Didn’t know why that moment, my mind turned mischievous.

Casually, I went by him and said “uncle, your money is on the floor” and slowly went by.

Few seconds later, uncle casually tilted his head side way, looked down on the floor before looking up at me saying,

“where got?“

…and that’s when I said, “April Fool!”.

The rest laughed so loud that I swear it was as loud as the sound of thunder! I actually felt bad cz I didn’t expect or foresee that type of response. I quickly took a look at him. Luckily, he laughed.

Still, I apologised to him for playing a prank on him but he said, Ah, it’s okay. It’s a good prank… before finishing the sentence with, “eh! Your money falls on to the floor.”

Both of us laughed.

And I heard he uses the joke on other people. Haha!

The entire 2 hours journey, we were either laughing our heads off because of some funny jokes or yelling for help because of the F1-ness in our driver’s blood. Sat had car sick and mild ‘heart attack’ as he sat next to Jenseon Button who was showing off his skill on road!

Along the way, we stopped by St Augustine Church or famously known as Paoay Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte. The church is in the UNESCO World Heritage List and since we’re the so-called UNESCO-heritage-hunter, it’s totally unquestionable that we’ll be heading to this place.

Ohya, Paoay is pronounced as Pa-wai. Apparently all the –y should sound like –i, like Boracay (Bo-ra-kai, not Bo-ra-kei). So, Laoag is pronounced as La-wai too! Haha. Special thanks to Hannah for being my personal Tagalog tutor in Philippines. Salamat po!

Believe it or not, his church is also nicknamed the Golden Church because when the sun set, the sun rays reflects on the façade of the church making it glows in gold. Also there’s a local urban legend saying that there’s gold hidden in the tunnel underneath the church. So hmm..

$$$

As much as we wanted to see the golden façade of the church, it was very cloudy when we entered Paoay town. We prayed hard, hoping that the rain wouldn’t start pouring until we finish visiting the area. Jenseon Button made his way into this small town to this famous church and parked his McLaren at the parking bays in front of the church.

We got down and started talking to the guys from the other car. We told them on how fast and furious Jenseon Button drove and they told us that theirs is more extreme than ours! Curiously we asked why.

“Because we ran over few animals.”

We gave them the wtfish look. Immediately in my mind, an image of a car running over a cow appeared. LOL!

The most LOL moment is when we know that Jenseon Button addresses their driver, Buddha because of his bald head. They explained that Buddha drove over animals because he couldn’t brake in time when the dog, cat or chicken suddenly ran into the road.

I wanted to pee once gotten down from the car, but the sight of the Paoay church is too mesmerizing that I immediately walked towards the church.

The awe feeling that I had at that time is exactly the same when I stood in front of Angkor Wat and Borobudur Temple. Knowing that I won’t be coming back to this place anymore, I took as much photos as I could. Hehe!

Then it was the time for group photo.

The group photos look stunning with Paoay Church as the backgrounding and the dramatic sky. However it lacks something or should I say someone?

It’s Hannah! She’s always our photographer and we wanted her to be in the photo as well! Since nobody brought tripod along (actually someone brought but didn’t bring it down, lol!) so we took it with David kneed in front holding the wide angle and everyone just squeezed behind!

Seriously, thank god for wide angle! Or else, we wouldn’t have thought of doing so. Keke!

After that all of us headed towards the church. Some went to the bell tower located on the church’s right hand side. As for me, I straightaway entered the church.

2 statues of angel holding a bowl greeted me as I walked down the board, long nave. I continued walking and stopped just before the bema where the altar is. I don’t dare to go up to the raised platform to have a closer shot as I fear it’s disrespectful to step to do so.

Then I walked out and headed towards the left side of the church for the buttresses, the famous photographed part of the church besides the façade. In case you don’t know what a buttress is, it’s actually structure built against wall for support.

A church situated in an earthquake prone area definitely needs buttresses to hold them up. Or else it wouldn’t be called the Earthquake Baroque church for no reason. Paoay church survived earthquake twice. Though there were damages, but with the buttresses the church was able to withstand the impact. I read that this church is used as a fortress during war before of the strong foundation.

Paoay church is one of the 4 famous Baroque churches in Philippines. I was trying to find out what Baroque element does the church has. After looking around, I supposed it’s because of the broadness of the nave and the light-dark colour contrast used? Moreover Baroque style started somewhere in the 16^th century lasts to the 19^th century, so I believe that might somehow influenced the church design as the church was built in the 16^th century.

At the middle of the church, I saw these ruined steps. I supposed it’s a stairs from the bottom to the top, but I couldn’t comprehend why there’s a stair there. Maybe it’s just a fallen buttress.

Sat came to find me and we took the opportunity to snap few pictures. How would resist NOT to camwhore at such a beautiful place?

We found a beautiful gothic door that we can’t resist to camwhore with. ^^

Done camwhoring, we walked towards the bell tower. Along the way, Hannah told us that the church was built of corals.

CORALS? Like seriously? – that was our reply.

Then she said YEAH!

And we gave her disbelief look, and looked at the wall with wonders. Lol.

Before heading up the bell tower, I went to the other side of the church to take few pictures. Apparently, there’s a fenced garden (I think) at that side, but since we didn’t have much time left I didn’t enter. I then walked towards the bell tower.

Just when I determined to climb up the bell tower, someone told us that we have only like 10 minutes left. 10 minutes is enough to get up to the bell tower, but the thing is I was holding on to my pee. Initially I thought of going halfway the bell tower quickly snapped the view around and then came down, but when I looked up the tower, I realised there’s no ‘pit stop’ in the middle. The swirl tower will bring up directly up to the 3^rd storey.

Oh well, I had to forgo the climb as I was holding my pee to the maxxxx! @_@

Quickly took few pictures and then ran to the public toilet of the food stall opposite Paoay church.

Not only the toilet is smelly and couldn’t flush, we have to pay like 5 pesos (RM0.36) for using it.

Shit, now only I realised the toilet in Paoay is 10 cents more expensive than ours. Lol!

After entering the toilet, Sat and I bought a big bottle of water from drink stall and then walked back to our car. Before the journey started, Sat quickly popped in a pill for car sickness and prayed the Jenseon Button would drive better for the rest of the journey. The sky was getting darker and we quickly started our journey to the North.

As we headed north, we were greeting by the sight of paddy fields and mountains, kampong houses, small villages town, and many signboard of Jollibee!

I was totally, should I say fascinated or irritated by the signboard of Jollibee. That’s because we were driven along this 2 lane tar road in the middle of paddy fields and mountain range and I could see the Jollibee signboard like once every km?

Okay, maybe I was aggregating but they came out too often! One moment it’ll show “Jollibee 5km”, and next it’ll show “Jollibee 4.7km”. Blah, I should have count the amount of Jollibee signboard along the way.

As we were driving through the road leading to Laoag, we passed by this beautiful big fresh water lake which is known as the Paoay Lake. We didn’t stop by but in the car, Hannah told us a story behind this lake. And it was quite spooky. @_@

Let me put this story I gotten from the wikimapia on The Legend of Paoay Lake.

Long ago, in this once-dry land where Paoay Lake now stands, there was a village whose people were kind, generous and God-fearing. Prosperity was evident in their beautiful houses, their expensive clothes and glittering jewelries. As years passed, rivalry among the people set in, that they worked hard to acquire material things more than the others. God-worship was forgotten. Among them, Juan and his wife Maria, remained simple folks and never forgot to worship God. One night, in a dream, they were told that the village will be destroyed by a flood, if the people will not reform. They related their dream to their neighbours, but they only laughed at them. One morning, the people heard a voice saying, “Leave this place tonight. When you hear the roar of thunder, do not look back, lest you suffer the same fate as the sinners.” When dusk came, they left their little belongings towards the hill. Then they heard the clap of thunder and felt the earth beneath then sway and tremble. The villagers were roused, but their cries died down as they were submerged under the rampaging water. The woman instinctively turned back to look back at the village. She swooned and her husband tried to hold her. This tugging gave the name “Nangguyudan”. They turned into rocks which can still be seen today at Bantay Pugaro. Atop one rock grew a “bangar” tree which rises to the sky like an open umbrella. As years went by at the place where the village sank, a beautiful lake emerged, and is now the famous PAOAY LAKE. Today, they said if one looks into the depths of the lake, one could see the shadows of the buildings and houses of the once prosperous village. Fisherman reported catching fishes adorned with jewels. It is believed that these were the early inhabitants of the ill-fated village. SOURCE: The people of Paoay

Spooky? Yeah, I got goosebump when Hannah told us that as we passed the lake. I got even spooked when Hannah said people who ate the fishes caught from the lake found jewels in it.

Freaking scaryyyyy! >.<

Just wondering, what’s Nangguyudan? Hmm.

Jenseon Button cruised his way to Laoag safely without running over any animals (thankfully). We knew that we’ve reached Laoag city after crossing the wide river using the 4 lane bridge and after seeing a big signboard welcoming us to Laoag City.

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Lot of things to do, you bet!

That’s why before coming to Philippines; I read a lot. I do really mean when I say A LOT. Most on the transportation to the North of Luzon. I know those places, transportation might be expensive and should someone try to cut-throat us, we can always resort to the public transportation as they are the cheapest means to go about.

I was recommended, or should I say the travel sites in the internet recommends tourists to take Partas as they’re more reliable and consists as well as punctual in time. So when we faced with a detour in Manila, we immediately opted for Partas Bus Terminal in Cubao, Quezon.

Believe me, we were like going through Amazing Race in Manila with all the running and rushing. We had totally freaking massive adrenaline rush on the first day!

When we arrived at the bus terminal, Sat immediately went and queued at the ticket counter for our tickets while we waited at the side. It costs us 545 pesos (RM39.79) and will take us 8 hours to get to Vigan.

After getting our tickets, we went for dinner at a cafeteria near the bus terminal. The cafeteria sells something like economic rice in Malaysia. There is 5-6 selection of dishes to choose from on the food display cases to go with a plate of white rice. Sat and I took 3 dishes to share. It costs 450 pesos (RM32.85) for 2 plates of rice, 3 dishes and 2 bottles of water.

After dinner, we boarded the bus and not long after that, the bus began its journey.

Before moving, the bus’s speakers were blaring with local songs but it changed to English ballad after that. I was super tired, I fell asleep regardless how loud the songs were played.

But I did occasionally wake up many times the entire journey because of the yellow light going on and off at each and every station the bus stopped. I got pretty annoyed with the loud music and the yellow light but after mumbling to Sat, I dozed off again. Lol.

Never in my life have I sat in a bus that played such a loud music nor having light going on and off so many times in the middle of the night. I guess the bus driver did that to keep himself awake. Lol!

At around 2 something in the morning, the bus stopped at a rest house. Almost everyone got down. Sat nudged me awake and asked if I wanted to get down as well. I didn’t want to, as I want to get some sleep. But the temperature in the bus was getting lower. Unable to bear it anymore, I got down and joined the rest.

My face was still steam-steam when I got down. Don’t know what to say and do, I stood there, nodding my head in response to what they said. All I want to do is to continue sleeping, but wearing short pants didn’t help at all. Our group was the only ones wearing short pants while the rest were in jeans. We were totally unprepared for the trip and it taught us to at least store a shawl or jacket in our small backpack to whenever we go.

The rest house was actually bursting with life even at the wee hour. The ladies were busy selling breads, snacks to the bus passengers; some were seen sipping hot coffees. There’s a small queue coming from the stall selling red sausages near where we stood. Sat was tempted with the sausages, and he went to buy one from them.

I don’t know why I didn’t take any pictures at the rest house. Probably because I was super blur at that time. Lol!

The bus driver honked, signaling us to get onto the bus. After doing headcounts, the bus started moving and I too started making my way to dreamland.

I think I slept for another 1-2 hours before the bus did one final stop at another rest house comprises of a cafeteria and minimart. I quickly got down and ran to the toilet. Oh my, the stench. Eww. And there were big red ants crawling around. When I saw that ants, I got goosebumps – don’t ask me why. @_@

I’ve already been to the nastiest and the smelliest toilet in China, but I don’t blame the people there as the one I been to has no flush system.

But we were in Philippines and the toilet flush works! I totally don’t understand why people wouldn’t FLUSH after doing their business? Totally wtfish -.-“

When I got out, David, Hannah, Aaron and Sat were outside talking. I then noticed that the sky was getting a little bit brighter, so I asked Sat for the time. It was about 4 something in the morning.

The break was shorter than the first one. Barely 5 minutes into talking, we were asked to get onto the bus again. From there, I couldn’t sleep anymore so I was looking out most of the time. Luckily, the sky wasn’t that pitch dark anymore so I could roughly see the buildings beside the road.

The bus then moved along the curve on the hill and I could see a big lake with lots mist over it. I don’t know if that’s really a lake or a river or river mouth, the scenery there was beautiful and mystical. I woke Sat up, and he peeked out the see what’s so important/fantastic out there. He was like whoa! too upon seeing the lake and the mist.

Then I looked at the window on my right. What I saw was the beautiful nature canvas – orange-ish/purplish strikes coming out from valley at the end of the river. Too bad I seated on the left side of the bus, so I couldn’t take any pictures or video of the beautiful sky. I did try, but couldn’t see the orange/purple at all. Haih.

That’s the best thing about taking the overnight bus – you get to experience unexpected wonderful things that you might not even get to feel/see it again in future. Something wonderful like the sunrise Sat and I witnessed are totally for the mind-safekeeping only.

After going around the hill, I just had the feeling that we’re about to reach our destination. True enough, when the sky was a little brighter, we could see Vigan signboard somewhere. The bus stopped in front of a big gateway bearing the word Vigan. I was ecstatic as I longed to see this city ever since I know of its existence (while doing researches on Philippines).

We didn’t get down at the big gateway as there’s no signal from Hannah who sat in front. The sky looked like 6 something in the morning in Malaysia but believe me, it was only 5 o’clock.

Our bus stopped at the Partas bus terminal in Vigan. Don’t get you guys wrong, there’s no terminal building there; just a big empty space that can fit like 10-15 buses and a wooden shed with wooden benches at the side.

We got down, retrieved our bags and then walked out.

Few trikes parked in front of the bus terminal. Seeing us walking out of the terminal, they quickly approached us and asked if we wanted their services. Hannah then helped in negotiate and when the agreement of price was made, we then separated ourselves to 4 groups.

This time, Steven, Sat and I were in the same trike with Sat and I sitting at the cart beside and Steven sitting behind the biker. Then all 4 trikes vroomed their way to the hotel we supposed to stay on the first night.

Halfway biking through the still asleep town, our trike suddenly stopped. Shocked, we wondered what had happened. Apparently, one of the backpacks from our trike fell. Sat then yelled, “Oh gosh, it was mine!” before he broke into laughter. Luckily there were other trikes that were behind us or else Sat would have to wear the same clothes for the rest of the trip.

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Steven just nodded and said okay.

We asked if he knows what the policeman said, he said he didn’t know but probably it got to do with the phototaking. Lol.

Immediately all of us stop taking picture and just stood there. Hannah came and told us that she managed to get a taxi. But looking at the size of the taxi, we knew that we had to get another one. So, we left SM Megamall for GoHotels.ph in Mandaluyong in 2 taxis.

In the taxi, I told Hannah on the policeman and asked her if she knows why. She then said, “Oh, no pictures taking are allowed in Ortigas and Makati.”

Then all of us were like Ohhh… No wonder la!

However I took one from the back of the taxi in hush. I couldn’t resist the temptation of taking the beautiful, tall building with sky, blue sky. The place is so beautiful. They’re like Tokyo! Lots of high rise buildings with blue sky.

We reached GoHotels like 10 minutes. Or slightly more than 10 minutes.The hotel is still new, thus the taxi driver wasn’t sure on the location. Luckily Hannah was in the car to help in direction and the other taxi was following us, so we didn’t really waste much time on finding the hotel.

It was actually easy to find. Just inform the taxi – Robinsons Cybergate Plaza if they don’t know where’s GoHotels. It works, believe me. *wink*

The taxis dropped us near the parking lot of the hotel. We paid the taxi driver (can’t remember how much, swt) and went up to the lobby for checking-in process. Thanks to Hannah, we actually got free night stay for our last night in Philippines from GoHotels.ph. However, they replied us a day later after we booked the rooms there. GoHotels.ph is something like our Tune Hotel minus the credit thingy. You know, the 12hr/24hr air-cond,  hair dryer, TV, wifi, etc2. Lol.

Since we need a place to throw our bags for a quick sightseeing in Manila, Hannah negotiated with the hotel manager again and they’re kind enough to let us a room for free to put our bags. Salamat po!

We checked in, threw our bags and freshened up a little. The room we got unfortunately has a fake window – but it’s okay since the room is used to store our bags only. Lololololol!

The beds look so inviting and I felt like jumping onto the bed, ask them to just leave without me and just sleep off. Ngek ngek ngek!

But obviously I won’t! Lol!

I went to the bathroom to wear contact lens. However because of not wearing the contacts for such a long time, it took me longer time than usual to wear it as my eyes kept rejecting them!

Frustrated, I just forced it in.

Then I looked up. I felt blur. I thought I wore the wrong sides, so I took them out and switched them. It got even blurrier! I was correct initially. With even more frustrated, I repeated the routine and then quickly ran out of the room. The rest were already down at the lobby.

Hannah and Sat waited for me. Sat kept asking if I were okay. I wanted to complain to him about my eyes, but I can’t show manjaness there. Huuhuu. So I nodded my head.

All of us walked out of GoHotels and headed to Boni MRT Station nearby. It was a good 5 minutes’ walk to station from the hotel.

If you’re planning to go to Manila and don’t have a slightest clue on where to stay, do consider GoHotels. The hotel is near LRT station and malls too. The price is affordable, especially good for the budget travelers like us!

There are plenty of stalls at the overhead pedestrian bridge. We stopped by a drink stall to buy something cold for the throat. Sat and I shared a cup of buko (coconut). Then he got another cup of sago-gulaman because he was still thirsty.

After drinking, we went up to the ticket counter to get our ticket. From Boni station to Taft station, it costs 12 pesos (88 cents). Cheap? You bet!

At the turnstiles upon entering the station, there are 2 policewomen doing bag scan. What annoyed me was there’s this policewoman who touched the lower back of Sat after checking him as he was holding my backpack.

Sat was in shocked. I was like wtfish? Why are you touching him?!

Sat then pulled a pity face and told me he was sexually harassed (Lol!) in Manila. I laughed.

We waited at the station for our train. Hannah told us that we couldn’t take picture at the station so we obediently followed.

We were chatting halfway when the train opposite came and boy, were we shocked to see the amount of people in the train. Someone asked Hannah if that time was the peak hour in Manila. Hannah said no, it’ll be even worst during peak hour. All of us gave shocked look as the train at the other side was practically full.

Our train came and all of us tried to get it. But being used to letting people out first, we waited for the local to come out before boarding in. Little did we know that only few came out and we had to run to the other compartment to get in. Just as Hannah signaled us to get in, the siren sounded and sliding doors closed right in front of us. All of us gave a long NOOOOOOO!!!! and she did the cute sad face. Haha.

We quickly hand-signaled that we’ll meet her at the designated station. So we waited patiently for the next train and even divided ourselves to smaller group for easy access. When the train arrived, we battled our way in and thankfully, this time no one was left behind. Lol!

Taking LRT is one of an easy way to see the city in whole. I love looking at the buildings; shabbier buildings; Jollibee; pre-war buildings; Jollibee; building with strong Spanish flavour; and Jollibee again! I guess Jollibee is really a big thing in Philippines. Haha.

We got down at the last station of the Manila MRT Blue Line (MRT-3), Taft Avenue at Pasay City. We rejoiced with Hannah and all of us walked to EDSA LRT station on Manila LRT Yellow Line (LRT-1) to Central station. We paid 15 pesos (RM1.10).

Along the way, I spotted this very tall, blue tower with white dots. I immediately asked Hannah what was that? She asked what and where? Suddenly I couldn’t explain the tower with words, so I did hand movement of going upwards with sound effect of Zhhhhhhh!

The rest laughed and even asked me to stop doing that because the sound made them feel like peeing. T_T

So I looked outside and scouted for the tower again. But there are many high buildings and trees blocking the tower. Finally Hannah spotted one and she said, “Oh. I know what you mean d. That’s the tower at the theme park in Manila.”

Boy, were I glad that she found the tower. But until now they still made fun of the zhhh.. T_T

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And guess what came out?

Category : Tasteless?

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!

What a day to start my Monday. Lol!

DO you manage to fool anyone or gotten fooled by someone else?

Well, I got mine when I was listening to Fly.Fm Rush Hour yesterday afternoon – I think that was the biggest prank ever pulled as Jules suddenly announced out that she’s leaving the radio for good! Even tho I don’t know her personally nor what, I was super duper down and was THIS ( less than an inch) close to tears knowing that I couldn’t get to listen to my favourite duo on the way back from office starting from tomorrow.

I told Sat on how sad I was, and even tweeted on how sad I was on hearing this news. I know this sounds stupid but it was a  fact that I was sad okay!

The next thing I know is a tweet from FlyFm95.8 saying that it’s just a prank!

Oh well, at least it was a happy prank. Lol.

Earlier today, I got tricked into believing Song got a job at my company. But just when I replied, “eh?” and about to ask if he’s joking, he already replied “April Fool!”. Now I’m unsure I got fooled or not. Haha.

But I got my revenge back. Muahaha!

Before I continued with my story, I want to share a happy news : I already claimed my iPhone from the Digi centre. Paid RM2,144 for the phone with 6 months deal. Digi gave lots freebies – screen protector, yellow casing, CDs etc. Woohoo!

Last Friday, Yin, Choo, Qi, Sheng, Angelong and I surprised our beloved HR at her house. This plan was masterminded by Angelong; where the plan was to crash her house with food and cake and balloons at 7 pm.

However, because I took the wrong turning and ended at God-knows-where-am-I, I reached at 7.10 pm with unblown balloons where the rest already went up and started singing Birthday song to her as she was starting to wake up from her late evening nap.

Luckily I reached in time to sing the last part of the Birthday song and witnessed her very-beautiful-moment.

Then she went to freshen up while we prepared the food and blew balloons.

Little did I know the balloons was actually a bad idea as the whole family is afraid that the balloons would burst!

So, we just blew 6 balloons I think and put them all in her room! Haha!

Qi showed me something devilish that I couldn’t stop laughing upon seeing it. I’m not going to show it here though I did take a picture of it BUT you can easily spot it in the pictures below. Keke.

Yin, Choo and Angelong bought yummylicious Ayamas chickens and 2 set of Dominos pizza for the party. We placed them all on a very cute table.

Ailing then came out, took her throne seat and pose for the camera! With the balloons behind her of couse! Wouldn’t waste our efforts in blowing those balloons mah. Haha.

Then it was time for her to cut the cake. Her parents then went out paktoring, leaving the whole house to us. And since no authorities at home, we forced her to do something which she sportingly, gladly entertained us with that. Haha.

After eating, Angelong took out her Monopoly Deal cards which got us totally hooked on it! Haha. Played few rounds until it was time to go home.

We had endless laughters, screams, curses, food, cake, balloons, and Monopoly Deals that night. I think all of us should do this often – not birthday part, but the get togethert!

Btw, I didn’t get the iPhone deal… Waiting for the rumoured iPhoneHD this summer.April Fool to those who believed that earlier! Bleks.

I’ve been Indonificated in just 6 days!

Since I’m still feeling Indonised, I shall quickly summarize the whole trip before I went into details. Ah~ I can still ‘hear’ the Javanese music playing in my head.

In just 6 days, I’ve…

1. took 6 flights. Fly cheap and further with AirAsia!

2. been to 3 cities. Yogyakarta, Jakarta and Bali! ♥

3. spent 5 nights at 5 different places

4. attained ‘Nirvana’ at Borobudur temple

5. paid 17.5% of service charge for food!

6. conquered Mount Batur

7. drank the most expensive coke 1.5km above sea

8. bathed black, salty water

9. had Alphard as taxi!

10. got denied access to 2 holy temples because of menstrual.

11. addicted to teh botol

12. spoke and bargained in Bahasa Indon

13. fascinated by chickens! They look so prosperous!

14. ate the overrated babi guling

15. awed at the great statue of Wisnu!!!

16. sipped one of the most expensive coffee in the world – coffee luwak

17. turned backpack bag into turkey

18. went gaga over ronde

19. sarong-ed ourselves before entering temple

20. fall in love with the blue sea, again

21. Bought camera battery for IDR275.000 because forgotten to bring. Dang!

22.  Left my mark at Kuta beach

23. …and used more than 1.5 million rupiah! And yet I didn’t buy enough souvenirs!!!!

And thank god I decided to go broke and get the wide angle lens. I brought my kit lens there and I didn’t use it at all! All pictures in Indon were taken with wide angle! Damn umph!!!

Now, I’ve to go back to mundane life and slowly get rid of the post-vacation-syndrome.

♥ Can’t wait for July!!! ♥

Behold, this post contains non-halal! Lol!

Taiping trip is being close to nature – hence, a visit at this Indian temple,  Om Sakthi Sri Jada Muneesvarar Alayam.

Well the main reason why we visit this temple is to see and touch wild boars!

Touching a wild boar might be disgusting to you, but believe me there’s a VERY BIG REASON why people are touching and feeding them.

Plus, have you seen wild boars eating nasi lemak? @.@

There the wild boars are known as ‘lucky boars’. It’s said that by touching the boars with hand, one might strike lottery! That’s why people as far as Singapore come all the way to this temple to touch it.

While the boars are busy munching on their nasi lemak, I took the opportunity to touch one of the wild boar. Their skin is seriously HARD! I think normal pig’s skin also nicer. Haha!

Here’s the famous 3-legged wild boar. The caretaker told us that this boar and another two ‘friends’ of his are the luckier boars.

Seeing the 3 legged wild boar fulled of mud, I was reluctant to touch initially. But out of curiosity, I did. I was dying to know what’s the difference between touching a mud-less wild boar and a muddy wild boar.

Difference are :

1. The fur is THICKER.

2. The wet feeling is there.

As the sky grew darker, the number of wild boars increased. Probably the dark sky means ‘dinner time’ to them. Lol.

We left not long after that since the tummy was growling. Took dinner at one of the food court in Taiping and off we went to the Taiping Night Safari. Entrance fee is RM16 for adult and RM10 for children under 12.

The moment we walked in there was a guy asking if we wanna take the tram or walk on our own. Since it was ages since we were to the Taiping Night Safari, we decided to take the tram first to know generally what animals they have there and then walk on our own.

Little that we know that we would end up sitting on the tram for 3 times! -.-”

The Taiping Night Safari is smaller if you wanna compare to the one in Singapore. Hey, smaller doesn’t mean it’s bad. Going to night safari and see all the nocturnal coming out at night is really amazing. But…

There’s a BIG BUT here.

I wished the night safari is more lighted especially on the pathway. I understand that night safari should be have as minimal light as possible but at least put led/low light lamps on the pathway to guide people on walking. Some trails are so dark that if a snake or tiger were to lurk there, we might end up being their supper even though some of the ‘no-light-trail’ is barely 100m long. Who knows right?

After getting down from the tram (for the first time), my parents decided to forgo the plan of walking around the night safari. Plus we weren’t given map on the area – we might end up being lost in the safari! Lol!

Aih, my hope of snapping the ‘wild’ animals dashed totally.

We saw many people walked straight to the exit after getting down from the tram. I was thinking – paying RM16 for a 15-20 minutes ride around the safari isn’t worth it at all. Plus it’s hard to scan and see the animals in dark. So I suggested, “why not another round of tram ride?”

Everyone agreed and we queued for 2nd round. The queue wasn’t that long as compared to the first one where we had to wait for good ol’ 30 minutes for the ride. -.-”

10 minutes later, we gotten ourselves on tram for 2nd time and this time we looked at the animals that we couldn’t spot in the first ride. The 2nd tram driver is good as he stopped longer to let us find the animal that he mentioned. Unlike the first driver where he did ‘touch-n-go‘ at each section. Tsk tsk.

We enjoyed our 2nd ride and when we got off the exit point again, we went to queue for the 3rd time – just for the sake of making our ticket worthy. Haha!

So for the 3rd time, we just enjoying the breeze and serenity of the animal kingdom. It was getting late and the sound of crickets getting louder.

And at this round, I spotted a malnourished camel. It is so skinny that I could the ribs on its body. Instead of the normal standing posture that camel has, this camel’s 4 legs caved in, like alphabet V. And it was crying. Or ‘talking’ in its language – that I don’t know. Haha.

We started to feel tired and weary after the 3rd round. So, we headed home. It was definitely interesting as we get to see places rather than stuck at home. Haha!

- Did I mention that I roared at the sleeping lion, just to wake the lion up? And the lion ignored me. T.T -

Siya and the those who walked first stopped at the side of the ‘building’ and waited for us to gather there. Seeing this, the ‘belakang’ ones quite walked there. He then explained that we were standing under the South Gate of Angkor Thom. We asked him on why the arch is built so high up. He said,

“for the elephants to walk through in the past.”

Immediately all of us went “Ohhh!”

We quickly crossed as there were cars and lorries going in and out through that entrance.

And we found overselves at causeway of a total of 108 statues on both sides.

On the left side of the gate is the statues of Devas (Guardian Gods).

While on the right is the 54 statues of Asuras, the Demon Gods.

Siya explained the 54 statues depicted the myth of the Churning of the Ocean, where the Devas were pulling the head of a Snake and the Asuras were pulling the tail of the snake in the opposite direction.

Siya did tell us the myth of the Churning of the Ocean, just that I don’t really catch what he said. Again, was busy snapping around and walking here and there. Lol. So I wikipedia-ed about it. Apparently there’s more story behind the Churning of the Ocean.

The Story of Samudra Manthan : Once Indra, the King of Devatas (guardian spirits), while riding on an elephant came across a sage named Durvasa who offered him a special garland. Indra accepted the garland but put in on the trunk of the elephant. The elephant was irritated by the smell and it threw the garland on the floor. This enraged the sage as the garland was a dwelling of Sri (fortune) and was to be treated as prasada. Durvasa Muni cursed Indra and all devas to be bereft of all strength, energy, and fortune.

In battles that followed this incident, Devas were defeated and Asuras (demons) led by Mahabali, gained control of the universe. Devas sought help from Lord Vishnu who advised them to treat asuras in a diplomatic manner. Devas formed an alliance with asuras to jointly churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality and to share it among them. However, Lord Vishnu told Devas that he would arrange that they alone obtain the nectar.

The churning of the Ocean of Milk  : Mount Mandaranchal was used as the dasher (churning tool), and Vasuki, the king of serpents, became the churning rope. The gods held the tail of the snake, while the demons (Asuras) held its head, and they pulled on it alternately causing the mountain to rotate, which in turn churned the ocean. However, once the mountain was placed on the ocean, it began to sink. Vishnu in his second incarnation, in the form of a turtle Kurma, came to their rescue and supported the mountain on his back.

Note that the Mahabharata version of the story differs in many respects from the one in the various Puranas such as Bhagawat, Brahma-vaivarta, and Agni. For example, in Mahabharata, it was not Vishnu who took the Kurma avatara, but the Akupara, the king of tortoises, who did it on request from Devas and Asuras.

Interesting story. And I feel of going to Angkor again to see the statues and bas relief after knowing all the stories.

From the South Gate, we proceed to Phnom Bakheng. But we stopped for toilet break on the way there. Haha.

After relieving ourselves, we walked to the ‘base’ of the hill where Phnom Bakheng is sits on top. Apparently Phnom means Hill. So Phnom Penh means Hill Penh?

As we were walking there, we were surprised by loud thuds coming from our right.

It was an elephant!

Luckily we froze in time. Or else accident involving human and elephant would happen. Lol!

We then began our hike up to the top. It wasn’t that steep, just easy brisk walk. But we walked quite fast – afraid that the sun might set by the time we got up there.

After like half an hour hike (I think so la, can’t recall d), we reached Phnom Bakheng!

Well, didn’t really reach yet – as we need to climb up the steep stairs to get to the top. Before climbing the very the steep stairs, I saw alot of people offering prayers to a statue of ox. I never know why is that so, I couldn’t ask Siya on this as he’s no where to be seen at that moment. So, I assumed it’s because this year is the year of ox. Lol!

Uncle Google told me that the ox statue is Shiva’s guardian. It’s not surprising to see a Nandi statue there then, as Phnom Bakheng is dedicated to Shiva.

We got up the very high and steep stairs that required us to ‘climb’ up using our limbs. And in front of me and Sat, there were this girl in a SHORT DRESS!

You see, short dress and very steep and high stairs are not the right combination. The girl was practically holding the lower end of the dress to avoid being ‘exposed’ while climbing up the stairs. And the boyfriend constantly placing his hand on her butt, sort of protecting the gf’s dress from flying up due to strong wind.

And they took forever to climb up.

Seeing that, Sat and me decided to wait for awhile. I wouldn’t want to see the girl’s undees, nor wanting Sat to have ‘eye candy’ there, so yeah, we sort of waited down there. However other people just climbed up behind them, sort of glance up – intentionally or not, that I didn’t know. Lol. But I think the bf realised that, as he walked behind the gf instead of beside her halfway up the stairs.

We met up with the rest after finally got upself at the top level. They gotten themselves a nice spot, which was too ‘sunny’ for me. Moreover, it seemed like there wasn’t enough room for us. So we walked around the temple. The view from Phnom Bakheng is stunning! We could see Angkor Wat from afar, could even spot the Siem Reap city too. Didn’t know why I didn’t take any pictures of the view. Hmm.

Done rounding the area, we managed to find strategic spot to photograph the sunset. If you didn’t know, we were the for the sunset viewing as Phnom Bakheng is claimed to be the best place to see the sunset.

I snapped pictures while paktoring with Sat. It’s a very nice moment to paktor what – holding the hands of the person you like while seeing the sun goes down, ahh.. heaven! XD

Once the sun set, we quickly packed our things and left the place. I took one shot of the area and climbed down. The climbing down process wasn’t easy at all – but Aaron made it very easy! He went down damn fast! @.@

As you can see in the next picture, the reason why everyone left quickly is because the sky got dark very quickly.

I turned back, took a glance, took a last shot of the temple. It was getting dark and I wondered why some people hasn’t leave the temple yet.

We joined the crowd, walking through the ‘jungle’ to get to the foothill. It got dark very fast, therefore quickly took out my torchlight to look out for rocks/holes/exposed roots on the trail. I can still remember the journey down the hill, it was very scary (to me) and I held Sat’s hand all the way.

Our van picked us up at the road near the Phnom Bakheng foothill’s base. We headed back to our lodge, feeling very tired and hungry. That’s why the first time we did after we got down from the van was to look for food.

Well, we didn’t look very far. We walked to one of the restaurant near our lodge and ordered the food there. It wasn’t easy speaking to the lady, but we managed to order something edible with the help of the menu. Haha.

After dinner, we walked back to our room and rest early for next day’s activities. Stay tune for Day 4 in Cambodia.

The journey began on Friday afternoon, where B and I battled the bad Friday jam on bridge to head back home in time. We had dinner, went back my home to shower, and then off to the train station.

My stimness look at the station. I was quite sleepy, yet excited. Haven’t been on train for ages!

It was quite packed at the station – with locals as well as the foreigners. While waiting for the train to come, we took pictures! Hoho!

We waited there for like half an hour, then the train arrived. We walked to our coach, which was at the farrrrrrr end! T.T

The moment we walked into the coach, to be frank – I was half stunned and half amazed. Stunned cz I never expect the sleeping coach would be like this. Amazed cz I know it’ll be one pretty amazing ride. Stunned cz I was wondering how to get up there. Amazed cz a big size ah moh managed to get himself up there!

We knew we can’t be standing on the corridor for the entire night, or at that moment – as people will be walking there, so I prepared to get myself up there. I threw my backpacks up, climbed the mini staircase just to find myself asking B,

“Where do I put my shoes? Takkan leave it there? Later gone then how?”

He was also unsure of where to put.

A man heard our conversation and he pointed to the net at the side and said, “you can keep your shoes there.”

At that moment we felt so jakun and stupid there!  Why didn’t we see that net thingy? ROFLMAO.

I took the blue plastic that they provided, put my shoes in and place it at the net thingy.

Of course I didn’t twist the plastic bag like what B did la. Lol!

And then B climbed to his ‘bed’. (That’s how the phrase “climb to bed” got from laaa.) It was entertaining watching him getting up to his berth. Seeing him twist his body, lifting his leg to get it – while me snapping his photos, it was really fun!

Now I understand why the lower berth costs LOTS more than the upper berth. The amount of space. One could sit up on the lower berth, but need to hunch when sit on the upper berth. I was okay with the space as I’m not claustrophobic. And so do B. *phew*

As I was dreadfully tired, I slept after 30 minutes of goofing and woke up at 3.30 in the morning. -.-”"”" I tried to continue sleeping, but I can’t. Probably I was holding my pee that time, plus I was hungry – that’s why couldn’t continue sleeping. Haha!

So, I woke B up. By ‘psst’-ing him. Lol! But obviously the psst didn’t work because of the loud chuchu-ing. So I resorted to SMS! Which he replied like probably half an hour later. Lol!

We went for super early breakfast. Shared fried rice. Drank hot milo. Was still holding my pee – but didn’t go because the toilet is soooooo small and dirty! I was afraid that if I go in, I might dirty myself IF the train stops abruptly.

The train reached the KL Sentral at 5.30 in the morning. I quickly ran for toilet and blasted all out! (Pee only okay… ) Then we got ourselves the KLIA transit ticket to Putrajaya (for a brief stop), before heading straight to LCCT.

It was really a fun time taking train, but it would be better if could get the lower berth lorrrr…

*mental note to myself – if ever travel by train again, get lower berth ticket at least a week before departure*