Today’s plan is to go to as many malls as possible. My heart was itching to go back to MOA but there’s the time factor. And thinking about the LRT station<->MOA jeepney ride isn’t all that pleasant. The last night when we took the ride, the driver tried to squeeze as many people as possible into the jeepney before he would start the journey. It’s something like the Penang mini bus waiting around the Komtar terminal only that this is worse.
I was pretty angry when I took the ride because not only were we packed like sardines, when people got off and there was actually some breathing space, one inconsiderate guy decided to keep all the space for himself by inflating his fat ass. How convenient. And then there were these two lovebirds sitting opposite me which was a pain to look at. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t care but when I’m in a sardine can, it matters. I don’t remember what they did but I can tell you, lovers suck!
This is turning into an angry post. Rest assured I’m not angry anymore. I’m just trying to picture to you how it’s like being a sardine.
On the way back we were again amazingly squeezed into the jeepney by the driver. It’s unimaginable! It was already so crammed yet he kept on calling more people in. Jesus H. Christ! At that moment I wished I had really bad B.O. so everyone would stay far away from me. That was also the fastest, craziest jeepney ride ever. That guy thinks he’s Michael Schumacher! You know how you’re face feels like it’s all pins and needles after a fast windows down-bus ride? And you kinda lose balance when you get down? That’s how it was.
Anyway, I’m not complaining. It was a crazy jeepney experience! :P
The last day was dedicated to shopping malls alone. Arthur’s sister, Ann, showed us to Gateway and Farmer’s Plaza before she left for work. There were a lot of stalls selling bags and shoes in Farmer’s. I even saw shoes I liked but you know, girls, they have to look around some more, and end up regretting not buying it, which I did.
Over at the bags’ stalls, my friend pointed at a particular bag with prints which said ‘I'm not a plastic bag’. She was saying that it’s a hit in Hong Kong or something.
Of course we were conversing in our Penang hokkien and that must have given an impression that we were not locals.
“How much?” we asked the girl.
“Er…er…uh…P350,” she said after hesitating for a while.
Overpriced? Definitely. A while later when we crossed the street to Isetann – which I first thought was the Japanese Isetan – we saw the same bag for only a little over P200. Blood sucking mosquito!! After that we decided not to talk anymore if a sales girl is present.
The place mistaken for Isetan. Pretty obvious because the logo is different, but it was able to dupe my slow unsuspecting mind.
The real Isetan logo
Anyway, if you go to Isetann and you see the cheap wallets displayed just in front of the escalator, don’t buy them. Your cards will not be able to fit in the compartments because they’re way too small.
Farmer’s was a lot more fun compared to Gateway because there really isn’t anything in Gateway. What’s in Gateway is a P10 per entry washroom. (Oh you know, people call it comfort room over there. Or maybe it’s just Arthur) My friend wanted to go to the WC and I was just tagging along when a girl standing at the entrance stopped us and asked us to pay at the ‘pay station’.
“P10,” the girl at the pay station said.
Again, my slow mind happily obliged and I was given a ticket which was quickly snatched away by the first girl.
Right about then, I came to my consciousness and realized how stupid I was. I was just tagging along! It’s not like I need to pee. And I didn’t even get to keep the stupid ticket.
Since we’re already in there I thought I might as well do the big business. But you know, when you want it to come, it just won’t. Oh well. P10 just to wash my hands.
After that we went back to Farmer’s where we ate the Jollibee chicken burger. They’re really nice! So far the best fast food chicken burger I’ve had. I really should sell those chicken burgers here. McD will be begging me to stop. Haha!
After that we took the MRT to Ayala where we went to Glorietta and SM something :P If I were to compare, Glorietta would be a better place to shop. The SM there is just like a huge department store, with few shops around it.
I was running low on cash but there was only one money changer in Glorietta and the queue was freaking long. Funny thing is everyone queuing up is Filipino. Uh…why are they flocking there to change money?
The next plan was to proceed to Greenbelt but we somehow managed to get lost. That’s when the much hated security guards came into use.
“Do you know how I can get to Greenbelt?” I asked a dreamy guard, probably snaking at his job.
“Turn left and just follow The Landmark.”
Follow the landmark…rightttt…the landmark is what got us to you in the first place. I walked left anyways, and not long after that I did see ‘the landmark’. It’s actually another mall. Sweat. It was filled with all sorts of stuff and I would definitely spend more time there if we didn’t have to catch the train before 5pm.
We walked across to Greenbelt anyway although I’d much rather walk around The Landmark. Greenbelt turned out to be nothing but that was probably because we went into the wrong wing. The garden was nice though.
The garden on the way to Greenbelt.
Now to catch the train we would have to go back to Glorietta and out to the streets (I’m sure there’s an easier route but as if we know). The security checks proved to be a real pain then because everyone else was also taking the same route and the lines in front of the security check was awfully long.
We managed to catch the MRT before 5 pm but it was already jam packed. It’s always packed. And to make it worse, the air-cond wasn’t working. Yay. We headed to Ortigas where we took a grumpy driver’s cab to Greenhills where I wished I had gone earlier! It’s a nice place with night market-like stalls on one side, and a high end mall on another side. Too bad they close as early as 9. Why!?!?
I don't know what you call this, but it's like those cuckoo clocks where the objects err...glide out...err something like that. (someone help?) They have this every year for the Christmas celebration. There will be a voice telling the story and sound effects too.
I saw another shoe which I really liked but that mean girl won’t give me discounts and I was in a dilemma. Polvorons for everyone or shoe for myself? (I had already exchanged another USD20 but, yes, I was AGAIN short of cash) Finally I decided to keep the money for polvorons, but listen to my story, there were no more polvorons. Yippie yay. What’s worse, the airport has none too. Doubly yay. Next time, shop for yourself first.
They even have Malaysian food in Greenhills and the restaurant is called Penang Hill.
In Kuala Lumpur, people like to display the name ‘Penang’ on their stalls e.g: Penang Laksa, Penang Char Koay Teow, etc. But don’t be fooled. If they’re using the name, it’s usually nothing like Penang food.
We had Yellow cab pizza for dinner. Check out the hands free washing. You need to use your knee though.
Later that night we met with Tiffy and her thick Physics book.
That morning I woke up at 6 after falling asleep while counting money (Haha! Good chance for you to steal them!) and went to the bathroom only to see a soggy mass of disgusting wet toilet paper by the sink. The people who had checked into our unit the night before must have left it there before leaving to catch a flight or something.
They were locals. I don’t understand why a local would want to rent a place for the night. I was expecting foreigners or something. Anyway, whatever. Point is they don’t clean up after themselves.
Just the night before one of them did not turn off the shower heater. Thanks for burning my feet. Don’t get what I mean? Take a look at the shower unit.
Take a closer look at the instructions.
I didn’t even know the instructions were there if not for his/her stupidity. Come on, you turn off whatever you turn on right? Except maybe your wife. Ok whatever, not funny. You don’t need instructions to tell you that.
So when I got back late that night and decided to take a shower, I saw the lights on the heater unit on. I turned the tap a little and I could see steam coming out of the heater head! It was that hot! But at that moment I thought it were my eyes deceiving me so I turned the tap all the way and stuck my foot in the water. Hot boiling water. Hurray. #!#@$!
Luckily after I went back to sleep at 6 the housekeepers came to clean the mess away.
Oh you know, touch here touch there and oops we’re late.
Took this on the way to our first LRT ride in Philippines.
We took a very short ride, getting off the next stop because Arthur only wanted to show us how to get around the station.
The San Sebastian church.
Ok I did some research. This church is the only steel church in Asia built in the late 19th century and designed by Alexander Gustave Eiffel himself. Or at least it has been confirmed that he designed the metal structure. Yea, the Eiffel tower guy. What’s the Eiffel tower? Seriously, are you kidding?
I hope I got that right or Arthur might throw cold water on me :P
Remember the second day when we couldn’t visit the fort? We saved it for this day.
Before that we had our very first Jollibee meal in Intramuros.
Here we are! The fort! It looks really nice with the garden and the wind was cool and strong.
This is what makes it such a nice place.
Two metal figures doing uh…uh…I don’t know. In the background are the faces of the presidents of Philippines. Gloria doesn’t look like Gloria.
Walking the footsteps of Jose Rizal. Lee Phei was going the wrong way :P
They made footprints of Jose Rizal’s final steps walking from his dungeon to the place where he would be executed in RizalPark in Bagumbayan. The footprints ended at the exit gate of FortSantiago where Arthur said, “Then he magically teleported himself to Bagumbayan.” That’s not a quote. I don’t remember your words exactly :P
The moat outside the fort. I wonder if it goes around.
The entrance of the fort.
Going in…
All the statues have the same pose. Except this one which decided to lean forward.
Falling wall???
From the inside looking out.
We managed to catch the sunset this time but unfortunately it was too cloudy. I was told that this is where you can find one of the world’s most beautiful sunsets. Although I didn’t get to see it I guess it’s true since there were many people with their professional cameras trying to catch the sunset. Soon the cloudy sky turned dark, the wind grew stronger, and the waves were threatening to swallow you. Just to show you how strong the waves were, it splashed onto us who were sitting like 10 feet away. Then it began to drizzle. Perhaps the anticipated storm was about to come? We were greeted by the news that a storm was on its way the first day we got here. Luckily it didn’t.
We crossed the road from ManilaBay where we saw the sunset to RizalPark.
Before that we took a picture of the Kilometer Zero which serves as a point of origin to all other cities in Philippines.
On the way to MOA we saw this cool looking petrol pump.
I’ve never seen anything like this before. Oh, and different stations sell fuel for different prices unlike here where the price is controlled.
Apparently MOA is the largest mall in Asia but I’m not sure why. Doesn’t feel that big to me. In fact, the mall we were going to go to the next day felt bigger. Maybe it’s because we never had the chance to explore the whole place. Anyway I like the place because one section of it is open air and you get the strong sea breeze blowing in while shopping in the air conditioned mall. Kinda confuses your brain. Am I in a mall??
Three person meal with a cheap price tag. Was it P70 per person? But that’s excluding my drink (the pink one on the right). Freaking expensive drink. Wait, I don’t even know if it’s qualified to be called a drink. Only makes you more thirsty.
Everyone gathered in Arthur’s grandpa’s place in the morning for breakfast before leaving for Subic. It was an approximately 2 hour’s drive from Chinatown. We were entertained by Arthur’s singing all the way. We got to listen to different genres from oldies to kindy songs and ABCs to scouting songs. He does it like it’s nobody’s business, and nobody cares as well. I guess we’re all familiar with each other haha.
Along the way you could see a lot of SMART banners. It was practically everywhere. Everyone was their supporters. The banner was used as a shield, a curtain, a drape to cover stalls, gates; it was practically used everywhere for everything.
Our first stop was Zoobic. I don’t know what was wrong with me but I couldn’t figure out why they called the safari Zoobic and not Soobic until I got there. Stupid right? It’s a zoo hence ‘zoobic’ DUH.
He looks cool doesn’t he? Try walking nearer and he’ll give you a good snarl.
This one gave me a loud snarl too before ignoring me. Yea, yea, whatever.
Unfriendly tigers!
Lazy pigs.
But when the handler came with food all three of them instantly woke up, wagged their tails, and the fat one behind carried up his bowl with his mouth.
Piggy soccer.
Our guide Apple (it’s a must that we remember her name. Apple, I still remember your name!) took us around the petting zoo where many of the animals are free to roam around and mingle with us. I just realized I went to a petting zoo. So that’s a petting zoo huh?
Hungry camels which resorted to eating the tree.
Peeing bear.
After the petting zoo we took a…uh…truck-like caged vehicle and went to where the tigers roam freely! Oh! Excitement! From what I read, the person is going to throw the chicken meat over the truck and the tiger will jump over to catch it. I took the seat I thought was the best – next to the driver, by the window. But guess what?
You guys again. Yawn. How come you can never have enough of me!?
The tigers have probably been fed so many times they couldn’t care much anymore. Look at him. He doesn’t care whether you let him have the chicken or not. Lazy bum!
Excuse me, but this chicken is not fresh. What do you think I am? Second class?
After the disappointing tiger encounter everyone got into their own vehicles and went to other parts of the safari where we saw:
The Aetas doing their dances.
I call this the standing push ups. There’s Apple on the right and Philippines’ Next Top Aetas leaning on the tree.
Then the second dance is one where he tries to scare you and then he runs up a tree.
In the last one, they fight each other.
From left: Josh, Lester, Arthur, me, Lee Phei, Steven, Mr. Treeman, Mr. Next Top Aetas, and Mr. Push ups
I bought a whistle that was supposed to give out sounds of chirping birds when blown but when I tried it at home, it just gave a single tone. Cheated!
Our journey continued with the Hip Hop Bay Walk.
And I thought it was a performers dancing to hip hop songs thing :/ Looks easy but it’s not so.
After that we went to Croco Loco where you get to feed the crocodiles with chickens hanging from a stick, of course, with a fee.
If you can find the chicken meat, I’ll give you a chicken :P Hint: You can never find it.
You want a piece of me?
We also went to the Serpentarium, the BoneMuseum, and had another encounter with tigers. After everything, we settled at its Buho restaurant for lunch. I had my first sisig dish there. It was really nice! Of course, when I knew it was pig’s ear it was already too late. But what the hell, it was good.
Entrance fee: P395 inclusive of everything I mentioned except the lunch, of course.
After that we had some time to kill before the dolphin show in Ocean Adventure starts. Steven drove around with Lester giving directions and Arthur was still singing while the rest of us slept.
I found that all the beaches there are private beaches and you have to pay to go in! What!? Pay to use the beach?! Unacceptable. All we did was loitering around the entrance before moving on to the next destination.
Then we reached the place Arthur was talking about; the canopy slide. We didn’t do that because it would take too much time and we wouldn’t want to miss the dolphin show. Too bad.
Our last stop was Ocean Adventure. We saw the dolphin show and
This part where the man is thrown out of the water into the air by the dolphin is really cool
the sea lion show
Adorable, no?
After the shows we visited the souvenir shop and the African look-a-like guard asked if we were Koreans. Hah. Do we look like Koreans? Lee Phei said she has already been mistaken for a local in Cambodia and an Indonesian in Singapore. Now she’s a Korean. What next? I do notice something in the airport. Whatever notices that are put up will be in 3 languages; one in Tagalog, one in English, and another in Korean. Perhaps many Koreans visit Philippines?
We kinda browsed the shop excessively long before we realized everyone disappeared except Lester who was still with us. They were in the car. It was like a ‘me waiting for you - you waiting for me situation’ and finally everyone slowly left and we were the last. Sorry!! If it were my guy friends back home they would have made noise already. I’d love to complain about how much of a ‘gentlemen’ my friends from Penang are, but I’ll leave that for another day.
I was pretty ‘blur’ because everyone was using Tagalog when they were making plans to go somewhere! I didn’t know where we were heading most of the time and I didn’t know someone felt like puking in the car either! But at the end of the day, although we didn’t get to have Jollibee for dinner as planned, it led us to Soup no. 5 instead. What’s that? What’s that? That’s for you to guess :)
We toured the city on the second day and our first stop is of course to…fill up our stomach! We had a typical Filipino breakfast which is tapsilog (ok it's tosilog, refer Arthur's comment), only thing is that we had the one with pork because we don’t take beef. Hmm…crunchy barbequed pork…dang writing this makes me hungry.
Place we had our breakfast. Oh look! The girl is too shy, she’s hiding behind the pots!
And here’s the first meal of the day!
Sorry, I was too hungry to think of taking a photo of it before digging in. And you didn’t see the rice on the table. Nope.
After the hearty meal, we walked over to our first destination. Arthur’s school, the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
Over there of course, we were stopped by guards, again.
Guard: “Where are you going?” Me: *points at Arthur*
Arthur came and spoke to the guard in Tagalog and he let us through. I think he said we were heading to the church or hospital in the uni. Guards! Sheesh! And I thought universities are open to pedestrians, since they’ve got hospitals and all.
Me: Why did he stop us and not you? Arthur: Coz you’re not a student. Me: But you’re not a student too. Arthur: I just walked straight in. Me: How did he know I’m not a student? Arthur: Coz you’re not wearing a uniform!
Wait…uni students…uniforms…? Let’s have a look at their uniforms.
The girls look like nurses and the guys look like…well, guys. C’mon I can get the guys’ uniforms anywhere! They’re just a white shirt and black pants. Then I can walk straight in without the guard interfering. But of course I’ll have to be a dyke to do that.
It’s got the uni feel doesn’t it?
If you look carefully, that statue in the center is pointing to the direction of another university. I don’t remember who the guy is but they say that he’s asking you to go there if you fail here. For more info, Arthur will enlighten you :P
While in there, we had ice cream :)
Sorry guys for my late entry on the second day. I said I'd update this place everyday right. So I lied. :P This one's very long. Just spent the whole afternoon doing this and now I have a headache. I really do.
Haven't been updating much, at all, I know; I'm keeping this place for some other plans which I can't quite carry out, or figure out yet. It's complicated, trust me, I have a headache thinking about it myself. Just to make things fresher: "Look! A link!"
About ME
Hi my name is Chin but considering the exceptional popularity my name enjoys, I have resorted to another less widespread name, Shou. Tsk. I can never register Chin anywhere. Some other Chin always gets it before me. An extra info: You can always count on me to be a serious procrastinator. For now, this place will be updated dailyevery other day once in a while, until I run out of things to say (don't take it as a promise because promises are meant to be broken).
