HardKhoraTravels

Doorae Nature School & Business Meetings

2013-02-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

We found our way to the first bus stop by the instructions our WWOOF hosts had sent us. The instructions were not complete or at least we didn't have the skillz to make any sense of them after step 1. Luckily, most oxygen breathing mammals on the streets of Seoul have smart phones. One kind citizen helped us by looking the bus routes up. The amazing pedestrian even went out of his way to take the bus along with us to make sure we took the correct connecting bus at the next terminal. On the first bus, I was half awake since we had to get up earlier than usual. When getting off the first bus I forgot to grab Meg's camera bag for her. I had put the bag in the over head shelf. Meg ran faster than I thought she was capable of after the bus as it was pulling away—I was impressed. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to run down the bus. Again, the amazing citizen, which I'll call Captain Awesome Person (C.A.P.), called the bus company and then talked to a bus driver headed back to the same base as the bus I left the bag on. We took a ride with the driver on his way back to base. C.A.P. looked steeled to the cold and to the heartless evils of the world. He made sunlight look dim next to him...or something like that...At the base, the driver from our last bus was waiting with the bag. Thanking him vigorously we took the bag back. We then waited for the next bus going out that would take us return us to the terminal. C.A.P. held us in an aura of strength and I saw unicorns. Meg claims to have seen rainbows...double rainbows!! ? … So...Yeah, we made it back to the terminal and C.A.P. led the way through the hordes of orcs and ogres—really nasty business. His battle axes met no foe that wouldn't be sliced, diced, or turned...that description is turning into an entrepreneur's wet dream on the Home Shopping Network. After journeying through the depths of Middle Earth to our next bus stop, which I'd guess is half a kilometer distance, C.A.P. saw to waiting with us for easily a fortnight (15 minutes), while laughing at his hunger and thirst, which again I’m not sure he even had. We said goodbye and thanked our C.A.P., and on we went to another bus for a few hours and enjoyed the few snacks Meg had purchased right before we got on the bus.

Joam, Korea is a very small town and didn't offer us much to do. At this time, we did want to go to the school. We weren’t sure how long the bus would take or what stop to get off at, and we motioned a taxi driver. If I haven’t already explained how to motion a taxi, lets begin. Put your arm that is closest to the road straight out, and that includes your wrist and fingers—think playing airplane. Lower your arm to a 45 degree angle toward the ground. Bend in your fingers about halfway while keeping your wrist and arm straight still. Motion with your fingers with way quickly and your done! The finger motion is the same if you’re beckoning someone to come towards you. NEVER ask for some one to come over with your fingers up or wave like you would in the U.S.A., and that means even to non-natives. It is a lude jester to do such motions. Ah—yeah—After what took more time than I would have thought it would to explain where we wanted to go, we were on our way. I should have learned after trying to go on a hike on my last blog post. You need to speak Korean-English. The trip was maybe fifteen minutes. We arrived to the school, paid the driver, and the puzzlement was instant. We walked around the school trying to find our hosts and not sure which building to start with. There were five building directly around us and a few more further out. None of the buildings seemed more obvious than the other. Eventually, we found some helpful students that took us to the principal’s office, which wouldn’t be the last time we went to a principal’s office on our trip, more on this when we go to Japan next. We were told to sit after being puzzled over, and then no less than three people made separate phone calls at the same time. A few minutes wait and someone seemed to understand what was going on, which was what I was waiting for because I knew we didn’t. During the time we waited there were plenty of young onlookers and finger pointing. One of our WWOOF hosts entered the room and introductions were finally made. After some quick talk we got to the basics. I was to stay in the boys’ dorms and Meg with the hosts' grandmother. Meg and I dropped our things off at the grandmother's. We weren’t to start until tomorrow and I'd later be let into the dorms, because they are closed during school hours. Meg and I wondered around looking for a place that wasn't freezing. I thought Seoul was cold, Oh, I hate being wrong. We were very cold. I found out that when Meg is cold she tends to make loud noises, which could sound weird, but I thought it was just darling :)

Waiting around for several hours in the cold, Meg and I managed to make it through our first day at the school. After saying goodnight to Meg and trying to find someone that knew where I should go in the dorm was a challenge. I met a few people and the shop instructor was the man I needed to see. I later discovered he was the boys’ dorm manager. At the dorm, I was moved two times while everyone tried to figure out where I should sleep. The room I was eventually moved to was better and warmer, but lacked pillows. I didn’t want to ask for more pillows because I was tired and any conversation in half English was tiring. I made my way from the third floor down to the first where I was to first stay. I was a ninja in the night. I stopped and talked to a few people. I sneaked the rest of the way with pillows in hand. Sleep was easy to find after this long and confusing day.

I awoke early because I was instructed to. I had to have the dorm manager unlock the doors early for me as well. Always seemed odd that they locked in everyone because I always think about where my exits are for FIRES! There were no fires :) I left the dorm and met with Meg. We then waited for our ride nearby the boys’ dorm. We weren't sure someone was still coming to get us after we had waited almost half an hour past the scheduled time. A tiny navy blue truck pulled up and we entered with sleepy eyes and no questions. Later we were in town and stopping at another farm nearby the school. We went into the farm owner's home and instantly offered instant coffee. We drank up while waiting by the fire stove. As soon as we finished the coffee our WWOOF host, the other farmer, Meg, and myself crawled into the truck. At this point, I was very confused. I didn't understand what was the point of picking up the other farmer and why we were headed away from the city of Joam.

The summary that followed was we went really far, got lost, turned around, and came to an agriculture college. The farmers met with a professor and the professor greeted us. We were given instant coffee. We waited in the corner of the room after introductions and what would become the usual Q & A of where people thought Guatemala was and our WWOOF host happily showing them where it actually is. Our host love making people guess. I was instructed to take a photo of some strawberries at one point.

They finished talking, we said goodbye. In the car again, we headed some other direction. I continued to play Angry Birds while we drove around. We stopped for some snacks.

There were a few other meetings. We did the usual introductions, got some coffee and/or treats, and then waited while the “grown-ups” talked :D It wasn't bad, just felt really ineffective, well other than being a unicorn for our WWOOF host to sport around. I was his trophy wife...of sorts. After one of the meetings we stopped for a big launch with some more people. The food was excellent.

More meetings, and then more food; I was so full at this point. Our host was capable of eating three times as much food as myself and in almost half the time! Most of the times we ate food our host would have to wait for us. The chopsticks in South Korea were more difficult than usual to myself, because they were steel and more rectangular than the usual round or square. It took some time to get used to the different styled chopsticks. Besides the chopsticks disadvantage, I just wasn't as fast at eating. I would never get as fast as our host but I would get faster over my time in S. Korea. I don't know why so many people in Korea would eat really fast.

One of the last stops before getting back to the school was to meet our host’s son at his son’s school that is in town. It was a fun experience but so few words were spoken! :) Afterwards we only went a few blocks and pulled into a beauty salon. My interest was now peaked, and having access to free open WiFi helped! IT IS EVERYWHERE!!! :D He knew the shop owner. We made the usual introductions, treats, coffee, and waiting for them to talk. I caught sight of a crazy looking styling machine for making curls (I think?). Going back to the school, we caught dinner at the school and called it a day after watching Glee in the grandmother's home.

I awoke the next morning to what I would later discovered was the normal morning announcements :*( I wasn't aware that they would have such announcements and lost almost an hour of sleep because they started at 6 AM. Breakfast was at 7:30AM. I got up, dressed, and made sure to wait enough time so that I would not wake Meg too early. I arrived at the grandmother's home and as I expected Meg was still asleep. I awoke her and went to morning breakfast in the cafeteria. We were picked up at what was to be the usual spot near the boys’ dorm. We went to the very nearby farm to do some work. We first helped by spreading fertilizer over some of the area they use to grow crops. Our host left to go somewhere while we worked. Once the bags of fertilizer were empty, we waited and the host came back. He had us start filling bags with more fertilizer from the mounds they had stacked nearby. He left again once we understood what we were to to, which him leaving us to work became the norm. An hour or two passed, he showed up at the farm again. We were instructed to put the filled bags into the truck and get in. We drove back to the school and kept going. We went through the school to the other side with an open field near a freeway. We needed to dump the bags around the field some what evenly and then empty the bags. Meg and I started out in the back of the truck. He drove slowly and while we threw the bags over the side. We both discovered it was best for Meg to just empty the bags after I threw them over. It was a little bouncy at times and not enough space to stay stable for two people in the back. The cycle of filling and dumping all happened a few more times, before we called it a day.

So the next few days went: Waking too early to morning announcements, eating breakfast, waiting, get a ride to the nearby farm, filling bags with soil (not dirt), waiting, putting bags on to the truck, driving to the nearby school, tossing bags from the truck, emptying bags, driving back to the nearby farm, filling the bags again, waiting...and so on until it was time for lunch, then in the afternoon we’d start again for a few more hours of work, then we had a few hours of free time before dinner and bed. Our free time wasn't very productive either. There weren't enough places with heat that Meg and I could be together at. Internet access was difficult as well. The days slipped by and I felt pretty happy. It was nice to do some simple work and to interact with so many different people.

The boys in the dorm were also very nice to me. I was invited to play some pickup games of basketball. I was very lucky to not be completely out classed at basketball; it made me something of a “cool” guy with the guys :)

The first week came and went quickly enough. Meg and I went to Suwon on the Friday to visit some friends that taught English there. It was also nice to have Internet and no morning announcements!

Tip of the Day: If stay in a Korean boys’ dorm make sure to expect morning announcements when you plan your sleep schedule!

Back To Seoul and Goodbye to a Friend

2013-02-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

After a light snooze on the train from Busan to Seoul, we settled back in at our friend's home. We were informed about some local UFC competition. I wanted to go after hearing about the price, and we were able to get tickets for only 10 USD! If you're not familiar with UFC you can check the Wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Fighting_Championship

Or the official page:

http://www.ufc.com

If you have your own thoughts on the point of the UFC events or how you feel about it...in South Korea it was much cheaper to attend than in the U.S.A. and the bargain hawk that I am said yes, yes I will experience something new and outside my comfort zone because it is low cost. I'm an enthusiast for an event if it is cheap while traveling :)

We picked up some pizza for the event, because you can take in your own food and beverages to most events in South Korea such as this one. I love the food and beverage policies of South Korea—for that alone—I think all events are better in South Korea :) Shortly after arriving outside to the event, I found my camera was missing it's memory card. I had to resort to my phone camera and took the best photos I could.

We also got a photo of our friend Andy and a man with a sign that read Andy Hug :)

After the event you are allowed to enter the ring for photos and good times. I found there were plenty of blood stains, loud voices, and fun photos to the make the trip down worth the effort.

After the event, we all headed for some amazing Korean BBQ...no pics :( Bellies full and the bed was the only option left.

The next day! Meg, our friend (not who we were staying with), and myself went to COEX and walked around. I ate some great curry at a low price. Bargain hawk smiles were included in the meal. The fountain in the food court was “interesting”....but reminded me of Akira. If you're familiar with Akira think of the older children subjects...

Walking around left us board, even though there were plenty of one-off laughs to be had. Arriving at the movie theater in the COEX, you will find many touch screen computers that let you buy a movie ticket and select your own seat. The whole movie experience was excellent. After the first movie we all had some food. Having nothing left to do, we saw another movie! The first movie was Contraband:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraband_(2012_film)

and the second, well I have no idea :) I even looked at movie releases in 2011 and 2012 to see if I could remember what we saw. Not knowing what I saw bugs me :( I have no idea what the second movie was but I do remember it not being very good. It was a lot later after the second movie. Most of the mall and shops in the area were closed or closing. Food options where looking grim. Taking a taxi to a near by sushi restaurant that our friend found with an Internet search. We stopped at the first sushi place we saw, which wasn't the original one he had found on the Internet. The food was, hmm...let me show you...

The place was nice and we had a lot of food. There wasn't a lot of food that we could eat and enjoy...that's the trick. After spending too much money on what tasted like chewy ocean we called it a night.

The next day, we said our goodbyes and Meg and I headed to our first S. Korea WWOOF experience!

Tip of the Day: When you don't speak the language, don't scoff at the power of pointing, drawing, and having pictures in advance for what you need/want.

Busan, Korea

2013-02-04T18:05:00.000-08:00

Taking the bullet train was a good experience. We booked a booth, which is meant for 4 people. If you decided on the booth the price for 4 people would only be about 25 USD each, compared with the normal ticket of about 20 USD. Either way I enjoyed the little bit of extra space and having a table to work with.

The along the few hour path to Busan the train took, it was very smooth. It was a rainy day in Busan, but Meg and I were happy to find it was at least a bit warmer. The main station's courtyard looked despite the rain's best efforts to bring gloom down on us

First, we made our way to China Town. Food was a top priority at this point, which was point for us to go to China Town. The food was good. After feeling full, we looked around at some of the shops. I found some interesting ways to use English and some great shirts in the process...

The shops from China town blended seamlessly into more shopping areas. We kept walking along and saw some of the the city. Even as the sun settled behind the mountains and left the city to the over sight of the moon, Busan stayed vibrant and very well lit.

We used some of the free WiFi that is ever present in S. Korea, and located a few hotels and such. A guesthouse near the fish market became our final choice as it wasn't full and within our budget. We went out later in the evening to look at some more shops. After the shops, we stopped by a few places looking for food. After entering one such establishments, we found one place with lots of “famous” signatures on the wall...so of course, our friend had to add his :)

After the fun with signatures, went to look at some of the local tourist sights. At night and with rain, there wasn't much to see but we made the most of it and had some good laughs. It wasn't a full day but it was a good day.

The next morning we saw a bit more of the city and then made our way to higher elevation. We set out to get a good hike in, as the air was good, crisp, and with out rain! After taking the subway, we asked a group of men where a temple was that had the hiking we wanted. The conversation went a little like this:
Me, “Do you know where the temple is.”
Them, “Temple?”
Me, “Yes, temple.”
Them, “Temple?”
We spoke a little slower, “Tem-ple”
They turn around, huddle for a little while...one man eventually says to the other, “Temple?”
Man two “Tem-ple”
Man three, “Temple?”
Man four, “Temple,” there is a pause and they all look around at each other.
Man one, “Temple”
And together, “Temple!” and in rapid succession they each start staying “Temple” they turn back to us and ask, “Do you mean 'Temple'?”
“Yes, we are looking for the temple.”
The above example conversation is mostly under-exaggerated in terms of how long the original conversation was. They told us how to get where we wanted to be. We took a taxi the short distance and proceeded to look around before we started our hike.

After the hike, we went to the Busan Aquarium. As I hadn't been to an aquarium in many years, I really enjoyed the experience.

After the Busan Aquarium, we made our way to the train and back to Seoul. We all slept most the way back to Seoul.

Tip of the Day: If you've never been on a bullet train, try it. I think it isn't an adrenaline ride or anything, but it is a unique experience that is worth the cost and time.

Philippines to Korea, Culture Shock

2012-11-20T19:36:00.000-08:00

Philippines and Korea are simply different, and sure, maybe it would be better to say how one is as mars is to a platypus as would be to the other, but the truth is the truth no mater the dramatization is given. The Philippines is an actual island and for all transportation and shipping reasons so is South Korea. South Korea's “island” state is for political and social reasons going back far longer than my arrival. When you are there, those political and social reasons have shaped South Korea and inspired a population to strive harder and work together to show North Korea how wrong they were by economic means—now that the war has basically ended. The war is technically still on and you can sense some of that urgency, while in the subways or just by the fact there is still a DMZ. The fact is combat ended decades ago in an armistice...okay, so lets get back on track with my experience, because I know that I'd rather write about me, than about a political matter I'm no authority on.

Some differences...

The Philippines had uneven sidewalks (most of the time, and I'm only talking about the times there were even sidewalks present), theft worries, inexpensive food (and I don't mean cheap), inexpensive travel (and maybe I should say cheap for most cases?), low cost lodging options, and all of their signs I could read (didn't always know what they meant or how they were pronounced but I could read them), while the opposite was true for most cases while in South Korea. Those above points of difference are a great window into the experiences I had in South Korea. As for the people, Wikipedia (yes, the all knowing beast that professors and teachers hate for you to use because it is so easy and proven in multiple studies to be as reliable and in some cases better than printed alternatives) let me know the population is near 100% Korean, which is the most homogeneous country in the world for that reason. If you look at the numbers you find this near 100% is because in South Korea you are Korean if you have any ancestor from Korea, which would be something unlike the U.S.A. In the U.S.A you don't claim that you are black when if 1% genetically is from an African decent and 99% European descent. Sure the truth is the person is black, but in the States it isn't socially acceptable to say they are. This ancestor social divergence in South Korea and the States is also a good window of difference between the two and the same would be true in the Philippines as it is in the States. My point isn't that the way things are done in South Korea, the Philippines, or the States are correct or wrong, just different methods to talking about yourself. And that is another insight about South Korea, it is often very different in methods than I am used to. I don't mean different as in weird either! I just mean another way was found to live and coexist with each other, other than I was used to. This difference from other nations seemed desired and a source of pride for most S. Koreans I encountered. I had several conversation with individuals simply asking about is “this” or “that” better, and at the root asking me is this different from that? Yes, they were asking if something was better but to that person different meant better. I just think different isn't better or worse if it works.

Whoa! I've out done myself from previous rants. Thank you for attempting to follow along my stream of thought...A.K.A. R.A.N.T. (Random Ass Nonsense Talking).

...Moving on to my actual stay in South Korea...

The first thing we did in Korea was meet-up with a now mutual friend of ours late on a very chilly night. We decided to stay out and talk. The night ended up becoming an adventure to find a place to sleep quickly. It wasn't all that late when we first began looking around but around 3 A.M. the hunt became desperate. We stayed in what is best translated as spa. The actual word for the spa I don't know. This spa had a place to work out, play digital golf, bath, relax, and of course sleep. We paid about 10 USD and were given cloths to change into. We changed and went to the sleeping room. Men and women go to separate changing areas, as well for bathing and such. The sleeping area is for both genders. Meg never showed up to this room but I was too tired to care. The sleeping room was a little warm to me and boiling to our friend. I was just glad it wasn't too cold, since I had just been to the very warm Philippines. I slept near some old ladies and was deep asleep until roused by our friend. Eventually, we got Meg to join us in the lobby by asking Korean ladies to go in and ask the girl with colored hair to come out :) Our friend didn't sleep at all and Meg had gone to bed on a massage table. The first day was a very long day.

The next day we went to a swap meet/flee market type styled market. There are building like (Seoul Folk Flea Market) this around Korea where people sell used goods of all sorts. In the place I found some interesting, rare, and odd items.

Walking around the area, we saw some more goods such as roasters and statues. On the walk I was told that the double parlor shop poles are really advertisements for places that give *special* happy massages. I don't know if that is true, but something to look out for and avoid. The weather was cold but otherwise the area was very nice.

We kept finding more places that sold goods and some building with far too many lights...

I found the subway to be very efficient and awesome. It was a change to see emergency supplies in the tunnels though, but for a country with constant vigilance about war preparedness it isn't that surprising. The screen with a windows error was a little surprising because I thought they would be running a specialized operating system (O.S.) for their trains'.

A few more random photos...

Overall the first few days in Seoul were great but a major change from the Philippines. I quickly remembered how much more difficult ordering food is when you can't speak the language.

Next time I take my first bullet-train to Busan!

Tip Of The Day: Honking as you run a red light......completely okay, when in S. Korea! No horn, no okay!!

Tutorial Philippines: Philippines, A Brief and Rough Guide

2012-10-23T04:01:00.000-07:00

Philippines, A Brief and Rough Guide

Outline, but there isn't a great reason for the order:

Intro

Basics

Transportation

Randoms

Cities (Manila, )

Intro:

The title should give you a basic idea of what this is all about. A forewarning on what information is included in this guide, this isn't meant as a replacement for the guide book(s) you might buy at a store. My guide will be more of a supplement with some overlap to your normal guide books. The main things I will try to focus on are topics and information missed in guides, anything I found confusing on my travels, and/or anything else of interest to me.

If you find any information I give incorrect, I apologize now for misinformation but give no warranties or guarantees on the accuracies or usefulness of my guide. Safe travels and have a blast.

Basics:

If you've chosen the Philippines you've made a good choice and remember this. If you're not used to a third-world nation, some pictures and stories might make you think twice, but then again...haven't you heard some real horror stories in your own country as well? The truth is much better than the dramatization!

As for guide books, I only used them for ideas of things to do, but I'd keep an offline copy of your plans and a hard copy when possible. A good free online start is http://wikitravel.org/en/Philippines And the US Government's information on the Philippines http://travel.state.gov/travel/

Security

First thing you should know is that you can't be lazy with your stuff. Constant vigilance! Really, just do the usual things: stay in public places and insight of others, if traveling with someone(s) keep in as large of a group as possible, don't leave your bag unattended when possible, hide what you can in your room when not there, don't flash your phone to ask for directions but instead have it written down, keep your bag in front of you on crowded buses and such, be aware of your surroundings, don't take candy from strangers :), etc...

If you use luggage locks only use them in your rooms...I feel (no evidence to support this, just my logic) that it makes your bag standout as a target.

Visas

REALLY IMPORTANT, most travelers won't need to worry about this but if you buy a one way ticket as you have other places to visit after your stay other than your original destination you'll need to show prof of a departing ticket from the Philippines. The date of departure can after the valid period of the 21 days even. You just have to show that you're leaving at some point, unless you have prof of why you're staying. If coming from the US (make sure to double check this, since this stuff changes often) you get a 21 day visa on arrival but can apply for an additional stay of up to 60 days from the visa office in Intramuros, Manila. To be clear the 60 days is from the date of your arrival to the country, and not on top of your 21 day visa. The price will change but the additional 60 day stay will cost about 60 USD.

Plug-ins and Volts!

The outlets are the same and so is the power as that in the U.S.A. or Canada...so if that is you, you're in luck! Just make sure your hotel room has an outlet...really, make sure.

Cash and Cards

First thing, you should know that some cities will have power and Internet but no banks or ATMs. Always keep enough cash with you to get you from place to place. Also, this is a country that doesn't always take cards and if you're outside the city some will even give you a surcharge, and that is on top of what your bank might charge you already. Be sure to confirm what surcharges your bank might charge you to make purchases overseas and at foreign ATMs. Cash is the way to go.

Hotels and Places to Stay

The Philippines has high-end hotels, but most of what you get at the lower-end worked well for me. Some places have Internet and some don't have outlets. Just look at the room first and then try to talk them down...if you get a price you want, do it! My experience is that you can get a cheap place even in popular areas if you really look around. The guide books don't even begin to cover all of the places to stay because of high turn over rates for hotels and such...look around.

Some online options for searching in advance though:

CouchSurfing http://www.couchsurfing.org/

Free places to stay but you have to deal with people and this isn't a good option on short notice.

Air BnB www.airbnb.com

Usually cheaper and nicer places to stay since you're often at someone's home but not good on short notice and in the Philippines look out for hotels on here :(

Agoda http://www.agoda.com

A great hotel search that is often lower cost than if you go to the hotel, or at least for hotels that won't barter but are online.

WWOOF http://www.wwoof.ph/

Is an amazing option if you're going to be staying for a longer time. It is a work exchange program. You usually work for about 4-6 hours per-day. The hours and days you work are based on what you establish with the host ahead of time. While staying, you get a free place to stay, with food for the day and for some the food is only the days you work but it will depend from host to host. I did WWOOF and loved it. There is an up-front cost for a year membership to be able to contact hosts.

Just remember there are often hotels and places to stay not online. Often the places not listed online are cheaper and not necessarily lower quality. This means you should plan your stay with time to look around and barter for a lower price. Having cash and saying you'll pay upfront can be one of the best ways to helps convince people why they should give you the place for lower.

Markets

The markets are a bit disappointing if you ask me, but then again, they are good for what they are...a cheap way for locals to get by!

Phones, Communication, and the Internet

If you have an unlocked phone it will probably work in the Philippines with a prepaid SIM card, assuming your phone takes SIM cards (Not all phones use SIM cards and some iPhones use non-standard sized ones). You can also test your phone with another carrier's SIM card while still in your home country if you are uncertain if your phone is able to take another SIM card.

I would recommend getting a SIM card because it makes communication so much easier in the Philippines. Note, most people text as it is much cheaper. I would also recommend buying the cheapest local phone if you plan on making calls or texting in the Philippines. I mentioned using your own phone first because it is a nice alternative if you can't buy a local phone right away or want to stay on a low budget. I recommend a local phone because you know it works in the area and the cheapest model because it should not be a hot item to steal...no needless showing off of your fancy smart phone.

Almost everywhere I went the Internet was painfully slow. Be aware of this slow Internet fact if you want to make WiFi calls back to the states or your home country.

Toilet/CR

If you ask for a restroom, bathroom, toilet, Jon, or comfort room and get a confused look ask for the C.R. Also, note that not all bathrooms will have soap for you (bring your own), or toilet paper (bring your own). It isn't completely uncommon to get charged to use a toilet. As for actual bathing, hot water isn't always common depending on the city and class of hotel you're in. Cold showers aren't all that bad in the warm heat but in the late night and high altitudes it can get chilly.

Randoms:

In the Philippines people use a lot of English, so you'll be fine with just that. Sir and mam is used commonly, so if you're younger you'll probably feel a little older when called sir—like I did.

In the cities, as well in the rural areas, there are chickens and roasters on the street, around people's homes, and in people's homes. Don't be surprised if you see and hear them everywhere you go! I got used to it by the time I left.

Trash cans hard to find, so dump your trash while you can.

I wouldn't trust the street food in this country. If it is being deep fried it might be okay. I did have a few deep fried items and was fine. Don't drink the water and be aware of the source of the water for ice and washed vegetables. Be smart and when in doubt don't eat it, because it most likely isn't worth ruining your next few days of travel for a single meal. And some fun pictures....

Lastly...BARTER!!!

If you've been reading all the way through or at least the hotel section, you'd know I've mentioned bartering at least once. Remember the best prices won't be found online, nor will online be necessarily higher quality. This means you should plan your stay or day with time to look around and barter for a lower price. Having cash is very important for bartering. If someone wants to counter with how far or difficult or much time something takes, just assume it is about half as much as they say, and ask for half the price...or less :) Good luck!

Transportation:

Transportation is at best...interesting and worst...crazy! It may really vary from city to city but usually the main transportation is the Jeepny (see below), the Trik (forgive spelling), or something either looking like a bus or the bus. Trains aren't very common and Manila is the only city in the Philippines that I know of to have something like a subway/monorail. There is an Android app for Manila's MRT system:

MRT-LRT Train Station Guide https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ista.phlrt&hl=en

As for other Apps and such, GPS dependent apps sometimes will get a lock and sometimes not. Just make sure the app allows offline storage. Mine worked, that's all the advice I will give you, other than don't flash your smart phone to strangers if you can help it.

For the taxi always ask for a meter price before taking off and if they say no, just get out and try another driver. The Taxis are legally supposed to use the metters. For triks and such that don't have meters, always try to talk them down...always!

For renting you might want your International Driver License, but in the Philippines the difference of not having it is usually just in the rental price :) http://www.idlservice.com/

As for air travel check out:

Cebu Pacific http://www.cebupacificair.com/

While often delayed and a misinformed staff, this local airline is also a low cost option. Remember that you have to pay for everything on this airline...even picking your seat.

Air Asia http://www.airasia.com/

Another low cost option...but not as many in-Philippines flights as Cebu. Remember that you have to pay for everything on this airline...even picking your seat.

Kayak http://www.kayak.com/

Kayak is an all in one airline search. It doesn't always cover every airline but it does give you a lot of options and I use it often for comparing. Just make sure to check the actual airline's website for their price, which is sometimes cheaper.

Cities:

Manila

Basics

A good first look is http://wikitravel.org/en/Manila. Manila has some to see and especially a lot to do. Most people try to just get out of Manila, but I think it is worth a few days. I will admit it has heavy congestion and horrid air quality, and was glad to leave. You might want to stay for a day or so to extend your visa for the Philippines at Intramuros. SM Mall of Asia is huge and you can lose yourself there for hours. Going to the theater is also a great experience because the quality is much higher than the USA and lower cost.

Transportation

Transportation is the same as the rest of the country with the exception being their MRT. The MRT is low cost and very crowded. Make sure to watch your belongings if you take this method of transportation. Taxis will get you where you want to go but I stress asking for the meter because you'll be over charged every time, even if you barter the price with them. If the driver doesn't want to give you a metered rate, simply walk away and look for another cab. The cabs are very frequent in the Manila area. You'll have this meter dilemma coming from the airport, bus terminals, and other places of public transportation. Just walk a little ways to the street and look for a passing taxi. At the airport it isn't always this easy and sucking it up and bartering down the price might be your only option.

Randoms

Manila has some crazy nightlife. I didn't see a lot of it but if you ask around or your taxi driver I'm sure you can find it. I wouldn't trust the street food any more in this city than another. If it is being deep fried it might be okay. I did have a few deep fried items and was fine. Finding hotels can be a pain as well since the city is so spread out. Don't expect to easily find awesome deals.

Tagayta

Basics

Again, a good first starting point for information is http://wikitravel.org/en/Tagaytay. I didn't find much to do in this area beyond seeing the local attraction of Taal Volcano. Hotels not over charging will be hard to find as well unless you spend sometime looking around there area and not online.

Transportation

Cabs aren't the best option, nor is a personal driver. I went with the jeepnys and triks because of the low price and the personal fun I had riding around in and on them. I will say the public method isn't faster but it saved me over 80 USD.

Randoms

If you go to a hotel and they want to set you up with a package for a boat or a guide or anything of the sort...just look at their plan make notes or take it and say you'll think about it. You are better off finding your own way there and bartering with the locals for a boat ride or guide if you feel you need one.

Baguio City

Basics

Yes, http://wikitravel.org/en/Baguio. This is a great stop if you want to get away from Manila or some of the heat. Baguio had a lot of character to me, as well as some nice streets to walk around. I didn't find myself needing more than a few days to see everything I desired and at a leisurely pace.

Transportation

The taxi might be your best bet in this city because many things are distant from each other and/or hard to navigate. The public options aren't as straight forward as I would have liked. I would take the public options though if you want to make it to the bus terminal.

Randoms

There are many nice cafes or places to eat. Take your time and look around.

Tuplay, Acop

Basics

I never determined the correct name for this little city. The only reason I even headed this way was for a WWOOF farm that I stayed at. The town its self is very small and not much in it. The usual places to each and an Internet cafe...but I say cafe for lack of a better name. The Internet cafes in the Philippines don't usually have food, just computers.

Transportation

Jeepny and bus is your way of getting out and through this small town.

Randoms

None

Bontoc

Basics

Take a look at http://wikitravel.org/en/Bontoc. A small town but not tiny either. Several places to eat but nothing to really do. Usually, Bontoc is used as a stopping point while on the way to Banuae or other destinations. Just make sure you use the ATM here because you might find your next stop doesn't have one...cough* Banuae, cough*...

Transportation

Bus and jeepny, otherwise you should be able to walk anywhere within the city you'd like to find.

Randoms

Check out Cable Cafe...that is about it.

Banuae

Basics

http://wikitravel.org/en/Banaue, and what I have to say is make sure you have all the cash you need before you arrive to Banaue. The city might have Internet and electricity but they lack a bank or an ATM.

Transportation

Trik or motorcycle is you best option to get to the nearby rice fields but within the city you can walk everywhere. Again, make sure you barter the price if you get a ride somewhere. The main office will give you certified drivers but at a higher cost (and no bartering). Your hotel will give you a higher rate as well. There are buses and jeepnys but those are only passing by a few times a day or leaving to other destinations. For the bus, they might want you to prepay for your ticket, which you can do but if you want to leave things opened ended you can also wait until the night before.

Randoms

Not much other than, the city is pretty dead at night and there aren't a ton of restaurants to choose from.

Bangaan

Basics

This is a very small and mostly traditional town. Amazing rice terraces, and it should be known not the largest amount of them in the area but some of the best kept. The newer section of town is above the traditional part of the city. If there are local accommodations I didn't find any. You could ask some of the locals to stay with them, maybe? :)

Transportation

You'll have to use a trik or some sort of shuttle, just remember to barter and having 2 for the trik is cheaper but having 4 or more for the jeepnys/buses is the cheapest option. There isn't any normal taxis to get you there.

Randoms

Watch out for people dressed in traditional clothing waiting for you to take their photo; these people just want to spring on you for taking their photo. Seeing the area is amazing, but it should be noted that so many people have been switching from taking care of the rice fields to tourism jobs for the easy money that the area is in jeopardy of falling apart and vanishing. My point is, it one thing to give money but putting too much money into the tourism jobs or buying too many souvenirs and trinkets don't actually help to maintain or create the area, and is in actuality doing more harm than good to sustain the wounder and beauty of Bangaan.

Cebu

Basics

Check it...http://wikitravel.org/en/Cebu. Cebu is a very large city and as such doesn't offer much difference from Manila. The culture and attitude of the city is different, as you can quickly tell if you go there. The culture and attitude of Cebu is a little more laid back and seemed more friendly to me than Manila. As for things to do and places to see it is much the same as Manila. Cebu offers many malls, shopping centers, usual attractions, museums, and historical sites you'd expect from a city with so much economic growth and history. I didn't find a lot to keep me tied to Cebu. I did find myself going through and returning to the city several times, because it is a major transportation hub, and as such it is often easier to backtrack to Cebu than try a direct route from destination to destination in the area of Cebu, Negros, and Bohol.

Transportation

Transportation is the same as Manila with the exception being no MRT. “Taxis will get you where you want to go but I stress asking for the meter because you'll be over charged every time, even if you barter the price with them. If the driver doesn't want to give you a metered rate, simply walk away and look for another cab. The cabs are very frequent in the Manila area. You'll have this meter dilemma coming from the airport, bus terminals, and other places of public transportation. Just walk a little ways to the street and look for a passing taxi. At the airport it isn't always this easy and sucking it up and bartering down the price might be your only option.” The quoted section is the same advice I wrote for Manila.

Randoms

I did notice a lot more tattoo shops than other parts of the country. I don't know if it is true but I was told from some locals that it is illegal to get a tattoo done in the Philippines but not to have one. Take that with a grain of salt...or maybe a whole cup.

Bacolod

Basics

Wait, http://wikitravel.org/en/Bacolod, ah yes, look at that. Bacolod is something between small town and big city. The city is divided off into sections of what feel to be smaller cities. There is a main shopping district with a market but not much in this city other than a place to stay and the nearby attractions of other cities.

Transportation

Best bets are taxi, trik, bus, and jeepny. If you've skipped my transportation section and want to know more about these methods, I'd scroll up a bit and read it over.

Randoms

?...None :(

Bago City

Basics

Yes, I'd start with http://wikitravel.org/en/Bago_City. Bago isn't very large and I didn't find much else besides a small market and some good food. I think this city has more to be found if you are willing to peel back the onion layers.

Transportation

Best bets are taxi, trik, bus, and jeepny. If you've skipped my transportation section and want to know more about these methods I'd scroll up a bit and read it over.

Randoms

Nada (Translation for those lacking ANY Spanish knowledge...literal: nothing; in this case: None)

Malapascua

Basics

Good over view: http://wikitravel.org/en/Malapascua. Malapascua is about 3 kilometers in circumference, or at least that is what I was told but it sure did feel longer than that if you try to walk around the island. Walking around you'll find all of the windy roads making your journey much longer and maybe like me you'll have my difficulties of getting lost on some of the cross-crossing roads. The place has excellent places to stay and many budget options as well. The cheapest places are not by the beach, so if you want a good deal don't even bother looking around the beach’s edge. As for food...most hotels/home-stays don't offer a good included breakfast, so if you can get the room without the price breakfast included. There are only a few places that had inexpensive food, so try to find them. There is one restaurant located between where you'd be dropped off and the other side of the island...sorry for lack of better directions. A few places had budget options on their menus as well, which I found some of them to give you more food than their main meals, but didn't include as much meat. I found the budget meals sometimes more filling because of the prior reason, which I only found out from ordering from several places.

Transportation

You'll have to take a boat to get there from the main Cebu island, and if coming from Cebu you will be most likely coming by bus. As for boats there is a public option that is much cheaper than the private boats. If you are able, take the public ferries (Note: they say ferries but in reality they are just the same type of boats as the private option). On the island there isn't much in the way of taxi beside someone giving motorcycle rides and such. I found walking the best option.

Randoms

There is a lot to do on this island but just know to shop around as I found I got what I paid for on this island...that and they had a 2 USD bottle of rum, which wasn't bad if you mixed it. Just saying ;)

Bohol

Basics

I found both of the following useful: http://wikitravel.org/en/Bohol & http://www.bohol.ph/article107.html. Bohol was the last place I went to in the Philippines and it had a lot to experience and see. There is a lot of natural wounder to the island. Most guide books recommend to rent a scooter or motorcycle to see this small island. In hindsight that is a great idea if you are experienced with one or both of those options. If you are not, there are private drivers and a few tours you can take as well, but these will end up costing you more than renting a scooter or motorcycle. I saw almost all of the island's big attractions in one day. I think if you want to hangout on the beaches here, which are nice, you might want to go to Malapascua instead. The beaches in Bohol are very touristy, like those of Boracry. If you want crowded beaches full of people bothering you by peddling tourist goods, than by all means hangout in bohol's for weeks. I found 3-5 days more than enough in this area.

Transportation

Best bets are taxi and private tours to get around the island, if you don't feel up for renting a motorcycle or scooter. For just getting around the main city parts try the triks, buses, and jeepnys. If you've skipped my transportation section and want to know more about these methods I'd scroll up a bit and read it over.

Randoms

Be sure to try kayaking and see the fireflies at night. I went through Abatan and had an amazing experience.

Behold Bohol

2012-10-19T01:51:00.000-07:00

Getting from Cebu to Bohol isn't a challenging journey, but it is time consuming journey. We made it to a pier and met a fellow traveler by chance. It was really nice to be able to share some of our traveling knowledge with someone that wanted to listen! At this point, like currently, not many people are reading my blog. Some are looking through the pretty pictures but all of my wonderful knowledge has merely been for the ages, cataloged for some future generation :)

Once we got to Bohol we had a friend's friend pick us up and take us to dinner. He was very nice and hooked us up with a cheap place to stay.

And on the TV...Balls Network!

Over the next three days, we took some time to get to know our new friend but most of it was traveling around Bohol and seeing the sights. From the Chocolate Hills to Tarsier, we saw a lot! …

Tarsier Reserve:

Some Restaurants:

Chocolate Hills:

Man Made Forest:

Bamboo Bridge:

Prony and the Small Zoo:

Statues:

Old Catholic (Coral) Church:

Another Church:

One of the coolest things we saw and did was firefly watching, while kayaking. I took some photos and videos but nothing really captured the amazing experience that it was to see the fireflies in action. They swarm a tree and start their blinking on and off. After some time, they start to make a pattern. It was amazing to see all of the fireflies. It was also really nice to go kayaking, but when we went into the grove and it became a little darker, I saw the biggest and meanest looking spider in my life...I promptly steered away. The people that took us on the trip were the Abatan company and they were very hospitable They even gave us some of their professional photos that actually capture some of the grandeur that the fireflies make. They even months later sent us some photos that the other couple that came with us sent them.

We even got a quick day at the beach, but nothing that amazing. It was too much of a tourist trap for us to enjoy after the quiet beaches of Malapascua.

At the end of our time in Bohol we were ready to move on, but we still have a few days left in the Philippines. We made it to Cebu again and spent the last few days being mostly bored. The hotel we stayed in wasn't exceptional by any means, and the food was even less so. We did find the time to dye my hair...check it out!

But at the end of it all, we had really experienced a lot and while I'm not sure I'd ever live in the Philippines, I would recommend it as a place to visit. With the last few steps, we made it to the airport...ahead of schedule for once! Had a blow-out meal with our remaining cash, and our last real mango shake.

I divulge, again, at the end of it all we had a great time and made it safely to South Korea!

...Here we go again!

Tip Of The Day: Have a mango shake made with fresh, ripe, real mango, and no added sugar...mmmmmmm, nom nom nom....so good!

Malapascua & Fun Under the Sea

2012-08-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Leaving Santo Domingo Orchards was both a sad and happy affair. We were starting another leg of our journey. The night before we left was spent in town with Mr. P, along with an awesome dinner. At dinner there was his family. The next morning we had some breakfast and were helped to the bus terminal. He is a very amazing guy and I'd like to thank him once more.

We took a bus for an hour or so to catch a ferry to an island, and then we caught another ferry to the main island of Cebu. From the last ferry we needed to go another 20 or so kilometers. We arrived a little later in the evening, a lot of the transportation options were very expensive. We did find, after talking them down, a motorcycle for 500 P. We all packed on and set off. The driver wore Meg's bag in front of him, Meg was in the middle, and I was holding on for dear life mostly the back seat. I had the metal rack behind me so I wasn't going to slip off but it was very uncomfortable. The whole ride was about an hour long. I was so thankful to get off of the motorcycle and let my legs feel solid land. Arriving late at night we still needed one more ferry or water taxi to get to Malapascua. It was late at night and everyone wanted an arm and a leg for the ride to the Malapascua. We looked around and debated prices of getting a room and waiting for the normal ferry, which was only 80 P per person. We struck gold and found someone that had to return that night and found our way across for 500 P for the both of us. The boat ride at night, no massive city near by, and combined with a full moon was magical. I had an amazing 30 minutes ride. One of the guys on the boat was nice enough to offer help in find a place to stay. We settled in after looking into a few places and found one that met our price needs.

Photos from along the way to Malapascua:

The next day we staked out all of the hotels and found one that had backpacker rooms for only 500 P a night. Getting around on the island wasn't a problem but there are only a few places that we had found to be reasonably priced for the Philippines. We ended up staying extra days because we were loving it there so much. The summary of the days events were laying by the beach, laying by the pool, playing ping-pong, eating, walking around the island (only 3 Km around), and scuba diving.

One of the days while walking around we were invited to a hotel's new wing opening. At the opening we were given a full dinner and lots of treats. I've been told it is very common in the Philippines for any new business venture to include a feast for good luck and they will often invite just about anyone.

I had never been scuba diving but I found it claustrophobic the first time when I was out of the pool and deeper in the ocean. Once I got over my small panic attack, it was an amazing time. I found it much more enjoyable than skydiving. I don't have any photos from that experience, sadly. On one of the last days we also went snorkeling, because the diving trip was already fully booked.

Photos from around and on Malapascua:

We took a boat back to the main island, which was the boats maiden voyage, so it came with some food and soda. The boat almost capsized when coming into port, so yeah, that was fun. We made it back to Cebu island a little more tan and with a lot of smiles. Now we were on our way to Bohol for some more Philippine magic.

Tip Of The Day: Take a ride on a boat at night...especially if it is both a warm night and a full moon...you'll probably not regret it. You're welcome.

Santo Domingo Orchards & More (Weeks 2)

2012-07-20T23:02:00.001-07:00

We'd had already spent a week at Santo Domingo Orchards and had one week to go. Time seems to always go by so fast when I'm WWOOFing. This second week was no exception.

After everyone returned from church we were taken to a near by market in Ma-Ao. Two rode up front and the other six of us were in the back. They even threw in a few lawn-chairs...you know...safety first.

At night, I helped by putting some of the pictures Meg and I had been taking over the days on a few phones, as well as some music. Picture taking was plentiful around the farm and with the locals. Getting people to pose for a picture was so easy! I'd just pull out the camera and they'd pose. Although, if you wanted to just take a picture of them working this would make it a challenge because they'd stop to pose for you.

Around as well as in the main house, we found our share of local animals and insect life:

I didn't get a picture of the local spiders, and that could have been because they were huge and I liked my distance :)

Meg mostly worked in her flower beds (see below) but on Monday the M stands for Banana? We helped with the harvest and it was pretty fun. There is some hard work put in to chopping down the banana trunks, cleaning the bananas, then putting all of the remains into composts, and finally making new compost piles each time. Instead of one giant compost, they put several smaller composts all over so it wouldn't take as much work to move and spread the compost all over.

Flowerbeds:

M for Banana Harvest:

Making a compost pile:

On some of the days off, Mr. P would take us around to see more of the island. We were able to meet his wife, whom was very nice and very friendly. Mr. P, as I've enjoyed calling him since blogging about him, took us to a near by restaurant for lunch and around the area for some local sight seeing.

The bamboo cannons are pretty neat but the story behind them more interesting and entertaining. I couldn't find a detailed story on it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Philippines_(1946%E2%80%931965) ) but the general story I was told is this: The Philippine army had the Spanish surrounded after many years of conflict but they were still out powered, so they decided to bluff. They built a ton of bamboo cannons and bamboo guns. They painted all of the fake arms black to look real. Only the soldiers that went in close had real weapons. The Spanish saw the over whelming number of cannons and arms. Not knowing so many men were actually unarmed, decided they didn't stand a chance and surrendered.

Some more photos of the area we had lunch in:

An other day we were taken around more of the island to see some of the mountain side. It was a lot cooler in the mountains, which was an enjoyed break from the heat. On the way there is a stretch of road that has some unique properties. We didn't take a video of it, but we should have. Basically you stop your car, and put it in neutral, and your vehicle will start moving UP hill! It has to do with magnetism, and in fact there are places like this all over the world. Here is a list of such sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gravity_hills

We made some stops and had some fun looking around. Had lunch, saw a monkey :)

Picking up a few local fruits that I'd never had before made for a very tasty afternoon snack:

A few photos from around the farm:

My University, Go Huskies!

Making a wall!

We had one last Video-oke night a few days before we left and they went all out by making a large selection of food for us. We had a great night and learned to really enjoy Micheal Learns to Rock, which was a local favorite from Australia.

Eventually the day came that we found ourselves leaving yet another wonderful place. Our time at the orchard was a highlight in my travel experiences. I really wish I could have thanked both Mr. P and all of the wonderful people that worked for him more.

We were headed to Malapascua and looking forward to a few days of vacation.

Tip For The Day: Take photos, and then take some more. If you have too many “lame” ones you don't have to show them off, but if you never took a photo you're left with a fading memory that at best you can only try to convey the magic with words...and some times art, assuming you can remember the grandeur in detail.

Santo Domingo Orchards & More (Weeks 1)

2012-07-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

Last post's summary would be that we didn't have much going on besides a major hunting experience. First for a place to stay and then for food. In the morning the troubles were forgotten. We had spent so much time looking for food the night before and mostly finding places that were closed; we knew just the place to go for breakfast. After food and some texts with the Farm owner, we just had to wait for a ride. A sleek silver truck pulled up and after a few looks back and forth we hopped in. I'm always excited to meet knew people, but I like to give myself a chance to figure out my impression of them before I let them drive me off somewhere. I usually can determine if someone is trust worthy after a few moments and a good look into their eyes...or just the one if that's all they have, which wasn't the case this time.

Mr. De La Paz or Mr. P, which I've never used until now, asked us the basics about our life and what we'd like to do on his farm. Maybe it was the heat, just waking up, or something I'm not aware of but I was drawing a lot of blanks about his farm at the time. After some inside information on their operations, Meg and I got an idea of what we wanted to do and what we could do. Helping with a banana harvest sounded excellent! The rest of the to-do items where to be determined.

The place we were staying at was amazing! The place was a bamboo/cement palace...okay, I'm exaggerating, but look at these photos!

And check out the plant life all around!

I believe this is the finished flower bed...we only planted the seeds, so no flowers yet.

Another bit of the lower bed before it was finished.

And look at some fun videos!

While I don't appreciate the “sport” of Cock Fighting, being next to a large Cock Fighting training ground was both noisy but also very cool to see all of the birds in person.

The first week was mostly spent figuring out the flow of the farm and what we were capable of doing. I learned a lot and I found my passion for farm work. I find something so rewarding in growing food. The something could be knowing that you helped feed someone by your hard work, not sure although it is a great feeling.

Hanging with Mr. P was both informative and fun. It was really nice to have some in-depth conversations. I love talking with Meg but a little tech, nerd, and geek talk is needed in my life :) Super nice guy and very generous. I'm not sure I can say enough nice things, but I have one more post on this farm, so I'm sure I'll have more opportunities!

Being on the farm was also a great experience because I had the privilege of talking with the other local farm hands and getting an insight into their life and dreams. Also, they helped make a mean/great papaya shake!

Hanging out with everyone after hours was a blast. On the night before their day off and after dinner, we'd gather at a near by home. Once the TV and speaker system was pulled outside, we Video-oke'd it up! Video-oke is the same as Karaoke, but people in the Philippines call it Video-oke.

By the end of the week I hadn't written much, but I had made some great friends and memories. The best part was I had another week there!

Oh, and here are some random ones from around the farm:

Everyone crowding around to look at the photos we took :)

Tip for the Day: Work on a farm for at least a week. It is an experience you need at least once in your life. Food doesn't get to your table by magic.

Cebu to Bago City

2012-07-16T10:44:00.001-07:00

Coming from Manila to Cebu doesn't take long. Clocking the flight, it takes less than three hours but I remember it taking about two hours. From the airport we caught a cab to the house we would stay at. We stayed with a couple and their last name was North. The Norths were warm and very welcoming. We had a gracious meal and did some laundry. The next morning we were given a ride to the bus terminal.

Finding the bus to Bacolod was a breeze but had to wait to buy our tickets until comfortably in our seats. Luckily, the bus was almost empty on the way to the ferry. Meg and I played cards and listen to audiobooks. Before we got to the ferry the bus stopped and let everyone out for food. The line was so long that I had barely eaten half of my food before I was forced to abandon everything, because the bus was leaving. I made haste to the bus, as it was doing a stop and go routine that I'd seen before, which was bus-sign language for, “hurry up or I'll leave you!”

We made it to the ferry and had to get out again to purchase the terminal fees, which is common at ferries and airports, and usually isn't more than 100 P (about $3 USD). The ferry wasn't bad at all. There was a first class section to the ferry, which had air conditioning, and an economy section with long benches, such as those at some churches. Additionally, there was a mid-range ticket that we purchased and these tickets left you with your own bed to lay in or lounge how you please. Meg passed out shortly after laying down and I enjoyed the breeze, the sun, and some Harry Potter on audiobook. I believe I was into my 2^nd or 3^rd Harry Potter book at this point. After the ferry, we piled back into the bus and had picked up a few people at the port as the bus now became much more full.

Arriving into the Bacolod bus terminal in the late evening and with a few places for the night as options already picked out, we went to task on locating them and choosing one. None of our first picks that came from a guide book were very nice and some even had a pungent smell of mold. We walked around aimlessly and asked a few locals. We were coming up with null. Meg remembered a hotel we had passed on the tricycle ride to the first hotel that we had checked out. A new search began with the night fast approaching, and in the end we found a winner.

Dropping our things off at the place (Blue Roof Inn – Pension House) we'd found to be nice, comfortably cheap, and acceptably clean, we then headed out for a spot of food. Finding a place to eat was an equally time consuming task as we couldn't make up our minds on what we wanted, what was an acceptable price, and a restaurant that was still open. Some time later and hunger gnawing at us, we gave up and landed in a restaurant with no glee or smiles on our faces at the choice of the place.

Leaving the restaurant with our bellies full, we tackled one of the markets to get some mangoes and bandannas. With fresh fruit for the morning and no more choices to make for the night, we called it a night. The next morning we just had to wait for a ride to the farm that we'd be working on for the next two weeks.

Tip for the Day: Don't assume your shoes are up to snuff for a big hike or long walk without having given them at least a test run or two...your feet will be better off.

Just a short clip of some neat art while traveling on the bus:

BBB (Bontoc, Banuae, Bangaan) to Rice Terraces

2012-07-10T18:43:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Bontoc late at night. We were able to find one of the few hostels (Pines Kitchenette And Inn) in the Philippines. We asked for some help from the local police to get us headed in the correct direction and then became lost quickly. We had walked past the location a few times without noticing the place, but ran into a man we had met on the bus. He walked us to the correct location. I felt silly having such difficulties finding the place and was happy to place my bag down once in the room.

Our Hostel:

Around Bontoc:

Bontoc was not a unique town for the Philippines. We didn't find anything that made it really standout. What Bontoc did have going for it was Cable Cafe (Reso, Bar, Wine) and a good sized outdoor market. The town was a stopping point for Banuae, and is a good place to get some cash if you need it. Banuae has Internet but no ATMs or banks...? We should have used an ATM in Bontoc but then the adventure would have been easy.

Another restaurant that was okay, but not as good as Cable Cafe was Stacey's:

After a night of no thrills and good mango shakes, we found our way to the Jeepney terminal for Banaue. Waiting for the next Jeepney, we picked up some playing cards that we had been meaning to get but also never seemed to remember when we could do something about it. The ride from Bontoc to Banuae is a bumpy road with short stretches of smooth road. The driver seemed high on something, and I tried not to focus on this as we raced up and down roads near the edges of huge drop-offs and no side-rails. On the way you'll see a few rice terraces, which are a microcosm of what is to come in the Banuae area. I passed the time between sights with Meg playing cards, which helpped forget about how crazy the driver was on the road.

I found the advertisement amusing,
since Megan goes by Meg

Arriving in Banuae, we were encouraged to buy our returning tickets to Manila ahead of time, which was a first for the entire experience in the Philippines. Most places won't even let you buy a ticket until you are on the bus. We bought our return tickets back. The bus driver and a few of his friends walked us to a few hotels. We ended up leaving our “guides” and found something cheaper. Drivers and locals will often be quick to help you find a place to stay but will take you to a place with someone they know as the owners or one of the workers, which doesn't always mean the best deal for you. We walked around after dropping our things off at the hotel then ate food and spent a painfully slow time on the Internet. The Internet wasn't much better than dial-up.

Around Banuae

The hotel in Banuae:

The next day we found a tricycle ride for 500 P, which is about 1000 P less than if you pre-book or go with one of the registered drivers that have set prices in the visitor center. No matter how far they try to tell you the ride is...just keep talking them down :) The tricycle ride was bumpy and I was thankful for every opportunity for a stop, which was usually for a view point for pictures and the driver to smoke. I found some fake wood made from concrete, which seemed to pop-up all over the Philippines. Concrete is a cheap material for building and the Philippines uses it in many different projects. Making our way to Bangaan and finally laying eyes on the place, I felt the bumps, pesos, and boredom were well worth it. Bangaan is one of the easier hikes if you want to see rice terraces up close and generally has a lot less tourists. Batad is best known place for rice terraces and has the largest set of rice terraces in the area but takes both more effort, time, and money to get to. If you have the time the area would be great for hiking around. Most of the rice terraces in the area have a few older people dressed up in traditional clothing waiting for you to take pictures of them and then they will spring on you for money. I found one guy pretending to sleep to lull people into thinking they could get away with a photo. If you want a photo of such a person it will cost you in one way or another...the Internet has photos that others have taken are enough for me.

Along the way to Bangaan:

The Bangaan city (lower part) is small but very rich in spirit. I liked walking around the city. Most people are used to tourists stampeding through their yards, which is almost impossible not to do if you want to look around.

After getting back from the rice terraces we still had about six hours left but didn't want to spend more money. Meg walked around and I caught a Jeepney to a near by town to hit up the ATM. It was nice to go solo for a short time.

We picked up some gifts for Lucas (the man that let us leave some things with him in Manila) and headed back to Manila at the end of the night by bus. The bus ride is supposed to be six to eight hours, but we got unlucky with all of the extra traffic from the road construction...the bus ride was ten hours! We arrived very late in Manila. All of the cab drivers by the buses wanted set prices and no meters, which meant we weren't going for it. We walked to the street and in no less than ten seconds hailed down a cab. Headed to our friend's and called it a night.

The next day was uneventful, but it was our last in Manila. We caught a flight to Cebu from Manila on Cebu Airlines and regretted using them again. We were a little late getting there and were told that first they were no longer allowing people to check-in, even though they hadn't started boarding. Finally letting us check-in, we were told to run so we wouldn't miss boarding. We ran, and I ran enough to remember I hadn't run in too long. Second issue was by the time we ran there, we were told to wait. The plane had been delayed by over half an hour...no idea why that wasn't communicated to the check-in people!?

But...yay! Cebu ;)

From the room of the first place we stayed in Cebu

Tip for the Day: Haggle! Haggle in the morning, Haggle in the night, Haggle all about!

A bunch of pics from the terraces and around Bangaan (both lower and upper):

All those specs are actually bugs caught in webs...so many!

Ants! I liked it at least :)

WWOOF: Keeping Life Simple & Making Me Sweat

2012-07-08T00:44:00.000-07:00

We left Baguio and made it to Acop/Tuplay (never was able to clarify what to call the town). Peter met us getting off the Jeepney. I was a little concerned at first because the plan I'd made through email didn't have us meeting a man at all. We were supposed to meet a woman after getting off of the Jeepney. I decided to suppress this slight fear and followed Peter. We stayed in the farm's owners' home for about fifteen minutes because they told us to sit and rest. We didn't feel like we needed to rest. We did sit long enough to make pleasantries. I think everyone in the room just wanted to get to know us a bit. They seem genuinely interested to learn about our lives.

We set off from the house with Peter and Victor, whom was already at the home. We hiked for three kilometers down a mostly steep hill in a monstrous down pour. A few slips and we made it to a river, went about half a kilometer uphill, and we had made it! We were shown our place to stay, but were given the option of a tent. I explored around the new place we'd be staying for almost a week. When I'd had enough of the hut, I left with Meg in tow and our belongings behind us. Mama Olive asked why we didn't put on dry clothes...we found out that at this farm you don't work in the rain...tell that to my mom in the Seattle area! :D A short walk and I was back at the hut. Meg and I changed clothes...waited...hung out...waited...rain stopped. Talked with Peter some, received food for the week from Mama Olive, and settled in for the night.

During the first few days when it wasn't raining, we spent most of our working time trying to find things to do. We came at a time when there wasn't anything to harvest or plant. Peter was so passive about things that even when asking for work he didn't always give us something to do. We ended up giving him ideas for what we could do, such as weeding. Weeding killed my back. I tried to stay away from bending over for a few days. I spent most of my time moving rocks from the old river bed (washed out from a storm) up the half kilometer hill for one of the homes there were restoring. Meg tried her hand at rock picking & hauling, painting the same home we were moving rocks for, and a few other things. She seemed to settle mostly on weeding. I enjoyed hauling the rocks up the hill while listening to audio books :) When not working, we either explored the area with Peter or by ourselves, ate food, waited for rain to stop, or slept. I was still getting over my cold.

Making food for ourselves was one of the treats at ENCA Farm. No electricity wasn't much of a problem with all of my electronics fully charged before arrival and hard work put me asleep quickly. The stove in our hut was propane, which made cooking fast and easy. I spent most of my evenings catching up on my blog by candle light or in the dark. Meg and I got into some audiobooks since they take much less battery than games or movies (books on tape for those older peeps). The Forever War by Joe Haldeman became a treat for the two of us.

By the time we had to leave I wasn't thrilled about it. I did want to charge things up but I enjoyed the simple life with fresh organic foods. Reluctantly, I packed my things up. We set off with the sun high in the sky. Once across the river, rain and more rain poured on us. I finished the audiobook The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman, while on the hike up. I had started it a few days prior to give Meg time for catching up on the Forever War since I had gotten a little ahead of her.

We arrived on schedule to the farm owners' home soaked again but in high spirits. We changed clothes and ate some food they whipped up for us. Caught a Jeepney to Bontoc as the jump off point for the start of our journey to Banuae and the rice terraces.

Some more pics from around the farm:

Coffee beans drying

Update (3)

2012-07-05T06:26:00.002-07:00

Just another update about my travels so far.

I'm behind on my blog posts again! I am trying to catch up. I'm in Japan now and my blog has me in the Philippines. I've actually been to the Philippines and South Korea, Japan, back to Seattle, and again in Japan. I have several posts to make.

I'm planning on taking a day or two to type my blog up to at least me making it to Japan and then I'll try to post a blog post about 1.5 times a week until caught up.

My own hard coded map of where I've been with some pathways shown, which start from Seattle:

Below are a few maps I made with Google to document what I've been doing. The first map are places I've been. I've only placed markers for cities I've spent some time exploring and not just passing through.

View Where I've Been So Far in a larger map

This second map is places I still hope to travel to.

View Places to go in a larger map

Baguio City & Disappointment

2012-05-26T06:10:00.001-07:00

The bus station that took us to Baguio was near the hotel that we stayed first in Manila. It was nice going to an area I already knew. We made it easily to the bus station and waited for our bus to leave. The waiting area was interesting because like many things in the Philippines it was open to the elements. Living in Seattle you find not many things are open to the weather that can't also be closed again. The bus station also had an odd combination of Internet and Massage upstairs.

I took some shots as we headed by bus to Baguio. It was nice seeing more of the city. The bus also play an unusual assortment of music and movies. Other than all of the entertainment being pirated, the first movie was a bit of a shock for me. You can see from the picture what about the movie was a shock to me :)

It took almost seven hours on the bus to Baguio City. We caught a cab to a near by hostel after getting off of the bus in Baguio City. The hostel was closed for maintenance. We had picked the hostel out of an outdated guide book. It pays to have a backup. We made our way to the backup...the hotel was full. We didn't know it but we arrived during a flower festival. The cab driver was nice enough to take us around to several hotels. All but a few were full and we went with the lowest bidder at Calalily Pension House. The place wasn't grand but it was well priced for the quality...just bring your own toiletries.

The next day, we went around the city a little. Cafe by the Ruins was recommended by the guide book and it had a good atmosphere. The food at the cafe was good but a little pricey. We made it to the main park after food, which was near by. At the park we caught some of the festivities. A choir sang both modern music like Lady Gaga and contemporary music. We also saw some dance troops and as we were leaving an orchestra was setting up. We made our way to a drug store for some pain medication for my cold, which was something similar to a market. We waited around a large counter and then gave our order. Later the cashier came back with my medication and we payed a very reasonable price. After I was feeling better we walked some more, than took a cab to the Botanical Gardens. The gardens were simple and plain. There were horses you could take for a ride around the place but it is so small it doesn't seem worth the price. A cave seemed an exciting option but was just a damp and very dark circle. There was some hope for the place, as a lot of it was under construction.

A view from within the City

Pictures from the garden (Botanical Gardens):

At the park festivities (Lady Gaga Tribute)

After the garden we made it to a small market area and purchased some veggie cookies. In the same area we found an English Pub and stayed a while. It made me feel like I was a little closer to home since everything had a familiar style and layout. We left early in the evening and went back to the hotel for some extra rest. Packing up after a long night of sleep, we made it out to the street more on time than usual. The trip to Tuplay/Acop was a cab ride to downtown Baguio City and a Jeepney ride from there. We were about to take part on a WWOOF adventure, as Peter met us and took us along.

Taal Volcano & a Whole Lot of Heat

2012-05-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

Getting from Manila to Tagaytay took some doing. We made it late into the night. It wasn't hard to find our motel because the bus stopped right at the doorsteps to MC Mountain, and before you go thinking it was some sort of McDonald's theme park—temper those exceptions. We spent the night in a comfortable, warm (trying to get used to the weather, so no AC), and full of life (cockroaches, ants, and such) room. The place had WiFi at no additional charge, which gave me something to do while the cockroaches scuffled around my feet.

The view from MC Mountain was grand. The waiting and reception area was also nice to spend a few free moments in as well. We didn't spend any more time in MC Mountain than we needed to. We got the place from an Air BnB list. It was the first time I felt a little misinformation was given to us from a listing on AirBnB. The listing made it sound more that we be staying in someone's large home than a motel. The next day, the hotel was nice enough to try and arrange for a boat to take us across to Taal Volcano and a ride there. Some mis-communication led me to believe the ride was an extra 500 Pesos but it was in fact an extra 2,500!!! We spent less on the bus tickets there. I quickly let the owner know by another phone call we'd try our luck by Jeepney. We hadn't taken a Jeepney yet and they seemed a little sketch but I was willing to take the chance for the price drop. The gentleman that was the owners son tried to convince me that it would be at least 1,500 Pesos for a public option. I couldn't help but responding with a little bit of an annoyed tone that there was no way it could be that much if the bus ride to Tagayta was less than half that price. He immediately gave up his pitiful persuasion attempts. We checked out and were charge an extra 5% for using Credit Card to pay for in my opinion overpriced breakfast and at the time a reasonable sounding boat ride with a guide.

Jeepney's are fun!!! A Jeepney ride reminded me of a thrill ride. Outside of the Manila area Jeepneys are as common as in. The first one we caught was empty, which made it easier to get in and ask a few questions about our trip. We only had some basic printout instructions from the motel. We caught a few Jeepneys and a “Tricycle” to the resort that we'd get our boat ride from. Other than being a great experience for talking with locals, the public option saved a load of Pesos. The total trip to the destination was less than 150 for the two of us.

It was “fiesta” in the small city that we came to. “Fiesta” is used to describe most celebrations in the Philippines. At the resort we came to, most of the workers were busy slaughtering a cow for the event. It was a little worrisome that they just washed the blood and extra bits right into the nearby water. The water seemed littered with garbage but still mostly clear. After a little wait for someone(s) to become available to both take us across and be our tour guide that was when I took a look around, and I found we'd be duped again by MC Mountain...booking straight through the resort was only 1,000 Pesos. We payed 2,000 P through MC Mountain. If you find yourself trying to get to Taal Volcano, than you're better off bartering for a price than going through any hotels, motels, or resorts unless you stink at bartering.

We set off and once I was moving to a lush sight, I let money woes sink in our wake. The beaching was easy and people came to give you a ramp to the shore as there not many docks available for use. There is a 50 Peso per person fee for going to Taal. You'll pay the fee before getting on the trail but it was included in our package price. We opted not to take a horse ride up, as this is about 500 Pesos and unless you're headed up on a very hot day or very out of shape, I'd recommend not getting a horse. I'm close to being in shape and I made it up with my girlfriend and guide in about an hour. I was rather warm reaching the top, so bring water. On the top of the ridge to the volcano there are drinks and such for purchase and as yes, way over priced. I didn't find use for a face mask on the way up but I'd buy one before coming or you can get one from one of the locals for about 50 P. On the top there are plenty of souvenirs and such for purchase in addition to drinks and simple food. I'd opt not to by a coconut drink as it is all just thrown to the side of the stands in a large pill. From the looks of things, I recommend hiking your own garbage out if you can. The view was excellent. Our guide wasn't much more than an escort. It was his second time up. We trailed another groups guide and were shown some cool paths to the right of the ridge.

On the way down it got a little dustier but I managed without the face mask. I found it interesting that every Korean person I saw took a horse up & down, and looked way over dressed for the weather. We made it back to the resort well around 4 P.M. and after getting soaked on the boat ride. I wished we'd have gotten the light showering on the way there instead. We made it back to were the last Jeepney dropped us off by walking instead of taking the tricycle. The first Jeepney we needed to take back left much later than we'd hoped. There was some discussion on how much everyone wanted to pay. Jeepney's typically only travel if full or near full. If the amount of passengers is too low from the start on less traveled routes the driver will negotiate a price but will typically want at least 600 P per trip. We didn't want to pay 80 P per person, so we held out for a while. At first, no one wanted to pay the rate and at some point everyone but Meg and I agreed on the price. We waited probably an additional 30 min. from the time everyone else agreed because no one told us that anyone else agreed. If we'd known we were the last holdouts, we'd have caved sooner.

We crammed some food into our mouths before leaving for Manila. We made it back to Manila late at night. We thought we might be able to use the MRT to get to the place we'd be staying. We waved down a taxi and were told that he wouldn't give us a metered rate for the distance we were going because of traffic. There is always traffic in Manila but we just jumped right out. We waved down another taxi driving on the road and he agreed at once to give us a metered rate. We stayed with a women named Kim that is a friend of a friend to Meg. We had some more Jeepney adventures to a near by mall the next day. She had Internet so we spent most of the day just catching up on things. We took the computer in shifts and turns sleeping. I started feeling sick as well so I took it easy. Finding cough drops is an ordeal, when you're not sure what people call an item you only know by one name.

Some Food in Manila:

After Kim's we stayed another night with our friend that we'd left some items at in Manila and headed for another adventure toward Baguio City, which would be a stop on our way to ENCA farm that we'd WWOOF at.

To Intramuros and Beyond!!!

2012-05-18T04:03:00.003-07:00

It was the first day in a while that we woke up early enough to spend the day in the sun! We had to renew our visas for more than the twenty-one day visa given to you at the airport. Intramuros is the place to go if you need to extend or apply for a specific type of visa if and you're near Manila. Intramuros is the old capital city that the Spaniards used while they occupied in the Philippines. It is a walled city with lots of history and unfortunately a lot of garbage. The actual government office is outside of Intramuros' walls. I'd provide a photograph but taking pictures of government offices is illegal in the Philippines! I'm guessing it has something to do with the resistance fighters and to some terrorists in the south. The first thing we found out is you need pants to go into the building. Meg had shorts on so we opted to go to Manila's China Town instead of renting some from a few people that offered.

We took our first trike ride to what was called China town but felt similar to everything else in Manila with a few more Asian specialty shops. The trike wasn't powered by a motorcycle like most I'd seen but instead was powered by a very ambitious man that let us talk him down to 50 Pesos and after we got to our destination I felt a little bad considering how much work he had to do to get us there and I reasoned he was the one that let took the money.

We walked around and couldn't find any pants that Meg would both want to own and that were a reasonable price. We ended up going to a near by mall that was full of local shops. The mall felt more like an indoor market. Every shop had a space about the size of a storage unit and with the metal gate to boot. We stopped by a church that was on the way and took a peak inside. While we were there a wedding was finishing up. After all of the trouble to get pants, we made our way back to Intramuros to get our visas.

We got to the office and picked up the correct forms. We decided that we didn't have everything we needed (flight number coming to Manila) and we wouldn't have enough time for the visas to get processed that day. We headed out into the inner walls of Intramuros for some adventure.

Intramuros has history and you can feel it as well as see it. The experience is more than some rusting cannons, old chapels, and congested streets. It gives you a feel and a look at what Manila is and the Philippines to an extent. Intramuros is an historical site exploited for tourism, used to house the poor, school the well off, and give place for businesses. It is an experience. I left Intramuros with a new connection to the place I had been staying at for several days. I also left feeling a little more comfortable with mingling in the swarms of locals...but only a little.

We went to SM Mall of Asia to plan out what we do the next day about the visas and the like. We ended up back at Green Belt and saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. A movie in a nice place like Green Belt and being in the Philippines' largest city, I would have expected to pay more than the ~5 USD but it felt a good price. Movies are way too over priced in the states. I thought it was very interesting and efficient that when buying your ticket you pick your seat ahead of time and are shown where the seat is in relationship to the screen. I'm not sure the practice would work in the US but I wish it would catch on, because you don't have to walk into a crowded theater looking for seats in the dark.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was one of those rare gems that I would call both an entertaining and good movie. To give you a more defined understanding of what I mean by those two words...An Entertaining movie that I didn't think was a good movie: 300, and a good movie that wasn't entertaining The Quite Earth. Even if you don't want to see the movie for some reason, you should see the opening credits. The opening credits are vivid, raw, inspiring, and frankly you won't know it until you've seen the movie but also makes perfect sense for the movie. The opening credits actually give you a good preview to the movie if you know what each part means. I didn't think the opening credits made sense until I saw the movie. By the time the movie was out, my watch read well past 2 A.M. It was a long movie, but I had no idea while watching it. We made our way home and had plenty to recall on the journey to bed.

The next day we made our way back to the government office and spent the better part of four hours getting our visas with everyone telling us to go to someone else. The visa we got was for an additional two months from the time we had arrived in the country, which is the typical tourist extension visa that costs 3030 pesos. I was happy when it was over and learned that the government website was very wrong in this case because it quoted a lower amount, a different amount of days, and the ability for multiple reentry. We spent the rest of the day at a cafe planning out our Japan and Korea trips before we'd have to set out for Taal Volcano—worlds smallest active volcano. We went to a friends place that we met with the CouchSurfing event and left a few things with him, while we made the journey at night to the volcano.

Phil..Philippines!?!?!

2012-05-10T16:20:00.000-07:00

Before my arrival to the Philippines, I did some research on the area. I mostly focused on points of interest and information on that would be need to know. Some of the information that you should know is about the crime, scams, and terrorism in the country. I found myself a little weary at the prospect of being in the Philippines and ate it hard. I let it digest and pass through me. Fear isn't always a useful tool for life. Fear can keep you from living your life. With only the useful fear left in me, I found myself in the Manila Airport.

The Manila Airport isn't difficult to navigate once you've departed your plane. I planed to exchange some money at the airport. I had read about the process of exchanging money in the Philippines, which left me suspect of money exchangers on the whole. I reluctantly waited in line to exchange 200 USD, as we had less than 1 USD in NT because we planned it so well. There was a man idle, just to the right of the line and eying everyone. I was worried that the man was watching for people exchanging large amounts to mark them for mugging. The man was actually on break. Once his break was over, he went inside the money exchanger's booth and started helping the older man with a quick hand on the calculator. After the money exchange, we made our way outside.

Outside there was a man and a handmade sign with Meg's name on it. The airport security checked credentials and I grew nervous. Once we were moving in the shuttle, I slipped into an easy state of calm. Getting to Kabayan Hotel Pasay was quick and easy enough. The scenery at night was familiar to what I've seen in Guatemala. In Manila, like in Guatemala, security is an issue. There are guards in most places, and those include places even of a lower economic standard. The security at Kabayan was always helpful. When we arrived around 4 AM the security behaved no differently.

We checked in and waited while they prepared it for us. The hotel was nice enough to not charge us an additional night to check in eleven hours early. We got to our room with heavy eyelids. Meg placed all of our damp clothes from Taipei that weren't fished drying around the room. Within minutes of arrival to our room it had a hobo moved in look. I plugged in my laptop and other electronics on the 220 Volt plug-ins and passed out shortly after that. Most electrical plug-ins will either be European style (two circular holes) and American style (two horizontal holes) or just American style, but will be above the American 110 Volts and otherwise be the same all around. For your electronics just get a down converter or make sure they can take 220 V, most laptops can.

I awoke in a dark room with a single window. The view was a beige wall of boredom. We spent over two hours figuring out where to go get food at. I did manage to leave for a few on a trek across the street to the nearby 7-Eleven and back. By the time we were leaving the hotel the sun had slipped away. Getting into the cab, I made sure he turned the meter on before taking us to a nearby restaurant and shopping center. You should always make sure the meter is on before you agree to leave or you'll get over charged. If the driver doesn't want to use the meter just get out or haggle the price. Meg and I surveyed the area once we arrived at our destination and settled on Teriyaki Boy. The food was uninspired and over priced according to my taste-bud to dollar ratio. I took a few shots of Manila's skyline from the place (first photo in the post) and one of the area.

Dinner left us wanting more and we got some ice-cream with kiwi and a lot of shaved ice. The desert left me wanting more. I hadn't planned well how much we'd be spending and wasn't sure how much the cab ride home would be, since on the way there we came a round about way because of Manila's traffic that makes all others in comparison look desirable. I found the place we went for dinner was a preview of what was to come with the rest of Manila. Manila is a heavily populated and busy place. The City of Manila is also very unoriginal. The place we went to had a lot of fastfood places similar to the USA. The music you'd hear walking around was easily over 95% American, and most of the rest was Korean, Japanese, Spanish, etc... I found it rare to hear local music in public places. So after spending some money on food I found I didn't have a lot. I was a little paranoid the first week or so about being mugged so I never carried much on me. I played it safe and spent no additional money. We went on a walk.

Near by there was a theater for shows; we didn't go in. They had Mama Mia as their main show when we went by. The front entrance had a great fountain and some strong lights at ground level. A few children made some shadow-puppets with the lights. Catching a cab wasn't too much trouble from out front on the street from the theater. Letting the cab driver know how to get us to where we were staying was a simple process because of the hotel's key place holder card. The place holder card even has contact information for the hotel, a map, and their address. The hotel has you give them your room key and you're given a place holder card in exchange. The point is keep you from losing their key, and to make me paranoid about someone come into our room.

Back at the hotel,we tried planning our next move for tomorrow and beyond. Accomplishing little we fell asleep. We got up late on Saturday and decided we might need passport photographs for extending our visas at Intramuros on Monday. I had already brought extra passport pics with me from Costco. We went to the SM Mall of Asia. The mall was huge! The mall was a clone or mirror of Manila. SM Mall of Asia isn't anything different than you'd see in the USA or Canada. I know the mall is huge so it makes sense it has some slightly unusual mall items like an ice skating rink and such, but really no different than the super malls in the USA. We got the photos taken and walked around. The book stores we found there had most of their books in English, much like everything in Manila. We ate some food at Tokyo Cafe. Tokyo Cafe was adequate for our needs but not much more than that. We picked up the photo prints once we were done with our food. While leaving for Green Belt 3 in Makati district, I took some shots of the mall's very large LED dome display.

One lucky thing we were able to plan the night before was that we found a group meet-up for Saturday night. We found the event through CouchSurfing but it was also on MeetUp.com, which is where most of the people attending found it. The event was to be at Green Belt. Green Belt 3 was simple to get to by cab and the Mexican restaurant we were going to was equally easy to locate. The greeting person outside of the restaurant had an entertaining accent when she said hola, which came out more shola. We arrived a little late to the gathering but weren't the last to show up. We thought it might be locals only there. I was surprised to find out that there was a diverse group of people there. There were a few locals, an Indian gentleman, a Scottish woman, an Australian woman, an Australian man, a Mexican-American, and later we also found a Persian. Some of the foreigners were just visiting for business and others were working in Manila. It was nice to meet-up with some other travelers. We got a lot of good advice and connections. I made a few friends on FaceBook.

By the time we got back to the hotel I was looking forward to some personal time in which I could just sit quietly and read. I'm not sure when it happened but I fell blissfully asleep and woke again late in the afternoon. A trend was beginning to show. We mostly spent the time awake planning for what we'd do once we were no longer at the hotel and were to eat that evening. We finally got out after dark and found a nice cafe. Returned home without any additional stops and rested up for our adventure at Intramuros the next day. At Intramuros it is an adventure in bureaucracy indeed.

Spoiler Alert: Since I'm writing all of this well after leaving Manila I have a few parting thoughts about the city as a whole...

Manila feels like an Asian-Spanish-Twist on America. You hear English a lot, American music, American fastfood, etc...it just all has a few tweaks. It will feel familiar and foreign at times, but as a whole just polluted by all of the jeepneys (like small buses) and cars traveling about at all ours.

Tutorial Taiwan: Taiwan, A Brief and Rough Guide

2012-05-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

Taiwan, A Brief and Rough Guide

Outline, but there isn't a great reason for the order:

Intro

Basics

Night Markets

Transportation

Randoms

Cities (Taipei, Hualien, Taitung, Tainan, Taichung, Lanyu)

Intro:

The title should you a basic idea what this is all about. A forewarning on what information is included is that this guide isn't meant as a replacement for the guide book(s) you might buy at a store. My guide will be more of a supplement with some overlap to your normal guide books. The main things I will try to focus on are topics and information missed in guides, anything I found confusing on my travels, and/or anything else of interest to me.

If you find any information I give incorrect, I apologize now for misinformation but give no warranties or guarantees on the accuracies or usefulness of my guide. Safe travels and have a blast.

Basics:

Staying Somewhere...

If you plan on going to Taiwan you might want to save a buck by staying somewhere other than a hotel. You also might want to meet new people...maybe? Either way check out CouchSurfing, which is a site trying to connect people so that they can both host people and find places to crash while traveling. I've used the services and like all things you just have to be smart, read reviews, and error on the side of caution. I've only had good experiences.

Another site is Air BnB but this isn't a free service like CouchSurfing is. The benefit is most of the listings will be cheaper than a hotel, but make sure to do the math as this isn't always the case. I've used the site several times and had mostly good experiences. I've found some hotels will try to dup you into staying with them though this site, which is supposed to only be personal homes, apartments, condos, and the like. If you stay in a nicer apartment or condo you might find an emergency button. I'd recommend not pressing buttons without thinking first...*cough, *cough, like myself, *cough

WWOOF, is World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. I haven't WWOOF'd in Taiwan but so far only in the Philippines and have had only good experiences. The main site is http://www.wwoofinternational.org/ and specifically for Taiwan: http://www.wwooftaiwan.com/ WWOOF'ing is fun and cheap. You have to work for some time during the day but are provided food and a place to stay. You might have cooked meals or will need to cook for yourself. Each place you'll stay is a new experience, which makes generalizing WWOOF difficult. If you like farms, people, and good work than you'll enjoy your time with WWOOF. You'll need to join WWOOF specifically to the country you want to WWOOF in and then email farms to arrange staying there. There is some leg work with WWOOF but it is worth the experience and if you'll on a budget a great option.

And of course you can always use Google to find more hotels or just stick with the name brand ones. Hotels are what you'd expect and you'll get what you pay for. Most hotels will have WiFi but you might want to confirm things before you pay. I never had any surprises while staying in Hotels.

If staying in someone's home is too sketch for you and hotels cost too much for your budget than Hostels might be your solution. I had very good experiences in the hotels I stayed in and all were very reasonably priced. Hostel World is a good source if your guide books are leaving you wanting.

The place I stayed via Air BnB...

Power Outlets...

If you're like me you'll have things that require recharging. Know your outlets!!! If you're coming from America you'll be safe in Taiwan as they have both the same outlet plug-ins and power source (110V, 60Hz). The one thing to watch out for is if you have a three pronged device you need to plug in because they only have non-grounded outlets (two slits), and in this case you'll need a three pronged to two pronged adapter. If you're concerned about not being able to plug in the ground, just know that the ground is only there to keep you from electrocuting yourself if the device is short circuiting...in any case it won't hurt your device not to have the ground. If you're coming from a place that uses different standards for their outlets get a power adapter, converter, or transformer depending on your needs. You can check out this link for more information on power and outlets: http://www.adaptelec.com/index.php?main_page=document_general_info&products_id=276

Water...

Some of the major cities has “safe” drinking water. I say “safe” because even those that do most locals don't trust it because of all of the old piping in buildings or some times just the pipes connecting the main lines to buildings. I'd recommend drinking bottled or boiling. Most restaurants will server you filtered water, but I never had a problem drinking water from any restaurants or the tap the few times I did it not thinking about it...used to using tap water in the US.

Speaking and Communicating...

The main language in Taiwan is Chinese and if you didn't know there are more than one dialect of Chinese. In Taiwan they speak mainly Mandarin in the north and in the south you'll hear more Taiwanese, which uses Chinese characters for the written with some variations. If you don't already speak a form of Chinese your best option is to learn how to say stuff in Chinese and to get a phrase book. In the North I hardly needed anything but English and in the south knowing more would have been nice. Here are a few sites for trying to figure out the pronunciation of Chinese when they put it in Roman Characters, and sadly you'll soon find out there is more than one system for this so you'll see somethings spelled differently from the map to the street sign and in extreme cases even differently on street signs just traveling along a street...agh, yeah the sites:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~zhuxj/readpinyin.html

http://mandarin.about.com/od/pronunciation/a/How-To-Pronounce-Mandarin-Chinese.htm

If you use an Android device or an Apple device there is also a great mobile application you might want: Pleco (translator) Android Market Link:

(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pleco.chinesesystem&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5wbGVjby5jaGluZXNlc3lzdGVtIl0. )

It is free and works offline, but if you buy some of the modules you might find it worth it, like the advanced pronunciation, which gives you a larger database of examples of how to say words, or the camera to translation module, which allows you to use your camera to look at Chinese Characters and the app will try to translate on the fly for you.

As you've guessed it, there are a lot of misspellings into English as you'll see, which make for some fun finds or interesting grammar scenarios.

Mosquitoes...

Yes, like just about every country Taiwan has mosquitoes, but I didn't have too many run ins with the pests. If you find yourself getting bit a lot here is some more information on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito

I found some Green Oil at a 7-Eleven which helped a lot with the itching from some bits Meg and I got while going around.

Money, Receipts...

In Taiwan they use money...which by itself isn't very interesting, but the receipts I received from most places while there are very different from those I usually get in the US because of their shape and not because they are in Chinese or contain any unusual information.

Also, I'd wait to exchange your currency until you arrive in the country as you usually get a better exchange and the fees in Taiwan are usually very low.

Security...

I actually felt very safe while in Taiwan. I brought locks with me for my bags but never used them. I think I would have looked more of a target if I had used them. Just keep your head up, eyes open, and think about what your doing. You shouldn't have too many issues while in Taiwan unless you make bad choices or go looking for trouble.

The security for some apartments is a little over kill. If you went by how serious people take their security in Taiwan you might be led to think you should be worried too but relax and be smart.

You won't need locks for the zippers on your bag,
and in fact it will just make you look more a target!

An emergency button in one of the places we stayed at.
Taiwan seemed to have emergency buttons all about.

US Travel Info...

If you're traveling to a country from the US the US Government (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis_pa_tw_1168.html) keeps a watch list for counties it considers dangerous to travel in and keeps information available for other countries. Taiwan isn't on the dangerous list!

Consuming and Disposing...

Trash cans can be hard to find, so plan ahead and bring a bag for fruit peelings or what ever you might not want messing things up. You could litter but it really isn't that hard to pack around your trash until you can dispose of it properly.

Ink Stamps...

First get them! Second you mostly only see them at temples, museums, historic sites, etc... If you get to know a local you can ask them for their stamp as well. Everyone has a stamp that acts like a signature you might be accustomed to in the US or in a lot of European countries. Bring a note book to keep your stamps in while traveling around.

Maps...
You should note that post maps will usually try to orient the map with where you're at and not with the North Pole. Keep an eye out for maps with North not always up, because you'll get lost easy if you make that mistake...not that I've ever done that :) Here are some general maps of the country and a few with biking information.

Bathrooms...

You'll see many variations on bathroom equipment while in Taiwan. Squaty Potties as I like to call them will be a fun treat when you see one for the first time, which I won't spoil with showing you now. There isn't much to tell other than some bathrooms has indicators for stalls outside of the bathroom. The indicators will let you know when a stall is empty so you can queue up outside of the bathroom for longer lines. If you need to use a urinal just walk in and queue up if need be. The indicators aren't always reliable and if you're next in line just keep your eyes open.

Restaurant Menus and Ordering...

You'll find a lot of restaurants will be similar to those in the US or in Europe. For the rest you will be given a menu that you mark what you want and how many of each item you want. The waiter will take your menu and get you what you want. It is a nice system for waiters to not mess up what you want. The only snag will be if the menu is in Chinese only, at which point you'll either need something or someone to translate for you.

Some restaurants in Taipei as examples:

I ate a lot of street food and didn't have any digestive issues with it. I'd say the street food is pretty safe but just don't eat something if it looks old or you have doubts. Some restaurants look like street vendors because they keep their cooking equipment out on the street. Don't let street vendors confuse you with the restaurants.

7-Eleven...

7-Elevens provide a lot of services other than snacks when you go inside them. You'll find there aren't a lot of large grocery stores and convenience stores are more common in neighborhoods. Much like a StarBucks in the US, It is also important to note that 7-Elevens are not a good reference point for finding your way around because they are everywhere...usually at least.

7-Elevens and other such convenience stores will give out stickers based on how much you spend. You can use these stickers to redeem things. I never earned enough to make good use of them. I either stuck my stickers on random things or gave them to locals.

Phone Home...

If you need to call while in Taiwan to another phone in Taiwan you might find some information on this helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_Taiwan

Skype will help you call into the country but this isn't free. If you only need to call out of the country you can use Skype to call to another Skype account for free. Other options include Google Voice, which is free to call to the US from anywhere and all you need is a Google account. Google Voice gives you your own number to both receive calls and texts. You can also call and text from Gmail. There are other services as well depending on which country you need to phone to and all you need to do is ask a friend or ask a smart friend like Google.

Travel Guide...

I'd recommend having an offline guide even if you have something downloaded to a mobile device because batteries run out! Also, a book is less likely to get stolen than a phone or tablet or laptop or what ever you use. Other than this guide and guide book a great free site is Wiki Travel, which I reference some for the below cities. Main site: http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page, and for Taiwan: http://wikitravel.org/en/Taiwan

Night Markets:

Night life is more of a party scene if it exists in most countries but in Taiwan they have a night culture. If Taiwan has one thing I wish all places had that would be their night culture. In Taiwan walking around at night doesn't seem unsafe because so many people are out and about. People have good reason to be up and out in the night and late night. In Taiwan they have a lot to do at night that doesn't include drinking or partying. Night Markets are a great example of things to do at night. Most Night Markets won't even start to open until around 6 P.M. and will stay open until around midnight or later if business is good. There are other things to do at night like the Night Markets but few places or events offer you so much to do. At a Night Market you'll always find food and clothes to purchase, but what makes them fun is each Night Market has its own personality and unique shops. Some of the Night Markets in the south have more of a fair feel because they have games similar to those you'd see at a fair. Some Night Markets are just a bunch of booths propped up in a large lot and some are a large network of shops weaving between buildings. You need to check them out if you come to Taiwan, and just watch out for locals trying to drive through them.

Randoms:

LED...

LEDs are very awesome, and if you don't know much about them check out the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LEDs You'll also find that Taiwan makes great use of them. They are so common all across Taiwan you might want to wear shades at night :)

Stacks on Stacks on …

Or in Taiwan's case, houses on houses...I'm sure there are practice reasons for putting a home on stilts on another building, such as space, view, security, and possibly for keeping the place cooler? What ever reason I found I saw this more commonly in the south than the north.

Mirrors...

Taiwan had a lot of convex mirrors around blind turns for safety. I've seen them in use in other countries but I'm sure they are used much more commonly than in the Philippines and the U.S.A. They make for some photos so take a few if you walk by some.

Fruit, Guava...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guava, I had heard the name of guava and even had drinks or bubble tea flavored with it but didn't know what one looked like. I had only known the Chinese name for the fruit, until later when it was pointed out that was what they were called. The ones I had weren't the best but when they are juicy they are great! Guava in Taiwan is very inexpensive when in season.

Interesting Bags...

This picture of a bag isn't the most impressive but what I found inspiring was that it was a clever design to a problem. The bags are flat in come in paper thick sheets and then pop out so you can hold hot items with out having to risk burning yourself. Taiwan has a lot of novel approaches to finding solutions to problems I hadn't thought about, well at least novel to some one from Seattle.

Transportation:

Driving...

You don't have to drive to get to most places but if you do you'll want to get an International Drivers License, check it out at http://www.idlservice.com/ You might want to walk around congested areas or take some cab rides to get a feel for the traffic flow before embarking in the melee. Taiwan has traffic laws and most are followed, but most are also bent. If you honk before running a red light it makes it okay...or at least that is what people do.

Taxi...

Taxis are plentiful enough in cities and are cheaper than most western countries but aren't so cheap that if you're on a budget you can use them often. Public transportation is clean and safe so I go that route.

Bus...

Buses are a great way for getting around most cities or from getting to city to city if you want to save a buck. Buses are not as fast as the trains but are less than half the cost usually. Not all buses will say your stop or display it in English, but when you find yourself in this case you'll find someone near by to help you if the bus driver doesn't speak any English. Some buses are pay on arrival or departure, just look for the somewhat upside down looking T for paying on arrival and the right side up T for paying on Alighting (departure), http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Alighting

Some buses but not most will put a sticker on your bag and stow it under the bus. You'll get a copy of the sticker ticket so you can get your luggage on arrival to your destination. For the charter buses between cities there will usually be a restroom/bathroom and on a bumpy highway it makes for an adventure to relieve yourself.

While Taiwan has a lot of information that is reliable online their Websites don't always work well in English. The best transportation website is Taiwan Transportation http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/taiwan/transportation/

Train...

The train is the most relaxing way to travel in Taiwan and if you opt for the high speed train it is a fast way to get from tip to tip of the island. The train require a little planning but even if the train is full there is usually standing space for sale. Just find your way to the correct platform and you'll probably make it to your destination :) You should be aware that there is usually an emergency button near the sink in the restrooms that you might think is the button for the sink water...*cough, *cough, like myself, *cough

Walking...

Walking at night or during the day was always a great time for me. Most places are very well lit at night and usually have plenty of people around. I never felt uncomfortable walking around at night or during the day. You should be aware that most narrow passages between buildings are usually good ways to find tasty hole in the way restaurants or shortcuts and shouldn't scare you. Pads/cushion for the pushing, or really the walking are recommended if you're out of walking shape. I found some extra bar pads suitable until I was used to walking again. If you have real issues with walking distances I'd recommend getting some proper footwear.

Superman...AKA Airplanes...

There are a lot of websites that try to make booking flights cheaper and easier. I've used http://www.orbitz.com/ before and similar type sites. I've recently found http://www.kayak.com/ and this is a great site because it searches Orbitz and a few others all at once. If you can try to find a local airline to the country it may save a lot of cost. It wouldn't hurt to double check the price directly through the airline as well if you use an airline search engine. Truth be told no matter what you use just make sure you factor into the cost if the airline charges for checking luggage.

Cities:

Taking a look at some of the basics I learned while spending time in a few specific cities and skipping over the cities that I didn't spend enough time in to gleam any points of interest or knowledge. First thing you should know is why so many cities start with Tai is because it means city and often the last part has to do with where the city is, for example Taipei is North City.

Taipei

Basics

The first resource I found was http://wikitravel.org/en/Taipei. It is a good place to get more detail than I can give you but I also recommended getting a guide book for the things I can't or don't cover and like wise for the website, plus an offline source will most likely be eminently valuable at some point.

I also have some pics of guide books (provided by the government) that I found useful...first the links I found in them because searching for sites that are in Chinese is very difficult when using only English:

(note: some of the documents have phone numbers too but I'm not including them because I didn't find them useful, but if you zoom in on the images you'll be able to see the numbers)

Note a very good for general information on Taipei,
and list of airlines that bring you to Taiwan

http://www.cdc.gov.tw/mp_asp?mp=220 a map and list of hospitals in Taiwan

http://2012taiwanlantern.net/ for the lantern festival, and I imagine that it will still take you to current lantern festival information or just change the year in the address. They also have apps for Android and iPhone. I didn't try the apps and judging from the flyer the apps are in Chinese.

http://www.taiwan.net.tw the link for tourism provided by the Taiwanese government.

Transportation

Some links from the above guide book pictures...

http://trtc.com.tw Taipei Rapid Transit

http://thsrc.com.tw Taiwan High Speed Rail

(02)2799-4818 (no website) English Taxi Driver Association

http://railway.gov.tw Taiwan Railway Administration

MRT

If you go through the Taipei guide book pictures they give you some basics on the MRT and the trains in Taiwan. The first thing you should know is that if you plan on being in Taipei for a while you should get one of the re-loadable cards and not use the one time fairs because it will save you money.

I didn't get a re-loadable card and missed out on the savings but it is easy to find one of the machines for them or ask a clerk at one of the stations.

If you only opt for the one time fairs then just find your destination on the maps at the station you're in (they all have the station you're in as the zero marker) and once you find it there will be a number in the center which tells you the fair. Go to a machine and buy a one time fair for the amount you found on the map.

Getting on the MRT is the same for a re-loadable card or a one time token. You hover your card/token by the entrance of one of the gates. You're hear a beep and the gate will allow you to pass. Walk down/up to the platform and make sure you're going the right way! Make sure you're not in one of the priority seats, unless you're old, disabled, pregos, with children, etc...

Once you get off your top you're hover your card again or if you have a token you'll deposit it and then you'll be on your way again!!!

Some pictures from the MRT (note the trains work basically the same)

Randoms

Some nightlife ideas...

A few pics from the National Palace Museum's pamphlets and such...

And some fun ones...

Hualien

Basics

The information on the basics is about the same as it was for Taipei...so no cheating and skipping that section, because I don't want to repeat myself too much. The basic travel link for the city: http://wikitravel.org/en/Hualien

The place isn't a metropolis like Taipei but has buses and such. I didn't go to the tourist center so I don't have any guide books to show you, but I do have a little information on one of the hostels (Amigos)...

Transportation

You can take a train to the city and then you'll have to get around bus, taxi, car.

Randoms
Thought it was neat to see a design in the glass...

Taitung

Basics

First it is pronounced different than it is spelled. Pronounce the city as if it were spelled TaiDung. Great place with plenty to do for a few days but not more than that for me unless it is warm and you like the beach. Not a great beach but hey, it is a beach. Travel link: http://wikitravel.org/en/Taitung and the government's page: http://www.taitung.gov.tw

The tourist center, which is located at the old train station (also a cool tourist spot) is super helpful.

Transportation

You can take a train to the city and then you'll have to get around bus, taxi, car.

Randoms
Taking a photo with the information center staff...

Never seen bed covers wrapped in a design before...

Some shots in and from the hotel room...

Pictures from the old train station...

Tainan

Basics

Travel link: http://wikitravel.org/en/Tainan

I loved this city even when I was getting lost. A lot of things to see. I wish I had spent for time in this city. The people are great and seemed more eager to reach out and talk to you or ask if you need help. In the south more people will speak Taiwanese and less Chinese, and less English so it actually was a little harder to communicate. Communication issues aside, I recommend you visit Tainan if you're in Taiwan.

The pictures from the map I got was from our hostel and the places circled are things you should see, and I did. Shen Long St. is the longer oval on the map that has been marked which is closer to their art district. Shen Long St. is a nice place to see some art or find a dinning/bar establishment at night.

Transportation

You can take a train to the city and then you'll have to get around bus, taxi, car. I suggest biking if you can find a place to rent from or go to the Bike Hostel, which can be found on Hostel World

Randoms

None

Taichung

Basics

Travel link: http://wikitravel.org/en/Taichung. Was a fun city but I didn't get a chance to really experience it. The city seemed to have more art in it than most, which I found refreshing. The government's link for the city: http://www.taichung.gov.tw and here are some guide book pictures.

Transportation

You can take a train to the city and then you'll have to get around bus, taxi, car. The government's travel link: http://travel.taichung.gov.tw

Randoms

None

Lanyu

Basics

I didn't acutally go to this island but really wanted to from reading about it. It doesn't have its own page on the wikitravel like most of Taiwan's other cities, but I do have these links:

http://lanyu.taitung.gov.tw Lanyu Township Administration

http://lay-tth.doh.gov.tw/pub/lit_6.asp Lanyou Township Health Office

I did get a guide book on the place...

Transportation

You'll need to get a ferry to the island, and once you're there you can take a train to the city and then you'll have to get around bus, taxi, car. As for the ferry to get you there I never found much information on it but rather told about it through the Taitung visitor information center. I recommend you spend the time and plan this one out.

Randoms

None

Update (2)

2012-04-30T20:58:00.001-07:00

Just another update about my travels so far.

I'm behind on my blog posts again and am trying to catch up. I'm in Japan now and my blog has me leaving Taiwan and making it to the Philippines. I've actually been to the Philippines and South Korea now, which means I have several posts to make.

I'm sure I'll catch up soon. I'm planning on taking a day or two to type my blog up to at least me making it to Japan and then I'll be good about posting a post about 1.5 times a week until caught up.

My own hard coded map of where I've been with some pathways shown, which start from Seattle:

Out of Taichung and into the Taipei

2012-04-24T09:18:00.001-07:00

Notice, this is a fairly short post because the next post will be a large undertaking of mine for “Taiwan, A Brief and Rough Guide”. The guide won't be meant as a replacement for the guide book you might buy at a store. My guide will be more of a supplement with some overlap to your normal guide books.

The night before leaving Taichung, I witnessed the system for people disposing of their trash and recyclables to the garbage and recycling trucks. It was an interesting process. Take a look at the short video below:

After seeing this it made sense to me why I didn't see very many dumpsters or personal garbage bins. Some nicer or larger apartments will have dumpsters, although even then most still won't have dumpsters.

A very large bunny outside a store just chilling as someone's pet. The pictures don't completely show it but the rabbit was larger than many cats I've seen.

…

We ate Hot Pot on the last day with Jonny and set off for Taipei. We made it early for the bus to Taipei and went off on an Operation MC (Meg's Coffee). What we found instead was a great historical site that was in the process of becoming a restaurant, cafe, ice-cream shop, and part museum. Since we were foreigners in Taiwan, we were given an all access tour, complimentary cookies, tea, and ice-cream tasters. The ice-cream tasters were normally 10 NT each, and we had about 24 between us. The woman that gave us the tour told us that Taiwanese people weren't allowed to go to the areas that were still under construction and we were since we were foreigners. They had some of the best ice-cream I'd ever had, and we got some to go. We took so long on the tour that we had to run to make it to the bus. We had our prize of great ice-cream in hand.

We made it to Taipei. After getting to Taipei and being settled, we went to a near by 7-Eleven for some soda and found it over flowing with foreigners drinking outside of it...it was crazy!

See the video:

We thought our flight was for the next afternoon, but double checked and it was actually a red-eye for 1 AM and not 1 PM. The confusion was that some foreign airlines use a 24 hour clock and some don't when you're on their site in English. We made it to the airport early to be on the safe side, and as it turned out we needed the extra time. We didn't know it when booking but you need a departing ticket from the Philippines before you enter. The flight out of the Philippines can be after the 21 day visa that you're given at the airport but you have to have it before boarding. I found myself on the hunt for Internet. I eventually found a open network that had Internet access outside of a closed Bank of China! I booked a ticket and we made it to our plane. The only bummer for all of the hassle was I left the hat I bought in Tainan at the security check point :(

The flight to the Philippines with Cebu Air was a little bumpy. We made it to the Philippines in one piece.

Tip for the Day: Check out what the locals like to do on their time off...should be a good time!

PS: I'm behind on my blog as, I'm no longer in the Philippines and actually I am in South Korea now. I'll try to get things caught up.

Taichung!!!

2012-04-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

First thing we did once we met up with our friends—Greg & Jonny—was eat! I took some savory shots of the food we ate, and for your delight a self portrait...

(Me and Food Photographs)

The restaurant we went to also had a great item on the menu...you'll know it when you read it:

The next morning Meg made breakfast because she is amazing like that:

Actually most of the what we did while in Taichung was try to plan out our Philippines trip and eat :D

Jonny also showed us to Bozz,which is a cafe that makes great milk tea. After the glasses were empty, Jonny left for the post office. We walked back and stopped for some food at A-bao and filled up with some delectable treats.

On our last day, Jonny took us to a near by Hot Pot place. I had not had Hot Pot until this encounter. It was well priced and came with unlimited rice, a mix-it-yourself sauce bar, ice-cream (so-so), and soda.

Additionally, the below is a photo of where they cook the food. If you don't notice for yourself, you can see the cooking apparatuses are on the sidewalk. In Taiwan this is very common. It saves space for customers to be inside and helps things stay cooler for the customer and the cook(s).

All we had to do after food was get out of Taichung for Taipei and ride a bus like the one we took to Taichung.

More Tainan!!!

2012-04-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last time I ended things on a hungry note. We had found our way to Ung Chicken. Up until getting to Ung Chicken, I hadn't had too many issues ordering food from any establishments in Taiwan and that includes those without English Menus. At Ung Chicken no one spoke English, well in truth a few did but their vocabulary was so narrow that if you just rounded it you'd say zero. I went to leave a few times, because I thought it would be too much hassle to get food on a hungry stomach. Meg didn't see or notice my motion to leave. I think she was occupied with trying to work with over six waiters trying to help us. The only saving grace for the predicament was Google Translator that one of the waiters was able to pull up on his phone. Once we got out food it was great!

On the way to Ung Chicken, we saw the Flower Rabbit Garden and thought it looked so cute we'd get food there. Sadly, the Flower Rabbit Garden was more of a cafe than a full restaurant that didn't have more than snacks and pastries.

We rode the bikes back to the hostel with some left overs in tow. We watch one of the worst romantic comedies I've ever seen—I Hate Valentines Day—and went to bed disappointed. Even the next day it was so bad, we continued to make jokes about the movie. We checked out smoothly enough with the hostel and were still allowed to rent bikes, while we kept our luggage at the hostel and went out to explored more. We were going to one of Taiwan's oldest Confucianism Temples but became sidetracked with a mission for Meg's Coffee (Operation MC), which tended to be a common occurrence. We found a StarBucks that had a massive line and we just went diagonally across the street to found a great cafe with satisfying food to email home about. Not sure what the name of the Cafe was because it was only in Chinese. I did manage some pictures of the outside, as well as their web address. We people-watched for a while and remembered we had limited time. Got back on our unlocked bikes and set off again.

After the Operation MC, we easily found our way to the Confucianism Temple. I made the decision that I had plenty of battery on my camera and that I wouldn't have much purpose in saving it for later. I went camera happy at the Temple. If you want to feel like you've been there then you're in luck; look no further than below for your Confucianism Temple needs :) I will say that some of the photographs are hard to make out because of the reflection of the sunlight on the glass cases and this is because it is also difficult in person to see into the cases to look at the artifacts. The only advantage in person, is you can move your head around to find better angles. I also got some more stamps while at the Temple...

We made our way back to the Hostel to return our bikes and walked to the bus station without our Ung Chicken leftovers for the bus to make our way to Taichung, which is where Greg & Jonny live! On the bus, I watch some of Transformers Two, which I don't recommend but found the Chinese subtitles entertaining. I also used the below cabin toilet. On most of the charter buses that have to go longer distances in Taiwan they will have restrooms. The buses that look like double-decker buses will have the top level for passengers and the below is either for luggage or luggage and a restroom. We were on the highway when I used the facilities. The toilet doesn't flush your discharge until the senor knows you've left the immediate area, which left me nervous we'd hit a bump that would cause a rapid and strong upward force on more than just me ;) My bathroom experience on the bus went smoothly. I got some blog writing done on the bus and we made it to Taichung without a mishap. We met up with Greg and Jonny after some confusion with the cab driver that left Meg talking to multiple people on his cellphone to get them to understand where we were going.

In the next exciting installment...I get a strange urge to make these things end like an old television episode of Batman or the Lone Ranger or something like that...sorry...

I'll fill everyone in on what we did, or I should correct with how little we did in Taichung.

From Taipei to Tainan

2012-04-02T02:53:00.000-07:00

Quick announcement about my blog and then I'll get back to my HardKhora Travels. I'm in the process of changing my photograph format and adding my own water mark to my photos. So if you visit some of my older posts during this process you might find none of the images will load, and you'll now know why.

So I left off with Meg and I going to Tainan, since we had changed our plans and came back to Taipei early. It was a good thing we did because some of our friends continued south and ran into more issues finding places for the night. Their solution was to setup a tent in a park they found, which they later found out was more of an elementary playground but still an adventure!

The trip to Tainan was more for transportation with the typical train ride that I'd grown accustomed to in Taiwan. The only odd event on our way there was, the gentleman that checked tickets stopped when he saw us and motioned for our tickets before we'd even left the station. Normally, tickets are not check until much later into the train ride. He wasn't checking other people's tickets. I handed him both of our tickets but he gave one back and displayed his pen after some searching. Meg and I watched while we gave each other looks, as we waited what for what felt like ten minutes but was still at least five minutes of waiting. What we got back from the gentleman was a ticket full of writing, the man telling us “Welcome to Taiwan”, and not our five minutes.

The Tainan train station was a very busy place and even had a guy doing a one-man band show.

Getting to Bike Taiwan Hostel wasn't very difficult. If we had known how to navigate the roads there, we could have walked from the station. It is about a mile walk from the station. The hostel was well kept. The man that owned the hostel also ran it. He was a great resource and very nice. The hostel also had two bathrooms and four showers. The first level shower won't easily run out of hot water with a tank-less water-heater, the second level shower will most likely run out of hot water on you after about 10-15 minutes with a ten minute recharge delay, and lastly on the top floor there are two outside showers which are really nice. The top two showers are great for warm days but both are unlikely to run out of hot water with a shared fifty gallon water-heater to keep you singing in the shower.

Meg and I went out from the hostel after dropping our belongings off within about thirty minutes of arrival. We made our way to an old fort named Chihkan Tower, which dates back to a Dutch base but has been mostly built over with newer installations. While waiting for a bus to take us to the old fort, we found some good street food for a snack. I ate Pikachu and Meg ate Hello Kitty. We also filled up on some Washington apples that we had brought along from Taipei. The apples were just as I remember them in Seattle.

On our way to the fort we found an Authorized Service Shop, and I'm surely not the first tourist to take a snap shot of it (see below). I saw some more temples on the way. Tainan had a lot of temples and I would see one of the oldest temples in all of Taiwan my last day in Tainan.

We found the fort but wanted food first, so we settled on Sen Maw Rice Food. They had a lot of bowls with famous people's signatures that had eaten their “World Famous” rice cake. I would point out I had never heard of this place until then, and as I am the world to myself...I find it a highly suspect slogan. I had the famous rice cake and it was good. It was sweet and had a Jell-o like consistency with bits of noticeable rice grains from time to time. I also took an image of the menu from Sen Maw Rice Food's adjacent restaurant to show how you would likely order from most food establishments in Taiwan. A little more detail on the matter...You get a disposable menu—like that in the picture—and then mark the quantity of each item(s) you desire and give it to a waiter or anyone that works there.

We actually visited one more temple after dinner and before going into the fort.

The fort (Chihkan Tower) had a lot of awesome looking trees and statues. I didn't take any pictures of the Dutch remains because it was just a few brick walls that had been dug out for visitors to see. Inside the fort there were a lot of documents and some historical items. I'm a sucker for dioramas as well, which they had a few. Taiwan is known for LEDs. LEDs are used in a lot of places and added to a lot of historical sites such as the fort I visited. Most of the time I don't appreciate updates like LEDs added to historical places but they put on a cool light show while we were there. I found the on-site store to be well priced. I'm used to the idea that anything in a closed area or building will be more expensive than outside facilities, but in Taiwan that generally wasn't true.

After the fort we wandered over to the art district (INSERT NAME FROM MAPPPPP) and found some cool lanterns and such. Tainan had a lot of old buildings and historical sites. I would strongly recommend going to Tainan if you make it out of Taipei. I felt a little more like a celebrity in Tainan though, because we got a lot more people staring at us or saying hello to us just to run away in giggles when we replied hello back. Meg and I even made a friend that night while walking around; the woman was excited to talk to foreigners.

We started getting hungry by this time and walked over to the night market, which wasn't too far from the art district. The night market in Tainan was really great. Crowed, but not as much of an issue since it was just one big lot and no tall buildings to box you in. The night market there reminded me a little more of a fair because they had games to play as well as the usual night market items. We picked up a belt for me and a hat for both of us. There were restroom facilities on-site. One thing to note is that most busy restrooms will have indicators of occupied stalls on the outside for lines to form outside. I've found that the indicators aren't always accurate and if you're just going to use a urinal than you won't need to bother with the indicators. Another thing to note is that public restrooms are more likely to have squatty-potties than homes or hotels. I never used one but did find it entertaining to look at them...sorry no photographs.

On the way back to the hostel, we found a motel that looked more like club from the outside than anything else. Not long after the motel, we found ourselves getting a little turned because what I found was that most maps you'll get or if you download some won't show all of the street names just that there are roads in some places. Most streets will have street sings though. Our confusion came from the fact that it is common to have streets with the same names but different sections numbers and that the sections won't always connect to the same roads. If you go down a road you might see a section 1 and then section 3 and won't ever see section 2. There is a section 2 and in this example it just doesn't connect to the road I had you go down...thus, we missed our section for this reason.

The next day, we got some quick food before going to see an old Dutch fort, which is different from the other old fort mentioned before. I find sometimes just the little things impress me. On our way to the fort we stopped at a 7-Eleven. I purchased some hot food and they gave me a mess bag to carry it in so not to burn one's self while carrying the food and for the food to cool down on the way. What I thought was additionally cool was that the bag came in sheets and until it was broken up I just thought it was cloth like that of a napkin to put under my food to carry it with.

We didn't get as lost this time as the day before but we had also rented bikes from the hostel for only 50 NT for each, which is about $1.50 USD, so even if we had got turned around again it wouldn't take long to make up the ground. I had gotten used to Taiwan traffic enough at this point that I felt confident biking around. We ended up taking our time getting around and took a bike path we found on our map. It was a great detour and we even some found make shift rafts locals use for fishing to explore.

Along the way we stopped our bikes and I had some local fruit, which was also brought with us from Taipei like the Washington apples. I don't know the name of the fruit but once you've had it you'll know it when you see it. It has very little taste and has a pear/apple texture. I didn't enjoy them much but they are only 5 NT each as compared to Washington apples at around 60 NT, and it makes it hard to pass-up while on a budget.

We eventually continued our way to the fort after stopping and seeing the ocean, which was great and reminded me of home but the beach was more like that of California. We stopped and looked at a restored Japanese styled home and some local buildings. I found it much more common to see small homes propped on top of larger buildings. We took so much time getting to the fort that we arrived there close to closing and decided not to enter and I just took some photos from the outside. We decided instead to get some food at the market just outside of the fort. After Meg had coffee and we had snacks, we wandered around between the buildings in the are. We came across an old barracks (Haishan Hostel) that had been turned into more of a kids museum than anything else. Lucky, they had some dioramas at the museum, so not all was lost :) We kept walking and at looking at local buildings until we found ourselves back at our bikes and with empty stomachs again.

In the next exciting adventure...hmm...lets just say the next post has us getting food and me telling you more about my travels, okay?

Out of the City and into the Natural Beauty

2012-03-29T04:20:00.000-07:00

I got out of Taipei and took the TRA (Train) with Meg, Johnathan, Greg, and Rachelle to Hualien. We took a later train so there wasn't much to witness for the duration of the trip. I did manage to get some reading done on my Nook Touch.

<Rant> I find E-ink readers to be the best way to read documents, books, comics, etc...while traveling. I like tablets for video, games, and the like but I don't own one since they don't do anything my phone doesn't, except for do all of it “bigger”. Reading while traveling for longer stays as with my case—a year—means you'd need to bring a ton of books, manga, and comics. I had to root my Nook to be allowed to read comic books in a format that most people keep them on the Internet (.cbz & .cbr). If you're not familiar with Rooting Android devices (Nook runs Android underneath everything), just think of Rooting as unlocking the device so you have full access on it. … … and yeah, I recommend an E-ink reader for reading in long durations and for travel overall. I would also recommend before you buy one that you make sure if will open all of the file types you want/need. The Nook Touch is both inexpensive and has a very long battery life if just reading and the having the WiFi off. What my Nook didn't do was open my comics, basic text files, and .html files (web pages) that I had saved—until I rooted it. There are tricks to getting around all of this that don't require Rooting. Converting things to a different format such as PDF or picture files (.Jpeg, .bmp, etc...) from their original format will get them to open on most devices like the Nook Touch, but I figure I payed for the device so why should I have to work harder to have it do what I want? And, just so you know I haven't found an E-ink reader that can do it all without modification. </Rant> (that was HTML code for End Rant :)

As I was saying, I read on the train due to not being able to see the scenery. I used my Nook Touch to read a manga called Battle Royal, which is also a live action movie that I'd recommend if you don't mind subtitles (a Japanese Movie). My first experience on the train was good.

Navigating trains aren't too bad because they try to make it simple for those that don't know Chinese. My recommendation for the first few times on the train is getting to the train station early to allow yourself an hour grace period. The grace period should give you enough time to make sure you know where to get on your train and anything else that might become a barricade on while trying to get to your destination.

Arriving in Hualien later at night didn't provide for much excitement but it did provide the start to a very wet trip. It didn't start raining in Hualien, until after we had dropped off our belongings at Amigos Hostel. We went out for some food and called it a night. My stay at Amigos was short but very nice. I hadn't been to any other Hostels up to this point but the place was fairly clean, with good services, and the attendants were very friendly as well. On departing they took our photo and I made a new FaceBook friend.

Our first bus out of Hualien took us to the beginning of the Taroko National Park. We took one more bus to our camp grounds. What we liked about the specific place we picked out was they had both raised wooden platforms so we weren't on the ground and a few places that had an overhang to keep our tents dry. There are other camp sites around the national park but they didn't have the coverings. The place is great for camping but make sure you bring rope and a tarp so you can create your own cover because even under the covers you can still get a little wet since the decks let water travel along the long stretches of wood. I'd also have a backup plan if you go during Chinese New Year, because it was very busy.

The trails around the area provide some beautiful sites, but if you take the longer trail in the area, which is 5.5 km then make sure you give yourself the full recommended time of 5.5 hours because it is a brutal hike if not in shape. We got the trail accomplished in about 3.5 hours but it did wear me out some. At the end of the hike were some natural hot springs but located in a very small area and when we went very busy with Taiwanese people and other tourists. I didn't mind it being busy but the water was so hot I couldn't get in deeper than my shins nor for very long. A few people were able to lounge up to their neck in it. The belief is that going from the hot water to the cold river water and back is good for you. I didn't find it very enjoyable. You can also get to the hot springs from the road, which I'd take if you're low on time or physical stamina. On the way back we took the road to the camp site and dined on some of the local foods.

The camping went smoothly enough for everything except my knees and hip. I slept mostly on my sides and we didn't bring any extra padding. Rachelle stayed in Hualien, while Meg, Johnathan, Greg, and I went onto Taichung, which is pronounced TaiDong...not sure why it is spelled with a C but I imagine it has to do with the complicated systems of converting Chinese to Roman character...and yes I said systems! The train ride wasn't as luxurious as the ride to Hualien, because the seats were full and we could only purchase standing tickets for the approximately three hour trek. I believe it was on this train ride that I accidentally hit the emergency button while using the bathroom. No alarms or anything else went off. I thought it was the button for the sink water to turn on, which was just motion activated. If you find yourself hitting the emergency button, see if holding it down after you hit it helps because that is what I did and I never heard any sounds or saw anyone come to investigate, otherwise good luck to you. Meg and I also found a very friendly local that was on his way to Taichung. We asked him for a photo because of his styling :)

In Taichung...

If you don't plan ahead on Chinese New Year (remember it is the whole week that is busy not just the day of) you might find yourself having difficulties locating a place to stay as we did. The Visitor Center at the old train station in Taichung was very helpful in finding us a place to stay. All of the hostels we called were full or too far away (i.e. needed to take a long bus ride to get to them) so the people at the Visitor Center went to task and started calling all over to find us a place to stay. Meg took a picture of some of them with Greg and myself in the background. The hotel we stayed at gave us one of their Japanese styled rooms with the blankets wrapped/folded in a manner I had never seen. Taichung is along the coast and even at night has great beaches. The beaches might not be that great during the day but I wouldn't know. We got to see a night market briefly. There were fireworks going off the whole time we were there—day and night. It was an entertaining experience to see people lighting fireworks in the streets as cars drove past as though it was an everyday experience.

The next day, Meg and I found ourselves basically with the choice of paying "too much" to stay in Taitong or go back to Taipei. We had originally planned to go to the island off the coast of Lanyu but all of the less expensive places there were also full and the weather report was looking shady as well. These situations led us returning to Taipei, for a few days to recover from camping and re-plan our travel destinations....so back to Taipei!

And a cute dog from Taichung for fun ;)

Windows Application Recommendations

2012-02-15T13:58:00.000-08:00

New Computer Install? Free Applications!? Yes!

I personally use Ubuntu, which is a distribution of Linux, which if I've lost you just think of it as another alternative to Windows or Mac. With Ubuntu you can't use your Windows applications but that is okay since there is an alternative program that works in Ubuntu about the same and is almost always free. Enough of that because I don't mean to sell you on Ubuntu, but I am a fan of it.

This list is most intended for people that have a fresh install of Windows, which means just Windows is installed no other programs. If you have a computer from Dell, HP, etc... then you have some programs installed by default and in this case just go through the list and see what you need.
For the below list download and install any of the following, if you want more information just click on the link and it will give you a more descriptive description fort each.
Note: for most of the links you just need to click the "Download Latest Version" link in the upper right with a green icon next to it

SpywareBlaster: Is a security program to help with Malware and such. I'd use this in addition the other security programs I have listed below.

SpyBot Search & Destroy: The newest version turns on by default a lot of automated scanning that I find both annoying and destructive to my system performance. I'd only install this if you can figure out how to turn off the live protection or if you now have a problem and need a program to try and remove it and by problem I mean if you have any programs popping up telling you to buy something or if your computer seems slower than usual after installing a program or going to a shady website.

Windows Defender: This is installed by default if your version of Windows is greater than Windows XP. If you're unsure your version it will not hurt to download and try installing because it will let you know if you already have it.

Comodo Internet Security: This is a free AntiVirus solution bundled with a FireWall and other Internet security features. If you already have an AntiVirus program install and want to use this because say your subscription expired I'd uninstall the other AntiVirus first. You don't want to have more than one AntiVirus program installed at once because they will most likely conflict with each other.

FileZilla: I debated adding this one into the list, but I find when I send people to FTP sites this is just an awesome tool. This is a little advanced for most users but it is a great FTP tool and all around file transfer program. Also a must to transfer files to an old modded XBox.

K-Lite Codec Pack: This is to watch a wide range of file formats. Now this is only for those that want to watch a video file that they've downloaded or someone has given them. This won't help with streaming videos. When installing pick the full version "with lots of stuff", you'll see the options when installing.

Skype: If you've seen my Android App List then you know what this is. This is a video chatting, Instant Message, and voice calling service. It will only cost you money to call from your computer to cellphones or landlines, but from computer to computer it is completely free. Optional, but to stay in touch, my screen name is "Nasairk"

Pidgin: This is like Skype except it only does Instant Messaging, but while Skype does IM like a Honda Civic gets you to work Pidgen lets you IM like an Atom car will peel back your face. Basically Pidgen will let you combine all of your IM services like Gchat, Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, etc... into one program for a one stop approach to IMing.

Foxit Reader: Allows you to open PDF files from the Internet or ones that you've downloaded. Adobe has their own PDF reader but I like this one better.

OpenOffice.org: If you hate spending money on Microsoft Office, or if you can't then this is your program!!! This will all you to open any Microsoft Office document like those from Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. You can also create documents as well, but note if you want others to open your documents and they aren't using OpenOffice and instead say Microsoft Office you'll need to change the version you're saving it as when you click File > Save As as in the program, then select

Picasa: Is a great picture manager from Google. It helps you by using facial recognition on your own photographs to find people and tag photos so you can find great photographs of friends and family. Don't worry about security because everything is local and not being sold to advertisers like on FaceBook or Google+

7-Zip: Allows you to open some compressed file formats when downloading things from the internet, or if people send you files that are compressed to save space. I try to send pictures to people this way so I can send more in an email.

ImgBurn: I don't know a lot of people making CDs or DVDs but this is a burning software solution to just that.

Firefox: My favorite Internet browser. I have tried Internet Explorer and Chrome. I like Chrome and it even has most of the Addon (extensions) I like but the performance difference is about the same between the two. Chrome is a little faster to open, but I don't trust an Internet browser designed by a search engine/ad company to keep my browsing information safe, but I could be just paranoid.

After you've install FireFox you'll want the below Addon:
Adblock Plus: This is an Addon for FireFox that blocks ads on websites, like the advertising on YouTube. Once you've clicked the link from within FireFox click the "Add to FireFox"

Flash Player: With this you'll be able to view Flash on webpages. For example YouTube.com uses flash. When you Click on the Flash Player link you'll get a few different options/versions to install to from this page. The version you'll need is most likely: "Flash Player (Non-IE)" & "Flash Player (IE)" these will give you Flash for Windows Internet Explorer and for FireFox (if you have that installed) the other two are for the respective Internet browsers but are the 64 bit versions. If you have a newer computer try downloading those first. If you don't have 64 bit Windows they won't install and you'll need to download the others.

Adobe Air: This is similar to Flash and if you use a lot of the Internet you probably should just install it now.

Silverlight: This is Microsoft's version of Flash if you will, but you'll need it on a few websites but not as many as websites as Flash uses.

Update, side note...if you want to take the time: http://portableapps.com/ is a great way to run apps from a thumb-drive or any removable hard drive, or it can be used the way I do, which is to run apps locally on your computer but to have an update manager and private environment for them for better security and privacy. It takes a little extra setup. The site has some good walk-throughs, otherwise all of my above instructions should be all you need.

Please let me know if I've missed any must haves or other comments you might have. Also note that I didn't include software that helps people get files illegally or files that I found useful or difficult for inexperienced users.