Travel Footprints

I first ‘heard’ about C’ Italian Dining Restaurant through a feature in PAL’s inflight magazine, Mabuhay, early this year. We wanted to have our Valentine dinner here but had to pass due to some conflicting plans with our Mt. Pinatubo trek. This weekend, we made sure we had our fill of our Italian cravings from this restaurant, which apparently has already served prominent political figures and celebrities in the country.

Conversations with my husband over dinner at C’ Italian went like this:

Hubby: Sino si Mahoma? At kelan ang panahon ni Mahoma?!

Wifey: Alin ang mas matagal, panahon ni Mahoma o 19-kopong kopong? Ang kopong-kopong ba ay numero o tao?

Hubby: Ilan ang isang katutak? Ilan ba ang katutak?

Wifey: Alin ang mas marami, isang katutak o isang damakmak?

Hubby: Sino sa Annabel…at ano ang kinalaman nya sa mga monkeys? At ilan ba talaga ang monkeys na nakita nya? Si rikitikitik nga ba yun blue black sheep?

Believe me, this was part of our ‘intelligent’ debate as we waited for our orders. It’s probably the result of the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant making us feel like home. Our order of panizza (which you wrap with arugula leaves and alfalfa) and salads were such a treat, it probably gave us the good mood over dinner.

We’re sure glad we were finally able to experience this Italian resto simply called C.

After a rigorous bike ride, checking in at the Hotel Vida in Clark, Pampanga was one of the best decisions for our weekend trip because we love everything about the place!

Hotel Vida, managed by Fuego Hotels, is probably one of the newest hotels in this block and it sure looks and feels new. It was a little disappointing that the only available rooms were two single beds instead of the double bed we requested when we booked our room. The concierge explained that the limited rooms with double beds were occupied by an airline crew. Anyhow, the deluxe room we got was nice. Its design is Contemporary Zen-inspired with a patio and a view of the surrounding vegetation by the side of the hotel.

I like that everything in the room is personalized for Hotel Vida (bath towels, pillow case, etc.) with a superb attention to details. Containers of their bathroom toiletries are all biodegradable. They also put a Ladies Set in the bathroom which includes some napkins and hair clip for swimming.

The food offered in the room service and the breakfast at SALT Coffee Shop were absolutely yummy. We were totally relaxed in our stay and we spent most of Sunday morning unwinding by the pool area.

There’s a MALT Bar by the entrance of the hotel compound for drinks and some cool, eclectic music to cap the night. One-hour massage is also available as an in-room service or at the Ylang Ylang Spa.

Dark clouds above did not dampen the adventurous spirits of the boys after we got down from Sitio Target route. Although it crossed our minds, going towards the 7-km ride to Puning Hot Springs (Station 3) on our bikes was not a good idea. The choices were either to backtrack Sitio Target route or carve a path along wet, muddy and sandy Sacobia River.

Guess where our pedals took us?

The ride along the Lahar Valley was definitely one-of-a-kind. Not to mention that it started pouring rain a little after we took off with this unchartered trail. As we were pedaling, we joked about biking for our lives as we talk about the possibilty of rain and raging lahar coming down to us (yikes!). The Sacobia route was difficult but fun. Imagine biking along wet sands punctuated with several river crossings under the pouring rain. At one point, I couldn’t pedal anymore BUT I remained upright for probably 40 seconds, as if in a stationary bike, because my front wheel was dug in too deep in the sand.

The fun in the lahar lasted for a little more than 6 kilometers. From the Sacobia River, we went up somewhere in the vicinity of a footbridge and was back in Clark through the lesser known but very scenic Gate 14 route. At the end of the ride, we were all a picture of happy bikers!

Photo credits: Lydon de Luna of Team VGB in Angeles, Pampanga

We opted to travel towards Northern Luzon last weekend and experience more of Clark in Pampanga. The last time we were there was last February when we spent our Valentine weekend with a Mt. Pinatubo hike and then on to the Philippine Hot Air Balloon Festival the day after the trek. Clark on an ordinary weekend is a far cry from what we’ve seen during the festival, with very few cars on the road and lesser people around.

We were happy to have linked up with a biker based in Pampanga and was introduced to the ‘Target’ bike trail. First few kilometers of the trail is an uphill climb in paved roads

which leads up to an semi-offroad trail

and we found ourselves eventually in front of Station 1 of the Puning Hot Spring Day Tour package situated in Brgy. Sapang Bato in Angeles, Pampanga where we met the rest of the Pampanga Mt. Bikers:

This is in Sitio Target (hence, the name of the trail). Beyond Station 1 of the Puning Hot Spring opened up a trail with some hints of volcanic ashes, which was a first for us!

The ‘Target’ route led us to a spa and massage area, which we found out was Station 2 of the Puning Hot Spring package, according to the friendly Aetas we met there who are employed by the company as masseuse (good for them!). Puning Hot Springs is reached ideally with a 4×4 vehicle so getting to Station 3 was not an option anymore. But the Sacobia valley was wide and we are in the mood for more adventure

Next post: Inside the Lahar Valley
Photo credits: Lydon de Luna of Team VGB in Angeles, Pampanga

Now, if there’s one more thing i can say about Pattaya, it’s the bustling night life of the place. After briefly hanging out by the beach and eating dinner, we made a beeline to see the Alcazar Cabaret. The buzz about the place revolves mainly on the performers – they are actually guys in dresses! It is hard to believe they are gay performers though because they all look so pretty!

There’s a pinch of drama there but the show is well, a cabaret, so lots of dancing and singing from these talented ‘men’. Think 45 minutes of flamboyant costumes with grand sets and background – pure entertainment indeed.

Our weekends typically involve mountain biking and the plan was to hit Sta. Rosa trails this Saturday. The trails of Sta. Rosa in Laguna is a popular biking destination in the south of the metro. This is where the last part of the movie ‘I’ve Fallen for You’ – starred by Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson – was shot.

I was not in the mood to go biking, i was either going to stay home or still try to tag along with Hubby on the road trip to Sta. Rosa. I chose the latter but didn’t exactly know what i was going to do while they go biking. Although Paseo de Sta. Rosa (the meeting point of bikers before the trail) had a lot of outlet stores so the prospect of shopping was appealing.

But after seeing the bikers off, it was still too early for shopping in Paseo – outlet stores of Speedo, Nike, Levi’s and Adidas are still closed. Even the Kodak store (i wanted to have some pictures developed) and National Bookstore (i wanted to buy CDs so i can burn the photos i want to print) are also closed. So then, i decided to go up to Tagaytay which was a mere 30 minutes drive away, stopping by the fruit stalls along the way. In Tagaytay, I went straight to the recently-opened Robinson’s Supermarket for some grocery-shopping. Across the road from the supermarket, Josephine’s offers free wifi but i opted to hang out at Starbucks for a view of Taal Volcano and to watch a movie on my laptop. Besides, it’s the most tambay-friendly place I know.

Close to lunch time, Hubby texted they were on their way back to Sta. Rosa via Coffee and Upak trail (these are terms bikers use which i don’t even think the locals would understand). That was my cue to go back down myself. So i packed my things, dropped by Rowena’s for some pastries and drove towards Paseo.

Lunch at Paseo was a no-brainer. We always have lunch at Kanin Club for yummy Filipino dishes after bike rides. Well, Hubby already ate at the biker pit stop we fondly call Aling Pina before heading down. It’s not exactly a pit stop because you have to go out of the trail and into a highway and bike up towards Tagaytay, but crazy as it sounds, we do this. The store-with-no-name-but-we-call-Aling-Pina, in fact, has grown from a small shack to a mid-sized food place complete with bamboo bike racks catering to bikers over the years we’ve been going here.

Back at Paseo, our Kanin Club lunch was great as always and we went around to see what’s interesting in the stores. To wrap up our trip, we went for a massage at 360 spa located at the back of Paseo. Road trip to Sta. Rosa on a Saturday morning without an itinerary wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Pattaya has always been known as the coastal retreat conveniently located near Thailand’s city center. I am glad we went there NOT for the beach though, because frankly speaking i’ve seen better beaches in the Philippines. Instead, we were there to see the Nong Nooch Garden and Resort on a fun-filled day tour. For overnight stays, accommodations at Nong Nooch are available, you may check their website for details.

Our day tour started from Bangkok where we left early morning to go to Pattaya by bus. The moment we entered the Nong Nooch Garden and Resort we saw how huge the place was! We arrived just in time to see the Cultural Show in the morning where performances ranged from cultural dances, muay thai boxing to elephants in battle (yes, real elephants are performing in this scene!). The other performance highlight was the Amazing Elephants Show.

Buffet lunch is served at the resort restaurant and i highly recommend it. The restaurant served as the gateway to the perfectly-manicured garden at Nong Nooch. The garden was like the tea scene at Alice in Wonderland. We tried to plot out our afternoon itinerary with the map provided us so we don’t miss out too much. Luckily, we were at the terminal when the shuttle car for the resort passed by. For just a minimal charge, we were able to see a varied lot of the interesting botanical garden we could not have accomplished on foot.

An alternative mode of transport around the gardens are the elephants (with seats strapped in their backs). But i felt they already accomplished enough with the morning shows, they deserve an afternoon off to rest.

All the brouhaha about the dramatic turnout at an all-important event had Pattaya all over the news during Easter weekend. The ASEAN Summit (attended by no less than President GMA) actually had to be cancelled due to Thai protesters and consequently putting Pattaya in Thailand on world news. Made me want to look back and write about my Pattaya experiences, hence this series.

I went to Pattaya just once before and it was a fantastic tourist-y day indeed. I realized there’s a lot to write about this place. First and foremost is that this is where i had my very first close encounter with the famed elephants of Thailand!

Pattaya is a good 1 and a half hour ride away from Bangkok through expressways. Several tour agencies from Bangkok can arrange transportation service. The photo above took place at the Nong Nooch Tropical Garden Resort, where the elephants are some of the biggest stars around.

Need i say more? The Amazing Elephants show is just one of the many attractions at the Nong Nooch Botanical Garden in Pattaya.

If you have a few hours to spare to explore Jakarta, where would you go? That was the question I was asking myself during my second trip to Indonesia. Fortunately, I was able to make the most out of my free day in exploring the city of Jakarta before boarding my Philippine Airlines flight home in the evening at 2300.

A friend met me in Hang Tuah Hotel in the morning and then met up with another friend from Uganda, East Africa. We rode the cab to their Kota (also called Batavia) to get a taste of the city’s history and culture. I have always felt that Jakarta has an uncanny similarity with Metro Manila and this particular place in the city reminds me of Intramuros somehow. There were a couple of museums in this area, plus the Central Post Office which gave me the opportunity to send postcards for home (a practice my hubby and i shared for years).

We had late lunch at Cafe Batavia, set in an old house that was first erected sometime in the 1800s making it the second oldest building in the area of Fatahillah Square. The first thing you will notice is that the walls are filled with framed photographs of celebrities. 

Wall of photos by the staircase of Cafe Batavia

The back of framed photos serve as the restaurant menu as well

Even their comfort room donned framed photos (it became a little disturbing for me to see a photo frame inside the cubicle itself). Cafe Batavia reminded me of Barbara’s Restaurant (in Intramuros, Manila) a lot. The food was great although a bit on the expensive range.

We strolled a bit towards their antiquated train station near the kota and was inspired to try a local Indonesian snack of pancit baksho (noodle soup which can get too spicy) in one of the local stands. I was a bit nervous (it is street food after all!) but took comfort in seeing men in their office attire eating there as well. I emphatically instructed manang from the baksho stand not to put too much spice on my soup. It was actually pretty delicious, especially when paired with the local bottled green tea.

Checking out the local street food near the train station

We rode the TransJakarta instead of a cab to go back to the city center. TransJakarta is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. It operates just like a light rail transit (e.g., LRT, MRT) but uses specially-designed elevated buses (hence, less expensive to set up and operate). Unlike the buses in Metro Manila, the TransJakarta have designated bus stops where people could get on and off, just like an MRT. It is impossible to alight the TransJakarta anywhere since the bus is elevated. We took a cab from our bus stop and headed to the malls for dinner and a nightcap at Plaza Senayan and Senayan City. These are posh malls in Jakarta and very near my hotel (allows me to squeeze in extra time before the hour-long ride to the international airport).

While in the streets of Jakarta, terima kasih (Thank you!) is what you will be saying often while selamat detang (Welcome) is what you’ll be hearing often.