The In-Between: 14 hour layover in Taiwan

            It was hard to say goodbye to the Philippines but it was time for me to go. I had seen so much and done so much. Getting out of the country was a lot more difficult than I thought.

            I arrived at the airport and handed the man my itinerary sheet and passport and awaited my boarding pass for my flight. He asked for proof that I was eventually going back to the U.S and for some sort of card. I had neither. The guy was young; maybe 24 or 25 and he didn’t know what to do in this situation. He called his manager over, and he took my passport with him. During this time the young guy at the counter started making awkward conversation with me. He told me my name was pretty, but really long. He promised that everything would get figured out so I could go. I don’t know how he could promise that; but eventually the manager came back and approved giving me boarding passes so I could go.

            I thought everything was good but then I went to the next area. I knew you had to pay an airport fee but I thought it was only 450 pesos. I had 500 pesos leftover and a bunch of change. I thought I would be fine. To my surprise it really costs 550 pesos to get through. I counted my change and found that I had 509 pesos. I also had four American dollars in my purse. I went up to the person at the counter and offered them my pesos and American dollars in hope that they would be accepted. Luckily I was able to pass and given back 3 of the American dollars.

            I was so excited that I finally made it through all the security and get to my gate. There was one thing standing between me and the gate areas. One guard was waiting and you had to show him your passport. I showed it to him, he let me by, and as I was walking away he started hitting on me. He asked for my name and cat called a bit. I ignored him, made it to my gate, and was out of here.

            I thought the plane would be better; it was only a short 2-hour flight. I found my seat and got comfy. I thought it was strange that no one was in the window seat or the middle seat. Then at the very last minute a man came up to me. He had a very rough and angry sounding accent, probably Eastern European. He told me I was sitting in his seat. I showed him my ticket and told him that I was in the right spot. I looked at his and showed him that his ticket was for the window seat. He got very uncomfortable and grumbled about how he always asks the airplane company for an aisle seat. He got up to use the bathroom before the flight started and I scooted to the window seat; he was surprised and happy when he came back. Later during the flight I saw him clutching different parts of the seat. He was scared of flying. I’m really glad I switched spots with him because he probably would’ve been way more scared if he had to sit by the window.

            Finally I was in Taiwan. I had a 14-hour layover, which meant that my flight to Japan didn’t leave until the next morning. I contemplated leaving the airport and exploring Taipei but I decided against it. It was already dark, I didn’t want to have to exchange money, and I didn’t do any research about where to go and what to see. My airline had a specific lobby area for overnight transfers so I hung out there. It was a really nice area with couches, a shower, and a place to charge things. I had taken a blanket from the last airplane and got comfy. Time went by pretty quickly because I started watching some Game of Thrones and then slept. It wasn’t bad at all. After a long day of travel I was ready for Japan.

Taal Volcano, Malls, and Saying Goodbye

Being back in Manila was rough after coming back from Boracay. There was so much heat and humidity but no ocean to jump into. The city was suffocating at times.

Taal Volcano

We decided to get out of the city and go to Tagaytay where it was much cooler. Tagaytay is about an hour and a half outside Manila. The city is on some hills and mountains. When making your way up, the street is lined with little shops: some sell fruit, many sell handmade furniture.

When we were up pretty high we went to a restaurant called Josephine’s for lunch. The restaurant had a great view of the most famous thing in Tagaytay: Taal Volcano. There is a lake and in the middle of the lake is an island and a volcano. Inside of the volcano is another lake. Taal is an active volcano that hasn’t erupted in a really long time. I had never seen anything like it before. The scenery was beautiful.

Something less beautiful, that I saw a lot of on this trip, were malls. All of them were way bigger than the Fox River Mall. Many were bigger than the Mall of America. I saw the SM City North EDSA, which is the third largest mall in Asia. I saw the Mall of Asia, Greenbelt, TriNoma, SM Aura, and the Rockwell PowerPlant. Don’t worry! I didn’t see all these malls on the same day. I saw them throughout the week.

My favorite mall was Greenbelt. It is a bunch of different buildings called Greenbelt 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The higher the number, the more expensive the clothes and items there are. I liked the way this mall was laid out. It had a really nice garden in the middle, and the mall was pleasing to the eye.

The malls that I didn’t like were the ones by SM. They all looked the same and seemed very out of place. The newest mall, the SM Aura, is supposed to be a high-end mall but is placed right by a very poor part of Manila. The traffic surrounding it is all traffic jams. It’s like they didn’t think about how the surrounding area would be affected by placing a mall here.

SM Mall of Asia

I also got to see some outdoor malls. They are like big strip malls. Some shops are on the top floors of some of the big malls. These places were cool to go to at night when it was a bit cooler.

I saw so much during my 9 days in the Philippines. I think I really got a feel for the country. I was able to see the drastic difference in being upper class and being lower class. I was able to eat an insane amount of food. I sweat in the crazy humidity, relaxed on the greatest beaches, and met some really great people.

The last night there Justin and I met some of his friends out. They were all so welcoming. Many of them were finishing up their schooling to become doctors. I also got to see David again; and this time I was able to meet his lovely girlfriend. This was a great way to say goodbye to the Philippines.

I am so glad I decided to come. It was so great to see Justin again and I feel so lucky to be able to experience all that I did. Traveling there alone would’ve been so different. I feel like my blog posts on the Philippines does not do it justice. I saw so much, ate so much, and made so many memories. If you want to hear more about all the little details, the amazing peach-mango pies at Jolli-bee, getting a sandwich delivered to me by a helper, getting poked by a crab in the ocean, being stared at everywhere I went, please just ask. These are the kind of happy memories that I would love to tell. I will always think back to my time in the Philippines and smile.

The Island of Boracay: staying in the lap of luxury

Manila was a really cool city but I was starting to get overwhelmed. It was full of so many people, and so much traffic. Also the humidity was killing me. Luckily, I had a chance to get away and see a different part of the Philippines. We booked tickets to go to a little Island in the south called Boracay. I didn’t really know what to expect. Justin invited his parents to come along and they were super excited. They got us accommodations at a five star resort called Shangri-La.

To get to Boracay we got in a small propeller plane. We landed on a little Island and Shangri-La shuttled us to their waiting room. We were given towels to wipe our faces and Dalandan juice. Dalandan is a little green orange that tastes kind of sour. After this Shangri-La took us in a boat to their resort on Boracay.

Arriving at Shangri-La

The Lobby Area

The resort was amazing. The view arriving from the boat was of a bunch of hotel rooms in between tropical trees. As we docked the Shangri-La workers greeted us. They took our bags and we got in a golf cart and were brought to the main lobby. The lobby was gorgeous. It overlooked the resort and had fountains. Originally we had booked a very nice room with double beds. We ended up getting upgraded to a villa (like a condo) because of the credit card Justin’s dad used.

Our Villa

Our Own Pool

The villa was great. We had our own path to the beach. There was our own private pool in the backyard. Also we had a butler. He came with a little cellphone so if we ever needed anything we just called him and he was there. The indoor showers were connected to outdoor showers. Everything about the place was pristine. While you were away at the beach or walking around the butler would come into the place and flip the beds, restock the fridge, fold towels into animals, or leave lighted candles on the back porch.

The Beach

There was one thing better than the villa; it was the beach. The beach was private to the guests of Shangri-La. It was located in a cove. The sand was white and fine; the water was so clear and blue. It was absolutely beautiful. I had never seen anything like it. It was breathtaking. We spent a lot of time there swimming and relaxing. Later we went to their second beach (one beach was for swimming and the other for water sports) where they had tables laid out for dinner. They had a barbeque buffet on the beach. They grilled lobster and shrimp, all sorts of meat, and had everything from sushi to dessert.

Later in the evening we took Shangri-La’s shuttle to D’mall. D’mall is an area of the Island that is full of shops, bars, and resorts. It is along the beach. There are tons of people walking around here. At night it is a party place. Since it was the middle of the week it wasn’t too crazy, but I heard that on the weekends it really gets wild. We enjoyed people watching. There are a lot of Koreans here right now. It is a popular vacation spot for them. There is also a restaurant in D’mall called Obama Grill. We didn’t eat there but we thought it was pretty funny.

We stayed at D’mall until some time after 1 am and needed a ride back to the resort. The resort’s shuttle stops picking people up at 1 am. We weren’t worried; we just took a trike instead. A trike is a motorcycle with a sidecar attached to it. The sidecar usually holds two in front and two in back but I have seen the thing full of people. Justin bartered with the guy and I think we only paid him around 2$ for the ride. It was so much fun with the wind rushing at you and the loud whir of the motorcycle.

The second day we went to D’mall again for dinner with Justin’s parents. Justin and I had gone a bit earlier to walk the beach and see that white sand while it was still light out. The sand was better at D’mall than it was at the resort. This sand felt like sugar. It was so fine. During this time we stopped at a very sketchy looking stand. It had all sorts of meat on sticks. Some were intestines, some were meatballs, and some were chorizo (sausage). Justin said I had to try it, but I was a little skeptical. The meat was just sitting out in the sun. The man cooked chorizo for us on a little grill in the stand. Then he added sauce and put it on a toasted bun. It was so good! I forgot about my risk of getting salmonella and enjoyed my burger. We also stopped at an amazing smoothie place called Jonah’s.

Crystal Cove

In the Cove

Crawling through Caves

The second day at Shangri-la we decided to do something other than relax. We went on an island hopping tour. The boat we rode was different than the boats we have at home. It was a skinnier boat with the motor in the floor. On the sides were big arms that kept the boat balanced. We passed Crocodile Island, which is a small island in the shape of a crocodile, and then we stopped at Crystal Cove Island. Crystal Cove was a resort but it is currently going through some renovations. We were able to walk on the paths and see the coves as well. To get to some of the coves you had to climb through caves. The water was pretty cold in the coves but was still really blue. I also got to see a Philippine Monkey-Eating eagle. They are one of the biggest eagles in the world.

Our Boat

Next we left the island and went snorkeling. I had never snorkeled before so I was pretty excited. The boat brought us by a patch of coral and then they threw some bread in the water to attract the fish. I got to see tons of different kinds! They were pretty colorful too. Then we went to a different spot and snorkeled again. This spot had way less boats than the last spot. It was by an island that seemed to be uninhabited. You could hear all sorts of animals on the island. Snorkeling here was really cool.  I saw a bright blue starfish and some brain coral. I was very pleased with my first time snorkeling. We were pretty tired on the way back to Shangri-La. On our way back we saw a group of trees that were full of a ton of bats. There were hundreds of them and they were huge. They looked as big as hawks.

Leaving Boracay was so hard. I had such a fun and relaxing time. Everything about the trip was amazing and I feel so lucky to have had the chance to experience it. My expectations of what a “good” beach is have definitely increased. 

Nato the Tour Guide

On Monday Justin had to go to work. He works at the Philippine Nautical Training Institute, otherwise known as PNTC. The college is owned by his father and is a maritime school that trains seafarers. Justin manages a group of people that do the marketing of the school. I was going to do some site seeing while he was there.

San Agustin Church

Leftover Walls of Intramuros

So I wouldn’t be alone, Justin had his driver/helper Nato be my tour guide. In the surrounding area of Justin’s work is Intramuros. It is a historic part of Manila. When the Spaniards colonized the Philippines they built the walls of Intramuros to surround their government buildings. The walls are still standing and are very old. They were damaged at one point so later they were repaired. The architecture of the buildings in the area is very Spanish. The buildings look like some of the buildings I encountered in Spain. The street signs are made of tiles on the side of buildings. The area made me very nostalgic. There are some famous churches within the walls, but one was under construction and the other had a wedding inside so we weren’t able to view it.

Rizal Park

Touring with Nato was fun. He spoke hardly any English and I didn’t know any Filipino. There are men with horses and carriages that ride around the city and give rides. Nato tried to barter for a price for me but I didn’t understand/know what he was doing. The horse looked pretty hot and tired so we didn’t ride in the carriage. Instead Nato and I got in the car and drove around. We went and saw Rizal Park, which is full of a few monuments, and other sites. 

In the end, it wasn't a very educational tour but I had a really good time. Nato smiled a lot and he definitely made me laugh.