Flips on Trips: Tripping in the Philippines

Dollyanna @ THE PHILIPPINES

DAY 0: USA

One special Flips on Trips blogger is returning to the motherland! (That's me, by the way)

After a 14+ hour plane ride from LAX, official stops will include Lucena, Polillo Island, Palawan, and -- of course -- Manila. It will be a mix of "Hello, Aunties!" and "Hello, Tourist Site!" I'll be traveling with my wonderful parents / tour guides. It's been over 20 years since my father has been home so it will be fun to see his reactions to the changes.

I'm currently spraying my clothes with permethrin and stocking up on anti-motion sickness meds. Last time I was there in the late 1980s I threw up the aftereffects of a rather turbulent ferry ride for several days, all the while keeping mosquitoes well fed (from my blood, not my upchunks). I'll eventually post a list of product reviews and travel tips, but for now enjoy the vacation recaps below!

DAY 1: LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, USA

This is how Flips roll! You can't visit the Pilipinas without suitcases and Balikbayan boxes full of goodies for your relatives. Yes, only 1/3 of all of these things in the above photo are actually for my parents and I. It was interesting trying to get this off the truck and to the airline counter.

Waiting at an EVA Airlines gate for takeoff as I write this. Made it with too much time to spare (check-in counter didn't open for another 90 minutes) and yet not enough (forgot to pack my anti-mosquito wipes!). Oh well. My dad forgot to pack cans of corned beef, a huge fave in the Philippines. He once told me his favorite birthday present was a can of corned beef. Not sure if that story is true. Maybe I can test it for his next birthday?

DAY 2: MANILA - LUCENA, QUEZON PROVINCE

After a layover in Taipei, we arrived in Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Immigration was crazy! Long lines at health (they check you for MERS and Ebola symptoms) and customs (my Filipino face granted me a visitor's visa for an unlimited stay, if that was what the lack of an end date meant). At the luggage carousel be prepared for an army of porters rushing to help you and, of course, earn tips. You may think you don't need their help, but if you're like us and you're traveling with a thousand Balikbayan boxes, you will! Especially because there is a sharp incline that leads down from arrivals to the pick-up curb. Visitors take note: the pickup curb actually has signs where guests can get picked up by last name. For example, if your last name starts with a letter "C" you find the curb sign for "C" and hope the one picking you up knows how to spell your name. Interesting system!

To those with faint hearts, don't look too closely at Manila traffic. Yes, Filipino drivers drive like there are four lanes on a two-lane road. However, I never once saw a single traffic accident. Take that, southern California!

We traveled by van for 3 hours to my Auntie Jovie and cousin Regine's home in Lucena City located in the Philippine province of Quezon. It was here that we were greeted by this:

Awww....

DAY 3: LUCENA - LUCBAN - TAYABAS

According to the Lucena entry in the Lonely Planet Philippines guide I bought at Barnes & Noble and studied for a good half year prior to this trip, it is "best..to avoid this gritty, tricycle-mad city."

I found Lucena to be no grittier than any other growing Filipino city, nor "madder" on the tricycle front. During World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese military. However, Filipino guerrilla fighters fought back so ferociously that they drove them out even before the U.S. liberation forces arrived. If that makes this place gritty, then by all means, bring on the grit!

It was early afternoon when we set off north through streets lined with colorful collections of contrasting stores, stalls, and restaurants. There were also quite a few 7-Elevens, a Texas-based convenience store chain that has managed to invade several corners of the country. If you look carefully, you can see one to the right of the picture below.

Lonely Planet may have found the city's tricycles "mad," but they looked pretty cool here.

Of course, there were also sightings of Philippines' most famous mode of transportation: the jeepney. The original jeepneys were constructed out of altered parts from jeeps the U.S. military left behind after World War II. Today all jeepneys are built locally and no one jeepney is exactly the same. Not only are they a means of mass transport but also a means of self-expression; each vehicle is decorated and named according to the jeepney operator's taste. Although many talk about the decline of this artful form of transit, including this BBC article here, city roads continue to feature the colorful vehicles.

After a few more minutes traversing increasingly elevated terrain near Mt. Banahaw, we arrived at the Kamay Ni Hesus, literally translated as the "Hand of Jesus." This 12-acre shrine in Lucban is where believers can attend mass led by Rev. Fr. Joseph Ayala whom many Catholics believe channels healing powers. Non-pilgrims like myself can visit to gawk at life-size biblical figures.

Above are Adam and Eve, here hiding their lights under bushels, so to speak. Don't you love strategically placed foliage? Here they're still happy because they haven't yet been kicked out of the Garden of Eden, as the last scene portrays below. Eve gets all the blame in this version of the narrative since there is no serpent statue gloating behind them.

This pilgrimage site also features a fairly large Noah's ark, though not quite up to Genesis proportions. Statues of various animals abound both on top of and around the boat.

If you look to the right in the picture below, you can just make out an elephant with ramps on which kids can slide down. Not sure how it's supposed to get inside the ark with those.

Out of all the attractions, the crowning achievement is the statue of the Ascending Christ at the Via Dolorosa Grotto. This 50-foot tall figure stands at the top of an almost 300-step climb. Along the way pilgrims can visit 14 life-sized Stations of the Cross. The picture below does not do justice to the towering height of the Jesus statue, nor of the steep incline visitors must overcome to reach it. Some sources claim this is the third highest statue of Christ on earth. Needless to say, I didn't climb to confirm it.

Just 6 miles south on Lucban-Tayabas Road is Palaisdaan Restaurant where guests dine in roomy nipa huts floating above a giant pond. Dishes feature a variety of Filipino seafood mainstays with some meat and a few vegetarian options. When the sun goes down the restaurant glows under the soft lights of paper lanterns and softly swaying strings of bulbs.

The nipa hut's ceiling light looks much harsher here than it actually felt. And for a tropical island locale, it didn't attract too many insects.

Me and my mommy. Thanks for paying for dinner!

My parents. I tried to get them to drink out of one young coconut with two straws -- it would photograph more romantic -- but I think they liked getting more to drink this way.

The family. My dad was often the lone male in our tour group. Brave man!

From top left to right: me, my cousin Regine, my father. Bottom left to right: my mother, mother's sister Auntie Jovie, my cousin Vanessa, and my mother's sister Auntie Viena. Vannesa and Auntie Viena joined us after their 14-hour flight from Los Angeles. They did a fairly good job of not face-planting, jet-lagged, into their dinner plates.

Below is the restaurant at night taken on our way out. This photo doesn't show it well, but the grounds are truly, truly beautiful. Love the soft lights, trees, and nipa huts. Just be careful not to fall into the pond beneath!