Day 3: Beaching in Bohol

Our last day in Bohol was time well-spent for beach bumming. Yay! We were hoping for a good weather that day because the past few days were cloudy. 

First thing in our agenda is dolphin watching in Pamilacan Island. We started a bit late because our boatman arrived a little past 6am. Chances to see dolphins are higher after sunrise. When we arrived in the site, there were around 20 boats circling in the water and all waiting for the sight of dolphins. We waited about 20 minutes or so before we spotted a group of dolphins in the water. The feeling was ecstatic =) I’ve seen dolphin shows but witnessing the dolphins actually very near us was a different experience. Of course, they didn't jump high off the water like in the dolphin shows but they were very playful.They know that the boats were chasing them and they would let the boats run after them. 

photo taken from bohol.ph

After that, we headed to nearby Balicasag Island. Balicasag Island is a marine sanctuary of healthy corals where abundant fishes thrive. We rented a small boat (Php400 for2/pax) to bring us to the marine sanctuary. We had to rent aqua shoes so the corals won’t hurt our feet. The water was just waist deep because it was low tide but the boatman can also bring you to the deeper part of the sea. It was  a great underwater experience for me. There were lots of fishes of different colors and sizes. To be honest, I don’t know how to swim but snorkeling and seeing the fishes motivated me to keep afloat and feed them. Because I don't have decent camera, I have to grab this!

photo taken from TripAdvisor

Then, we’re off to another island destination, Virgin Island. As we we’re nearing the island, we saw a crescent shape sand bar. Upon seeing it, I immediately thought of White Island in Camiguin. 

 

sandbar at Virgin Island

We we’re the only ones in the sandbar which was perfect. Erick and I had a great time chilling out in the island. We could have brought ice cold beer!

chillin' at Virgin Island

when i say jump, you say how high?

We boarded our banca once more and then docked at the main Virgin Island and explored the other sides of the island. I noticed that there are litters on the island. I saw one food wrapper and picked it up. I hope tourists visiting the island should be more conscientious about leaving their garbage behind. After all, we are just visitors and we have no right to leave our trash. So please...

After finishing with our island hopping, we went back to Alona and had a quick lunch. 

Then we’re off to Bohol Beach Club (BBC) for more beach time! Day tour tickets cost Php500 of which Php350 is consumable..just enough to cover our meals for lunch or dinner.

What I like most with BBC is the long stretch of beach unlike in Alona where the establishments are just a few meters away from the beach. Let the pictures speak for themselves..

view from my beach bed

hunk by the beach. hehe

beach bunny

We love the sunset! Compared to other beaches where the sun sets in the sea, in Panglao the sun sets at the back of the island. It was a very beautiful dusk.

sunset in Bohol Beach Club

amber is the color of my energy

One of the greatest beach experience..Bohol, we will be back soon!

Day 2: Danao Adventure Park

We wanted to include in our itinerary Danao  Adventure  Park because of the latest adventure ride – The Plunge. Our problem is we didn't know how to get there from Panglao. Renting a car is not in our option because rental ranges from Php3000-5000 and we are on a budget trip. There has to be some way I said. Armed with my research skills, I checked online if there were directions how to get to Danao  Adventure Park via commute. I found bits and pieces of information from E.A.T Danao website and some travel forums. So I was confident that we will be able to make it to Danao on our second day.

But you can’t expect that everything will go smoothly as planned. That’s what happened to us. The bus trips to Danao are limited and the last trip in the morning is 8AM. Guess what? We missed the 8AM bus by a few minutes. Boo.

When we learned that the bus has left already, I thought okay maybe we could have other plans like beach bumming at Bohol Beach Club. But Erick, the insistent one, convinced me that we proceed with our Danao plan by other means.

How to get there

If you’re coming from Panglao, hail the jeepney in Alona with the signboard Tagbilaran. Fares costs Php25. Tell the driver that you will be getting off at Dao Integrated Bus Terminal.

Tagbilaran to Danao

1)       Catch the bus with the route Tagbilaran-Danao at Dao Bus Terminal. I got the information below from E.A.T. Danao website.

Trips per day from Tagbilaran to Danao:

Morning: 5:00 am, 6:00am, 8:00am

Afternoon: 12:00 noon, 1:00 pm, 2:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 4:30 pm, and 6:30 pm last trip

Trips per day from Danao to Tagbilaran:

Morning:  4:00am, 5:30am, 6:00am, 7:00am, 8:00am, 9:00am, 11:30am,

Afternoon: 1:30pm, 4:00pm, 5:00 pm last trip

* Bus fare is P75.00

* Buses are at Integrated Bus Terminal – Dao – Dampas, Tagbilaran City

* Bus will only be at Poblacion, Danao. Motor for hire (habal-habal) are available to transport guests going to the Adventure Park at P30.00/person. We encourage guests to look for drivers wearing patch with Danao Adventure Park logo

Make sure that you are in the bus terminal before 8am. We were late so we missed the bus. If by chance, you missed the bus, don’t fret. You can still go to Danao by another option.

2)       Take the bus with the signboard Tagbilaran-Tubigon in the same bus terminal. Fare costs Php50. The trip will take approximately 1 hr and 30 minutes. If you took the 8am trip, you will be in Tubigon before 10am. Hire a tricycle that can take you to Danao Adventure Park. The tryke will wait for you while you are in the park. Renting the tryke whole day costs around Php700-800, depends on your haggling skills. But after seeing the conditions of the roads on the way to Danao, I’m not sure if you can still have the nerve to haggle with the tryke driver.

Danao, finally

Suislide

To the Suislide

I wasn’t feeling gutsy so I settled for Suislide. Suislide is a combination of the word “suis” which is the sound of the cable and “slide”. It could also mean suicide if you’re afraid of heights.

Suislide is basically the same as the zipline where a pulley is suspended on a cable mounted on an inclined cliff. The ride consists of two lines, back and forth.

Prepping up

When I was getting ready for my Suislide, I felt nervous. I tried zipline before it was in a sitting position; this one’s in flying angle. Whew!  As the crew shouted “bombs away”, I braced myself for the exhilarating ride. The Suislide takes around less than a minute from one mountain cliff to another. While there, I just enjoyed the view of the river running between the mountains.

Bombs away!

Find meeeee

For Php350 and two rides, it was worth it.

The Plunge

Whenever, I hear the word “Plunge” what comes into my mind is the Nestea commercial where the model took a plunge in a picnic mat and fell freely into a pool. Sounds familiar? That is if you are a 90s kid..

It says it all

The Plunge somehow works in the same way. Danao Adventure Park boasts “The Plunge” as the best fear factor experience among other adventure activities it offers.  One has to literally plunge to an open air where about two seconds, the plunger will all be defenseless, feel nothing and left all alone.

The Plunge is a canyon swing adventure attraction mounted over a 200 meter high and 300 meter wide gorge. A person would have to do a 45 meters free fall before being launched on a pendulum swing measuring to a hundred meter diameter. The ride costs Php700.

Erick took the Plunge and I saw him literally swinging like a pendulum. But I bet it was one memorable ride for him.

Uno

Dos

Tres

There ya go

Woohoo

Ultimate ride approved!

Danao Adventure Park also offers other activities such as ziplet, river trekking and tubing, kayaking, wall climbing, village tour, camping, rapelling, root climbing, and caving. If you’re the adventurous-type, you can’t miss Danao.

They also provide accommodations from Php600-1000 per night depending on your budget. Renting a tent is a lot cheaper at Php200. Hehe

Adventure packages are also offered. Details are found in the E.A.T. Danao website. 

It was a long, tiring, and adventure-filled day for us. If you are looking for something aside from the usual Bohol sights like Chocolate Hills and dolphin watching, then E.A.T. Danao Adventure Park is for you.

One last note. The provincial government of Bohol should pave the roads leading to Danao so it can be more accessible. Traveling on a rough road was annoying. I kept saying Danao must be worth it; good thing it was. Also, a reliable and inexpensive transport system must be set-up to attract more tourists especially travelers who are on a budget.

contact information:

E.A.T. Danao

+63.38.415.0777/510.0033

www.eatdanao.com

Day 1: Bohol Countryside Tour

Tagbilaran City is an hour and fifteen minutes away by plane from Manila. We boarded the first Philippine Airlines flight and left Manila around 5:30am. We were greeted by a beautiful sunrise while were cruising the sky en route Bohol.

Good morning sunshine!

We arrived in Tagbilaran and immediately started our countryside tour. We hired the services of Bohol Speedcar Rental for Php 1520/head including all entrance fees and lunch cruise.

Touchdown Tagbilaran

Our first stop is the Blood Compact Site. The site marks an important event in the early history of the Philippines. The sculptures depict the "sandugo" or blood compact done by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi of Spain and Rajah Sikatuna of Bohol. The blood compact is considered as the First Treaty of Friendship between two different races, religions, cultures, and civilizations.

Blood Compact

Just a few minutes away from the site is Baclayon Church. Baclayon Chuch is the second oldest stone church next to San Agustin Church in Intramuros Manila. It is made of coral stones from the sea and skillfully crafted by Boholano artisans.

Baclayon Church

A close encounter with the tarsiers is an experience not to be missed when in Bohol. The tarsier is the smallest primate measuring less than a foot. I didn’t dare to touch or play with them because they were very active; one tarsier almost jumped in my face. 

Watcha lookin at?

Passing by the man-made forest provides a relaxing view with all the mahogany trees planted along the road terrain. We stopped by the end of the forest to take some pictures.

 Stopover at the man-made forest

Finally, we’ve reached the highlight of our countryside tour. You’ve never been to Bohol if you haven’t seen Chocolate Hills. Chocolate Hills is one of the world’s wonders with 1,268 hills to be exact. The hills turn into brown during summer season; but during our visit the hills were vibrant green maybe because it was raining the past few days in Bohol.

Finally, Chocolate Hills

Another interesting animal encounter was with the butterflies in Simply Butterflies Conservation Center. The butterfly tour was fun mainly because we got to see the life cycle of a butterfly from larva to butterfly stage. Our tour guide was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable which made our tour more interactive.

Beautiful butterflies

It was an early lunch for us at 11am. We boarded Boat #9 for our Loboc Lunch Cruise. The lunch cruise was relaxing. Cruising Loboc River gives you a glimpse of traditional rural life. Children play in the water, women gather and spend their afternoons outside their houses, and one can simply take a nap in a hammock - the simple life. 

 

Loboc Lunch Cruise

Let's eat!!

After lunch, we headed to the Tigbao Hanging Bridge which connects two villages. The bridge is made up of steel and bamboo woods. There’s nothing really to see in the bridge but the view of the river is calming. And yeah, there are souvenir shops at both ends of the bridge.

At the Hanging Bridge

We drove towards Tagbilaran and then headed to Panglao Island. We stopped by Dauis Church first. One feature of the church that caught my attention is its painted ceilings. The paintings are very intricate and detailed.

Dauis Church

Last item on our itinerary is Bohol Bee Farm. It wasn’t originally included in our packaged tour but we asked our driver to bring us to the farm. I love Bohol Bee Farm! We were able to make it to the farm tour and we learned a lot about organic farming, bee farming, vermiculture, and other livelihood activities.

 

Bee mine =)

 

The organic ice cream was super yummy, one of the best I've ever tasted plus it’s really healthy! When I go back to Bohol, I will definitely stay in Bohol Bee Farm even just for an overnight.

I could eat this all day!

And yeah, we were able to squeeze some beach time later in afternoon. It was a perfect beach day; it wasn't so hot and the water was cool.

Beaching in Alona

First day in Bohol and my summer has officially started =)

contact information:

Hans
+63.906.507.7848
Bohol Speedcar Rental
boholspeedcarrental.multiply.com

Bohol Bee Farm
Ms. Vicky Wallace
Dao, Dauis, Panglao Island, Bohol
+63.38.502.2288
vickywallace@boholbeefarm.com
http://www.boholbeefarm.com

Hawker Food in Manila

I’ve always loved Singaporean hawker food. So when Erick and I discovered that there is foodie place near Columns that serves Singaporean and other Asian dishes, we made a recent trip to the place one rainy Saturday noon.

Hawking in Manila

101 Hawker Food House is not hard to find. It’s just at the back of Mercury Drugstore fronting Makati Central Post Office along Buendia. The food house is opposite a vacant lot which is being developed by Greenfield into a condominium/commercial building. The place doesn’t look like a hawker food court at all. But that was okay since we wanted to eat comfortably.

Upon checking their menu, we were delighted to see our Singaporean favorites at such affordable prices (Php 100 – 150).

We ordered Hainanese chicken, Thai Bagoong rice, and Singaporean Laksa (which I am craving recently). I had teh tarik which Erick tried as well. For dishes little more than a hundred bucks, we enjoyed our Singaporean food fest. The food was good and satisfying.

Let the food fest begin!

The Hainanese chicken was tender and tasted good together with the chili dip. We should have probably ordered plain rice so we can better savor the Hainanese chicken but Erick liked their bagoong rice. My personal favorite is the laksa, a coconut-based curry soup. With its thick texture and creamy and spicy taste, how could I not love it?

My personal fave - laksa

We also loved their teh tarik; it was a good alternative to our Thai iced tea craving which we haven’t satisfied yet.. I told Erick that I could probably make teh tarik at home. Just a tea bag, condensed milk, and some “pulling and pouring” technique,..voila teh tarik in 5 minutes..

Teh tarik, please

Overall, we are happy with our food experience at 101 Hawker Food House. The place was clean, service was quick, food was enough to satisfy our hawker food cravings, prices were pocket-friendly (our total bill is Php450), and yeah it’s just conveniently located in Makati. We will definitely be back soon!

contact information: 

101 Hawker Food House
Unit 102, Campos Rueda Bldg

101 Urban Ave, Makati  Metro Manila
At the back of Mercury Drug Buendia, across Makati CPO
+63.2.886.7329
Accepts delivery

Summer-ready

In a week's time, I will be spending my first vacay for this year in Bohol. Yay! After three months of my self-imposed no travel policy, I will welcome Summer 2011 in the island paradise of Bohol. This year, I promised Erick (and myself) that I will lessen my trips because we need to build up our savings. Last year, I had ten trips in total; three of which were out of the country (Kota Kinabalu, Singapore, and Bangkok). So that was really an ouch to my pocket and Erick's too. hehe

This 2011, I said that I will only make 3 domestic and 1 out-of-the-country trips. I hope I can live to that promise!

Seven days to go before Bohol. I am summer-ready! <3

Taken from Google photos

China and France at the 2nd Philippine International Pyromusical Competition

Cause baby you're a firework

Come on show 'em what you're worth

Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"

As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Last Saturday, we watched the third installment of the 2nd Philippine International Pyromusical Competition featuring delegations from China and France at the SM Mall of Asia. The event debuted last February 12 and will be held every Saturday night until March 12.

We opted to buy Silver tickets so we can comfortably watch the fireworks display without trying to compete with the rest of the crowd for the view. Tickets are sold at the following prices:

Patron (with dinner) - Php1500

VIP – Php500

Gold - Php200

Silver - Php100

You can also dine in one of the restaurants in the seaside area but make sure you have prior reservations.

After waiting for a bit, the show started with a bang in the sky! 

You had me at hello

Good in almost everything, China didn’t disappoint us by showcasing their spectacular fireworks display. After all, the Chinese invented the fireworks as my youngest sister repeatedly said. Their presentation was full of vibrance and life in addition to the loud Chinese music.

Red fireworks dominated the night sky

France came next. And I must say, their exhibition was dramatic and sophisticated. French are known to be romantics and their fireworks attested to that. Where as the Chinese’ presentation was more on the cheerful side, the French’s was elegant and intense. It started modest and ended magnifique!

I heart you!

As expected with events like these, the MOA complex was jam-packed. Heavy traffic greeted the crowds leaving and going to the mall. We didn’t find an empty resto in MOA so we decided to eat at Seaside at Macapagal Blvd. After buying seafoods in the wet market, we had our food cooked (paluto) in one of the restaurants.

At 12 mn, we were just plain happy to experience the brightest show on earth that lighted up Manila skies and of course have our seafood dinner =)

contact information:

Tickets are available at Ticketnet, Ticketworld, SM Ticket Outlets, and MOA

March 12, 2011: 7 PM Fireworx (Australia), 8 PM Platinum Fireworks (Philippines)

Seaside Dampa

Diosdado Macapagal Blvd., Pasay City

Sweet Deal from the Travel Tour Expo 2011!

Erick and I went to SMX yesterday to check the PTAA Travel and Tour Expo. We weren’t really planning to book anything since we already bought our tickets for our Bohol and Bora trips (both promo fares). 

There were lots of booths from different airlines, resorts, travel agencies, cruise liners, real estate companies, and other businesses in the tourism industry. It was the last day of the expo but the crowd was still mad to buy promo fares and book discounted tour and hotel packages. To name a few, there were exhibitors from Macau, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, Guam, Hawaii, India, South Africa, and yeah even Kenya! Whew that was a lot and add all the local travel agencies, resorts, and airlines in the Philippines.  

We went around for awhile hoping that we could stumble upon a fancy deal.  And voila! We saw La Carmela de Boracay’s 3D/2N + 1 night free room promo. Just exactly what we’re looking for our Boracay trip in June. The deal is only applicable from June 1 – December 15 which is the low season. 

3D/2N (with breakfast) + 1 night free room only (without breakfast)

Low Season
Quad – Php 420/pax
Triple – Php 560/pax
Twin – Php 840/pax

High Season
Quad – Php 640/pax
Triple – Php 860/pax
Twin – Php 1280/pax

Peak Season
Quad – Php 790/pax
Triple – Php 1050/pax
Twin – Php 1575/pax

*Rate per pax and inclusive of set breakfast.
*Additional Php100 /person for meal upgrade to buffet breakfast.

It was really an unbelievable deal. We will be in Bora for four days. So for our 4D/3N stay, we only paid for 3D/2N since the promo entitles us to 1 night free room without breakfast. Hehe Such a sweet deal! It was selling like hot pancakes. To further make this very unbelievable deal more super unbelievable, the standard room could fit in up to 4 persons and we are four in the group (plus 2 by the way, but the four of us can share the room). Adding it up, the four of us would incur the following expenses:

Php420 * 2 nights = Php840 + 1 night free room :)

Teehee. Boracay: 4D/3N = Php840/person. Where can you find that? Our running expenses for Bora is..*drum roll please*

Php 853 – promo fare from Zest Air (which we booked last month)
Php 840 – 4D/3N accommodation in La Carmela
_______
Php 1693

This will be my cheapest travel to date. Luvit...Beat it!

contact information:
La Carmela de Boracay
www.lacarmeladeboracay.com
Station 2, Balabag, Boracay Island
Malay, Aklan
Philippines
Phone: +63.36.288.5423 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +63.36.288.5423      end_of_the_skype_highlighting, 288.5921, 288.5921, 36.288.4376, 288.4376     info@lacarmeladeboracay.com

Manila Booking Office
Cellphone: +63.9228166941, 9228166941, 9228166942
Landline: +63.2.8958048, 8958048, 8958049
Fax: +63.2.8979184