An Afternoon in Boljoon

From the side of the church

Yesterday, I was finally able to tick Boljoon off my list of towns to visit in Cebu. With my sister and our ever supportive father, we walked around town and even got to see a waterfall!

The Nuestra Señora del Patrocinio de Maria Parish Church  or better known as Boljoon Church was built in 1599 and served as a visita of Carcar until it was declared a parish in 1690 by the Augustinians. Administration of the church was transferred to the Jesuits in 1737 but the Augustinians returned in 1747 and claimed the church from the Jesuits. The church was declared as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Institute in 1999, and was listed as a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines in 2001.  It is the only church in Cebu listed as a National Cultural Treasure. 

Escuela Catolica. The 4 PM sunlight gave the former school an eerie look

A few meters from the church was the Escuela Catolica. Built in 1940, it served as a dorm for children receiving instructions on taking their first communion. It served as a place for religious teaching and as a school. Currently, it served as a meeting place for various religious  groups of the parish. 

The door to El Gran Baluarte

Across Escuela Catolica is the El Gran Baluarte, the largest extant Spanish watchtower in the Philippines. Built in 1808, the watchtower served as command center of Fr. Julian Bermejo, OSA while he defended the Visayan seas.

After walking around the parish complex, we looked for Ili Rock as we read on one of the markers that Ili Rock can be seen looming over the horizon. When we found out where Ili Rock is, we were saddened by the damage done to the natural fortress in an effort to make better roads. :(

Driving deeper into Boljoon, we got to Sitio Ylaya, where the waters of Dayhag Falls refreshed our bodies after a long day of trekking, driving and getting lost. 

It was great seeing my sister and my father having fun. With our busy schedules, we don't go out together these days but I am glad that we made time to actually push through this short trip, rain or shine. :)

Where is Ili Rock? Boljoon's Vanishing Landmark

Ili rock :(

We visited the town of Boljoon with the intention of seeing the historic Boljoon Church and Escuela Catolica. As we were walking around the parish grounds, we read on one of the markers that Ili rock looms on the horizon of Boljoon. We looked around us and asked ourselves, "where is Ili rock?" After a little research, that's when we found out that Ili rock was once a huge rock formation until the local government decided to excavate and remove parts of it to make a road. We understand the intention of the government for better roads but seeing the damage done to Ili rock makes you think that there has to be other ways to improve roads and highways without the need to destroy nature. Ili rock has served as a natural fortress for many years. We should learn to protect and preserve what nature has provided to us.

Getting Lost and Finding Dayhag Falls

Rice Fields in Sitio Ylaya

Sister had fun. Mission accomplished.

The original plan was to visit Aguinid falls in Samboan but after talking to the caretaker in Escuela Catolica who said that they have a waterfall in Boljoon, we decided to visit Dayhag Falls instead. After asking for directions, we drove off to find Dayhag Falls. We kept on driving and after it seems like we're almost at the end of Boljoon, we asked for directions from one of the passersby. Big mistake. It seems like not everyone in Boljoon knows where Dayhag falls was and we've been given directions to Aguinid falls all along. When we've reached the end of Boljoon, we decided to ask for directions to the Boljoon public market instead (as the caretaker said the waterfall is near the public market). When we got to the public market, there were no signages that point to Dayhag falls so we asked around again. Luckily, one of the habal-habal drivers know where Dayhag falls was so we were finally on the right way. After 30 minutes of driving, we've finally reached Sitio Ylaya. 

The waterfall has five levels. Levels one to three have dipping pools where most kids stay and play in the water. Levels four and five is where the fun starts. Level four has calcium deposits that added to the beauty of the waterfall. It looked a bit like the top level of Aguinid falls and I understood why some people would mistake Dayhag falls for Aguinid. There were bats inside the crevices but nevertheless, we took a dip on the shallow water pool.  

Level five wasn't as picturesque  as level four but we had fun rappelling up and down the waterfall. It wasn't very high but it was a challenge for someone who last rappelled in 2014 and has a fear of drowning (aka me -.-).  I should really get over my fear of drowning one of these days.

Welcome to Dayhag Falls!

Level four of five.

Level five of five.

How to get there: From Boljoon public market, drive to the bridge. You will see a signage that says Palanas. Turn right and keep right whenever you see a fork in the road.  When lost, just ask for directions to Dayhag falls or Sitio Ylaya.

Entrance fees: None as of writing

Selamat Malaysia!

We headed for Batu Caves early to avoid the tourist crowd and the heat of the 10 AM sun. We walked towards the Kuala Lumpur KMUTER station and grabbed food from a food stall on Central Market to eat along the way. The train stops exactly on Batu Caves. We were happy that save for two other ladies, we got the whole place to ourselves. We wore sarongs and climbed up the steps to see what's inside the cave. There were free roaming monkeys everywhere but they didn't bother us. We headed back down as the first wave of tourists started arriving.

    

For lunch, we headed to Limapulo: Baba Can Cook for some Nyonya Laksa. We arrived too early as the place was still closed but we got to chit chat with Uncle John. He was very friendly. He asked us how we heard of his place as it's not everyday that he gets to see Filipino tourists dropping by for some laksa. We also talked about traveling around Asia and exchanged travel tips. He also introduced us to Maria, one of his waitstaff, who was from the Philippines. We talked about her life working outside the country and about what's going on in the Philippines (Elections!). When the bowl of laksa was served, it smelled heavenly. When we tasted it, we literally had a foodgasm! We finished the entire bowl in  just a few minutes. People have formed a line waiting to be seated so we said our thank you's to Uncle John and Maria and went off.

We walked around Berjaya Times Square while looking for the mall's indoor roller coaster. We found it and Kaye tried to convince me to ride it but I'm too full I might vomit with all the movement. We went back to the hotel to freshen up and rest.

Our next stop was Merdeka Square but since we passed by Central Market, we stopped for awhile at Central Market to shop for souvenirs (fridge magnets and postcards). We had popiah and iced coffee before wandering off to Merdeka Square.

On our way to Merdeka Square, I secretly hoped that the place won't be crowded. Luckily, we arrived just in time for the last tour bus to leave. We sat on the grassy field and watched kids playing with their parents/nannies. We fast-walked back to our hotel when it started to drizzle.

Sultan Abdul Samad Building

Street's empty so we got to experiment with some pano tricks

Read about our first day in Malaysia here.

Touchdown, Malaysia!

Our adventure in Kuala Lumpur began with a visit to the Church of The Holy Rosary. Despite its population generally practicing Islam, Malaysia is home to other religions too, as evidenced by the presence of places of worship of other religions. After saying our prayers, we walked to Restoran Yarl to have lunch.

Restoran Yarl is a self-service restaurant run by Sri Lankan Tamils. Food is served in pots and trays on the side, and you take a dish and fill it up. The owners of the restaurant are friendly. Despite the language barrier, they tried to talk to us and answered our questions about the food and a bit of what brought them to Malaysia. Kaye and I shared a plate and this is what we had:

Forgive me for not taking note of their names but this is what we had

We ate with our hands and after getting our stomachs filled, we headed towards Citin Seacare Pudu to freshen up and catch some much needed sleep.

Petronas in the afternoon!

After a very relaxing sleep, we woke up at 5:00 PM and headed for the Petronas Towers. We strolled around KLCC park, took photos and watched people passing by. We also looked around Suria KLCC and had dinner at the food court. We had Nasi Goreng and Roti (No photos 'cause we were so hungry!). We got curious as to why there was a long line for Old Town Coffee so we also had some iced coffee and finally understood why there was a long line. The coffee was so good and having it iced in the middle of summer was so refreshing and energizing. There was also a fifteen-minute lights and water show on Symphony Lake just outside Suria KLCC. The water and lights "dancing" to the music was mesmerizing. We stayed there for two full cycles of the water show before heading off to Heli Lounge bar for drinks and good music.

Heli Lounge bar is located on the 34th floor of the Menara KH building. It took us a good 30-minute walk from Suria KLCC to Menara KH. When we got to Menara KH, the place looked closed for the day ( We arrived at 9:00 PM). There weren't any signs that say that Heli Lounge bar was still open and knowing it's Sunday, we thought that the bar was also closed. Luckily, there was a security guard and he directed us to the elevator and up we went to the 34th floor.

Cheers to day 1 of our first international trip to
 a country both of us has never been to :D

I am not sure if there was a dress code but everyone else was fancily dressed (we were in shorts, Sanuks and tees). We weren't asked to leave too so I guess we are dressed appropriately. We were received in an indoor lounge were they took our orders. We requested to be seated on the rooftop (the helipad) and luckily, there was a vacant table for us. True enough, the 360' view of Kuala Lumpur from the rooftop was breathtaking. You can see the Petronas Towers as well as the Menara KL tower. I can only imagine the views had we visited during sunset. We stayed there for about two hours and talked about how life has been on each other's side of the world. We walked to the hotel and prepared for day two of our adventure in Malaysia.