A Different Experience in Anawangin Cove

Who said we are a couple of lakwatsera and lakwatsero? That person was definitely right! after our 3 outings we just didn't have enough. Well... This time we did a little different, opppsss... let me correct that, we try something that is TOTALLY NEW (or at least to me!), something I've been wanting to try yet so afraid that I just can't even last a day. The solids, Jays and Joyce, Kiam and Giselle, Emer and I decided to go camping this time and our destination, Anawangin Cove. It is located off shore of Pundaquit, Zambales with a 30 min boat ride. We travel 4hrs (with an hour breakfast stop) coming from Quezon City. Just a week after Holy week, the gang decided to push through our long planned out of town. Been reading a lot about the said place and I was really really excited. Away from hustle bustle city, the place was so nature, no resorts, no advance technologies, no cp signals and no electricity.
We left our place around 230am, no traffics still. Jays volunteered to drive. We had a quick, excuse me, an hour breakfast at Total Gas Station at NLEX. We reach Pundaquit around 7am, Jays, transact with the boatman and ended up paying 700 pesos for each boat, 1 boat for the 5 of us and another for our things and Kiam. We reach Anawangin Cove 30mins after we leave Pundaquit. When we got there we were amazed, green grass on mountains, pine trees on sands, plus the clear waters of the sea.
Trivia: according to caretaker Marlon, Anawangin Cove is a reclaimed area, the sands came from Mt. Pinatubo's lahar yet still the place is awesome.
There are 2 areas, the P150 side and the 50pesos side. There are already few tents set up at the 50 area, and knowing that it might soon be crowded we decided to stay at the other side, oh by the way, the 150 area got more trees to cover up the heat of the sun. We took few pictures as the guys set up the 3 tents. Get ready of our early lunch, we prepare the food. We had Inihaw na tilapia wrap in foil, lotsa LOTSA kamatis, skinless Longanisa and Inihaw na talong for lunch! all of us got only one thing to say "SOLVE!" we had a very satisfying lunch, and as like I always said there's no way you can beat having lunch/dinner with a group of people dear to you.
We had a power nap after, I woke up around 1pm, the girls got up after few mins. The boys were still sleeping soundly. Kiam and Jays are sleeping on their respective tents while Emer slept at the hammock we brought. While the guys was sleeping there is an instant Anawangin tourist spot (opppsss... kami kami lang ang nakakaalam nun pasensya na!)
The 3 of us decided to take pictures and thanks to Joyce and my tripods we were able to get good pictures with all of us in it. We were like models having a pictorials from different angles, Anwangin is so photogenic.
It was already almost 4pm when we decided to call the boys for a nice swim. While we swim Emer took some pictures, we really had loads of fun, playing and laughing. But because we left all our things inside the tent we just can't leave em too long, so we got up and get ourselves ready for a bath. Girls first while the boys get the ihawan ready. It was the hardest bath I ever had. Kelangan namin mag igib sa poso then bring the water to the self made (by the caretakers) shower room, as in I never imagine myself taking a bath in that kind of place (sorry, medyo maarte), fortunately, there are 2 guys who help us "igib sa poso" and bring the pail near the shower room (? can i call this shower room??? hehe), so we finish taking a bath at the longest time, ang hirap kasi as in super hirap and what's scary is parang people outside can easily see you, so you have to take a bath with your swim suits on. After taking a bath, we went back to our site and took over the ihaw session so the boys can take a bath, it's already starting to get dark when the boys got back and it was only past 6pm. Before 7pm came, the place was already pitch black, the only source of light we got was our flashlights and gasera.
Our dinner was liempo, inihaw na talong (ulit! pero still yummy), syempre we shouted "solved" again after the meal. Getting ready for our inuman session, the guys lit the bonfire, before the session began, we took few pictures (pic addicts kami e, sensya na po) and Emer and Jays dance the hula hula tribe dance (hehe, syempre kami-kami lang nanaman ang nakakaalam nun!) Our liquor for the night is a bottle of Jose Cuervo Tequila and lots bottles of San Mig Light, panghimagas daw according to Kiam (hehe), while drinking we are all playing ice breaker, sharing sentiments, opinions, experience, problems and memories this were the main topics, every answer we shared makes us know more about each other.
Our friendship started with the AIR group, the friendship grows at the end of August 07, the friendship deepened last Nov 2 at our Bataan trip, as time pass by we know that we have each other no matter what happens and this time as we have a camp at Anawangin, we knew we are now inseparable. Our friendship has gone deep, a beautiful friendship that has bloomed, we treat each other like brothers and sisters, I never knew I will have friends from different race (walang masamang ibig sabihin to a) since I grow up w/ Chinese crowed, from nursery to college. I never knew I will feel the sense of belonging to a group of whom I only met a little over 2 years ago (Kiam is not included a coz I met him more than 5 years ago). That night as I got drunk and as we finish our last shot we knew that our friendship will have a long long way to go more laughters, more outings, more gimik and more tambay, there maybe more problems, more tears and more trials but as we have each other we knew everything will be ok.
I woke up 6am the following day, feeling all the body pains, hindi talaga sanay mag tent but heck! so what? anyway, Giselle was not feeling ok, Joyce and I are having a headache, bad dose of hang over, I got back to sleep and around 8am, I woke up feeling great, I ask Emer to help me prepare our brunch while we let the guys sleep further. Everyone was up around 930am, we finish our brunch and pack our things coz the boatman will pick us up by 11am. We left Anawangin almost 12nn, sensya na mabagal magimpake, thanks to Manong bangkero he patiently wait for us (actually, wala siyang choice hehe). got back in Pundaquit and paid the 40pesos parking fee and the 1400 rental for 2 boats. We had our lunch at Caltex NLEX. Reach our place around 530pm. We had more kwentuhan before Jays and Joyce finally bid goodbye.
This trip was definitely worth remembering. Aside from this is my first time to camp, this is also my first time to go to a place where there is no electricity and no cp signals (on any network ha!), it is also my first time to pump water out of "poso", my first time to actually stay overnight at a cove and my first time to get drunk. Aside from all those, this trip is so much fun because of the people we are with, every single person we are spending our time with are valuable to us, every person we came to love and every friend we came to treasure. The whole trip was a memorable trip. An experience to remember and friends to cherish. To sum up, all I can say is "Thumbs UP!"

Laiya, Second Time Around

My brother, Emer and I have been to Laiya before but we didn't actually stayed there since we don't have a prior reservation and all decent hotels are already fully booked.
So when we're told that we will be spending our holyweek at Laiya, the 3 of us got so excited. We called up almost all resorts that we have checked before sadly all of them are already fully book. We're so late in booking it was already mid of February. and We ended up booking Triple G resort. At first, I was really hesitant because as I said nga "bakit hindi ko siya napansin nun unang time namin pumunta ng Laiya?" meaning I was in doubt that the resort might turned out to be a disaster. There are a lot of bad bad resorts in Laiya. But because we don't have a choice all of us just hope for the best, oh by the way, we checked out their website and pictures are really really deceiving.
Come Holy Thursday, we are all so excited. Woke up 3am and get ourselves ready, we went to pick up Mom and dad, gar, car and oli. Around 430pm we leave Pureza. We stop by Petron gas station for a quick snack and stretching, the roads are already packed with cars, slow moving as early as 5pm. We reach Laiya around 10am, waited up for the rest of the gang who arrive later around 12noon. We were a group of 30 btw. The owner ask us to wait for our cottage as they prepare and tidy the place. We were shock to see the cottage so small. they told us that it can accommodate 15pax but when we reach the place they said that lying capacity is 12 and max capacity is 15pax. it got 3 double bed and an extra double size matress, HOW THE HELL DO THEY THINK WE CAN ALL FIT IN? we booked 2 cottage, they are fully book so there is no way we can ask for another room, AGAIN, we don't have a choice. For many year our family goes to vacation, this is by far the worst resort we have ever been to worst than you may think. The crowed is so scary, that when you walk at the shore people will look at you like they have never seen Chinese and also when you wear you swim suit it seems like they haven't seen someone wearing one ever. Dang! The whole beach front is stinky because of the liquor smells.
The cottage on the other hand doesn't have a lock, the windows are broken, a/c is not cold enough to make the room at least tolerable, kelangan may maiwan to look after the place, we cannot even eat together, swim together or just walk at the beach together. They said they have restaurant so we didn't bought food for lunch and dinner but when we reach the place, they said they don't have time to cook, we just go to the nearby resort and have our meals there. grabe diba?
The place is really terrible, so so terrible. I really cannot recommend the place, nakakahiya pag irerecommend ko kasi baka mapahiya lang ako.
One good thing is wherever we go, how bad the accommodation we had, all of us enjoy each others company. That's one thing I really love love about my family and relatives, we enjoy, we have fun!
We go to the Laiya Rest house and Kabayan beach front to walk. We stayed "tambay" at the sand bar right across. We had so much fun playing with the sands and so much fun doing nothing but laughing and telling stories, taking pictures like there's no end. I really love my family.
And so, 3 days ended, we had fun, regardless how bad our experience were with the accommodation, we all had fun and that's the bottom line. We enjoy!

Honeymoon at Puerto Princesa Part 2

We woke up early in preparation for our honday bay adventure. I bought my Coppertone, Snorkeling Gears and Aqua shoes. Woke up around 530am and get ourselves ready. We had breakfast at the hotels resto. Exactly 7am, our tour guide Lotlot arrived, everyone is set to go. 45mins of land trip until we reach the port. During our trip Lot gave us few trivia, Honday Bay was originally called as Hunda Bay, Hunda is a spanish word that means deep sea. Since Americans who colonize our country were having a hard time pronouncing the word they change it to Honda. We road our boat and the island hopping begins. We pass by LuLi Island, it is now rented by Koreans, It is called by that name because it is know for "lulubog-lilitaw", during low tide you can see the whole island while during high tides the island was covered with waters. Our first stop was the Starfish Island, and because it is not yet season for mating we didn't see any single starfish, according to our tour guide we can also go snorkeling and fish feeding, but since we find the water full of seaweeds we decided to just pass it up, we stayed at the island for around an hour. Emer and I just spend time taking a lot of pictures.
Our next stop was the Snake Island, or what locals popularly called biglang lalim, only few meters from the shore you'll see the deep deep dark side of the bay. a little safe there because they put some boundaries, current is gentle. This island is know for fish feeding, and since I bought a small loaf of tasty for the agenda we hurried and snorkel. There are a lot of fish but only few kinds, no corals and the sands is not as fine. We enjoy fish feeding though. It was already lunchtime when we finish snorkeling, we now have to feed ourselves (hehe), the food was not again something special but sometimes having lunch with a group of nice companies makes the lunch fun. After a short rest, we proceed to our last stop.
Pandan Island, our boatman ask a local to guide us on snorkeling so he can show us different species of fish and marine life. We saw popper fish, an octopus egg and a lot of different species of fish, it is also my first time to touch a soft coral. The island was a victim of dynamite fishing before it became a marine sanctuary, that's why they are having a hard time recovering the beauty of the place. There are some dead corals. There are a lot of colorful fishes, nice coral formation, sadly this dynamite fishing thing have to happen. Well... hopefully, years from now they can be able to maintain the marine. In return for the nice guide, we give him a tip.
Our ride back to the port was so scary, the waves are again humongous, worst than the waves at the south china sea. by the way, honda bay is located at the sulu sea. our ride back was a little bit long since we have to go a little bit slow to prevent the boat from the big waves.
We got back to the hotel early, it was only 330pm. Our dinner at the Badjao Seafront was scheduled at 6pm so Emer and I decided to roam around the city AGAIN! 6pm, we contracted a tricycle driver to bring us to the place and wait for us to finish our dinner and paid 150. The place was exceptionally awesome, it is like a balsa floating at the sea, mangroves around the place, very very nice ambiance. The food was a little bit expensive compared to the resto we have tried at PP, again we ordered 2 dishes that was good for 3-4 pax, PP's resto serving are always good for 3-4pax. We ordered grilled blue marlin at 195, buttered garlic shrimp at 175, a soup that was called something like mariscus for 75, a rice platter (ang takaw) and two drinks, they have 10% sc. the food is great, the ambiance is superb, the service is neat! a nice nice nice place to dine in. definitely worth the visit.
The following day will be our last whole day, so plan to do nothing but relaxing and shopping for pasalubongs. We woke up 7am, have our breakfast and went back to the room chilling, around 1030am we decided to have coffee at Itoy's, I read again at GT forum that this is a place worth visiting, their coffees are great, I ordered Guiles Frap for 110 and Emer ordered Mocha Frap at 95, and because my baby was tempted to order their bulalo rice he ordered a serving for only 90 pesos!!! Ting!!!! ang mura diba? and take not their bulalo is good for 2 pax, big big big serving. Already full we decided that that will b our lunch, too bad our schedule of having lunch at Jo's Inato was crossed out of the list (we wanted to compare sana with the Jo's Inato of Cebu e). As we got back to the hotel we met Mr. Ceasar and Mrs. Estela, they invited us for a quick city tour, they hire a van that will bring us to a hot spring and a quick tour around the city. 1pm we left the hotel, after a short drive we arrived at kim's hot spring, for 250 each pool (small pool, not the hot spring like the one's in Laguna), we spend few minutes soaking the hot hot hot spring water. We left the place around 330pm. roam around the city, visit the biggest university and check out PP's baywalk. After that we ask them to drop us off at the palengke since I still have to buy a lot of pasalubongs. We bought Lamayo, dried tahong, Pearl accessories and some tshirts, walk back to our hotel after. It was already 6pm. Have a quick rest and off we went to Ka-Lui, according to our guide, the most popular resto at the city. The place got a nice concept, you have to leave your shoes, slippers or sandals before going to your table. you can also sit at the floor and eat like a japanese style. The ambiance is cozy. We ordered their most expensive dish, Lobster and another dish the waiter suggested sizzling seafood. Before serving the main dish they got a complimentary Clam soup that got a taste of a lot of luya (libre lang kasi, no right to reklamo), I didn't find their food great, akala namin mali lang ang order namin but then again lobster is their most expensive dish, dapat lang masarap siya hindi ba? the taste is not even so-so, walang lasa, not worth it. sizzling seafood is ok. I heard a couple of fil-chi across our table talking about how not edible the calamares are, matigas and walang lasa according to them. Well... Ka-Lui was owned by a retired tour guide. The place's ambiance may be so nice and cozy but I won't go back for another meal because it is not worth every single peso we spent. not a good restaurant, sorry kanya-kanya po ito ng opinion ha!
On our way back to hotel, Emer not satisfied with our meal bought a whole chicken at Pinoy Litson Manok, 210 pesos. Better than Baliwag but not as good as Andoks.
We slept a little bit late and watch tv all night. We woke up 6am and have our last breakfast at the hotel, last order of Lamayo. Get our things ready and pack up. 8am was our call time and 10am was our flight.
Our trip to Puerto Princesa was so tiring yet so fun. Never enjoyed as much. PP is definitely a place worth visiting. A very beautiful place I just can't imagine the beauty of Coron and El Nido as locals said they are much much better.
Being a beach and sea lover, I really enjoyed our trip. I really had fun, this is the first time Emer and I spent together for the longest time. Indeed, a honeymoon to remember.

More Pics: Around PP
and Puerto Princesa

Honeymoon at Puerto Princesa Part 1

We booked piso fare trip to Puerto Princesa way back last December, that's why we are so sure that this trip will be a part of our honeymoon. last March 4-8, 2008, we went to spend our 5d/4n trip to Puerto Princesa. We stayed at the best hotel (for me and for our tour guides ha!) in PP, Hotel Fleuris. It is located at the heart of the city, near Rizal Avenue. There are only 3 class AAA hotels in PP Legend hotel, Asturias Hotel and Hotel Fleuris. Legend Hotel is located at the city but it is somewhere at National Road which is a tricycle away from Rizal Ave. Asturias hotel on the other hand was located at the end of the city. Palengke is just a few mins walk from our place, famous resto is just around the corner, supermarkets and department store is just across the street, every place is accessible. The hotel itself is very very nice, they got a pool where you can relax after tiring day of adventures and tours, they have 3 resto where you can choose to dine if you're not up to going out. They have games where you can borrow such as scrabble, boggle, dominos and more. The staff are so friendly, service are very very nice. The room is lovely, spacious and relaxing. The breakfast consist of American and filipino, we always ordered their Lamayo, nicely cook and so delicious, a PP's pride.
We reach PP around 915, checked in at Hotel Fleuris, enough time to rest and have lunch. Our City tour will start at 1pm. After a short rest we ask the front desk on where do they suggest tourist to have lunch or dinner, they suggest Ka Lui, Kinabuch, Badjao Seafront and Balinsasayaw.
We choose Balinsasayaw for our first meal since it is the nearest suggested resto from our place. I had grilled Tuna and My hubby ordered Tanigue ala Pobre, both cost only 65 pesos each, cheap ayt? the serving is not impressive (maliit kasi, pero what could we expect super mura diba?) dibale the foods are good! we had Watermelon and Green Mango Shake for drinks that cost only 35 per glass. Emer also ordered Pineapple rice, 25/cup, which is really really to die for. The service is quite bad, too slow and waiters aren't friendly enough to heed customers need.
Our tours are arranged by Sanctuary tours c/o our hotel, we got the whole package na kasi. The agency got really nice, very informative and friendly guides, plus the van assign from us is really well maintained 1pm. Our tour guide Doc arrived at Hotel Fleuris at exactly 1pm, the tour begins, our first stop was butterfly garden, the place is ok, i'm not really interested since I am afraid of butterflies though I find them lovely creatures. The place is small yet full of colorful butterflies. After few minutes, we went straight to iwahig penal colony, where prisoners are free to rome the premises, they got souvenir shop where they sell stuffs made by the prisoner themselves. Next is the Crocodile farm, at the lobby before going to the hatchlings and the adult crocs, there you can see the carcass of the biggest salt water croc captured alived. We also have photo ops with the crocs but everyone who wanted to have pics taken holding a croc are required to pay 30 pesos each. Next stop was Mitra's Ranch, it is the ancestral home of the Mitras, it is located at the top of a mountain, they open the vicinity for viewing, the wind is very cool up there, the view is very nice, from top you can see the view of Honda Bay. Our Last stop before our run tour was Baker's Hill, near Mitra's Ranch, there is a bakeshop who's hopia and breads are just so delicious. too bad we can only bought few of them because we are just on our first day, no pasalubong guys, sorry baka masira.
We pass by the Cathedral and the plaza (forgot the exact name). The tour ended around 5pm. Emer and I decided to buy chips at the nearest supermarket, on our way to the place we spotted Manong who sells fried Isaw, being an isaw addict, we decided to have few sticks. for 2.50 each we bought 10pesos. It is the best isaw we have ever tasted so.... Emer and I decided to buy 40 pesos to go, ANG TAKAW!
We decided to try out Kinabuch for dinner, we ordered halabos na hipon for 180 and sizzling tuna for 150. We ordered 2 dish yet it can serve up to 3-4 pax, grabe we're so full. Their Halabos na Hipon is the best among all the resto we have tried in PP. Service is Ok, Food is GREAT!!!!
We slept early in preparation for our Underground tour the following day.
We woke up 530am, get ourselves ready for our breakfast before our tour begins. The food is yummy though it is a complimentary bfast!
7am, tour guide Anne arrived at the hotel, everyone are all set to go. there's a 2 hr drive going to Sabang warf and another 30min boat ride to reach the Underground River. Along the way Anne, gave us few trivias about the place. The underground river is previously called St Paul's Subterranean River but was later on changed to Puerto Princesa Subterranean River. The road going to the warf was tiring, rough roads, zigzags and long ride, but everything was worth it. The boat ride was worst, the waves are humongous, scary yet an experience. The view, the limestones, the stalactites, the sea, the wind are spectacular, nice and unique.
The 30min tour at the underground river was awesome, I've never seen anything so beautiful and so well formed stalactites, this is indeed the pride of Puerto Princesa. The underground river is a cave of a big big Karst. We had lunch at sabang warf after our undergound river tour. The food prepared are so-so, but there's one unique dish we have tried and that was the coconut soup. After having lunch, we are all ready to go back to the hotel but before that we went to Vietnamn Ville for side trip. Bought few bread and head home.
We got back at the hotel around 4pm, walk around the city for clothes and shopping hunting (hehe). For our dinner we decided to eat at Bilao't-Palayok, (i read this one at the internet Girltalk forum, thanks for the tip girls). The ambiance is so nice, they have a hammock where a guest can sit and relax while waiting for their table. We ordered butter and garlic shrimp, 150, that is a lil bit overcooked. Steam crab, 150, that is so delicious, and strawberry soda and orange apple soda for our drinks. The service is nice, the ambiance is nice, and the food is good!
We had a room service massage after the whole day of adventure, paid 350/pax for a combination of Hawaiin and Shiatsu Massage. We slept soundly after that.

Part 2

More Pics at Puerto Princesa
and Around Puerto Princesa

Boracay Trip - Honeymoon Nga Ba?

Last Feb 27-March 1, we went to Boracay for our honeymoon part 1. Pero teka honeymoon nga ba siya, since meron pa kaming kasamang 5 friends, my brother, 1 baby and 1 yaya? well... We arrived Bora a day ahead of them, reason? wala to spend sana a whole day with my hubby (naks! hubby na). The problem is waaaa..... umulan the whole day pati whole night!!!! huhuhu
so... anong masasabi ko about Boracay? well... I expect a lot! I always thought Boracay was a paradise but I am wrong... or at least in my own Point of View (para sa akin lang po ito mga peeps!) I admit I love beaches and I have never seen as fine as powdery as cold as white as Boracay sand, No beach as wide as Boracay shoreline (during low tides). Maybe Boracay was a paradise, 5-10 years ago, but now it is so crowded. Parang tuloy pag Boracay=Gimmik! I am not gimmikera kaya I didn't enjoy the Disco Bar as much as my other friends did. You can make me go to a bar and sit back and drink and get drunk but for me to dance that's one thing I'm sure I'll not do hehe I can sing but I can't dance. Actually, there are still some nice things to do than gimik lang, there are a lot of affordable beach wears, you can sit back and enjoy the sea during sunsets, walk from stations to stations. If not for the people we are with, Boracay will not be the same. Siguro if there's only Emer and Me baka not that fun.
Here's my kuwento: First day we arrive Kalibo around 1115am, we look for the one who arranges our land transfer, ride a bus to Caticlan for around 2 hours, the road is already cemented but there are a lot of narrow zigzags which is so tiring and can cause headaches. When we reach jetty terminal, we paid for the 50pesos environmental fee and another 50 pesos for the terminal fee and rode an estimated time of 10mins boat ride to reach Boracay Port. We arrive Boracay around 2pm, check in at Boracay Peninsula and look for a resto for our lunch, we walk going to station 3 and decided to eat at Casa Pilar, this is a certain no-no for recommendation coming from me, we hate the food, we ordered a sinigang that taste just like a nilaga. We paid 420 pesos for the 2 of us and we are so not satisfied. So we look for a dessert for "pampalubag loob", we walk muna sa beach to at least enjoy the water and bought halo-halo (50pesos), before going back. After that, we stayed at the hotel the whole time super lakas ng ulan, it was already dinner time when the rain stops, so we decided to walk going to station 1 this time to look for a nice resto to dine. We found Gasthof, and for the same price we paid for our lunch, we love love the food. We ordered Inihaw na Pusit and Korean Liempo and it was so worth it. we had a good dinner that night but again the rain pours so badly that we have to run all the way to our room. tsk tsk... malas talaga our first day was so boring!
Day 2 was when the fun began, my brother and his friends arrived past 12nn, in time for lunch. We had lunch at d'Mall's Mang Inasal. Emer paid 223 for the two of us na! super mura diba? the food is sympre ok naman. After Lunch, we didn't waste anytime na, lakad lakad, chickahan and swimming. after the fun, we had snack's at St. Michael's Crepe, crepes cost around 130-200 and it can already serve 2 person (for snacks lang ha), they serve crepes nicely and most, their crepes are heavenly! After a long walk, the group decided to have dinner at Discovery Shores. We paid 671 per person for an eat all you can salad and pasta. Honestly speaking, for a seven star hotels you'll expect more, and their pasta taste just ordinary, I'd rather eat at aVeneto. Emer and I went to sleep around 12mn while the others went out for a drink!
third day was our last whole day so we decided to make most out of it. after breakfast, nagpa-henna kami and because most of us paid for 2 henna's umabot kami ng lunchtime. So before doing anything else again we had our lunch at Paraiso Grill... sobrang not recommended ito, they cheat on people kasi, our friends had a 150g tuna and they charge for 250g, instead of explaining in a nice way, super bastos at nagdadabog pa sila, super not friendly ang mga tao! thumbs down so after lunch the gang decided to try Jonah's Fruitshake, which a lot of friends and forumers testify that they have the best fruit shake in town AND GUESS WHAT??? they are indeed the best of the best! kaya nga sabi ko boracay = jonah's fruitshake ang maaalala ko later on. since our hotel is located just beside Regency, and since my brother and his friends said that Regency buffet is a must try we decided to have it for our last dinner together. for 550 pesos each, every dish is superb! After that, we bought pasalubongs and lakad lakad para d lumai ang tyan!
Last night nga e, so... everyone decided to enjoy the last moments together, tumambay muna kami sa napakawide na beachfront, had Artic Vodka, played dare or dare, When we had enough we decided to check out one of their bar. We settle for beachcomber bar, we ordered 2 pitcher of their cocktail drink. said that it is a mixture of rum, vodka, tequila, orange juice, and it doesn't even taste like it has these alcohol. Walang tama! pero pwde na rin and lasa! so, after hanging around, we decided to have a walk, then nakita namin un guilly's na super daming tao, and the crowd seems having fun, so the guys decided to have a drink again! pero Emer and I decided to just go home and have a rest. Along the way, grabe we saw people having sex by the beach, ala live show. and pangit tingnan. Sobrang commercialize. there are also a lot of prostitutes. parang ang dumi na tingnan. Then I realize, if not for my sister (who wanted to go to bora) hindi na rin ako babalik. I'd rather go back to bohol or cebu. So, we retire to bed around 3am.
Last day, or I mean, last morning for Emer and Me. We woke up 7am and had a quick breakfast, we rode a bananna boat ride for our last Bora Adventure. It was already 10am and we need to pack up, the rest went off for Parasailing, and we need to go home.
Sobrang hirap pala ng feeling na aalis ka na while others are still enjoying the day. ok lang sana kung sabay sabay kaming uuwi pero the time you have to say goodbye para sa mga naiwan grabe kakainggit! hehehe
We had our last lunch at Bacolod Chicken Inasal, it is a lot expensive than Mang Inasal but it also taste more delicious than the other. It was already 12nn and we have to get going... our flight was still 450pm and we are really wondering why they fetch us early, siguro dahil sinabay na nila kami with others who have an earlier flight, para makatipid? badtrip no? we could've stayed until 1pm sa bora kesa spend almost 3 hours waiting for our flight! bad bad!
Anyway, the whole trip was really fun. It was my brother's barkada ang kasama namin pero dahil super saya nila kasama at dahil close na rin, every day spend sa bora was great because of friends. Last year we went to bohol-cebu with Mike and Arnel na so we know ok sila. Cole and Jules are also super fun kasama, Ruth is also fun to be with. Syempre my brother na sobrang masaya rin kasama, kaya right after the trip lahat kami nagplaplano na for our next destination... san nga ba? dumaguete o road trip!

And so for the wrap up, honeymoon ba to or Bora trip with friends.....
See you soon Maginoo, Mapagbigay, Matipuno, Mapagisa? and Marahas family-- Masagana Couple signing out!

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Lawiswis Kawayan in Bulacan

Last Sunday, we went to Lawiswis Kawayan located at Calumpit Bulacan. It took us more than an hour but less than 2 hrs to reach the private resort. Lawiswis Kawayan is a private resort which are ideal for small weddings, gatherings, team building and soul searching. It is located 3kms away from the main road. The resort is ok and nice for group overnights because they only accommodate 50person max which makes it ideal for relaxing. I don't have camera with me, so I only use my camphone. The place got an ample size swimming pool, pavilion, real neat cabanas, cottage, function halls and rooms for overnight accommodation. There's not much to see at the resort but if your plans are only to relax and spend the day chatting with friends this is one good place to stay.

Lawiswis Kawayan located at Calumpit Bulacan
Contact Person: Angel
Contact Number: 09224665907
Website

Lawatsa sa Bataan

I had a second thought of going out on a vacation last long weekend because we're really really on a tight budget especially now that we are only few months away from our wedding but what made me change my mind is that the company we will be going out with are really awesome and nice plus I wanted more pictures for my AVP and I also think that a good vacation will help relieve our stress.
Originally, we wanted to go to Hundred Island Pangasinan then Dagupan but after lots of text and calls and talks we decided to just visit the place some other time and so off we go to our destination, we chose Bataan.
We heard Mt. Samat from our AIR buddies who visited the place few months ago, their pictures are just so nice and awesome that we, Emer, Kiam, Jays, Joyce, Ate Nene and I decided to check it out, with Joyce's son Jared with us, we took a lot of pictures and stayed there less than an hour (i Think). The place for me, is not really a wow and a place I will visit again, I'm not just a fan. It's historical landmark built sometime during Marcos regime, there are guns and canyons displayed, pictures and model of the whole Bataan. The wind is crisp and chill up there, might be because it is located at the top of the mountain and it is really really high. From the top you'll see a very beautiful view of Bataan, it's nice to stay there for a few minutes to enjoy the breeze, in fact it's nice to stay their for few hours just doing nothing but laughing and sharing stories. But since I am fascinated with beach, I was excited to reach Morong in no time.
After checking out the place, we wanted to go food tripping but we got lost along the way and ended up at the other side. We were all shock when we learned we're at the other side of Morong (our target point), we were already at Mariveles, more than an hr drive away from Morong. The road was not easy for a car, the twisties are extreme, though it's really nice for a motorcycle ride.
We reach Morong, Bataan around noon, we check out different resort such as Morong Star, White Coral, J and E, Coralview, we settled at the last. The resort is nice though a little pricey. for the 7 of us we paid 4600 for the room, 2 queen size bed and 3 extra matress. There's 2 swimming pool, a videoke machine, 2 billiard table, beach volley ball court and an obstacle course. The beach is great, not white sand though, but the sands are fine, it got a wide beach front which is really really nice, there's a breakwater which makes it safe for kids to swim at the sea, the water is clear but it's very rocky. The food is not good, if I will rate it 10 being the highest, I will rate the food around 4. The food's price is ok if only it is compensated by the taste. The food ranges from 160-180 per short order that is good for 2-3 person. I was disappointed at the fact that they ask corkage for food but they can't even deliver it well... like I just hate every meal we had there and I hate the fact that they sell imported chips only. Sodas are not allowed and I have nothing against it since resorts usually don't allow to bring in drinks other than water. But Corkage for Water? that was a little bit of something!!!! oh well...
The place is nice, I just hope they'll practice good customer service, I hate it when we have to wait for more than an hour just to have a meal, I hate it when they don't allow us to built our own bonfire if we won't buy twigs from them but BUT when we are about to pay they told us they don't have available twigs. anyway, enough of the rants!
After dinner, we had a rest and started our bonding session (sympre it means inuman na din). We started early but ended up very late. We open a bottle of Black Label courtesy of Jays and drink till we drop, unfortunately after finishing the bottle, the others are still not satisfied so while dipping at their jacuzzi we orders few bottles of SMB light. The fun didn't stop until we all decided to call it a night.
I woke up around 9 or 10am. we ordered our brunch, while waiting for the food, we play a part of the obstacle course, net climbing. Having a fear of falling I was able to reach the top in an instant but it took me quite sometime to get down. haha!!! after some picture taking and playing we all had our Brunch. We leave the resort around 3pm. By the way, Sun Cell really sucks, they don't have signal at he area, I still need to borrow my friend's globe phone just to get in touch with my family, Dang!
Our last stop was to try Jumbo Taco located at Olongapo. We took the road that leads to SBMA and from there we look for the restaurant. I'll have a separate entry for the Taco story. And so we finally reach The Coffee Shop Restaurant past 4pm. We finish our dinner at around 6 and all set to go home. Our vacation is over. Past 9pm we were already at Valenzuela exit, it was suppose to be our final stop, for goodbye's but since all of us are "BITIN" we decided to stay for a couple of hours at Jays and Joyce house. I reach home past 2am.
The outing might be a very short but there's one thing I know, that all of us have started a new friendship, another level of being just buddies, we all know that this will not be the last, instead this is the beginning. I was glad that though I am having second thought we still find way to join the gang, another indeed a treasured memory.
pics by joyce

i'll post more pics from my cam soon...

Food Tripping In Bohol-Cebu

Bohol food trippin:
Riverwatch - this is where we had our buffet lunch at the cruise at loboc river. It was included in our package. Normally it cost 250 per head when you go there with out a guide. The foods are good. I love their blue marlin, fresh and they cook it just right. I also love their biko, it's a kakanin, I'm a fun of biko ever since and this is the best biko I've eaten so far.

Trudis Place - our first dinner. Anvy, our tour guide, recommend the reastaurant, according to her, they serve good food with cheaper price. We paid 150 per head for 1 order each of camaron rebosado, calamares, sinigang na baboy, 10pcs of isaw, 5 pcs Bbq, Inihaw na pusit, 8 rice, a liter of sprite, 3 bottles of san mig light. cheap eh?

Captain's Grill - past lunch time we're looking for a good place to eat but since almost all restaurants are still close, we choose only to few resto, we went to Capt. Grill for a lunch. we paid 160 per head for tilapia, liempo, chicken rogout, beef kaldereta, and a pork ( i forgot how it's called) with 7 rice and 2 1.5 liter of royal and sprite. another good find, good food with a reasonable price

Jasz Ihaw-Ihaw - we paid 175 per head for 4 main course and 2 appetizer, a bit expensive than the 2 because we ordered a sweet and sour maya-maya. food is superb!

Food Pasalubongs from Bohol - we bought pasalubong from angel's basket. expensive than others. we bought calamay and calamay with peanuts 48 pesos each, chocolates hill shaped cost 35 each and chicharon 35 each. all pasalubongs are yummy!

Food trippin in Cebu:
Cebu by far for me offers the best foods. Cheap price and superb dishes!
Jo's Chicken Inato - we had our first lunch at Jo's. for 65 peso you already have a big serving of a pecho or hita. rice only cost 10 each and shakes cost 50. we ordered buko pandan for dessert.

Chickaan - by far for me the best meal we had. We ordered pochero which cost only 230 for a big big serving good for 4 pax. we also ordered fried pork adobo, although the serving is so few the dish is awesome, we also ordered cebu special chicken in gata and another i forgot the name dish. we only paid 210 each. cheaper than we thought since this resto is categorized as one of their fine dining.

Bo's Coffee - we wanted to try the Bo's cebu touch. according to friends this is where they first venture, they said their drinks taste different from the one's serve here in Manila. It is also cheaper though same servings.

Cebu Beach Club's Buffet - food is so-so for 400 it is not worth it but since the place is nice and got good ambiance it is compensated. the only edge among the line of food is the fish kebab, the best tanigue! their pineapple fruit is also delicious and sweet.

AA's BBQ Restaurant - for 96 pesos each pax we had a good good meal. we ordered halaan, pusit, chicken and bbq. their ice tea are also good. for a 90 per pitcher it's worth it.

CnT Lechon - lechon being Cebu's specialty, we all know that we are not going to miss buying lechon. Irene, invited us for a lunch at CnT. we were all shocked to know that a lechon per kilo only cost 280. Elar's lechon here in manila cost 480 a kilo. their chicharon bulaklak cost only 60 per 100 grams. by far the best chicharon bulaklak I've tasted better than the one's we have here in La Loma. again for a 100 bucks we are all satisfied and full. We all bought few kilos for pasalubong.

Ice Castle - After a tour at Taoist Temple, Irene invited us for halo-halo. all tired and wasted we decided to have a cup of special halo-halo. It cost only 69 peso each with 2 scoop of selecta ice cream and lotsa toppings.

Dessert Factory - when Emer, Mike and I decided to go to SM to kill sometime. Mike went to watch Harry Potter while Emer and I decided to window shop. It's dinner time when we decided to try Dessert factory, since I am dead tired of eating all the oily food I decided to have Roasted Veggie Pasta, it cost me only 140, satisfying meal. Emer on the other hand ordered a P185 sizzling bulalo, the dish is awesome! I ordered a mango smoothie but sadly it is not good.

Food Pasalubongs in Cebu:
Shamrock - we bought some otap at shamrock, their otap are great!
Taboan Market - we bought some unsalted danggit which cost 440 per kilo, cooked pusit which cost 60 per pack, chicharon which cost 460 a kilo and dried mangoes which cost 21 per 200gram pack.
Cafe Bien - we took a stop at this bakeshop to buy some brownie pasalubong, each brownie cost 11.50-22 pesos. we ordered a dozen.

Alona Beach in Bohol serves mostly ihaw-ihaw food, being an ihaw-ihaw fanatic I was really satisfied with their meals. Cebu on the other hand caters almost all kind of dishes, since we are in the city we tried different meals. by far I love love Chickaan's food most. When looking for a great place for food tripping it is best to go to Cebu! you'll never felt dissatisfied!

The Race in the City

We went to check out the beach in Mactan. We choose visit Cebu Beach Club, same owners and beach line with Tambuli east and west. We paid 350. 300 is consumable by food and 50 is the entrance fee. You can already used the amenities of the 3 resorts. the sands are not impressive although white, it is not fine, rocky and dirty. You cannot swim happily because there are a lot of seaweeds. We paid another 100 for the buffet lunch. I find their fish kebab wow! the rest are so-so. According to the staff of the resort, it is not man made beach like the one's in Shangri-la and Plantation Bay. We didn't get to check the two resort because we need to pay 2k each for entrance. the 2k includes buffet lunch and use of all amenities and since we don't have plans on using any facilities, it's too expensive for us.
On our way back we had a pit stop at Lapu-Lapu shrine and Magellan's Marker at Mactan, it's for me a complete waste of time. Nothing spectacular, nothing special.
We went to Fort San Pedro, It's a lot similar to Fort Santiago here in Manila. There are museums, which some artifacts and relics are placed. Nothing much to do.
We went to Magellan's Cross, the original cross is already encrypted with a new wood, beside the Magellan's Cross is the Basilica Minore de Sto Nino. the church is centuries ago. The church is beautiful, although I don't easily appreciate architectural designs I really find this church very solem. I lit candles and prayed sincerely.
Since Magellan's Cross, Basilica de Sto Nino and Fort San Pedro are located at the same vicinity, you can toured by foot.
We also check out the Heritage Monument. Another complete waste of time.
Our last stop for the whole tour was the Taoist Temple located at Beverly Hills of Cebu. This is where rich families live, a high end subdivisions. The temple is said to be the biggest temple in the Philippines. With a good view as you climb the top of stairs, picture taking is not allowed inside and they always advised people to keep quiet to maintain the solemn of the place.
I was not satisfied with our city tour as I really expected more or maybe because I am not a fan of this kind of tour that's why I didn't get to enjoy much. But at least, now I can say that I've been there and done that!

Amazing Race in Cebu

We took off 10am at Tagbilaran's Pier. an hr and 45 mins after we reached Cebu. We took a taxi and head off to Castle's Peak. I was really drowsy since I felt I'm starving. There's only one room available, we have to wait for the sales till 1pm to confirm if there's still an extra room for us unfortunately, they are already fully book. The receptionist referred us to Crown Garden Hotel located along Salinas, tired and hungry we decide to take a taxi and settle at the hotel. We check out the rooms and they are clean and nice. Quickly we leave our things and look for the nearest restaurant. Beside our hotel is Jo's Chicken Inato, we had a very good lunch it was already past 2pm. We took a multi-cab (jeep) going to Ayala Center and bought some stuff. from there we walk to Lahug to check out Waterfront hotel, I wish I brought my privilege card for a 30% discount on rooms. Anyway, the hotel is nice but there are a lot of travelers mostly Koreans which makes the hotel crowded and noisy. We walk back to our hotel, tired! 3km walk from Ayala to Salinas. Anyway, It was already late afternoon so the sun starts to go down. Picture taking along the business district in Cebu and Waterfront was our accomplishments that day. We had a quick rest in our hotel before our dinner. We met Irene, she's a friend of a friend of Arnel, Mike and my brother, She's from Cebu. She suggested to have our dinner at Chickaan and the food is really great. After the dinner we went to Bo's Coffee for a cup of fracinno and freeze. Still early but we decide to call it a night since all of us are dead tired.
We continue our Amazing Race in Cebu, our first stop was Mactan Island to check out Mactan's beach, Paid 350 for Entrance at Cebu Beach Club. 300 is consumble by food. we add a hundred bucks for a buffet lunch. Food's ok. We stay for a couple of hours before we start our City Tour, we to Magellan's Maker and Lapu-Lapu Shrine in Mactan. We asked the taxi driver to drop us at Fort San Pedro we paid 15peso entrance fee each. We had an ice cream stop a store nearby before we continue the tour. It was already almost 4pm, sun's almost down, we walked to Magellan's Cross, then to Basilica Minore de Sto. Nino, light candles and pray, we also visit Cebu Cathedral Church. As we continue to walk we saw Shamrock's store, a highly recommended pasalubong shop according to some friends, we bought some pasalubongs, near Shamrock was Heritage Monument, few pictures and off we go to our last and final stop, the Taboan Market. The Market is famous for danggit and other dried seafoods. After we bought all the pasalubongs we needed we all smell like danggit already, so we quickly look for taxi and head back to hotel. Took a quick rest, it was already a little past 8pm when we decide to have dinner. Since Salinas Drive got a lot of restaurants to offer and since our hotel is located at the middle we decide to walk and check out different restaurant. Since Irene mention to Arnel that we might wanna try AA's BBQ we decide to have our last dinner together in Cebu at the said resto (I'm gonna write a seperate entry for all the restos we've tried). Near our hotel is Royal Spa, we decided to have a massage to pamper ourselves after the few days of tiring but fun tours. Garry, Emer and Mike had a body massage while I avail the foot massage service. It was already 1pm when we finish. We had an hour of kuwentuhan at chickahan before we finally sleep.
We woke up late. Irene invited us for a lunch at CnT lechon. We went to Taoist Temple to check out the biggest temple in the Philippines. Tired and Dehydrated, we all went to Ice Castle for a serving of special halo-halo each. It was around 4pm when we all decided for a last pamper me massage. I and Arnel avail their body massage while Emer, Garry and Mike ask for a foot massage service. It was already past 6 when we all finish our last pamper me in Cebu. Garry and Arnel's flight is 830 so they should be at the Airport around 730. Since our flight was still 1050. We went to SM City Cebu to kill time. Mike watched Harry Potter, while Emer and I window shopped. We had our dinner at Dessert Factory. Their malls are much like malls here in Manila. Items at the department store are same as we have here. Their appliances and electronic devices are cheaper. It was already 9pm when we decide to head off to the airport. We check in our things and waited for our flight back to Manila.
Our Cebu trip was really really tiring although I can still say it's worth it for first timers like us. If I will visit Cebu again, I won't spend much time in the city but to the near provinces where beaches are wonders. Next stop? who knows? but there's one thing we 5 are very sure at, this won't be our last adventure.
Also read: Food Tripping in Cebu
More Cebu Pictures