Temporary Farewell to Goa

Well, i would say that i did learn a lot from my adventures in Goa. Gained new friends too. But i would say, the beaches here are yet to be visited by the tourists i expected. Good start for Goa and fresh start in my next quest.Where? Please check the link in this blog in the days to come :)

Lawrence and the beaches

October 19, 2006

Here I am again with Lawrence, today we will visit the Old Goa, which we should have visited yesterday but we didn’t have enough time.

But before we go there, I asked him if I can see Coco Beach, so we went first to Coco Beach, I thought it’s a busy beach because of the name, but I was surprised when we get there, all I saw are rocks and sand, no people swimming on the beach, he said this is not a beach for swimming, the owners of the house near this beach are rich people of Goa, who like to have a good view of the sea, that’s why they built their house here, and also this place is very quiet, far from the busy and noise of the city.

Then we went to Old Goa where we can see the St. Francis Xavier Church, the oldest church in Goa, he said this church was built while Goa is still under Portuguese government.

But before going there we have to use a small barge to cross the river, he said this is the shortest and fastest way going there from Coco Beach. Its fun coz its like you were on a table only transferring to another place. There are no waves that’s why its safe, even though the front of the barge was not brought down.

Then we went to St. Francis Xavier’s church, this is where you can find and see the remains of St. Francis Xavier, the people of this church are very strict, they won’t allow people to have a picture inside the church, you can have some photos of the church or even the tomb of St. Xavier but without a person.

After here we went for a little merienda, then we went home, again, we went to his house first then I dropped him there and then I went home to have some rest.

Moviehouse and Church Visits

October 18, 2006

Here I am now with Lawrence; he will accompany me and tour me in the capital of Goa, Panaji.

First we visited the famous and new movie house here, its called “Inox” its smells new, hehe.. the guard won’t allow me to take pictures inside so I only have a picture of the place outside, quite strict huh?

Then Lawrence took me to Don Bosco School, where I saw some students playing football, and then he drove in the city, took picture of some establishments here, mostly are wine stores, dealers of cashew nuts, textile shops, appliance store, but no department store or shopping malls. He also took me to Panaji church, St. Ana Churh and St. Xavier Church.

After here, I asked him if we can visit Vagator beach, so we went there, I only saw few people swimming, some are playing cricket and some kids are playing on the sand,
What’s not nice about this beach is that, when you took some photos you will have to pay like 300 rupees for the person/s who are in charge of the beach, Lawrence said that’s their rate for tourists and foreigners, but he said he saw his friend there so we will just pay 100 rupees, he said the half of the payment goes to the government people and the other half goes to them, I don’t know if that’s true but I paid 100 rupees anyway. Uso din lagayan dito. Hehehe..

After here we went home, I brought him to his house which is in Mapusa, 3-4 kms. From my house, then I went home to take a rest.

Goa Mariott and my first Kingfisher Beer!

October 17, 2006

Hello people, here I am chatting with my boss in Manila, he mentioned about some 5 star hotels in Goa, and since I’m thinking of going to Panaji, the capital of Goa, I can visit some of the hotels which are in Panaji area.

My 1st stop in Panaji is Dona Paula beach, this beach is not for swimmers, most of the people here are taking some pictures of the sea view and there are some clothes which you can buy. There are also some motor boats which you can rent for some water adventure.

After here I visited Goa Mariott hotel. Not so many tourists are here, there are guests but some are Indian national also.

After here I went to Miramar Beach, again, there are only few people on the beach, locals mostly.

Then I went straight to Fort Aguada, I thought itheres a beach there, when I got there I only saw a Fort, like Fort Santiago of Intramuros, although the walls are not as long as Intramuros, I also saw the light house here.

Then, I went to Candolim and Sinquerim beach, Candolim is just a continuation of Sinquerim Beach, in Candolim, there are few people swimming but mostly locals, in Sinquerim beach, there are no swimmers but you can try some water sports like parasailing, jet ski, speed boating, etc.

After here I went home already, quite tired, had a long day visiting places in Panaji and other beaches.

When I was on my room, I looked at my Goa map, and I’ve almost visited all the beaches in north and central Goa, there are more beaches in south Goa, but its too far from my place, so I decided to get some information about south Goa, I called Derrick, whom I rented the scooter I’m using, invited him for a drink and some foods. Its nice coz he accepted my invitation, so he went to my room and he fetched me, he took me to a place where we can talk and share some stories, he called his other friend also his name is Lawrence, coz Lawrence also know some places in Goa that might help me with my adventure here. After some bottles of Kingfisher beer, that’s their famous and local beer, served only in Goa, Derrick brought me to my house and he said Lawrence will accompany me tomorrow to take a tour of Panaji, the capital of Goa. He also said he will accompany me to go to South Goa on Sunday, because that’s the only day he is free.

Rainy Day

October 16, 2006

Good morning! Here I am waking up still not feeling 100% fit. Have to take my breakfast so I can take my medicines, nabinat ata when I went out yesterday. But no worries I’m not that really ill, I’m just concerned on my mosquito bites, I had some on my arms, quite scared coz there are some cases of Malaria here, I remember Angela whom I met in my flight from Hongkong to Mumbai, that Malaria is one of the fatal illness here in India, that’s also what she’s worried about, I just hope this bites will not lead to Malaria. Cross my fingers.

Anyway, here I am now finishing my reports on my laptop, so I won’t take longer time using the internet. After I had my lunch I went out to go online, had some problems on the connection coz the power is off sometimes, uso din dito ang brown outs, after going on line, I’m thinking of going to Candolim and Sinquerim Beach.

While I was on my way to those beaches it started to rain hard, I just don’t know why it is raining here now that I’m here, the other day it rained; now it’s raining again. This is not going to be good if it keeps on raining, it will also show that there will be less number of people going to the beaches. I have no choice but to turn back and go home, I still have colds and I don’t want to suffer more or end up having a fever.

ARAMBOL BEACH

Sadness at Calangute

October 15, 2006

Good morning! It’s a sick Sunday for me, here I am waking up with a slight fever, I’m thankful I brought some medicines with me, In few minutes I’ll have my breakfast and it’s scrambled eggs and breads courtesy of Ms. Maria, so I can drink my medicines.

While resting and observing my condition, I’m studying the map of Goa, which I got from the bank where I changed my money. Since its Sunday, I’m thinking of going to Panaji, the capital of Goa. I might see some shopping malls or convenience stores which I can talk to regarding Beach Hut.

After lunch I decided to go to Panaji, I’m feeling quite better after taking some medicines and rest; it will be about 15-17 kilometer bike ride from my place to Panaji. While I was halfway of my journey to Panaji, I saw some people with motorbikes parked along the road looking for something, I slowed down to look, then I was shocked on what I saw, a lifeless body on the side of the road, lying on a pool of blood, I heard someone said he was hit by a delivery van, it was really a disturbing view to see, I tried to ignore it but as I continue driving to Panaji, the face of the man kept flashing on my mind, so I turned back, looked at my map and decided to go to Anjuna beach instead.

Here I am in Anjuna beach, this beach is not really for swimmers, I didn’t see people swimming, its rocky and the waves are big. I didn’t see stores which sells sunblocks, only shampoos, soaps, food & drinks and also some native clothes and wooden bracelets.

After here, I drove back to Calangute, since it’s Sunday, I looked for a church to hear mass, on my way I saw a sugarcane vendor on the side of the road, I tried the fresh sugarcane juice and it was good, then I went to St. Alex Church in Calangute, after hearing mass, I went to the market to buy some stuffs for the house. Then went to Ms. Maria’s house to ask what’s for dinner and she said she will make roast pork and rice if I want, but I chose bread instead of rice. Hehehe..

After dinner, I reviewed my reports for a while and then went to sleep, it’s really sad here, this experience is different from my experience in Bali, and I still have no friends or contacts here, no one to talk to except the owner of the house and my French neighbor. But I don’t accept it as negative; I’m accepting this as a challenge. When I was in the church, I was praying that God will give me strength and courage to overcome this situation; this is not really easy for me.

Arambol beach

October 14, 2006


Hello! Good morning! Its another day in Goa, today I’m going to Arambol Beach with Laurie, he said it will take us almost 1 hour bike ride from Calangute to Arambol, Arambol is north of Goa, Laurie said he will look for a place to stay there for 2 days, that’s why I’m preparing things also just in case I might decide to stay there for the night.

Here I’m now with Laurie, and we’re on our way to Arambol, on our way we past by a long bridge in which you will have a good view of very green Goa, Laurie was thinking of stopping in the middle of the bridge, but I told him its not safe there so we stopped by at the end of the bridge, parked our scooters on the side of the road and took some pictures. After here we drove our way to Arambol beach, the road going there is smooth but there are some holes on the road but not too many.

Here we are in Arambol beach, it’s not so busy here, there are some locals and foreigners also, most of the foreigners here are from Israel, I wonder why Laurie decides to go here instead of the other beaches in Goa. There are some restaurants and rooms that can be rented also. The stores here are like “Sari-Sari” stores in Manila, there are also some pharmacy stores and internet shops.

We first looked for a room to rent for Laurie so we can also leave our things there, its along walk from where we left our scoters to the rooms near the mountains, some locals here said most of the rooms here are full already, because we are tired and thirsty we decided to stop for a while in one of the restaurant here. I saw one of the people there drinking “King’s” beer so I tried it coz it’s the same as my name, hehe. Laurie ordered 7 up, after we finish our drinks, we walked again and looked for a room, along the way we met a local who helped us find a room, the room is very high up on the mountain side, but its only 1 room available there is another room but it’s a 3-5 minute walk from the room of Laurie, but I decided not to stay there for the night, it’s just almost 1 hour ride going back home I told Laurie.

After we leave some of our things in the room we walked down and checked on the beach, we first went to the lake just about 30-35 steps from the beach shore, this is new one for me, and it is my first time to see a lake just near the beach. Then we went to the shore, we sat on the sand, Laurie bought a Indian sheet so that we can put our things and sit on the beach. While we’re there we took turns taking photos of the surroundings, it is true that most of the visitors of this beach are from Israel, you can’t find any American or Australian, I can say that this is the 2nd home for the Israeli’s and Laurie agreed to that.

After few hours of staying on the beach, we felt hungry so we went to the place where we had our drinks earlier, I ordered sliced lamb in oyster sauce and Laurie ordered pizza, the food is good at least now my food is not with curry, hehe. After eating I told Laurie that I have to go back home coz it is starting to get dark and the clouds are getting dark also, I don’t want to drive on the rain and mostly, I don’t want to drive at night.

On my way back to my house, I was not lucky, the rain fell hard, I have no choice but to continue driving, I don’t want to drive on night time specially when its raining. It took me 1 hour to get back to my house, I was driving slow coz the road was slippery. I was soaking wet when I reached my house, I immediately changed my wet clothes and dried my hair then rested for a while, I fell asleep while I was resting. When I woke up I have colds already, I went to Ms. Maria’s house to ask for dinner so I can drink medicines, and she cooked roasted beef for my dinner. After dinner, I took some medicines and went back to sleep, I was not feeling really well.

Welcome to my Abode!

October 13, 2006

Good day! It’s my 2nd day in Goa today! And I’ll be transferring to a new place which will be my house for the next 42 days. My breakfast today is omelets, toasted breads, fruits and coffee, after eating I fixed my things in my room, checked on the place where I will transfer if everything is in place and if I can transfer before 12 noon, coz that’s my check out time in the hotel. It’s good that the owner said I can transfer already.

I’m now here in my new room, its quiet here lots of green plants so its not that hot even if I only have electric fan. The owners are nice to talk to, they even suggested that if I need something to eat I can ask them to cook for me, but of course that’s with a corresponding price. Hehe.. Nothing is free here.

After I fixed some of my things in place I asked the owner if I can order food for my late lunch, they said they only have fish and salad so I said its fine, they said I have to wait for the food coz they’ll still have to cook it. After 40 minutes of waiting they brought the food in my room. The fish is like “Espada” from Philippines, I’m just wondering why the rice tastes salty, buti nalang may curry sauce so mixed the sauce to the rice panlaban sa lasa, hehe. After eating I’m fixing the pictures that I took on my laptop as well as finalizing my reports so I can send it to my manager in Manila.

Then I went out to go to the internet café, the café I went the other day is close so I have to look for other café, I had a hard time looking for a café that has yahoo messenger, coz some of the internet shops only have msn messenger. There are signs that say wifi hot spots but when I went there the person in charge says the connection is down. Finally, I saw an internet café where I can plug in my laptop, there I send my reports to my manager and was able to chat with my friends in Manila as well as chat with my boss. While I’m there I met “Laurie” he is from England but actually he is from Israel, he works in England as a call center agent, right now he is traveling across India, in few days he will go to New Delhi, he mentioned that he is going to Arambol, a beach here in Goa, I told him I want to go there also so we exchanged numbers and decided to go to Arambol together tomorrow. Since it’s getting dark already, I decided to go home already, I don’t want to stay late outside coz I still don’t really know the place.

When I arrived home I ask Ms. Maria, the owner of the house if she has any food to cook for me for my dinner, she said she has chicken and some potatoes, she made a fried chicken and home made French fries with some sliced potatoes and cucumber on the side, she cooks very good. Her food tastes good. After eating I rested for a while then slept early to get ready for tomorrows journey to Arambol beach with Laurie.

Derick, Onions and

October 12, 2006

Good morning! It’s time for my first breakfast in Goa, my breakfast is fried rice na puro sibuyas, ang lupet!, omellete, coffee and watermelon and pineapple. It’s good, new to my taste only coz Its my first time to eat fried rice with onions and not garlic.

After breakfast, I asked the hotel person if their wifi connection is on already so I can get online, but she said I have to wait for their manager first. Unfortunately when the manager arrived I still can’t get the connection coz its limited only. So I decided to go an internet café so I can get online and check e-mails and communicate with my office in Manila. After 2 hours of chatting with my bosses in Manila, I walked back to my room and on the way I saw a scooter for rent and talked to Derrick, he’s the one in charge of the scooter, I asked him the rate of the scooter and bargained for the price. It’s a good thing we met halfway so I decided to rent the scooter for 1 month.

After here I went back to my room for a while then drove my scooter to find a place to rent for the rest of my stay here. Derrick showed me some roads where I can look for a house or room and also the way to Calangute and Baga Beach, those are the beaches that are near my hotel. When I reached Calangute beach, I was feeling hungry already, I ended up on a small restaurant near the beach, I didn’t know that it’s a vegetarian restaurant, I had no choice but to eat there coz I’m really starving, I ordered Hakka noodles, it taste good with a little spicy taste. After here I went to Calangute beach, Derrick mentioned that most people who go to this beach are locals, it is true, I saw some foreigners but they’re only few, mostly locals are here. After taking some photos, I drove back to my hotel coz it’s starting to rain. I’m already worried coz I thought the rain won’t stop, and it’s late in the afternoon and I haven’t found a place to transfer for the following morning. When the rain stopped, I drove my scooter to Baga beach wishing I can find a place to stay on the way, but I wasn’t able to find one, I just took some pictures of Baga beach for a while and then drove back going to my hotel. While driving home I felt hungry again so I decided to try a local restaurant, I ordered “Chicken Hyderabadi” its like chicken curry also but with some spices from Hyderabad, another place in India.

After here I decided to go to Derrick’s place and hoping he can help me find a place, on my way I saw a boxing match near the intersection going to Derrick’s place, I stopped for a while to watch and get some pictures, then I went to Derrick’s place, it’s already 7pm here and I’m really getting worried. Luckily we found a small room, just near Derrick’s place, thanks to Derrick, nabunutan ako ng tinik. Hehehe..

After I’ve talked to the owner of the place, I brought Derrick to his place and I went back to my room then took a shower and rested, quite a long and tiring day.

Pictures at Hongkong Airport

Day one in Goa

October 12, 2006

Good morning! It’s time for my first breakfast in Goa, my breakfast is fried rice na puro sibuyas, ang lupet!, omellete, coffee and watermelon and pineapple. It’s good, new to my taste only coz Its my first time to eat fried rice with onions and not garlic.

After breakfast, I asked the hotel person if their wifi connection is on already so I can get online, but she said I have to wait for their manager first. Unfortunately when the manager arrived I still can’t get the connection coz its limited only. So I decided to go an internet café so I can get online and check e-mails and communicate with my office in Manila. After 2 hours of chatting with my bosses in Manila, I walked back to my room and on the way I saw a scooter for rent and talked to Derrick, he’s the one in charge of the scooter, I asked him the rate of the scooter and bargained for the price. It’s a good thing we met halfway so I decided to rent the scooter for 1 month.

After here I went back to my room for a while then drove my scooter to find a place to rent for the rest of my stay here. Derrick showed me some roads where I can look for a house or room and also the way to Calangute and Baga Beach, those are the beaches that are near my hotel. When I reached Calangute beach, I was feeling hungry already, I ended up on a small restaurant near the beach, I didn’t know that it’s a vegetarian restaurant, I had no choice but to eat there coz I’m really starving, I ordered Hakka noodles, it taste good with a little spicy taste. After here I went to Calangute beach, Derrick mentioned that most people who go to this beach are locals, it is true, I saw some foreigners but they’re only few, mostly locals are here. After taking some photos, I drove back to my hotel coz it’s starting to rain. I’m already worried coz I thought the rain won’t stop, and it’s late in the afternoon and I haven’t found a place to transfer for the following morning. When the rain stopped, I drove my scooter to Baga beach wishing I can find a place to stay on the way, but I wasn’t able to find one, I just took some pictures of Baga beach for a while and then drove back going to my hotel. While driving home I felt hungry again so I decided to try a local restaurant, I ordered “Chicken Hyderabadi” its like chicken curry also but with some spices from Hyderabad, another place in India.

After here I decided to go to Derrick’s place and hoping he can help me find a place, on my way I saw a boxing match near the intersection going to Derrick’s place, I stopped for a while to watch and get some pictures, then I went to Derrick’s place, it’s already 7pm here and I’m really getting worried. Luckily we found a small room, just near Derrick’s place, thanks to Derrick, nabunutan ako ng tinik. Hehehe..

After I’ve talked to the owner of the place, I brought Derrick to his place and I went back to my room then took a shower and rested, quite a long and tiring day.

First time in Hongkong Airport

October 10 & 11, 2006

Hi guys! Good day to all! As I promise I’ll be back with my new adventure, and here I am going to Goa, India. The next adventure of Beach Hut and King! Going to Goa will take me almost 10 hours of flight time but with some hours of stopovers/transiting all in all, my travel time going there is 20 hours, quite far huh? I know it’s a tiring trip but I can’t wait to experience new cultures and see beautiful places in Goa.

My first stop is Hongkong, and on my way there I met “Tirso” he’s a Filipino and transiting to Hongkong before going to Dubai where he works in an administration office. During our flight we had some chat regarding his experiences in Dubai and his reasons of working abroad, I was really sleepy that time but I don’t want to offend him of not answering back, so I tried to answer back as I can.

When we reached Hongkong we had to separate ways, he’ll be going to other terminal. Hongkong airport is very big, so I got lost looking for my terminal to get a boarding pass going to Mumbai, I looked & asked one of the airport personnel, all the while I’m going to the opposite direction. Hehehe, but everything is fine after I talked to that person.

My waiting time for my next flight was awful, coz I just had a tooth extraction last Oct. 7 and it still hurts up to this time, my medicines were already in my check in baggage, so I don’t have any pain reliever to take during that time, I almost fainted because of the pain.

Finally I’m in the plane going to Mumbai, we will first land to New Delhi then wait for a while inside the same plane then off to Mumbai where I will get another flight going to Goa. This flight was really tiring especially with my tooth aching. I’m so sleepy that time but I can’t get a good sleep coz there is a group of Indian’s talking aloud just near me.

I had a seatmate who came from Beijing, China. Her name is Angela Zhan, She said she will attend a conference in Mumbai for 2 days, and it’s her first time also to visit India, most of the time she attends conference in European cities. We exchange stories and when I asked her if there are good beaches in China, she mentioned the place, “Sanya Beach” she said it’s a popular beach destination in China, she also said it has no peak season, their peak season is all year round.

Finally we arrived in Mumbai, its 1:30am here, 4:00am Manila time, it’s a tiring 5 hours flight from Hongkong, here we separate ways and I have to find the place where I can get another boarding pass going to Goa. I have to wait for 5 hours coz my flight is at 6:30am.

Here I am now in Goa, after 1 hour flight from Mumbai. It is hot here, hotter than Manila. Had some problems getting a ride going to my hotel coz I still don’t have Indian Rupees, the foreign exchange at the airport is closed, it’s nice coz the taxi that I got agreed that I’ll pay him when I reached my hotel, is quite a long journey from the airport to my hotel, 47 kms. to be exact. Their taxi here is like Daihatsu van or Suzuki super carry in Manila. I even bumped my head while entering, it’s really true, what was on the internet about their driving habits, malikot sa kalye, im just praying that if we will have an accident I can still walk and talk to tell the tale, hahaha..

Here I am now in my room in Casa de Goa 10am of October 11, the room is nice but not all the staff here is good, imagine I have a large bag and I have to carry it to the front desk from the road? I thought they will carry it for me coz I’m their guest. Anyway, so much for that, when I’m in my room I rested for a while, really tired of my long flight from Manila. I slept for few hours and when I woke up I went outside to get a local sim card so I can text back home that I’m safe here in Goa. After getting a sim card I looked for a place to eat, no lunch yet, I ate in a local restaurant and ate chicken curry, it’s quite spicy but I can tolerate the taste. Maybe I got used to it when I was in Bali. Hehehe. Then I took pictures of the market place, I saw some tuktuks, it’s their local tricycle here and also some pictures of local taxi’s.

On my way to my hotel I saw a local food vendor selling “Panipuri” it is made from chicken peas, potato and some crushed crackers and spices, it taste good and not spicy.
After eating I went back straight to my room, tried texting my parents and my boss, then rested for a while, I’m feeling hungry so I looked for a place to eat and I ended up to a local fast food, I chose the fish curry, that’s what I only know, mahirap mag experiment ng food baka ndi ko makain, hehe.. after here I went back to my room and rested, then after few minutes I decided to sleep para makabawi ng tulog.

Here i come Goa!