant, which is basically a buffet on a raft. They had great music, great food, and I adore buffets so I was in heaven.

Obligatory adorable group photo

My delectable plate - pay attention to the noodles and shrimps. Mmmmm.

The buffet also made a pit stop at a little tourist locale where you had the option of jumping off a rope into the river. So of course, my friends jumped off a rope into the river.

A little local girl flew higher than any of our group could...

Jesse shows off his extremely red back after falling into the water...

The brave ones...

After that, we were taken to the Chocolate Hills, a natural landmark of the Philippines. During the summer, they dry out and turn brown to resemble mountains of chocolate. However, we visited in winter, so they looked like huge green grassy mounds.

Tourists "heart" the chocolate hills!

I had to do some sort of optical illusion of my own...

The last stop on our day long tour was the Tarsier Conservation. Tarsiers are the world's smallest primates with the world's cutest little faces. I took tons of pictures and definitely wanted to steal one, but I settled on buying a keychain instead.

He's so cute and weird looking!

This one looked like he was passing gas. Therefore, this was by far my favorite tarsier picture.

"Hello down there!" says Madame Tarsier

I was practically giddy all day. Every excursion was more fun than the one before it! I was squealing with delight to the point where Eddie was laughing at me for thanking him so much. I cannot express to you guys how completely terrific this trip was. It was outstanding.

Finally, at the end of the last fun night of our trip, we found ourselves on a Bohol beach right after sundown where we bought a classy barbecue meal and finished the trip with some halo-halo. I had never eaten a whole barbecued fish before (and it was on my bucket list), so I thought this was the time to give it a try.

It was so beautiful and I was so excited to eat this thing. My asian friends were frankly astonished that I had never eaten a fish like this before... 

The cheek meat and the eyeball were definitely the most fun parts to eat.

Beautiful and delicious halo-halo!

We made it home late Monday night with tired backs and high spirits. Overall, this trip was one of the most memorable things I've done in my life and I can't wait to travel like this again. The Philippines is cheap, easy to get around in, and everyone understands American accents! I had an amazing time, but it was surprising how nice it was to come back to Hong Kong. It really is starting to feel like home these days.

And of course, I had a nice big bowl of noodles as soon as I flew into the Hong Kong airport. Perfect end to a perfect trip. Bon appetit!