Philippines

Philippines – An action packed vacation

Hello!

Pidemmän kaavan reissujen sarjan aloitti matka Filippiineille (92 milj. Asukasta). Tämä viiden päivän paratiisiloma kohdistui Luzon nimiselle saarelle, jolla maan pääkaupunki Manila ( Metro manila = yli 11 miljoonaa asukasta) sijaitsee. Koko reissua ei aivan paratiisilomaksi pysty kuvailemaan, sillä moni hyvin suunniteltu asia ei ollut puoliksi tai ollenkaan tehty määränpäähän saavuttaessa. Ilman loputonta silmiä hivelevää hiekkarantaa ja paahtavaa aurinkoa sekä paikallisia erikoisuuksia ei jääty, vaikka ne perinteiset ‘’mutkat’’ matkassa tekivät startista vähintäänkin action painotteisen. Luzon ei ole kaikkien filippiineille menevien suosikkikohde vaan useimmat suuntaavat tunnettuihin turistikohteisiin kuten Palawanin tai Cebun saarelle. Tämä yli 30 hengen porukka ei ainakaan kohdannut yhtäkään muuta ulkomaalaista turistia vierailemissaan kohteissa…4 tähden resortinkin muut kahdeksan vierasta taisivat olla paikallisia. Loppuen lopuksi matkasta jäi kuitenkin käteen hyvän yhteishengen luoma fiilis ja huikeita kokemuksia!

5 days in a country consisting of over 7000 islands

SAN JUAN

Sunset in San Juan

Our group of over 30 students decided to head to the Philippines during Chinese New Year’s break. During this trip we spent our time on the island of Luzon where the capital Manila is located. Our plan was to go to a resort on the east coast but this plan A did definitely not work and we ended up making plans while driving around. Our vacation had it all: from the paradise beaches to the dim streets of Manila.

Day1:

People arrived to Hong Kong international airport in time even though most of us had stayed up for the firework display at Victoria Harbor. For some the ‘’night’’ continued with a good sleep on the plane. I’m sure we filled up half of the aircraft. Once we landed to Clark airport it was hot. At least for me as a Finn this is the sign of a beach vacation...the breath of sauna humid air once you step out of the plane (what a feeling).

We had booked four vans to drive us around for the whole trip from AVIS. Once we got their office though we hit our first unexpected event: no proof that we ever paid the cars, no drivers, can’t go to the destination. This circus also known as the Avis amusement park took about 4-5 hours and during the period for example the transactions made weeks ago magically appeared on their account? We managed to get the drivers and also drove to Batangas, Calatangas? This place was supposed to be nice according to lady x in the rental shop but we still couldn’t quite find the paradise beach. After many hours of driving we ended up in dark streets with barbed wire. The search for a place to stay took hours as well and finally we found some place to sleep for half of the group…the other half slept inside the vans (was pretty comfy actually!).

Day2:

The first day was more or less full of surprises but once eating a wheat bun in a local beach next morning with some floating rafts and having a little coffee all those dark memories were sort of washed away.

The raft beach

Although one of the beaches we found looked all right in the morning we still wanted to see the white sand beaches and palm trees. This is the reason why we drove up to San Juan, Batangas. On the way there we experienced a little more unexpected events like a crash with our vans. Fortunately the speed wasn’t too high and we were all buckled up…no one got hurt. The resort in San Juan was very nice and we finally found our picture perfect beach. We also got a permission to have a pool party. This resort was not only picture perfect but I found the prices also perfect. A very nice meal and a beer would add up to 6,5 euros in a four star hotel not to mention the restaurants and supermarkets downtown that offered the same combo for 1,8 euros. Oh yes! During the evening we enjoyed the sunset as well as sat down to chill after some very interesting moments during the drive to San Juan.

What a nice beach

Picture perfect

Day 3:

Woke up and immediately jumped into the pool..after this ran to the ocean. The best way to start your morning in the Philippines! This day we actually explored the market ‘’downtown’’ San Juan and tasted some of the local treats. In the supermarket I met my Finnish friends from Rovio again…angry birds juice. The angry birds Philippines style was something else though. Our Austrian friend was determined to find a balut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg)) and eat it. A balut is basically a fertilized duck embryo boiled. Valentine’s dinner?

The market

Happy Valentine's

These guys follow you everywhere...no matter how far you fly

In the evening we opened up a restaurant, seriously. There was a place to get some food about 10 minutes from the resort but it was ‘’closed’’. Once we got there we knocked on the door and asked if they could still be open for us. The lady welcomed us and prepared food for the whole group. How cool is that?

Horizon

The resort

Instabeach

Day 4:

The last day at the resort and some serious chilling at the beach…that was basically the mission for the last day. In the evening we drove back to Manila and some of the people in the group checked into a hotel for some more nights in the Philippines. For the rest it was the last night. We wen’t to Hard rock café Makati and saw a random performance by a guest who just jumped from her chair to sing on stage. This might have been pre-planned but in the end it seemed to confusing to be a staged act. Staged or not I thought it was pretty nice since this local lady was a rock star! Later we took the van back to Clark and our somewhat of an action packed vacation got an end.