Melting in Malta: Mellieha

the plan to visit malta came about when i found out that our family lawyer - a friend of my college friend - just moved there. she diligently helped us on my son's case and i really wanted to personally meet her and thank her.

the small country, while pretty dense for its size, doesn't get a lot of love from tourists. thanks to game of thrones, the country became a subject of curiosity and more visitors had been visiting steadily. since i've planned to visit with lovro, i knew that we couldn't do much and allocated only 6 days. but after that trip, i realized that was a mistake. there was so much to see and do in malta that we could have easily taken 2 weeks. 6 days felt quite rushed, especially with my limited mobility, my 4 year old and that wicked summer sun. nevertheless, we made the most out of it.

Mellieha

our first stop was in mellieha. i wanted to take lovro to see the popeye village and so i decided to stay close by, and based on what i've found online, this town has a beautiful coastline and is famous for its beaches. just a short bus ride to cirkewwa and a ferry ride away from there is the popular blue lagoon, a spot in comino island just off the coast that is known for its azure-colored water. we arrived in the afternoon and i have arranged for an airport pick-up with the owner of the apartment. the driver announced that it was 42 degrees outside and as we drove by i couldn't help but notice that the land was barren. there were hilly views but they're mostly brown from lack of vegetation, and trees were few and short. the apartment owner greeted us and explained all we needed to know about our stay, and his living room was filled with a million flyers of things to do all over malta. it was perfect because i have not really prepared much for this trip and was thinking to just wing it.

summer days are long, and lovro did not want to nap, so after a bit of rest we decided to explore the area. i was told of a playground nearby, and thought the little one could use a bit of playtime. it will be two blocks away, he said, after the church. what he didn't explain was how beautiful the facade and courtyard of this church was! it was the sanctuary of our lady of mellieħa.

when you exit the church patio, the beautiful coastal view awaits. like a wonderful surprise. and at the end of the road, next to the cemetery, we finally spot the playground. a playground with a view, at that!

that evening we had a dinner date with Catherine, and i booked a table at the second highest-rated restaurant in TripAdvisor, Rebekah's. i had the chef special of traditional maltese rabbit dish. food was great, and the company better.

Comino Cruise

when i spoke to our host about a plan to spend the whole day in popeye village, his immediate response was NO. he figured the 'park' is too small to spend a whole day at, and suggested that we go only in the late afternoon. the heat would also not make it enjoyable for lovro, he stressed. so in the morning i've decided why not take a cruise to comino (or anywhere, really) to see what the whole blue lagoon buzz was all about. i was preparing breakfast when the couple occupying the other room in the apartment came around and we chat for a bit. they were heading to cirkewwa that morning, and offered to take us there since they rented a car. there was a comino ferries co-op booth and the boat ride costed only about 9 euros round-trip so we opted for it. 

the blue lagoon looked great in the flyer photos but even more amazing to see with your own eyes. 

the beach was of course packed with tourists, but that was expected for such a beautiful place in the height of summer. and for 9 euros to get there, i can't really complain. i initially thought of not even having to leave the boat and just cruise back immediately, as i wasn't sure if lovro was going to like it. but he did, and he himself asked that we get off and hang out by the beach and eat some fries. 

it was scorching hot by the time we had to leave, but we needed to go back to the apartment as we had a date for our next agenda for the day.

Popeye Village

Catherine agreed to join us for this trip. she said she's always wanted to go there but it didn't seem fun to go without bringing a kid along. popeye village is actually the film set of the 1980 musical which was converted to a theme park and became a major tourist attraction in malta. initially our host said that if we visit late in the afternoon we only pay half the price. but that was not the case - we still paid 17 euros. maybe for locals?

we arrived around 4, and the village closes at 7. luckily it's small enough that we didn't feel rushed and still managed to see almost everything. we could've taken it slower though, but with the sun melting us away, that wouldn't have been so fun either. 

there was a floating playground but i believe you'd have to pay extra to go there. we weren't prepared to get soaked though - i didn't bring swimsuit. plus, lovro the scaredy cat didn't want to go there. 

we saved the best for last. we went for a boat ride which gave visitors a good view of the village from the sea. also, anchor bay is really beautiful. the boat ride is included in the entry ticket.

we managed to be out the door just as they've announced that the village is about to close. we took some more photos of the magnificent village before we headed to the bus stop, only to realize that the bus will take 20 minutes to arrive. luckily, a guy driving a coach passed by and asked people where they'd be going. he took a few of us who were probably going towards the same direction and charged us 2 euros each. in the philippines, we call this kind of transport agreement as "colorum". interesting to see this exists in this more ancient side of the world too. 😆

bye bye popeye village

Turning Two in Thailand

My parents in law expressed their desire to visit in March and celebrate Lovro's birthday. They've been in Singapore a few times and thought it'll be special to make it a holiday birthday celebration this time. After much thought - and probably as an escape from the long running winter - we decided on a beach destination: Krabi.

While I've been to Krabi a few times I never get bored of it. The lovely beaches, the island hop, Thai food and people. This is one place I can keep visiting and it'll always be exciting. My MIL worried if going back would open healing wounds - since Floris and I spent my birthday there once - but I decided not to embrace sorrow but have a new experience with my son. 

this view never gets old

As this holiday was all about sand and sea we learned soon enough that Lovro hates sand! He won't step on it at all costs, and even when we're submerged in the water he'd have to be carried. Ugh! Luckily he enjoyed feeding the fishes and snacking during boat rides.

fish feeding

We stayed a few nights in phi phi island then moved over to Ao nang beach. It proved to be quite a tiring experience for the poor boy, and he ended up not having much energy to do much on his actual birthday. Luckily a good friend came by the next day and we went for elephant trekking, which he enjoyed surprisingly.

no qualms about trekking

We wrapped up the trip with a relaxed day by the beach, but we were in a fancy bar and Lovro didn't have to step on sand - so he enjoyed it!

All in all we stayed for 6 days and while Lovro didn't enjoy the beaches so much, he enjoyed having all the attention of the nice Thai people at the places where we stayed and dined, and of course all the love from his mama, omi and opa. Probably no beach holiday for a while until he learns to appreciate sand :)

bye for now, thailand!

weekend in langkawi

when i met honey he was about to embark on a backpacking trip to malaysia. one of the places he couldn't visit for that trip was langkawi, so he kept it on the list. and since langkawi is a mere 90 minute flight from singapore i thought why not cross this one out while lovro is not here? so off to langkawi i went, but only for the weekend.

given that time was limited, my only priority for the trip was to get to the sky bridge because that was specifically what hon wanted to see. my friend jo and i first thought of doing this the day after but since the hotel we stayed at was pretty close to the oriental village - which is where you need to get into the cable car to get up the bridge - it was the first thing we did.

the way up

langkawi sky bridge is a curved pedestrian bridge that rests at 660m above sea level. when you get off the cable car you'll be presented with two options - either climb up a bit more to get to the platform deck or walk down to get to the sky bridge. we went to the bridge first, since it was gonna close at 5:30 and we're a bit out of time. 

it gets a little tricky when you start to walk around. at first i thought i'm alright, but i could feel my knees started to feel a bit jellyish whenever i try to look down. so i guess, you shouldn't do that! the view is spectacular though, so it's definitely worth it. 

don't look down

it was also a great timing because even though we did wait for some time to get into the cable car, the crowd wasn't so bad when you get up there. so there was a lot of room for taking photos without much obstruction. 

we were pretty tired after that, more than we expected. going back up to the station to get into the cable car was a pretty good hike. when we returned to the hotel, i opted for the beach and pool while jo was room-bound. no issue though, i did enjoy my alone time. 

sunset by the beach - never gets old

sunday was lazy day. which originality meant just hanging around the pool and beach area. instead, we were glued to our hotel room watching the truman show. when we got out it was mid-day already and the sun was glaring. which meant great beach photos. we were also lucky that one of the hotel staff is a pinoy guy - he talked to us in tagalog and then offered to serve us some mocktails. why yes, thank you. 

it always tastes better when it's free

there it was. short and sweet. and crossed off the list. and if i could find cheap flights again, i'd go back with lovro. 

my dad's home province

i have to admit, i haven't really explored much of my own home country. i guess it's that mindset that you're from there, so you'd want to see things from somewhere else. i'm actually pretty happy with the advent of budget airlines - especially in the philippines. the local travel scene has blossomed so much because of all the fare promotions. i see that my friends who live in manila seem to be going to town after town, weekend after weekend. if i still live there, i probably would've been one of those lakwatseras (itchy feet) :)

so when i went home for the holidays, my sister and i agreed that we will finally give in to my dad's suggestion to do a road trip to ilocos. i have been there before with my friend, but i reckon it will be an entirely different experience this time that we will drive to get there, and with my family. ilocos is in the northern-most part of the philippines and it's almost 600 kilometers away from where my parents live now. the very long provincial highway is being compared to the famous great ocean road in australia - long, winding, scenic and seabreez-y! i didn't have much privilege to enjoy this as i was driving, but the constant ooohhhs and aaahhhs from my family was convincing enough.

courtesy of wiki

we left home at 9 in the morning of the first day of the year, and arrived at vigan, ilocos sur around half past 7 in the evening. very few, quick stops were made as we really didn't want to get there too late. we headed to the town plaza to grab dinner and a quick stroll to the spanish houses. it was so different than when i was there 6 years ago! it was more exciting with all the lights and people buzzing around, but also a little more commercialized with all those fast food and restaurants. not to mention, the spanish houses used to be very old and regal. now there were new additions that try to get the same classic feel but you know that they were just recently constructed. i was kinda disappointed that there are now a few hotels in that row itself. it was once a nostalgic walk to have.

spanish houses

my dad's hometown is actually caoayan, ilocos sur - which was a mere 5 minute drive from vigan. we were plastered and headed to bed early that night, but woke up pretty early the next morning. everybody was excited to take a stroll along the black sand beach, which was a mere 2 minute walk from my auntie's house!

good morning, sunshine

aside from the beach, we were looking forward to lunch time. my dad promised that the 'boys' will cook seafood lunch and boy did the boys deliver! 

seafood lunch - do it like a dude

we left ilocos sur after two nights and headed further up to ilocos norte. the north had more things to offer for tourists. they even have tourist centers in almost every town in this province, and that was pretty cool. we didn't do a lot of research on where to go, so these tourist posts were very helpful.

our first stop in ilocos norte was batac - the hometown of former president ferdinand marcos. we visited his mausoleum and was told that it was him lying there still, covered now in wax to preserve him better. at least, that is the press release. some people believe it's just a wax replica. we couldn't take pictures, so i wouldn't be able to ask for a second opinion :P

ferdie and me. not bad, huh?

after batac we headed to paoay. we visited Malacañang of the north. Malacañang is the the philippines' counterpart of the white house - this is where the first family lives. when president marcos was in office, he had this house in paoay setup as the official first family refuse whenever they are up north. the house was very simple but elegant. i thought the 30 peso entrance was worth the time.

living room

view of paoay lake from the house

we also visited the paoay sand dunes. the 4x4 ride was pretty awesome! our driver/tour guide offered for me to get my hands on driving the mean machine, too bad that i don't drive m/t. argh!

enter sandman

sandboarding

we left paoay a bit later than planned, because we enjoyed the sand dunes too much. causing us to arrive in pagudpud a bit late in the evening, and we were welcomed with mild showers and GPS playing a joke on us - taking us to some remote village which could very well be THE VILLAGE. yikes.

we stayed at saud beach, the more popular one among the three beaches in pagudpud. the waves are a bit too strong for relaxed swimming, but the beach is pretty.

totally worth the long drive

as we didn't have the luxury of time, we packed the day with visits to nearby places. 

the bangui windmills are so cool!  and with beautiful skies that day, we had really awesome photos.

it was very windy - they weren't kidding

we were curious about the kapurpurawan rock formation so we popped by. kapurpurawan is an ilocano word for superior whiteness. thanks for the translation, dad!

picturesque

finally on the way back home, we went to visit the laoag town proper. i felt that it was lovelier in my previous visit, though i couldn't really figure out what changed. must be just the feeling of seeing it the first time. didn't spend much time here though, just a quick trip to the sinking bell tower and the church.

laoag town plaza

sinking bell tower

speaking of churches, ilocos got plenty of them old churches. we saw the one in vigan, laoag and the most famous of all - paoay. i'm not a religious person, but i do find beauty in old churches. there is a certain sense of serenity when you visit one.

vigan church

inside vigan church

laoag church

inside laoag church

paoay church

inside paoay church

and of course the trip would not be complete without pasalubong (souvenirs). ilocos is famous for a bunch of treats including bagnet (roasted pork), sukang iloko (spiced vinegar), tinubong (sticky rice inside a bamboo), royal bibingka (rice cake) and chichacorn (semi-popped glutinous corn snack). most of the said items have made their way into the stomach of some people in singapore, who digested them happily.

all in all it was an exhausting trip, with long hours on the road, behind the wheel, taking in both happiness and drama (and cough-inducing virus) with my family. worth it? definitely.