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November 2011

Chocolate Hills round Bohol closeup panorama

Philippines: Day 10 – Bohol tour: Chocolate Hills, Loboc river cruise, Tarsiers, churches

By Mithun Divakaran
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Nov 05, 2011
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Philippines, Travel

Date: April 26th 2011

Woke up early today (expect the next few days to all begin with that line). I left Sugbutel at around 5am as I planned to catch the very first ferry going to Bohol. I took a taxi to Pier 1 where Oceanjet‘s terminal was. I bought a return ticket to Tagbilaran (Bohol’s capital city) which cost ₱825 ($19/€13).

Oceanjet ferry air condition seat inside Cebu Philippines — These were air-conditioned seating

Cebu pier early morning ferry to Bohol — The ferry left the pier just past 6am

Cebu morning ferry to Bohol Philippines — I stepped out to get a better view of the waters

I went back to my seat and tried to catch up on lost sleep, all the while trying to ignore Step Up 3D that was playing as part of our ‘pirated in-ferry entertainment’.

The journey to Tagbilaran takes nearly 2 and 1/2 hours, which is exactly why I made it a point to catch the first ferry — I wanted an early start to my day.

Port of Tagbilaran Bohol Philippines — Arrived at 8:30am

As soon as I disembarked, there were several agents offering tours of all the sights on Bohol island. They cost more or less the same as they did back in Cebu, so I walked on. Just outside the Dao ferry terminal, were tricycle taxis who approached me as well. They had laminated sheets showing me the same sights and told me they would take me to each attraction and then drop me back to the terminal by evening. They quoted ₱1200 at first but I bargained, and eventually agreed for ₱1000 ($23/€16) — which I felt was a bit more reasonable.

I was more keen to take a tricycle taxi than a minivan full of tourists for my own selfish reasons. One, open window means I can take photographs a lot clearer than behind the usual tinted windows of a tourist van. Two, being the only customer, I could ask the driver to stop wherever I wanted.

Bohol tricycle taxi tour Tagbilaran Philippines — We set off

Bohol tour Tagbilaran church — First the driver took me to a church

San Jose cathedral Tagbilaran Bohol Philippines — Took one photo and told the driver to move on. I've seen enough churches on this trip.

Tagbilaran bay Bohol island Philippines — I was happy to see the sea

Bohol island small house local Philippines — Bohol island is the 10th largest island in the Philippines

I tried my best to get the shots without too many obstructions or blurry plants that usually appear in photographs while travelling.

Bohol tour tricycle taxi driver Philippines — My Danny Trejo look-alike tricycle driver

Loay interior road Bohol Philippines — You get off the main highway and take a left at this junction

Loboc tarsier sign Bohol Philippines — Besides the Chocolate Hills, high up on my list of things to see were the tarsiers

Loboc town Bohol Philippines — Loboc town

Bohol tour to chocolate hills Philippines — We were about to enter the 'man-made forest'

Highway to man made forest trees Bohol Philippines — It suddenly got dark and chilly

The ‘man-made’ forest is called so because decades ago, Bohol residents meticulously planted mahogany trees along a two-kilometre stretch.

Man made forest Bohol Philippines — Which grew into this

Manmade forest trees Bohol Philippines — As the tour vans sped past, I asked my driver to stop on the side so I could take a proper photo

Turning carmen road to chocolate hills Bohol — We were 'out of the woods'

Bohol village Pulis station Philippines — Passed through many small villages

Carmen road to Chocolate hills Bohol — We had been driving for nearly an hour

Chocolate hills single rice field Bohol Philippines — But finally...

Chocolate hills view from road Bohol — ... the hills were in sight!

Road to Carmen chocolate hills Bohol Philippines — I wondered how much further we had to go

Welcome to carmen bohol Philippines — Carmen is the town where the Chocolate Hills are located

Chocolate hills observation viewpoint Bohol Philippines — The viewpoint is atop of the hill on the left

Driving up to Chocolate hill viewpoint Bohol — Up the hill we went

I paid the entrance fee of ₱50 ($1.15/€0.83) to go up to the observation point on the top of the hill.

Chocolate hills steps viewpoint Bohol Philippines — My nightmares from last week return: stairs!

Chocolate hills view from steps Bohol — Even halfway up the stairs, I couldn't help but take a look at what I came all this way for

Chocolate hills view from observation deck Bohol — And there are over 1700 of these hills all around!

Chocolate hills observation hill Bohol Philippines — Once you get to the top...

Chocolate hills view from observation point Bohol — ... voila!

Chocolate hills Bohol tourists panorama — How many of you even knew such a place existed? I didn't know about it until I began researching for this trip.

Chocolate hills view from top Bohol Philippines — Undoubtedly one of the most amusing natural wonders I have ever seen!

Chocolate Hills were just nicknamed such because of their resemblance to bon-bon chocolates. Other names include “God’s tears” or “God’s droppings”.

Chocolate hills Filipino tourists broomstick pose Bohol — Man, they really love doing corny poses out here! 🙂

Chocolate hills Bohol Philippines — Back to the hills

Chocolate hills Bohol wide panorama Philippines — Panorama comprised of 12 shots

Chocolate Hills Bohol other side — I took shots of all the hills around me

Chocolate hills Bohol Philippines wide panorama — Panorama comprised of 10 shots

Chocolate Hills Bohol field Philippines panorama — Panorama comprised of 8 shots

Chocolate Hills Bohol tower Philippines panorama — Panorama comprised of 11 shots

Chocolate hills coming down Bohol — Decided to swap lenses and take the final few shots

Chocolate Hills dry grass Bohol Philippines — Being summer in Philippines, the hills weren't as green

Chocolate Hills cross grave Bohol Philippines — Wow, someone is buried here

Chocolate Hills big Bohol Philippines — You could really see clouds move over these hills

I felt I had taken enough photos, so I went back down.

Chocolate Hills trees Bohol Philippines panorama — Panorama comprised of 11 shots

Chocolate Hills hotel restaurant Bohol Philippines — This is the only hotel and restaurant on this hill, in case you fancy staying right here

I had an overpriced boku juice (coconut water) and then went back to my tricycle driver.

Chocolate Hills leaving Bohol — We left the Chocolate Hills

Welcome to Chocolate Hills Bohol Philippines — Goodbye

Waking up really early just to catch a ferry, coming all this way — it was well worth it. The Chocolate Hills are undoubtedly a ‘must-see’ in Philippines.

Chocolate Hills Bohol rice field — Though, it only occurred to me on the way back that I should have taken a video from the top. Sucks.

Entering manmade forest Bohol Philippines — Entered the man-made forest again

Manmade forest sunlight Bohol Philippines — Stopped to get some clear shots again

Manmade forest trees blocking sunlight Bohol Philippines — Nature's way of keeping sunlight out, making it very cool inside

The next sight on the tour was a hanging bridge in a locality called Sevilla.

Hanging bridge entry Loboc river Bohol — Entry was ₱10

Hanging bridge bamboo Sevilla Bohol Philippines — It's as the name suggests

Hanging bridge bamboo Bohol Philippines — But it's made of bamboo

Hanging Bridge view of Loboc river Bohol — Loboc river

Hanging bridge stores Bohol Philippines — There are some souvenir stalls set up by locals at this end

Hanging bridge exit Bohol — I made a quick return

Hanging bridge tourist slowly crossing Bohol — If you don't like wobbly bridges, you might want to wait until an elderly person finishes crossing

Sevilla village children Bohol Philippines — I walked back to my tricycle driver and we left the hanging bridge

Carmen junction Bohol highway Philippines — We got back to the main highway

Way to Loboc river cruise Bohol Philippines — Next up, lunch cruise on the Loboc river

Loboc river lunch cruise offices Bohol Philippines — There are many companies offering the lunch cruise, I just picked one after seeing their buffet menu for today. Cost ₱400 ($9/€6)

Long river cruise Loboc Bohol Philippines — Lunch time!

Loboc river lunch cruise tourists Bohol — The boat

Loboc river cruise lunch buffet Bohol Philippines — The food

Loboc river cruise lunch plate Bohol Filipino food — Even though I wasn't fond of Filipino cuisine, I had to eat something

Loboc river lunch cruise Bohol Philippines — We set off

Loboc river cruise boat driver Bohol — The boats are actually maneuvered by this little guy who just pushes it along the river

Loboc river cruise village dance platform — The cruise includes stopping by these platforms

Loboc river cruise musical performance platform — These platforms hold young locals who entertain tourists with musical performances

After ‘docking’ the boat alongside the platform, the locals began.

Loboc river village children ukele Bohol Philippines — They were really good with their singing and playing!

Loboc river children dancing villagers Bohol — They danced for us too

Loboc river cruise children dancing Bohol Philippines — I really liked this performance and I felt like recording video, but decided against it

Loboc river children singing Bohol — Putting up a video of their performance here would kind of take away their livelihood

Loboc river cruise playing games Bohol — It may be as touristy as it gets, but I still liked it. I left a ₱100 note in the tip box on the platform.

Loboc river cruise entertainment Bohol — We applauded and left

Loboc river lifeguard Bohol Philippines — There's a lifeguard for Loboc river too... though I don't know how effective one man can be, seated here

Loboc river trees Bohol Philippines — I sat and enjoyed the rest of the river cruise

Loboc cruise lunch dessert Filipino food — While having dessert of course

Loboc river cruise afternoon Bohol Philippines — Reminded me of Kerala's backwaters

Loboc river cruise children playing water Bohol Philippines — Village boys playing in the river

Loboc river cruise station Bohol Philippines — After one and half hours of cruising, we were back

Loboc river cruise station elderly singers Bohol — I headed back to my trike

Bohol rice paddy fields clouds — We moved on to our final attraction of the tour and one I was very keen on seeing in person -- the tarsier

Tarsier house kanipaan kingdom Bohol Philippines — I was expecting to go Bohol's largest tarsier conservatory but instead, the driver took me here

When researching, I read that there were many unauthorized or illegal venues where one can see tarsiers, many who just capture tarsiers from the wild and profit from it. So I told the driver to take me to the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary in Corella, but he told me that I might not have the time for that as it is very far and beyond Tagbilaran City.

Oh well, one sign this place was legit was that there were no entrance fees.

Sloth hanging Bohol Philippines — These guys hanging around are sloths

Tarsier clenched on branch Bohol Philippines — These are the tarsiers

Tarsier sleeping Bohol Philippines — Since it was the afternoon, they were in the middle of taking a nap. But seeing them with the eyes fully open is what sets this primate apart from the rest.

Tarsier fingers feet claws Bohol Philippines — They're about the size of your hand

Tarsiers afternoon Bohol Philippines — This centre had around ten of these interesting animals

Tarsier big eyes open Bohol Philippines — Few of them finally woke up. Now I know where the idea for Dobby from the Harry Potter movies drew inspiration from.

Tarsier feed worms grains — What tarsiers are fed

Bohol highway tarsier center Philippines — 15 minutes among tarsiers, and we were done

Tagbilaran city Jagna road sign Bohol — We rode back to Tagbilaran city

Couple by seaside Bohol Philippines — But I asked the driver to stop when we passed by the sea again

Bohol mangrove beach shore panorama — Panorama comprised of 10 shots

Bohol stony beach boats Philippines — Not all of Bohol's shorelines look like this. The island does have stretches of white sandy beaches, but just not on this side.

Bohol house tricycle tour driver Philippines — My driver

Baclayon roman catholic church school Bohol — Baclayon Roman Catholic church

The driver dropped me back to Tagbilaran City, near the church, where I paid him the agreed upon ₱1000 for the tour (plus a ₱50 tip). I still had nearly 2 hours before I had to catch my ferry back to Cebu.

Church of Tagbilaran Bohol Philippines — I was near the Church of Tagbilaran, so...

Church of Tagbilaran history Bohol Philippines — I decided to check it out

I left the church and walked towards a Wild West-themed cafe and bakery right beside the church. They had a banner outside advertising their ‘famous’ mango pies. Looked and sounded delicious, so being the foodie I am, I ventured in.

Garden Cafe Wild West themed Bohol Philippines — Garden Cafe

The cafe mostly serves locals its fix of Americana, with the menu mostly comprising burgers, steaks and other Tex-Mex fare. Prices are reasonable and they were still serving customers main course meals despite being 3:30pm. What I found most interesting was — some of the waitresses were deaf. There were books on display on how to communicate in sign language, but for me, my order was simple. I pointed to the mango pie sign on my table and simply indicated ‘one,’ with a smile.

Mango pie Garden Cafe Bohol Philippines — Costing just ₱35, it was alright. The mango filling wasn't as sweet as I thought it would be. I don't know if the type of mangoes commonly found in these parts are of a tangier variety, considering us Indians are used to much sweeter ones back home.

I sat for a while to cool off, drank ice cold water and then when I felt like walking, left the cafe.

Tagbilaran city square Bohol Philippines — I decided to check out the mall scene

Bohol Quality Mall inside Philippines — This is Bohol Quality Mall

Hmm, that’s it really. Tagbilaran is no Cebu. The SMs and Ayalas are yet to set foot on Bohol.

Tagbilaran city traffic Bohol Philippines — Don't expect anything fancy in Bohol. It's the simple life here.

Bombay bazaar Tagbilaran city Bohol Philippines — Guess there are a few Indians in Philippines

Tagbilaran city road to ferry terminal — I decided to walk back to the ferry terminal

United Church Touch-a-child Bohol Philippines — The priest jokes practically write themselves

Tagbilaran tricycle taxis Bohol Philippines — Clean roads

I got my ticket checked and waited in the departures hall for my 6pm ferry. When you buy a return ticket from Cebu itself, it entitles you a spot in a ferry returning at any time. I was done with Bohol as far as I was concerned, so I decided to catch the early ferry.

Bohol sunset Philippines — The sunset at 6:15pm

Oceanjet ferry upper seating open air Bohol — Just noticed there was an open-air compartment above mine which cost much lesser. Should have just take this one as I really didn't need air-conditioning when there's sea breeze.

I went back to my seat and instantly dozed off, despite how freezing it was inside my cabin. I guess I was really tired and the early wake up was getting to me. Still, I felt satisfied knowing that I saw everything I wanted to see in Bohol. Even though my tricycle tour (eventually) was not that much cheaper than a van tour, I’m still happy I opted for it because I had the freedom to stop the driver whenever I felt like taking photographs.

I was back in Cebu past 8pm and I headed back to Sugbutel first, so I could dump my bag. Then I went to SM City for dinner.

SM City Cebu mall closing Philippines — By 9pm, everybody was shutting shop

Fortunately, a McDonalds was still open (though they were cleaning up) and I managed to get the last remaining burgers on order.

I headed back to my room, took a nice shower, backed-up my photos — nearly 600 of them (out of which I only used 188 in this post). Bohol was well worth the trouble and I can highly recommend a day spent on the island for anyone visiting Philippines.

Previous posts in this series:

Philippines 2011: Day 9 – Cebu: Fort San Pedro, Basilica of Santo Niño, Taoist Temple

Philippines 2011: Day 8 – Manila tour: Rizal Park, Intramuros, Manila Cathedral, China Town

Philippines 2011: Day 7 – Leaving Angeles City for Manila, Mall of Asia

Philippines 2011: Day 6 – Good Friday in San Fernando, San Pedro Cutud Lenten Rites

Philippines 2011: Leaving Sagada for Baguio, and arriving in Angeles city (Days 4 & 5)

Philippines 2011: Day 3 – Sagada’s Lumiang burial cave, Sumaguing cave, Hanging Coffins of Echo valley

Philippines 2011: Day 3 – Banaue town; heading to Sagada via Bontoc

Philippines 2011: Day 2 – Banaue rice terraces; trekking to Batad village

Philippines 2011: Day 1 — Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Fort Bonifacio

Philippines 2011: Flying over South China Sea for the first time

Other posts in this series:

Philippines 2011: Day 11 – Arriving in Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Day 12 – Puerto Princesa Underground River tour, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Day 13 – Puerto Princesa to El Nido by bus

Philippines 2011: Day 14 – El Nido island hopping tour A and sunset at Las Cabanas beach, Palawan

Philippines 2011: Back to Manila, shopping, and my final thoughts about the country (Last post)

Jay Park – “Girlfriend” review: He kissed a girl!

After releasing his first mini-album as a solo artist back in April, Jay Park is back with a new single! Jaebom had tweeted a few weeks back wondering if he should release something now and a mini-album next year – or – make us fans wait until 2012 for new music. I guess Jay ultimately decided he didn’t want Jaywalkers to wait that long! 🙂

Jay Park Girlfriend MV screencaps Jaebom — Unfortunately, all we get for now is a single

“Girlfriend” isn’t something I was expecting as a single from Jay. I mean, as an album track, yes — but not as a single. Which isn’t to say it’s a bad song:

After “Abandoned” and “Tonight,” Jay makes no qualms about his love for rapping and chose to showcase his rhyming skills more than his singing with a single release like “Girlfriend”. I love the beats and his rapping is slick! It’s the kind of hip-hop I really love. The chorus is sweet, but all-in-all, “Girlfriend” is smooth rap track in the same vein of B.o.B’s “Nothin’ On You” — and we all know how much Jay Park loves such songs 😉

As for the music video, again it’s an unexpected one from Jay Park. It shows he’s maturing and growing as an artist, and does away with the expected choreographed dances. But a Jay Park MV without dancing? Surely not, and “Girlfriend” features a dance break in a club soon after the very first chorus. It does break the flow of the song early on but it works for the narrative of the video, which shows Jay trying to win over a girl he first spots at a cafe.

Of course, Jay impresses the girl with his slick b-boy moves, surprises her by placing headphones over her ears, and tunes back to the song asking her to be his girlfriend. Then he takes her out on a date and brings her back to his room — which is full of photos of her pasted all over his wall! Now, in the MV, the girl smiles. But all I kept thinking was: “Wow. Stalking much Jay?” LOL

Jay Park Girlfriend video screencaps Jaebom kissing — Obsessive Jay Park fangirls aren't going to like this actress much

It’s refreshing to see a Jay Park video with a female lead. Mostly because Jay is hardly ever seen around the company of women! “Abandoned” did feature a sexy girl but the scenes which featured Jay and her were blink-and-miss. I figured it was because Jay looked so awkward acting with her, and although the awkwardness hasn’t completely worn off, in “Girlfriend,” Jay has improved a lot with his expressions and ridding his shyness on camera.

With most of k-pop following an unsurprising formula, I can always count on Jay Park to release a song that strays away from the usual k-pop sound. Maybe it’s because Jay writes all his music in English first and then turns them into Korean. That’s probably why his songs don’t necessarily feel like standard ‘k-pop’. Just like “Abandoned,” “Girlfriend” too would sound just as good with English lyrics. (Take the hint Jay ;))

I can’t wait to see what Jay Park has in store for 2012. It may not have happened yet, but I still stand by what I wrote about Jay’s impending global stardom when I saw him live in Bangkok last year. I can’t wait for his English album, and if that’s not happening soon, I’ll still eagerly await his next Korean release in early 2012.

My final rating for “Girlfriend”: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)

AA – ‘Because I’m Crazy’ review: Another rookie boyband, but a good one!

The fact that I waited until November of 2011 to dedicate a post for a rookie k-pop group is indicative of how little I liked any of the new idol groups that debuted this year. And boy, were there many that debuted in 2011!

The first half of the year mostly belonged to new girl groups. Of the top of my head, I remember Dal Shabet, CHI CHI, A-Pink, Raina, the stupidly named Piggy Dolls, the flop that was Coin Jackson… and there were 20 or more other girl groups who made their debut with lousy names, similar cutesy concepts and dull music. I haven’t heard from most of them since their debut.

Not be left out, boy bands were churned out by the dozens as well. From the much hyped Block B, HITT, X-5 to recent debuts like MYNAME, Taken (oh the jokes!), and the rest whom I can’t even remember because they too left a zero impression on me.

The only rookie idol group that felt ‘fresh’ was B1A4. An unconventional name but a group who debuted with a good song, which again, was atypical of what else was out there in K-pop.

And now, we have AA.

Double AA k-pop boyband members Because I'm Crazy — L-R: I don't even know their names

Promoted by a small company named Wellmade STAR M (eesh), I read about AA just today on Allkpop and rolled my eyes when I glanced over this description:

“The group is a bit different from other rookie groups because they’re average age is 22. The number 22 is somewhat significant to their name if you make 22 with your fingers (holding up 2 fingers on each hand), and flip them upside down, it becomes AA (Double A). Additionally, each of the group members are also between the heights of 5’11″ to 6’1″.”

At least they didn’t choose AA because “they’re like batteries full of energy!” or something stupid like that.

Okay, so they don’t look any different from the other rookie groups (fashion-wise), but at the end of the day, any group’s success eventually comes down to their music. In that department, AA surely don’t disappoint.

Though their debut EP release only consists of three tracks, it’s still a better debut release compared to all the other rookie efforts. Here’s how I rate their songs:

1. Intro (0:47) – A cool, laidback vibe which gives you the impression that this is the attitude AA wants to go by

2. “Because I’m Crazy” (3:39) – The debut single follows the usual K-pop formula with its raving keyboards and swooping electronic sound, but despite that, it’s still a good uptempo song with great vocals. The rap falls a bit flat, mostly because the (English) lyrics don’t really make much sense. It didn’t win me over instantly but after two or three listens, I couldn’t stop replaying the song.- 3.5 out of 5

Edit: The MV is out!

All I can say is that the choreography is the weakest link in the video. It’s too feminine and just lacking energy. Otherwise, the light set looks quite good.

3. “Call Me” (3:13) – I actually like this song more than the above track. Mostly because it does away with the dance beats and really showcases the group’s vocals. It’s got a great, catchy chorus and you can’t help but mime the “na na na na na-na” and “do do do do-do” bits. I hope AA get a chance to perform this song live as it’s perfect for an acoustic performance, and it isn’t the kind of song one often hears from an idol group. – 4 out of 5

I’m not going to put a ‘final rating’ like I normally do with my usual k-pop reviews, but unless you really suck at math, you know the above scores average out pretty well.

For a lot of the new groups, it usually takes a year or so to really make an impact on the k-pop scene with a good song. Sometimes it’s because the smaller entertainment companies can’t often afford to buy rights to the “sure-fire hits” from top producers, until they make some money first. I don’t know who the musical talent behind AA are, but they surely have some confidence in these boys to get them off to a great start. Edit: Turns out member Aoora himself writes and composes the songs!

With just two songs, AA are now on my k-pop radar and I wish them much success. I just hope they keep getting better going into 2012!