Cruise to No Where

On Saturday we went for a cruise to nowhere. Yes it sounds strange and out of the ordinary and also interesting. It was a short trip on a cruise ship. This ship doesn't leave any port neither it takes you to any port. We were picked up by a ferry from the Tanah Merah ferry terminal at around 10AM. We were taken to Bintan and got transferred into another ferry which actually took us to the ship. We knew that this ship was a casino ship and not really sure what else would be there on it. However, it was like a viewing standpoint, from on board the ship and from quite a distance.

Once we entered the cruise ship, we were asked to deposit our passports as well as employment pass at the reception and we could collect them while leaving. Right from the entrance we could see all the casino halls. People were busy playing them. We were not allowed inside as we were carrying cameras with us. We were asked to deposit them and then enter the casino. We were hungry and first wanted to explore the ship, eat and then play some games at the casino.

As far as entertainment and amenities go, they were the same as what are offered on the longer cruises around the world. There was Foot reflexology, Massage and hair saloon. There was a movie room. There were two restaurants and two bars on the ship. There was a place for dancing. But we couldn't enjoy dancing as they were playing Malaysian and Chinese songs all the time.

We had lunch at the Patricia restaurant. There was lot of Sea Food and it was just like a feast to all the non vegetarians. We enjoyed the food a lot, then again explored the deck of the ship, took some pics and then went down to the bar to have couple of drinks before we went to casino.

We played 50 dollar worth games on the slot machines and got just 40 bucks and 10 dollars we lost. The whole trip was a nice experience. We were just charged 22 dollars for the travel, food and enjoy the amenities for the day. We left the ship at around 8.30 in the night back to Singapore. There were so many old Chinese and Malaysian people on the ship who just came there to play Casino.

Overall I would suggest that this is good for a one day entertainment trip for all those food lovers and casino lovers.

Pagsanjan Falls, Manila

Day 2 (26th June 2009)
I have done some jungle trails in India and also had some river ride experiences there. But I would rate the trip to Pagsanjan Falls as one of the best jungle and wild river ride experience. On day 2 of the trip we started off for Pagsanjan Falls early in the morning. It was a journey of around 2 hours from Tagaytay. The place can be compared as Philippines little amazon where the river flows through magnificent canyons sheltered by lush green vegetation.

We read about this ride online and had great expectations. When we were on the way to the place, we were chased by a guy on the bike. He stopped us and spoke to the driver in their Filipino language. Later driver told us that he chased us to ask if we are interested in taking a ride with their company. We said OK for it and we were taken to house which was connected to the river. We discussed about the cost of the ride and then after getting to an agreement we ordered some breakfast. We had nice breakfast and then waited for the canoes to arrive.

The canoes arrived and we were asked to sit 2 in each canoe. These canoes were manhandled by two boatmen. Once we all sat in the canoes, a motor boat came and tied these canoes to it. The wild river ride what we expected started off very slowly from the dock where we hired the canoes. Firstly, I couldn't understand why our canoes were stringed and towed by that motor boat for some distance. After going some distance in the water, then I realized that the boatmen were conserving their strength for the upcoming rapids we were about to battle with.

With in no time the calm river turned into cascading rapids. From here the boatmen showed their extreme agility and strength to skilfully manoeuvre the canoes upstream by hopping on and off the canoes against the rapids. We all couldn't help them but were just amazed and excited with such an incredible showmanship. This was an awesome entertainment for all us. We started shouting in excitement as we saw some small waterfalls and when we saw the rapids ahead.
As we entered further into the magnificent canyons, we were all overwhelmed with excitement and joy that’s hard to explain. It was very surreal. The mind-blowing sights and eerie sound of the jungle caused a great sense of awe … all we could say was …wow.

Once we reached the main waterfall we were all happy to see the final destination. We were taken inside the cave which goes just below the waterfall, I had tough time covering my camera to avoid any water to spill on it. We dived there for sometime and we returned back to the shore. We then were taken down the stream through the rapids which was again very special experience with in itself.

Like what most tourists do, we took a lot of photos of ourselves and of course…the scenery and waterfall.

After coming back to the company we took shower, changed clothes and started off for a good lunch. We searched all over but finally landed up having a vegetarian pizza with unlimited soft drink. From here we went ahead to Metro Manila where we wanted to visit Mall of Asia. This was the biggest mall I have ever seen in my life time. We had only 1 hour and hence we saw just one building in the whole mall. We entered a shop and bought some souvenirs.
At around 6 we reached the airport and flied back to Singapore.

Taal Volcano, Manila

While we were on the way to Kota Kinabalu during May - 2009, we have read about Taal Volcano in the Tiger Magazine. Immediately we decided to go there. We planned for a Manila trip for the coming long weekend during August. Thanks to Surya's friend who suggested not to waste long weekend for Taal Volcano as its just a day trip from Manila. I then did some more research and with some help from Surya's friend we finally decided up on an itinary just for a weekend trip. We booked the tickets to Manila for July 24th weekend. Below are the details about the trip.

Day 1 (25th June 2009)
While searching for the accommodation, I came across a blog in which I read about the Taal Lake Yacht Club. This was very near to the Volcano. It was in Tagaytay town. We had no clue what kind of accommodation we were going to get. After some emails and enquiries with Peter and Ronnie, we decided to stay there. 25th at 4.30 AM we landed in Manila airport. We came out of the airport and looked around for a placard of my name. We got into our taxi which we booked before hand. It was a 90 minute ride to Tagaytay town. We stopped over for breakfast at a very scenic restaurant. After breakfast we headed to Taal Lake Yacht Club.

When we reached the club we were not sure of what was in store for us at the club. We waited for a while to get the rooms and also for the arrangements for the trip to Taal. When we were asked to move into the room, we were all excited to see the lake right through the room. Accommodation there was terrific and at a very affordable price. We just paid 2300 Peso for 7 people, which is just 10 dollars per person per night stay for such a luxurious stay. After changing clothes and taking some pictures we headed for our boats in which we had to ride for around 20 minutes. These boats are called as "bangkas".

Taal Lake Yacht Club offers two different treks. One is the most common ‘tourist trail’ and the other they offer is called a ‘secret trail’. We opted for the second one which would actually let you go all the way into the crater and even swim in the lake. We were charged around 2500 Peso per boat which also included charges for the trek. Once we reached the foot of the volcano, we were asked to pay 90 Peso per person as landing tax and also 50 peso per boat for the parking. Once we reached there we were literally harassed by the people selling us the horse rides to the volcano. We firmly said no to everybody and started off the trail without wasting any time. As most of us (other than swetha and srini) have already done the Kota Kinabalu trek, this walk was very simple for us.

As we were walking all the horses were coming behind us in order to convince us for a ride on their horses. That day we were the only visitors to Taal Lake from that route. After going for 1 KM, Swetha couldn’t walk further as she was not accustomed to such a physical exertion. We then took a ride of horse for her. They charged 600 Peso for that. I gave my bag to Swetha to hold while I walked with equal pace with the horse. The trail was steep and was a bit tough for those who are not fit. It took about 45 minutes for us to reach the top. We stopped in between for some pictures too.

Here once we stopped at the top to see the Lake and the world's smallest volcano, before we could actually enjoy the experience we were in yet another tourist trap. The guy at the shop asked if we were looking for some drinks. When we said no then he asked "would you like to buy your driver some drinks?". At that point we cannot straight away say no and hence we had to buy a drink for the driver and then for all of us. The rates were hiked up there and they sold a tiny bottle of water for 50 Peso.

After the exhausting climb and harassment of the vendors and tourist traps everybody forgot what has happened once we got the sight of the gorgeous lake inside the crater. At that moment we felt very nice as we have seen that in a magazine and today we were actually standing there. It would be tough to describe how beautiful it was up there and how surreal this experience was for me. We then started our down trail towards the lake in the crater. As we went nearer and nearer to the lake we could smell the steam coming out of the gas vents here and there on the volcano. Once we reached near the lake we went near one such vent to see how water was boiling. We took some pics near that and went and touched the water in the lake at one end. It was very hot and we would definitely get burns if we stay longer there. After photo session, our guide took us to a place where we all could get into water and have a acidic water bath. It was fun.

After half an hour of just chilling in that warm water and staring at the magnificent view we finally decided to head back. The way back up was a bit tough but was worth the pain. From the middle point the way down is more relaxed and we can appreciate the scenery more as we see Taal Lake. After another 30-minute steep and dust-filled trail down, we reached our bangkas. We drank one coconut each and then boarded the boat and headed back to Taal Lake Yacht Club.

The whole trek lasted about 3 to 4 hours for us (including boat ride to and from the island). We wanted to take bath immediately after reaching the Club. But once we saw the food we changed the idea and started to eat. No one liked the food and hence we just had a minimal food and then thought of all the possible activities we could do there. We were offered sailing, wake boarding, kayaking and pool. As it was almost 3 by then we planned to play pool for sometime. I, Swetha, Nagaraj, Surya and Santosh played pool. We had some beer along with the French Fries. The French fries with Mayonnaise here were the best we ever had till date. At around 5 we went for 30 mins sleep. We got fresh and we left for the Casino in Tagaytay. As everyone was hungry we wanted to have something for dinner. Our driver suggested us to check out the pizza at "Yellow Cab". Frankly speaking that was the best pizza I had in last 2 years.

After having pizza we went ahead for casino. None of us were dressed properly, but then Surya used his MBA skills to convince them and we all entered the casino. We took 50 coins for 500 Peso. This time we all played at the slot machine. Everyone lost money other than Swetha and Nagaraj. They were able to recover the whole loss and we got back our 500 Peso. We stopped playing once we got back our money and left home and the next day we had to start very early for the Pagsanjan Falls.

Over all the day was great and going up to the Taal Volcano was an incredible experience.