Third Time is the Charm, Vietnam: The Halong Bay Cruise

It was my third time visiting Vietnam;  apparently, I enjoy going there. Haha. Well, actually I’ve visited Ho Chi Minh twice, first with my family, and the second time with my friends.  Still with my friends, this time we visited the northern part of Vietnam, Hanoi, where Halong Bay can be found. Halong Bay is declared as one of the recent 7 Wonders of Nature. This is my second of the 7 Wonders of Nature, the first of which I was able to visit was in my hometown, the Puerto Princesa Underground River. That visit actually inspired me to add a goal for myself, which is to visit all the 7 Wonders of Nature before the age of 30 *crossing fingers.

 So it was really good timing the JE decided to book Hanoi during one of the Cebu Pacific Seat sale. I think we booked it as early as March of this year, and the fare costs us only about P3500. This time, JM volunteered to arrange the itinerary for our tour. She was able to find a travel agent, the Halong Phoenix Cruise, which provides Halong Bay cruise plus hotel accommodation in the city. The package only costs about $170 per person, which includes the cruise with complete meals and tour, plus one night accommodation in Asian Ruby Hotel in Hanoi.

Finally November came, and we left Manila on a Saturday evening. Funny thing during the flight, as Cebu Pacific hosts games for passengers. The game was to name three things that start with the letter, and when they asked name 3 colors that start with P, J was the first one to raise his hand. He was able to give Pink and Purple, but got stuck for a while. IV tried to help, and gave… guess what? Puschia!!!! LOL. Epic Fail!!! I actually thought of Prussian blue but was not really sure if there’s such a color, good thing J was able to think of Peach. Yey! He won a travel pouch. The other question was a female name that ends with O, and IV was the chosen one. Again, he was an epic fail, and couldn’t think of anything. I helped him and gave Rosario and Mercado, and JM thought of Chikito. Hahaha. Good thing they accepted it as the last 2 names are actually not female names. Haha.

So we arrived at Hanoi at around 1 in the morning, and we were supposed to be picked up by our hostel. However, I think there was a misunderstanding, and they couldn’t pick us up so we resorted to getting an airport taxi. One of the crew there approached us and got us a cab. When we got in the car, he got in and told us we need to pay $10 each for the fare. I actually thought that was pretty shady, and asked if we could pay half first, and pay the full fare when we got into our destination. But he was adamant that we pay the full amount, so we had no choice but to pay the $10 each. After paying, he went out and our driver got in and drove us. We were actually worried that he would ask us for payment again once we arrived, but good thing he didn’t. So I could still trust Vietnamese after all. Haha. Our first accommodation is the Travel Mate, which is just a hostel since we would just be staying a few hours until our Halong Bay cruise. Again, our rooms were not booked properly, and they only have available room, while the other one is not yet clean. JM and I stayed in the clean room, and the boys stayed in the other room. Haha. The room costs $15 only, and he gave us discount for the unclean room and charged us only $12. Again, just like in Ho Chi Minh, breakfast consists of the airy hard French bread, some butter and jam, and coffee. The plus side is the breakfast includes a sunny side up egg, the downside is the coffee taste like just a 3-in-1 coffee, not their authentic Vietnamese coffee which I love.

At around 9 in the morning, the Halong Phoenix Cruise picked us up from our hostel. We picked up other guests along the way. During our travel, Anh our tour guide (Anh again? That was also the name of our tour guide in Ho Chi Minh, but this time she’s a girl) asked each of us to introduce ourselves. JM and I actually didn’t want to do it as we our antisocial, but we really had no choice. Based from the introduction, there were 2 Singaporean girls, 2 American Senior ladies, 2 Aussies (one from Iran, one from Brazil) and a Spanish couple living in Singapore at the moment.  The travel lasted for about 4 hours, with one stopover halfway in a souvenir shop/ convenient store. There were lots of native crafts decorations.  We were not actually hungry so we just bought their local delicacy which is like candied cashews with sesame seeds, which we discovered when we visited Ho Chi Minh. 

Halong Phoenix Cruiser Vietnam

Vases at Rest Stop to Halong Bay Vietnam

Finally after a couple of hours from the rest stop, we arrived at the port where we rode a boat to bring us to our cruise. When we arrived, they served us drinks first and gave us keys to our room. After checking in our rooms, which I may say looks nice but a little small, we returned to the dining area. There were no more vacant tables, and we shared the table with a Gay couple. We were actually not sure if they are gay, but from the looks of it, they are. Haha. Awkward. I don’t remember what they actually served for lunch, I think there were tofu, pork and fish, and of course a Vietnamese course would not be complete without veggies. We didn’t try the fish, because we were too lazy to debone it. Haha. After lunch, we were given some rest time before our tour begins. We will visit a cave and an island where we could swim. We took the chance to take pictures on the deck during our rest time. It was so cold, good thing my officemate warned me that it might be cold and I was able to bring some cardigan and long sleeves. 

Port to Halong Bay Vietnam

Phoenix Cruise Halong Bay Vietnam

 After a while, Anh called us for our tour. We rode a smaller boat to get to the cave. The cave was beautiful, with formations just like our Puerto Princesa Underground river.  The upside was that, it was properly lit and paths were already made for tourists, unlike our Puerto Princesa underground river where it was pitch dark, and just lighted from the lamps bought in the tour. The downside was the tour guides were not as witty and imaginative as those of the Underground river. So we just use our imagination to create our own formations. The funniest we’ve thought of was a meringue (a Filipino sweet delicacy), “flag ceremony” and shit all over. Haha.

Cave at Halong Bay Vietnam

Cave at Halong Bay Vietnam

After the cave tour, we transferred to an island where we could swim, but since it was cold we didn’t want to swim. There was actually a tower on top of the island where you could the Halong Bay from top view, but since it was already late, it was already dark and the path leading there is not actually lighted, so we decided not to go. Since we didn’t have anything else to do, we decided to entertain ourselves with IV and I racing. If I win, he will have to treat us drinks tonight. But since IV was tall, I couldn’t beat him, but the race was pretty close. JM suggested that I started 5 seconds ahead, and I was able to beat IV at that instance. Haha. That race actually made me miss running; as that was one of the things I enjoy and know I’m somewhat good at when I was a kid. I was not really the sporty type, but I do enjoy running.

Halong Bay Vietnam

After that, we go back to our cruise boat since it was already dark and started raining. When we arrived back to our boat, they served us some fruits and coffee. We then went to our own rooms, took our baths and then it was time for dinner. More food was served for dinner, consisting of pork, chicken, beef and I think fish. After dinner, it was time to get drunk and sing at the karaoke. At first, nobody wants to sing, and some Singaporean group urges us to sing since they knew we were Filipinos. After a few shots, IV finally relaxed and was brave enough to sing. I was waiting for this, as they told me he gives total performance when he’s drunk, and true enough he did. We were teasing him that he was secretly in love with me since he was always pointing at me while singing. He sang Gold, Uptown Girl, Alone and many others.  When IV got tired of singing, we joined the gay couple and Aussie girls outside. We learned that the gay couple is Belgians, one is 39 and the other is 25. They were such a cute couple. Hehe. The Aussie girls are actually from Iran and Brazil, aged 25 and 27. We shared different stories, bumming over local cigarette, called Sapa, which JM said tasted like mud. Haha. Funny thing was the younger Belgian knows only about the Philippines, is that we crucify our people. Such third world. Haha.

At around 12 midnight, we decided to call it a night (so early. Haha). The next day, good thing we were able to wake up for breakfast. They served us both American and Vietnamese breakfast. After that, we bummed around for awhile on the deck again, they it was time for some kayaking. JM and IV were lazy, so it was only I and JE. At first we can’t get the hang of it, and we were just going in circles. Haha. Anh taught us and after a while, we got the hang of it. Anh went ahead with the Aussie girls and the Spanish couple, while us and the Singaporean girls we left behind. After a while, we were able to catch up with the pack. On our way back, JE got competitive and wanted to at least beat the Singaporean girls. Haha.

Kayaking at Halong Bay Vietnam

After that, it was time to check out from our rooms. We hurriedly took our baths and packed our things. Then they taught us how to make their famous spring rolls which they served for lunch. Yey, I finally know how to correctly make them, as the last time I tried making it, it ended up as some steamed dumplings. Haha.

Lunch was served, and then it was time to go back to the city. We boarded the smaller boat again to reach the port, then another four hour drive back to the city. We arrived at Hanoi where they dropped us off to our hotel, the Asian Ruby Hotel included in the package.

The Adventures of 2 Girls in 2 Countries - In Between

I wanted to have a separate entry for this as this one of those experience I'm sure I will never forget and learn from, especially on traveling.

So we left Universal Studios at around 9pm which we thought would be enough time since our train will not leave until 11:30. What we didn't foresee was everyone else was going home and there was a long queue for the train leaving Universal Studio. Before we know it, it was already past 10pm when we reached our hotel. We just immediately packed our bags and checked out. We tried waiting for a bus, but it took us a long time, so we tried to hail a cab. We didn't have luck on that either as the taxis we're not stopping or didn't want to let us ride as the train station was just really nearby. We had no choice but to wait for our bus again. We then ride the MRT again until Woodlands, which is where the train station is. The MRT ride took forever and when we finally arrived at Woodlands it was already 11:30. What's worst is that we don't know where exactly the train station to Malaysia is.

We asked some of the cab drivers, and they don't know it as well. Finally one cab driver knows and so he brought us there. And when we arrived, the train has already left. Apparently, they're not following Filipino time, which is always late. Haha. I was kinda expecting it. We then asked one of the crews there and he suggested to ride the bus and try to catch the train on its next stop. We did that, and to our dismay, we're still not able to catch the train. What was worse, was that I didn't know we already had cross the border, and we're now at Johor Baru in Malaysia.

The crews suggested that we just take a bus going to KL Sentral where we're suppose to meet N in the morning. So we took another cab to take us to the bus station. The driver looks shady and his air conditioning was not working, either that or he just didn't want to turn it on and just open his windows. Anyway, we're able to arrive at the bus station where some guys immediately offered us some tickets. I really didn't trust them but M was talking to them, and before I knew it, we're already paying them RM 100 for our bus tickets.

I thought that was going to be the end of it, and we'll be able to go to KL Sentral. However, when we ride the bus, the conductor told us to go down and told us we're not allowed to ride the bus. We showed him our tickets, but he said that's not valid and that the bus was full, which is evidently still has some available seats. F@$%, we just got ripped off. How stupid of us. But I immediately accepted that fact, and just wanted to move on and ride the bus. We said to the conductor that we are willing to pay again just to get on the bus. I even pleaded to him to help us, but still, he was hard on pressing that the bus is full.

We tried looking for the guy who sold us the tickets, but we were not lucky. We tried asking the ticket stores if we can still buy tickets, but they said it was already the last bus. One of the sellers tried helping us and talked to the conductor but other guys are butting in. I felt like a ball being pass around.

In the end, the bus left without us and we had no choice but to wait for the earliest bus at around 6 am. It was only around 1 am, and we had to wait 5 more hours. Good thing there was a 24hour McDonald's where we decided to stay. The guys still keep bugging us and offering budget hotels where we could stay. Of course, we didn't trust them and just told them we'll just stay put to wait for the bus. Finally, they left us alone.

After some time, there were other customers, among which 3 young guys looking at us. I told that to M, and we got really paranoid. But we had no other place to go to so we just stayed there and made sure our belongings are safe.  Finally, after eating and waiting for a while, the 3 guys finally left. We wanted to actually pee, but we didn't know if it's safe to go outside. M said that there was actually another middle aged man looking at us, and he looks like someone who's planning something. When we went outside, he even followed us.

Good thing, we met 2 Filipino guys who's also waiting for the bus, so we asked them to stay with us. We learned that one of them was looking for work in Singapore and they had to cross the border so he could have a fresh visa in Singapore. The time past by excruciatingly slow, but finally we're able to ride the bus at RM35 each. The bus was not as comfortable as the Nice bus, but it was not the time to be choosy.

Finally at around noon, we arrived at the bus station. We didn't exactly know where we are, but it's the station for both train and bus. We told N where we are and he said he's gonna pick us up there.  N finally arrived, and we were able to eat, go back to his house to take a bath and pack our things. We're suppose to drop by the Shell office so he could show it to us, but he decided to skip that to make sure we didn't miss our plane. Haha. Finally, we arrived at the airport, bought some chocolates for pasalubong, wait at the boarding area where we meet up with O again.

Our flight got delayed, as expected, and we arrived at Manila at around 11pm already. Better to be late than never. I never expected this trip would be such a disaster, I expected things like this will happen probably in Europe where I plan to go backpacking and hop on different countries. I guess this is how really adventures go, you really can’t expect everything to go smoothly. We just have to get past this, isolate this experience and moved on.  We are just thankful to be able to go home in one piece, safe and sound. 

Previous: The Adventures of 2 Girls in 2 Countries - In Singapore

The Adventures of 2 Girls in 2 Countries - In Singapore

The bus ride from Malaysia to Singapore takes about 6 hours. We traveled via Nice bus which was booked for us by N. The bus was very comfortable, with ample space and reclining chairs. Food was also provided, mainly just some sandwich and water. M and I were asleep for most of the trip. There were 2 stops, one in the Malaysian Immigration and the other one in the Singapore Immigration, where they had to stamp our passports and checked our luggage. The processing was smooth, and the officers didn't even ask me anything. After about another half hour drive, the bus drop us off on one of the bus stops on beach road. It was about 6 in the morning, and M and I realized we didn't have any local currency yet. First fail of the day. Haha.

We were suppose to exchange our money to Singapore dollars in the immigration but it slipped our mind as we didn't see any money changer.  There was a shop where crews are cleaning up so we ask them if there's any money changer nearby. They said there is, but it will not open until around 9 in the morning. They were actually Filipinos, but they were not too friendly. M wanted to pee, so we ask them that and the girl said she could pee inside but she didn't look too happy about it. They should not have mentioned they were also Filipinos, because I was expecting them to be helpful and friendly, but they weren't. Anyway, since we were in front of the Parc Hotel, M and I decided to try our luck there. Good thing the receptionist was a Filipino again, and this time she was very helpful. The hotel is suppose to just allow currency exchange to their guests, but since we're Filipinos she allowed us. We just exchanged our $50 for the meantime, just enough for us to get by for the meantime.

After that, it was time to find our hotel, the Fragrance Hotel in Lorong 10, Geylang. We ask around for the bus stop going there, and after some going around in circles, we finally found the bus stop and look for our bus. Since we didn't have any bus card yet, we paid in cash. Good thing the bus driver was really friendly, and asked us where we needed to be. He said he's gonna tell us when we were suppose to get off the bus.  He dropped us off along Geylang Road in Lorong 1. We had to walk several blocks as our hotel in at Lorong 10. After much walking again, we found the Fragrance Hotel - Sunflower, which is like just a 5 storey small building.

We asked the receptionist if we could check in early, it was like just 8 in the morning, and the check in time is around 2 pm. Unfortunately, he said there's currently no rooms available yet. We also asked if we can just cancel our 2nd night, since we're planning to go back to Malaysia on Saturday. He said we would still charge the 2nd night as cancellation needs to be done 3 days before, and I said I've already sent an email and there's no response. He said he's gonna check and get back to me on that. He wasn't really friendly as a receptionist should be. But anyway, we had no choice but to just leave our baggage in their baggage area and just freshen up for the day. M and I didn't really know where to go, with just SGD 50 in our pockets.

We decided to go to the MRT station, buy our MRT cards, which cost SGD12 each which you can consume the SGD 7. The card can be used to both train and bus, so that's very convenient. How we wish we can have something like that in Manila. Haha. We then road the train to Harbour Front to go to Sentosa. We were at the Kallang Station, the green line, then transfer to the purple line to reach Harbour Front.

We ate McDonald's at Vivo City, then waited for the shops to open so we can exchange more Singapore Dollars. We were still so sleepy and we had to do more walking. We did some window shopping, and I ended up buying my Spain Jersey. We haven't toured around yet, and yet I have already started shopping. Haha. It was lucky for us that the sales lady were Filipinos again. They let us borrow a charger for M's phone and stay there for awhile. After that, we finally found the Sentosa Express. The ride will cost SGD 3, if I remember correctly, which would also serve as the entrance to the park.

Sentosa Express

Sentosa Entrance

We didn't really bought any tickets to any attraction, except for the Skyride, since I had already experienced them on my first trip to SG, and M was not really interested as most of them can be found in Manila.

Sentosa has different recreations and attractions, such as the Imbiah Lookout where you can find the famous Merlion and ride the Skyride. There's also the beaches and Siloso Point. And of course, the Resorts World which houses the Universal Studios.

Sentosa Merlion

Sentosa

Sentosa Luge & Skyride

Sentosa Sky Ride

Sentosa Palawan Beach

After much roaming, M and I wanted some ice cream since it was really really hot. We checked the Magnum in the 7-11,and to our surprise, it costs SGD 5. That's like P150, and it only cost P50 in Manila. So I checked out Haagen Dazs which also costs the same. So we decided to just go for Haagen Dazs of course. After cooling down, we decided to ride the tram to see the other areas.

After that, we decided it's enough to see for the day and decided to meet up with M's friend to see other attractions of Singapore such as the Marina Bay Sands and Orchard Road. We did so much walking that I can almost hear my feet screaming " I give up, I don't wanna walk anymore." Hahaha. We decided to eat at Popeye's for some very late lunch.Then our next stop was the Bugis to check the Bazaar's. We then decided to call it a day and return to our hotel.

Marina Bay Sands

Singapore Wishing Fountain

We finally were able to check in our room. It was small, with a queen size bed, a small TV and an even smaller bathroom. I really don't expect much from our hotel, since I was used to staying at budget hotels, and I had even stayed at smaller rooms. But M was surprised, and she said it was the least nice room she had stayed so far. But anyway, we were so dead tired so we just lay on bed and watch TV for a while. The Wimbledon was on, and it was Federer vs. Djokovic, sweet. After a few sets of tennis, M and I decided to set out again to check the night life. We went to Marina Bay again to take some pictures of it during the night. It  was more beautiful with the lights turned on, and I didn't know that Singapore also has a city skyline along the harbor. It reminded me of Hong Kong. 

Singapore Sky Line

Singapore Louis Vuitton

Singapore Ferris Wheel

Marina Bay Sands at Night

After shooting, we decided to go to the Food bazaar. I saw that there's also kiosks that serve Filipino foods. They must be getting popular, as more and more Filipinos are working in Singapore. We really weren't hungry so M just ordered some soda. It was then time to call it a night and return to our hotel. We rode the bus again, and we're expecting to alight along Lorong again. However, we didn't saw any familiar area along the route, so we  didn’t alight the bus. After more and more stops, we decided it's time to get off the bus as we know we're far away from our stop and we're lost. We really aren't street smart eh? Haha. We decided to just cross the highway and just take a cab going home. We told ourselves we won't ride a cab since it's expensive but we had no choice as it's already around midnight, lost, and there's no more buses. Good thing, it's only like a 10 minute ride, although it's still expensive as there's also additional fee, as it's already late, like a night differential. Haha

The next day we woke up at around 8 in the morning to start our day fresh. We ate breakfast at one of the Chinese hawkers. We ordered some congee, dimsum and bread with melted cheese on top. It was really yummy. After our delicious breakfast, M and I decided to stop at Little India as her aunt is asking her to buy some curry. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find the curry she was looking for. We were checking an accessory shop when the rain suddenly poured down, hard. We were stuck in the shop for a while, so I just bought some accessories for myself, 2 pairs of earrings and a bracelet, all for just SGD 10.

After the rain has stopped, we then head out to Universal Studios. We rode the different attractions such as the Shrek 4D show, the Madagascar ride and Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure where we got really wet. We ate lunch at the food court of the Jurassic Park, where I ordered a kiddie meal with dinosaur shapes nuggets  and comes with a free lunch box. Haha.

Universal Studios Globe

Singapore Far Far Away Land

Universal Studios Madagascar

Universal Studios Jurassic Park

Universal Studios Rapids Adventure

Dinosaur in Jurassic Park Food Court

After eating our late lunch again, it started raining and we learned that they're gonna close the roller coaster ride. Too bad. So we decided to just go to the Transformers, which is the ride I'm looking forward to. The queue was very very long, and we had to wait for almost 2 hours, not kidding. It really tested our patience. The ride was so much fun, where you had to pretend you're helping out the transformers and fighting other autobots.  It was such an adrenaline rush especially with like the free fall feeling. The downside was the ride only lasted 6 minutes, was it worth it to wait for 2 hours?

Universal Studios Transformers

After that it was already night time and we didn't have much time to see the other attractions. We just roam around a little, have our pictures taken with betty boop and the wood peckers , ate our dinner and it was time to head out. We were suppose to go to the Marina Gardens, but since there was no more time, we decided to just go back to our hotel. And this is where it really got interesting...

Universal Studios Theater

Universal Studios Dancers

Singapore Candylicious

Previous: The Adventures of 2 Girls in 2 Countries - In Malaysia
Next: The Adventures of 2 Girls in 2 Countries - In Between 

The Adventures of 2 Girls in 2 Countries - In Malaysia

Or better yet to say, MISADVENTURES. Haha

M invited me to go with her in Malaysia, since one of our teammates was a volunteer in Shell Eco Marathon Asia which is being held in Sepang Circuit. Since there was a seat sale in Cebu Pacific, I agreed to go with her. Our flight cost about Php 4800 each for the round trip.

We left Wednesday night, and arrived at the KL Low Cost Terminal at half past midnight. N, our Shell MY colleague, picked us up since we're gonna stay with him to save up on hotel accommodation. We stopped by to eat some snacks first in like one of their hawkers, before going to N's house in Puchong. His house is big for a bachelor, with 2 or 3 guestrooms. We stayed in one of the big guestroom where M and I shared a bed. We slept at almost 4 in the morning, then woke up at around 7 since N said we should be leaving at 8.

We left N's house at about past 8, then stop at one their hawkers again for breakfast. N then dropped us off the Sepang Circuit to check out the Eco Marathon. We were supposed to join in the pit walk where guides will tour as around the circuit to see the different areas. They noticed that I was wearing a sandal, they said I need to wear safety shoes so one of the tour guides tried to look for safety shoes for me. He bought us in one of the rooms to wait, but when he returned he said we couldn't join the pit walk since we're also wearing dresses, and they are requiring guests to wear pants to be able to go inside the pit. Haha. He was really really sorry and I said it was ok and we might just go shopping to buy pants.  First fail of the day. Haha. Since we can't go inside, we just went to the 2nd floor in the viewing area.

Shell Eco Marathon

Shell Eco Marathon Sepang Circuit

Shel Eco Marathon Testing Pit

Shell Eco Marathon Pit

 After much strolling around the areas we're allowed to, we ran to one of our colleagues S. She volunteers to take pictures of the pit for us, and call our teammate L as well. We invited them to go to Genting  Island on our last day since N suggested we do that. We exchanged numbers and went our separate ways.

Since the Sepang Circuit is outside the city, we had to find a way to go to KL central where we'll start our Hop on Hop off city tour. Good thing one of the security managers talked to one of the transport providers and agreed to drive us to the airport where we could ride a bus going to the city. Cab going directly to the city would cost about RM 150, that's why they suggested that we just ride the bus from the airport going to KL central. Our ride will only cost us RM 40, plus the bus ride which costs about RM 8. We had to pretend we were students as the Security Manager told them we were so he'll give us good rates. Haha

After just about 15 minute cab ride and one hour bus ride, we finally arrived at KL Central. It's already almost 2 in the afternoon and we haven't eaten our lunch, so we decided to eat first before starting our tour. We decided to just eat at KFC, which is just inside the KL central. M and I both ordered the 1 piece chicken meal which comes with like Hianese rice and coleslaw. We only ordered the Original recipe since we were afraid the Hot and Crispy will be too spicy for us. When we're about to eat, we realized that we didn't have gravy. We didn't know if gravy is part of their palette  so we looked around the other tables. There seems to be small plastic containers of sauces,  we assumed it was gravy so we asked for gravy from the bus boy. He doesn't seem too friendly and it took him awhile to give us the gravy. Their chicken is a little bland for our taste.

After asking a few people, we were able to locate the bus stop for the Hop On Hop Off tour. Basically, the Hop on Hop off are double deck tour buses roaming around the city, stopping at tourist attractions. The ticket is valid for 24 hours, and you can hop off at any station, then hop on again to a different location on any Hop On Hop Off bus. The tour costs RM 38 for a ticket valid for 24 hours, while RM 65 for 48 hours. It covers around 40 attractions, such as the National Palace, China Town, Museums, Bird Park, Titiwangsa Lake, and of course shopping malls, with 22 stops all in all.  We didn't really got into any of the attractions since we didn't want to pay. Haha. So we just went down the bus where they allow us to take some pictures, such as the National Palace, Titiwangsa Lake and Petronas Twin Towers. 

Malaysia National Palace

Malaysia Building

Malaysia Tower

Malaysia Titiwasang Lake

Our last stop was the Bintang Walk, which is the central area for shopping. We immediately saw the Vincci shop and went crazy over shoes. They were cheaper compared to buying them in Manila, and even far better since they were on sale. It costs just about Php 500 for a pair of shoes, sweet! I bought 3 pairs of shoes, while M bought 6. Talk about being shopaholic. Haha. After that, we roamed around the different malls to buy souvenirs and do more shopping for ourselves. Haha

Vincci Shoes

When we went outside, it was raining and we didn't have an umbrella. We had no choice but to buy an umbrella from the vendors selling on the street. We bought the clear umbrella that I really wanted for a long time. Hehe. Since I felt hungry, we hanged out for awhile at a coffee shop first for some doughnuts and coffee.

After that, we decided to go to Petronas Twin Tower since it will look better at night. We asked the crew from the coffee shop and they said it's walking distance, so we decided to follow their advice. After crossing the busy streets of Malaysia and passing through more malls, we found the walkway leading to the Twin Towers. After walking and walking and walking hehe, we finally arrived at the famous Petronas Twin Towers again. It was indeed more beautiful at night.

Malaysia Petronas Twin Tower

After that, N picked us up and went back to his house in Puchong to freshen up and get our things for our trip to Singapore.   He asked us what time does our train leaves, and I said I think it's 11:30 in the evening. But when I double-checked our ticket, it says 11:00. F@#%, we're screwed. All this time I really thought that our schedule was 11:30, but turns out it's our trip back from Singapore to Malaysia. M and I didn't know what to do because it's already 10 by that time and it will take about an hour to go back to the city to catch our train. We didn't have a choice but to tell N the truth and he was just amused with us. He checked the net for buses, and called the Nice bus operator to buy us some tickets. He even paid for it himself, and didn't want us to pay him back. It was worth the story he can tell people about the 2 girls who missed the bus. Haha. So that's that, everything was resolved, even though we wasted our train tickets. We left his house and stopped to one of their local restaurants again for some chicken satay.  He even let us try some pig intestine or stomach satay, which is fine since I also eat that in Manila.

After that, he dropped us off the bus station and off we go to Singapore, where the adventure continues. Haha

Next: The Adventure of 2 Girls in 2 Countries - In Singapore

Puerto Princesa Underground River: My First of the New 7 Wonders of Nature

My last day in Palawan started way early. I had to wake up a quarter before 5 since our tour guide will pick us up around 5 in the morning to go to the underground river.  Good thing J and I decide to take our baths the night before so we didn't have to wake up early. The hotel agreed to pack our breakfast for us since we didn't have time to eat breakfast. We had to check out that morning since after the tour, we're going straight to the airport.

So our guide pick us up at around 5 in the morning and hit the road to the Underground river. The drive lasted almost 2 hours, consisting of long zigzag roads going up the mountain. I thought we're going to an underground river, why are we heading up the mountain? About half an hour from the river, we stopped at a souvenir shop and carinderia. We decided to eat our breakfast there.

After almost half an hour drive again, we have arrived at the port where we'll ride the boat going to the underground river. I think the office is still close, as it was not yet 8am when we arrived there. We waited for awhile before we were boarded to our boat. It was only about 15 minute boat ride to reach the Underground river. The scenery going there was beautiful with view of the mountain and some rock formations.

Sabang Bay

Finally, we arrived at the underground river. We transfer to a small boat carrying the 6 of us, plus 4 of the guys that we're in tour with, plus our tour guide who paddles the boat. The ones sitting in front will be the designated navigator, which is actually the one who will carry the lamp.

Welcome to the Puerto Princesa Underground River

Mouth of the Puerto Princesa Underground Cave

The cave was wonderful, with different stalactites and stalagmites formation. Too bad it was too dark inside, and since I was using a DSLR, which is "smarter" than digicams, it was difficult to take shots.My cam didn't know where to focus, with the little light coming from our lamp and just relying on the built in flash, I was only able to take a few decent shots.

 Our tour guide was very entertaining, describing each formation and relating them to different familiar things like vegetables and animals. 

Corn Looking Stalactite

Pterodactyl?

Puerto Princesa Underground River Stalactites

There were some rock formation like the Holy Family and a body of a sexy woman.

Holy Family

Sexy Body

There were parts with low ceilings, while there parts with very high ceiling and huge rock formation.

Low Roof

Huge Rock Formation

There also so many bats on the roof, but didn't bother the tourists at all. 

Bats in the Puerto Princesa Underground River

The tour only lasted about 45 minutes, where we able to see about 1.5km of the cave. The cave is actually about 7km I think, but it's very difficult to navigate to the inner parts of the cave and the tour is only allowed on the first 1.5 km.

It was worth seeing it. Makes you wonder how it was formed naturally, with all its beauty.

Puerto Princesa Underground River: New 7 Wonders of Nature

Going Out

 After the tour, it was sadly time to head to the airport to head back to Manila.  There was supposed to be a free lunch after the tour, but since there was no more time and they just gave us packed lunch.

The airport was very small, and when we arrived it was really chaotic. It took us a while to checked in our bags, as their printer is breaking down. When we were finally able to check in and pay the fee, we headed to the boarding area where it was still jam packed. We finally found seats at the back of the area, and decided to eat our packed lunch there.  

Of course, our flight had to be delayed again for about 1 and a half hour. Our flight was suppose to leave PP at 2 pm but at that time it still haven't  even left Manila. Good thing J brought cards, so we just played to past the time while waiting for our plane.

Finally at around half past 3 in the afternoon, we were able to board our plane and head back to Manila. A very tiring but fun trip. It was really short, and the schedule was tight. Next time, I won't recommend buying vouchers for travels as you have limited control over your time and itinerary. I'll just have to go back planning the trip myself. 

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