Trekking, swimming, and drowning in Sagada

It might have taken a while before I was able to write my detailed narrative of our second day in Sagada but guess what! I'm here to complete it now! Good morning, Friday!

There's a reason why everybody loves Fridays and I have to admit I was one of those people who used to shout and scream when it's finally that time of the week but thinking about it now, I miss it a lot really. I shouldn't have been so thankful for Fridays because it was the last day of work week, if I only knew how much I would miss being around the kids! Very much.

Oops, sorry for the teacher sentiments. I'm back to my old self! Snap, snap! Anyway, lemme go ahead and tell you of our day two in the ever famous body pain place - Sagada! Please don't get discouraged by my sakit ng katawan stories about the place, I am just really amused that it managed to give me that much of exercise and thrill! Could barely walk...

We gathered at 6 in the morning for breakfast. Restaurants open early in Sagada since they know a lot of tourists come in for an energizing meal to go through the day. A breakfast worthy of a whole day that involves trekking almost 4 hours back and forth Bumod-ok Falls, swimming in 20-40 feet deep fresh water, and trekking back again for the Echo Valley and Hanging Coffins.

The interior of this restaurant is amazing and the food... don't ask. It's good as it looks. For some reason (hungry) I wasn't able to take photos of the deli yet again so just trust me on this. If you don't want to, then feel free to check the reviews. Sagada Lemon Pie House is famous for their *obviously* lemon pies; although aside from the lemon pies everything else is deliciously refreshing.

Breakfast took us 1 hour and a half before we traveled to our jump off point going to Bumod-ok Falls. Our guide informed us ahead that the duration totally depends on the speed of the whole group and ours spent a bit past one hour. The trail going there was downward so expect this to be an easy course. You just have to be careful on some steep slopes though. Anyway, you'll have your tungkod handy. The tour guides will give it to you before you start.

It's a gorgeous and vibrant view out there so be sure to snap plenty of photos. Almost every side is a rice terraces formation you should definitely watch out for! When you get to the falls, it's simplicity will surprise you. It doesn't have the turquoise water but it's huge and it's gonna give you the can-we-please-jump-in-now feel. Seriously! I immediately invited my friend Ziah to take a dip! To be honest, I just learned how to swim and still needs a lot of practice but what the heck?! An inviting falls is in front of me and I can't let this go like Kawasan. Never again!

The water was freezing cold! It could be a reason for muscle cramps if you stay too long swimming so you would have to watch out for that. My friend Ziah and I decided to go near the falls. I wasn't aware how undercurrent felt like 'til I was able to go through one. Scared the hell out of me! Luckily I managed to stay calm and succeeded. I totally assumed for a while that I wouldn't make it but wait, there's more!

Upon reaching the stone to rest on near the falls, Ziah slipped straight to the 40 feet water and she didn't know how to thread! One of our friends tried saving her by lending his hand but he didn't know how to swim either which resulted to the two of them drowning reaching for help. It took me a second to respond since I just learned how to swim and I don't have an idea of saving a life! More so, two lives! Still I held out my hand and drowned with them trying to reach for the top, threading like there's no tomorrow! I was shouting crazy every time I catch my breath telling them to keep swimming and threading. Thankfully, there was this guy who managed to get Ziah out of the water, then Rafael, and I was finally free to swim back on top. We definitely owe him our lives. We wanted to thank him again before we left but he was already gone. Our tour guides also did us well, they massaged our legs and arms after our near death experience and was very kind to us. I hope they stay blessed.

We started our way up at about 11 in the morning and reached the top past 12. Our guide brought us back to the inn so we could change and freshen up for late lunch. We ate lunch at an expensive eatery! I wasn't able to take the name down but the guide told us that it's one of the most expensive places in Sagada. The chicken meal was P250, I opted to have water for drinks. lol but it was big! And this time I was able to take a photo!

Afterwards, we hurried to the van so we can finally check out the Hanging Coffins and Echo Valley. Upon starting the trek, I asked the guide how many minutes it would take. He said less than 15 minutes. We got there 30 minutes after. Everything he says is doubled. This is definitely the shortest trail we've done so far but the most steep!

The Hanging Coffins is a big part of Sagada's culture. Although they don't do it anymore as the latest body was from the 90's but this will always be their signature - a mark of their identity as a province. A good 15 minutes trek was the Echo Valley where you can shout at the top of your lungs and it will go back to you loud and clear. Thus, the name Echo Valley.

Immediately after, we dropped by Sagada Weaving and Sagada Pottery for a little bit of tutorial and pasalubong shopping. Look at how this clay runs smoothly on her hand.

Impressive, huh? If only I didn't have too much to learn already I'd go over a class of pottery as well. Aah traveling makes you want a lot of things! Anyway, we called it a day immediately after going back to the inn since we were all tired. Didn't even get the chance of bonfire anymore! HA another reason to come back *reasons, reasons*

I will be including the rough list of expenses and itinerary on my summary entry for Sagada so it won't be all jumbled up! Oh and by the way, don't forget to like Travel-opolis' facebook page by clicking here.

Happy travels!


Love,
Faye

Binondo with the girls

Welcome to the shortest entry I could possibly publish in here. The narrative of my Binondo trip with the girls last weekend! As we are all familiar with, Binondo or Manila's Chinatown is especially famous during the month long celebration of Chinese New Year with all its dancing dragons and moon cake and tikoy going on. This happens every February and to be honest I've already planned on going this year to witness it during the festivities but sad to say I failed! So what better plan than to get the girls and lure them with endless siomai and hakaw. Sure enough, they responded positively and the plan was set!

We gathered at 8am in Illumina last Saturday. Left at around 9 since almost everybody was late *coughs* we used the way Marianne knows which is ride a jeepney with the DIVISORIA RECTO signboard, get off at ABAD SANTOS (tell kuya to drop you off in case you don't exactly know where it is) then take the overpass and walk towards the street going to your left. Upon going down, board a jeepney heading to LAWTON and then you'll see the old building of Metrobank from a distance, that will be your entry point to Chinatown or Binondo! Easy breezy? Don't bring a lot of burloloys or gadgets or anything that could basically be taken away from you that is expensive since it's almost anything like Divisoria. We don't want to judge but it's not wrong to take precautions as well.

 DISCLAIMER: Don't expect much from my photos since I've only got a handful and I'm not exactly proud of them. I WAS HUNGRY OKAY. And was afraid to begin with now that's a better excuse haha

Anyway, we just strolled around and since we were all hungry we bought fried siopao along the way. It's tasty and good. They say the best fried siopao/s can be found at SHANGHAI FRIED SIOPAO, can't tell you the exact location but you don't really have to know it anyway! Just feel the Binondo vibe, walk and get tired, have your most-ignored exercise, look around and you'll find your way to it eventually. Crazy as it sounds but you don't have to ride a pedicab to take you to the places. Walk and enjoy!

© Eds Villa

Shortly after we bought fried siopao, we saw Wai Ying and decided to have early lunch. The oink in me won over so I had beef wanton (P120), japanese siomai (P80), hakaw (P80), plain rice (P30), and siomai (P70). I was nearly begging my friends to finish it after I got done with a quarter of the wanton and siomai! They have big servings so better keep in mind when you order that it's to-share. You can go to a friend and order everything the both of you likes as you can get a bit of everything and it's a lot better and faster to shove down your throat!

That's my beef wanton's before and after shot haha
that's how I eat noodles. I slurp on the soup and eat everything after! :)

Marianne and Eds both ordered the spare ribs for P130 and Corina had the chicken-something. Missed out on the pictures yet again. Told ya I only have a handful! Except from the hakaw having too much of the wrapper, all of it tasted good and exceptional. Legit Chinese food indeed. We were so full after that we weren't even able to go to other restaurants anymore. Talk about 'food trip' haha

After Wai Ying we decided to walk around a bit to scout for jewelries since it's also a popular attraction in Binondo. They have commercial jewelries sold way down the usual price so if you want to burn at least some of the calories (and money haha) you previously acquired then this is one of the perfect ways to do it. We got milk tea shortly after, dropped by at Eng Bee Tin so we can get pasalubongs and headed back home!

There's one thing I learned in this trip though, go to Wai Ying order with a friend and don't make yourself too full so you can still try the dumplings at Dong Bei and egg tarts at Lord Stow's! Scout and buy jewelry so you can burn those calories but don't carry the money with you. Have your ATM card and withdraw it when you've decided just like what Marianne did.

Any crazy experiences in Binondo? Share it below!

Happy travels!

Love,

Faye