Travel 101: Puerto Princesa, Palawan Philippines

View from the Sabang zipline

Welcome to Puerto Princesa, Palawan! Home of the breathtaking landscapes, picturesque beaches, friendly locals and  the world-known Underground River. Puerto Princesa has a lot to offer - so save up (just a little) and bring yourself to a paradise!

1) How to get to Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Several domestic flights are available from Manila to Puerto Princesa via Cebu Pacific & AirAsia Zest. They offer very low fares when flights are booked in advance and during promo fares. We only paid B$ 98 or Php 3,234 return for 2 pax via AirAsia. Some can get even cheaper than that so keep an eye on promo fares.

2) Where to Stay

There are a lot of inns, hotels and pension houses in Puerto Princesa. We chose and recommend Labelle Pension House  - they were very accommodating, always looked after our needs and in my opinion have the most affordable tour packages. We availed their 3 days and 2 nights tour package which included 2 nights accomodation in a deluxe room, underground river tour, honda bay island tour and a half day city tour. That's not all, we had free breakfasts and lunches for 2 days and a free airport transfer all for Php 4,100 per person. Pretty great deal eh. Dave and I only paid Php 8,200 for 3 days and 2 nights of  paradise fun.

3) Where to Eat

This island boasts fresh seafood in their local cuisine. We dined at Kalui Restaurant as we were intrigued by the high ratings at Tripadvisor (teehee). We were not disappointed with our choice. Ask the hotel receptionist to reserve seats for you as this restaurant is always full. 
We also ate at the carenderia nearby Labelle as we missed the carenderia food. 

Kalui Restaurant menu

4) Things to Do

You will not run out of things to do at Puerto Princesa. Below are the following activities we had during our trip:

Half Day City Tour (1st day)
Running tour within the City proper

• Plaza Cuartel
• Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral
• City Baywalk
• Souvenir Shops
• Crocodile Farm
• Mitra’s Ranch
• Baker’s Hill 

Honda Bay Island Hopping Tour (2nd day)
Visit the following islands and go snorkeling, swimming or just relax and get yourself tanned. Tips: Prepare extra cash as you will need to rent some booties and/or snorkeling gears (if you want). Booties/Snorkels rental: Php 150.00/each

• Cowrie Island
• Luli island  
• Starfish Island                        

Underground River Adventure Tour (3rd day)
 While waiting at the wharf for your boat, you can try the above-the-ocean Sabang zipline with the other tourists. Zipline fee is Php 550.00

Or just stare at this gem

Upon reaching the underground river, there will be a waiting time for your turn to go inside. You can stroll around and soak in the beauty of nature. Boat cruise inside the world known underground river. Laugh along with your funny guide. They are all funny I guess. Take photos. And be amazed.

And fall in love again

 
In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.

The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. - Psalm 95: 4-5

Travel 101: Dapitan City (Dakak Resort)

We were so excited for this trip as it is the first for the whole family to be vacationing together.
A wish come true for me. A simple wish that meant a lot. And a memorable one.

Ahh, when you say Dapitan what comes first to our minds is the famous Dakak Resort. It is safe to say that this place is the center of Dapitan's tourism. While that is true, I think that Dapitan has more to offer. And it is not as expensive as people perceived it to be.

So for all of you who are thinking of family reunion, honeymooning, or just a simple getaway - consider Dapitan City!

1) Accomodation

I personally recommend Travel Bee Inn. The service is good. The place is clean. Rates are cheap. Centrally located. With breakfast too! What a bonus!

Rates per night: Php 600 (standard room)

www.travelbee.ph

2) Transportation

From Manila you can fly via Cebu Pacific to Dipolog and your hotel will transfer you from Dipolog to Dapitan by mini van. It is free with Travel Bee! If your hotel doesn't offer that service, you can always hire a van going to Dapitan. It will take around 20-30 mins from Dipolog to reach to Dapitan.

My family is from Aurora so they took on a bus going to Dipolog (it was 5 hours travel for them) and by a van going to Dapitan. Fares are around Php 20 per person for Dipolog to Dapitan ride.

Dakak Resort is reachable by tricycle, van or multicab. We hired the multicab from Travel Bee. This time we had to pay for Php 1,500 back and forth for 10 people. It was 30mins drive from the inn to Dakak resort.

3) Activities to try

a) Biking around town

Travel Bee offers complimentary use of bike so you can freely stroll around town. 

travelbee.ph

b) Dakak Park and Beach Resort activities

Dakak offers variety of activities with only Php 1,000/pax consumable entrance fee. Meaning your Php1,000 can be used in zipline, horseback riding, jetski, atv ride and a lot more. It can also be used to pay for your dining at any restaurants in Dakak! 

We were 9 nine adults and 1 kid so we paid Php 9,500 only. Small children are not charged while kids below 12 years are charged half. The amount we paid were so worth as we used it for zipline, jetski and for lunch and dinner meals. Swimming is unlimited! They have really nice pools with salt water and white sand beach to enjoy.

The siblings at Dakak resort

Jetski-ing at Dakak

c) Visit Jose Rizal Shrine

We had the chance to visit Rizal Shrine before leaving Dapitan. It was a good historical tour with our guide Ramil. We got to see our national hero's place of exile and a glimpse of his life as a doctor. 

It was a trip to remember for the family as it was one of the many firsts we had together. A wish come true indeed!

Revisited - Enchanted Kingdom with the Alcids

It was my first time to meet Dave's family. I was pretty excited about it since he already introduced me to them thru phone conversations and chats and they seemed to be very nice. I was right in many ways.

Together with his siblings we planned to have a family bonding where everybody can have fun - Enchanted Kingdom at Laguna would be the best place to go since almost all of us haven't gone there. Suggested. Finalized. Prepared. We're ready to go.

'Twas an hour drive from Cavite to Enchanted Kingdom, children were singing and made up some stories in between. His nieces and a nephew were all excited as I was, felt like a kid once again. As we arrived EK a lot of people queued at the entrance, there were categories with the entrance fee i.e. ride all-you-can or the selected rides only. We took the ride all-you-can to fully enjoy the trip. There are a lot of attractions and activities in the theme park but I mostly enjoyed the river rafting at rio de grande rapids. We stayed there for hours as we all bonded as family. Enchanted Kingdom is great for family fun weekends! I would recommend

.

Nieces and a nephew (MJ , AJ, CJ, HJ) - Madeline Joe, Ashley Jen, Caleb Joshua and Hannah Joe

Dave's accommodating and kind parents Mami and Dadi and cousin Mylene

While on top of  the ferris wheel, I still managed to smile though I was a bit scared.. It was so high!

Little china town at EK

Enchanted Kingdom at night

 

Revisited - Tagaytay with KingKong

The cool breeze, fresh air, beautiful scenery, warm people are few words to describe Tagaytay - one of the beautiful and tourist-drawing spots in the Philippines. Tagaytay trip for a day was one of our itineraries during our two-week vacation last Feb 2010. I have been wanting to go there and experience the zip line ride - which was one of the things I wanted to do even before I was in college, or we call it the 'bucket list'. And yes, as simple as it may seem but I really believe dreams do come true. I still can remember when a college friend of mine and I shared our dreams, the things we want to do when we graduate and that included this zip line ride.

Dave and I decided to bring along a dear friend, King, much more of a younger brother to us. Since he left Brunei and stayed in the Philippines for good, we exchanged stories while on the way to Tagaytay. We enjoyed sight seeing, picture taking and just being with each other, and oh did I mention that cool breeze that made us unaware how sunny it was and got us tanned unconsciously.

Look at how tanned we were

Luckily my shoes didn't fall off, well actually almost

Mount Taal, Tagaytay Batangas

Travels Revisited - Mindanao Delights!

 This is going to be a 'reminiscing' post since we have been to Davao, Camiguin and Zamboanga - all Mindanao provinces a year ago. When I happened to browse the pictures again, I thought of posting it here since this blog is all about blessings worth remembering. (puts a smile on my face)

Let's start with the peaceful Davao. It was our first time to fly to Davao for the SFC International Conference. Upon arriving at the airport I noticed the tranquility of the area plus the sun was about to set that time which adds that tranquil feeling. After having our conference for about 2 days we had the chance to roam around the city. The city is very clean that says how disciplined the Davaoueños are. We were only able to visit the crocodile park - sort of like a mini zoo with the highlights of crocodile. I was literally excited as a child since it was my first to be in a zoo (grins). Here are some of the animals in the park.

Smart Carlo @ Crododile Park

After a very fruitful and a blessed conference, we had our 'biglaan' trip to Camiguin. At first I was hesitant as we had a very tight schedule, but convinced at the same time to go since I have heard how beautiful the island is. So there, I said yes to our dear Mama Bear :). We made the most of our one day and one night stay at Camiguin (whom locals fondly pronounced it as 'come again'). The place is just so inviting with its beautiful clear beaches, thick forests, hot and cold springs, and the famed mount Hibok Hibok. I would want to 'come again' this beautiful island to really explore and be amazed by what nature can offer.

Sunken Cemetery

Remains of what used to be a church during Spanish era

Next stop before going back to Manila was Zamboanga City - Asia's Latin City. I am not new to this city I spent 4 years here finishing my Bachelor's degree. A lot of people are telling me that Zamboanga's local dialect is relatively the same with Spanish, yes, Chavacano is also known as broken Spanish by some folks. I like how diverse the city is with a lot of ethnicity and cultures mixing together. There are Cebuanos/Bisayan, Tausug, Ilonggo, Tagalog, local Zamboangueños and a lot more to boot. Even so, the city is safe for me amidst all the news that has surpassed that sometimes are just exaggerated. We had a relaxing stay here before our flight, thanks to the generosity of our dear Kuya Romy.

Seafood Special @Alavar's

Paseo del Mar (A walk by the sea) - I google translated it