Our Ride Back Down the Saddle

After one an a half hour of gruelling walk back to the Saddle from the village of Batad, I finally made it back with time to spare. The jeepney was there as promised along with a host of other people, locals and foreigners on their way to Banaue. The jeepney won’t be leaving just yet so we were relaxing at the only place we can relax here at the Saddle. There was a lone store at the Saddle selling drinks to tired travellers. Naturally, they are quite expensive, but of course if you are in need of water, you would probably pony up for it. Talk about monopoly.

Some of the foreigners decided to ride on top of the jeepney. I would probably agree that it would be a nice experience, but this was probably not the place to do it. The sun was already bearing down on us and that metal roof will definitely get very hot as the day progresses. However, most importantly, the road down the Saddle isn’t really a real road, it just was a dirt road. The rains the previous day might have loosened the soil here and I don’t really trust the jeepney would be able to handle it. Sitting on top might not be the best place to be if something happened. Oh, did I mention that the road was only good enough for one vehicle?

The View from the Saddle

Apparently, the jeepney drive was confident that no one will be climbing up was running quite fast, when another vehicle suddenly popped up. The sudden brake of the jeepney sent us sliding down the slope a couple of feet. Fortunately, no one fell or was hurt. We got back to Banaue in one piece and by the time afternoon came it was raining. I was intending to visit some of the other terraces in the area which I haven’t visited, but forgot all about it because of the weather. At least it wasn’t hot.

After lunch, with nothing to do but just hang around, I just got a room at People’s Inn and spent the rest of the afternoon there. The bus back to Manila will only leave at 6:30. The room wasn’t really that interesting, but at least it was clean. There was also the sound of the nearby stream providing some ambience. I got back to Manila in no time, the typhoon veered away from the area and was no threat at all. Anyway, for the short time that I spent there, I was still glad I got away from it all.

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Magnificent View of the Surrounding Mountains in Batad

Even before I went to Batad this time, there was an impending typhoon, though it hasn’t made landfall yet, there was a threat that it would pass through the Ifugao region. I had to make a decision on whether I should stay or continue on my vacation. Chances are the mountains will shield the region from the effects of the typhoon. Then again maybe not. I decided to err on the side of caution and left Simon’s Inn the very next day. I would have wanted to explore the area but I can’t risk getting stranded in the mountains for the next couple of days.

Staircases to the Sky at Batad

My legs haven’t even recovered yet from walking down the mountain and yet, I’m torturing them again by climbing back up. I decided to leave early, around 6:30 in the morning so that I would have enough time to make it to the 9am jeepney that leaves from the Saddle. It takes people 45 minutes to go down, it will probably take me twice a long to go back up. This would give me ample time to crawl back up. Fortunately for me, the rain from the previous has already dried up and the path was as good as it can ever be. There is only one way up so there is no risk of getting lost here. A few people overtook me on the way up but they were mostly locals probably rushing off to work in the big town of Banaue.

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Village at the Foot of the Batad Rice Terraces

Just after I got to Simon’s Inn I decided to do a little exploration. I actually wanted to visit the beautiful Tappia falls which I literally needed to cross a mountain just to see. I have a very good idea where the falls is, it is just that the paths to the down the valley and to the falls isn’t really very well marked. I tried walking down the mountain by myself, but found myself in a dead end. I couldn’t find a path, or make that I was too lazy for find a path.

This is as Far as I Could Go

Honestly, I was too tired from walking down the mountain that morning and I was still feeling the effects. My legs were already like jelly and I was nowhere even halfway down the mountain. Although I wanted to see the Tappia falls, the flesh is weak and I reasoned that it was getting dark and I don’t want to be caught in the middle of nowhere in a thunderstorm. There won’t be any trees for shelter here and the inn will be a hour’s worth of hiking just to get back from the falls. The lazy me won and I head back to Simon’s inn and just relaxed the day away. Sure enough, a few hours later, there was a storm. Laziness has it benefits too.

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Stunning View of the Batad Rice Terraces

It was my third time to be going to Banaue, and I could say that I am already quite comfortable in that town. What did catch me by surprise though, is the number touts that have sprouted since my last visit. Although they are not the pushy type, at least not yet, they are numerous enough to irritate me. What more with their constant chewing of betel nuts giving them their bloody smiles, makes you think that they want to say “I want to suck your blood… and your money, too.”

Surrounding Terraces of the Batad Ampitheater

It seems that they have standardized the rates for going to the village of Batad by tricycle. This is well and good, since you don’t need to be afraid of getting ripped off – everyone will be equally ripped off. I thought it was quite pricey, I really wish they have public transport going to the village, then again maybe not at it might ruin the idyllic nature of the village. Since I was travelling alone, sharing is not an option either, oh well.

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Ampitheater Shaped Batad Rice Terraces

It has become a habit of mine whenever I visit the Philippines to go out of town for a short trip. It is primarily the only way to avoid the madness that is Manila and what comes with it. I took a bus ride from Autobus company, the only one I knew which went to the mountain town of Banaue. This was probably the third station they own that I have been to. I have been informed that this small waiting area of theirs is finally their own, the first two were only rented. I then noticed the huge fleet of bus that rival Florida bus company has. How much has this company grown in the recent years? Their buses seem to be very well maintained too. Anyway, I was going with Autobus because it wasn’t that bad anyway.

View of Small Village in Batad

I actually, booked a ride over the phone and I was told that the bus leaves at 6:30pm. I was quite puzzled since I remember the buses used to leave at ten in the evening. However, when I got there I was told that the schedule never changed. Oh well, went to a nearby mall where I waited until the time to depart. The bus station actually wasn’t that big so I wasn’t really very comfortable waiting there. Eating places weren’t really that common either. I got a nice seat in front with no seatmates making the trip a little more comfortable. I can’t wait to go back there as I have been craving for some mountain air for a while.

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Chicken Rice Ball

When in Singapore, people would always recommend eating Hainanese Chicken Rice or just chicken rice, at least once. It is a boiled chicken in oily kind of sauce, it is best eaten with nice chili and some dark soya sauce. I have eaten chicken rice at different level all over Singapore, and I would say that I am quite fond of it. So imagine my delight to know that Melaka has their own chicken rice dish they are proud of. The first time I was here in Melaka, I heard about the specialty dish of Melaka called Chicken Rice Balls, but to our dismay we didn’t reach the restaurant in time as it seemed to have close early. In this trip, I am determined to find out what all the fuss was all about.

Famosa Chicken Rice Ball Restaurant

Probably one of the more prominent places to have the famed chicken rice ball is at Famosa Chicken Rice Ball Restaurant. This restaurant is at the corner the busy Jonker Street now known as Jalan Hang Hebat. The exterior of the restaurant building is quite impressive with the 1911 building itself colored brick red. The intricate details of the building’s facade have be patiently restored making it one of the more attractive structures along Jonker Street.

Inside the Famosa Chicken Rice Ball Restaurant

I have having second throught about entering the place since it was already 12 noon, but no one is eating at the place? Maybe the food isn’t that great after all. I took my time to think by walking up Jonker Street and back until curiosity finally got the better of me and I entered the place. The interiors of the place were a little dark since it was also colored brick red inside. On the windows were bars giving the appearance of a cell. There weren’t a lot of people eating here but I decided to eat here anyway.

Detail on the Restaurant Building

I didn’t know any better so I ordered their specialty, chicken rice ball, what else? The menu itself wasn’t very helpful since it had entries for chicken and the chicken rice balls separately. I tried ordering them separately but the waitress asked if I want a meal with both of them, which is what I wanted anyway. The food finally came and the portions were a little small. I guess you get where you pay for. My meal of chicken and chicken rice balls cost me MYR 4.90, which is actually quite affordable. I should have ordered a bigger portion.

The chicken actually tasted great! It had that familiar oily taste with a tinge of saltiness and sweetness – a kind of balance that is hard to find. I felt sorry for myself that I ordered so little of the chicken, anyway that is just half of the story. What about the chicken rice balls? The chicken rice balls, true to their name were chicken rice made into small dumpling size balls. Chicken rice is basically rice cooked in drippings of boiled chicken and ginger. It is oily but quite tasty. I usually have two servings of the rice alone that go together with the chicken. Anyway, the chicken rice balls were made from this stuff and eating dumpling style.

My Dish of Chicken and Chicken Rice Ball

To be honest, the chicken rice balls were a bit of a disappointment. They didn’t taste anything like I was expecting them. In fact they didn’t even taste like chicken rice. It was a bit dry but I guess so is rice. It is meant to be eaten with the chicken. I even ended up dipping the chicken rice ball into the chili to give it more flavor. Call me ignorant but I didn’t really like it that much. Maybe next time, I would just try their chicken rice.

However, other tables seem to think otherwise. A rather animated uncle on the other table was bringing friends to the restaurant to have chicken rice balls. He rather emphatically stated that every one who eats here should have at least five balls, which is exactly what I have. I wonder what his vistors thought of the chicken rice balls though.

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Pineapple Rice at Baan Rim Pa Restaurant

Walking back and forth along the white sand beach of Patong in Phuket sure got me tired. This was quite a long strip of sand and I probably already got a bad sunburn just from all that walking. Well it was time for some food and as I reached the end of Patong Beach, there was one restaurant that was perched on top of a small hill overlooking the beach itself. I thought it would be a great place to spend some time to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Attractive Interiors of Baan Rim Pa Restaurant

Baan Rim Pa Restaurant is a high end restaurant specializing in Thai food, it is one of the more well known ones in Phuket and it is probably always full for dinner. Fortunately for me, it was still early afternoon and I really want some lunch. The place itself is quite fancy with all the nice interiors mostly made from wood. They have an area which overlooks the sea and the beach itself. Naturally I chose to sit there.

Overlooking the Sea

To my dismay that food was more expensive than I thought it would be, but I was already hungry so I decided to order myself a classic Thai favorite – pineapple rice! I always loved pineapple rice wherever I have it. But this one was probably one of the more special ones I have tried. I was hard to pinpoint what exactly was different but probably the food and the ambience itself gave me the impression that it was better.

View of the Patong Beach from Baan Rim Pa Restaurant

I spent the rest of the time making use of the location that the restaurant was in, taking photos of the beach itself and just relaxing. If I had a large group of people with me eating here it would have been much better but there was a reason they located themselves here along the beach and not at Phuket town. The tourists who have the money are all here. So the restaurant has the prices to match.

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Food at the Market in Phuket

I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the bedroom of Joe Mansion and after a long while, I get to watch some TV. Unfortunately, for me, most of the channels in their TV were all in Thai, only a handful of news channels were in English, so I spent most of the time catching up on the rest of the world. After a nice nap, it was time for dinner. Now, Thai cuisine is considered on of the great cuisines in the world although I’m not in Bangkok, I’m pretty sure I would be able to find some nice and cheap food here. After all the airport already provided me a glimpse of what Thai food has to offer.

The Food Stall at the Market

I walked a few blocks from Joe Mansion past the roundabout where the clock is. As recommended by the staff in Joe Mansion, I went to the market nearby. The market fringes were all line with eateries. Not really restaurants but they have tables right in front of them so clients can eat right there. As most of the food looked alien to me, and I do eat Thai food, I didn’t recognize any of them. Apparently, there is still a lot of Thai food that hasn’t gotten out to the world.

Spicy Catfish

All the stalls were busy entertaining their clients since it was already dinner time, but they were also busy hollering out to potential ones. I eventually settled down at one of the stalls there. It has a display of seafood right in front of the store (in ice of course). The lady at the store shoved me a menu and I chose my food. I ordered some spicy catfish and some fried rice. After scrimping so much at Myanmar, I think it was time for me to treat myself.

Fried Rice

The catfish was not really burning spicy it had a sour tone to it but it was okay though. The fried rice itself wasn’t that spectacular but it beats the fried rice I’ve been eating at Myanmar all this time. The fried rice was a little oily though but I can still take it. The best part is that this didn’t even cost me 100 baht. This is what I really like about Thailand, the food is good and the prices are really hard to beat.

There are a lot of more of these eateries around the market and I will probably be eating here quite often. Since it is good, clean and cheap. Had I chosen to stay at the beach area, I would have probably spent at least 200 baht and I wouldn’t still be satisfied. Of course, I would be paying for the ambience.

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Nilar Briyani Shop's Briyani

Yangon was a surprisingly interesting walking city. So much that my feet started to hurt from all the walking and I love walking. It was time for dinner so I started walking to one of their major streets in Yangon. This was no Orchard Road mind you but nevertheless there is a lot of activity here and it was quite evident that this place was a commercial area with all the shops selling clothes and what have you.

Finally Some Lassi

The Nilar Biryani shop was one of the shops I managed to chance upon walking in the area. I thought I would want to try their Biryani here since my Burmese friend recommended it to me. Fortunately for me, Yangon has much more electricity availabe than Mandalay so the restaurant was quite well lit. I love rice and I also love Biryani. I really look forward to trying their version here.

My Meal at Nilar Biryani Shop

Biryani rice in a sentence is fried rice. The rice is mixed is with a lot of spices to give it that wonderful fragrance. Some variations of Biryani use saffron rice which gives it that distinctive yellowish color. Ingredients such as onions, cinnamon, cloves and aniseed are commonly used. This dish is quite widespread in mainland South East Asia and neighboring countries and the countries bordering India. Each country has their own variation of Biryani and I would be trying the Burmese version.

Inside the Nilar Briyani Shop

Biryani in Myanmar is called danpauk. It uses the common ingredients used in the Biryani I’ve had in Singapore and Malaysia. One interesting twist is that they cook the chicken together with the rice, thereby imparting a nice flavor to the rice itself. When I got there I didn’t know how the system works in Nilar so I just started pointing at the large pot of Biryani outside the store. Fortunately the owner speaks English and managed to extract what I wanted. There wasn’t really much choice, afterall I did come for the Biryani.

The rice itself was nice and very fragrant probably because of the chicken. However, unlike the Singapore and Malaysian versions, they hardly used curry with the rice. In fact it didn’t come with curry at all until I asked for it. Apparently, this foolish tourist didn’t know what he was asking for so they gave him his curry. The curry was quite unlike any curry I’ve ever had before. It had a paste like consistency but still went well with the rice. It was a little dry though but I guess that was how it was supposed to be.

The Dessert Menu

I foolishly ordered extra rice thinking that original serving wasn’t enough for me, apparently, that really is a lot of rice and I had a tough time finishing the whole thing. More so since it was quite dry. Fortunately, they have drinks here, and I finally got my lassi. Which turned out to be not that spectacular, it was home made though but not that cold, still it was a nice departure from all the water that I have been consuming. The owner was a really friendly chap and kept waiting on me since was the only one capable of doing so.

The Nilar Biryani Shop is a nice place to go to. It has a cafeteria atmosphere but it was still clean. They do have a second floor so there is quite a lot of room for diners. A lot of people come to take food home though, which goes to show how good it was. I wouldn’t really mind going back there since the food was quite tasty anyway.

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Big Drum Restaurant

As I was wandering along the river in Nyaungshwe. I stumbled upon one of the recommended restaurants here in the village. Actually, it didn’t look like the restaurant I thought it was. It was merely an eatery. They had an English menu. The staff in the restaurant at that time didn’t speak much English, so I ended up pointing to the menu for my order. The restaurant itself was a simple wooden house with tables and chairs in it, nothing really spectacular about it.

View of the River from the Restaurant

One thing probably that shows that the Big Drum Restaurant is quite well known is that they arrange tours of the Inle Lake area for visitors. They also have a lot of photos of the lake for visitos to see. The staff weren’t really that friendly, or maybe they ones that are were outside since I did come at an odd hour for lunch. My order of fried rice was decent, but it basically tasted like any other fried rice I’ve had in and out of Myanmar. Looking back, it would seem that I have been eating more Chinese food than Burmese food, I’m not really like that but it seems that Burmese food is a little more difficult to come across for a tourist like me.

Fried Rice at Big Drum Restaurant

Not needing to rush to get the next bus out of town, I sat outside the restaurant watching Burmese life pass by. It would be difficult to believe that the people here go through such the hardships we so often read in the news. However, the people here just shrug it off and continue on. It is also impressive how the people have managed to keep the river and the lake clean given how much traffic this lake sees. I guess they also know that the lake is their life blood and they need to take care of it. I think this is a lesson a lot of us can learn from.

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