Travel – Page 2 – Venturing Into The Great Unknown

Arrived in Yorkton

Aug 222018

Our morning started around seven with us having a breakfast of leftovers. Because of the distance from the closest Tim Hortons, we had to wait until we got underway before we could get our morning coffee. We headed to Cosmopolitan Park as previously planned, but found that the path wasn’t the easiest to walk on. We decided, instead, to walk along the sidewalk beside the park. We were able to get a great view of the Hotel Bessborough, which is a CN hotel in the Château-style.

I’m not sure where in the park all of the birds were hiding though, because we didn’t see a single one. We did, however, see a flower that was new to both me and Mum. It was a purple prairie-clover. Thanks to my good friend E, I now have an app to help me identify flowers. And, thanks to using the Live feature on my iPhone camera, I was able to get the bee in the exact place I wanted it in the picture. (I’ve never used either before.)

After our walk, we headed to U Sask and drove through the campus on our way out of town. Although it was still mid-morning, the temperature was already in the mid-20’s and creeping up. We were both glad for the air conditioning in the car as we drove along the flat, open countryside. There was, as there always is in Saskatchewan, a wind blowing across the fields. The crops of grain and bullrushes in the sloughs, bowed slightly in the breeze.

Just before we reached the Quill Lake area, we passed flooded fields/sloughs on either side of the road and the wind was blowing so strongly that there were waves with whitecaps. We both found it quite interesting and I would have loved a picture, but with narrow shoulders and that much wind, it didn’t seem like a good idea to stop on the side of a 100-km/h highway.

About a kilometre past that we came upon another pottery place. We stopped, of course, and Mum grabbed a blue/green bowl to complement the one she had bought in Valemount. We talked to the potter for a few minutes and Mum mentioned that she liked the house that the potter owned. It turns out that it was built in the style of an Eaton house and it was turning 100 next year. We had never heard of Eaton houses and we were told that they were houses that could be ordered from the Eaton’s Catalogue and the kits were shipped out from Winnipeg on the train to wherever the homestead was.

We continued east, searching for a way to get close to the shores of Big Quill Lake. We thought we had a chance in Kandahar, but what we thought was a road, turned out to be a person’s driveway. It is hard to tell with some of the roads in Saskatchewan – they are all narrow, gravel roads that should only be used by trucks (in my opinion). We continued on to Wynyard where we saw a sign for the Quill Lake Area Interpretive Centre – our luck was looking up. We parked the car, only to find out that ithe centre was closed. A sign on the door stated that if we went to the town hall, they would open it for us. We asked at the town hall if they knew of any way to get close to the lake and we were told we could take the next Grid Road north for about 20 km until you get to where the lake has flooded the road. Grid roads in Saskatchewan are like Range roads in Alberta – gravel cow paths. Since that was out of the question, we asked where we could find a picnic table in town so we could have lunch. We were given a map of the ‘town’ that showed all the parks, and were told that they weren’t sure which one had tables. We finally found one at Pelepian Park, but it was being used, so we decided to just sit on a bench in the shade and eat some leftovers. Once done, we were off again, heading east.

Our next stop was in Theodore, where I saw a grain elevator beside the highway. I love the old-style elevators and try to get a picture whenever I can. Normally there are obstacles in my way such as trains, hydro wires etc., but this one was perfect. Some of you may notice that this is a Centennial Elevator, witness the 1967 Maple Leaf on the top of the building. I also got my annual random cat picture which I used as the featured photo for today’s post.

By this time, we were less than an hour from Yorkton, and I still needed to get a good shot of the prairie landscape. Driving along highways at 100 km/h, does not make it easy when you are trying to find a place to pull over and get a good shot – by the time you see the shot, you are several hundred metres past it. I ended up pulling over just before Yorkton and took some pics, but I think I will try to get some better ones when I am on the return journey on quieter roads. I have posted a couple below, but they really don’t do the beauty of the Prairies justice.

We arrived at the hotel, and chilled in the room for an hour or so before we headed to dinner. Mum and I both were craving steak so we walked a couple of blocks to Mr. Mikes. It is a chain of restaurants that I have gone to before on the Island, but it appears that the menu is different, or has changed since my last visit. Not only were the prices a good 15% higher – making a steak out of the question – my go-to Black & Blue Burger wasn’t on the menu. We shared a spinach dip to start and Mum had the Perogies and I had the Bacon Cheeseburger.

After walking back to the hotel, we did our wiki-research and Mum turned in for the night. Once I finish this post, I will be doing the same.

Tomorrow we head to Winnipeg, with a stop at 100°W to get a picture of me with my Hip shirt on.

Thank you for reading and sharing our adventures.

Talk to you soon.

Arrived in Saskatoon

8th Annual Tour, Food Network Tours No Responses »

Aug 212018

We awoke before 7 – much to my body’s chagrin after not enough sleep. I have decided that doing two blog posts in one night is just crazy-talk and hopefully will not happen again on this trip. We had a hot breakfast at the hotel and then I walked to the nearest Timmy’s a few blocks away to get some larger, and tastier, coffees. After I returned, Mum and I chatted for a bit about the day’s plans and then headed to High Level Diner. Last year, Mum and I went to both Sugar Bowl and High Level Diner to get cinnamon buns and High Level was Mum’s favourite. While she popped in to get one to-go, I stayed at the car, trying to get some of the hundreds of dead insects off my front grill – it was a losing battle. With cinnamon bun in hand, Mum and I headed east out of Edmonton.

Our first planned stop was Vegreville, however we ended up stopping at the Ukrainian Cultural Historical Village in Tofield to check out the gift shop. I found a cute, red pysanka made of wood that was perfect. We also took a couple of pictures as we walked back to the car. We hadn’t paid the admission fee as we were just going to the gift shop, so I didn’t want to take too many.

We arrived in Vegreville around noon and I was able to get my picture of the world’s largest pysanka. We also popped into the visitor’s centre, and I got a free Vegreville pin for answering a survey. For anyone who knows me, you know that I answer surveys for fun – getting a pin was just gravy. I also noticed that they had Matryoshka dolls for sale and I got a small set for myself as I have always wanted some. As we walked back to the car we were swatting away wasps like crazy – I don’t know if it’s the time of year or area, but I’ve never seen so many wasps at one time. There must have been fifty buzzing around the front of my car, seemingly feeding on the dead bug carnage on my grill. Needless to say, I was not impressed as I hate things that fly and sting. Luckily we made it in the car without being stung or getting any in the car and we were off again.

We stopped for a picnic lunch in Vermillion, at Heritage Park. I swear the wasps followed us as we swatted several away as we ate. There were a lot less than there were in Vegreville, but still more than I would have liked. Thankfully, it was a quick lunch and after changing from my jeans into shorts (it was in the high-20’s), I took a couple of pictures and then we got back on our way.

My next plan had been to get a picture of me in Lloydminster, as I stood with one foot in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan. That plan got shelved when I realized the border ran straight down a four-lane road. I decided to make do with a picture of the border sign that I took through my windshield while waiting at the red light.

Once in Saskatchewan, the landscape started to flatten out and we enjoyed the change in the topography. I am sure that after a few more days in the prairies I will be wishing for trees and hills, but for now it was a welcome change. The remainder of the drive to Saskatoon was uneventful and we arrived around 5.

There are no Food Network restaurants in Saskatoon, unfortunately, so I took to the internet to see what was in walking distance of our hotel. I found a Vietnamese restaurant called Saigon Rose that was only a 10-minute walk. I knew Mum loves Vietnamese and I haven’t had any myself for quite a while, so it seemed like the perfect choice. It was. We shared some vegetarian spring rolls (wrapped in rice paper) for an appy and Mum had a bowl of chicken and beef pho. I had a small bowl of Thai hot & sour soup and a Vietnamese salad with stir-fried chicken. Everything was divine and I will definitely go back the next time I am in the area.

After walking back to the hotel, we did some Wikipedia and IMDb research before Mum turned in for the night and I started my blog post.

Tomorrow we plan to walk along the South Saskatchewan River in Cosmopolitan Park and do some bird watching before heading to Yorkton. I am excited about the birding as there were several pelicans spotted in the park less than two weeks ago. Wish us luck!

Thank you for sharing our journey and I will talk to you soon.

Arrived in Edmonton

8th Annual Tour, Food Network Tours No Responses »

Aug 202018

We awoke before eight and took a look outside to see what we had in store for the day. The parking lot that had been full of firefighters last night was empty except for two cars – one being mine. I walked next door to Timmy’s for our morning coffee, while Mum got out our leftovers for breakfast. We ate quickly and again headed north up the highway.

Our first stop was the entrance to Mount Robson Park. Thankfully, the mountain was visible and as gorgeous as I remembered her to be when I camped there with my daughter on our trip. For those who don’t know, Mount Robson is the highest point in the Canadian Rockies and is part of the Rainbow Range. We continued on to the Visitor Centre of the park and I took some more pictures of both Mount Robson and Cinnamon Peak.

Next on our route was Jasper National Park. I didn’t bother getting a park pass as we were just passing through this year – I figured I would be able to quickly pullover and take pictures of any wildlife we saw without getting caught by park staff. I’m not sure if was bad karma for not getting a pass, or just bad luck but we saw no wildlife. Well, unless you consider the two ravens that we saw next to the road. Hopefully this means that we are in store for a lot of wildlife in the prairies.

The drive from the eastern edge of the park, which also is the end of the mountains, to Edmonton was uneventful. We stopped in Hinton for coffee and a snack at Timmy’s and then for gas in Edson. Other than that, we just drove.

We arrived in Edmonton just before 5, but luckily were going the opposite way of the rush hour traffic. Yet again, there was construction near our hotel, but it IS summer and it IS a big city – we really can’t expect much else.

We looked at our choices for dinner and decided on Urban Diner, which was the first restaurant in Edmonton to be featured on You Gotta Eat Here. Mum and I both started with the Pea Soup. It wasn’t French-Canadian style, but man it was good – and I don’t like peas. Mum followed with the Bruschetta and I had a Porchetta sandwich that was topped with arugula, havarti and truffle aioli. Tonight was a definite “outside the box” experience for me as I am also not a huge fan of arugula and I definitely don’t like truffles. I found it absolutely divine and I am so glad I went outside my comfort zone.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and watched So You Think You Can Dance before Mum went to bed and I started working on my blog.

As soon as I post, I will be hitting the hay. Tomorrow we are off to Saskatoon. I have never been, so I am quite excited.

Thank you for sharing our adventure and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Arrived in Valemount

8th Annual Tour, Food Network Tours No Responses »

Aug 192018

We awoke to smoky skies just before 8 and had a breakfast of leftovers in the hotel before grabbing gas and heading north up Highway 5 (Southern Yellowhead Hwy). Although we weren’t able to see much of the landscape, we were able to see the North Thompson River as we followed along the east bank of the river.

We stopped near McLure Ferry Road, which is just north of Kamloops, at a local fruit stand and grabbed some lovely cherries and nectarines. Just past the fruit stand, there was a pull-off with a historic plaque about the Overlanders of 1862. Although the plaque didn’t really interest us, I decided to take some pictures of the surrounding hills to show the smoky atmosphere as well as the remnants of a previous fire. The sun was a pale orange-pink as it fought to be seen through the smoke.

We continued north, hoping for a decrease in the smoke, and just as we were arriving in Blue River for lunch, a young black bear ran across the road not that far in front of us. Unfortunately I was unable to take a picture as I was driving and had no notice. We stopped at the Husky for lunch. My daughter and I stopped here almost a decade ago and we had both enjoyed our meal. This trip, although the food was good, the restaurant had gone downhill – over half the things on the menu weren’t available and the service was beyond slow.

We noticed that by this point, a lot of the smoke had cleared and the mountains finally started to appear. This made me excited as I had planned this route so I could get a picture of Mount Albreda’s glacier. I took a picture when I was on the trip with my daughter but didn’t have a great camera at the time. This time I was ready with both cameras and my iPhone. It turns out that my iPhone did a much better job than my point-and-shoot and I am glad that I was able to get a great picture.

Not long after we stopped to take that picture, we arrived in Valemount. It is a quaint little village that seems to survive on heli-skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer. It is also being used currently as a place for the firefighters to stay as they battle the local forest fires that are ravaging the area this summer. We checked into the hotel and Mum took a short nap while I went for a short walk. After Mum awoke, we decided to take a walk at the Cranberry Bog just south of town. It looked like a nice easy walk, however, we were unable to determine how long the loop actually was so we turned back after a kilometre. It was a nice walk regardless and I was able to take some pictures of the local flora.

After our walk we drove around the town and saw a sign to a local potter as well as a trading post. Since it was almost 6 on Sunday evening, we figured that both would be closed so we headed to the Info Centre to see what else was around the area. The girl at the centre was quite helpful and let us know that the potter left his wares out for people to buy on the honour system. We decided to go take a look and also stopped in at the trading post as we passed by and saw the open sign was on. The trading post was your stereo-typical touristy-like gift shop, and although they had some nice things, we left empty-handed. We continued on to the potter, and after navigating a considerably long driveway, we arrived at his workshop. Mum bought a small bowl that she could use for dip and we chatted with the potter whose son happened to live in Victoria.

We headed back to the hotel and decided to walk across the street to the Moose Pub for dinner. Mum had the Wild Mushroom Bisque and a Greek salad and I had the Beef Dip.

By the time we finished dinner, it was getting late and, due to the lack of good WiFi, I decided to postpone blogging our day.

We turned in not long afterwards, excited about all the wildlife that we hoped to see the next day.

Thank you for sharing our adventure and I will talk to you soon.

Arrived in Kamloops

8th Annual Tour, Food Network Tours No Responses »

Aug 182018

At just after 6 a.m. this morning, I picked up my mum from my sister’s house and we headed to the ferry. We made it there in plenty of time and just after 7:45, we were on our way across the Strait to the mainland. It was a fairly uneventful ride and we sat at the back of the ferry, watching the Island get farther and farther away.

We arrived in Tsawwassen just before ten and headed towards Maple Ridge, where we had planned to grab lunch. We arrived just after 11 and we’re able to find a parking spot not far away. Big Feast Bistro was featured on You Gotta Eat Here and is our 76th Food Network restaurant. Although we had quite a long wait for food, we were lucky enough to not have to wait for a table and we were able to enjoy some much-needed coffee. For our lunch, Mum had the Apple Bacon Grilled Cheese with a Napa Salad and I had the Bacon Benny with Breakfast Potatoes. It was absolutely delicious and I finished everything but a few of my potatoes. Mum saved half of her sandwich for a later snack.

We left Maple Ridge and continued on the north side of the Fraser River. Just past Agassiz, we saw some helicopters that were water-bombing a fire. It was so close to the road that they had flaggers directly alternating traffic. Below was the best I could do for a picture from the safety of my car.

We travelled up the Coquihalla Hwy from Hope. It was shrouded in smoke and at some points, we had less than a kilometre of visibility. Between Merritt and Kamloops, the smoke was so bad that my eyes started watering.

Thankfully, we arrived in Kamloops, just before 4 and we were able to go inside our hotel room to get some relief. There was an eerie colour to the sky as the sun was out in full force, but it was more of a orangey-pink colour than the blinding orb it normally is.

We relaxed at the hotel for an hour or so before heading to dinner. We decided on The Noble Pig which was also featured on You Gotta Eat Here. Thankfully, we found a great parking spot and arrived early enough to beat the rush.

Even though we had a large lunch, we were both hungry and we started eating before I was able to get pictures of our appys, as delivered. Mum and I had trouble deciding on what we wanted to eat, so we picked two appys and two shareables and we both picked at all of it. We started with Pretzels and Crispy Pickles, then followed with Chicken Karaage and Roasted Cauliflower and Guyere Dip. I also had a flight of three of their house brews.

Although it’s hard to see, in the picture of the outside of the restaurant, in the top left, you can see a tiny pink dot that is the sun through the smoke.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to turn in early after our long day.

Thank you for reading and I am sorry that it was such a short post today. Hopefully, I will catch up on some much needed sleep tonight.

I will post tomorrow from Valemount.

Our first two days in Imus

Asia, Philippines No Responses »

Nov 202017

Thursday morning we woke early, again, and headed down for our last breakfast at the hotel. The head waiter knew that it was our last morning at the hotel and he went above and beyond to make us feel pampered. I absolutely recommend Hotel H2O to anyone visiting Manila that wants to stay in the heart of Luneta. The employees made us feel like family and it was so hard to say goodbye. The only thing that made it easier was knowing that we were going to stay with F’s family in Imus.

My sister-in-law, Ate N, and her driver, J, came to pick us up and we headed to Imus with a quick stop at Mall of Asia (MOA). I was unable to visit that mall on our last visit as the APEC Summit was being held right next to MOA and the traffic was insane. This time, the traffic was still bad, but not as bad as it had been before. We found a parking spot without too much trouble and headed inside. I have been on a mission to find a pair of dress boots to wear to work for over a year and I was hoping that I would be able to find some here. We started at ShoeMart, but were unsuccessful. As we walked along, Ate N stuck her head in each shoe store and asked if they had boots; however, most stores either didn’t or they were way out of my price range. We then found a souvenir store and I was able to find a Christmas decorations made out of shells for my sister. Then, when I was ready to throw in the towel, Ate N suggested that we try Forever 21. Not only did I find one pair of boots, but I was able to find two pairs, one in beige and one in red. I was over the moon. By this time we decided it was time to head towards “home”, stopping first at the Robinson’s Mall in Imus where we grabbed some groceries and I also got my nails done with Ate N. I realized that it was about time that I got a manicure as several people had commented on how long my nails were. Ate N got a pedicure instead of a manicure. While we were having “girl time”, F and J hung out and chatted about basketball.

After our pampering, we heading to the house. I am so glad that J was driving as I’m sure I would have gotten lost if we had to make our way here by ourselves. Kuya M, F’s brother, was still at work but the kids were at home and I was introduced to them. Nanay was also there and was glad to see us. While we waited for Kuya M to come home, we sat around and chatted. We also gave Ate N and Nanay the T-shirts that we picked up for them in Tofino before we left Canada – I was so glad that I picked the correct sizes. Then F and I went for a walk around the area. As we walked, we greeted people on the street – I am sure that there were a few that were surprised I was able to say hello and such in Tagalog.

Once Kuya M came home from work, we had dinner, which included bangus (milkfish). This was my first experience with having fish that was still attached to the skin and although I normally don’t like fish, I quite enjoyed it. We then went outside to chat. Although it had cooled down, it was still in the high 20’s and quite muggy. I am trying to get used to the heat, but my body is still not sure about it. Luckily, there is aircon in the bedroom which helped greatly with sleeping.

Friday morning we had champorado for breakfast. It is basically a warm chocolate rice porridge that you put salted, dried fish on top of. I enjoyed it quite a bit, however, I opted out of the fish on top.

We then headed to the palengke (outdoor market) on two tricycles – Ate N and Nanay rode inside of one and I rode on the back of it and F rode on the back of the other, while Kuya M rode inside. It was my first tricycle ride and it was a blast – the drivers swerve in and out of traffic and I don’t know how I stayed on, but I did. When we reached the palengke, Kuya M headed off to work and we explored we market. We bought pakwan (watermelon), mangga (mango), saging (bananas), sampalok (fresh tamarind) and also longganisa (sausages). F also picked himself up a pair of flip flops.

When we returned from the palengke, we had lunch. Nanay made a salad with pomelo, called ambrosia, and we also rice, soup and some of the fruit. The afternoon was spent relaxing at the house as well as another walk around the neighbourhood. On our walk, we saw papaya, mango and tamarind trees. It is definitely different from back home where it’s currently hovering just above freezing.

When Kuya M returned home from work we had dinner. It was a combination of longganisa, lechon (roast pork), rice and some more fruit. Nanay also prepared a dish that was ground beef and cooked cucumbers which tasted great on top of the rice. For a snack, we had some fried bananas – I can’t believe I never had them before – man they were tasty.

We also planned the next day’s adventure which was a drive to Batangas, via Laurel. I know it sounds silly, but when I found out that there was a place called Laurel (my first name) in the Philippines, I knew I had to visit it. We also planned to visit Eagle Point, a resort in Mabini, that has diving and snorkelling, so we could decide if that was where we wanted to stay for a couple of days next week.

We turned in earlier than usual as it had been a busy couple of days and the outing to Batangas would be a full day adventure.

I have included some pictures of the palengke as well as ones of us on the tricycles.

Thank you for reading and I will talk to you soon.

Visiting family in Punta

Asia, Philippines 1 Response »

Nov 152017

Wednesday morning we awoke early…this seems to be a habit on this vacation…and went down for an early breakfast before we got ready to go out to see F’s eldest brother in Punta. This time we were picked up and chauffeured by F’s other brother and sister-in-law. Nanay, F’s mother, was also with them, and she had me sit next to her for the ride. We call Nanay, OGG, as she’s the original gangsta grandma. At just shy of 90-years old, she is still going strong.
We arrived in Punta just before lunch and while we were waiting, we went and grabbed some lechon kawali and crispy pata – both of which are pork dishes. We got back, just in time, to have lunch which also consisted of menudo and rice.
After lunch, we moved up to the dike, beside the Pasig River, where we spent the rest of the afternoon…telling stories and enjoying each other’s company. The kids helped me with my Tagalog and we also threw paper airplanes into the river to see who could throw the farthest. I was pitiful and was lucky if the plane even made it to the water. The Pasig River has water lilies (nilad) floating down it and, in fact, Maynila got its name from them. “May nilad” translates to “have water lilies”.

Before long, the guitars came out and we all started singing – everything from old Filipino favourites to the latest from Bruno Mars. Around five o’clock it was time to say goodbye and head back to the hotel.
After dinner at the hotel we headed back out to Robinson’s to grab another skirt from the store that I got my “Nike” shirts from. We also grabbed a couple more beer and bananas at the 7-Eleven on the way back. This was the first night that I really felt the heat and I think I got a touch of heat stroke. Luckily our room had aircon and I felt much better after lying down for a bit.
This was our last night at the hotel and on Thursday we will be going to F’s brother’s house in Imus for most of the remainder of our stay. I will miss the staff at the hotel, but I am excited about spending time with family.

I have grouped the photos of the day below. Thank you for reading and I will talk to you soon.
L

Visiting family in Santa Ana

Asia, Philippines 1 Response »

Nov 142017

Tuesday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed out towards Robinson’s to catch a Jeepney to Santa Ana in Mandaluyong. I ended up sitting behind the driver on this trip, which was fun as I helped other passengers pass the money to the driver, letting him know where they were going and passing back their change. Jeepneys operate on the honour system, not only with the paying the fares but also the other riders that pass the money to and from the driver. It is the neatest thing and I now want to go everywhere in Jeepneys rather than a taxi or Grab cab (Uber).
We made it to our stop Santa Ana and walked the last few blocks to our destination. I also found where I had taken a picture of the only stop sign that I had sen when I was here on my last visit.

Along we way we stopped and picked up a couple of roasted chickens and some roast pork before arriving at F’s cousin’s house. They live at the end of a dead end street and there are several separate family dwellings that are together with a small central compound. It is very family-oriented and our lunch was composed of food from each of the family members (hence the reason we brought chicken and pork with us).

After we ate, we sat and talked. My Tagalog isn’t very good but thankfully everyone spoke English so I wasn’t left out of the conversation. After the sun went down we headed to Aglipay Street to grab some dessert – puto bumbong and bibingka and then headed back to the compound where the guitars came out and we started singing. We also had some BBQ sticks of betamax (dried blood), isaw (small pig intestine), tenga (pig’s ear) and also some chicharron (pork rinds) which all went well with the San Mig beer. There is a Tagalog word, pulutan, which translates loosely as beer-drinking food. All of these, including the adobo peanuts are definitely pulutan.

By about ten o’clock we were getting tired and got ready to head back to the hotel. We got a Grab cab which dropped us off a few blocks from the hotel as Roxas was still closed.
We were tired and hot but happy after a day with the family.

I wish I could accurately portray what a Filipino family gathering is like. The kids running around playing; the men sitting and chatting while drinking San Mig; the women bringing copious amounts of food out to share; everyone joking and telling stories of “remember when”. I felt honoured to be included and to share in the festivities. Some of my favourite memories from my last visit were made in Santa Ana and I was so glad that we could do it again on this visit.
Thank you for reading and I will talk to you soon.
L

Exploring Quiapo

Asia, Philippines No Responses »

Nov 132017

Monday morning we awoke early and, after watching a bit of television, headed down to have breakfast at the hotel. This morning I went outside my comfort zone again and had a bowl of molo soup, which is like a Filipino wonton soup. It was quite tasty and I may have some tomorrow as well. I also had my garden salad and several fruit salad shooters.

After breakfast we made our plans for the day. Looking out at the sky it looked like rain so we decided to wait for a bit so we didn’t get soaked on our 2km walk to Quiapo. After a while, the skies cleared a bit and we decided to head out. It was muggy but not as hot as it had been the day before.

Due to the ASEAN Summit, the area around our hotel had an inordinate number of police, from the regular Maynila Pulis to Philippine National Police and military. Roxas Blvd was closed again which made it easy for crossing, however Rizal Park was also closed so we were unable to get any pictures.

We walked down towards City Hall and SM Manila (a mall), being careful not to be hit by passing Jeepneys and motorcycles (no sidewalk), greeting the police that were standing at almost every corner. The weather threatened rain still, and we felt a few drops, but were able to make it inside the mall without incident. We grabbed some juice for the rest of the walk and headed back out, into the muggy heat.

I definitely looked like a tourist, taking pictures of interesting road signs and the traffic, but I didn’t care. I have tried to explain to people back home what it is like here with traffic and the like, but have found it difficult to accurately portray exactly what it is like. Hopefully my pictures will help with that. My favourite sign, so far, said “Bawal tumawid nakamamatay” which translates loosely to “Illegal crossing deadly”. There is also a ₱ 410 fine for doing so, although I think the possibility of dying is a bit more of a deterrent.

We made it to Quiapo Church by using the pedestrian overpass…thankfully there was one as the road was quite busy. The Church was quite crowded for a Monday, but I was still able to walk around a bit without feeling like I was disturbing the worshippers. There was a security guard wandering around, letting people know that pictures were not allowed, however I was able to snap a quick picture without her noticing. Many thanks to F for keeping an eye out for the guard and letting me know when it was safe to sneak the pic.

We then walked out to the square in front of the church and F introduced me to a true street market. It was a sight to see. There were people selling everything from rosaries to ice cream to fresh fruit and vegetables. We wandered through the stalls, making sure to keep one eye on our belongings and the other on the passing people – these are the places that pickpockets run rampant and being a white female I make an easy target. I learned on my last trip that if you appear to know where you are going and you don’t dilly-dally, you are fairly safe. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that everyone here is trying to pickpocket unsuspecting tourists…quite the contrary. The majority of people here are friendly, helpful and hardworking. It is, however, a third-world country and unfortunately there are people that will try to take advantage of a tourist’s naivety.
The pictures below are of the copious amounts of vendors in the market.

We meandered through the stalls and eventually made our way over to Divisoria where we sat and watched the “goings-on” while we rested for a bit. We then headed to where the Jeepneys stop and I boarded my first Jeepney for the ride back to Luneta (where our hotel is). I went up to the driver, told him “dalawa para Luneta”, gave him the fare and got my change. I also learned how to let the driver know where to let us off by banging on the roof. All in all an awesome immersion experience.

Back at the hotel, F decided to have a shower and I headed down to the fitness room and walked about 4km on the treadmill. By this time the sun was just going down and we decided to head back to Robinson’s so I could grab some more of the tank tops that I found the day before. I know they were knock-off Nike, but for ₱ 100, I am not going to complain. We also walked around to try and find me some dress boots for work. That search turned out to be fruitless as I need closed-toe and at least a 2” heel. Hopefully I will be able to find something in MOA (Mall of Asia) or MegaMall.

We decided to go to Aristocrats for dinner. F had pork sticks and dinuguan and I had potato salad and chicken with Java rice. I also had my first taste of calamansi juice, which is basically a Filipino limeade.

After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel, tired and sore from our day’s adventure. It took us no time at all to fall asleep which was great as we had a big day ahead of us on Tuesday.

Thank you for reading and sharing my adventures with me. I will post my Tuesday shortly.

Talk to you soon.

Arrived in the Philippines

Asia, Philippines 2 Responses »

Nov 122017

For the last few months, I have been planning a trip with my wonderful husband, F, to the Philippines. F was originally born there but came to Canada in 1989. Two years ago, I surprised him with his first trip back to Manila. I had quite a bit of trepidation about that trip as I am not comfortable in large crowds or unfamiliar situations. I was, however, pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed myself and immediately started planning our next trip I had been hoping to come over Christmas to be able to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 90th birthday, however the flights turned out to be cost-prohibitive and I had to plan for November instead.
The time seemed to pass so slowly as I waited for the time to come for us to leave. Finally, on Thursday evening around six, we headed to the airport in Victoria to catch the first of three planes that would take us to Manila. Our first flight was supposed to leave at 8:40 and ended up getting delayed until 9:15, but luckily we made it to Vancouver with plenty of time. While we were waiting for our flight to Taipei, we enjoyed the last of our high-speed internet and I grabbed a quick bite at Subway.
The flight to Taipei was quite full and boarding seemed to take forever, but eventually we were seated and settled in for our almost 13-hour flight. We left at 12:50 in the morning, which messed with us as we ended up having our “dinner” at around 2 am. After dinner we tried to nap. For anyone that has flown economy on a transoceanic flight, you will understand how difficult it can be to get comfortable. Luckily, I was exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before and I was able to get a few hours of fitful sleep before I gave it up as a bad joke and decided to watch a movie. We watched 127 Hours and Argo before grabbing another nap before our second meal. The food was not too bad for airline food and most importantly it was free, as were the drinks.
We arrived in Taipei around 5:30 in the morning (local time) and walked around the airport before F wanted to grab some food. Since we were in Taiwan, he had a beef brisket noodle soup. I wasn’t hungry so I just had some cold green tea. I did try some of his soup broth and thoroughly enjoyed it – I am just not conditioned to have soup for breakfast and found it too much for a morning meal. I did, however, have a free shot of single-malt at one of the numerous whiskey shops in the airport. I also grabbed a bottle of Kavalan, Taiwanese whiskey to bring back with me to Canada. Due to flight restrictions with liquids, I would be unable to pick it up on my return trip as I would need to have it in my checked baggage.

After roaming the airport for a while it was time to board our final leg. What was supposed to be a two and a half hour flight ended up being just shy of 2 hours. Before we knew it, we were landing in Manila under sunny skies. It was then that I realized that I had forgotten to pack my sunglasses.
We got through customs without incident and our shuttle was there waiting for us. Thirty minutes later, we were at our hotel, 8 km away – for Manila, that is amazing time considering the traffic at that time of day.
We dropped our bags off at our room and headed out to Robinson’s Mall, a couple of kilometres away. When we were here two years ago, Robinson’s was a daily trip as we could get tons of walking in, while enjoying the aircon in the mall. This trip, however, we had a purpose – sunglasses and a SIM card for my phone.
We grabbed a SIM card, topped my phone with 8gb of data for a mere $25 CAD, and also found a couple of pair of sunglasses – red of course. We also grabbed a couple of sandwiched to go as I knew we’d be hungry before too long. By this time, jet lag was starting to set in and we were ready for a nap (even though it was only 5 pm). We headed back to the hotel, stopping at a 7-Eleven to grab a couple of San Miguel beer.
Back at the hotel we turned on the television, cracked open our beer and before we were halfway through them, fell asleep on the couch in our room. Luckily, I was able to grab a couple of pictures of the sunset from our room before that happened.

Three hours later, we woke up and decided to go for a walk in Rizal Park which is a block from our hotel. Even at that late at night, the park was packed with people enjoying the cooler weather. By cooler, I mean it had dropped down to 30°C. We wandered around for a bit before heading back to the hotel. Back at the hotel, we finished off our sandwiches and promptly fell asleep.
Around 4 in the morning we were awoken by very loud banging. We were concerned enough to call the front desk, but were told that it was a deaf couple having an argument and that they were dealing with it. I was awake by this point so we turned on the television and watched for a bit before we were able to drift back to sleep.
We were up again around 7:30 and discussed what we wanted to do for the day. We decided to have an easy day and just wander around close to the hotel. F asked what I wanted to do for breakfast and almost on queue I got a Facebook message from the manager, reminding us that we had breakfast included with our room. To be honest, I had totally forgotten. I am so glad that he reminded us. (We befriended the manager two years ago when we stayed here and have chatted via Facebook for the last two years – it was a given that we would stay at this hotel again due to the high level of service that we got here on our last visit.)
We went down to the breakfast buffet and I, again, encountered culture shock. Although there were a couple of “breakfast” items, there was also congee, spicy fish filets and a salad bar. I ended up having some ham, a salad and a couple of fruit salad “shooter cups”. F had two bowls of congee, some fish and some hot dogs. All in all a good start to the day.
After breakfast, we headed back to Robinson’s, with the usual stop at 7-Eleven to grab a juice for the walk. Even though it wasn’t quite noon, the temperature was already 30° with a humidex of 44°. We had both finished our drinks long before we made it to the mall. We wandered around the mall for a while when I decided to check on how much a power bank would be – yet another thing I forget to bring with me. Since F wanted to sit for a bit, I left him at the food court with a mango juice and I went to the ‘techie hall’ as I call it. There are a bunch of stalls that all sell phone and tablet accessories at ridiculously good prices. At the second stall I visited, I was able to find a power bank in red. I also looked for a red Apple Watch band, but was out of luck.

A side note about window-shopping in Manila…you can’t walk into a store and just browse. In fact it is hard to even look through the window at the merchandise without being greeted by a salesperson. I love the attention to customer service that they provide, but sometimes I would just like to look without assistance. It is next to impossible to do that here and it is definitely something that I have trouble getting used to.
By this time we were getting tired and decided to head back to the hotel. We, of course, stopped at 7-Eleven and grabbed a couple of San Miguels on our way. We were diverted by a group of protesters, so we weren’t able to walk through Rizal Park, so instead we headed down to Roxas Blvd and watched as several groups of delegates made their way from the airport to the ASEAN Summit, which is in Manila this week.
Once the sun went down, we decided to head out for dinner…planning to go to Jolibee. When we got there, the lineups were out the door so we decided to go to Max’s instead. Max’s is known as The House That Chicken Built and is like a Swiss Chalet but with more selection. F had the Fiesta Chicken Plate which came with a quarter chicken, lumpiang ubod (spring roll) and rice. I had a potato salad and club house sandwich with a freshly squeezed mango juice. Both meals were delicious and very affordable – the total meal came to around $15 CAD.

After dinner, we meandered back to the hotel, totally forgetting to walk through Rizal Park to get pictures. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.
Once we were back at the hotel, we enjoyed our jacuzzi tub and San Miguels before turning in for the night. Tomorrow we are hoping to go to Quiapo Church and F is going to introduce me to some Filipino street food. I can’t wait!
Thank you for sharing our journey and I will talk to you soon.
L

Older Entries Newer Entries