Banaue, Ifugao

Our tricycle driver, YenYen was our tour guide for today. For a trek up the mountain, and visit to Tamad Village, it was 700Peso (SGD$20) for 2 pax. My favourite part was the trek up the mountain. It was a little difficult at the start, due to the intimidating number of STEEP steps and thin air due to high altitude. But we soon got the hang of it. YenYen was always way... ahead of us, walking as if he was walking on flat ground. I guess the locals are really used to climbing up and down such steps.

We met some really interesting people along the way up. My favourite was the Ifugao native man who was digging the stones at the waterfalls. He was trying to clear the path for the river to flow downstream. I was amazed at how the locals have such initiative to make sure that the environment is well-maintained. We offered him some SkyFlakes for his hard work ;) When I asked him through the guide how old he is, he says he doesn’t know! I guess for the local natives, they had little education and age is of little significance. They live life as simple and essential as it can get. It was a joy to just sit there, looking at him at work, listening to the falls, water flowing across the pebbles.

Banaue Mountain Trek Trail

Wooden Handicrafts

View from top of mountain

Hidden waterfall

Ifugao native clearing rocks

Bon Bon's 5-seconds pose

Terrace at top of mountain

Tired from our trek, we went back to the homestay to have our lunch before continuing our walk to Tamad Village. We had a beautiful lunch at the patio, overlooking the rice terraces on a sunny afternoon! Vie laid the table, and cutlery at the patio and it was a really nice lunch!

Lunch at Patio

We took a 5 minutes walk to Tam-an Village and visited a house where he showed us the skeletons of his Grandfather. The Banaue natives have a way of burying the dead by mummifying them. Apparently his father is still being mummified and it takes 60 years for a corpse to be fully mummified. Before he took out the weaved bag to show us the skeletons, he informed us that we would have to make a donation as he had to kill a native chicken to pray to the Gods for displaying the skeletons.

Stsrt of trek to Tam-an Village

Ifugao Native House

Ifugao native mummy-skeleton

Rice at Tam-an Rice Terrace

Baguio --> Banaue

Arrived at cold Baguio!!!! Did I mention that it was COLD!!! I had my scarf wrapped around my neck, and windbreaker on. Yet, it was still cold. I was practically shivering. I guess it was the fact that it was early in the morning at 5AM. Bon Bon checked out how we could get to the other bus terminal to take the bus to Banaue, while I got us some hot coffee (without sugar & cream). LOL. They scolded me for not adding sugar and cream, but I thought they liked it strong because I drink it without cream & sugar!

We had to walk to the other bus terminal, about 15 minutes walk from Victory Liner bus termainal. I’m not too sure about the name of the other bus terminal, but its just beside a Chow King outlet and a petrol station. The first bus out was at 9AM, and the ticket booth wasn’t even open yet at 7+AM. So we took a breakfast break at Chow King, while waiting for the ticket booth to open.

Baguio Tourism Centre & Park

View from outside Chow King

We found a few small 12-seater van parked in front of Chow King. They would usually be there everyday, to drive passengers from Baguio to Banaue. They were charging the same price (330Peso or $10SGD) as the Florida Trans bus. So we decided to go with the private van. We left Baguio at about 8AM with a van full of about 12 passengers. The driver was GOOD at driving.... It felt like a roller coaster ride! We started the drive up the mountains of Baguio, and I could feel the cold & refreshing wind! It reminded me of Canada all over again....

The ride up to Banaue took about 5-6 hours. It was a long.... ride. We passed Kayapa, Vizcaya, Solano, Balgabag, Lagawey and finally, Banaue! It was a really nice scenic ride up to Banaue. I was pretty amazed to be see the surrounding view.

We arrived at Banaue after what seemed like a ride that lasted forever. A local lady in the same car as us was very helpful in directing us to our homestay. I found a homestay place (Banaue Homestay) from some blogger recommendations. She got us a tricycle driver to driver us up to Banaue Homestay. Its actually not too far from the town centre, about 5 minutes walk up the hill. I love the place the moment I saw it! It was very airy, clean and it had a fantastic view of the rice terraces from the patio! The propietress, Vie is a nice Filipino lady. Aunty Merla was able to connect with her instantly and started chatting away with her. We chose a room and bargained for 500Peso (SGD$15) a night for 3pax. It was good for me to able to find a local Filipino who could hold a decent conversation with me in English! I really recommend this place to anyone who is visit Banaue. And she cooks really well too, International & Filipino cuisines. The homestay includes an in-house restaurant for visitors to enjoy a good meal at the patio or inside the cosy house. You can contact her at beatrizbandao@rocketmail.com or 09202787328. You can check out their website at http://www.banauehomestay.weebly.com/.

Banaue Homestay Signage

Stairway at Banaue Homestay

Tricycle

Banaue Homestay Room

We took the time in the rest of the afternoon to take a tricycle ride up to Banaue viewpoint at 300peso ($9SGD) for a return trip. We met some local Ifugao natives who offered to take some pictures with us for a nominal donation fee. You will realize this word ‘donation’ will pop up very often in Banaue.

Ifugao Natives

My model for the day!

Banaue is famous for their wooden handicrafts & work. They are really skilled in creating anything and everything out of wood including a manual scooter!

Spot the wooden scooter

 I had to take this picture of the rooster... It looks so surreal and regal with the background of the grand rice terraces!

Rooster standing tall and proud



Angeles City --> Baguio

Bon Bon arrived at Angeles this afternoon. And we decided to leave for Ifugao that night. Note that the bus terminal from Angeles City is called Dau Malabacat Terminal. We were told by the Victory Liner guy that we had to take the bus to Tuguegarao, and change a bus to Banaue. We did so, and tried to catch the last bus to Tuguegarao at 11pm. Lo and behold, we found out that we could only board the bus if it was not full, because it was arriving from Manila. It was obviously full, and we had to find another way to get to Banaue that night. We decided to take a Victory Liner to Baguio, and change a bus from there. We took the bus to Baguio at around 12 midnight, and arrived in Baguio at about 5am. It was freakishly cold in the bus, but all of us knocked out the moment we were seated on the bus. Don't be surprised to see a conductor punching tickets away at lightning speed! 

Mount Samat, Bataan

We went on a one-day road trip to Mount Samat in Bataan, about 90minutes drive away from Pampanga, Angeles City. This was a crucial summit point in the World War II fight between the Americans & the Japanese. It has become a memorial point in commemoration of the brave American & Filipino soldiers who fought a good fight.
There were Gymboy, Beng, 2 kiddos, Uncle Ben & Aunty Merla, and of course, the 2 motorbikes for the ride up the mountain! The ride up the mountain on the bike was the best part of the whole trip!

Uncle Ben at the wheel

Cool Merla with shades

Justin falling asleep

Our Jeep made it to the Mountain Peak

Beng & Merla

Merla & I

This is the iconic cross at the top of the mountain. We took an elevator up where you could see marvellous scenery from up there.

Mount Samat Shrine

On our ride back to Angeles City, we were stopped by some checkpoint police. Apparently they were suspicious of the 2 bikes in the van, suspecting that they were stolen. Seriously? We would steal a bike with 2 kids in the van and 2 ladies. There was identification for only one of the bike; while the other bike is John John’s, so there was no identification with us at that point. After some negotiation, they paid a 200Peso (about SGD$8) fine/bribe/fee or whatever you call it to them. Lo and behold, as we were entering another city, we met another checkpoint again! LOL. Uncle Ben stopped the van just before the checkpoint to make it look like we had met with some problems with the van. The 3 guys were thinking of how to cover up the bikes. It was ironical how we were acting like some bike thieves! Good thing it was dark by then, and we covered up the bikes with some t-shirts and cloth. And we passed through the checkpoint without being checked! Looking at the situation in The Philippines, they could really re-direct the resources for these checkpoint police to improving the country’s economy and corruption problems. Dear President Aquino, hope you’re reading this blog post

Hello Angeles City!

I arrived at Clark Airport (Diosado Magapagal International Airport) this afternoon with Tiger Air/SE Air. Don’t ask my why but the ticket was booked with Tiger Airways, flight was flown with SE Air. Anyway, flight was pretty decent, and pretty full capacity. The flight took about 1hour+ from Changi Airport to Diosado Magapalgal. Of course, we were asked to alight and make our walk into the terminal. Don’t expect any glitzy airport facilities. Its basically equipped with a baggage collection point, checkout point, immigration gates and ta-da, I see Aunty Merla & MarieVic waiting for me at the exit gate. It felt a little of déjà vu, from 1 ½ years ago when I visited The Philippines. Especially, when Uncle Ben came to pick me up with the red jeepyney van!

Air Strip at Clark Airport

My first snack upon arrival was Banana Cue (sorry, no pic for this!). Its basically bananas fried with some kind of sauce and it turns out crispy, piping hot and SWEET.... I like it!

We arrived at Aunty Merla’s little house that was recently built. Apparently they rushed to build it just in time for me. Its like a cute little studio apartment with a bedroom, small kitchen area and bathroom. I met the 2 kiddos, Jumong & Justin. They are not brothers, Jumong is Justin’s uncle. Yes, uncle, and he’s the younger one. They were really happy to receive the Transformers watch! Jumong is actually Justin's uncle, although he is younger than Justin.

Mong & Tin with the Transformers watches

Jumong & Justin

My favorite furniture: the Bamboo Bench

Don't be deceived by his angelic face. He is a littler monster!!!

Mong

First Step

First step taken yesterday when he knew it with just one text message.

Seems like I can never stay still for long.

Matiko Shoes

I chanced upon this shoe brand today although I can’t quite remember how I did so. This is the result of rapid & fast Googling with one keyword after another! Otherwise, its just age catching up with me.
Based in Los Angeles, Matiko was founded in 2003 by young designer Jesse Howard. Jesse’s goal was to create a line that juxtapose the classic silhouettes, stylings, and quality of Europe with his perspective on Southern California’s funky and eclectic style. His bizarre, almost experimental first collection has since evolved into Matiko’s signature look, now interpreted in a full range of flats, wedges, pumps, and boots.
In short interpretation, when you think about Matiko Shoes, think ‘Gladiator’, ‘Wedges’, ‘Straps’.


I was hoping to catch some action on their official website only to realize that their online store is still in construction progress!

On top of that, their retail stores are only available in US & Canada. However, I managed to steal some publicity pictures on their official Blog and I found the following designs especially intriguing and attractive.

My personal favourite picks:

                                           Photo courtesy of Matiko Shoes

Matiko Tasha Sandals: A perfect height for those 5-inch Heel phobic girls. It gives off a wild gladiator feel with its strappy elements and paired with a slight lift of wedge heels (about 1-inch).  This makes it a perfect complement for a bohemian look.

                                                  Photo courtesy of Polyvore

Matiko Lo Wedge Grey: Love the combination of a wooden chunky wedge with the velvet straps.

                                            Photo courtesy of Polyvore

For consumers in Singapore & parts of the world outside US & Canada, not to worry. You can still choose to make an online purchase for Matiko Shoes at the following online shoes stores:

Matiko “Pocca” Wedges: Suede has always been my kryptonite when it comes to Shoes, although I fret that it may get mouldy in Singapore’s ever unpredictable weather (i.e. rain with bright sun). Nevertheless, the braided leaf-like details are to die for. And of course, the cut-out at the toes and arches are definitely a nice way to show of those pedicure and skin. 

Polyvore

Bluefly

Solestruck

My personal pick would be Polyvore due to its wide variety and good display of the shoes. However, do note that sizes, designs & prices are limited & vary among each provider. Hence, its always good to do some comparisons between websites.

If you have a friend/relative living in US & Canada, you may beg, plead, threaten or bribe them to purchase a pair on your behalf at their retail stores.