Long Stretch

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice.

It's been quite a ride here in the Philippines. I had some more than remarkable moments spent with my family and new experiences this time around, far more different than the times I came with my parents. Although we weren't able to do another charity project with Full-Life, I'm still happy that I've been able to experience one project here and be able to meet people from this org. Aside from that, staying with Lara's family and my family along with sightseeing was also great.

There is still a lot to discover in the Philippines with it's plethora of islands. With the last visit to Cebu and hearing a difference in language, I wish I was able to effortlessly communicate and travel as easily here as I have in recent months throughout the different countries.

As much as I want to encourage travelers to make their way to the Philippines to experience this amazing country, I kind of want people to stay away at the same time. There is so much still preserved here and because the government hasn't encouraged the development of their tourism here, it may or may not be the safest place for travelers either-- but then again, I am being hypocritical because I've been going about this trip in many ways people may view as dangerous. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want the beauty to be preserved because after the centuries of having foreign influences and occupations, it would be a different vibe here with foreigners wandering about as freely as in SE Asian countries I've visited where I'd been confused about what country I'm in because everyone's treating it as their garbage can. I don't know, this is just my opinion.

Anywaaayyyy...

It honestly hasn't felt that long being here in the Philippines. After spending the past few days with Lara's family dining and shopping, I'm coming to terms with going home and leaving to the U.S. and not waking up the next day to some foreign place I've never been before. I'm not quite sure how similar Hawaii is to California or the feeling of being in the US is there, but I know mentally I'll be constantly thinking that "OMG, I'm on American soil after 5 months". I know it seems like I'm spoiling my homecoming by saying these things, but I feel like I could go even longer. 5 months is really quite short.

Tonight I'm leaving on a 8 p.m. flight with Hawaiian Air. I hope everything in Hawaii will be as incredible as the visits to these other countries I've been to cause this will be my first time!

Maraming salamat po, Philippines! I will definitely be back.

Letting these few moments sink in...

Today, I'm feeling a little blue. It's official, today is going to the last day of our adventure overseas. =( Everything over the past few months has been everything I could imagine and even more. But before I begin to reflect on this experience in total, I'll share the day's events.

Lara's uncle hooked us up with one of his friends who lives in Cebu to take us around to all the Spanish-Filipino sights.

Magellan's Cross Shrine

Candles to light in honor of Magellan

The very cross that was planted by Spanish and Portuguese explorers in 1521

A few steps away from the cross is the Basilica of Santo Nino, which is built on the very spot where the image of the Santo Nino was left behind in a burned wooden box from the Magellan expedition

Prayers

In front of the Basilica

After visiting Magellan's cross and the Basilica of St. Nino, we headed over to Fort San Pedro, which is the oldest fort in the Philippines used for military defense then later used as a prison for local rebels during the Philippine revolution.

Cebu is known as one of the tourist destinations with gorgeous beaches and snazzy resorts outlining the coast of this island. We ended our stay at Cebu by relaxing at Vista Del Mar Beach Resort. Stayed for lunch, then were greeted by an unexpected sponsoring event put on by a Japanese organization working with a Filipino school. There were even performances put on by the kids. It was really sweet to see some of the kids meet their Japanese sponsors and trying to communicate in both Japanese and English.

These kids were yelling out "Ate" and "Kuya" to their sponsors, so sweet!

The pool

Enjoying the sun

3 more days till we leave for Hawaii, I'm sad! Eeeeeekkk! Leaving so soon!

The Motorcycle Diaries: Bohol Island

Oh, hollaaa! The whip we took around Bohol Island, a motorcycleta... hehe

Mom, Dad, and other concerned readers: DO NOT FREAK OUT.

I have suffered no injuries, maybe just a bruised bottom, but that's nothing!

To Isara, sorry we're not wearing helmets, he didn't provide us with any!

The day started off earlier than usual since major travel was destined for today. We boarded the first ferry off to Bohol Island at about 6 a.m. and spent an hour's worth of travel to the island, then another 2 1/2 hours to get to Carmen, the town where we would be meeting with Bob, our tour guide.

The ride to Carmen was brilliant. I wish I could do justice by providing tons of pictures of the sights I've seen, but there is still absolutely nothing compared to just seeing these views first-hand and just smelling the aromas that accentuate this experience. I really really really cannot express how beautiful it was to see lush green rice terraces, vibrant flowers blooming from left to right, free range livestock and animals roaming about, families walking their children to school, and so many other people and things I've observed on this ride. I really am at a loss for words at the feeling of being in Bohol within just those few hours traveling.

We met up with our tour guide, Bob at the last stop of our bus, at the Carmen public market and began our tour straight away. He was very personable and spoke English quite well. He had a different Filipino-English accent, it sounded more Spanish-English which was really interesting to me. The itinerary for the day was packed and I have to warn you, this blog may be exhausting to read. I'll share photos and add a few quick comments here and there about our adventure throughout Bohol.

The Chocolate Hills!

(or as Bmac likes to call them, the Tsyocolate hills since that's how Filipinos pronounce it, lol)

The legends illustrating how these conical karst hills came about are far more interesting than the geological ones. Two stories that Bob told us are that:

1. There were once two giants who feuded over trivial matters, threw fist-fulls of land at each other eventually disrupted the flat landscape. It's okay folks, they eventually make amends and became bffs again.

2. (I prefer this one, it's more romantic... perfect for v-day!) There was a giant who fell in love with a mortal. When the mortal woman passed, the giant felt excruciating pain and loss. He wept for days and when his tears dried, the Chocolate Hills were formed.

Fact that I've learned: There are about 1,268 hills that are about 40 meters high documented in Carmen alone. According to other sources theres about 1700+ around Bohol, in total. These hills are really an outstanding sight to see... kind of obscure to me, but very pretty!

Tarsier Monkey Zoo

The smallest primate in the world, the Tarsier monkey

These guys are adorable.

Python Park

Prony, the python we came to visit... in his cage O_O!!

No worries folks, he's just ate a 55 kilo. pig a week or two ago.

Magsaysay Park

Monkeys were roaming freely here. Check out Mama monkey and her baby.

The Hanging Bridge

I have to admit, I had sweaty palms and feet while crossing this one. Yikes!

Loboc Museum

This place stored old priest robes and other ancient Catholic church paraphanelia. I was actually quite frightened looking at the baby Jesuses, Virgin Marys, Santo Ninos and other misc. religious statues because they just looked so eerie-- definitely an absence of holiness.

The Floating Restaurant

I couldn't help but revel in this pleasant experience.

The atmosphere was so beautiful and the food was delicious!

More pictures below...

Aside from enjoying the scenery as we were floating along the river and listening to cover songs played with the ukulele, this quick stop at a local barangay off the river topped my experience. This community of people performed traditional dance with the tourists, sang Boholuano songs, and even did their own renditions of English songs. It was such a beautiful memory to be with these people, everyone looked so happy. =)

Lara and I couldn't help but have this permanent smile on our faces and even tears of joy, for that matter. There is really something about music that brings people together. I love it!

The Clarin Ancestral House

The preserved home of one of the first Mayors of Tagbilaran that is 169 years old.

Butterfly Sanctuary

Check out my middle-school butterfly clips though! The picture above resembling gold earrings are actually cocoons. Can you believe that?

The Blood Compact

The statue reinforcing why my last name along with Lara's are Spanish. That, and toasting to "friendship" between the Boholuanos and the Spaniards by drinking each other's blood as a sign of brotherhood and "peace".

Man-made Forrest of Mahogany Trees

Hagdanan Caves

Bikini Beach

Our last stop where we relaxed and watched the waves crash.

There were so many sights that we were fortunate enough to see thanks to our efficient transportation. There were times when we were riding the motorcycle and I'd close my eyes, floating in my imagination, wondering how it would be like to wake up to this beauty everyday, to live simply, and ideally happier... maybe even healthier since the air here is clean! I think it'd be nice.

I know I've mentioned this several times about my reflections as I unwind at the end of the day, but I'll say it again because it really is something very meaningful to me, to be able to enjoy this experience and appreciate every moment of it... no matter how repetitive it may appear. I loved seeing the scenery, the people, learning the history of the Philippines during the Spanish times, which is still has a very strong influence here and the adventure that we had riding the motorcycle. This trip just refreshes me even more that the Philippines is blanketed with beauty and if tourists care to venture out of their typical, Lonely Planet itineraries, they too, will be able to witness this. There is just something about the untouched beauty of Bohol's rural lifestyle that permanently rests here that I appreciate so much more than the exhausting smog of city life.

These memories and feelings are seriously things that you just cannot put a price on.

Stay beautiful, Bohol.

Kumusta, Cebu!

* Pardon the dates on this blog, totally off since I'm blogging subsequently a few days after these events have happened and opened earlier posts on blogger then updating here.

So exhausted!

After leaving Baguio at 12:15 in the morning on the 10th, being on a bus for 5 hours, waiting at a bus station and spending a few hours collecting myself for departure for Cebu, the lethargy hit me hard on this last (ah! sad!), overseas adventure throughout Cebu and Bohol.

Our first day in Cebu was spent lounging around and exploring the 500 meters surrounding our hostel, Sugbutel. This place is actually one of the nicest places we've stayed while traveling that we've actually paid for.

... yea, the view's not quite the best but hey, for $5, come on!

Our beds

The house rules. Guess I can't parade around in my undies.

SM mall was basically the only place we went to on our first day, where we had our dinner and went travel agency prospecting for a day tour spent in Bohol, a nearby island. I hate to be naive about the Philippines as if I've never seen poverty and dodgy areas before, but I felt somewhat scared to be walking to and from the mall. I know on the surface people may appear threatening or areas may feel that way when in fact, they may exude the opposite, but sometimes I can't seem to shake this conditioned feeling when around such places. The constant beeping from the Jeepneys, random people peeking through gates and "shhhhhhhhuuuth"-ing us and overt onlookers made me feel a tad bit nervous. And although Lara and I have tried very hard to blend in, there still seems to be the letters, t-o-u-r-i-s-t visibly written all over us.

Our second day, Lara and I had breakfast at SM (it's seriously hella close, about 500 meters and we didn't want to bother getting hustled by taxi/jeepney drivers when trying to eat elsewhere) and discussed our itinerary for the next few days. We were specifically trying to figure out how to go about our Bohol trip since the tourism here isn't as easily accessible and well-developed like Thailand's. During our breakfast, the universe spoke to us in matching white tourist shirts that read, BOHOL worn by a couple passing by. We decided to talk to them and inquire about how they organized their trip to the island...

Within a few minutes, we were looking through helpful maps and exchanging numbers with Shane and Mark, our new friends! They were so kind enough to hook us up with an English-speaking tour guide they met while they were on their own tour there. At that moment, I had to give my thanks to how awesome the universe works in attracting the right people into our lives... especially those who help save us $$$!

After finishing the tour arrangements over the phone with our Bohol tour guide, Shane and Mark were keen on letting us join in on their excursion for the day on Mactan Island (a smaller island very close to Cebu). I felt incredibly relieved as my Tagalog or Cebuano (the dialect spoken in Cebu... that's somewhat motor-sounding to me) for that matter could be embarrassingly incoherent and tragic, really. Haha. There was only one sight that we visited for the day which is the Lapu-Lapu shrine and spent the remaining going back to SM and another mall called Park Mall. Lightweight mall-ratting, I guess.

Pictures from our day:

Meet our friends! Shane & Mark, a lovely couple from Baclaran near Manila

Lapu-Lapu, the courageous warrior who killed Magellan (ahem, who is known to have "discovered" the Philippines and Christianize it)

The girlies

After we roamed through the Lapu-Lapu memorial park, we spent a few hours at a nearby restaurant, sharing travel stories, eating tasty Filipino snacks packed in our bags (hopia, Chippy and Rasinettes!) and looking through old pictures on their laptop and Lara's. I still could not believe how genuinely helpful these two were. I love how helpful people are to total strangers, seriously...it really further reinforces good karma, in my opinion. =)

Ah and to add to the positive energy, a man with a beautiful harp came up to play a few tunes.

Take a look at this:

That's all for our adventure today. Stay tuned for tomorrow's craziness!