Boracay, for the First Timer

I should have posted this last month. I just thought Boracay is an overused topic; hence, I was not excited to blog about it. And then I realized, why not write about Boracay from a first timers perspective?

Last August, my friend, Joi, bought plane tickets for us without my knowledge. It was her birthday gift to me (sweet!). I didn’t know we were Boracay-bound at least two weeks before our flight. The weather was not good when we arrived. It was actually raining the next day when we woke up, but we enjoyed our stay nonetheless. Here are some of the things that I will remember about Boracay:

1. Boracay is the name. B-O-R-A-C-A-Y. Don’t you dare remove the last three letters. It doesn’t sound right unless you’re talking about Bora Bora, a world-famous island beach somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Note that for some foreigners, Bora Bora is better than Boracay so stop promoting what’s not ours by saying “Borahhh” with a fake accept. Not cool!

2. White sand beach, indeed. No questions asked.

3. Crytal clear waters; I enjoyed it the most. I thought it’s gonna change when it rains. It doesn’t.

4. Some bars are closed as early as 1AM. Boracay was unusually crowded last August, but I was surprised that the bars were getting emptied by 3AM. I would have been seen dancing until sunrise. Perhaps the scene is different during peak seasons.

I highly recommend Paraw and Epic!

5. People in Puerto Galera are friendlier.

6. If you’ve got the money, get a hotel room at Station 1. For the budget-conscious, go to Station 3. To be safe, stay in Station 2, it’s where everything happens anyway.

7. No sleeping on the beach. And strictly no sex on the beach!

8. It’s cliché to climb up that grotto on the rock and take pictures.

Boracay is a paradise - that is true 20 years ago. Over the years, it has become heavily commercialized and sadly, it looks like there's no stopping them politicians from destroying its beauty. So expect Boracay to self-destruct in 10 years. By then, the world's attention will be on our neighbors whose natural tourist's attractions are well-preserved - Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Which means, the best time to go to Boracay is now, while it is still considered beautiful.

Guess which Philippine lake made it as one of the World's most beautiful?!

Budgettravel.com included the Taal Lake in their "12 Most Beautiful Lakes in the World" list. Now that's good news, after the recent fish kill in the area which made headlines last week.

-Source-

PHILIPPINES
Taal Lake
This dangerous beauty, situated just 37.28 miles south of Manila, has two distinct claims to fame: It is the deepest lake in the Philippines, with a depth of 564 feet. It is also home to one of the world's smallest but most active volcanoes, the Taal Volcano, which sits within its waters on the island of Luzon. The lake itself was formed when a larger volcanic crater here collapsed; now seismologists spend a lot of time monitoring this spot for tremors, and sending out frequent eruption warnings through the country's Department of Tourism. Plenty of tour groups offer trips to the natural wonder—in spite of the fact that it has been declared a permanent danger zone. A safer way to see the volcano is by taking a drive along the Tagaytay-Taal ridge in nearby Tagaytay City.
Nearby: Adjacent Tagaytay City offers some well-priced accommodations, in addition to the best views of the lake.

Glad to see a Philippine tourist spot in their list, for the first time. For one, I never read any recent article from a foreign travel magazine which features Boracay as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. If not because of the massive online and text voting (which Filipinos are known for), I would have never heard of the underground cave in Palawan. So the inclusion of the Taal Lake to this list is quite a surprise.

Say NO to Mining in Palawan

Let your voice be heard. Sign-up now!

Please visit www.no2mininginpalawan.com to sign-up.

As of this writing, 1,220,053 signatures have been submitted! Let's show the local government of Palawan, the politicians, and these huge mining industries, that we are not letting them continue destroying our environment.

Taytay Falls Once More

I got to see Taytay falls January of last year (click here for the story), so when I learned about Dalitiwan Resort, also in Majayjay, I said yes to my friend's invitation to go there last weekend.

We left Manila at around 4PM. It's quite late already, and the heavy traffic from Calamba to Los Banos is not a surprise. We were in Sta. Cruz at around 7:30PM. For 350 pesos, we hired a tricycle to bring us to Dalitiwan Resort. It was raining and my pants were already soaked wet when we arrived at the resort more than an hour later. I got so tired that I fell asleep immediately after dinner.

The next morning, we tested the cold waters running along the resort.

We decided to visit Taytay Falls, it's still about 20 minutes away.

en route to the falls

The water here is (still) twice as cold!

 

 

The Transient House in Bokawkan

Staying in a transient house is a better option when going to Baguio in groups. It's cheaper and you can even get discounts especially for groups of 10 or more. You'll have the freedom to do things which you aren't allowed to do if you stay in a hotel.

From our last team building in Baguio, we stayed at the Mountain Side Inn along Bokawkan road. It's just a 10-minute taxi or jeepney ride away from Burnham park.

Terrace at the back.

View from the terrace.

At night.


Us, at the hallway.


The front yard, along Bokawkan road. The lights at the background are from Las Marias and Kinnoboyan country bars.

Rooms

For inquiries, contact:
Mountain Side Inn
51 Bokawkan Road, Baguio City
09209087180

I forgot to bring my camera at that time, these shots aren't mine. Thanks to my officemates Joi, Sarah and Adrian for the photos.

Transient Houses in Baguio

Since my officemates found out that I was a Baguio boy, I instantly became a "tour guide" everytime they plan to visit the City of Pines. They would ask me for the best hotels, transient houses, restaurants and bars. That has been the case for over 4 years now. I am happy to have been able to direct them to the best places in Baguio.

Here, I made a list of the transient houses in Baguio. I haven't been to all of these houses, so I may appear biased on some of my notes. Nonetheless, I have provided a link to their websites, if there's any, and contact numbers.

Miles Home
88 Gibraltar Road
(074) 424-2014; 09173645288
www.mileshome-baguio.com

My friends just stayed here this summer, and I didn't hear any negative comments from them so far. Miles Home is just a few steps away from the Mine's View park. Their rooms are very affordable, although from the outside, the house already looks old. Give them a call or visit their website for more information.

North Pine Transient House
117 Scout Barrio, Baguio City
www.baguioresthouses.multiply.com

They seem to have a number of apartments for rent/transient but I have never been to any of those. Check their page at baguioresthouses.multiply.com. Nonetheless, Scout Barrio is a good location as it is just beside Camp John Hay. Expect to see lots of pine trees in this area. Scout Barrio is about 15-20 minutes away from Session Road and is accessible by jeepney and taxi.

Baguio Transient House
214 Mission Rd.
Crystal Cave, Baguio City

www.baguiotransient.com

Baguio Transient House is found in Crystal Cave which is located along Marcos Highway. It is about 15 minutes away from the Baguio central business district.

INNSISON Apartelles
Naguilian cor Dominican Rd, Baguio City
09175084500
www.innsison.com

This is a new building found near the welcome arc of Baguio at Naguilian road. You can see the steps leading to the Lourdes Grotto from here. Their rates are quite affordable, a good alternative to getting a hotel near Session road.

Atenara House
40 Navy (C.M. Recto) Road
Saint Joseph Bgy 2600
Baguio City, Philippines
63 (74) 446-9808
63 (933) 365-7352
www.atenara.com

I once lived at St. Joseph back in 2002-2003 but I never noticed this transient house. I realized, they only started in 2005. Check their website for the details. St. Joseph is located near Wright Park, Botanical Garden and Teacher's Camp.

More to follow.

If you want me to include your place, leave a comment and give us the details.

Quezon and Laguna Day Tour

I've been hearing about Pahiyas Festival since I was a kid. I've seen stunning photos of their heavily decorated houses and colorful festivities. But I've never been to Quezon, so when my friends planned to join a day tour with the Pahiyas as the main itinerary, I thought I shouldn't miss it.

I don't know where my friend got her contact, but we paid Php1100 each for the fare (back and forth). Our meeting time was scheduled at 3AM at the SM Makati parking lot. There, we joined about a hundred others who were also part of the tour. We took van number 6 (out of 17). All cars left at exactly 3:30AM.

We arrived in Lucban, Quezon at around 6:30AM. We parked at the Lucban elementary school ground about less than half a kilometer away from the Lucban church. We had to walk from there.


If you go to the festival in your own car, you won't be allowed to enter the town proper. You will either walk, or hire a tricycle to bring you there. By bus, there are no buses from Manila to Lucban. You will have to take a Manila-Lucena bus trip from Cubao and get in to one of the jeepneys from Lucena to Lucban.

The Lucban church.

The church interior.

Random photos I took as we walk along the busy streets of Lucban:




I didn't get to really enjoy the festival because the town was so crowded. We left at around 2PM to visit the churches of Laguna.

Before leaving, I thought I should violate some rules...

Sorry, can't hold it!

Longganisa

If there's one thing that I love about Vigan, it's their famous longganisa. My aunt use to bring us longganisa from Vigan every time she visits and it has become my official favorite ulam as a kid.

When we arrived in Vigan last Saturday, we had our breakfast at Grandpa's Inn and Restaurant:

Of course, I immediately asked for my favorite:

Yummy!!!

Thumbs up!

Simot sarap.

Vigan Longganisa are small (when cooked). They're stuffed with pork and lots of garlic. Unlike the commercialized longganisa, they're not sweet. We can only find genuine Vigan Longganisa in Vigan and Laoag, which makes me wonder, why don't they sell them around the Philippines?

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Rediscovering Vigan and Laoag

I regret not saving a copy of my entries from my new blog (which was hacked yesterday) here in Blogger. One month and 25 posts later, I have to start all over.

I'm (re)blogging about my recent trip to the north.

I am from Ilocos Sur. Yet, I have never been to the famous places in Vigan and Laoag before. You might wonder why. Not that I left and moved somewhere, I still go home at least once a month. Vigan is just quite far from our town, about 4-5 hours. Laoag, 5-6 hours. And I never really heard anything fancy about these places before, aside from their famous longganisa which I really really love.

I had fun during our trip. I learned to appreciate my province more.

The Windmills of Bangui, Ilocos Norte

More about Vigan and Laoag in my next posts.

Cheers!

Baguio Panagbenga Flower Festival Schedule of Events

Baguio Flower Festival 2011: February 1 to March 6

Schedule of Events:

Flower Fluvial Parade on February 13, 9AM and 6PM @ Burnham Park Lake.

Grand Street Dancing Parade on February 26, 8AM @ Session Road. (Our department back in college use to take part on this event, we won, grand slam!)

Flower Float and Marching Band Parade on February 27, 8AM @ Session Road. (This reminds me of my ROTC days)

Session Road in Bloom from February 28 to March 6. (The whole Session Road will be closed for motorists for a week! Booths, outdoor dining, food, food, food!)

Philippine International Arts Festival 2011 from February 20 to 28 @ the Burnham Park Rose Garden.

Cheers!!!

The Island of Camiguin

I wasn’t really fond of the idea of travelling down south. I didn’t know that Camiguin is located in Mindanao . When my friend said that she’s getting a plane ticket for our November trip to Camiguin, I just said yes without really knowing where this island is. I thought it’s in the Visayas area, even after seeing images of their tourist’s spots.


We left last Friday. Our scheduled flight at 8:30AM was delayed for 30 minutes. We arrived at the Cagayan De Oro airport at around 10:15AM. I can’t believe I just set foot in Mindanao .



While on our way to the CDO port, we can't help but jokingly ask the driver: How far is Basilan? Taga-saan po ulit mga Ampatuan? Wala naman po Abu-Sayaff dito? LOL. Apologies for our ignorance!


We arrived at the CDO port two hours later. We waited for a ferry for about 15 minutes, and finally arrived at Camiguin after about another hour. It’s almost 4PM; that completes our 7-hour travel time.



Camiguin Highland Resort is literally located in a mountain. The view from the hotel is breathtaking.

Checking in:


The pool:



First destination: The famous White Island.





The sunken cemetery:




Soda Pool:


Cold Spring:


Ruins of century old structures:



Ardent Hot Spring:

Katibawasan Falls:


Camiguin Church:


Horseback Riding:


They say, Camiguin means "come again". I had a great time and I enjoyed the trip, but I don't know if I'd ever set foot to this island again.

Next stop, the place where my heart is - Baguio!

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