Stories of Places, People and Photography in the Philippines and Beyond
“Do you know how I could get to Roosevelt road?” a middle aged man asked me while I was waiting on a bus stop in Geylang. He was wearing those large fashion sun-glasses and I could see the noticeable streaks of gray in his hair while he pointed on a location on his map. I was smiling and told him “Sorry. No. I’m also new here.”
One reason why I’ve chosen to go to Central Vietnam instead of the popular cities of Hanoi in the north or Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) in the south is because the Central region has a concentration of 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites all quite accessible from the regions main gateway city of Da Nang. UNESCO’s got quite a lengthy list, which I doubt I could cover all of them in this lifetime. And you could never go wrong visiting these sites as they are carefully selected, funded and preserved.
Spanning 77 hectares in area, Fort Ilocandia, the only five-star hotel resort in northern Luzon, is also considered as one of the largest resorts in Asia. This historical fort is adorned with terra-cotta brick walls highlighted by warm lightings in the hallways and numerous paintings on the walls. It will surely warp you back in the Grand Spanish era.
I must admit that it was my first time visiting Singapore. Thanks to my friend Jaz who let me squatter at his apartment during my sojourn at this famed “Fine” city, it sure lowered my travel expenses since Singapore’s cost of living is quite high. It sure was exciting seeing those myriad pastel colored houses, double decked buses and sanitized streets when the MRT got out of the tunnel from Changi Airport.
Getting past the immigration in Vietnam took longer than we expected. It seems they have to input every detail into their computers. But getting out of the Da Nang Airport into the city is trickier with very persistent taxi and motorcycle drivers ready to just rip you off with their extravagant prices. Language barrier didn’t help and those phrases I memorized didn’t seem to work as I may have been mispronouncing them. I just admire the driver’s persistence here. Imagine us walking a block away from the airport to find another transpo and the same taxi guy still followed us, then a group of motorcycle drivers offered to take us into the city Train Station where we were headed, then another cab arrived offering his services. Immediately we were surrounded with drivers speaking their native tongue and seem to be fighting over us. I decided to go by the taxi which we were able to reduce the cost to 3 US$ from its original 10 US$ they offered earlier. Good thing I did major research on how much the basic prices here are or we would have been ripped off big time.
I’m glad to be home again. It didn’t take a week before I hopped on another plane, but this time its more of a travel assignment. I didn’t expect to be back soon in our proud heritage of the north in Ilocos. Little did I know that there are a lot – and I mean a lot of off-the-beaten path destinations in this area! It was a whirlwind trip but exciting covering places and taking shots of food (then eating them after)
It’s so nice to go back home after a very long and far away travel. Though it may be tiring but the excitement and rewards of traveling to different places is incomparable. Somehow, every time you go back, you are a different person. You bring back all the experience, the culture and the people you’ve encountered on your recent travel. The sights and sounds, whether you it exceeded your expectations or not, are forever engraved in your memories.
