2013 Travel Reflections & The People Who Inspired Me To Travel

The year is almost over.. and I can't believe that I have visited 10 Philippine Provinces this year! I have to say I am extremely thankful to the people who encouraged me to travel more.

Puerto Galera was the first place I visited this year. I didn't write something about it due to personal reasons. And yes, as everybody know, Puerto Galera is a party-beach-party kind of stuff-- the nightlife is just simply entertaining!

Baler was the second destination this year. It was our first time to surf & eat at a local buffet called Gerry Shan's. It was also the first time I met Lois Yasay of wearesolesisters.com! She shared a lot of inspiring stories that gave me the urge to travel more. She's my favorite blogger!

The next month, I went to La Union alone and had a short trip to Vigan, Ilocos Sur (the bus ride from La Union to Vigan was longer compared to my stay in Vigan). It was my first time to stay in a hostel. I will never forget the locals that I've met. They were very helpful and accommodating.. and I kept on coming back because of them!

April was my birthday month. To celebrate, we went to Palawan and spent a day traveling from one island to another. It was tiresome, but on the other hand, it also made me appreciate the beauty of Philippines even more. 

May was a family month for me. I spent so much time beach bumming with Jm, my cousins and family in Subic. Jm and I also went to La Union because I badly missed surfing and hanging out with the locals. I would never forget the stories that Lois shared over coffee.

June was some sort of a religious retreat for me. We got the chance to visit Lucban, Quezon and do some rest and relaxation at a resort called, Batis Aramin. Then, we visited Kamay Ni Hesus to thank Him for the blessings and opportunities he had given us.

In August, we traveled around Ilocos and tried some local food. Kapuluan Vista Resort in Blue Lagoon is extraordinary. The dorm-type room seemed interesting, the staff are polite and friendly, and the place itself is very serene. Calle Crisologo in Vigan, Ilocos Sur is my favorite-- it has always been romantic and special.

September is a not-so-good time to go to Boracay because of the gloomy weather but we pushed ourselves to travel 6 hours from Iloilo to get to the famous tourist spot. It was my first time to drive a motor -- uphill and downhill! I considered it as one of the "toughest" challenge because I wasn't really a good driver. Anyway, despite of the gloomy weather, we still had fun beach bumming, partying and diving! 

November was the celebration of our 2nd Anniversary. We originally planned to go to Surigao (we had booked a one-way ticket) but because of my "joblessness" status, we cancelled our plan and decided to go back to Baler instead. It was a blessing, actually, because I met James Betia of journeyingjames.com! This kick-ass traveler just completed my year! 

2013 was a very wonderful time for me. I may not have visited SOME of the places I planned to visit, I won't really worry a lot, because there's still 2014! I am planning to visit Calaguas (via journeyingjamestour, hopefully) and Mt. Pulag next year. Right now, I'm trying to save for Malaysia (January) and Indonesia (October) next year.. and maybe, Thailand? 


The "Donate For Indonesia" Piggy Bank

I've been wanting and hoping to visit Indonesia the soonest time next year. However, I make it a point that I'm financially, mentally, and physically well-prepared. I'm not good in saving money in the bank, because I find it hard to control the "impulse-shopper" in me. So, as a result, I tried to save-- the traditional way-- through a piggy bank. I'll make this piggy-bank-thingy work!

FOR THE MEANTIME (while I take a rest & concentrate on my work), 
I WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Review: La Banane Hostel, El Nido

La Banane Hostel is located at Hama Street, Brgy Masagana, Zone 3, El Nido Palawan. From El Nido Public Market, we rode a tricycle (30 PHP) to get to the hostel. Our room was just right across the road from the main hostel and few walks away to the beach. So we took the stairs when we got there at around 3AM and saw it tagged as "orange room". 

 La Banane Hostel (dorm type rooms) view from our balcony.

 Our room located on the 2nd floor.

"Orange Room"

Inside was very simple, bed just few yards away from the door and the huge fan was attached to the ceiling right above the bed. There was also a small closet where you can put your stuff on. The comfort room was pretty decent too. Our room has a small balcony with 2 chairs and small table-- a perfect place to smoke and you can see people walking by. 

Double bed

 Bathroom

 Balcony

Balcony! =)

The only negative thing I could say is the location itself-- since it was along the road, you could hear people chatting, yelling, horns from motorcycle and other outside noise. In fact, I woke up that Saturday morning because of the noise. 

However, the best part was the room rate. The negotiated amount was 800 PHP per night and we reserved 2 nights. Since we had a late check-in and early check out, they let us pay only 1000 PHP and the receptionist said "Pilipino naman eh," we were very happy because we saved a lot of money from our budget. I would say a little "charm" would help a lot as well.

  

La Banane Hostel also offers budget-friendly dorm-type rooms for backpackers. For more information about their rates and contact number, visit: www.labanane-hostel.com

Yours Truly, 

JM

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Review: Duchess Pension, Puerto Princesa

Duchess Pension is a budget-friendly accommodation located in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. A week prior to our Palawan trip, I already reserved a budget room with common toilet and bath so we won't bother finding a place to stay when we get there.

After our Palawan city tour, our tricycle driver dropped us off at Duchess Pension and asked the receptionist about our reservation. She answered, "Ay, hindi pa po ready, nililinis pa po." I was disappointed because I thought our room was already prepared since I reserved it a week before our trip. 

So we decided to spend some time in Puerto Princesa Baywalk (10 minutes walk from Duchess) before going back to the pension.

It will only cost 20 PHP tricycle ride (for two) from the airport to the pension. It's also a tricycle ride from the Cathedral and other establishments in Puerto Princesa. Remember, the tricycle fare is twice the regular fare from 10:00PM to 5:00 AM. The budget room (with double bed & common toilet & batch) costs 350 PHP.

Duchess Pension

Lobby (wi-fi is not free)

Dining area

Hallway (where you can find other rooms, too)

The room is very simple-- one double bed.

Fan and table, small table.

The room was actually, clean and simple. However, I do not recommend that you put your "pasalubong" on the floor, because ants will surely eat them. Hahahahaha! (Based on experience!)

Anyway, I still recommend this place if you are looking for a simple, cheap and clean place to stay in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

For more information, please visit:

http://www.duchesspensionpalawan.com/

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El Nido, Palawan

It was a very tiresome 5-hour trip to El Nido, Palawan. From Puerto Princesa airport, we rode a tricycle to San Jose terminal (100PHP). We planned to catch the 9 PM Ro-Ro bus ride but it turned out the reservation was already full. It was already the last trip but there were still more than 20 people waiting for another trip to El Nido so the drivers decided to use one more bus to El Nido.

This space became our bed throughout the trip.

We left San Jose terminal at 10PM and arrived in El Nido at 3AM. We rode a tricycle to the hostel (40PHP).  I was glad that I was able to reserve a room at La Banane Hostel (There's gonna be another blog post for this!).

We woke up at around 7AM and ate our breakfast at The Alternative Restaurant. It was drizzling then, we weren't able to stay at the "bird's nest." :(

My 250PHP breakfast.

His 250PHP breakfast.

No bird's nest for us!

My co-workers Ashley and Rodney were also in El Nido so we decided to join them in the Island Hopping tour. We met them at Lualhatti Cottage (5-minutes tricycle ride from La Banane), where they were staying and paid Ate Rose (owner and chef of Linegueb Paluto Dampa Style Restaurant) for the combination Tour A & C with lunch (PHP 1,200).

Yours truly with very kind Ate Rose

Snorkeling masks are available for 100PHP each. We weren't able to visit all the islands included in the tour because we started past 9AM already. :(

photo from gopalawantravel

1. Helicopter Island

2. Hidden Beach

3. Garbage Beach where we took our lunch (joke lang! according to Kuya Boatman, a foreigner once called this island, "Garbage Beach")

4. What we had for lunch! 

5. Boats outside the Small Lagoon

 6. Big Lagoon

Big Lagoon (inside)

7. Secret Lagoon

 Secret Lagoon (inside)

8. Snake Island

We finished the tour at around 6:30PM and had our dinner at Sea Slugs Bar & Restaurant. The restaurant was jam-packed with customers that I heard some people complaining about their order. Anyway, we still decided to order and waited for about 20 minutes.

Large serving of Grilled Squid with rice. Tasteless. :( (250PHP)

We woke up early the next morning and went to El Nido Public Market where we rode an ordinary bus (400+PHP) back to Puerto Princesa. It was a tiring and dusty 6-hour trip.

It was a very exhausting bus ride because of the dusty road!

Estimated breakdown of expenses (for two, as always):

Tricycle from airport to the terminal - 100

Roro aircon bus to El Nido - 800+ (my partner got a 20% student discount!)

Tricycle from El Nido to Hostel (Bacuit bay) - 40 (special rate daw?!)

Breakfast @ The Alternative Inn - 560

Tricycle to Lualhati Cottages - 20

Island Hopping Tour - 2,400

Snorkeling Mask - 200

Tricycle back to cottage - 20

Dinner @ Sea Slugs - 400+

La Banane Hostel room - 1,000 (discounted, pinoy daw eh! haha!)

Tricycle to El Nido Public Market - 20

Breakfast @ Public Market - 100+

Roro ordinary bus to Puerto Princesa - 700+ (20% student discount for my partner, again)

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Cost: PHP 6, 360 for 2

I want to go back to this beautiful place again!! Anyway, have a happy Trip!

*We went over the budget on food, because we really love to eat.

*It was reaally very noisy at night (Hama St., Zone 3) because there were foreigners drinking and you could hear them talking and laughing!

*If you arrive at Puerto Princesa early, I think taking a van to El Nido is much easier.

For more information about the package tour, contact Ate Rose:

Contact number: 09174290620/ 09206008197

Email Add: nilingueb_elnido@yahoo.com

Address: Lualhati Cottage, Brgy. Maligaya, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines 

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22nd: Puerto Princesa, Palawan

I celebrated my 22nd birthday in Palawan with my honey. Since we were on a budget, we tried to do the cheapest way possible to have a city tour in Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan.

In Puerto Princesa, we met Kuya Dhong, a tricycle driver who offered to tour us around the city for PHP 700 (2 pax).  It is much cheaper compared to the city tour package of the travel agencies.

Viet Ville (or Vietnamese Village) is a small village in Sta. Lourdes, Puerto Princesa. It was a refugee village for Vietnamese when the Vietnam War ended. We had our lunch at Viet Ville Restaurant. Spent a total of PHP 545 for two.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Vietnamese delicacy (Kakanin yan, hindi gelatin!)

Vietnamese noodles with Thai basil and sprouted mongo (It tastes weird, actually.)

Vietnamese rice toppings (Pork)

Palawan Wildlife and Rescue Conservation Center (formerly Crocodile Farm) Entrance is PHP 40 per head. Tour starts every after 30 minutes. Nothing much spectacular here, only the officials... I mean, the crocodiles, and other animals. 

Picture with the baby croc costs PHP 30 per person.

Bear-cat.

Rancho Sta. Monica, is also known as Mitra's Ranch. According to Kuya Dhong, the place is owned by Ramon Mitra.

If you wanna take a picture with the horse, you must give a tip or "donation" to the horse keeper.

The view is simply romantic.

Baker's Hill is just a few minutes drive away from Mitra's Ranch. 

They have a bake shop that sells cookies, brownies, hopia and other delicacies. We spent around PHP 860 pesos for the "pasalubong."

Parrot? Bird? Rooster? I don't know.

The spectacular view.

Meet Sadako.

You can take a lot of pictures here.

Puerto Princesa Cathedral

Puerto Princesa Baywalk

There's actually a festival-thingy going on when we went there, and there were food stalls everywhere! We had our dinner there and spent around PHP 300 for two already.

Rice meal costs PHP 90 each.

Breakdown of expenses (for two):

Viet Ville Restaurant (lunch) - PHP 545
Crocodile Farm (PWRCC) entrance - PHP 80
Picture taking with baby croc - PHP 60

Picture taking with horse @ Mitra's Farm (donation) - PHP 20

Souvenir shopping @ Baker's Hill - PHP 860

Dinner @ Puerto Princesa Baywalk - PHP 300

Kuya Dhong's City Tour - PHP 700

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PHP 2565

*Tricycle to Puerto Princesa Airport costs PHP 40 only. PP terminal Fee costs PHP 40/head.

*Our airfare to Palawan costs PHP 2500 (sale, the terminal fee is already included as of August 2012) via Tiger Airways, and the fare back to Manila costs PHP 3800 via Zest Airways. I DO NOT recommend Zest Airways because we (and my co-workers) have experienced 1 hour delay in our flight.

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