And the adventure begun… met HM in Friendlys (this is the great place to stay in Manila, cheap, clean & friendly atmosphere, it goes by the name - Google it). We hooked up well for the 1st week and decided to travel together. From Manila to Tagbilaran by air, from there stayed in Alona beach in Panglao. We stayed in one resort (oh! I have forgotten the name,,,hmmmn not worth mentioning anyway) then after two nights met up with our friend Mark (met in Friendlys too) and HM & I moved to Ooops bar! - a cottage was just 700 Pesos ($14/day), it’s along the beach and the restaurant I must say serves the best food in this place. Of course, I do not forget to eat the local Filipino dishes that I always miss when I am overseas such as, fried boneless milk fish with fried rice, Filipino breakfast, mango shake, calamansi juice and many more! One day, we rented a boat to Virgin Island (ahhh, there’s nothing there…not even good for snorkeling, no corals at all). Alright, just to be fair, it’s white sand island & the shape is quite amusing when it is low tide - a C-shape forming the island.
After Panglao, we head on to Nuts Huts in Loboc, Bohol. Mark left for Thailand (hey, I keep mentioning him not because I’m into him, nope, nope but I do like him as a friend, very pleasant man, open minded, very friendly and single - right, all single ladies out there start queuing up and I’ll do the screening for him ha!ha!ha! Oh! Yes and most of all we enjoyed drinking Tanduay with coke!
Ok, let’s go back to Nuts Huts - ah! The place is absolutely appealing, especially the river on the way to this place. The cottage was not that good and the food was terrible! The only thing that was right that I ate on that place was the spring roll and coconut shake. All others sucks, esp. the chicken curry, I never knew anyone who does not know how to cook curry! Now, I’m still wondering why there are so many excellent reviews about the food in that place…was the chef not around on those days we were there? And who was cooking then, a random chef hmmnnnn… Ops! One best thing in this place is their masseur, Rita, wow! She was one of the best! 5 star for her! Renting a motorbike on this island is 500 pesos ($10/day). Visited the Tarsier sanctuary, some of the oldest church in Asia the Chocolate hills and the internet cafés ;)
After Bohol, the Island of Camiguin, took the small lanzones boat from Jagna - a 3hour boat ride and just paid 500 pesos ($10/person)! Lucky day, coz if you have to take a ferry to Camiguin you have to go to Cebu and will take you 20 hrs to get there! Or the other way is to fly from Cebu which costs more. So, it’s great it was lanzones season on that time. Oh! Lanzones is a fruit - Google it please.
Camiguin Island - Wow! Wow! Wow! I rated this island as the number 1 place I have ever seen during this exploration. Yippee! Let me tell you why… one best thing is the cottage that is if you go to Jasmine by the Sea - Melinda is the owner of this place. Friendly & efficient staff Me-me, great food, clean & cheap accommodation. The chef in this place is fabulous in her culinary talent, all thumbs up to all of you! Renting motorbike is cool to do to go around this island, cheap and convenient in so many ways. Just a friendly reminder, ensure that you do not park the bike in a very remote area, someone might steal your side mirror like what happened to us and ended up paying for it of course! Leave your bike to a home nearby, locals will gladly take care of it and might be good to give some tip for the hospitality.
In this island, you have so much thing to see and do for weeks. Hiking, diving, swimming into hot & cold springs, snorkeling in the sunken cemetery or during your island hopping, some church ruins (which actually I was not able to see), volcanoes and the scenery, oh! so gorgeous that you can take hundreds of shots in one location, so prepare your 10G memory card!
And last but not the least, Siargao island in Surigao - traveling by bus for long hours is not my cup of tea, but this is how it works here, you like to see places then take a bus! A total of 7 and half hour bus ride to Surigao, goodness me, I felt road sick as you can guess it is very unpleasant. From Surigao it takes 4hr ferry ride to GL (short for General Luna) pier in Siargao. I should say the grueling ride was worth it, I rated the place as the 2nd best on this travel! I am not a surfer but I know that this place is heaven for surfers. Stay in Ocean 101, located in Cloud 9, cheap accommodation and the food is very good too. Just mind you, transportation in this place is not that accessible, mostly you can travel from one place to another by motorbike or hike.
Then after nearly 3 weeks of traveling around, it was time to go back to Manila. HM left and continue his passion in traveling around the globe, his next destination - Hong Kong.
And I? Well, I re-visited Puerto Galera in Mindoro. It take 3 hour bus ride from Manila to Batangas pier and an hour and half boat ride to Sabang beach. It was a very hot day, I was sweating so bad and with colds when I arrived on the island. I stayed 2 nights in Club Mabuhay resort (yes, I do stay in expensive resorts when I like to relax and pamper myself). I was terribly sick on my first evening and it was a wise decision to have a one hour massage service in my room. My best masseur on this travel, Alona from Reflexone, she knows what she is doing! Alright, let’s rate this place… the accommodation is worth paying for (just more lightings in the room please!) and the staff, very inefficient and discriminating! So, I decided to check out after two nights and moved to Red Sun diving resort. Great place to stay for honeymooners! Or single person like me that just love to admire the scenery from my balcony. Yes, all rooms are with balcony and the rates are reasonable. The Manager of Red Sun - Janeth is very efficient as well as her staff. Keep up the excellent job!
I took PADI Open Water Diving course for 4 days. It was very challenging and inspiring! I am very grateful to my instructor - Adrian for his patience and dedication. Now, I’m opt to look for a buddy on my next dive ;)!
Now, I’m back again in Manila, Friendlys as usual. I will be heading back to US at the end of October, back to work!
No worries, I will still be traveling while working and be able to share more of the world’s wonders>
