Category: Travels

Pre-Travel Anxiety

After going on a vacation, most people get this feeling of longing for places they’ve just visited. Some call it “separation anxiety,” or #sepanx, as the kids would say. What I’ve experienced was the older, less popular sister of sepanx—pre-travel anxiety.

My friends and I went to Japan a few weeks ago. We had planned this trip since the beginning of the year; two years if you count the discussion we had at the end of our Korea trip in 2012.

This trip was a huge deal because Japan was one of the destinations in my travel bucket list. Some people seek the serenity of a beach, while others climb mountains to see the world above the clouds. I, on the other hand, prefer navigating through the uncaring crowd of big cities. I was excited to overload my senses with the noise, smell and bright lights of Tokyo. I both dreaded and looked forward to getting lost in the vastness of Shinjuku Station. I wanted to eat Japanese food in Japan. By the end of April, we had booked our round trip, discounted tickets to the land of ramen.

After confirming our booking, I could’ve posted online something like, “Booked!” or “Super excited!” as some people are wont to do. But my pre-travel anxiety prevents me from behaving that way. You see, the pre-travel anxiety package includes fear of jinxes. I’m a logical, grown-ass woman, but I’m still afraid of jinxing plans by talking about them before they actually happen. I only talk about my plans to people whom I trust not to wish ill things that would spoil my dream. And there are a lot of shit that can happen, first and most essential of which, is being denied a visa.

Earlier this year, news came out that Japan was granting visa-free entry for a few Southeast Asian nations. My friends and I thought that it’s as if the universe were conspiring to make our trip happen. Filipinos went crazy sharing articles online about this new policy. They were tagging friends, writing posts that went something like, “Now we know where our next trip will be.” The articles said that Thais and Malaysians can now enter Japan without a visa. But for Filipinos, it was a little vague. I got tired of all the speculations and called the Japanese Embassy to ask if Filipinos could now travel to Japan without a visa. An impatient and tired-sounding woman answered with a quick “No.” So we were back to fixing our documents.

Before my friends and I applied for our tourist visas, one of my close friends, three colleagues, and a former high school classmate went to Japan. It was both comforting and stressful—comforting because it meant that the Japanese Embassy was more lenient as they announced they would be, and stressful because they all made it to Japan. What if I didn’t? How would I deal with the disappointment, envy, and sadness?

But I refused to dwell on thoughts about not making it. A lot of my journal entries this year are about our Japan trip, preparing for it, or referencing it in some way. But I never wrote about what I’d do if my visa application got denied. (In the back of my mind, my backup plan was to go to Korea.) I would squash negative thoughts as soon as they surfaced—real The Secret-like “attract what you want” mind-over-matter shit. All I thought about was getting my visa, the places I’ll visit when I get there, and the outfits I’ll wear.

Speaking of outfits, you know how some people like to pack last minute and make it seem like they’re proud of it? As if to say, “oh my god look at how much I don’t care about this trip” or how “I’m suuuuuper busy I don’t even have time to pack until the last minute!” That’s so not how I roll. This was Japan, where the street style ranges from kooky cosplayers to serious salarymen in three-piece suits. And it was fall, the perfect weather for sweaters, scarves, and boots. I wasn’t going to waste an opportunity like that to lack of planning.

So I had curated my travel wardrobe weeks before our trip. I even had an outfit calendar which included details like what accessories I’ll pair with what outfit or what type of bra I will wear on a specific day cementing my status as an uncool person. But you know what’s cool about planning? Having enough space for five books and tons of pasalubong in your luggage because you didn’t bring any unnecessary clothes with you. Another cool thing is not being reprimanded by the Japanese woman at the check-in counter for having too many hand-carry luggage in the form of shopping bags.

I spare no small details when it comes to planning my outfits.

I made my outfit calendar after I got my tourist visa. I was ecstatic. I was flying to Japan for sure. Then that happiness slowly devolved to worry. It was three weeks before our flight and only two of us had visas. A week before our trip and we still had one friend without a visa. Our flight was on a Wednesday and he submitted his documents to the travel agency Tuesday, the week before. I was worried because he didn’t give us enough time to plan for contingencies.

My main concern was our hotel reservation bill, which will be charged to my card that Saturday. The three of us who already had visas at the time had an intense discussion over Viber on what we’ll do about the reservation if our friend got denied.

Do we cancel our reservation until we’re sure he’ll be joining us? (But then we’ll have to rebook which might cost us more. Or worse, we might not find a hotel with an available room because the dates are too close.) Do we ask him to pay for his share even if he can’t come with us? (We ran this idea by him and he refused to pay if that were the case.) Do we split it among the three of us? (This meant we would have to shell out an additional 6,000 pesos each.) The bickering frustrated Allan, so to shut us up he said that he’ll just pay for our friend’s share as long as he gets a room to himself.

I felt terrible for bitching about the reservation. But I also knew that this time around, my worries were valid and not caused by some jinx-based fear. The thing that I really resented was that the three of us were arguing because one person was inconsiderate of everybody else’s time.

Thankfully, our friend got his visa three days later. It was finally time to relax and stop worrying. And I did relax. I actually did more than relax. I suddenly felt apathetic about the whole thing. This always happens to me the day before a trip. I get myself hyped up for months, then I stop being excited when it’s almost about to happen and just focus on getting everything prepared. It’s almost as if I’m afraid that if I want it too much and I’m this close to getting it, someone or something will snatch it away from me.

On our way to Nippon!

On the day of departure, most people would be excited and proud to post on Facebook that they’re at the airport waiting to board their flight to Japan. But not me. No, sir. It’s too risky. There are still two more things that could go wrong. One, the immigration officer in Japan might send me back to Manila for whatever reason. And two, the airline might lose my baggage. (My curated wardrobe!) Those things didn’t happen.

When traveling, there are things that are in my control and, as much as possible, I prepare for them. Those things out of my control that may prevent me reaching my destination are the real sources of my anxiety. However, once I’m already there, I worry less because I accept that traveling leads to situations I have no control over. I just need to get to where I want to be. That’s all that needs to happen for me to calm down.

Anxieties are exhausting.

I thought I’m a fun, spontaneous person and for a time I tried to be like that because that’s what people liked. But I can’t smother the slightly neurotic planner that I am—I just have to be on top of things. I worry about details and the “what if this or that happens.” And I overwhelm people with my questions and concerns which makes me very uncool. But the upside is once I’ve ironed out a plan, I make stuff happen. And it will happen as long as I stay quiet about it beforehand.

Dream Job

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

We’ve all been there. We’ve all been asked that question by our teachers, annoying aunts and godparents. As kids, we usually gave the usual answers—pilot, teacher, doctor, lawyer. But there were also those wise-ass toddlers who would say a tri-syllabic profession, like architect or astronaut.

Now that we are older and expected to be functional members of society, (and I’m talking to my peers here who are going through some imagined or self-inflicted quarter-life crises) we still get asked the same question—only this time we ask it of ourselves. And then we realize that what we want to be is oftentimes different from the jobs that we have.

Based on an in-depth research of my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram timelines, I have deduced that 95% of my peers don’t have their dream jobs. I rarely see someone post a status about how much they love their work. For those who insist they do, what they probably really mean is that they love the perks and benefits of their job, and not the work that they actually get to do. And then there are those who  convince themselves that they love their jobs like Emily in The Devil Wears Prada.

What people mostly talk about are their hobbies. Everyone has a hobby these days. Everyone’s dabbling in one thing or another, perhaps hoping to find that one thing that will make them happy.

Three things make me happy: food, travel and writing. And it would be so amazing if my job involves all of those in a great orgy of happiness. So I want to thank the inventor of television for introducing me to these people who have my dream job.

I was probably eight or nine when I first saw Susan Calo-Medina on Travel Time. She was either at a beach or on top of a raft floating on a river with waterfalls in the background. I cannot, for the life of me, remember. All I knew was that she was in a vacation-y looking place. I was amazed because all this lady did throughout the show was marvel and talk about the place where she’s at, eat good food, and have fun.

susancalo-medina1

I wanted to be her. I wanted to get paid eating lanzones during the Lanzones Festival, swimming with butandings, or having some tribal lady weave me a fancy mat. Who wouldn’t want a gig where you get to travel across the archipelago? She obviously loves what she does because Travel Time is still airing today.

When we got cable, I was the kid who hogged the remote and channel surfed during commercial breaks. One time I flipped to Discovery Channel and saw this American host talking to Filipino-looking ladies. I was curious on why the Philippines was being featured in a Discovery Channel show. So I watched the entire show about the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban and hat’s how I got hooked on Travelers.

Aside from introducing me to foreign travel destinations, what I liked about Travelers was that it was hosted by a group of people instead of just one person talking to the camera. It gave the impression that traveling was more fun when you’re with friends, even though the hosts are usually off doing different things separately in an episode anyway. But when they do get together, they looked like they enjoyed each other’s company.

Travelers was more relaxed and playful compared to Travel Time which can feel like a lecture sometimes. My favorite hosts were Michelle Krusiec and Robin Kipp and my favorite episode was the Tomatina Festival episode in Spain.

Most travel shows are like Travelers in that they’re upbeat with hosts who have sunny dispositions. These shows make it appear like traveling is easy and vacations are always enjoyable which most frequent travelers know is not true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URXSsNEQZJM

Enter Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef turned writer turned host. Here is a self-centered man who is brash, opinionated and isn’t afraid to say when he’s not having a great time. He is more concerned with local food than sightseeing. He prefers to eat in food courts, wet markets, or on the street.

In his show No Reservations, he showed us that traveling is exhausting, that the destination won’t always be picture perfect, and that the food won’t always be great. It doesn’t sound like a great pitch for a TV show but he made it work.

I like how No Reservations was a travel show where viewer discretion was advised probably because Bourdain had no qualms shutting people down, said profanities on camera and occasionally got himself in trouble during his trips. He is also almost always drinking.

“I write. I travel. I eat. And I’m hungry for more.” That’s how Bourdain introduces himself. I am making it my mantra for life.

Images via, via, via

Ayutthaya, Asiatique and a little bit of red light district

For our second day in Thailand, we got up early to catch the Special Express train leaving for Ayutthaya at 5:45 am. The train was air-conditioned, offered reserved seating, and, to our welcome surprise, included breakfast. Here’s the train schedule from Hua Lamphong to Ayutthaya train station if you plan to go there too. We hired a van to tour us around Ayutthaya.  If you’re on a budget, you can opt for a tuk-tuk instead.

Wat Chaiwatthanaram

Ayutthaya used to be a Siamese kingdom so there are a lot of temples and ruins. I haven’t been to Cambodia but I have seen pictures. And the ruins in Ayutthaya reminded me of Angkor Wat.

If you’ve read my Korean blog post, you would know that we don’t go for guided tours. So while other tourists were getting schooled about why some of the Buddhas’ heads were missing, we came up with our own story. There’s this complex of ruins where a big Buddha statue lorded over numerous smaller, headless Buddhas. Our short story went like this: The tiny Buddhas have had enough of the big Buddha’s dictatorship so they staged an uprising. But the tiny Buddhas were not unified in their attack so they lost and were beheaded for their rebellious act.

The other story we concocted was that Ayutthaya was conquered by outside forces and took over the kingdom. To show the people of Siam who the new rulers were, the conquerors defiled their temples by removing all the Buddha heads from their bodies.

Aside from the ruins, the other reason why we went to Ayutthaya was to ride an elephant. Animal rights activists do not support this trade because they said that mahouts or elephant trainers torture elephants to make them obedient. But if you really want to ride an elephant, based on this blog, make sure to patronize a camp where the elephants are not chained up when they’re not giving rides to tourists, that they get to interact with other elephants, and that they don’t exhibit rocking which is a symptom of distress. Luckily, the camp in Ayutthaya satisfied all of those things except that they gave rides on the back of the elephant, not on the head, which is a no-no.

All those concerns aside, riding an elephant was definitely a unique experience. You had this calm beast working its way around a city, crossing the street and avoiding cars like it’s no big deal. It was walking on the sidewalk like a good pedestrian. It was so cute. I felt like waving to everyone because this ride made me feel like I’m a Thai princess in an ancient city. Our elephant’s name is Thaeng Mo (I don’t know if I’m spelling it correctly). She is four years old and is very calm unlike the other elephant Lola. Lola is quite a personality. She doesn’t care: She will stop and eat when she wants to, and has no qualms about posing in front of a camera.

Lola, the mahout, Matt and mother

After the elephant ride, we dropped by the other temples. But since they all pretty much looked alike, we didn’t bother exploring all of them anymore. Plus, we only had bread for breakfast and were starving so we finished the tour after seeing the 16,583,493th Reclining Buddha in Thailand.

Our lunch was another experience altogether. We had spicy papaya salad, pad thai, a seafood platter and this AMAZING seafood curry. I want to say the elephant ride was the highlight of our Ayutthaya tour but the lunch was a very, very close second. I tried to look for the name of the restaurant and I’m sure I snapped a photo of it, but I can’t find it right now. What I can tell you though is that the restaurant is just across the train station and near a 7-Eleven store. Find it, guys.

Moving ovens called trains

The train going back to Bangkok was so much cheaper than the Special Express train, and for one torturous reason—it was a moving oven. Ordinary trains had no air-conditioning and was free seating (read: free standing). There were ceiling fans for ventilation and fresh air came in from tiny windows. Again, this was the height of summer so just imagine all that pent up heat inside a steel carriage packed with passengers at two in the afternoon. The most fascinating thing that we observed during this hot ride was that the locals weren’t sweating despite the heat, and that none of them reeked of body odor. We were the ones who probably smelled bad and for that we are sorry, people of Thailand.

I made a new friend during our train ride.

That night, we went to Asiatique The Riverfront for dinner. From our hotel, we walked to Saphan Taksin train station where there’s a free boat ride to Asiatique. It’s a great place to go if you want to do some night shopping. It’s a combination of small stalls selling bazaar items and shops of cute Thai brands.

From Asiatique we went to Soi Cowboy, which is one of the popular red light districts in Bangkok. This is where they filmed some scenes of The Hangover Part 2. It’s just a short strip of clubs with lots of foreigners and girls showing off their wares. We chanced upon this lady opening up her legs in front of a potential client. I guess they do this so that the customer can check whether they have the right sexual organs or not, because in Thailand, you can never be too sure if you’re dealing with a real lady or a very pretty boy. I wonder what Buddha has to say about prostitution in Thailand?

Read the first part of our Thailand trip.

Summer in Bangkok: The Grand Palace, Wat Pho and a Tuk-Tuk Ride

You shall not pass.

Our trip to Thailand did not start off smoothly. We went there to celebrate Jonas’ birthday and the birthday boy almost got left behind. We bought his ticket months before, when he was still based in Cebu so his flight was Cebu-Manila-Bangkok. Come February, he was assigned back to Manila. We thought we could still use the same ticket, but they cancelled his flight because he failed to check-in in Cebu. They had to make us wait until there was only 45 minutes left before they allowed us to check-in our baggage. We also had to buy a one-way ticket to Bangkok for Jonas which cost as much as his round trip flight. But we pushed it so it’s all good. The lessons learned: read the fine print and do not book connecting flights. Just book two separate flights instead.

Hurray! Celebratory pose because all of us made it.

I am embarrassed to admit that I am one of those people who expected Thailand to be dirty and chaotic because of The Hangover Part II. But once we arrived at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, I knew I was wrong. I really shouldn’t have judged too early because Bangkok is so much better than Manila infrastructure-wise. Their airport is bigger with better facilities. Their roads are clean, well-maintained and not peppered with potholes. I was jealous and felt a little bad for the Manila. Excluding airfare, our budget for our four-day stay in Thailand was Php15,000. We stayed at Holiday Inn, Silom at a discounted rate thanks to Matt.

Point and shoot.

Our first order of business when we arrived was to eat. We found this cafeteria-type food court near our hotel. The vendors and customers knew little to no English so we didn’t bother asking what kinds of food were available. We just based our orders on what they looked and smelled like, and copied whatever the locals did.

What’s for brunch? These things. I don’t know what they’re called.

Thai food uses a lot of spices and it’s so fragrant. It’s too fragrant that I think I can taste flowers in some of their food. We also tried some of their drinks. One of them was like a very sour raspberry juice then the other was like a combination of some sort of tea with hints of what a smelly sock would taste like. It was weird but I enjoyed it after a few sips and managed to finish the whole glass. We had mango sticky rice for dessert to cap off our cheap but flavorful Thai meal.

Mother’s face says it all.

After brunch, we went to the Grand Palace. When I was researching about the Grand Palace, I read that there was a dress code. No sleeveless and midriff-baring tops. No shorts or miniskirts. And no slippers. But when we got there, there were tourists wearing shorts, flip-flops and sleeveless tops. We went to Thailand during Holy Week which was the height of the summer heat. I regretted wearing jeans that day.

The Grand Palace is not so grand. Sure it was expansive and the designs on the walls, floors and ceilings are intricate when you look at it up close but it still wasn’t impressive. But then again we don’t have any palaces in the Philippines to rival Thailand’s Grand Palace so who am I to not be impressed? Maybe it was the heat or the great number of tourists that took away from the experience. But it’s one of those places you have to visit just to get it out of the way. All I’m saying is, The Grand Palace is not a place you would come back for.

To add to the typical Thailand tourist experience, we rode a tuk-tuk to Wat Pho. I was surprised that tuk-tuks are battery-powered and are actually pretty fast vehicles. They are way, way better than our tricycles.

Matt and the Giant Reclining Buddha

Wat Pho is the temple that houses the giant Reclining Buddha. You won’t really do much there except take a picture with the Reclining Buddha in the background. That is it. I read that there’s a good Thai massage place around Wat Pho but we were over the whole thing. We skipped the dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya river because it was a little expensive, we were tired, and we still had an early start the next day for our Ayutthaya tour.

Let’s go back to Seoul!

Annyeong and welcome back, friends! Have you booked your tickets to Korea? Of course you have. You just don’t know it yet. Let’s continue our Seoul adventure and hope that this time, no one gets lost or left behind. Aja!

The rain came pouring down on our fourth day, so we decided to go somewhere indoors; we ended up at the National Museum of Korea. It was an impressive building on the inside because it was so bright. But apart from that, the museum houses the usual fare of artifacts enclosed in glass cases. The food at the food court was good though, and a lot of cute souvenirs could be found in the gift shop.

Speaking of cute, we headed to Insadong after our pseudo-cultural excursion. Now this place is “Cute Central.” Most of the trinkets being sold in shops lining the stretch of Insadong’s main road and its arteries were unique and handmade– things you won’t find anywhere else. And so the prices were understandably a bit steep. I went crazy over these handmade metal earrings because no two designs were the same. The earrings didn’t even have matching pairs, which was super cool. It wasn’t shopping day yet so I just feasted my eyes on them.

Umm…speaking of cute…

Hesed said he was tired and would rather go back to the hotel. And he did, of course. The rest of us decided to walk from Insadong to Namdaemun Night Market. It was the best worst decision we made during our trip. From Insadong we walked about half the length of Cheonggyecheon, where we spotted couples warming each other by using their bodies in the cold night, beside the cold stream. By the time we reached the east end of the stream, my bladder was already sending me “I need to pee” signals.

More canoodling couples along the Cheonggyecheon stream.

We weren’t sure where to go after Cheonggyecheon. We crossed over the road immediately before us, saw a police station, and asked for directions. It was of little help though since we couldn’t understand each other. The officers just kept pointing to the right. We followed their direction. We passed by Seoul City Hall and Daehanmun, the main entrance of Deoksugung Palace.

After a couple of minutes, we found ourselves in a hilly part of the city, all the while looking for a public restroom because my bladder was about to burst any minute. It was torture because I was thirsty from all the walking, and I wanted to drink water. But that would make the situation worse. It was almost midnight, so the air was colder than what we had been used to up until that point. Also, I was wearing a skirt so if the wind blew, the cold air would reach my nether regions. I remember screaming, “I need to pee so bad!” every so often. Miraculously, we eventually reached Namdaemun. However, all the stores were already closed.

Namdaemun is a little dingy. It has the vibe of Binondo, but much cleaner. And you don’t fear about getting stabbed or killed any minute. But for some reason, all of us enjoyed that failed excursion.

This lovely ahjumma found us–probably pitied us–and told us that there was no night market. She then clung to my arms, and dragged me to her food stall. We had dumplings, kimbap and eomuk guk again. We found a restroom at a closed gas station at the end of the road. I was so afraid that it would be locked. Luckily it wasn’t, and so I proceeded to have one of the best pees I’ve probably ever had.

The next day, Hesed still wasn’t feeling up to touring, and decided to stay in the hotel and eat his fried chickens. We just told him to meet us in Insadong at 7 p.m. for dinner. We didn’t have reliable means of communication, so that’s how we met up. We’d agree on a time and place, and if you weren’t there, we’d leave. We were basically Neanderthals.

The following day, we went to Namsangol Hanok Village which is a traditional Korean village. Again, we didn’t go for guided tours and just looked around. There were games, dancing and other traditional activities you can participate in. Our main goal at Namsangol was to wear a hanbok. We had a blast pretending to be kisaengs (it’s like the Korean version of a geisha), kings, princesses, emperors, slaves, peasants or scholars. We were also lucky enough to watch a traditional Korean wedding. If I’m not mistaken, they hold weddings during the weekends at around noon. We walked further uphill and found this grey circular stone that had congratulatory messages carved on it. The huge rock was a gift from different cities around the world to Seoul for its sixth centennial anniversary. For some reason we felt so comfortable there, and kept saying that that stone attracted positive energy. So we stayed there for a while, laughed and talked about how our trip was going so far. We went our separate ways after: I went with Matt to Dongdaemun and enjoyed a potato corn dog; the rest to Yongsan to buy gadgets.

Matt eating a potato corn dog at Dongdaemun.

The last day is always shopping day. We had different plans so we set off in pairs. I returned to Insadong, and then went to Dongdaemun with Matt. The guys went to Daehangno, Itaewon and Myeongdong. We didn’t plan on it, but we bumped into each other at Doota Mall in Dongdaemun. We checked each others’ shopping hauls and talked about how our day went.

We had our last meal in Korea at a Caffe Bene branch right across our hotel, and reflected on our trip. We had an informal discussion, where we aired our grievances to each other–what dramas and bloopers we won’t tolerate next time, and what attitudes that needed to be changed. Some of us (a.k.a. Matt) got annoyed at the weirdest things, like believing that uttering a specific word will cause bad luck. I for one knew that I need to stop losing my shit whenever I get tired and/or hungry.

We had fond memories of Korea, and we talk about it constantly. I’m definitely going back because I did miss out a lot. I want to go to Hongdae, Itaewon and Myeongdong, too. I want to push the DMZ tour. I want hole-in-the-wall experiences. I miss the weather. I want to shop just for myself this time. And if our original plan for next year doesn’t push through, I’m definitely going to Korea as Plan B.

Read the first part of our Seoul trip.

Annyeong! Let’s all go to Korea!

My friends and I occasionally talk about the places we want to visit. Japan is a dream. Most of us agree that a Europe tour would be amazing. Backpacking in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam is another option. We wanted to go somewhere we haven’t been to—preferably somewhere with a different climate, and one that doesn’t require a visa or impose stiff requirements. In early 2012, we decided to go to Seoul, South Korea. We agreed on the dates (October 24-30, autumn season) and waited for a seat sale.

One early morning in March, I read a text message from a friend saying that Cebu Pacific was offering ₱1 flights to all international destinations. So I grabbed my laptop and checked if the discounted airfare applied to our chosen dates. And while the return flight wasn’t on sale, I still decided to book seats. Our round trip ticket to Korea cost around PHP6000 which wasn’t so bad. But we didn’t celebrate fully because we still had to secure our visas.

Getting a Korean visa is easy as long as you submit all the requirements. There’s no need to set an appointment and no interviews either. And for Filipinos, visa application is free if you don’t intend to stay for more than two months. You can submit your application at the Korean Embassy from 9-11 am. They’ll ask you to come back after a week. And if there are no issues with your requirements, you’ll get your visa on that day too. I actually had to go back twice because they asked me to submit supporting documents. I was so stressed! But everything worked out.

We were psyched(!!!) when we saw the visa stamped on our passports. We were finally going to Korea for sure. We even intended to have a Korean appreciation/orientation day where we’ll watch Oldboy and talk about Korean culture and all that shit. But it didn’t happen because people got busy before the trip and we couldn’t match our schedules. So a few of us just noted the places we wanted to visit and made a very loose itinerary. For those concerned about budget, we allotted PHP40,000 for our seven-day trip. It was definitely more than enough. I spent PHP30,000 on food, accommodation, transportation, and all the entrance tickets and still had 10,000 left for shopping. First thing you need to do when you arrive in Korea is to get a transportation card at the airport. I suggest T-money because it has the least limitations and you can use it in convenience stores too.

Stepping out of the airport that night was the best (cold) feeling ever. There was a shuttle from Incheon International Airport to our hotel. We thought at first that the fare from the airport to Seongbuk was KRW1000 (PHP40) which was absolutely cheap because the airport was around 40km away from our hotel. We realized later on that the KRW1000 was the amount left in our T-money and that the fare was actually KRW14000. We stayed at Holiday Inn Seongbuk at a highly discounted price. (Thanks, Matt!) Still giddy, we walked around the neighborhood. We ate at Lotteria which is their version of McDonald’s/KFC combined. We saw a convenience store still open and I bought banana milk because of course.

On our second day, which was the official start of our tour, we had a problem with communication. I brought two phones, one is a Globe prepaid line and the other one was a Smart postpaid line. I had to request roaming services for my Globe prepaid. The Globe subscribers said that their lines were set to auto-roaming, but none of them could get a signal. Due to delayed visa application, one of my friends, Daivey, had to stay in a hostel in downtown Seoul. Before we went our own ways the night before, we agreed to meet at the Korea University train station at around 9am. That morning, Daivey wasn’t there. I texted her but she didn’t reply. Apparently, there was a 30 to 45-minute delay in receiving the messages. We learned that the easiest way around this is to send a text message to someone in the Philippines and have that person forward the message to Daivey. We eventually found each other at Lotte World.

Lotte World was fun. The two rides that made my day were the Gyro Drop and the Bungee Drop. Riding the Gyro Drop was a personal success. I was about to chicken out but my friends pushed me to do it and I’m so happy they did. Some of them rode the Gyro Swing too but I’ve had my fill of adventure that day so I begged off. Whatever you do, DO NOT RIDE THE SWING TREE. It’s like Enchanted Kingdom’s Flying Fiesta but THE WORST. We ended our day eating some amaze grilled chicken skewers (dakkochi) and sipping on fish cake soup (eomuk guk) from a paper cup in the streets of Apgujeong. It was so fucking good in that cold night.

The next day we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace. Our schedule was more synchronized this time with Daivey going to our hotel and all of us leaving together. Things were going great until one of us (Hesed) got left behind when we had to transfer lines at Dongdaemun station. Hesed’s one of those people who just goes with the flow. His mindset is, “I’ll just follow you wherever.”  So we were running down the stairs to catch the train and he was just behind us. The doors closed. We felt exhilarated in our little adventure and then someone asked, “Is everyone here?” And then we saw Hesed waving from the platform. We were worried because he had no idea where we were going AND we had to transfer again to a different line after two stations. Ruther and Isaac went back to claim Hesed at Jongno o-ga station which was the next station from Dongdaemun.

That’s Hesed on the left. And that’s me with the guys who found his lost soul.

We all made it to Gyeongbokgung. Our original plan was to visit at least two palaces but Gyeongbokgung was so vast and picturesque that we stayed there for the entire day.We walked, talked, took lots of photos, and basked in the fact we’re in this beautiful place in this perfect weather. We never participate in guided tours. We just made our own stories about Gyeongbokgung. Sometimes we’ll hear something interesting from the tour guides and we’ll relay it to the group. So we really didn’t learn much about the history of Gyeongbokgung. But that’s what Google and Wikipedia is for, guys.

We had grilled pig intestines for dinner. They were so good. After dinner, we went to N Seoul Tower. We had an inkling that Korea is a place for lovers because of all the couples we saw at Lotte World wearing matching shirts. But N Seoul Tower takes it to a higher level, literally and figuratively. There were dried grass formed to make a heart shape, seats made for two, trees made of padlocks symbolizing a wish or promise to your sweetheart, and tiles with love messages. As the night wore on, the number of couples canoodling increased. And I guess PDA is encouraged in N Seoul Tower because we saw benches in between the trees with little to no lighting. Have at it, lovers.

Everyone was tired from walking all day. We knew we had to walk 5 to 7 minutes more from the train station to our hotel so someone suggested that we take a bus instead. They said they saw some buses stopping near Holiday Inn. I wanted to just walk because we weren’t sure of the bus routes. But some of the guys wanted to push it and I was too tired to argue. Lo and behold, we rode the wrong bus. Or maybe it was the right bus but going the opposite direction. The driver then asked us to alight, trying his best to explain why in his limited English. All we understood was that we had to get out of the bus. Luckily, he let us off a bus station near a university. I was in no mood to ask for directions so I just sulked. We were able to ride a bus that dropped us to a different train station so we still ended up walking.

Read the next part of our trip to Seoul.

Bantayan Island Day 2: The Quest for Caves

Must eat: Bantayan danggit, a less salty yet more flavorful dried fish than the ones in Cebu City

Our goal on the second day of our Bantayan Island getaway was to visit Ogtong cave and swim in freshwater. It’s not that we were tired of swimming in the beach but more because of I want to experience swimming inside a cave. Sadly though, swimming in the cave is only allowed for checked in guests at the Ogtong Cave Resort. According to the receptionist, this is a DENR directive to preserve the quality of water inside the cave. Walk-in guests can still enter the cave for 100 pesos and take pictures inside. The entrance fee also includes swimming rights to the resort’s pool if you really want a dip in the water. We decided not to see the inside of Ogtong Cave anymore if we didn’t get to swim anyway since there’s one more cave in the island that’s said to be bigger than the one in Ogtong. This cave is located at Bantayan Island Nature Park and Resort which is 30 minutes away from the main beach area.

We had a hard time deciding whether we will push through visiting that other cave because we found the price a little steep (500 pesos round trip). One thing about Bantayan: getting around the island will burn your travel money fast. If you can avoid riding the tricycles to get to where you’re going, you can save a lot. For those who can ride a motorcycle, you can rent motorcycles in your hotel or at one of the stalls along the main road on an hourly or daily charging. They also rent out bicycles which is what we did. Bikes are 35 pesos per hour and 150 pesos per day, which is not bad considering a 10-minute tricycle ride will already cost you 80 pesos. If there’s one thing I regret in our trip, it’s not renting out bicycles from Day 1 not only because of the money we could’ve saved but also because it was so much fun and freeing getting around the island on a bike.

The road to Bantayan Island Nature Park and Resort is not paved so we were bouncing inside the sidecar throughout that ride. Very hard butt massage we experienced on that trip. We visited on a Monday and lucky for us, that’s when they rehabilitate the water so no one is allowed to swim. We were butt massaged for nothing. But since we were there anyway, we decided that we might as well see the cave for a 75 pesos entrance fee. And it was a letdown. I thought that there will be some spelunking involved but it was basically just a hole in the ground with some water in the bottom.

Cave at Bantayan Island Nature Park and Resort

We ended our day on a low note BUT I would definitely go back to Bantayan and next time I won’t stress about seeing and experiencing all the things the island has to offer. I will just stay on the beach, drink a cold mango smoothie, probably read a book and ride my bike out whenever I get hungry. Here’s a photo of Sisig-Stuffed Squid from Zubuchon to make us all happy:

YES.

Read the first part of our trip to Bantayan.

Welcoming summer at Bantayan Island

I have visited Cebu multiple times last year yet I only got to see its beaches this year. I went to Moalboal last January which is in the southern part of Cebu. But to start off the beginning of summer, I decided to go up north and visit Bantayan Island.

Bantayan is five hours away from Cebu City if you include the waiting time, so if you’re planning to go there, I suggest you wake up early and ready your butts for prolonged sitting. To get to Bantayan Island from Cebu City, go to the North Bus Terminal and take the bus bound for Hagnaya. The air-conditioned Ceres buses cost 150 pesos. I love riding provincial buses because you’re forced to listen to cheesy songs you wouldn’t willingly listen to like April Boy Regino, Air Supply and Freddie Aguilar. But for people with low tolerance for this, definitely bring something to entertain yourself because it is a long ride.

The bus ride takes almost three hours, the last stop of which is at Hagnaya port where you will purchase your ferry tickets to get you to Santa Fe port. Our bus which left at 6:20 am arrived just in time to catch the 9:30 am boarding for the Island Shipping Ferry. A ticket to Sante Fe port is 170 pesos plus 10 pesos terminal fee. This will not be first class accommodations so be prepared. Basically you’ll be sitting on long plastic chairs for an hour, hopefully not nursing sea sickness.

Once you get to Santa Fe port, you will be bombarded by porters and tricycle drivers offering their services to take you to your hotel or better yet suggest a hotel where you could stay in. We researched for hotels in Bantayan and liked these three based on pictures and reviews: Anika Island Resort, Ogtong Cave Resort and Cou Cou Bar, Hotel and Restaurant. We went to our first option Anika Island Resort because it’s the hotel directly in front of the beach. We were lucky and got their last available courtyard room which is 1500 pesos per night.

Beachfront of Anika Island Resort. Photo courtesy of Mr. Lopsided.

Anika Island Resort is one of the main reasons that I would want to go back to Bantayan. I was very impressed. Even though their courtyard room is tiny, it is still very comfy and cozy. I always love it when I get to stay at a hotel or resort that uses white bedsheets and they had that as well. Plus the room is very clean and all the appliances are working. I also love their attention to detail because they have showers outside and a faucet on the foot of the stairs so that you could wash off the sand before you climb up to your room. And there’s always a staff of Anika cleaning the beach from seagrass that washed up on the shore unlike the other resorts in that area.

Bantayan Island boasts of sand as fine as powder and they were not kidding. It is the kind of sand that you could easily wash off, sand that doesn’t hurt your feet or knees, sand that’s almost as soft as clay when it’s wet that you can attempt to make a ceramic mug out of it. I could just lie on that soft sand all day and bake under the sun. Just one thing though, the water smells a little like gasoline by late afternoon, probably because of the ferries that dock at the Santa Fe port.

Super fine and soft sand at Bantayan Island

We capped off our evening with dinner at Ogtong Cave Resort which is 20 minutes away from Anika by pedicab. A pedicab or padyak, as the locals call it, is just a bicycle with a sidecar attached to it. You can also take a tricycle to Ogtong Cave Resort for a faster trip but we decided on a pedicab for a change of pace. I really enjoyed this pedicab ride because it epitomized life at Bantayan – slow, relaxed and quiet. The night was cold but comforting, and the moon shone brightly, its light peeping every so often in between the leaves of coconut trees. The smell of grilled fish pervaded the island. And the road was quiet and dark broken only by the sounds of motorbikes driving by or the barking of dogs.

Anika Island Resort at night.

If you want a relaxing summer vacation, Bantayan Island should definitely be one of the places you should consider visiting.

Read Day 2 of our trip to Bantayan.