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Archive for October, 2011
Kuta to Ubud
Oct 8th
Day 31 – Shopping day
Our first day in Kuta was just to get a feel for the area which was loud, crowded, busy and full of shops. We spent the morning with breakfast overlooking the pool, buying fresh fruit on the beach, lunch at the Rainbow cafe and checking out the shops.
The pool on top of Hotel 101
Lunch at the Rainbow Cafe
Buying some fresh fruit from a lady on the beach
Day 32 – Off to Ubud
Chris had found a guy to take us to Ubud for 200,000 rupia (same as the ride from the aiport, hmm.. think we might have gotten ripped off a bit). It was a two hour ride to Ubud. We checked into the Sunti Ubud Resort – just south of all the hustle and bustle of Ubud- with a nice with a pool.
Our room at Sunti Ubud Resort
Ubud offers tons of shops, markets, restaurants, hotels, spas. We were both pretty beat and broken after two full days of wandering through towns in flip flops dodging motorbikes.
Market in Ubud
We found where Wayan from Eat, Pray, Love lives, but didn’t look amazing or exciting and ended up having a nice juice from a café across the street. I like the feel of Ubud and think I could spend more time there in a future trip. We walked through the monkey sanctuary and that was nice just to be somewhere without bikes. The monkeys are crazy!
Monkey in Ubud
That night for dinner we were both pretty tired and ended up eating a pizza at Pizza Bagus – it was pretty good and they also had a nice beetroot, carrot and apple juice – yum!
A few hours in Singapore
Oct 6th
After our long day of travel Chris and I just wanted to get some sleep. We had booked a room at Hotel 81 and grabbed a cab at the airport. Apparently, there are two types of cabs waiting at the airport – we must have gotten in a nicer one because our ride was about $30 to the hotel, about twice as much as the other cab. We jump in and say we want to go to Hotel 81, Geylang. What learned a couple things very quickly from the cab driver.
1. There is a Hotel 81 on just about every street in Singapore, sometimes more.
2. Hotel 81 is a “love hotel”.
3. Don’t stay in Geylang, apparently it’s the red light district.
Looks like we’re going to be in for an exciting night in the red light district of Singapore. We had read some reviews confirming it was in the red light district but most people still seemed to have a pleasant enough stay. We were literally going to sleep about 8 hours and explore Singapore in the morning. We finally found the correct hotel but had to wait a while before checking in because there was some random guy asking the clerk how much the rooms are for every night of the week and explaining that they were cheaper the last time he was there, which was probably a few years ago. The clerk explained that they had gone up in price for the weekend but the guy still asked over and over again. It’s about 2am, Chris and I just want to get some sleep and here is this guy arguing that the price of the room is more expensive on Friday’s than Wednesday’s. Overall, the room wasn’t bad but I sure was glad not to be spending multiple nights there. At 2am there were still tons of people out and about, but I didn’t feel unsafe, scared or nervous. Kind of reminded me of downtown Freemont street area in Vegas. Not the best area but not the worst. It was also relatively cheap. Singapore is more comparable to American prices than Philippine prices.
Day 30 Singapore explore
We had most of the day to explore Singapore before flying out that evening to Bali.
First stop was Clarke Quay. It was Saturday so nothing was open that early in the morning. We wandered around until we found a Starbucks that was open and had a light breakfast. After that we wandered some more, checked out the Art at the Ritz Carlton and then went to the top of the Marina Bay Sands building which was actually really cool. Amazing infinity pool, restaurant, very cool view of the city. It was worth the $20 to check it out.
Some of the awesome architecture in Singapore
Infinite pool on top of the "surfboard" building
From the top of the building we can officially see 3 countries, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia
After that we headed to the marina near Sentosa and saw that island from far away. It was time to head back to the hotel to grab our bags and head to the airport. On our ride back to the hotel we were told we shouldn’t have stayed where we did and that it wasn’t a good part of town. After we grabbed our bags we got in a different cab and asked to go to the airport but were unsure of which terminal. After our 20 min commute in Manila to change terminals we had learned our lesson to know which terminal we were flying out of but never got a chance to get on line before having to head to Singapore’s giant airport. We had plenty of time so weren’t worried about it and assured the cabbie we would be fine. He continued to remind us we needed to know what terminal. Fortunately we got dropped off at the right one, and even if it was the wrong one we would have been fine. Lesson learned – we’ll know our terminal. We arrived 3 hours early so had plenty of time to check out the airport – which was one of the coolest I have been in.
It had an orchid garden, statues, art, butterflies, free wi-fi, grocery stores, shopping, giant slides, gym, movie theaters. It was really cool, definitely a hightlight of our layover in Singapore.
In the butterfly garden
Orchids in the aiport
Poi in the airport
Sculptures and art in the airport
Landing in Bali we had to buy our visas and they accept just about every currency for a $25US Visa and there are ATMs if you don’t have any cash. Got our bags and then got a cab that cost 200,000rupia, later we figured that we probably got WAY overcharged. We got dropped off at The 101 near Kuta, which was much nicer than Hotel 81. Found some dinner and called it a night
Bantayan to Cebu to Manila to Singapore
Oct 5th
Day 28 Bike rides on Bantayan
Chris and I were both craving a bit of outdoor exercise and found a place to rent them for about 30p an hour and booked two hours. For not caring for Bantayan Island we did enjoy our bike ride. We rode through the villages, seeing massive cows, pigs being butchered on the side of the road and of course the kids playing and on the streets. We saw 4 kids on one bicycle, an entire school of children turned and yelled “hello” to us as we rode past. It was pretty cool. We aren’t sure exactly how far up we rode but got a nice view of Virgin island.
Big cow, village on Bantayan
Virgin Island on the left
Four kids on a bike
Guys butchering a pig in their yard
Day 29 – Travel from Bantayan>Cebu City>Manila>Singapore
This was probably one of our worst days traveling –not horrible but just long, exhausting and unfair.
We’ve gotten used to being overcharged and get that most of the people are “brokers” for their friend/cousin/brother/neighboy. I just felt that Cebu was the place that we felt the most ripped off, starting from our boat trip to Malapascau, to our “island hopping” and then the upcoming taxi ride to Cebu City.
Our day was mapped out and every hour had something filling it.
6:00am wake up and go for a bike ride, followed by breakfast
8:45 Leave hotel for ferry. We kept getting hounded by one of the guys that hangs around the Blue Marlin Hotel (either Jerry or Roy) to book a taxi to take us to Cebu airport – his friend/cousin/brother Rumel has a taxi, blah blah, blah. We never commited to him but I took his number just in case.
9:00 Buy ferry ticket and try to wiggle around porters. It wasn’t as bad and didn’t have to wrestle our bags out of anyones hands this time. Check in to boat (170 per person) then pay terminal fee (10p per person) then pay some other fee to drive up next to the boat – 5p per person, have correct change if possible. The boat is a giant shipping ferry with space for 2-3 cars plus a big rig on the boat and two levels of plastic benches – nothing fancy but it got the job done. With the rougher than normal seas it was a loud and jerky crossing. We were supposed to leave at 9:30 but didn’t actually pull out till 9:42 and then because of the seas it took until about 11:10 to arrive. As long as we are in a taxi by 11:30 we should be golden to make it to the airport 2 hours in advance.
Shipping ferry from Bantayan to tip of Cebu
11:20 Off the boat. Look at that! Rumel has found us and tells us that he can get us a taxi for only 1500p! We explain we have a plane to catch and need to be at the airport (2 hours away) by 1:50pm. We pay Rumel who somehow decided that the cab is now 2000, I didn’t argue but should have – why 2000 when before it was 1500, and then the nerve to ask for a tip. Rumel says the taxi is just 5 min away. We wait. Don’t worry, it’s just a couple minutes. We wait. Finally after 15 minutes – here’s a taxi. It’s 11:35am, no big deal, just five minutes behind schedule, except that now we find out first the cab driver needs to grab some food for lunch. Ok, but please, make it fast. So we sit in the cab and wait. 11:45, 11:50 – ok, come on dude, 11:55 – seriously? Where IS he? I get out and track down a different porter, because of course the guy we paid to get us the cab in the first place is no where to be seen. The second porter texts the cabbie and he comes from his lunch and gets in the cab. We are frustrated and worried we are going to be late. We finally pull out of there just after noon. I did get a little chuckle, while waiting for the cab I couldn’t help but notice that American Idol was on the front page of the local newspaper.
American Idol front page in Cebu
On our ride to the airport we apologize to the cabbie for our stressed out attitude and our driver starts asking how much we paid for the ride and I hesitantly said 2000. Next thing you know I am hearing how bad this Rumel guy is and that he is only paying the cabbie 1000 (about $24US) for the two hour journey. The gas alone would cost that. What do we do? Is this a big scam that they pull together so we feel bad and give him a big tip? It makes me mad that not only is the guy ripping us off but also the cab driver. It really put a bad taste in my mouth and made me glad I never have to go back there. We were told from our cab driver that these “brokers” keep the cab drivers out of the area where the customers get off the ferry so the only way they get a fare is through this mafia system where the broker keeps a 50% commission. The cabbie explained how if he were to drive his car into this area the guys would have slashed his tires or broken the windows. It made me sick to know I was a part of it but what am I supposed to do?
We made it to the airport, tipped the cabbie and checked in for our flight to Manila, and paid our Cebu terminal fee of 200p.
We got to Manila probably about 5pm, got our bags, changed some money, and then found out where we had to go Terminal 1 to check in for our JetStar flight. To get to Terminal one we had to take a shuttle ride, 20p that ran every 15-20 min. We barely got on the first one that came – once again, crammed in the back with all the luggage. We had no idea that Manila’s airport was so spread out and the difference between Terminal 1 and the terminal we arrived in was a 20-25 minute shuttle ride literally through busy city streets. It’s a good thing we had a 4 hour layover in Manila’s airport.
A long day of ferries, taxis and waiting in line
Once at the right terminal, we mistakenly waited in the wrong line for about 20 minutes. We finally got successfully checked in, had to pay yet another terminal fee, this time of 750p, and then finally boarded our flight to Singapore. Money is flying out of our pockets just for this terminal transfer and flight change!
We finally arrived at our hotel in Singapore in the middle of the night. It was a long, long day of travel.
Bantayan continued
Oct 4th
Day 27 – “Island Hopping”
Karen, Chris and I had an “island hopping” tour scheduled for 8am. This trip was kind of a joke. Off of Bantayan there are two main outlying islands – Virgin and one that starts with H that I can’t spell. We chatted with a “broker” and agreed on 800 for three of us to go on the boat plus 75 for snorkel gear, which consisted of leaky masks and non-purging snorkels. We were instructed to bring our own food and plenty of water because there was nothing to buy on Virgin island (there is a small shop with sodas, water, chips, but not actual food to buy.) Finding food to pack a lunch was not easy – basically consisted of some bread, chips and fruit. The first stop was Virgin Island where we had to pay our entrance fee. It’ll be somewhere between 400p and 600p per boat. We were quoted 500p, charged 400p then asked for a additional 50pm. Snorkeling was not amazing by any means, and we almost didn’t go because we were told we had to wear life jackets while snorkeling. Thankfully that silly rule wasn’t enforced and we snorkeled the dead reef, lots of dynamite fishing to thank for that. Virgin Island is a tiny island with a small beach with some shade coverings that you can pay extra to rent for the afternoon. There was one small pit toilet with no toilet paper and that was about it. We got to Virgin and were told we had to leave there by 1pm to head back, got a little confused by if we were going to the other island or not and were told that would cost more and that there is nothing to see over there. Hmmm. So our island “hopping” trip was really “island hop.” Whatever. I would not recommend this trip, or for that matter, Bantayan Island, there isn’t much to do there and it wasn’t one of the prettier places we saw in the Philippines. After all the cool places we had been I didn’t even bother taking any pictures of this particular outing.
If you do end up on Bantayan the restaurant ACROSS from Blue Ice – with the ice cream shop, has good food, good value and internet! D’Jungle was also a good place to eat. We were happy enough with our stay at Blue Marlin.
The end of the day Chris and I finally made a decision about where to go next after looking everywhere from China to just going back to the States early. I was over it. I had a bad belly on and off since I had gotten to the Philippines, it was hot, constant noise, people trying to sell you something, or take you somewhere. We finally decided on Bali and booked the tickets for 2 days later and were glad to have made a decision. One thing about the Philippines is everywhere takes SO long to get to. It’s not just as easy as get in a car and be there. It’s 7000 islands so travel requires planes, boats, cars, ferrys and schedules of course don’t always fit with when you want to go. We were happy to know where we were headed next.
Bantayan
Oct 3rd
Day 25 – Off to Bantayan
On our last full day on Malapascau we met a couple, Sylvia and Philip who was going to travel by private boat to Bantayan where they lived in Atop-Atop. We stopped at Virgin Island for a quick swim and continued on. It was a fine ride, saw a sea snake and some skimming fish – pretty cool. Very loud boat – earplugs!!!
Boat to Bantayan from Malapascau
We got to Sylvia and Philip house and they explained that they would make us lunch and then drive us to Bantayan town which was about 20 minutes away. Sylvia’s sister, neice and brother in law live on the property and basically served us. Lunch was bitter greens, banana salad with chicken, fish soup, leftover pizza, rice and dried fish, followed by tea/coffee and chocolate. They offered to let us stay there, and as nice as the house was, we were ready to be on our way.
Lunch of dried fish
Philipe and Sylvia's house in Bantayan
The only ATM on Banatyan was in Bantayan Town we got a ride with Sylvia’s brother in law there and then caught a jeepny/scooter to Santa Fe. It was a scooter but it had a mini jeepney on the back that would easily hold 6-8 people. I wonder how long the little motorcycles last carrying WAY more weight then they probably should be. Philipe recommended the Blue Marlin Hotel and we took his advice and checked in.
Our mini jeepney - attached to a motor bike
I wanted to check out some other places I had heard about so we hired a pedicab and went to Tickity Boo (porters recommended it to us), Beach Placid (heard about it on a blog) Yooneek (saw it on bumper stickers) and all had pluses and minuses and seriously considered moving but after seeing them all we decided we had it pretty good, comfortable beach, there was a lightning storm coming in and we enjoyed watching that and were treated a pretty cool rainbow. After that we found a restaurant to eat at – Blue Ice, I had the sizzling pork which was really good. We also met a solo traveler, Karen from England, and we made plans to meet up with her the next day.
Day 26 – Sick Day
Both Chris and Karen weren’t feeling well so we took a pretty chill day. We checked out Ogtong Cave Resort. Cost was 100p to get in and we took a 20p/each pedicab ride. It had a pool, a small cave, pretty bay, little cave and that was about it.
Taken from Ogdon Cave resort. See the shark?
Chris in a tricycle
We still have 2 1/2 weeks scheduled for the Philippines and Typhoon Songda is scheduled to hit exactly where we were planning on going. We started debating on if we should go somewhere else in the Philippines, stick to our original plan or just head to a completely different country.
Malapascau
Oct 2nd
Day 21-24 Days blur together
It doesn’t take long to explore the main part of Malapascau. We found a hotel with a nice pool and decided to have breakfast there and pay some extra money to have use of the pool for the day. We took a look at the hotel and decided to upgrade to the hotel room for three nights. Big comfy bed, tv, pool, AC all for a special price since numbers were low. We got it for 2500p a night.
The next few days were spent reading, relaxing, walking the beach, watching American Idol (I had never watched a full season but somehow caught most of it this trip), eating, hiring a bike for a ride around the island – very cool. We also took a boat ride around the island. Snorkeling wasn’t amazing. My favorite part was watching the kids jump off a big cliff into the ocean. They are braver than me. As I sit here and write this I am kicking myself that I didn’t give it a go. If a 6 year old can do it I should have womaned up and jumped! Check out the video – love it!!
If you head to Malapascau definitely eat at The Exotic – it was great, some of the best food we had – plus they had the only working internet on island. Legends restaurant was only ok. There was a decent restaurant insland – Ging Ging’s Garden, or something like that. There are a few book exchanges at some of the bars as well.
Lovely rainbow on Malapascau
One of our highlights of Malapascau can’t be duplicated, unfortunately. As Chris and I were walking home one night a group of 7 boys aged 5-11 started chatting with us. They wanted to know our names, where we were from, how old we were and so on. We asked them the same questions and asked them if they liked Justin Beiber. They are HUGE fans and next thing you know we have this group of young boys serenading us with “Baby, baby, baby, OH, like baby, baby, baby OH” and they knew all the words, not just the chorus. I was a bit sad when we got to our hotel and had to part ways. They were so cool. Didn’t ask for money (but Chris gave them some anyway to buy some ice cream) and they made my night.
Philippine flag
