flip'n travels

After the energy draining, butt bruising, slip-disk inducing train ride, I roamed around the divisoria-ish crowded Beijing Train station to look for a tourist booking counter to try my luck in upgrading my ticket back to Shanghai. Well I guess my lucky star just exploded to a Justin Bieber (???)–I re-booked, only to find out I got a train ride to Inner Mongolian border to Siberia. Pfrt!

I got too exhausted looking for a map to take me to the subway to my Hostel, so I flagged a cab and got ripped off, so that was 80 RMB out the window only to find out that my Hostel is a station away from where I got the rickety, mold smelling, overpriced cab…GREAT! But then again I was too tired to dwell and whine about it.

I walked several meters towards my hostel. Shanxixiang hutong alley is very reminiscent of a typical neighborhood in Sampaloc, an antithesis of how most of the touristy Beijing is portrayed in coffee table books. It’s authentic, unassuming and candid community is what I was really looking for. Street vendors selling pork buns and all sorts of skewed delights, Chinese kids playing Chinese garter (seriously!) and senior citizens sitting in a corner playing (Well, who would have thought?) Chinese checkers—It was like a scene from a movie. While slowly walking, I couldn’t help but utter the words “I am loving this.”

But it was too cold to cruise around, so upon reaching the doorstep, I immediately opened the two swinging doors. I was astounded with what I saw, the hostel’s interior was so amazing it took my breath away. It is an old courtyard! Yes, I actually stayed in a 300 year old brothel courtyard.

“I am sleeping in a museum tonight.”

I’m not exaggerating, Shanglin Hostel is a historical landmark, one of the well preserved hutong houses that dates back to the Qing Dynasty. It definitely does not have the luxury of first class hotels, but who would want to stay in a modern room when you’re in the middle of the cultural capital of ancient Asia? For a sweet price of RMB 60 per night, you have a warm place to sleep in a four bed dormitory.

I was actually alone that time so I pretty much maximized the resources of the hostel. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! It comes with free tourists every morning. You bet, the following morning, still half awake I opened my door to go to the terrace, to my surprise the courtyard was filled with a flock of yakking tourists, with all eyes on me.

Okay! Early morning deer in the headlights wearing  nothing but boxers.

I got the idea about Shanglin from Sir Robert Alejandro’s Backpack South East Asia book. It was featured briefly but the authenticity of the place lured me. I actually brought the book with me and showed it to the one of the owners of the place, Leo. He is a young businessman who has a fascination with old Chinese artifacts and anything old (I should have pledged to send him Lilia Cuntapay for his birthday). He also owns the other more popular hostel named after him.

I was sitting in the courtyard when he approached me and started a conversation, he even ordered a pot of tea for us. Then I got the chance to pull out the book from my bag and asked if he had seen it before. He was clueless, but when I flipped the page to reveal a sketch of his hostel, he almost jumped off his seat. Leo got too excited when he saw the page about his hostel and showed it to his staff and other visitors.

He started ordering food for us to feast on while talking about Robert, the author of the book

the sweet and spicy Mao’s pork brisket

The popular Da Zha Lan Xi Jie, the whole stretch of steet lined with hostels, restaurants, shops and all imaginable tourist magnet is adjacent to Shanglin where I was staying. I love that cobbled stone streets with a multi-sensory ambiance.

Smell of the Peking duck roasting and steamed buns.

String instruments playing

rickshaw and bicycles bumping your elbow on a five minute interval.

It is the tourist haven in Beijing, the prices of food and souvenir items are usually at 300% mark-up so make sure you haggle before you pull out your wallet to pay. You will be surprised with how low the prices can go, like dirt cheap. I enjoyed walking along this area, no matter what time of the day. Nights are particularly fun because of the interesting things you’ll stumble upon, from street performers to stalls selling all sorts of trinkets. But the early morning is my personal favorite, when the streets are blanketed with heavy fog and a certain air of stillness enveloping the place. And since the stores are still closed, most of the people during that time are the locals taking an early morning walk, eating breakfast and prepping up to open the shops.

The hutong houses are fast vanishing, some are being renovated while others are unfortunately being demolished by private owners. I am lucky and glad that I got to experience them first hand.

Arguably the most popular place to stay within the backpacking community–Borneo Backpacker is strategically situated right smack in the middle of the city, everything is almost just a kembot away (oh well, Kota Kinabalu is just the size of Makati, so everything is really a cigarette butt flick from where you’re standing).  I love everything about the hostel, the common room, the free internet, free quick breakfast and the staff who helped us all the way.

We booked a dorm room with 10 beds and as always, Monette is the only rose among the Venus flytraps. Although we made a wrong decision on getting the upper bunk because right after the Kinabalu climb, getting onto the bed became a painstaking challenge. Getting up the ladder took a lot of time, effort and ganda points, and just when you reach the upper bunk, that’s when you’d realize that you left the toiletries in the shower room, PERFECT!

Although we are not liking the idea of the two flight of stair cases going up to the hostel lobby considering the painful assault that we had to brave after a Mt. Kinabalu.

We tried several restaurants within the area. Just like in most parts of Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu is home to a fusion of Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisine. There are fireworks of flavorful explosions in each food corner in the city. Predominantly seafood, but a parade of noodle, savory toppings and all sorts dumplings can also be found in most unassuming restaurants, and it comes in a backpacker friendly price.

Just downstairs of our hostel is a history inspired nook, with a collection of world war II photos of Sabah and historical memorabilia, the place’s rustic feel lured us on our first night in the city. They serve Nasi Lemak at MYR 8.

We tried the curry house along Jalan Gaya, a block away from our hostel. This is a typical Indian fast food, where you can take everything buffet style at MYR 7.00. This place is similar to the one where Thana took us when we were in KL. The best way to do it is to just mix everything together, forget about complementing flavors, just grab your plate and dive in. Just make sure to ask which one is too hot and spicy if you’re a sissy and picky foodie like Monette. And be ready with the glass of water, just in case (Which I learned the hard way).

The flaky, buttery, freshly cooked and slapped (yes, they slap them) Roti is available at MYR 2.

Right across the street is a 24 hour, always busy Fong Ip Cafe. An open air Chinese fast food restaurant that serves noodle, rice meals, western breakfast and of course, their popular dumplings. They are also known for their drinks like Lemon iced tea, sugar cane juice and Iced Tea Tarik (MYR 2.00). This is where we kept on coming back, it was a good deal at MYR 6 up. Make sure to try the stewed tofu and the squid/fish ball looking… thing.

There are also seafood restaurants near the ports, but us being island creatures didn’t even bothered trying. It will be like Korean tourist eating kimchi in a foreign land. It is a must try if you are really into sea food or if your food pyramid consists mainly of corn, potato or McDo meals. In our case, we opted grabbing a cup of our usual fix right across the strip, we sat there while we quietly agonized on every throb of our aching muscles.

Ah the single life! I leave whenever I want, go home anytime I want and most importantly, travel anywhere I want. I value my alone time so much that when Ron and I and some friends from the office went to Ilocos, I stayed one more day while everybody went home. As was expected, I had a blast.

The morning of my alone day was spent in coffee and cigarettes while playing with our dog Coco in our house in Vintar. It was a was a Sunday and the flee market was alive at 5am. I decided to walk around before heading out to the Campo Santo to visit my lolo and lola’s grave.

tobacco leaves for sale at the Sunday baratillo in Vintar

After the brief reunion, I took my bag and headed out to Laoag to get a jeep back to Paoay to meet my cousin who’s managing a film supposedly commissioned by the president. While he ran around the set like a headless chicken, I decided to get comfortable inside Henrencia, the famous restaurant in front of Paoay church and ordered myself a Pinakbet pizza. I thought those two words cannot be joined together but there I was eating with gusto. The crust was crispy thin with no hint of oil. The toppings: eggplant, string beans, okra and longganisa bits. On the side, bagoong isda. It was weird, but a good kind of weird.

Pinakbet Pizza at Herencia Cafe

After the short stay in Paoay, I took a bus going back to Vigan. I got there with no idea what to do. Luckily, I saw one of the calesas we rode when we first got there. I went to the burnayan (pottery shop) where I met Fidel Go, third generation of one of the few potters left in the province. He let me try to make them pots that turned out to be a disaster.

no, that wasn’t the vase I made…

After visiting the ginormous brick oven where they bake the pots, the calesa driver took me to Chavit Singson’s Baluarte where anyone can go in for free. It was already late in the afternoon and I wasn’t able to take pictures with the tigers. Boohoo…

Rudolph, the red-lipped raindeer

After the mini-zoo tour, I asked the driver to take me to a hotel where I can stay for just a few hours. I wanted to take a bath and fix my bag before I go home. He took me back to Grandpa’s Inn and I was able to get a room for 300Php for 3 hours. Yes, yes… I know what those rooms are for.

Conversation between me and the receptionist:

Me:Meron po bakayong kwarto na pwedeng pag stayan? 3 hours lang po.
Receptionist:Meron ma’am. Ilan po sila? (Take note, I was alone when I entered the hotel)
Me:Isa lang. Maliligo lang ako chaka mag-aayos ng bag bago umuwi. Galing pa kasi ako ng Laoag at Paoay tapos umikot ikot pa dito.
Receptionist:Sige po, meron kami. Mag-isa lang po ba talaga kayo?
Me:Ako nga lang mag-isa.
Receptionist:Ay, wala pong susunod?
Me:Wala.
Receptionist:Ahhh… Weird naman…

After dodging glances from the staff at the hotel, I went inside my room and enjoyed a hot bath, changed my clothes and fixed my backpack. I decided to eat at Max’s where I had to endure being asked why I was alone.  Personally, I don’t know either…

Aaahhh Cambodia… We watch it in travel documentaries, we read it in history books, we saw it in Tomb Raider, we talk about it and dream about it. Who would’ve thought we’d see it this lifetime? It was almost surreal arriving at the Siem Reap Airport. And when we were greeted by our host Meang together with the tuk-tuk driver Piron, we felt like we were in a dream… Mainly because he said “kamusta?” which is “how are you?” in Tagalog, Ron and I instantly reacted in unison–”Pilipino ka?”. Meang is fluent in Tagalog because he spent several years in Makati to study and work.

The pick-up was free and it’s good old Khmer style ride–The Tuktuk. we were taken on a sight seeing pre-tour around the city. It was scorching hot but the fact that I am inhaling Cambodian dust was enough for me to suck in my complaints and enjoy the ride.

I booked a different hotel initially but Ron decided to change it after seeing the website for Prohmroth Guesthouse. When we got there, I was happy we decided to make the change. The room was nothing short of perfect. It was huge and homey and our toilet tissue was pink. We had our own bathroom and a queen-sized bed which was totally opposite of what we had in Kuala Lumpur. We opened the window and there was a temple that greeted us. I had to restrain myself from taking bricks that are shaped like little buddhas.

View from our room

But it wasn’t really just the nice ambiance and the huge bed that would make us book this hotel again when we go back to Cambodia. It’s Meangsophean Suon and his family that made our experience wonderful to the Nth power. He arranged our tuk-tuk ride for three days. He gave us tips on our tour. He reserved a seat for us when we wanted to watch Apsara. He even took Ron on a food trip on our last night. He was more than a landlord to us and up until now, we still keep corresponding. We would never want to stay anywhere else.

Facade of Prohm Roth Guesthouse

Ron with our Khmer friends

Prohm Roth Guesthouse
# 251 Pub Street extension, Phum Mondul I,Khum Svay Dangkum,
Siem Reap Angkor City, Kingdom Of Cambodia.
Phone: +855 (0)12 46 64 95, (0)17 356 817
Email: prohmroth_guesthouse@yahoo.com or smart_khmer@yahoo.com

FLIP’N PERKS: when you arrive/book for reservation, tell them that you heard it from us, and they will give you a discount!

Check out what other backpackers has to say, CLICK HERE!

and oh! they got the best hotel/hostel breakfast that we experienced to date. That one deserves a separate article.

When we arrived teleported from Singapore to KL. We were several hours ahead of schedule. I mean waaaaaay ahead of schedule. We were welcomed with a silent treatment, because it was like 3:30 in the morning. We booked a room at the Equator hostel a week before the trip. It’s the same hostel where we stayed exactly 2 years ago. I like its homey ambiance, unassuming aura, clean facilities and friendly hosts. However, when we arrived, it seemed like everyone’s in deep slumber, we waited outside the gate for an hour but no one’s responding to our distress signal. We can’t blame them, they’re expecting us to arrive at 6-ish. And we never thought of booking a plan B Hostel.

think-think-think

Monette suggested that  we can stay in the police station until dawn breaks. We both paused for a jiffy–”NOT!”

think-think-think

“can we just go to the nearest Starbucks? oh, everything is still closed”

think-think-think

I walked couple of blocks along Lorong, and EUREKA! Just like a cheesy movie plot, providence played a cameo: the good guy ran-out of bullets in the middle of an action scene in an abandoned warehouse, and then  there’s a new gun conveniently sitting prettily right beside him… There’s another Hostel that wasn’t there a year ago. And so we rudely woke the receptionist, Thana, by furiously knocking on the window (CLICK HERE to read a separate entry about Thana). And so we walked-in and good thing, they got available dorm beds for us.

Classic Inn hostel is a softer version of its contemporaries in the post war row houses cum hostels along Lorong 1/77A. The dorms are clean and comfortable. We took two beds in the mixed dormitory. When Monette opened the sliding door slowly, her eyes quickly adjusted in the dark, then she gasped and closed it instantaneously.

“HOH MY GAWD, RONNIE”.
“why? what’s wrong?”
“there’s a guy in the room!”
“uh, duh! its a mixed dorm!”
“he’s sleeping…
“uh, duh…”
“….NAKED!”
“oooh–WHAT?!”
“Happy FI-YES-TA!”

Here’s another unsuspecting victim (by the way, he knows that we took his photo)

They got an al fresco porch in front where you can eat breakfast, read papers or randomly talk to other backpackers. They also got a small garden where they hold an acquaintance barbecue parties for the guests. Breakfast is free, they serve roti canai with sambal dip, butter toast, fresh fruit and coffee or tea. we shared the table with a retired couple from London. We talked about travel, work, economy, politics and they taught us pointers about Life… We walked off the breakfast table, and we never saw them again. We never got the chance of asking their names and introduce ours, but we had a very meaningful conversation with them.

CLASSIC INN
52, Lorong 1/77A, Changkat Thambi Dollah,
Off Jln Pudu 56100, K.L. Wilayah Persekutuan
Dorm MYR30/person
http://www.classicinn.com.my/

EQUATOR HOSTEL
70, Lorong 1/77A, Changkat Thambi Dollah,
Off Jln Pudu 56100, K.L. Wilayah Persekutuan
Dorm MYR25/person
http://www.equatorhostel.com/

Going out of KL via the international airport, it is not as convenient like in Manila. It is outside of the city, one hour and a half  travel by bus (Like manila to Clark). We didn’t expect this. Our flight to Siem Reap is at 7 AM and we have to be in the airport at least two hours before the scheduled flight, but buses will not operate until 5 AM. Cabs are ridiculously expensive. It may range from MYR100 -MYR200 while buses are only MYR9. But now you can take the newly opened KLIA EKSPRES. I haven’ tried it but it will be a shorter trip and will cost around MYR35 (one way).

Click here to KLIA EKSPRES website

So we decided to catch the last trip to the airport and stay there overnight. With only 1 hour before the last bus, we still managed to go to the mall in front of our hostel to eat a good nasi lemak, because we’re unsure of the food in the airport, then we took off and run for dear life. We’re like contestants of amazing race, running with our huge bags, catching our breath, squeezing ourselves in the LRT cabins. Some drama because I lost my train pass. But we were able to get there in time.

We reached the airport at around 9:30 PM. then we started thinking of ways how to kill our time and how to try finding a comfortable corner to sleep… for it’s going to be a long 10 hours of waiting.

TIP: Air Asia is the most affordable airline of choice to Siem Reap. But unlike Cebu Pacific that has free baggage allowance of 15 kg, you have to pay something around MYR15, so make sure you reserve few extra Ringgits in you pocket.