chin swee cave temple

**how to get to chinswee:

once you're in genting highlands, there's a FREE shuttle in one of the hotels there...i think the bus can be found across the parking lot fronting genting hotel ... just ask from the hotel's staff.

the bus ride is around 10-20 minutes, winding down the mountain's slope. during our visit, it was very foggy ... we even experienced occasional rain showers.


sharing some of the pictures during our visit last october 2008.

**TAN SRI LIM GOH TONG Hall Marker**

**Happy Buddha**


**GOH TONG Hall Door**

**Paintings and Carvings**


**Journey to Enlightenment**



**Donation Box**

pasig river cruise: structures

some of the structures on the riverbank.

*Manila's Post Office Building*


*Guadalupe's Housing Project*


*Tanks at Seaoil Depot*


*Tower Cranes going to URC Area*


*Noah's Sugar Refinery*


*Old ... Worn Out Building*


*Escolta Station*


*FEATI University*


*Cardinal Sin's Village*


*Isetann Department Store*

pasig river cruise: bridges

London Bridge Is falling down,
Falling down, Falling down.
London Bridge Is falling down,
My fair lady.






London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, Falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.

Take a key and lock her up,
Lock her up, Lock her up.
Take a key and lock her up,
My fair lady.




How will we build it up,
Build it up, Build it up,
How will we build it up,
My fair lady?

Build it up with gold and silver,
gold and silver, gold and silver.
Build it up with gold and silver,
My fair lady.



Gold and silver I have none,
I have none, I have none.
Gold and silver I have none,
My fair lady.

Build it up with pins and needles,
pins and needles, pins and needles.
Build it up with pins and needles,
My fair lady.



Pins and needles bend and break,
Bend and break, Bend and break.
Pins and needles bend and break,
My fair lady.

Build it up with wood and clay,
Wood and clay, Wood and clay.
Build it up with wood and clay,
My fair lady.



Wood and clay will wash away,
Wash away, Wash away.
Wood and clay will wash away,
My fair lady.

Build it up with stone so strong,
Stone so strong, Stone so strong.
Build it up with stone so strong,
My fair lady.



Stone so strong will last so long,
Last so long, Last so long.
Stone so strong will last so long,
My fair lady.

* from wikipedia

pasig river cruise: boats and ferries

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.




how many versions of this famous nursery rhyme do you know?



*Alternate Version:
Row, row, row the boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily merrily merrily merrily
Up and down the stream

Row, row, row the boat
Gently down the stream
If you see a waterfall
Don't forget to scream

Row, row, row the boat
Gently down the river
If you see a polar bear
Don't forget to shiver

Row, row, row the boat
Gently to the shore
If you see a lion
Don't forget to roar

Row, row, row the boat
Gently in the bath
If you see a spider
Don't forget to laugh

Row, row, row the boat
Gently as can be
'Cause if you're not careful
You'll fall into the sea!

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the lake
Don't stand up and rock the boat
That's a big mistake!

Row, row, row the boat
Gently down the stream
Throw your teachers overboard
And listen to them scream!

Rock, rock, rock your boat
Gently down the stream
Watch out, give a shout,
Into the water you go!

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream. or Underneath the stream."
Ha! Ha! Fool'd ya all!
I'm a submarine.

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the brook.
If you catch a little fish,
Let it off the hook.



*King Friday XIII's version as shown on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood:
Propel, propel, propel your craft,
Unforcefully down the liquid solution.
Ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically,
Existence is merely an illusion.



*Don Music from Sesame Street Version:
Drive, drive, drive your car,
Gently down the street.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a treat.



*Mr. Bean in Bean (film) Version:
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
If you see a crocodile,
Don't forget to scream.
Argh!



*Lit.George in Blackadder goes Forth Version:
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Belts off, Trousers down,
Isn't life a scream.
HEY!





*from wikipedia

pasig river cruise: ferry stations

i have been bugging B about trying this pasig river "cruise" for months. we even searched for the exact location of the HULO ferry station since this is the nearest station to us ... and has been mentioned on several blogs that i have read as a good starting point for this trip ... unfortunately, B was not available for this trip :(


straight from work, my colleague and i boarded a taxi and asked the driver to bring us to the ferry station.

note: be careful. i would say that there are two types of stations. one is associated with the pasig ferries and the other one is for those small wooden boats meant to carry passengers crossing from one side of the river to the other. don't worry here are some pictures of the stations so you have an idea how they would look like.


most of the stations have the same facade ... if i'm not mistaken except for quiapo (see picture below) and bambang station (floating station) ... i'm not sure about kalawaan and intramuros ... we were suppose to go to kalawaan but we ended at bambang so we could catch the next ferry.



there are comfort rooms inside the stations. picture taking is not allowed inside though.

some stations issue tickets that are bar coded while others issue a stub-like. however, both would display the amount and station where you're bounded to.

we took the following trips:

• hulo-bambang (24-jan-09),
  
• bambang-escolta (24-jan-09)
• escolta-bambang (25-jan-09).

for ferry schedules and fare matrix, click here.

binondo food trip

when: (2009) January 24 and Janaury 25
where: binondo, manila

we went to binondo last weekend to have a glimpse of how the filipino-chinese community celebrate chinese new year ... and we ended up indulging with chinese cuisines.

here are some of what we ordered/ate/bought during our 2-day binondo walkathon.

SAVORY RESTAURANT
address: Escolta corner Plaza de Moriaga Sts., +63 2 3091053 to 55
half fried chicken: PhP 160

pansit canton guisado: PhP180
personal comment: fried chicken tastes like it was turbo-broiled + roasted + fried and i love the pickled radish that comes as its siding.

SINCERITY RESTAURANT
address: 497 Yuchengco St., +63 2 241990/2419972
fried chicken: PhP300 (whole), PhP150 (half)
pansit : PhP250 (small), PhP360 (medium), PhP500 (large), PhP650 (xl)
personal comment: fried chicken is more of the fastfood type ... because of the breading/coating. the pansit was quite soggy ... but nonetheless, both tasted good. we even got a big bowl of almond jelly dessert for FREE!


SHANGHAI FRIED SIOPAO
address: Ongpin St. Look for the yellow sign on the picture
bola-bola siopao: Php15
personal comment: it's not really that "fried" ... only the bottom part ... and it's quick fried. if you would compare it with fried dumplings, it's not the crunchy type.



HOPIA at ENG BEE TIN
address: 628 Ongpin cor E.T. Yuchengco St. (beside Binondo Church), +63 2 2429765 to 66
website: www.engbeetin.com
flavors: ube (yam) is one of the best sellers. there's also monggo, choco-peanut, mochaccino, ube-queso, ube-langka, ube-pastillas
prices range from PhP38-above, depends on the flavor
personal comment: i love the ube and monggo flavored hopia.

TIKOY
flavors: original white, ube, pandan, butterscotch
prices range from PhP40-above, depends on the size and flavor


FROGS
address: LSA Fastfood (one of the eateries near the creek ... look for the signage)
fried frogs: PhP110 for 4 pieces
personal comment: my first serving of frogs and they do taste like chicken

pasig river cruise: schedule and fare matrix

for those who are interested, here are the trip schedules and fare matrix.
(as of 25-January-2009)

a. pasig ferry's schedules for each station:

• weekdays

• saturdays
  

• sundays
  

b. pasig ferry's fare matrix:

c. for inquiries: