Category Archives: ACTIVITIES

Indonesia: Batam Island

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Mom and I finally arrived at Finger Pier, at the end of Prince Edward Rd., and I got us fast ferry tickets (S$28 round trip).  Ferries for Sekupang Pier, the main entry point in the 715 sq. km. Batam Island, leave every half hour.

Later in the year, the regional ferry operation at Finger Pier was relocated to the S$50 million International Passenger Terminal (IPT) at the Harbourfront Cruise Centre (formerly World Trade Center).

On Board the Fast Ferry Sea Flyte of Dino Shipping Pte. Ltd

We left on board Dino Shipping Pte. Ltd.’s streamlined and airconditioned  Sea Flyte, leaving the pier by 3:40 PM.  The trip took a little over 30 mins. and was uneventful. Along the way, we weaved through Singapore’s southern islands, most of which are small and uninhabited. We docked at Batam Island’s Sekupang Pier by 4:15PM.

Sekupang Pier, Batam Island

After securing our arrival clearance at the Batam Customs & Immigration Area, I hired the services of a local taxi driver to tour us around the island.  Batam Island, a duty-free island, is about two-thirds the size of Singapore and is an economic development zone of Indonesia with emphasis on tourist development. Nagoya City, formerly known as Lubuk Baja which means “Pirates Waterhole,” has shops that offer local handicrafts and Asian food delicacies.

Nagoya City

Beginning in the 1970s, the island underwent a major transformation, from a largely forested area, into a major harbor and industrial zone. During our tour, land was being cleared for new roads and many factories, many operated by Singaporean companies, were being built. Evidently, with its lower labor costs and special government incentives, the island’s economy benefits from being close to Singapore.

However, we weren’t shown any old government buildings, mosques, churches or temples as there didn’t seem to be any.  After our tour, our taxi driver brought us back to Sekupang Pier where we again boarded our fast ferry back to Finger Pier, arriving there by 10 PM. Upon arrival, we had a late dinner at a Burger King outlet before returning to our hotel.

Johor Bahru (Malaysia)

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Upon reaching the Malaysian side, I cleared my entry to Johor Bahru at the Malaysia Customs and Immigration Office. Once past, I found myself along Jalan Tun Abdul Razak.  Here, a fenced historical marker with a plaque tells the story of the town.

Johor Bahru Historical Marker

Johor Bahru has a rich history that dates as early as the 16th century but its urbanization began in 1855. Sultan Abu Bakar (1862-1895), the 21st Sultan of Johor, transformed Johor Bahru from a fishing village into a thriving city.

Johor Bahru

Jalan Tun Abdul Razak and the adjoining  Jalan Trus has a number of shophouses, mostly built in the 1920’s,with great heritage value. Here, traders from Arab, India and China used to come to trade spices and tobacco. Also along Jalan Tun Abdul Razak is the Johor Bahru Railway Station.

On October 10, 2010, the spanking new JB Sentral railway station, along Jalan Tun Abdul Razak and Jalan Jim Quee, was opened. The old train station, located just 200 m. south of JB Sentral, has been decommissioned, its platform 2 and its tracks dismantled.  Only one track and platform remain.  There are plans for it to be preserved for a future Mini Railway Museum for the Southern Region.

Johor Bahru Railway Station

The relatively old Plaza Kotaraya shopping center, along Jalan Trus, is only 5 minutes walk from the Malaysia Customs and Immigration Office.  Across the street is the Arulmigu Sri Raja Mariamman Devasthanam Hindu Temple.  Built in 1922, it is one of the town’s oldest Hindu temples and has an impressive gopuram (entrance tower).

The Arulmigu Sri Raja Mariamman Devasthanam Hindu Temple was rebuilt and was officially reopened in 1996. In 2009, the temple was embellished with an impressive mosaic of 300,000 pieces of red, blue, yellow, green, purple and white glass (completed in October 2009) and, on May 12, 2010, the temple was listed in the Malaysian Book of Records as the first and only glass temple in the nation.

Arulmigu Sri Raja Mariamman Devasthanam Hindu Temple and Plaza Kotaraya Shopping Center

After this relatively short walking tour of Johor Bahru, I retraced my steps back to the Malaysia Customs and Immigration Office to clear my departure and, this time, took a bus back to the Queen Street Bus Terminal in Singapore.

Arulmigu Sri Raja Mariamman Devasthanam Hindu Temple: 22 Lorong 1, Jalan Tebrau, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The Causeway (Singapore)

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Singapore Customs and Immigration Office

Upon arrival at the Queen St. Bus Terminal, I took the SBS (Singapore Bus Service) Transit’s service 170.  These public buses provide one of the cheapest and most reliable form of transport directly into the heart of Johor Bahru, across the causeway over the Straits of Johor, from Singapore. The Johor-Singapore Causeway, completed in 1923 after 4 years of construction, was partially destroyed in 1942 during World War II, to prevent the Japanese army from invading Singapore. However, it was rebuilt once the Japanese had captured the island.

Huge Water Pipes, Railway Track as well as Roads Line the Johor-Singapore Causeway

Very popular but terminally congested, the causeway is crossed by buses, trains, taxis and cars and is normally jam-packed on Friday evenings (towards Malaysia) and Sunday evenings (towards Singapore).  However, it was the Qing Ning holiday (similar to our All Saints Day) and the bus queue was very long going to Johor. Seeing the traffic, I decided to alight from the bus and just walked towards the Singapore Customs & Immigration Office at Woodlands for the necessary departure clearance.

A second crossing, between Johor Bahru and western Singapore, was open on January 2, 1998. Known as the Tuas Second Link, it is much faster and less congested than the Causeway and  is used by some of the luxury bus services to Kuala Lumpur.

Traffic Along the Johor-Singapore Causeway

I also decided to just walk the whole 1 km. length of the Causeway to the Malaysian side.  It seems I was the only one doing so. Along the way, I noticed, aside from the huge traffic jam, the huge water pipes as well as the railway track between the two sides of the Causeway. I was dripping with sweat by the time I reached the other side.

In December 2008, immediately after the opening of the new Johor Bahru CIQ complex, crossing the Causeway, on foot, from Singapore to Johor Bahru was officially forbidden by the Singapore authorities. Once you have cleared Singapore immigration at the Woodlands Checkpoint, you have to take any of the public or private buses waiting at the bus bays downstairs to cross the Causeway. There is always a Singapore police officer stationed at the staircase entrance to the Causeway to prevent anyone from crossing the Causeway on foot.

Malaysia Customs and Immigration Office

Boracay Here We Come! (Malay, Aklan)

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After breakfast at Dad’s ancestral home in Malay, we boarded the L-200 and were driven, along 6 kms. of dirt road, to the makeshift jetty port at Brgy. Caticlan.  Here, we boarded a big outrigger boat for Boracay Island.  Our 15-min. pumpboat ride to the island was smooth all the way and soon the crystal blue waters turned sparklingly clear as we approached the island’s famous White Beach.  It was just about noontime and the palm-fringed beach’s dazzlingly white sand was practically deserted and enchanting.

On our way

Our boat docked at Boat Station 2, actually just an open beach point without piers where boats land.  All passengers, including us, have to alight the boat via a narrow gangplank then wade a short distance through the shallow water to the beach.  Others, however, hired brawny porters to carry them to shore on their shoulders.  From the beach, we walked a short distance to a narrow alley.  From the alley entrance, we walked a further 100 m. to Lion’s Den Resort on our left.

This rustic resort, owned and managed by Lowell A. Talamisan, an apo (grandnephew) of my father-in-law and a nephew of my wife Grace, is conveniently located midway between the beach and Main Road.  Here, we stayed at one of the resort’s quaint and cozy nipa and bamboo cottages with private bath.  Our cottage also had a verandah with a nice hammock slung at the posts.

Jandy and his lola relaxing at the verandah

Boracay Island then was without electricity and our cottage was lit at night with gas lanterns.  Other high-end resorts were powered by generators.  This didn’t matter to us then, since food and accommodation were inexpensive and the people were friendly. Sometimes we would dine on grilled blue marlin at the resort or dine out at the restaurant of the nearby Red Coconut Resort.

White Beach circa 1990

The most exhilarating portion of our 3-day stay on the island was  the  feel of the sand of White Beach, snow white and fine as sifted confectionary sugar, top-grade cake flour or baby powder.   It was so white you can get a total suntan  due to the  sun’s  reflection on the sand.  The  aquamarine  water was shallow and clear and the sunset was always magnificent.

Sand, sea and sky at Boracay

Up north along White Beach, across Willy’s Beach Resort, is Willy’s Rock, the familiar and frequently photographed landmark that dominates the seascape.  This large, castle-like natural boulder rises 7 m. (23 ft.) from the sand.

Posing by the much photographed Willy’s Rock

 

Ocean Park (Hong Kong)

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After our morning city tour and lunch, we all proceeded to Ocean Park, one of the most spectacular attractions in Hong Kong.  This huge complex, comprising an amusement park, oceanarium (Asia’s largest) and an aviary, is located at the valley between Wong Chuk Hang and Nam Long Shan Mountain along Deep Water Bay, on the south side of Hong Kong.

Ocean Park

Ocean Park

Beautifully set high on a hill overlooking the South China Sea and opened on January 1977 (at a cost of HK$150 million) by Hong Kong Gov. Sir Murray MacLehose, it was a perfect place to take a break from the hustle and bustle  of our Hong Kong holiday.

Cable car

Cable car

Access to the theme park’s headland area, 1,400 ft. above sea level, is either by a 1.5-km. long cable car system or around the other side of the hill at Tai Shue Wan by the longest outdoor covered escalator in the world which can carry 4,000 passengers an hour up a 30-degree slope. Both cable car and escalator offer fantastic views.  We chose to enter the park via the former.

Atoll Reef

Atoll Reef

Sea lions

Sea lions

Penguins

Penguins

The amusement park has a selection of thrill rides including the “Dragon,” one of the world’s longest and fastest roller coasters.  Perched on the edge of the mountain, it features a series of heart-stopping series of twists, turns and giant 360-degree loops.

Walking through the Aviary

Walking through the Aviary

Atoll Reef, a huge aquarium in Marineland, houses 500 different species of fish.  Wave Cove, an exhibition area, is where we saw sea lions, African fur seals, Stettler sea lions, dolphins, penguins, pelicans and Miss Hoi Wai (formerly named Peanuts and Susie), its signature female killer whale (Orsinus orca) captured on October 1977 in Ingolfshofdi, Iceland and moved to Ocean Park on January 27, 1979.

In early 2011, Atoll Reef was closed after 34 years of operation. Many of the fishes were moved to the new Grand Aquarium.  The killer whale Hoi Wai died on April 21, 1997, at the age of 22, due to severe blood loss.

Image-04

The free-flight, walk-through, 2,500 sq. m.  Aviary, at Bird Paradise in Tai Shue Wan, is one of the largest in the world. It houses about 3,000 birds of 150 different species.

Ocean Theater

Ocean Theater

High diving act at Ocean Theater

High diving act at Ocean Theater

The highlight of our visit to Ocean Park was the high altitude diving show at Ocean Theater.   On April 7, 1985, during a single show at the park, Americans Lucy Wardle and Randy Dickison set new world high dive records. Lucy’s dive of 120 ft. (36.8 m.) still stands today. Randy’s dive of 174 ft., 8 ins. surpassed Dana Kunzie’s 172 ft. dive in 1984. The current world high dive record of 177 ft. belongs to Oliver Favre of Switzerland, set in France in 1987.

Ocean Park: Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong.  Tel: 3923 2323.  Open Mondays-Fridays, 9 AM–5 PM.

Puerto Azul Golf and Country Club (Ternate, Cavite)

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From the  Palace in the Sky in Tagaytay City, we next motored, via the Naic-Indang Rd., to the town of Ternate where we  visited the 1,024-hectare Puerto Azul Golf & Country Club.  This 5-star resort, carved out of heavily forested valleys and towering mountains, was developed during the 1970s Marcos era.

Check out “Palace in the Sky“

We first made a stopover at Paniman Beach along Paniman Bay, one of the resort’s 4 gray sand beaches (the others are Caysubic, Cayokno and Palicpican).  During its earlier days, this beach used to be covered with white sand said to have been brought over from Boracay, then unknown to the Filipinos.  The white sand is now gone, washed away by the tides.

Mel and Grace at one of Puerto Azul’s beaches

From the beach, we next negotiated a steep road to get to its lookout which has a view of the resort’s 100-hectare golf course, a private club open only to hotel guests.  One of the country’s most scenic courses, the golf here is surpassed only by views of Palicpican Beach.  Designed by world-renowned golfer Gary Player and Ron Kirby, this 18-hole, 6,556-yard, par 72 (adjustable to 71 for big events like the Philippine Open) golf course has a front 9 with rugged terrain punctuated with mountains, pristine rivers and streams while the back nine is close to the sea.

The scenic golf course

The course takes you through jungle, up and over mountains and finishes up on the beach.  An elevator takes you from the 6th green up to the 7th tee.  The last two tee shots on the back nine are probably the most dramatic. The par 3 17th Hole, the courses’ signature hole, is protected on its left by one of the deepest water hazards in Philippine golf – the South China Sea.  The 18th hole is across the beach.  Facilities include the nine-hole par-36 Camandag Executive Links, a driving range, tee house, clubhouse, restaurant, bars, locker and shower rooms swimming pool, sauna and massage.

L-R, Alex, Mel, Grace, Jandy and the author at the lookout

We can also see some of the 17 3 to 4-storey cluster buildings which houses 325 airconditioned rooms.  The resort is also home to restaurants, coffee shops, bars, 2 swimming pools, 300-pax ballrooms, 8 60-pax function rooms, business center, jacuzzi, sauna, 6 outdoor and 3 indoor tennis courts, 6-lane bowling center, volleyball/basketball court, two squash courts and 2 nature trails.

AUTHOR’S NOTES

Though still open, this resort, once dubbed as “Asia’s Paradise Resort” and the “World’s Golfing Capital,” seems to have been abandoned, reportedly due to lack of financial resources to maintain the site.  The hotel and cottages are worn out, the beach is dirty and only South Korean nationals use the not so well-maintained golf course.  However, Boulevard Holdings, the owner and operator of the site, plans to renovate the existing hotel and build an 8-room boutique hotel and 150-room grand convention hotel.

Puerto Azul Golf and Country Club: Brgy. Sapang,  Ternate, Cavite.  Tel:  524-0026 to 27.  Manila sales office: Tel: 844-8541.

Palace in the Sky (Tagaytay City, Cavite)

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Come Holy Thursday, Grace, then 2.5-year old Jandy and I, plus our E. Ganzon, Inc. friends Alex D. Guda and Mel Miranda decided to go  on a day tour to the controversial, half-finished Palace in the Sky.   Located 8 kms. east of the Tagaytay City rotunda, on the 710-m. high Mt. Gonzales  (or Mt. Sungay), the former “Palace” was a multi-million exercise in extravagance started in 1981 by the late former Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos for the 1983 state visit of then U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan.  The state visit unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) never pushed through after the August 21, 1983 assassination of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr..  Marcos was deposed by the People Power Revolution of February 1986 and it was left unfinished and abandoned. 

Palace in the Sky

Upon our arrival, Alex, Grace, Jandy and I hiked along the asphalt road going all the way to the top but Mel took the more easygoing horseback ride. Even in its unfinished state, it was quite “palatial,” a true symbol of greed and indifference.  Also called the “Malacanang of Tagaytay” and “Bahay ni Imelda,” the pyramid-shaped villa had a huge kidney-shaped swimming pool and a tall radio antenna.

Hiking our way up the asphalt road

There was no one about, it being a holiday, but inside the palace were signs of new construction going on.  I even noticed, and was baffled, by a blueprint plan for a “torture chamber.”  A mystery indeed!  From the view deck we experienced the sweet, fresh and invigorating air of the city and admired the marvelous 360 degree view of 4 bodies of water (Taal Lake, Laguna de Bay, Balayan Bay and Manila Bay) and landward views of Metro Manila, Batangas, Rizal, Cavite, Quezon and even Mindoro, a spectacle initially meant for a chosen few.

AUTHOR’S NOTES

Nine month after our visit, the “Palace” hugged some of headlines when rebel soldiers took over the villa’s radio antenna during the failed December coup de etat.  In 1990, the mystery of the “torture chamber” was unveiled when the movie Delta Force 2:  The Columbian Connection, starring Chuck Norris, as a U.S. commando leader, and Billy Drago, as a Colombian drug lord, was shown in local cinemas.  The “Palace” turned out to be the drug lord’s seemingly impenetrable mansion and the “torture chamber,” his private viewing gallery where U.S. DEA agents were smothered to death by poison gas.  Some mystery!

On January 14, 1996, the “Palace” was ordered rehabilitated and refurbished into a 4,516-hectare resort by then Pres. Fidel V. Ramos.  Since then, it has been democratically renamed as the People’s Park in the Sky and is now enjoyed by poor and ordinary citizens.  Today, it has a lower ground restaurant, bar, 200-person open-air amphitheater (where free cultural and musical shows are held, Saturday and Sundays), view deck, native picnic huts and tables, wishing well (toss a coin and make a wish), fishing lagoon (the former swimming pool), art gallery, a grotto with 25-foot statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Fair Love, 150-person second floor seminar room (Centennial Room), second floor museum, lower ground tourism office, souvenir shops and a giant replica of the pineapple.

Today, the park has again fallen into neglect.  The fishing lagoon is now filled up into a garden, graffiti is everywhere and the premises are dirty.  Only the views remain spectacular.

People’s Park in the Sky: Brgy. Dapdap West and Dapdap East, Tagaytay City, Cavite.  Admission: PhP15.

Houseboating at Lake Caliraya (Cavinti, Laguna)

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For the 4 days of Holy Week, Dad booked us on an unusual vacation – traveling on a houseboat in Lake Caliraya Reservoir in Laguna.  There were 6 of us joining – Dad, Mom, sisters Salve and Tellie, and me plus our maid Irene Nebreja.  We also had a pilot and crew to bring us wherever we want to go on the lake. Our white-colored houseboat, with light blue trimmings, had spartan sleeping quarters, a dinette, kitchenette and a sun deck.

Our houseboat

 Our boat, part of a fleet of houseboats, was, according to our pilot, used by the cast and crew of the 1979, Francis Ford Cuppola Vietnam-era war epic film Apocalypse Now when they were filming some scenes in Laguna (notably the river scenes at the Bumbungan River and Pagsanjan Falls).  Mr. Cuppola and stars Marlon Brando or Martin Sheen may have slept in it. Who knows?

Cruising the lake

The massive, man-made Lake Caliraya is a mountain lake situated at foothills of the Sierra Madre Range at an elevation of 300 m. (800 ft.), between Lumban and Cavinti (a large portion is located here) .  It was built in 1943 and supplies, together with Lake Lumot, runoff water to the Kalayaan Hydroelectric Plant complex located north of the town.  Its original outlet was the Pagsanjan River, just above the falls, but now the smaller, artificial Lake Lumot feeds the main lake through a pipeline.  Both lakes cover 1,834 hectares of land and 76.9 hectares of water resources.

On dry land

My brother Frankie with pregnant wife Cherry,  Cherry’s Silahis International Hotel officemate Anna Purino and Cherry’s sister-in-law May Martin (the wife of Cherry’s elder brother Tony) also dropped by while we were docked and went swimming.  Swimming here is not like that done in a beach or even a river as the lake’s shoreline of viscous red slippery clay steeply drops just a few feet from the shore. Again, according to our pilot, a kid drowned when he slipped on the mud and fell into the water.  For safety’s sake, we all donned life vests in the water.  Others just sunbathed at the boat’s roof.

Windsurfing, waterskiingand shallow draft boating are popular here.  Fishing especially for large-mouth (black) bass, carp, bangus(milkfish), tilapia and dalag (mudfish) is a favorite activity in the lake.   Dad’s friend, Gen. Victor Natividad, was also there for the waterskiing, bringing along waterskiing equipment as well as a speedboat.  Frankie, May and I  took turns trying to waterski.  I was unsuccessful though as I kept falling when the speedboat started pulling me.

Resorts and picnic grounds line the shore of the lake and, on Easter Sunday, we docked at Nayong Kalikasan Resort where we heard mass at its clubhouse prior to our return to Manila.