this brief sojourn through the philippines

Philippines, March 9 -13:

Thursday, 3/10
The moon is a Cheshire cat's grin in the sky tonight, bright against the black sky. The stars - well, they exist. Frankly, sometimes I forget, having grown too accustomed to city-living and nightlights. It has been a long time since I've seen so many stars, so bright.

Tonight, D and I are in Coron, Palawan, one of the many islands of the Philippines. It is a mountainous beach town, limestone mountains right up agains the ocean. It reminds me a lot of Nha Trang, actually, but less commercial and packed with tourists. Here, it is still rural countryside, quiet that is broken only by a cacophony of barking dogs and crowing roosters. (Here, the roosters alert you to whatever hour they please. On a side note, cock fighting remains legal in the Philippines, according to D.)



We've come far from the chaos of Manila. When I arrived at Clark Airport yesterday and took an hour and a half bus ride down into Manila, the guy sitting next to me and I made friends and held a number of interesting conversations about Asia, America, culture, internationalism, and a number of other things. One thing I mentioned was that all Asian countryside (through which we were passing at the time) look a little bit the same, and all Asian cities look a little bit the same as well. Manila reminded me a lot of Ho Chi Minh City with its packed streets and endless honking, the people milling carelessly through the jammed cars and motorbikes to cross where they could, like water stubbornly finding its way around a barrier of rocks. The tricycles (motocycles with a side-attached carrier seat) reminded me of the tuktuks in Cambodia (motorcycles with the carrier seat attached behind). But Manila definitely has a personality of its own: loud, poor, busy, struggling, thriving, shopping. Manila is composed of shopping malls everywhere you look, boasting the third and fourth largest malls in the world (behind the largest in Edmonton, Canada and the second-largest in Minnesota, I think).

I met M at Megamall yesterday and we chatted, had dinner, then met up with D, who took me to a friend's house to crash together for the night.

There are street boys on every busy corner, hailing taxis for anyone looking for them for a few pesos - as much as they can get. There are children everywhere, said D, because of the war the Catholic Church (so influential in a country that is overwhelmingly Catholic) wages against the reproductive health system. Condoms? For shame. It was fascinating to see how many people were actively Catholic yesterday, as it was Ash Wednesday and so many people passed by wearing ash crosses on their forehead. And so many more, without their crosses, still consider themselves Catholic. It was, to me, a sort of comparative exercise to Cambodia, where the people were overwhelmingly Buddhist with some Hindu influences. In so many ways we are the same, but in so many ways we are different.

Manila's public transit is a nightmare. The roads are jam-packed at all hours of the day, as are the trains. I have never retrospectively appreciated Singapore's MRTs as much; I will never again compare you to Seoul's and find you lacking! But we survived the MRTs, the trikes, the jeeps, the buses, the cabs (I've basically been on all forms of public transit in the Philippines within the first 24 hours), and made it to the airport to catch a short 40-minute flight to Coron.

We arrived around 1pm, checked in to our hotel, got lunch (chicken adobo, of course I will have pictures ltaer), and started on our city tour. We saw the harbor, the city center, and the cashew harvest factory - cashews are a major export here, a wealth that grows on trees. Plus, they are delicious. We trekked Mount Tapyas, which was really just a 726 step stair climb (or exercise in effusive sweating), and then, after we took a gazillion pictures to prove our success, made it back down to head to the hot springs. Natural salt-water hot springs surroundedby a mangrove forest - it was amazing to soak there after that mountain stair climb.




We soaked, we came back, we showered, we got dinner. We hit up a close-by Western bistro in our exhaustion which can be summed up thus:

1. 50 peso rum and coke - that is approximately $1. Did I get some? You bet I did.

2. SURPRISE MUSHROOOMS IN MY SPAGHETTI MEAT SAUCE. WORST SURPRISE EVER. :(((


Friday, 3/11
I have spent my time in the Philippines doing two things in particular: climbing up a lot of stairs and snorkeling.

Oh, and surviving death!

Well, this is only partly a joke in reference to the tsunami that was supposed to hit the Philippines, but it is morbid and in bad taste, so really it is not entirely a joke. We were lucky to be on the opposite side of the Philippines from where the tsuanami was supposed to hit, so despite being out on the water (in the water) all day, we saw nothing out of the ordinary and are totally safe and sound. D's boyfriend freaked out at her via text a bit, and I had a few people check in with me over email and FB, but all is well.

The other bit of death-defying mostly entailed almost but not quite drowning a few times while snorkeling today. Honestly, we spent more time in the water that out of it and it was for the most part a lot of fun. Every other time I've gone snorkeling, they've given us life jackets or life savers, but I suppose they are not mandatory...as we were not given them today. We survived, though!

In the morning we started our island-hopping tour with a tiny private boat - it was just the two of us, our tour guide, our boat captain and his (I guess) first mate.



It was like the Vietnam island-hopping trip except with much fewere people and with much more time in the water. I felt like I'd been brined, honestly.

We hit the Twin Lagoons first, which are connected with a tiny hole you swim under, only accessible during low tide.



There was a lot of beautiful coral and fish there and it was very quiet. Later we hit a different island, had a delicious spread for lunch (grouper fish, eggplant salsa, grilled pork chops, steamed crab), and lazed around a bit recovering. Afterwards we snorkeled some more, except this time we hit open water, and discovered the difficulties of snorkeling against a current determined to push you away from wherever you're going. For instance, your boat.

A third snorkeling site to see Skeleton Wreck, which was a Japanese ship that had been sunk during WWII; it was covered in coral and barnacles and seaweed. I really wish we had had an underwater camera...

A fourth snorkeling site, and then we turned to another island to make a steep hike up a mountain. This is the view from the top.



We went back down the other side of the mountain and found a lake! 80% freshwater Not so much to look at underwater here except rocks, though there were also shrimp wandering around and that nibbled at my feet and arms when I sat still long enough. A strange tickling sensation. It was cool seeing wild shrimp though (for lack of a better term); I thought of those paintings by Qi Shi and felt at once so cultured and so Chinese. It was a weird moment.

We hiked back up and down the mountain to return to our boat, then spent the last hour of our trip lazing at a tiny beach while D texted with her boyfriend to reassure him that, no, we were not about to be killed by tsunami, seriously. Our tour guide and boat captain were unfazed throughout the whole ordeal in any case. What a catastrophe in Japan though, that earthquake. I hope rescue and recovery go well and that people stay as safe as possible.

Back to the hotel for showers and dinner. We ate at a bamboo grill and had pork sisig, which is chopped up bits of pork face, pork snout, and pork brains! It was actually delicious.




Saturday, 3/12
No big news today and no pics to accompany. D and I crashed hard at 10 last night and woke up around 8 - a beautiful ten hours of sleep. We had breakfast at our hostel and then wandered into town for some coffee. Mmm, cafe mocha. We wandered back to our hostel to pack and check out and hit the airport around 11, since it requires about a forty-five minute drive. However, once we arrived at the airport, we discovered our 2 o'clock flight had been pushed back to 4, because the first flight was delayed and the airline/airport was so tiny that it only had one plane. So we sat and we waited and ate some cookies for lunch.

The flight was super quick - forty minutes and we were back to Manila. Essentially it went up, cruised for approximately fifteen minutes, and went back down. By this time we were starving for an early dinner, so we headed to a Japanese restaurant that D and her boyfriend frequent, and met up with her boyfriend M there. Food? Delicious. I love maki rolls, okay. I don't think I've had sushi since coming abroad, actually. I will have pics of our delicious foods later up on FB. Also miso soup, mm.

So the story of my Saturday night was a long bus ride from Megamall to Clark Airport around 9pm, meaning I arrived at the airport before midnight, when my flight leaves at 7:40am... (The morning bus doesn't leave until 7, and since it takes approximately two hours to get to the airport, I cannot take that one.)

Little are my life complaints though, after seeing the news this morning doing its full report of the impact of the earthquake tsunami (and resulting nuclear power plant issues) in Japan.


Sunday, 3/13
I am back in Singapore and I really don't want to talk about it. Let me shower and pass out, please and thank you.

Thank you D for making my Philippines trip as lovely as it was. ♥

这感觉 我不知怎麼形容

Yesterday, I had a really good Skype session with J. We talked about everything and nothing and it was a lot like our conversations back when we hung out in person. It was also just really nice to catch up with him and see how easily we slide back into our friendship. He is a lost cause for initiating contact ever and is horrible at staying in touch with people; it used to bother me but now I think I'm resigned to it and am willing to make that first (second, third) nudge because at least I know he'll always be willing, so long as I make that first step.

This also reminds me that I need to make more of an effort with my other friends though. Ahh, let me email or FB or something! I miss them too.

Last night, had dinner out with L & her new fiancé T, plus A and a bunch of L's other friends. We went for dim sum at Din Tai Fung, basement of Paragon on Orchard. Pretty delicious food, an overall really fun time. Ah, I don't always mind being social, you see!

Today, I'm off to the Philippines and the welcoming arms of M and D! What lies I have told you: the Vietnam/Cambodia travel write-up will clearly not be happening before I go.

能不能 给我一分钟 安安静静 跟你沟通

My chronicles of the trip through Vietnam and Cambodia are, in short form, chronicled via photos over on Facebook, part one and part two, for those of you who have access. For those that don't, erm, I am in the middle of uploading the pictures to a public gallery on Picasa and will share that later (sans commentary, unfortunately). Later this week I will attempt to write up a more detailed account of the trip, particularly all the thought-provoking bits and maybe some of the funner bits, if I can dredge up some humor from the midst of my exhaustion.

I am leaving for the Philippines next Wednesday, so I need to get the details sorted out. Mostly I need to figure out how to get from the airport into the city proper and then how to meet up with M and D. After the harrows of that first arrival, I should be fine because I'll be with D and traveling. I confess to being somewhat anxious about this trip because (1) traveling alone, (2) the Philippines are, hmm, not exactly the safest place right now, (3) language barrier potentially, and (4) lack of communicative device with either Mel or Danii. I suppose I can always just use my Singaporean phone because better to rack up some international text charges than be lost forever, right?

I'm a little bit sick - sore throat and a light cough. I expected it, to be honest, since I didn't sleep well for most of the trip, traveling in general is exhausting, and both A and L were getting sick by the end of the trip. I might have pulled through if not for the all-nighter with the papers. So tonight I plan on going to sleep in approximately an hour or so and hopefully I won't get worse than this and will be all better soon.

Plans to meet up with S tomorrow, P on Friday, and G this weekend. Potentially also doing lunch with L and A this week, so that is nice. ♥

这站就是我的家

From Vietnam, we have made it safely back to Singapore. In the vein of my fabulous life decisions, I am now left facing an all-nighter in which I must sit at my laptop and string together enough words in vaguely coherent sentences to suffice two essays. We'll see how it goes. I aim to pass, not to win the top grade (hah). My standards have been lowered significantly this semester, I feel, it being both my last semester and a pass/fail semester abroad. I am here for food and travels; school is just the pesky thing in between trips and eating. How annoying.

I had a lot of fun on the trip and we managed to cram a lot into nine days - I will definitely do a write-up of it and some of its highlights. Not until after I manage to get through this night and tomorrow, though. After tomorrow I will post pictures and do write-ups and maybe even dare to catch up on sleep or SJM.

Ahhh okay, off to work I go. So much laundry to do, but even that must be put off until after I make it through tomorrow and these essays. Thank god I have clean clothes to change into though. The little things you didn't know to appreciate until over a week of being dusty and travel weary.

Onward ho. Hope y'all have been well. ♥

a day at angkor wat

Angkor Wat is gorgeous, impressive, and exhausting to trek through. It is also ridiculously hot and dusty, oh my god. I have lots of pictures though! I will probably be spending my time online trying to write fic and essays instead of uploading them though - at least until I get back. They may be delayed a little bit too then, who knows.

Of note:

- so many Japanese and Korean tourists here! Chinese too. I keep hearing people talk in these various languages I know to varying degrees and it's kind of entertaining - today at Angkor, I listened to the explanation/story of Ramayana in both English and Chinese and was satisfied to discover that they matched up.

- being pale remains a positive/wanted quality in Asian girls by Asian boys, according to some Cambodian boy who chatted me up a bit while I was waiting for the others to get water. "I want a Chinese or Korean or Japanese girlfriend," he said, and I said, "What about a nice Cambodian girl?" But he likes the pretty white skin, he said. So that was, hm, awkward, informative, enlightening, and offensive all at once, I guess. Maybe flattering? Except, dude, I am so brown from the sun, so brown. SUN, WHY MUST YOU BE LIKE THIS.

- must acquire a map before I can write up my travels because I am awful at the names of all these places! We saw Angkor Thom today, so Bayon, Baphoun, and a few other temples, then Angkor Wat. Lots of pictures, as I said.

In other news, seriously I am going to be so fucking broke. I swear my parente budgeted me just enough to pay for housing and eat cheap meals twice a day. Traveling is expensive! Living comfortably and not like I'm on rations in Singapore takes a bit of money too! I'm sorry parents, there will need to be more money borrowed. What's another thousand? /sigh I know SS3 ate up a lot of my money - but that was money I spent mostly before I even got to Singapore... My budget, I am staring at it and I will make it work.

I will go get some juice now and then kill some time until we leave for our dinner/apsara dancing show. o/

these days of our past

Out of Vietnam and into Cambodia today! Vietnam was relaxing and fun, with a touch of sobering on the last day, when we visited the War Remnants Museum. It was also incredibly thought-provoking, though, to see such a blatant propaganda slant on the presentation of a part of a country's history. It impressed upon me more than ever, as did today's journey through Cambodia's Killing Fields and Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (dealing with the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime), that history is written by the victors.

I have many thoughts, really I do, but they need to be sorted out a bit first. Ruminated upon and such.

For now, a few comments on the days in Vietnam:

Nha Trang, Vietnam was beachy and gorgeous and so relaxing. With some snorkeling and a party boat with a floating bar too - that was fun. It was quintessential relaxing spring break, which was a nice way to segue into the break, since after that we hit the more sobering parts of the trip.

We returned to Saigon on an overnight sleeper bus (12 hours) and we had adventures in food - not great adventures, sadly. Nha Trang was much better to us in terms of food and drink. I did have delicious fish & pineapple after waiting way too long, bad coffee, and amazing soondubu jjigae (don't judge) that was not authentic but still good after a horrible first-order experience. Whatever. I survived though!

We went to the War Remnants Museum, which was an intellectually surreal experience, because while sobering and tragic (with pictures that made me choke up), the emotional human response is weighed from the other side by how blatant the propaganda political spin on the war is. History is written by the victors and all that. Thought-provoking at the least. Though I think we can all agree, politics aside, that Agent Orange and its effects were truly horrific.

On the bright side, our hostel has been extremely nice and clean and friendly, with lovely free steady wi-fi. Small perks.

We left this morning for a six-hour ride to Phnom Penh, whereupon we embarked on depressing tours, which I mentioned above. And here we are now, with plans to leave early tomorrow morning for Siem Reap. Be in touch.

club music is the soundtrack to this trip

One day boat trip to four different islands was fantastic. Snorkeling, floating bar, boyband live band, white sand beach, and one last island with aquarium! So much fun. Pictures and story later, I'm sure. Something about some boy with a really hot bod, yes. Something about all the free drinks. Something about how I am so not sober right now and having a lot of fun in beautiful Vietnam. ♥ Party hardy, babe.

Tally ho, Vietnam & Cambodia!

Hola, amigos! I'm off on my first out-of-Singapore trip to Vietnam and Cambodia over the course of 18 Feb to 27 Feb. It's our recess week (aka Spring Break) and I'm out here with L and A having a good time - meeting up with the boys in Ho Chi Minh City in a few day then going off to Cambodia. Right now we girls are in Nha Trang, Vietnam, which is this gorgeous (if touristy) beach town on the East Coast. We spent the day lazing around at the beach, with the hot sun tempered by the cool sea breeze. Have I said lately how much I love the ocean? I really do. I have determined I need to live within 3 hours of it no matter where I live - or at least close enough to do a day trip. Does this rule out Beijing? Oh I hope not. It doesn't rule out Singapore for sure.

We have had lots of delicious foods since reaching Singapore - plus a twelve-hour bus ride! Overnight sleeper bus! I have pictures. It was amazing - we got beds! Interestingly bumpy experience; L was up half the night afraid we were going to die. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling we were like caught in the middle of a hurricane. Looking at the window, I determined, nope, no hurricane.

I do have more interesting stories than that - and lovely pictures, I promise! - but really this is not the best time to share them, as I'm on spotty internet in the public hostel area. News and updates after the whole trip!

For now, let me just say, oh my god Torres, you absolute troll, ilu. Singing YNWA for your Chelsea initiation haze? Why are you like this? I knew I've always loved you. ♥