Corregidor Island 2012

I have flown dozens of times. I have been on bumpy roads and numerous boat rides on rivers and seas.

But I had never been so nauseous until our trip to Corregidor Island. Some of the tourists were late and the captain tried to compensate by racing through big waves.

As a result, half of the passengers were throwing up or could not even sit up. I was in the toilet most of the time puking air and I counted the minutes that was left until we reached shore.

And when we did, I wanted to go back to Manila on a plane. Thank goodness the way back was way slower so nobody really threw up.

Anyway, the island is still beautiful and the forests unchanged. Macaques and eagles are still roaming around. Nature is slowly reclaiming the ruins as the government hesitate to invest some money on tourism.

Steven and I felt that we should stay the night next time. The rainforest seemed to have more stories to tell than the tour guide.

Last of the Baguio Photos

Mine's View Park

taken from the balcony of the rented house

taken from the balcony of the rented house

another balcony view

 

houses surrounding China Town

taken from the centre of Baguio City

More thoughts on Baguio

I had been wanting to visit Baguio City because tourists consider it as one of the best vacation spots in the country. I grew up in Manila, moved to Thailand and then to Australia and it was only a few weeks ago that I was able to visit this popular city.

My entire family packed their bags, hired a van, cooked a lot of food and endured the six-hour drive to the summer capital of the Philippines. Along the way, we saw waterfalls left and right. The green mountains were covered by clouds.

Upon seeing the city itself, I was deeply disappointed because it reminded me of the ugliness of Manila. It was crowded and polluted. The landscape was littered with houses and apartments. The traffic made my ears ring and my nose sneeze.

Fortunately, we were with someone who used to live there. She was also able to speak the local dialect and ask for directions. We went to a hot springs resort that only locals know about. The pool water was hot enough to cook an egg and looking up, we could see green mounntain peaks and the blue sky looking at us.

All of us loved the vacation. It provided us a ten-degree lower than in Manila relief. It also gave us a chance to have a great experience together and that is hard to do when Steven and I are living overseas. I really hope we will share another experience like this very soon.

inside the van

Lion's Head

taken from the rented house

keeps me warm

checking Adelaide news

pointing at the clouds

suffering before seeing the statue of Mary

taken at a souvenir shop

China Town

Lovely with her strawberry ice cream

my father with a butter fly

passengers at Burnham Park

rowing at Burnham Park

another passenger

Steven at Mine's View Park

the gang at Mine's View Park

Worst Airport in the World

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 has been dubbed as the worst airport in the world and I have to agree. Here is a photo taken of myself while waiting for my check in. 

Airport authorities do not like people who come early so I have to wait near the entrance. There are not enough seats so we had to try to be comfortable on the hard cold floor.

Yes, this airport deserves all the bad rep that you are hearing.

Modern Family in Baguio

I have visited my family in Manila recently and to catch up on lost time, my sister arranged a trip to Baguio. We hired a vehicle, packed food to feed an army and took some pills to avoid motion sickness.

I will give you more details of the trip but I just want to show right now a portrait of a modern family. We have two same-sex couples, opposite-sex couples and a child that is bound to have a childhood with respect and acceptance.

I am really proud of my family.

Little India in Singapore

Singapore is a fantastic city to visit because of many reasons. It is very tourist-friendly. A tourist can get off a plane, go through immigration and get a cab in ten minutes.

It is very multi-cultural. Filipinos, Chinese, South Asians, Europeans and so many other people actually live together. You can even see them on mainstream TV!

This year, I decided that we stay in Little India where I pigged out on cheap South Asian cuisine. I still tried some Chinese food as I really did not want to be as big as the Indian sex workers lurking in dark streets.

Steven tried out a little Indian food. He did not want to risk eating the same food as the locals so most of his meals were on the European side of the Singaporean mix.

breakfast

lunch