To Palawan
Thursday, April 21st, 2011 in: News, Travel
I woke up feeling suspiciously rested for an hour’s sleep. Glancing at the clock, I saw that I succumbed to my exhaustion, and my 1 hour catnap was a 3 hour snoozefest. I had only an hour before my flight to Puerto Princesa. Shorts! I yelled, grabbing the bags I had fortunately finished packing the night before. Troy ushered me out the door with a prayer for Godspeed and a good taxi driver.
Someone must have been listening, for Danny pulled over for me before I even saw him. “where to? Zest? What time is take-off? 7:40?” Danny glanced at the dashboard glowing 6:30. I had already partially given up, used to uncompromising airlines, long security checks and 2-hour pre-boarding habits. “no problem, I’ll get you there in time.”
Danny wasn’t kidding, he threaded the needle of traffic, weaving around tricycles and jeeps with reassuring speed and agility as he casually talked about his cousin, the governor of Bohol. We pulled up to the terminal with more than 40 minutes to spare, and I pressed two hundred pesos into his hand. “bonus!” he laughed. “for saving my butt today.” Check-in for my flight was still going on, with a few calm-looking passengers there to reassure me. Any medical conditions to report? The agent asked.
Just a tendency to oversleep, I laughed. (more…)
Philippine National Yo-Yo Contest
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 in: News, Travel
When I hung out with Hiro Koba and the boys from Flipspin, I knew I couldn’t sacrifice going to the Philippine Nationals, and I extended my visa so I could fit all my plans into my time in the country. After a week or so of bouncing around Northern Luzon, Janet and I returned to Manila the morning of the contest, flagging down the ghettoest night bus ever from the side of the road in Urbitztondo. I asked the guy if the bus would stop in Makati, and he nodded vigorously in reassurance, but when I awoke from an uncomfortable sleep huddled next to Janet on the broken seats getting blasted by an AC we couldn’t turn off or redirect, I realized that we were in Quiapo, one of the least… desirable parts of Manila to be caught in. We got directions to the nearest LRT station, and waded through the crowds of people gathering for Sunday service. (more…)
Yo-Yo Friends in the Philippines
Thursday, March 31st, 2011 in: News, Travel
This post is more than a bit out of chronological order; I forgot to publish it in sequence, this story is from my first few days in Manila…
Since I had made tentative plans with Hiro Koba of Kitty String to hang out, I asked Janet and Joemar if we could push our trip to Tagaytay back a day. “no problem! We’re totally flexible,” they assured me in their honest, laid-back manner.
It was for the best, since traffic turned our morning meeting into an afternoon one. Hiro picked me up and took me to the Mall of Asia, one of the largest malls in southeast Asia. We got acquainted over a delicious lunch at Chicken World, and wandered around the mall, stopping at a toy shop to see the yo-yos available in the Philippines. He showed me the seaside, a long walkway like Venice Beach without the beach. Hiro taught me some new tricks on the waterfront, and showed me some of his 5A freestyle for the upcoming national contest. (more…)
Surfing in San Juan
Monday, March 28th, 2011 in: News, Travel
As a Californian, the fact that I’ve never stood on a surfboard is my secret shame. “But I’m from northern California, it’s too freaking cold!” I protest in vain when people roll their eyes at me, partially because I don’t fit their stereotype for a Californian, and partly because I have so many other hobbies, how could I manage to go this long without even trying surfing.
Alas, I don’t get out to the ocean nearly as often as you might think. Being equidistant from the sea and the mountains, I’ve definitely felt the gravity of the Sierras more than the Pacific Ocean, but if I can pick up a few new interests that put me in the water, that might change. (more…)
Leaving Sagada
Sunday, March 13th, 2011 in: News, Travel
The El Lizardo bus wagged it way through the most gorgeous agricultural mountain landscape I’d ever seen, thousands of vertical meters of mountainside covered in terraced farmland, with visibility stretching out for eternity until the clouds we drove through obscured our vision. This is where the heavens meet the earth. I gaped out the window, wishing I could be reincarnated as a bird here. I made a silent addition to my bucket list to come back someday and ride this highway on a motorcycle. I gingerly touched my leg; the gash on my calf had stopped bleeding finally. 
Janet and I led the Aussies on a morning hike to see the famous hanging coffins, and the second half of the trail which was supposed to lead back to the road was an overgrown bramble patch through mud and thorny vines, leaving us cursing the guidebook with it’s pathetic explanations and misleading map. We emerged through a local backyard, bruised and battered and filled with the exhilaration of accomplishment and survival. We rewarded ourselves first with a delicious breakfast at the yoghurt house, then lemon pie at the pie house down the road. As a bonus, there were adorable kittens there to pet. The group of call center workers and the band were on the same bus back to Baguio. Janet and I sat in the back of the bus and slid from side to side as our driver confidently negotiated the thousands of hairpin turns that hugged dizzying cliff faces. “we’re going to La Union too, you should come have dinner with us!” having no local friends there, it was as if the universe once again saw our need and filled it or us. “we’d love to.” (more…)
To Sagada
Sunday, March 13th, 2011 in: News, Travel
We were joined by a pair of Australians and a an older fil-am couple for the 3 hour Jeepney to Sagada, passing through the heart of mountain province. At the highest point of the pass, we stopped at a small village to take our last break for the next few hours. The rest stop had balut, which the wife was happily eating. “you want to try? My treat!” I had been working up the courage since the Civet cat coffee, and decided to just go for it. I cracked the top of the egg to suck the juices as I had seen her do, before peeling the rest of the egg. The juice tasted like a liquid hard boiled egg, but the sight of the partially-developed yolk had me quavering in my resolve to try it. “lots of calcium and protein!” she could read my grim expression. I bit the proverbial bullet, and the literal egg. Normally I prefer egg whites over yolks, but in balut the whites are like hardened rubber, flavorless and with the consistency of a chewy tire. “oh, you aren’t supposed to eat the whites,” I was chided for my ignorance as I gratefully spat it out.
The Rice Terraces of the Cordilleras
Sunday, March 13th, 2011 in: News, Travel
The winding road intermittently jostled me awake as the bus weight shifted from side to side, sending people and objects careening off each other. The levers for adjusting the seats were bare metal rods, seemingly filed to a point, which dug into the back of my thigh if I relaxed too much, but all things considered the ride wasn’t that unpleasant. The waning moon partially illuminated the passing world outside the bus; ghostly figures, storefronts and vehicles rushed by, leaving a fuzzy afterimage of the details I could make out through the fog and movement. Occassionally, wide empty expanses opened up to hint at the majestic view, robbed from us through our diurnal evolution. I glanced at my phone: 1:27am, which means we’d already spent about 5 hours on the road, long ago passing the highest elevation point in the Filipino highway system. I stuffed my headphones into my ears and fueled my sparse dreams with Jack Johnson melodies. (more…)
Tagaytay to Baguio
Sunday, February 27th, 2011 in: News, Travel
We bid our farewells to the Gunns after spending a lazy Sunday morning teaching Dillon some yo-yo tricks and showing him the major yo-yo news and tutorial sites. I gave him a yo-yo I had been carrying around with me since I first left for China, originally intended to be given to Janet’s cousin in Cebu. Since i won’t be going to Cebu and meeting Janet’s cousin, and Dillon expressed an interest, I decided to gift it to him to replace his old and busted Duncan fixed-axle Butterfly. With his penchant for self-taught skills, I think he could get really good if he sticks with it. He was desperately looking for a way to return the favor, but I assured him that all I ask in return is for him to keep practicing. He was a bit emotional about our departure, and I realized it must be hard for him, with guests coming infrequently for short periods, making it hard for the young homeschooled kid to make lasting friends. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of man he grows up to be, I’m sure we’ll meet again someday. (more…)
Mt. Taal, The Meta Volcano
Sunday, February 27th, 2011 in: News, Travel
In the great South China Sea there lies an island called Luzon, and on that island is an enormous volcanic crater, ages ago turned into a lake. In the middle of that lake is an island, which contains Taal, the remaining active volcano of the otherwise extinct crater. In the middle of Mt. Taal is another volcanic crater, also filled with water (and sulphuric acid). And in the middle of that lake is another island. Like a set of nesting dolls, Mt. Taal is a geographical oddity, and has become a popular tourist destination in the past ten years. Since we’re staying on the edge of the larger crater, overlooking the still-smoldering island, we couldn’t pass up a chance to see this volcano for ourselves. (more…)
Down to Tagaytay
Saturday, February 26th, 2011 in: News, Travel
Despite going to bed late I rose with Troy at 8 for some morning yoga. He led our first session the previous day, so now it was my turn. I took him through the intense extended sun salutations. “This must be Revenge for the other day.” he laughed. Later on Janet confirmed we were headed to Tagaytay, where we’d stay with Fred and Christie, friends of Joemar who live on the inside edge of an active volcano. (more…)
