August 2008 Archives

By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.net THAILAND is known for its beautiful beaches like Phuket and Ko Samui. Most tourists tend to stay near the country's fine shores instead of the countryside. In comparison, there are wonderful places in Thailand not often seen by visitors but are worthy of praise as the country's beaches. Seven hundred kilometers north of Bangkok is a land-locked city known as Chiang Mai. After visiting a couple of Thailand's beaches in the past, I got the chance to go to Chiang Mai recently. It takes about one hour by plane to reach the city or about a day's travel by bus. Lucky for me, I took the shorter and more comfortable way. My trip to Chiang Mai was part of an IT conference organized by IBM. I stayed at the wonderful Chiang Mai Shangri-La Hotel where most of IBM's partners and clients also stayed. The walk around the hotel alone was superb. The entire structure had been designed with historic Northern Thailand architecture in mind but with many modern touches. The path leading to the main entrance had four elephant sculptures that welcomed visitors. The façade had three tiered gazebos with wood shingles and designed to look like traditional temples.The hotel's backyard garden had very modern landscaping with trimmed grass, lined up palm trees, properly placed ferns and shrubs. However, a walk past the garden revealed dining areas with a few Thai motifs and just over a red brick wall is a huge pool that also had covered gazebos where swimmers can bath underneath aged roof panels. The elephant ornamentation is also widely present in the pool area. Shangri-La Hotel didn't spare any expense to build a luxurious spa area. Instead of having a room inside the hotel, the spa was built outside and was even more traditional in design than the hotel itself. Although I didn't get to have a genuine Thai massage I got to smell the herbal aroma emanating from inside. It would have been heavenly to experience it first hand. While the hotel offers a lot to its guests, luckily it is near the Kalare Night Bazaar, perhaps the busiest area in the whole of Chiang Mai. The first you'll notice here is its similarity to our own Greenhills kiosks, with dozens of shops peddling just about every kind of gifts, souvenirs, food and beverages. There are a few shops that sell unique items not usually, if at all, found in the Philippines. One that caught my eye is the scented colored soaps shaped into different and often familiar flowers. These colored soaps are placed inside globular containers, which also have their own unique designs. Too bad I wasn't able to get any of the sellers' numbers. These items would have been a hit in the Philippines. Kalare, by the way, is a huge place. Although one main road cuts right in the middle of the night bazaar, one could easily get lost in all the shops selling trinkets and toys, stalls that sell Thai street food, and even some stages with regular folk dance and puppet shows. It's never boring even though most of the shops are selling the same items. What makes this place appealing is that people can bargain for the items, which are already cheap as they are. One can already take home several items with only P1,000 (500 baht), more if you're willing to shell out another P1,000. Traveling around Kalare might be tiresome for others so there are vehicles called "tuktuk." These are motorcycles similar to our own tricycyles or “trikes” to some foreigners, but instead of a sidecar, the passenger carriage is at the back. For about 50 to 70 baht, the tuktuk driver can take you anywhere in Chiang Mai. The tuktuk became even more popular when it was featured in a Citibank card commercial starred by 007 actor Pierce Brosnan and Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi. Apart from the tuktuk, another method of going around is via 4x4 pickup truck fitted with a roof and seats on the side. These vehicles, called “songthaew,” are mostly Toyota Hilux pickup trucks. This seems to be a copycat of our own jeepney. Riding these pickups is actually like riding the jeepney in the Philippines. In such a short while, I've basically experienced a small part of Chiang Mai. According to a Thai local, there are other areas in Chiang Mai that could be visited, such as several Buddhist temples (called "wat" in Thai), the Elephant Nature Park, a weekend market along Rachadamnoen Road, and of course, dozens of massage parlors that provide genuine Thai massages. It would be a treat to come back to this city if only for the night market and the massage!

By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.net MANILA, Philippines -- An endangered species of crocodiles have joined other aquatic attractions at the Manila Ocean Park. Crocodylus mindorensis, otherwise known as the Philippine crocodile, were given a special pond at the giant oceanarium as part of a major conservation effort started by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). All of the five crocodiles are female and would primarily serve as conservation attractions. The juvenile crocodiles are about one meter long but can reach a length of 2.5 meters (7 feet) when fully grown. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has put the Philippine crocodile in the endangered species list. The species is suffering from hunting and loss of habitat. DENR Director for Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau Theresa Mundita Lim said there are only 100 Philippine crocodiles in the wild today. A few individual crocodiles are living for captive breeding. Lim said they will not be using the crocodiles from MOP for captive breeding but when they do reach maturity, these could be moved to another facility for that purpose. Lim said the Philippine crocodile, like other species of crocodiles and alligators, receive bad rep from most people. She said crocodiles are not ravenous man-eating animals but eat only when necessary. "They can conserve the food they eat to last them for a long time, that's why they would try to consume just as much as they can so they won't have to eat often," Lim added. Lim said that apart from the Philippine crocodile, the MOP and DENR are working on including some species of endangered sea turtles. However, no plans have been set as to when turtles will be included in MOP.

By Alexander Villafania INQUIRER.net THERE are lots of places to eat in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. In fact, almost every corner of the semi-rural atmosphere has one food stall or restaurant ranging from the familiar fastfood joints to the small local restaurants and the occasional coffee shops and bars. But if there is one place in Puerto Princesa that is worth every penny to go to, it's KaLui. Ask every tricycle driver in Puerto Princesa to take you to KaLui and they'll gladly give you a little history of the famed restaurant. As it is, KaLui is already 20 years old and is one of the city's oldest icons. It is only matched by another famed bistro, the Badjao Seafront. However, KaLui is more accessible, located along Rizal Avenue, which is a major thoroughfare traversing the entire length of the city. Many tricycles and jeeps go through here. Drivers will willingly drop you off close to the KaLui with a simple request. KaLui itself does not look striking at all; there are no large parking lots for cars and the walls are actually made up of wooden fences. The entrance, with a hanging signage of KaLui, is also made of light wooden panels. The restaurant looks like a large Bahay Kubo (thatched house) with extended roofed terrace where diners will be sitting. Upon entering the small "lobby," guests are requested to remove their shoes, socks and sandals; as everyone eats barefoot. Footwear are properly laid out at the lobby like in a Japanese teahouse, while others are placed in woven baskets. The floor of the entire restaurant is made up of bamboo slats that are regularly cleaned. There are various wooden dining tables and chairs in Kalui but among its unique features are the elevated porches with low tables and pillows for sitting instead of chairs. Many guests prefer these porches over tables but having these means calling up the restaurant and requesting for a spot in advance. Luis Oliva, owner of KaLui said that the design of his restaurant as well as the requirement to have footwear removed before entering is from his experience living in thatched houses. He also said that the distinctive feel of being at home would appeal to tourists who want to have a different eating experience outside normal methods of chairs, tables and air conditioned rooms. KaLui has no windows, giving every guest unobstructed view of the surrounding gardens. Watch this video interview with Oliva.
"The environment has to be cozy because this makes people enjoy their food even more," said Oliva. Of course, the main gist of going to KaLui is the food. Unlike restaurants with set menus, Oliva said that his menu changes everyday depending on the catch. He prints out new menu (even the date is printed) after his staff gets ingredients from the nearest market each day. The idea is to treat people with something new depending on what was freshly caught for that day. Oliva said he advocates healthy living so he does not serve any red meats. Instead, all of his recipes are seafood, fruits and vegetables. He does have regular selections, including blue marlin, tuna belly, and Lapu-Lapu (grouper). He also has fresh crustaceans, such as shrimps, crabs and lobsters. These are poached, grilled, sautéed, served in sizzling hot plates, and steamed into different kinds of foods. Various fruits and vegetables are also available. In fact, he serves an all-vegetable plate for the pickiest of vegans. Although his selections are few, his servings are huge and would be way below the usual price range of many seafood restaurants. For example, his grilled blue marlin is a huge 400 gram chunk of fish that when bought in a fancy restaurant in Manila would cost about P400 to P600. Oliva only charges P200 for this. One of his innovative items in his menu is the seafood lumpia, which is a mix of fish, shrimp and squid. Six pieces of these sumptuous delicacies only costs P150. Unless a guest is a real bottomless pit for stomach, a customer will not have to pay any more than P300 for a superb dining experience in KaLui. KaLui also serves fresh fruit shakes, fresh young coconut, calamansi juice, pinnacled, and his unique fruit plate, which is composed of slices of pineapples, watermelons, and bananas stuffed in half a head of young coconut, then sprinkled with muscovado sugar. With the growing tourism traffic in Puerto Princesa, it would be no surprise if it becomes even harder to book a spot in KaLui. Perhaps it's time for KaLui to physically expand to accommodate more people. This might turn off KaLui's more finicky patrons who want peace and quiet while eating their favorite chow. But until that happens, those who get a chance to visit Puerto Princesa will have to experience KaLui and see for themselves the unique experience that is Palawan.

CATCH several teams from the Philippine Daily Inquirer and INQUIRER.net race in Day 1 of the Rush Hour Commute.

The objective of the race is to determine the fastest and cheapest commute in three routes in Metro Manila during a rush hour.

“Rush Hour Commute” is a project of the Philippine Daily Inquirer with the help of sister company INQUIRER.net. The idea behind the project was brought about by the recent hike in fares instituted by the government, according to Juan Sarmiento Jr., PDI senior desk editor and the project’s leader.