San Fernando, La Union: Midtown Food Plaza, Chinese Temple and Filipino-Chinese Pagoda

After our Kayak activity in San Juan, we headed to San Fernando, the capital of La Union to eat at a popular restaurant called "Midtown Food Plaza." The restaurant is a 10 minute walk from Partas Bus terminal. The food tasted "so good" that I was able to eat everything that I ordered.

Lechon Kawali 55 PHP (with rice)

Vegetable & Steak 75 PHP (with rice)

Leche Plan for dessert 30 PHP

We went to the market to find a local delicacy called "tupig." While we were searching, I decided to buy an ice cream. It actually tasted better compared to the one that they sell in Manila.

Pinoy-Style Sorbet 20 PHP

Then, we went to Ma-Cho Temple. It's a Chinese temple located near Partas Bus terminal in San Fernando. There was no "mass" when we get there. We walked around and enjoyed the view of South China Sea. We felt like we were in China.

Stairs to the temple.

View from the temple.

Felt like I was in China..

Where they light the incense and pray..

From the other view..

They do have a couple of statue..

Large structure in front of the temple.

Entrance of Ma-Cho Temple..

Filipino-Chinese Pagoda is located near San Fernando City hall. It is constructed on top of a hill so it is recommended that you take a tricycle (40 PHP) when you visit the place. It was closed when we get there, but we decided to go over the fence to see the sunset. :-)

Welcome, everyone!

Taking pictures while JM and his relative were trying to figure out how to go over the fence.. haha!

The trip was all worth it.

Don't forget to visit these places when you go on a surf sesh in La Union! Ma-Cho Temple and Filipino-Chinese Pagoda have no entrance fee! =)

“I want to travel the world with two things on my hands-- a camera on one and your hand on my other."

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San Juan, La Union: Eat and Kayak!

I had my first solo trip in La Union last March 2013. I came back last month  with my partner Jm. Since he wanted to surf and the only option we have was Baler or La Union, we chose the latter--- which only has 6 hours of travel time.

We were not sure whether there will be waves or not since it's already the end of the summer season, but we still decided to give it a try. It took us 6 hours and 30 minutes before we get to San Juan, La Union (whatever happened to Partas Bus? The driver was very slow!).

We made a room reservation at Lola Nanny's-- there will be another post for this. =) We felt a little disappointed because the waves were smaller, even though there were some people who were having surf lessons.

 Lola Nanny's common area

We went to Angel and Marie's Surfer's Retreat to have lunch. The restaurant is located just along MacArthur Highway in San Juan, La Union. A good meal for two will cost less than 300 PHP. Last time I went there, I shared a "purely vegan" dish (Blue Marlin Kilawin and Mixed Veggies) with the Canadian photographer, Craig.

Inside the restaurant.

Blue Marlin Kilawin 199 PHP (good for 2).

Four Seasons! 78 PHP for 2.

For dinner, we went to Little Surfmaid Restaurant and ordered a plate of Carbonara. It's actually good for one only, but because it costs a lot, we decided to share in one plate. Hahahahaha! Anyway, the pasta was tasty and we liked how they put so many bacon in it!

Carbonara 240 PHP.

We had a drink at Lola Nanny's after dinner. We shared a few ideas.. argued... teased.. and laughed. Hahaha!

Beer at Lola Nanny's! 40 PHP

The next morning, we met Lois of wearesolesisters.com at The Circle Hostel. We talked over a cup of coffee and it was really great to see her again. Hearing her experiences makes me motivated to travel more. It was nice to see Maribel at the hostel, too! 

With Lois Yasay of wearesolesisters.com.

We had our breakfast at a local canteen along MacArthur Highway. We spent around 150 PHP--- relatively cheaper compared to other restaurants in the area. "Tapsi" costs around 60 -75 PHP. The taste wasn't that bad. :)

Adobo something.. 

At the beach, the waves were too small for surfing, but it didn't stop Jm from renting a surf board. We rented a surf board from Kuya Rey (my former surf instructor). One hour surf board rental costs 200 PHP. After 30 minutes or so, the waves were still small, so I decided to just rent a Kayak instead. 

One hour surf board rental 200 PHP

Drinking Coke before we go Kayaking 80 PHP

One hour Kayak rental 400 PHP.

We checked out at Lola Nanny's and rode a jeep to San Fernando to meet Ate Baneng, Jm's relative. We toured around Ma Cho Temple and Filipino and Chinese Pagoda.. that will be in my next post!

Total cost of damage: 

Partas bus from Cubao to La Union - 361 (student discount for Jm) + 449 (regular fare) = 810

Lola Nanny's - 500 (fan room w/ shared bath) + 200 (2hrs extension) = 700

Lunch at Angel and Marie's Surfer's Retreat - 297

Dinner at Surfmaid's - 240

Beer at Lola Nanny's - 80 (40 each)

Breakfast at a canteen - 150

Surf board rental - 200

Kayak - 400

Coke at San Juan Surf Resort - 80 (40 each)

Jeep from San Juan to San Fernando - 20 (10 each) 

Partas bus from San Fernando La Union to Cubao - 436 x 2 = 872

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3849 PHP for two, as always!

Check out my other blog post about La Union here.

Tipid tip #1: We ate a lot for breakfast so that we don't have to eat for lunch.

Tipid tip #2: Share! Even though my partner is a big eater, we decided to share a plate of Carbonara (since Carbonara is rich in calories and fat-- enough to fill our belly). Don't over-indulge!

Tipid tip #3: Use your school ID! We saved more than 40 pesos in transpo!

Tipid tip #4: If waves are not for surfing, just do other activity such as Kayaking! 

Enjoy Kayaking!

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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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