lariyasui   Lari's Travels

Presenting the latest episode of

“Hawaiians in Philippines”

starring: Lari & Freda

Jan. 20 to Feb. 4, 2017

When Freda asked if I wanted to go to Philippines with her, I checked my calendar and it was open so I said yes! I already knew 3 groups of people there, who had invited me to visit, so I was excited to go there! Freda has been there many times before and has a favorite hotel-Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati (nice area of Manila) and she has a favorite driver/bodyguard, Manolo. She also invited her birth mother, Petra from California, her dad, Nelson who lives in Kapolei, and her Aunty Nimfa, who lives next door to Freda and Pat in Mililani. So there were 4 of us ladies sharing a suite in the hotel, and Nelson, who stays near the World Resort casino, so he can gamble to his heart’s content.

One of our first adventures was to fly to the island of Palawan to stay at the beautiful Puerto Princessa Garden Hotel, so that we could take a tour of the famous Underground River near Sabang beach 2 hours drive from Puerto Princessa. Many tourists go to the Underground River, so we were fed lunch and had to wait our turn to board a double outrigger boat with motors that took us to the landing beach for the Underground River, which is really a cave with a river running through it. There are bats that live in the cave and we had to be very quiet so as not to disturb them. We wore headsets to listen to the narration for the cave and the boatman shined his light onto various sites inside the dark cave. After that tour, our driver took us to Ugong Rock where Freda and I climbed up inside a mountain to the top and ziplined down! It was so much fun!

Freda and her family are sponsors of Passion City Church in Tanza, Cavite Province, an hour’s drive south of Manila. There was a big all-day celebration at the church, where they honored Freda’s family who built the church and support it with monetary, clothing and toy donations. They had music, dance, games and food. It was a blessed and fun experience.

My friends who live in the Philippines are people I met on previous trips. The Rubin family in Manila and the Aquino family from Baguio were on my tour to Dubai in November, 2014 and they invited me to visit them. David and Robert have 2 homes in Hawaii and presently live in Manila and I met them on our Indonesian tour in the summer of 2014. So on my first day in Manila, the Rubins took me to Sunday brunch and touring around the city to Rizal square and other historical sites. We rode in a Calesa, pulled by a horse around the square. I was excited to see many famous and colorful jeepneys everywhere. They are the main public transportation for locals all over the Philippine islands.

One day, Manolo drove us 2 hours southeast to Pagsanjan Falls. This was another fun adventure! Just Freda and I went with my friend, David and our driver, Manolo. Each narrow canoe had 2 passengers and 2 boatmen who paddled us upriver and they had to literally pull us over the rapids! The river wound through a narrow gorge with high cliffs covered with vegetation and many waterfalls on both sides of us. When we reached the big waterfall, David, Freda and I went onto a raft that took us under the falls, where we were pounded by icy cold water! What fun!

Another day, I left Freda in Manila and took an overnight bus for 6 hours to Baguio City, to visit the Aquino family. I stayed there for 4 days. The first 2 days we visited many interesting sites in Baguio City, which is a hilly and mountainous town and so the inhabitants there have very strong legs from walking up and downhill and up and down many steep steps to get from one place to another. The next 2 days we drove all day to Banaue to see the famous rice terraces and drove all day back to Baguio after staying overnight in a Nipa Hut hotel in Banaue. The rice terraces are 2000 years old and are considered to be the Eighth Wonder of the World. The drive was very long with curvy mountain roads, where it was difficult to overtake the stinky diesel Jeepneys and the slow tricycles.

In Manila, I loved the shopping, and the spa treatments! I got several really good Filipino Hilot massages at various places. I also got a facial, pedicure, and other spa treatments for very reasonable prices. The Filipino peso is 50 to 1 dollar, so your money goes a long way there. All the food was very delicious! Pizza and fried chicken are very popular. But I like the traditional Filipino dishes like adobo, pancit, lumpia, lapulapu and more. I tried green mango with bagoong-Filipino fish sauce. Nelson taught me how to eat balut-a fertilized egg with a baby chick inside. I could not eat the baby bird with feathers and bones, but the Filipinos love that delicacy! Traffic in Manila is crazy, crowded and slow. All in all, this was a wonderful, memorable and fun trip.

Lari’s Top Ten:

10 Visiting the Passion City Church

9 The food was great!

8 Getting spa treatments, especially Hilot Massages!

7 Seeing my friends who live in Philippines: Aquinos, Rubins, Robert/David 

6 Staying in a Nipa Hut in Banaue 

5 All the sites in Baguio that Aquinos took me to

4 Banaue Rice Terraces

3 Underground River

2 Ugong Rock w/ zip lining

1 Going under the Pagsanjan Falls

Elvie and Alcee took me to brunch at the fancy Shangrila Hotel in Makati.

We rode the Calela, pulled by our horse, Bullet, who took us around Rizal Park and Luneta.

Myself, Nimfa, Freda and Petra in lobby of Dusit Thani Hotel where we all 4 shared a suite.

At Dampa, we picked out lobster, crab, fish, calamari, and tiger prawns for dinner, cooked to order.

Freda with her Dad, Nelson and her mom, Petra when we arrived at Puerto Princesa airport.

We booked a tour to the famous Underground River.

These are the many motorized double outrigger boats used to take tourists to the Underground River entrance.

After we got off the double catamaran, we landed at this beach with beautiful cliffs.

Here we are in our canoe ready to enter the underground river cave.

Our canoe quietly enters the cave, where it is dark, and our boatman shined his light on different formations that are described by narrator on our headsets.

I got to pose on the back of this carabao.

Freda and I went on this adventure: first climb up inside the Ugong Mountain.

Here we are at the top of Ugong mountain!

Yippee! I am flying!

When we reached the end of the boardwalk, we discovered that we had to walk through waist deep water to reach the sandbar!

On our last day at Puerto Princesa in Palawan island, we visited this place where the natives let us hold a snake.

We had a wonderful lunch here at Ka Lui in Puerto Princesa.

We spent one day at Passion City Church in Tanza, Cavite Province. This day celebrates all the sponsors of the church and here Freda is speaking to the congregation.

The church served the sponsors a wonderful and delicious homemade lunch! The lumpia was to die for-crispy and tasty!

One day, Manolo drove us to the famous Pagsanjan Falls with my friend David.

David and I were in one canoe and Manolo and Freda in the other.

When we reached the falls, we sat on a raft that took us right under the thundering falls where we were pounded by ice cold water! What a thrill!

Baguio is a hilly city with houses crawling up and down the hills. Lots of steps and steep streets to walk up and down on.

Here we are, Nora, Tita, Boy, Naty and I on the Burnham Lake boat ride.

And the entrance to the Botanical Garden.

This is Bell Church, a Chinese church.

Right near the entrance to La Trinidad is Stobosa, with colorful houses.

La Trinidad is famous for strawberries grown here at the strawberry farms. Since it was a rainy day, we did not pick any-I am just posing! We bought strawberries from the vendors there.

On our all-day drive to Banaue, we stopped for fresh coconut water and spoon meat! Yummy! That is our driver, Cristo on the far left.

Here is a basket maker taking his goods to market on his tricycle.

Our hotel in Banaue had 5 Nipa Huts for guests. Here is Boy at the entrance to his sleeping quarters.

Here are Tita and Naty and I in our Nipa Hut. We had to climb up the ladder to our sleeping hut. The bathhouse was nearby with 2 toilets, 2 showers and a long sink for brushing teeth for all the guests to share.

The famous Banaue Rice terraces are over 2000 years old and are considered the 8th Wonder of the World.

Beautiful! Amazing!

Back at Aquino’s house in Baguio, I got to taste green mango with bagoong.

When Freda and Nimfa left a day before I did, I stayed with David and Robert in their lovely Makati apartment. Here we are having tapas dinner.

This is a video of Nelson teaching me how to eat balut.