Goddess, I Am.

This morning, I woke up determined to write about our trip to Malaysian Borneo, as promised. But then I couldn’t figure out where to start, so I decided to just write a post for each of the three districts of Malaysia’s Sabah province that we were able to visit.

First Stop, Kota Kinabalu!

As always, we booked our Cebu Pacific tickets to KK on a seat sale months before the actual trip. Ironically, CEBU Pacific does not fly to Kota Kinabalu from – you guessed it! – CEBU. It’s annoying, I know, especially since KK is quite geographically close to Cebu! But for the love of travel, we decided to just go via Manila.

Incidentally, Malaysian Airlines flies from Cebu to KK direct, but it costs an arm and a leg. It might be worth looking in to, though, if you think it’s too tedious to have to go to Manila and deal with their more expensive (P200 more!) terminal fee.

Getting Around

Getting to KK ended up being a whole day affair because we had a layover in Manille for a few hours (it was worse coming back). We arrived in the capital of Sabah at about 8 in the evening, and we took a taxi straight to our guest house in the city center for RM30 (about P400), which we paid at the airport taxi counter.

FYI, KK taxis have meters but apparently, they never use them. Instead, they charge per zone. When I was in Pulau Penang in 2007, they had the same system. So it’s always best to negotiate with the driver before you even set foot in the cab.

There are, of course, buses that ply the city routes, and I’m sure they’re a cheaper way to get around. But if you ask me, Malaysian names are just too long and too confusing, so it’s definitely easier to either walk or take a taxi. We weren’t exactly penny-pinching, so we figured, if we can’t walk it, we’ll cab it. Thankfully, we did more walking than cabbing.

But I digress. The taxi ride to the guest house was rather pleasant. Before we knew it, we were already pulling up in front of our guest house.

The Lavender Lodge

Weeks before the trip, I was already looking for places to stay. Considering that the last couple of overseas trips that I took were to Singapore and Hong Kong where even the grubbiest hostels cost upwards of $20, I was quite delighted to find that KK hotels and guest houses do not go crazy on rates. There were plenty of options, but I finally decided on The Lavender Lodge because of all the great things I read about it. It did not disappoint.

I made a reservation for 3 nights (the 25th, 28th, and 29th of May) in a private room with en suite bathroom for RM75 (about P1,100) a night. We ended up staying in a different room for each of the 3 nights that we were there because they were rather overbooked. For our first night, we stayed in a room that had an en suite toilet but no shower, so we had to use the shared showers down the hall.

Now, if you know me, you probably have a good idea of how freaked out I am by bathrooms, especially shared ones. Well, I had absolutely no problem with the shared bathrooms of Lavender Lodge. They were huge and spotlessly clean, so to me, they were perfect. It also didn’t hurt that they provided rubber slippers for the guests, unlike the hostel in Singapore that my sister and I stayed in in March where we had to go barefoot, even in the bathroom. Ick. But that’s another story.

Moving on, for our second night in Lavender Lodge (which was our fourth night in Sabah, but more on that in the next post), we finally got our private room with the en suite bathroom. We had 2 more nights with them and we really would’ve preferred to stay in that room until we left, but unfortunately for us, someone already paid for the room for the next day. We had to move to another room the next morning – this time, the family room. It was absolutely massive and we had a surplus of 3 beds. However, it was back to the shared bathrooms for us by then, but hey, no biggie.

Normally, I would’ve gone ape-shit because I did specify that we wanted the private room with en suite bathroom for all 3 nights and I suppose they screwed that up somewhat by overbooking. But the staff was fantastic and the facilities were wonderfully clean (and I suppose I was quite in love with the place), so I really didn’t mind, not one bit. In fact, The Husband and I have already decided that we will stay there again when we go back to KK. But I’ll make sure to pre-pay our reservations then, for good measure.

The Lavender Lodge has free wifi and free breakfast. There’s a common room in the second floor with a pool table and a TV, which is usually overrun by backpackers. At least two of the receptionists were Filipinos – Bisaya, pa jud. They were really sweet, even when I bombarded them with questions every time I saw them. They can also book tours for you, if you don’t feel like DIY-ing.

The Food

We were starving by the time we finished checking in. Right across Lavender Lodge, there was a big food court type place that served fresh seafood. You know, the kind that keeps live lobsters and prawns and crabs in tanks, so you can pick and choose and be a party to murder. I don’t eat seafood, so that really didn’t do anything for me.

We walked to the east of our guest house that night to look for grub, but only found a KFC and some local restaurants that seemed to serve the same things – duck, chicken, and seafood in various kinds of curry and noodle combinations.

We ended up having a late dinner in the coffee shop right beside Lavender Lodge.

The Husband had lemon chicken and some sort of duck noodle thing:

I had roast chicken (which was a bit icky) and a very blah egg tart:

Even my favorite cold milo was bland:

To be honest, I was quite disappointed with the food in Sabah. It was always either curry this or curry that, and by the time we got back to KK after 3 days in a jungle camp (next post!), I only wanted a cheeseburger. I am embarrassed to say that I ate nothing but double cheeseburgers and chocolate milkshakes from McDonald’s the last couple of days we were there.

We also discovered fairly late in the trip that going west towards the harbor would take us to the, umm, happening part of town. On our last night, we ended up in an Irish pub where my date had a proper – and expensive! – Irish stew. Yep, we were definitely in tourist central.

Activities

As far as I know, there really isn’t a whole lot of things to do and see in KK. Well, obviously, you can shop and eat and enjoy the nightlife like in any city. There’s also the Tanjung Aru Beach, but if you’ve been to a lot of great beaches, this is nothing to write home about.

There’s a group of 5 islands within the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park that’s just a stone’s throw away from the KK harbor where you can go snorkeling and stuff, but we decided to skip this. We heard that though it was okay for beginning snorkelers, it can be quite disappointing for those who have snorkeled in richer reefs in the past.

There are, of course, day trips to parks, wetlands, rivers, etc., but it takes several hours to get to most of these places. Suffice to say, you will really have to leave KK to make the most out of your trip (which we did).

Kota Kinabalu, In A Nutshell

KK is pretty diverse – quite modern in some areas, old-fashioned in some. It’s clean and quite orderly, so I couldn’t help but be pleased, especially coming from grubby, stressful Cebu.

The people are quite lovely, too. Just by looking at them, you already know that they all come from different backgrounds and religions, but they get along okay. It’s tolerance, at its best, and it kind of makes you wonder why people in other areas of the world can’t do the same.

There’s also a lot of Filipinos working not just in KK, but the whole of Sabah. It seemed to me that our countrymen have taken over most of the local jobs. There wasn’t a single establishment that we went to in KK alone that did not have one or two Filipinos working in it. Convenience stores even carried this:

Considering the island’s proximity to the Philippines, I suppose it’s completely logical. I just hope they’re legal. Although I did hear tell that most of the inhabitants of Pulau Gaya (one of the islands of the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park) were illegal Filipinos. Sigh.

Tomorrow, I’ll be writing about the highlight of our whole trip! Stick around.

Picking up from where I left off . . .

Day Three

The night before, we made arrangements for a van to take us back to Legazpi City where we had to catch the 14:40 flight back to Cebu, and since we didn’t have to leave until about 11AM, we decided to sleep in. The Husband woke me up with a shower of birthday kisses and greetings – definitely one of my favorite ways to wake up. We were hoping to wake up early enough to get breakfast, but unfortunately, we got up later than expected. We were sharing the van with 3 others, so we really couldn’t dilly-dally.

Our companions – Fiona and Jade (a couple from Australia) and Rod (also from Australia, I believe) – were quite the fun bunch. We’ve seen them around the resort the whole time we were there, but we never spoke to each other until then. We exchanged stories about our Donsol experiences, and as it turned out, they went out for another morning of butanding interaction just that morning. Now why didn’t we think of that? The Husband and I were pretty bummed about that, especially when they told us they saw nine – nine! - sharks that fine, clear morning. Oh, well. I’d be sourgraping a bit when I say that I needed the extra sleep anyway, but I’ll let the puffy eyes that not even the best under eye cream can sort out speak for themselves.

But I digress. Like us, they haven’t seen Mt. Mayon yet, so I asked the driver to stop someplace where we could get a decent view of the mountain. He stopped somewhere on the highway, but unfortunately, half of the mountain was still behind a thick cloud. But at least we managed to see most of the base this time.

Since we still had nearly two hours to kill before our flight, The Husband and I asked the van driver to drop us off at McDonald’s so we can get some food. After all, one should not be starving on one’s 28th birthday. He dropped us off at a mall in the middle of Legazpi City, and he told us we could easily take a tricycle back to the airport. After 2 days of eating mediocre food in Donsol, I was craving for Chicken McNuggets big time (weird, I know), so that’s exactly what I had.

We walked around the mall for a little bit afterwards. It was like a slightly smaller SM, and it had a Metro Gaisano. The Husband left me outside National Bookstore while he bought me a birthday card. My birthday presents were waiting for me at home, but he just had to get me a card, too, because he can be romantic like that. While waiting, I asked the security guard how much a tricycle ride to the airport would cost us, and he said it was about P50. I automatically assumed that it was P50 per person. When I asked the tricycle driver, however, he told me it was P50 for the whole ride. Wo-ow. He had every opportunity to overcharge us, but he didn’t. Yes, there are still some honest people in the Philippines.

We saw a bit of Legazpi City on the way back, and it was such a lovely place that I couldn’t help but wish we were staying longer. Methinks we’ll be staying in Legazpi longer the next time, and maybe even go on a trek to Mayon. It reminded me a lot of Cebu City when I was younger, back when it was nicer, cleaner, and less crowded.

We made it to the airport in record time. Checking in was a breeze, too, and I loved the no-nonsense staff. Why, they even let me in with my bottled water! Practically all the airports I’ve been in always made a fuss about that, so that was a tad shocking.

We had to wait a while for our flight, but we didn’t really mind because we were sitting in what is officially the most scenic airport in the country. We were literally facing the Mayon Volcano, which was only about 12 kilometers away. While waiting, The Husband sort of kept watch near the windows, waiting for the clouds to clear up enough to get a good photograph of the mountain.

Luckily, it did at some point, and we were able to get some good photos. Why, we even saw the smoke pouring out of the crater! That was really, really cool.

Before we knew it, we had to board our plane back to Cebu, and it was officially the end of what is – without a doubt – one of our best holidays ever! We’re already planning our next trip back. ☺

Here’s a rundown of how much the entire trip cost (for two people):

Rountrip flights (Cebu-Legazpi-Cebu) via Cebu Pacific – P2,821.21 (seat sale, baby!)

2 nights at Amor Farm Beach Resort – P3,600 (P1,800 per night for a standard air-conditioned room with hot and cold shower)

Private Van to and from Donsol – P1,200 (P300 each on a van shared by 5 people, one way; it’s about P60 per person on a passenger van)

Registration fee for butanding interaction – P400 (P100 for Filipino, P300 for foreign nationals)

Butanding Interaction – P1,167 (P3,500 divided by 6 people)

Firefly River Cruise – P500 (P1,250 divided by 5 people)

Meals – about P2,000 (for the whole trip)

Tricycle ride to airport from a mall in Legazpi City – P50

Airport Terminal Fees – P460 (P200 per person in Mactan Cebu International Airport; P30 per person in Legazpi City Airport)

Souvenirs – P300

The total? A little less than P12,500, or nearly US$280. Not a bad price to pay for an awesome life experience, eh?

More photos of the trip can be found on Flickr.

As far as life experiences go, this is definitely somewhere at the top of my list – probably somewhere between traveling for a week in Malaysia and Thailand with only about $80 in my purse and watching Lea Salonga play Kim in Miss Saigon back in 2000. It’s powerful, intense, and completely surreal.

The Husband, he knows a lot about wildlife, and it was he who told me about the whale sharks that migrate through the waters somewhere east of the Philippines. After a bit of research, I found out that we can actually swim and interact with this fantastic fish off the coast of Donsol, Sorsogon, about an hour’s drive from Legazpi City in Albay. Not only that, we can fly straight to Legazpi City from Cebu via Cebu Pacific, so the moment there was a seat sale, I booked our tickets without even batting an eyelash. Yes, I’m a sucker for seat sales.

But I digress. Being the ‘organized’ traveler that I am, I spent months reading through travel blogs and trawling forums to get ready for the trip. I read that although the whale sharks (or butanding, as they are locally called) travel through the Donsol sound between November and June, they are best seen during the dry months of March to May because rain makes the water murky otherwise – quite similar to a pond without a garden pond filter. And since I was celebrating my birthday on the 13th of March, anyway, I figured it’ll make for a great birthday holiday. I also found out that it was a good idea to book accommodation months in advance as guest houses in Donsol are quite few and far between and can get pretty crowded during the peak months, so I had that sorted out as early as November.

Day One

We left around lunchtime on the 11th to catch our 1310 flight. Yes, I know we should’ve left at least an hour before that, but The Husband forgot to sync movies to his iPhone, so we had to wait for that. Thankfully, we found a cab driver who drove like a maniac and got us to the airport in about 15 minutes, so we were able to check in with a few minutes to spare. It was a bit embarrassing, though, because while I lined up at the airport Dunkin’ Donuts, our names got called over the loudspeaker to board the plane, and when we did, all the other passengers glared at us. We took off about 10 minutes early, so really, that was unnecessary.

We would’ve landed early, too, if it wasn’t for the really thick and really scary fog that had the pilot circling around Albay for a full 40 minutes. It was strange because it really was quite sunny and pretty on the way over.

I was told that another 20 minutes and we would’ve had to turn back to Cebu. Thank heavens the fog cleared up long enough for the pilot to land! That really was quite a harrowing experience. I wasn’t sure whether I was more scared of crashing or having to turn back!

It was drizzling when we landed in Legazpi City. Just our luck. We planned a trip for high summer when it was highly unlikely to rain (there’s a drought, after all!), and that’s exactly what happens!

The airport was really small and quite functional. I spoke to the lady at the tourist desk to ask her where we can get the tricycle to the public terminal where the vans to Donsol are, and she suggested taking one of the private vans right outside the airport because of the rain. A van to Donsol costs about P1,500, but she told me we could share with other tourists who were heading our way, so that’s exactly what we did. We ended up with 3 other people, and we were off!

Normally, the drive to Donsol is meant to be quite scenic, thanks to the Mayon Volcano. The mountain was a complete no-show that day, however. The fog was THAT bad. Still, Albay is quite pretty. We passed rice fields aplenty and some of the prettiest cemeteries I’ve ever seen. Now, I’m deathly afraid of cemeteries, no pun intended, but these ones were so pretty, I couldn’t help taking a little peek.

Donsol was a lot larger than I expected. We got to drive around the town somewhat to drop off the other passengers in the van, and it really is quite a pretty town. The locals seemed friendly enough, and I’ve never seen so many foreign backpackers since Thailand.

Our driver drove us straight to the Amor Farm Beach Resort, where we would be staying for the next couple of days. Apparently, this family-owned resort was the first resort ever to be established in Donsol. One of the Amor daughters checked us in and showed us our pretty little bungalow. Now, being staunch budget travelers, The Husband and I have been in some real shitholes in our time, and this was definitely NOT one of those. In fact, our bungalow was one of the nicest places we’ve ever stayed in. I was very impressed by the room and was even more impressed by the bathroom with its faux Greco-Roman tile design. Yes, it was definitely worth the price of P1,800 per night.

After we settled in, one of the resort staff directed us to where we could sign up for the next morning’s butanding interaction tour. It was about a 5-minute walk from the resort, but it took us about half an hour to get there. There were just so many pretty things to photograph! The new 35mm was on a roll! I took photos of everything from cows to flowers to boats, while The Husband did what he does best: bird-watch.

There was a small crowd of travelers when we got to the Butanding Interaction Center. Everyone has to register for the trip, and no one will ever get scammed here when all trips are regulated. The registration fee is P100 for Filipino citizens and P300 for foreign nationals. Each boat costs P3,500, which is divided amongst its passengers.

Everyone’s encouraged to register early because they only allow 30 boats to go out to sea each morning. Each boat carries a maximum of 6 people, and the staff usually groups people together to make up those 6. When we got there that afternoon, everyone else already had their groups, so we were told to come back at 7:30 the next morning, and they’ll find us a group then.

It was already near sunset when we got back to the resort. We walked to the beach and watched the beautiful Donsol sunset. The water was so calm that you can almost ignore the fact that it was raining just a few kilometers away across the sound.

We realized that we haven’t eaten anything since we left, so The Husband and I then had dinner at the resort’s restaurant. The food was mostly Filipino, so he settled on the safest thing on the menu – fried chicken and fried potatoes – while I had pork sinigang with rice.

Unfortunately, the food wasn’t all that good. His fried chicken was bland, while my sinigang was quite dismal. We ended up feeding most of our dinner to the resident puppy, instead (who we decided to name ‘Patch’, for obvious reasons).

After dinner, we went back to the bungalow and ate almost all the sweets and chips we brought with us to make up for the disappointing dinner. Beat after a long day of traveling, we decided to turn in early.

To be continued…

More photos of the trip can be found on Flickr.

Still on the subject of cars and driving, although the main reason I decided to finally work on my driver’s license was to have another piece of identification, we’ve also been toying with the idea of getting a car sometime this year.

It probably wouldn’t be much of a car, really. After all, we’ve got other more pressing priorities. But say, hypothetically, we had about $100,000 to burn, I would pick these babies any day. Hypothetically. And yes, in this order.

1. The 2010 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 in the Torch Red color with white racing stripes.

2. The Audi TTS Coupe in Meteor Gray or Brilliant Red.

3. The Mini Cooper S in yellow or British racing green with white racing stripes. The Husband would be proud of me, truly. He used to drive a Mini Cooper S back in the UK, but the poor man totaled the poor car in a horrible accident that involved a poor deer.

Goodness, if I ever got one of these, I would definitely need to sign up for a 24 hour towing service. I used to drive a piece of shit 1983 Ford Laser that wouldn’t go beyond 40 kilometers per hour, yet I still racked up around 7 speeding accidents – in my first month of driving! With these babies, I think I will definitely be in trouble.

I suppose it’s only a good thing that I can’t afford ‘em. Sigh.

I never got to blog about this then, but a few weeks back, I finally managed to get my driver’s license renewed. The whole exercise was a lot like pulling teeth, but I’m not going to complain as the whole thing was largely my fault.

My driver’s license expired in 2007. Back then, I didn’t have a car anymore, so I just put the whole thing on the back burner. Then I moved to Thailand and lost the expired card somewhere. When I moved back home, mum arranged for an Affidavit of Loss so I can get it sorted out, but I kept putting it off and putting it off. By the time I got around to it a few weeks ago, it has already been expired for over 2 years. And this means that LTO now had every right to make my life a living hell.

I practically had to start from scratch, sans the student’s permit and driving lessons. The worst part had to be the drug test. I’ve always hated public bathrooms, and having to use a horrible, smelly one in the dingiest LTO-accredited drug testing center imaginable to pee in a cup AND then personally transfer the contents in a teeny tiny bottle was absolute torture. Thank all the stars that the whole process didn’t last too long, so I was in and out and done with the medical hoopla within minutes. Really, that drug testing center/medical clinic was like a well-oiled machine. Why, they can even process car insurance while you wait!

The rest of the steps weren’t as horrible, thank heavens, but they were still unbelievably exhausting. I had to travel all the way to the main LTO office downtown – which is quite a long way away from where I live now, mind you – several times every day for nearly a week. I had to sit through a very boring lecture in a very stuffy room, take a written exam that I (naturally) aced, and a driving test.

I have to admit, I was very nervous about the driving part. Although I drove my own car for nearly 4 years, I have not driven at all in nearly 6, so I was absolutely terrified. We also had to supply our own vehicle, and since I didn’t have one, I had to borrow a car from one of my mum’s friends. Good thing she agreed – after all, not a lot of people would lend an unlicensed driver who hasn’t so much as driven a wagon in 6 years their car.

Well, as it turns out, my (and I imagine, her) fears were unfounded. The moment I got behind the wheel, it really was a lot like finding a long lost friend. I never realized how much I missed the freedom of driving. Even The Husband, who was always so skeptical about my driving skills, was thoroughly impressed. Tee hee.

It was a relief that the car was a stick (manual transmission), actually. I learned on a stick and drove a stick. I was once forced to drive an automatic once, and I hated every minute of it. There was just no . . . artistry to it. I guess my examiner saw that I’ve been driving for a while because he just asked me to parallel park and that was it. The other examinees took half the freakin’ morning. After that, I just had to take a quick trip to LTO one last time, and I got my driver’s license card within minutes.

I must say, I was very impressed with the new LTO, even after all the crap that I had to go through. If my license wasn’t expired for over 2 years, I would’ve been in and out of the LTO office (with the proper driver’s license card, mind you, and none of those shitty temporary receipt things) in about an hour. The Husband got his student’s permit (he had to start over because he lost his UK license) in 10 minutes. Truly, the things that government offices can do when they decide to join the rest of us in the Information Age never cease to amaze me.