i am so happy that i finally managed to upload all the pictures into this blog and start to write about it. it's been nearly 2 months since the trip ended. i spent days uploading photos and days postponing doing it.. though, it's a hobby, i need a break from this blog too. why? bc i took way too many photos during the trip..i couldn't help but i can't bear missing out a single moment. so here i warn you, each day on the trip is long with photos!
the trip was set, planned and booked half year in advance. why philippines? the question had been asked by some friends who knew about the trip. but why not? i asked them back.
i have a friend i met in 43t 4 years back. her name is venusian2, the name she uses there but her real name is Seina. we met via 43t while she taught english in China. we've been talking on and off until she got back to her home country, The Philippines. one of my dreams is to visit as many countries as possible. so The Philippines popped up in my mind. i checked with her if she was okay with the plan and she agreed without any hesitation. i knew her life at the beginning of this year had been hectic with nursing school to finish and the graduation day to come. but she spared her precious time to set the trip for us.
the whole trip was 10 days. i left home a day early by a night train from hadyai to KL and met Tang at KL international airport the next day.
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someone told me that i should take photo of my bag in case it was missing or stolen. so here is the bag i carried the whole trip. (and no it's not mine!)
leaving home
i tried to pack light with the weight that i could stand to carry around for 10 days. still, it was damn heavyyyy and my tiny back moaned since day one...
i chose upper bed when traveling alone on a night train for my own safety and privacy. after leaving hatyai at 2.30 pm sharp, the train stopped at padangbesar border for 2 hours for us to get our passport stamped and left again around 4.30 pm. lots of new passengers boarded the train from there. first fellow traveler i talked while sitting on the floor of the platform waiting for the train to leave was Anser. he was from india and traveled to thailand through malaysia. he was 18 years old and traveled extensively and very light, lighter than my daypack. we sat talking, exchanging ideas on various topics until the train left.
this is my company. BB or Belgbear, an exchanged mascot from Belgium. he was a nice litte chap to cuddle with on the shaky night train.
Malaysia:
the train arrived in KL sentral at 5.30 am sharp. i wish it was late but it didn't! what am i going to do in this wee hour? first thing first, i looked for a toilet to brush teeth, pee and wash my face slooowly bc i had few hours to pass before heading to the twin towers. i left the ladies and sat at the waiting hall with other passengers; reading a book and waiting for the first day light to break.
around 7 am, i moved to sit at the mrt station and watched people queueing up to board the train to work. it was quite a spectacular view sitting there and watching people getting in and out of the colorful tubes. i don't live in a big city and i don't commute to work. so i think it's a nice place to do people-watching.. until the lines started to thin out, i moved my lazy ass to get into the next train and get off at petronas station..
..walking up the stairs to the ground floor, i saw the light was still soft, bathing the tall buildings around there...the view from the front part of petronas building..
i love my life when i am in a city where no one knows me and i can walk around snapping no end with no hurry and enjoy the first light of the day. i feel heavenly blessed..
i walked through the building to the back part where the park sat. it was spacious with soft morning sunlight. no vehicles dashing past. just people sitting on the bench looking at tall buildings and some joggers jogging around..
..i sat there eating sandwich for breakfast, writing postcards to some freinds.. and snapped few photos. it was like finding place and getting lost in my own thought..
then i walked deep into the park to get different views of the twins. i'd never been in this area before bc i was always in hurry (window) shopping inside the buildings.
and here is my view of the twins and the buidlings nearby.
.. i am so in love with this photo and this couple..
when office hour started, i walked inside the building again to look for the counter to get a free ticket to visit the skybridge. when the guy asked 'how many people?'. it felt a bit odd to say '1'. but it felt good!
kept walking and followed the sign.
..here is the office, in the underground floor..
getting the ticket and seeing that the queue was at 3.30 pm, i walked around looking for a post office to send my postcards. when buying stamps, i asked they guy where i could send the postcards, he told me there was a post office inside this building. so i went figure it out..
..along the way, there were some ads and mural arts to capture..
after sending postcards, i went up to 4th floor to my fave bookstore; kinokuniya and haunted there for hours and i got the books i was looking for.. then back to the first floor to try some kind of strange flavor of Italian gelato. i picked the one i was not familia with, instead of coffee flavor as ever. and it was divine.
i sat there reading a book and the philippines map until it was time to ride the lift to the skybridge.. i walked back to the counter..
the lift taking us to the sky bridge was tall and roomy and it went up pretty fast (they told us how fast it was but i couldn't remember..) and here is the view of the bridge..
the front view
the back view
and the last view
leaving the lift, i walked back to mrt station to get back to KL sentral. while riding the mrt out of the tunnel into the light, i saw that it was pouring outside; grey and wet. lonely but beautiful.
i got my backpack back from the luggage deposit counter and walked down one flight of stairs to the shuttle bus station and took the waiting arobus to the airport.. it took 1 hour to get there. lucky me, the bus left right after i hopped into it. settling with my backpack and seat, i dozed off immediately. the aircon inside the bus was comfortably cold. i woke up again when the bus reached the front part of the airport.
while sitting on the bus, i measured the time whether to check in at the hotel first or go straight to the airport and waited for Tang. the room i booked was 12 hour-credit. if i got into it, the credit started to deduct. by the time i was there, it was around 5.30 pm and thinking that i would be checking out before 5 am next morning, so 12 hours was fairly enough.
getting off the arobus, i asked the driver where i could take any vehicle to tune hotel. it was not far to walk but with this bag on my strained shoulders, i would walk like a million-year turtle.. the guy pointed for me where to wait for the chartered bus. so i hoisted my backpack on my back and walked to wait at the pavement. 10 mins later, a chartered bus with tune hotel logo appoarched where i stood. i hopped on it and paid 1 RM.
getting into the room, it felt like heaven.. not that the room was comfy and cold but the idea of taking a long hot shower after a long walking day.. it was suddenly felt like home..
the bed was soft, clean and white. the pillow was puffy and supersized. emerging from the hot shower, i tugged myself in and dozed off again. i woke up when it was near the time to pick up Tang at the airport. locking and leaving the room, i hopped on the chartered bus to the airport and waited for Tang in front of Mcdonald. we kept walking and missing each other until finally we saw each other.. she landed a while ago but she didn't see me and i was there before she landed and didn't see her either..
i took her to the hotel and let her leave her bag in the room. she convinced me to go down to the front part of the hotel where we could sit and nurse a bottle of beer.. and a bag of chocchip cookies.. we sat there talking, sipping beer and watching other travelers for a while. feeling that my rosy cheeks were getting hot from the alcohol, i told her we should retreat to the room and hit the sack..
..my partners in crime..p'tang & bb..
i woke up at 4.30, took a hot shower and got ready before Tang sleepily hopped in next. (i've never moaned getting up this early if the hotel is equiped with hot shower!) then we checked out at 5.30 am, took the chartered bus to the airport and checked in at Clark counter..
walking light without our 8kg-backpack, we headed to food court to fix our breakfast, so we could sleep again while sitting in the plane and didn't need to worry about the breakfast.
Philippines:
it was a true surprise that the AIRASIA plane landed in clark international airport ahead of its landing time. (and bigger surprise on the way back to KL, as it landed 40 mins in advance!!)
walking down the plane stairs, we saw the under-construction airport. the long empty room on the second floor was the passenger lounge, i guess..
Clark greeted us with baking sunlight. it was a lovely day, i must say.
waiting at lugguage conveyor
getting our backpacks, we walked outside and saw Seina standing, wearing light green polo shirt, waiting for us beside the barricade.. we hugged and i sneakily wiped away the tears from my eyes.. finally, after 4 years, we met in person!!
then she introduced us to Cindy, who was sitting at the chairs guarding their backpacks, not far from where i met Seina.
Seina was afraid that we would be hungry as the drive took 2 hours to get into Manila. she suggested us grab a hotdog inside the airport.. then we walked out to the bus stand and got settled with the seats in the waiting bus and hopped off to take some photos infront of the temimal building.
while Tang and Cindy were nodding off in the bus, Seina and i talked endlessly until we reached Manila. after the bus stopped infront of Mega Mall, we walked inside and got stopped at check point. we opened our big bags for them to sneak a peek inside and then walked upstairs to a restaurant serving delicious crispy fried chicken. Seina and Cindy ordered different kinds of local foods for us to try. as a result, the table was topped with yummy looking-foods. we tried them all. they were divinely delicious and the tastes were quite similar to Thai foods with different ingredients. their looks might not be the same but after swollowing, it was like eating foods cooked from home..
crunchy fried chicken, Tang's fave dish
and lastly after eating the main course, we were convinced (and forced) to eat the famous dessert of The Philippines named 'halo halo'.. it sounded hawaii, i think. but gosh, i wished i didn't eat the main course too much, so i would sit savoring the whole bowl.. yummy, yummy!! it was filled with (as far as i remember) sliced cheese, eggnog, one scoop of taro-flavored ice cream, bean, sesame, and many other things.. i just couldn't figure it out.. but if you happen to land in The Philippines, you gotta try this hawaiian looking dessert !!!
everyone seemed to love it!
after the first lunch was fixed, we headed downstairs to hail a taxi. it was a long queue but not too long to wait. outside the mall was smoky and hot.
getting into the taxi, we went straight to Jam Transit heading for Balibago. the bus ride took about 1.5-2 hour. then, we caught a jeepney from there to Tagaytay where we were going to find a hotel and stay one night there. we got off the jeepney at a market and caught a motor tricycle to Tagaytay. we went to Park View hotel but it was fully booked, so the driver took us to another hotel. the weather was a bit crisp with night breeze. i thought to myself if it was not a long day, i would not take a shower but luck still on me, the hotel was equiped with water heater.. ;]
Cindy and Seina ordered pizza for us for dinner. after taking a shower, we gathered at the table in front of Seina's room to eat our delivered dinner. Cindy and Tang retreated to their room after their tummies were full, while Seina and i sat talking until our eyes half shut. then we said good night and got back to our rooms..
