Travel
Weekly Updates
It was a spring holiday this week for my school, so I have decided to travel to the Philippines to Joyce, originally as a surprise to Joyce for her birthday, but it was blown like literally the second day after I booked my flight, so, no surprise there.
It has been quite a longed trip for me because I really do love the Philippines, not quite sure how to put it, but even though the country is a little backwards, the environment is dirtier than what I have been accustomed to, but ever since the first time I went there I really fell in love with the place, it is a place that makes me feel home, even though it's not my home, I just feel so relaxed when I'm there.
I travelled there for one week, and this one week is a much needed week for me after all the busy days that I've been through. I really needed a break, even though it came with a hefty bill and literally burnt a hole through my wallet, I still think it's worth it.
Anyways, this time Joyce and I planned a trip for ourselves, an official trip, not a spontaneous road trip. We initially planned to travel to Dumaguete, just a few hours drive and a ferry ride away to the south of Cebu City, but we decided to call that off as it looked too small for a 2D1N trip, so eventually, we settled with Iloilo City instead.
The trip to the Philippines this time is a little special for me as this is the first time Joyce and I actually rode a plane together and travelled, also, this is the first time I finally booked a flight with Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air, both of which I have been wanting to fly with for a long time, and I've gotten both this time.
Well, flying with Philippine Airlines is overall a pleasant flight for me, the service is considered good, but I felt like the airline is more oriented towards a low-cost carrier instead of a full-fledged airline, comparing it with airlines like Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines. But still, their service is good, their in-flight meal was acceptable (I had something with chicken), and I had some red wine on the flight, for free, of course, which is also, of course, a first-time experience for me.
Back to the Iloilo trip, it actually started with quite a bad experience, in which our flight - with Cebu Pacific Air, actually got delayed for around 4 hours. The PR handling of the incident was, to say the least, not good. The 4 hours delay was actually the total delay, we arrived at the airport at around 7am thinking that we are running a little late, but upon arrival, we got the announcement saying that the flight will be delayed for 30 minutes for additional servicing work to be done on the aircraft, but over an hour after the scheduled boarding time, there weren't any updates on the situation and we were kept waiting, until some passengers grew more impatient and started to talk to the ground staff, only then they announced once more that the flight would be delayed even more, there were a lot of scolding that went on after the second announcement for delays, at the end, we boarded the plane at around 1pm instead of the scheduled 8.30am.
Anyways, the flight to Iloilo was actually fast, in less than an hour after takeoff we landed at Iloilo International Airport, even though we flew with a prop-plane. The airport is definitely much smaller in scale compared to Mactan-Cebu International Airport, more so than compared to NAIA (as a side note, even though NAIA is the largest airport in the Philippines, its interior definitely looks very old, it may not be good to say this, but the terminal of NAIA, at least the one that I went to during my transfer, is the least appealing I have ever been).
We rented a car to get around in Iloilo (renting a car is what we do for road trips, as public transport in the Philippines leaves something to be desired). The city proper was filled with old and historic buildings, just like the old town in Ipoh, except they are under-maintained, making them look old and a little creepy at night since the city proper itself is not really well-lit, but I do love the city for its full-of-history atmosphere.
The city itself wasn't too crowded too, without crowded streets, honking everywhere and dirty air everywhere like Cebu, I really liked it. I read one thread online regarding Cebu City, it was mentioned that Cebu City is a failure in city planning, after comparing the two cities, I feel like there might be a truth somewhere in the statement itself. With a metropolitan population of almost a million, the city is relatively quiet, I feel like Ipoh, with around the same population, is actually more crowded. Some of the dispersion roads are well built and are very wide, the air is clean, the roads are not overcrowded, and interestingly, the city does not have a lot of traffic lights - not that I have seen much, installed (at some intersection they are installed but does not work), even at intersection where two 4-lanes roads meet, so it does require some attention while driving.
The city was also interesting to me for it doesn't use Cebuano, it uses their own language called Hiligaynon, which according to Joyce, sounds half Cebuano and half Tagalog, Joyce has been a translator for me throughout the whole trip in Iloilo, and also, this is the first time I actually went outside of Cebuano-speaking area in the Philippines, which is quite an experience for me, considering I haven't been to a place where I really couldn't understand anything for a very long time.
The food in the city was great, in which their staple dish, La Paz Batchoy was a blast to my picky tastebuds. I originally thought that batchoy is a vegetable kind of dish (as I mistook it as Bokchoy), and I was a little shocked when I saw it was actually soup noodle. We had Buko Batchoy (soup noodle in a coconut), as our first meal in Iloilo, and it was really delicious, and to be honest, I haven't been trying a lot of traditional Filipino food (more of the street food kind of Filipino food) because Joyce wouldn't let me, and to be honest, it's quite dirty. But this time in Iloilo, I got to try many Filipino dishes that are normally eaten on a family dining table, not like Jollibee most of the time. There, I actually fell in love with Filipino dishes, with their sour kind of taste, I really loved it.
The city itself, of the area in general, was packed full of centuries-old churches, mostly remnants of the Spanish colonial era, and it was just gorgeous. Personally, I really like old buildings because I really like to see with my own eyes, the places that people, who are (probably) mostly (definitely) dead, has been to, and all the stories that have unfolded in those places during the centuries. This is one of the reasons why I really like the city, and I felt happy that we have chosen to travel to Iloilo over Dumaguete.
Surprisingly, during a roam around the city proper, I was able to find schools and Chinese commerce association in the city, it was only then I learned of the city's Chinese name of 怡朗 yi2 lang3, which only has a one-word difference from the Chinese name of Ipoh, 怡保 yi2 bao3. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to come across Chinese-speaking Filipino there (though I bumped into a Filipino-Chinese family in NAIA and I heard them speaking in Hokkien, which differs quite a lot from the Hokkien that I know of).
More interestingly, they are still using Traditional Chinese characters in the Philippines, which Chinese speaking areas out of Mainland China and Taiwan are using less and less.
#8 Short Trip to the Philippines
Short Trip to the Philippines
#itsmorefuninthephilippines
It was a spring holiday this week for my school, so I have decided to travel to the Philippines to Joyce, originally as a surprise to Joyce for her birthday, but it was blown like literally the second day after I booked my flight, so, no surprise there.
It has been quite a longed trip for me because I really do love the Philippines, not quite sure how to put it, but even though the country is a little backwards, the environment is dirtier than what I have been accustomed to, but ever since the first time I went there I really fell in love with the place, it is a place that makes me feel home, even though it's not my home, I just feel so relaxed when I'm there.
I travelled there for one week, and this one week is a much needed week for me after all the busy days that I've been through. I really needed a break, even though it came with a hefty bill and literally burnt a hole through my wallet, I still think it's worth it.
Anyways, this time Joyce and I planned a trip for ourselves, an official trip, not a spontaneous road trip. We initially planned to travel to Dumaguete, just a few hours drive and a ferry ride away to the south of Cebu City, but we decided to call that off as it looked too small for a 2D1N trip, so eventually, we settled with Iloilo City instead.
The trip to the Philippines this time is a little special for me as this is the first time Joyce and I actually rode a plane together and travelled, also, this is the first time I finally booked a flight with Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air, both of which I have been wanting to fly with for a long time, and I've gotten both this time.
Well, flying with Philippine Airlines is overall a pleasant flight for me, the service is considered good, but I felt like the airline is more oriented towards a low-cost carrier instead of a full-fledged airline, comparing it with airlines like Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines. But still, their service is good, their in-flight meal was acceptable (I had something with chicken), and I had some red wine on the flight, for free, of course, which is also, of course, a first-time experience for me.
Back to the Iloilo trip, it actually started with quite a bad experience, in which our flight - with Cebu Pacific Air, actually got delayed for around 4 hours. The PR handling of the incident was, to say the least, not good. The 4 hours delay was actually the total delay, we arrived at the airport at around 7am thinking that we are running a little late, but upon arrival, we got the announcement saying that the flight will be delayed for 30 minutes for additional servicing work to be done on the aircraft, but over an hour after the scheduled boarding time, there weren't any updates on the situation and we were kept waiting, until some passengers grew more impatient and started to talk to the ground staff, only then they announced once more that the flight would be delayed even more, there were a lot of scolding that went on after the second announcement for delays, at the end, we boarded the plane at around 1pm instead of the scheduled 8.30am.
Anyways, the flight to Iloilo was actually fast, in less than an hour after takeoff we landed at Iloilo International Airport, even though we flew with a prop-plane. The airport is definitely much smaller in scale compared to Mactan-Cebu International Airport, more so than compared to NAIA (as a side note, even though NAIA is the largest airport in the Philippines, its interior definitely looks very old, it may not be good to say this, but the terminal of NAIA, at least the one that I went to during my transfer, is the least appealing I have ever been).
We rented a car to get around in Iloilo (renting a car is what we do for road trips, as public transport in the Philippines leaves something to be desired). The city proper was filled with old and historic buildings, just like the old town in Ipoh, except they are under-maintained, making them look old and a little creepy at night since the city proper itself is not really well-lit, but I do love the city for its full-of-history atmosphere.
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| A city full of historical gems |
The city itself wasn't too crowded too, without crowded streets, honking everywhere and dirty air everywhere like Cebu, I really liked it. I read one thread online regarding Cebu City, it was mentioned that Cebu City is a failure in city planning, after comparing the two cities, I feel like there might be a truth somewhere in the statement itself. With a metropolitan population of almost a million, the city is relatively quiet, I feel like Ipoh, with around the same population, is actually more crowded. Some of the dispersion roads are well built and are very wide, the air is clean, the roads are not overcrowded, and interestingly, the city does not have a lot of traffic lights - not that I have seen much, installed (at some intersection they are installed but does not work), even at intersection where two 4-lanes roads meet, so it does require some attention while driving.
The city was also interesting to me for it doesn't use Cebuano, it uses their own language called Hiligaynon, which according to Joyce, sounds half Cebuano and half Tagalog, Joyce has been a translator for me throughout the whole trip in Iloilo, and also, this is the first time I actually went outside of Cebuano-speaking area in the Philippines, which is quite an experience for me, considering I haven't been to a place where I really couldn't understand anything for a very long time.
The food in the city was great, in which their staple dish, La Paz Batchoy was a blast to my picky tastebuds. I originally thought that batchoy is a vegetable kind of dish (as I mistook it as Bokchoy), and I was a little shocked when I saw it was actually soup noodle. We had Buko Batchoy (soup noodle in a coconut), as our first meal in Iloilo, and it was really delicious, and to be honest, I haven't been trying a lot of traditional Filipino food (more of the street food kind of Filipino food) because Joyce wouldn't let me, and to be honest, it's quite dirty. But this time in Iloilo, I got to try many Filipino dishes that are normally eaten on a family dining table, not like Jollibee most of the time. There, I actually fell in love with Filipino dishes, with their sour kind of taste, I really loved it.
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| Buko Batchoy |
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| San Jose Church (Built in 1873, the original church was erected in 1607) |
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| Molo Church (Built in 1831) |
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| Miagao Church (Opened in 1797) |
Surprisingly, during a roam around the city proper, I was able to find schools and Chinese commerce association in the city, it was only then I learned of the city's Chinese name of 怡朗 yi2 lang3, which only has a one-word difference from the Chinese name of Ipoh, 怡保 yi2 bao3. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to come across Chinese-speaking Filipino there (though I bumped into a Filipino-Chinese family in NAIA and I heard them speaking in Hokkien, which differs quite a lot from the Hokkien that I know of).
More interestingly, they are still using Traditional Chinese characters in the Philippines, which Chinese speaking areas out of Mainland China and Taiwan are using less and less.
Joyce and I went also to Garin Pilgrimage Farm, which is, interesting, to say the least. It's basically a farm, filled with Christianity, Jesus and God, literally.
Well, overall, it has been a fun trip, and it made a fun spring break for me. To be honest, this is the kind of trip that I really enjoyed, I do not like to go to places full of tourists or something, I have always loved to travel to places, and try to live the life as similar as the locals, even if it just for a very short time. I like to travel to places, mostly big cities, but at the same time, they preserve their historical heritage. A city like Iloilo for example, there are areas in the city in which some skyscrapers are sprouting, but at the same time, the city itself has preserved a lot of its historical buildings, in which it makes a huge contrast in the city itself. Walking in a city like this is like walking through a time tunnel, which brings you across times modern and ancient. This is the ideal kind of travel which I love.
All and all, the Philippines is really a fun place, and I do look forward to the next time I pay my visit to this gem of a country.
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