The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park is a protected area off the coast of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. It's composed of coral reefs and five islands namely Gaya, Manukan, Sapi, Mamutik and Sulug. One of the more popular recreation activities in Kota Kinabalu for both locals and foreign visitors are visits to the various islands of the park to swim, snorkel or dive.
I had previously been to Manukan Island, the most popular with local residents, being the most developed of the five. For this trip, I was returning to Manukan and visiting Sapi Island as well.
Boats to the islands leave from the Kota Kinabalu Ferry Terminal in Jesselton Point. There are no slow pump boats here, only speed boats. So expect to be at the islands in 15 to 20 minutes. There are several boat companies which ferry passengers to the islands and between islands. It costs RM23 (RM25 for Sulug Island) for a round-trip ticket to one island and an extra RM10 per additional island. You basically fix your itinerary for the day (time you will transfer from one island to another) while at the ferry terminal. There is an entrance fee of RM10 per island for foreigners and RM3 for Malaysians.
Our first stop for the day was Sapi Island. It has one of the nicest beaches of the park. And it's a popular snorkeling and diving area for tourists. In fact, I did my own snorkeling off the island. What I like about the park is that even close to the shore, you will already see a lot of fish swimming around you.
We stayed in Sapi Island for about three hours before moving to Manukan Island. Since it had the resort facilities and a restaurant, this was where we were going to have lunch. It was a grilled meat and barbecue buffet at the restaurant which costs RM95 per head. Unfortunately we arrived a bit late and some of the grilled meats were not fresh anymore. It's best to arrive there by 11:30 a.m. when the buffet opens.
But if that's too much for your budget, Manukan Island also has a canteen which serves affordable meals. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the beach of Manukan Island. The island also has hiking trails through its dense vegetation. If snorkeling bores you, then try the Scuba-Doo which is a motorized scuba bike.
If two islands are not enough for you, you can also visit Mamutik Island on the way back. We were in Kota Kinabalu by mid-afternoon.
Back at the hotel, I took a nap and rested, a perfect way to end a very sunny day at the beach in an otherwise rainy season. Maybe next time, I could stay overnight in Manukan Island.
Hello again from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia! I found myself back in the city where Ivan About Town was born. I wrote my first blog entry in Trekkers Lodge, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia on April 19, 2005. Sabah then was such an exotic destination to me. It still is now as I discover new places outside Kota Kinabalu.
The Sabah Tourism Board had graciously arranged my itinerary for this trip. From Terminal 2, I was brought to the Novotel Kota Kinabalu 1Borneo which would be my home for the next three days. It's several kilometers from the city center but is integrated with the 1Borneo Hypermall together with several other hotels. 1Borneo has a free shuttle service between the complex and major points of interest in the city every 30 minutes.
The rooms are very chic and modern with really comfortable beds. And there's free LAN Internet access in the rooms which is obviously very important to me. Breakfast was a feast. And I enjoyed in particular the roti canai and other local dishes that is included in the international breakfast buffet they serve every morning. I was guilty of a food binge almost everyday.
During this visit, I got to return to Manukan Island and visit another island in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park called Sapi Island. I also got to visit the Klias River in search of Borneo's Proboscis Monkey. I'll talk about that in my next posts.
Legazpi Sunday Market will be celebrating it's fifth anniversary this Sunday, July 25, 2010 with a Grand Buffet featuring dishes from all of Legazpi Market's food vendors. The one-go buffet starts at 11 a.m. and costs only Php180 per head. Raffle prizes will also be given away to lucky shoppers.
It all started with a search for this secluded French restaurant called Ditchay's Bistro. I was told about this really cozy restaurant which serves French cuisine in an area near Rene's Saigon Restaurant. It was not even along the main road and you had to go further inside to get to it. When I finally got there, there was a sign that Ditchay's was closed for the time being. And it invited guests to try out a new restaurant called La Terrasse along Rizal Avenue.
La Terrasse is also managed by Ditchay Roxas, who is married to a Frenchman. She was at La Terrasse when we got there and introduced her new concept to us. La Terrasse is a representation of Puerto Princesa's international vibe, owing to the fact that the city has a large expat community. It offers a mix of international cuisine fused with local flavors, in what she calls a balance of Asia and Europe. She also mentions her effort to make some local Filipino delicacies palatable to the foreign tongue such as dilis which she tastefully mixes into fried rice.
We got to try the sumptuous and sinful Adobo Overload which is chicken and pork adobo twice fried served with a generous portion of rice fried in adobo oil and topped with adobo flakes and chicharon. We also ordered Crackling Belly which is her version of bagnet. The menu is still a work in progress though since it's still on soft opening. They expect to launch the restaurant in August.
Also in the works is a deli where they plan to sell locally-sourced products such as breads and locally-processed meats such as bacon and ham from Ernie Lim, sausages from a German national based here, and a Spaniard who makes chorizo. Also available will be locally-made cheeses such as Davao's blue goat cheese, carabao cheese from Nueva Ecija, blush blue and pink and margarita cheese.
While the quality of some popular restaurants in Puerto Princesa are going down as they continue to sit on their laurels (I hope certain by-reservation only restaurants realize that word is going around that the quality of their food and service is decreasing), La Terrasse provides a breath of fresh air, offering a new choice to Puerto Princesa's locals and visitors. Owing to the success of Ditchay's Bistro, I can foresee that La Terrasse will be Puerto Princesa's next big restaurant.
To the fans of Ditchay's Bistro, the restaurant will remain closed until the operations of La Terrasse will normalize. Hopefully, when I do return to Palawan, I can eat at both!
Puerto Princesa has a lot of Vietnamese restaurants owing to the fact that it was once host to many refugees from Vietnam. Locally, these restaurants are known as chaolongan because they serve a noodle dish called chaolong. I wonder though why they call it chaolong when the noodle dish is more aptly called pho (phở). Chao long is congee (rice porridge) with pork innards.
The best of these Vietnamese restaurants is Rene's Saigon Restaurant. Unlike other restaurants which serve the local chaolong, Rene bakes his own Vietnamese baguette or bánh mì. Plus he's half Vietnamese and his wife is Vietnamese. The other chaolong restaurants are owned by locals who inherited the restaurants from the Vietnamese after they migrated to the U.S.
At the same time, Rene's Saigon Restaurant has more choices when it comes to Vietnamese food including fresh rolls or gỏi cuốn and fried spring rolls chả giò and authentic bánh mì sandwiches among others. In the menu, you will see the sandwiches under the heading French Bread.
We ordered fresh rolls (Php100) and fried rolls (Php85) for starters. Both are not in the menu but are served upon request. The fresh rolls are wrapped in rice paper and have pork, shrimp, bún or rice vermicelli, herbs, and other ingredients inside.
For the chaolong (again the right term for this is pho), we got Beef Stew with Noodles and Beef with Noodles (Php60 each). And for French Bread, we got French Bread with Pork Barbecue wich is a very popular bánh mì filling in Vietnam.
Among the Vietnamese restaurants in Puerto Princesa, Rene's Saigon Restaurant is on the higher end and rightly so because it serves the most authentic Vietnamese food of all the chaolongan. But even then, it's still very affordable.
The masa version of chaolong is served at Bona's Chaolong House and Restaurant. This is very popular among the locals because prices are very cheap. I ordered the Beef Stew with Noodles Special (Php45) and French Bread with Chicken (Php25). I even took home one of their fusion sandwiches, French Bread with Longganisa (Php28). While it is cheap and good, they're also very generous with the MSG. Not good news for the health conscious.
There are several more chaolong restaurants in Puerto Princesa which are also worth the visit. So if you have more time, you might want to visit them too. Tricycles know how to get to most of these chaolong restaurants.
I just needed a break last weekend. So off I went to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Having been to Puerto Princesa previously, I decided to forgo the tours: Puerto Princesa city tour, Puerto Princesa Underground River tour and Honda Bay island hopping, and decided to use my time instead to relax at Microtel Puerto Princesa. Although there are two tours I have not tried: Dos Palmas and dolphin watching which is seasonal, which I will reserve for another trip.
Microtel Puerto Princesa just opened last year. Its beach front location is quite secluded and very cozy. But the downside of being secluded is that the hotel is a bit far from the city proper. But they have scheduled lunch and dinner shuttle services to and from the city proper as well as the airport. I took both their lunch and dinner shuttles to the city proper to try out the different restaurants in the city. Unfortunately, if you want to venture out on your own, tricycles charge between Php150 to 200 one-way to get to and from Microtel.
But no need to worry about the tours I mentioned above since Microtel can book all these tours for you and the tour vans pick you up right at the hotel. So it's very convenient.
Those who who want a quiet place with a beach front to relax in Puerto Princesa will enjoy a stay at Microtel. The view is picturesque. And I must admit I spent some time just sitting in the lounge chairs or the hammock for a quiet afternoon nap. The only downside is that the water is too shallow for a swim. So most of the swimming is done in the pool conveniently located beside the beach.
I always look forward to stays in Microtel because of their chiropractic-approved beds which are exclusively made for the hotel chain worldwide. So any Microtel will have the same kind of bed and pillows.
There's free WiFi Internet in the lobby and paid WiFi/LAN connections in the rooms. Ask them for ongoing promos. Right now, they have a Php5,860 per person 3D 2N package (based on quadruple sharing) which includes daily breakfast, the city tour, Honda Bay and Underground River tours, and a one-hour massage. It's almost all-in except for the two dinners. But given that three tours are included, that's a total bargain!
Northbound Magazine Issue 5, which came out during the summer, is now available online! Sorry this took a while since things have been really hectic. In this issue, we featured nine adventure destinations in North Philippines including sandboarding in Ilocos Norte, kayaking and spelunking in Cagayan, surfing in La Union, island hopping in Pangasinan, trekking in Tarlac and Pampanga, horseback riding in Clark, off-road go-karting in Benguet, and zip-lining in Subic Bay. Northbound Magazine is a publication of the North Philippines Visitors Bureau. You can download the online version from the NPVB website.
General Santos is the jump-off point for Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, and Glan (Gumasa) and Maitum, Sarangani. After whitewater tubing in Maitum, I was back in General Santos. I had one more night before my flight back to Manila the next day. So that was enough time to try out at least one restaurant and visit the General Santos Fish Port early the next morning.
The city has some good dining options. So I made sure to try out one restaurant in General Santos for dinner. I was told there are several restaurants which serve really good steak. After getting some leads, I asked for directions from the front desk. When I told them I wanted steak, they suggested this new restaurant called Euro Kitchen.
So I went to the Tiongson Arcade area by habal-habal. Tiongson Arcade is a long stretch of outdoor grills and restaurants such as Gio's Mongo Grill which serves Mongolian bowls and Gusteau's which I heard serves really good crab. If I had more time, I would have explored more.
Euro Kitchen is owned by Finnish chef Henrick Stork and his wife May, which explains the Finnish translations in the menu. The serving sizes are really big which is why I'd give the restaurant a two thumbs up for value for money. I ordered the T-bone Steak with Rice (which ranges from Php300 to Php500 depending on the weight of the steak) and Pork Kebab with Rice (Php90) which I really had a hard time finishing since the serving size was just too much!
The next morning, I woke up early to visit the General Santos Fish Port. I didn't know that they had very strict rules to enter. You can't wear shorts, slippers, or sando. Plus if you want to get in the market area, you need white rubber boots. They won't accept any other color of boots.
We were able to borrow white rubber boots at the hotel. Unfortunately, I did not bring any pants during this trip and was hoping they would allow me in. But the guards were very strict since there was a camera monitoring the gates. So I ended up buying something at the nearby ukay-ukay just to get in.
It's arguably the cleanest market in the country and if you are fascinated by markets, this one is worth the visit. You can even buy your fresh tuna there if you want. The earlier you visit in the morning, the better since the supply of fish comes in quite early. And the better stocks are gone really quick.
With the visit to the fish port settled, I returned to my hotel to prepare for my flight back to Manila. Now I'm craving for sushi and sashimi!
Sarangani is very popular because of Gumasa Beach, a powder white sand beach in Glan. But on the opposite end of the province is Maitum, which has the Pangi River whitewater tubing, Pawikan Sanctuary, and a small museum dedicated to the anthropomorphic pottery that was found in Ayub Cave in Brgy. Piñol.
From General Santos, it's a three hour drive to Maitum. Unless you plan to stay overnight in Maitum, it's best to hire a vehicle going there since the Pangi River in Brgy. New La Union is several kilometers inland. Thanks to Go Sarangani Travel for arranging a vehicle for me to get to Maitum.
It's a really scenic drive. As you cross over to Sarangani from General Santos, the landscape changes abruptly. The rocky hills with a sparse cover of trees actually reminds me of some areas in Spain. This rocky landscape slowly changes into green forested mountains as you move ahead towards Maitum.
When we arrived in Maitum, we first visited the Maitum Municipal Hall where an exhibit of the Maitum anthropomorphic jars is located. Although the pots on display are replicas, the exhibit done by the National Museum is very educational and worth the visit.
Before proceeding to the Pangi River, we dropped by the Pawikan Nesting Sanctuary in Old Poblacion. There were several hatchlings ready for release but since it was early in the afternoon, it was too hot to release any of them. Hatchlings are best released early in the morning or late in the afternoon. There were green turtles (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), and the Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), which is also known as the Pacific Ridley.
After the visit, we rushed to Pangi River in Brgy. New La Union for some whitewater tubing. I wanted to reach the jump-off point early in the afternoon just in case there were mid-afternoon rains that would fall that day.
It costs just Php120 for a 30-minute run down a one-kilometer length of the river. There's a longer 45-minute run which costs an extra Php50 but you have to do this in the morning when the guides are still well-rested since it requires them to carry the equipment further up stream.
Anyway, the only things they will advice you are to stay cool, not to panic, and to hold the handles of the rubber tube as tight as you can. This will keep you from falling off the tube. I did two runs and despite several near falls, stayed afloat because of my tight grip on the rubber tube handles.
It would have been fun to go for a third run but it was another three hour drive to General Santos. More from General Santos in my next entry.
Go Sarangani Travel
Partridge BLDG, 66 J. Catolico St. Gen. Santos City
(083) 552-8015 or 304-4398
Lake Sebu, South Cotabato has several cultural and natural attractions which makes it a worthwhile destination for tourists who look for more than the usual destination. After making my way to Lake Sebu from the General Santos Airport, I spent the afternoon exploring the town's different points of interest.
First on the list are the Seven Waterfalls or Seven Falls which is a series of majestic cascades lined-up one after the other. The easiest to reach is the first falls (named Dongon Falls or Hikong Alu in the local language) which requires minimal walking. While the last two are the most difficult to access since it requires a long hike down to the valley floor to see them.
The Provincial Government of South Cotabato has made efforts to cement walking paths which is fine since it makes it easier to walk. But unfortunately, the designs of the infrastructure that accompanied the project, particularly the welcome arch and function halls beside the second falls, which obviously was not given much thought, make the falls area look like a cheap theme park. What do you expect of government engineers anyway? You may not realize it but the Philippines has some of the worst-designed government infrastructure in the world because we let our engineers design things and not architects.
It's quite unfortunate because each of the seven falls has a T'boli name that describes each waterfall. And if the provincial government had vision, they should have used T'boli-inspired designs for the welcome arch, function halls and huts which they built. When creating infrastructure for tourism attractions, local governments have to give it much thought and ensure that the designs blend with the environment they are built in or are representative of the local culture. Because if they do things haphazardly or without taste, they destroy the very attraction people come to visit.
That being said, the Seven Falls are still worth the visit since although there are now some structures in the area, the views are still free from obstructions. But it would have been better it they injected a lot of T'boli culture in the designs of tourism infrastructure.
Anyway, I'd like to stress that T'boli is a language and not a dialect. I hope people stop referring to our different languages here in the Philippines as dialects. As I mentioned, the seven falls have T'boli names which describe them. Also known as Dongon Falls, the T'boli name of the first falls is Hikong Alu which means passage falls. The second falls, being the highest, is called Hikong Bente or unmeasurable falls. The third one is Hikong B'lebel which means coil or zigzag falls. The fourth falls in Hikong Lowig which means booth. The fifth falls is Hikong K'fo-i which means short falls. While the seventh and last falls is Hikong Tonok which means soil.
From the first falls, you can walk down several hundred steps to the second falls. But the second option is flying over the the second, third, fourth and fifth falls and down to the foot of the second falls by zip-line. The zip-line costs Php250 and they usually do it in pairs. Although you can try requesting for a solo flight which is what I did. It's arguably the most picturesque zipline in the country.
As I mentioned, the end of the zip-line is the foot of the second falls, arguably the most photographed of all the seven falls. Since the rainy season had already started, the force of the falls was too strong. So I could only take photos from a distance. But despite being relatively far already, mist still hit me. In fact, the mist from the falls was forceful enough to reach me while I was on the zip-line.
Going back up is another story and I was told we climbed close to 700 steps to return to Dongon Falls. It usually rains in the afternoon and it started to drizzle as we neared the top. We were quite lucky that the downpour hit when I was trying to catch my breath at the top. So we had to wait it out at one of the stores before we proceeded to our next destination.
After it stopped raining, we proceeded to the house and weaving school of Lang Dulay, a t'nalak weaver and National Living Treasure. The NCCA notes, "There are a few of them left, the traditional weavers of the t'nalak or T'boli cloth. It is not hard to see why: weaving t'nalak is a tedious process that begins with stripping the stem of the abaca plant to get the fibers, to coaxing even finer fibers for the textile, then drying the threads and tying each strand by hand. Afterwards, there is the delicate task of setting the strands on the 'bed-tying' frame made of bamboo, with an eye towards deciding which strands should be tied to resist the dye. It is the bud or tying of the abaca fibers that defines the design."
Lang Dulay is currently in her nineties. They say she doesn't remember her exact age but previous interviews of her say that she started weaving t'nalak at the age of 12. I also got to interview her myself for posterity and purchased one of her t'nalak cloths for a souvenir which usually ranges from Php500 to Php1000 a yard depending on the design. Minimum length is usually four to eight yards since they don't like cutting the t'nalak.
From Lang Dulay's place, we stopped at the Santa Cruz Mission School to check out its charming architecture which is very much reflective of the local culture. I hope the local governments of Lake Sebu and South Cotabato use this as an example when they build tourism infrastructure. In fact, I mentioned that the school can host cultural performances in its quadrangle in the evening or during weekends which could be another tourism activity for Lake Sebu.
Before calling it a night, we stopped by a traditional brass casting artisan who made intricate T'boli designs such as bells, figures and boxes. They use the lost-wax casting method, creating the work in wax first then covering it with clay. Molten brass is then poured into the clay cast which melts and replaces the wax to form the finished product.
The next morning, I was up early since I wanted to be in General Santos before lunch. This time, I took public transportation. From the resort, I took a habal-habal to the bus terminal in Surallah. Along the way, we stopped for a photo at Lake Seloton, one of Lake Sebu's three lakes. From Surallah, I took a bus to Koronadal. Then I hopped on a bus to General Santos from there. Then it was off to Maitum, Sarangani for some white-water tubing!
Go Sarangani Travel
Partridge BLDG, 66 J. Catolico St. Gen. Santos City
(083) 552-8015 or 304-4398
