LP#18: dalampasigan

mahirap gumawa ng LP lahok para sa linggong ito tungkol sa dalampasigan, di dahil walang maisip, kungdi dahil sa napakaraming pagpipiliang larawan. taon-taon kasi, sinusuyod naming magkakaibigan ang mga karagatan ng pilipinas.
it's difficult to make an LP entry for this week about the sea/beach. not because i can't think of anything, but because there are so many choices. it is because my friends and i visit the beaches of the Philippines.

so alin ang ilalahok ko? so which should be my entry?

itong nag-aaalab na dapit hapon sa camiguin?
this fiery camiguin sunset?


itong pagsilip ni haring araw sa bagong umaga in malapascua?
the sun greeting the new morning in malapascua?


itong tanawin mula sa aming kuwarto sa sabang, puerto princesa?
this view from our room in sabang, puerto princesa?


itong mag-inang lumba-lumba sa puerto princesa bay?
this mom and pup dolphin in puerto princesa bay?


itong sandbar sa starfish island sa honda bay palawan?
this sandbar in starfish island in honda bay, palawan?

ang dami pang pagpipilian. ang dami kasing magagandang dalampasigan sa ating bansa. nakakagigil languyin ang lahat. kahit pa di ako marunong lumangoy.
there are still so many other choices. we have such beautiful beaches in our country. yearning to swim all. even if i can't swim.

marahil dala na rin ng iba't-ibang damdamin meron ang dalampasigan. minsan payapa, minsan galit, madalas mapang-akit.
maybe because there are so many emotions of the sea. sometimes calm, sometimes angry, always alluring.


ito ang aking lahok para sa lingguhang litratong pinoy.
this is my weekly entry for litratong pinoy.

daluyon beach resort

while i was searching for things to do in sabang, i came across the website of daluyon beach resort. it immediately caught my interest since the place looked good. however, i couldn't bring myself to book because it is beyond our usual budget for accommodation. jan and i have been so used to our value-for-money-koboy-style of rooms, that spending such an amount for lodging seemed ridiculous.

however, while we were on our first or second day at sabang, i asked jan if we can splurge for one night. it is our honeymoon, after all. he was actually game with it. yey! before we finalized our stay, we checked out the rooms first. since we were paying so much for a room, we should be able to maximize our use of it. we have done all the exciting adventure things in sabang that we can just afford to hang out in the hotel.

the staff were quite friendly when we asked to be shown around the place. the front desk also allowed us for an early check-in at 9AM and late check out of 2PM since there weren't other guests during the day we were coming. cool! that clinched the sale. we booked an overnight stay for our last night in sabang.

the day of our booking, we brought our bags over to daluyon over at 9AM, then proceeded to have breakfast then a trip to the falls (another story). we got back to daluyon by 1PM. we hung out the porch for a bit. the view was beautiful.

we spent most of the afternoon indoors, enjoying our soft bead with 440thread count sheets (we got a gift that looked exactly like those sheets that's why i know. tee-hee). of course, i wore one of the complementary bath robes which was soooo comfortable. jan loved it on me. i loved it on me.

since there was no cable installed yet, we just made use of the dvd player. we borrowed juno and knocked up (pregnancy movies. ack!). we also got our complimentary drinks of fresh and cold buco juice. mmmmm! ang sarap!

we got out into the sun by 5PM. we didn't have plans to swim anymore since we were already satisfied by our falls trip. jan and i decided to just sit down and relax by the beach. mimosa, the sabang dog (every resort knows here) and where white dog friend entertained us as they frolicked on the beach, jumping in and out of the water.

as the sun was setting, the scenery just simply called for pictures, so i went to get dixie and shot away. doing silhoutte shots was really fun.

by the time the sun was gone, it was moon rise time. sabang had the most spectacular moonrise i have ever seen! and nicer still since it was a full moon that night. talk about a romantic getaway. :) i forced my non-dancer husband to dance to the music of the waves and the moon and the stars and the night. good thing we were the only people by the shore.

when the sky was high enough, we proceeded to have a good, expensive dinner by the pool. i forgot what we ordered, but i was fully satisfied and sated by it. of course, we had candles. :)

the complimentary breakfast the next day was also delicious and quite filling. that was as good as brunch since we woke up at nine and took a quick dip before that. the rest of the morning, we did mostly nothing which is always great.

all-in-all, jan and i enjoyed our stay at the daluyon resort very much. their staff were very friendly and accommodating, their rooms were well-kept and clean and all the inclusive amenities for what we paid made it all the more worth-it.

so if you are planning to stay in sabang, puerto princesa and want to feel like kings and queens, we recommend daluyon beach resort. :)

LP#17: kanluran

di ko alam kung ano ang lahok na nababagay sa tema ngayong linggo, bukod sa pag-gamit ng imahe ng mga bansang nasa kanluran. naisip ko, bakit di na lang kanlurang bahagi ng pilipinas? bakit nga hindi!

sa tulong ni kaibigang google, hinanap ko kung ano ang lalabas. sulu-tawi-tawi. sakto, may mga dati akong larawan na nakuha sa biyahe ko dun mga tatlong taon ang nakalipas.


ang mga bangka ang pinaka-transportasyon ng mga tao sa tawi-tawi. tila sila mga motor at jeep sa ating kalsada. ang dagat ay isang malaking hi-way.

dito sa timog-kanlurang bahagi ng pilipinas, ibang-iba ang buhay ng mga pinoy. halos pinupulot lang ang pagkaing dagat pero nagmamahalan ang bigas at asukal.

sa pagtulog... ang oyayi ng dagat.

isang masayang karanasan ang pagbisita ko sa tawi-tawi. simpleng buhay, simpleng tao.

five-day-old-'do

I've been wanting to cut my hair since December last year. But I needed to keep it long so I won't have to wear a fake bun on my head during the wedding.

Below is me pretending to be cousin It of the Addams Family.

I've been wanting to go back to my boy's cut hair. Especially after watching Winona Ryder in Reality Bites. I want hair like that! But. Mr. Jim of David's advised against boy cut hair unless I rebond. Buhaghag daw buhok ko. Hmph. Tell me something I don't know. Anyway, I listened to Mr. Jim and pointed a chin-length bob photo na lang. I just want my haircut.

Ta-dah! It's still neat here. It's been in a disarray since I shampooed it.

At least mas matipid na sa shampoo. Mahal dun e.

8 years na, dad

i still miss you. some days more than others.

but then... it never was that painful kind of missing. we all knew you wanted to go Home already. how can we deprive you of that by feeling pain?

and thanks for coming to the wedding, like i asked. i knew in my heart you were there. i knew you made sure i wouldn't trip during the bridal march before i made it to mom and kuya.

watch over mom lagi ha. in-love pa rin sa iyo yun. promise. :)

games, dates, roses and sweet husbands

I was in Manila the entire week for our midyear reporting. By the third day, I was missing Jan terribly. Good thing I kept myself busy the days I was there in Manila.

July 13. Saw Ateneo vs. UE live at the ULTRA. Thanks to Bok and Erik for getting tickets for me. UE scared me, but woot! We won. Yeah. Bad calls by the referees for both sides though. Afterwards we ate at Jatujak in SM Megamall. It’s so gooooood!

July 14. Met up with Ninin and Mike and Ina. Lissa followed after. Krocodile Grill dinner. Yummy baked tahong!

July 15. Dinner with Bok and Rowie. Cheap dinner! Yummy dessert. Great conversation. I missed college. But it was great that each of us had good news to share.

July 16. Officemates time. I’m going to miss them. My resignation is effective August 15. Ack. Jobless. Hehe!

July 17. Met with Entadirs to watch The Dark Knight in support of Ces, whose med school was sponsoring the event. Artie treated me. Yey! Mon-Mon, one of my leading men in Mga Indios Bravos, was there! I have not seen him in ten years!

After the heavy movie, I was glad that I meeting Maita and several JVPs to watch Brownman Revival at 70’s Bistro. So fun! Norie, Zaza, Jerry, Maita and I danced to the reggae beat. Jay H. left early though and just missed Noel. Noel Cabangon came and sat with us while he had his beer. I promise to pass by Conspiracy before I go. We might see each other in October though. Woot!

July 19. Dinner and coffee with my bro. I didn’t sleep at his new home because it was still a mess. Besides I get a free ride to the office when I stayed with my in-laws. Hehe! It was unfortunate, though, that he spilled his large chai tea latte. Tsk, tsk. And it was still full. Bummer.

July 20. I wanted to go home early so Jan and I can watch the Ateneo vs. UP game. But he convinced me to just grab the opportunity to watch live. Sweet of my husband no? So I booked the 7PM flight to Davao and watched the 2PM game with Bok and Erik with Rhia, Dada, Mimi and May. I was also able to convince my UP officemates to cheer their team on. They watched from the other side, of course.

I was glad Jan convinced me to watch live because I had so much fun. We were seated where the Blue Babble were and that guy who was egging us to cheer was just hilarious. He reminded me of Robin Padilla. Funny dude talaga. Hehe!

I was excited to go home to Jan. I actually thought I wouldn’t make the flight. The in-laws were bringing me to the airport, but we were waiting for Papa’s new phone from smart. We left Galleria at 5:50PM and got there at 6:15. Whew! The check-in counter was still open but almost ready to close. By the time I entered the pre-departure area, it was ready for boarding already.

When I finally arrived in Davao and got my stuff. There was Jan waiting for me. Whee! We were supposed to have dinner but I was kinda full and he wasn’t that hungry either. So we decided to visit the Queen’s Land Baywalk to check it out. It was still under construction. We only stayed for a short while and went home already.

Back at home, I didn’t enter our room first. I went to have a drink and washed my hands and all that. As I was unceremoniously entering our room, I was surprised to see roses on our bed. I didn’t even linger to look and just hugged him tight smiling like crazy! After I let him go, I asked how many roses there were, he asked if I saw our symbol. Oops! I was too surprised and happy with the flowers that I didn’t see it formed ←O→.

Oh wow! This was well thought of! And we counted the flowers… it was 41 all in all. Buti na lang mura dito sa Davao. Hehe!

That’s my husband. He makes leaving terribly difficult and coming home such joy. :)

what's your rock album name?

i stole this from angperegrino. it's really fun to do, though a bit of a time-waster. except isn't that what internet is about? hehe!

anyway, try it! it's really fun.

1. Go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2. Go here: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

If you want to do this again, you’ll hit refresh to generate new quotes, because clicking the quotes link again will just give you the same quotes over and over again.

3. Go here: http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/

Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Go here. http://www.randomwebsite.com/

The first ten links you end up in (minus the .coms) are your 10 song titles.

My band name: tracheoesophagael septum (how cool is that!)

The album name: about being thought unjust (from an EB White quote)

and the songs:

1. univerdidad de valladolid

2. tweaktown

3. aan 2

4. trancedental what

5. scorecard

6. naranglear glover

7. groovechamber

8. zeggalaar

9. network solutions

10. deskotopos

astig ano?! i tag everyone who likes rock music. :)

LP#16: luntian

huwebes pa dapat ang lahok na ito ngunit dahil maraming gawain, nawalan ako ng panahon na mag-sulat sa blog. ang dami pa namang kuwento. at di pa ako tapos ng aking pagbigay-pugay sa palawan.

sa ngayon, ito munang litratong pinoy.

kung dagat ang tinutukoy sa isang usapan, ang kadalasang kulay na pumapasok sa isip ay asul. ngunit may mga pagkakataon na ang matingkad na kulay ay luntian.

ito ay ang baybay ng malapascua island sa cebu. mga alas-otso pa ito ng umaga. napakaganda ng panahon para lumangoy at maglakad-lakad sa dagat. nakakatuwang matanaw ang bughaw na langit at puting ulap. nakahilera ang mga puno ng niyog, berde din ang mga dahon. at sa ibaba nito ang luntiang dagat. ngunit mas nakakaliw na, ikaliwa mo lang ng konti ang tingin mo at ito na ang makikita.

iisang dagat, dalawang kulay. di ba't ang saya?!

break for a tag, too

toni has a tag on her blog, which i want to answer.

she tags those who have been on a blind date or want to go on a blind date. i think i went to one, except my entire barkada was there. and we went to an eraserheads concert, we were with the group the whole time and he treated everyone to 7-11 gulp. so i'm not sure if that was a real blind date or a pretend one. and i've always wanted a real blind date, but never did get the chance.

i will still answer the tag dahil trip ko lang.

Who’s tagged? I’m tagging anyone who wants to answer this tag. :)

Have you ever gone on a blind date? see above.
Skipped school? Yup. But I think I had dysmenorrhea that time. I hate cutting class because I compute how much my parents pay for me to enter that class. BUT. we have this class that we have our attendance checked in the start, my classmates and i will go out one by one to the caf and stay there for 30-45 minutes then come back for the last 15 minutes for another attendance check.
Been on a plane? Yes.
Been lost? yeah. It's worse when it's in the middle of mountain trail, though that was just like one wrong turn but I got back to the trail immediately.
Swam in the ocean? Yes.
Cried yourself to sleep? Yes.
Played cops and robbers? Killers. Don't know if they are the same thing.
Played dolls? Yes. I did have a couple of Barbies, but I loved the rag doll my dad gave me the most. Because it was from my dad. :)
Recently colored with crayons? I bought a box last Christmas but never did get to use it. :(
Sang Karaoke? yes. To Love Again of Sharon Cuneta is my staple song.
Paid for a meal with coins only? P100!
Done something you said you wouldn’t? yes.
Cheated on a test? Yup, and it turned out my answer was right and the one I copied from was wrong. I never cheated again after that.
Made prank phone calls? I don't think so. We had a phone, I was already 3rd year high school.
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Nope. No snow .
Danced in the rain? Yes!!! There was a time i signed my letter with "dancing in the rain". :)
Written a letter to Santa Claus? Yes
Watched the sunrise with someone you care about? Yes. Jan and I saw a beautiful sunrise in Carabao Island, Romblon
Been kissed under the mistletoe? I dont think I've seen a real mistletoe.
Gone ice skating? Nope, sadly. Jan and I weren't together yet and he promised to take me ice skating but he injured his knee a few days after.
Been skinny dipping outdoors? Nope.
Tattoos? Henna.
Body piercings? Ears, 2 on my right ear.
Vacation spot? I’d love to go to Palawan again.
Eaten cookies for dinner? yes
Ever been on TV? Yup.
Ever been in a car accident? Thankfully no.
Favorite number and why? 13. 7. 8. 13 for its oddness. 7 for the days of the week. 8 because it is infinity.
Favorite movie? Lots! Sky High. 10 Things I Hate About You. Love Actually. Amelie...
Favorite holiday? Christmas!
Favorite smells? Sauteed garlic. Vanilla. Coffee.
What do you do to relax? blog, read, watch movies.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? A happy happy happy woman. - agree with this, toni. :)

LP#15: balingkinitan

habang ang ibang mga babae sa siyudad ay naghahangad na magpaliit ng katawan, para lang magkasya sa pinakabagong uso na damit, marami sa ating mga kababayan ang nahihirapang maglagay ng makakain sa kanilang hapag-kainan. sila ay balinkinitan dahil sa kapalaran at di dahil ginusto.

(ang babae sa larawan ay isang Higaonon sa Bukidnon)

ito ang aking lahok para sa LP #15: balingkinitan.

monkey trail

after the breathtaking wonders inside the underground river, jan and i split from the rest of the group which took a boat to one of the coves of the sabang. we wanted to take the monkey trail back to the town proper. the tour guide we joined said we would also be passing a small beach on the way back. good thing i was wearing my bathing suit. :D

we followed the sign leading to the 4.2KM monkey trail which claims to provide an occasional glimpse of macaques and monitor lizards (bayawak). true, enough, at our very first turn was a large lizard. it was walking quite slowly but when it heard our approach it froze in place. after a few photos, jan and i moved on.

the trail began with wooden steps on the limestone cliffs. if it weren't for the steps, there wouldn't be any way to go through the trail given the steep inclines. we saw a large sign indicating that we were entering a karst forest. i'm not sure if i remember correctly but it basicallymeans that the vegetation need little water because the area is mostly rocks and little soil. i think.

while walking i was telling jan that i was supposed to be on vacation and not doing field work. but it was still fun doing it for pleasure and taking time. after 45 minutes though, i was getting a little tired and irritated. i have been wanting to take a dip 15 minutes back and there was still no sign of the beach. at some point, i thought we went back to the same path, but jan said we haven't passed that way yet. so i told him to trust his instinct and i will just follow. after the next bend... ta-dah! the sound of the beach. we went down another set of steps and yahooo! it was the beach.

after a few photo ops, jan and i took a dip. we had the whole cove to ourselves. it seems no other people took the trail back home. the water was crystal clear and cool to the skin. it wasn't that salty either. the gray-white limestone cliffs complemented the sky blue heavens and the aquamarine waters. the forest green trees added to the contrast.

we finally had our sandwich and watched the waves lap at the creamy sands. there were hermit crabs going about their busines (including munching on the cucumber that fell from my sandwich). jan had a blast throwing sand at the agile transluscent crabs. they were always able to duck. he had more fun with the poor hermits which hardly knew what hit them. they'd stay under cover in their shells and even after twenty minutes stayed hidden. bad jan!

after thirty minutes in the cove we continued on our trek. we passed a couple more coves but they had rocky shores and were not ideal for hanging out but good enough for photo ops. we kept straying from the trail to take a look at what the beach looked like. at one point we had trouble getting back.

so did we see monkeys? yep! not as plenty as we expected. but we had a couple of sightings. we were quite close with one batch, with one large macaque and a couple of smaller ones. our monitor incident was quite funny. we were hearing crunching leaves from agile feet moving quite fast. then i had eye contact with him, quite nervous it might jump on me as he was on a higher level then i was. after a few seconds of eye-lock, he started scooting back up with such speed. it was like, "run, run, run down. oh no! human. up, up, up!" then he was gone. funny.

there were also different birds species that we spotted. but it was halfway the trail that we had our most fun. we had to register that we were going back. it was there we spotted a bunch of mynah birds. i was trying to take a picture of one that was on the guard house when suddenly it flew at the camera. ack. jan and i were laughing. the other mynahs started flocking together cawing like crazy.

we still had a couple of spanish bread in our pack so we decided to share it with them. we were still mincing it to chewable pieces when they started lunging at it. i had to duck or they'd have pecked my eyes out or worse, i'd have dropped the cam. but jan and i were just laughing like loons. a couple lodged themselves on my shirt and jan's then flew back to the fence. jan was successfully feeding them, except when the bread piece was too big, they'd spew it out so jan would have to break it to smaller pieces again. some would still lunge at the sight of food, but jan was able to do better. i, on the other hand, kept missing their mouths because i couldn't bring myself to put the bread near their beaks. and if i do try, they'd fly at me and perch on my head or shirt. finally, i gave up and contented myself taking pictures of jan with the bird. it was fun though. hehe.

finally we went on our way and left the birds the rest of the bread. we were near sabang already. we saw a rocky outcrop in the waters... what looked liked to be hardened lava flow shaped by the waves of the water. this is based on my amateur geological-sleuthing (national geographic taught). jan and i decided to check it out. the rocks were a bit sharp and hard to cross, though possible. i think this is where we scratched our rings. we decided not to pursue the rocks all the way to its end and just go back to sabang beach and relax.

when we got there, we went on another dip. by 430, the sun was almost ready to set and the beach just had a nice tinge of orange and yellow that i couldn't resist taking photos.

that was a well-spent day for us! from the underground river to our hiking to our cooling down on the beach. i had a lot of fun!

underground river

jan and i decided to take a boat to the underground river then hike back the monkey trail going back to sabang main. so before we took our breakfast, we paid for our permit at the tourist office then had our breakfast at the same restaurant we ate in the night before. we had the restaurant pack us a couple of sandiwches for lunch.

jan forgot some stuff from the resort so he had to go back and get it. i, on the other hand, went back to the tourist office to ask some questions regarding the trail. the day tours were starting to arrive one by one. the tour guides were paying at the office when i heard one of them say that she had an uneven number of tourists. i approached her and asked if we can share a boat with her and her guests. she was game, so that meant we don't need to pay the full P700. yey.

when it was time to pay for the boat, she asked P350 from us. she originally quoted P300. i did not bother to argue anymore and just paid up. but if i was in a foul mood, i would have told her, jan and i should pay less because we were only taking the boat one way. anyhoo... i didn't. i was more excited to see the underground river more than anything.

it was time to go. we rode the boat with the tour guide and her sole guest. the others were in another boat. mother nature really blessed sabang with so much beauty. the aquamarine waters glistened in the sunlight. the limestone cliffs were freckled with growth. a colorful bird or two dipped in the beach for their midmorning catch. it was just so beautiful and spectacular.

in fifteen minutes we were at the entry point of the underground river. pretty hard to miss with the sign showing. everybody took the standard photo of the sign, while jan and i opted to pose with the cliffs and the beach. when everyone else was going in, we decided to try a self-photo with the sign. not much success with that. tee-hee.

we followed the trail to the underground river. there was a small camp where guests are asked to register and get their helmets and vests. why the helmet? it was supposed to protect you from bat and bird shit.

we were one of the last groups to enter the cave. our boatman was rene and jan was assigned lightman. we entered the cave and rene gave us tidbits about the underground river. first of all, it was more than eight kilometers long but only 1.4 KM was open to the public. the cave was millions of years old, which one could easily guess given the colossal column formations.

rene was quite a comic when he gave his information. i bet, it was part of their training, but no matter how funny a joke is, it is always the delivery that makes it funny. one of the guests asked, "may mga unggoy ba dito?" to which he answered, "unggoy? ayan po, sa likod niyo." referring to himself.

the stalactites and stalagmates and rock formations were quite interesting. i was imagining how long each one took to form... God must really patient to work on those rocks.

whoever started the tour and trained those boatmen must have been very creative. the underground river was divided into sections depending on what each rock formation looked like. there was the cathedral and there was the fruits and vegetables section. all the while, rene, was adding a lot of ad lib to make the trip more interesting and enjoyable. we were just laughing at his quips.

melting candle. corn. look for pegasus! yummy cacao. garlic. edsa and mrt. sharon stone. there are so many other rock formations you can find in the cave. but my favorite is this:

do you see the face of Jesus? it may be just the power of suggestion, with rene telling us that is what it is. but it does resemble Him somehow. it does not necessarily have to have a deep, spritual meaning but in a way it feels appropriate to see Him there. i find it utterly fascinating.

the forty five minutes of the tour felt like it was all too over quickly. we weren't rushed or anything like that. it may just be that rene did a good job keeping us entertained that we did not feel time pass. or maybe there is really just a different time-space continuum inside the underground river. hehe.

have fun you guys! we did. :)

go, ateneo!

the hottest rivalry of any basketball league does it again! an intense game that leaves everyone at the edge of their seats. uncertain who gets the glory for a day until the last minute.

yey! Ateneo picks first blood!

except... i'm not too satisfied by the team performance. tiu does great, as usual. and salamat continues to take on the role as the spark plug and putting the life back in the team. yuri always shines at the perfect moment. at jobe! astig nung isang tira mo, ah!

but then, it is only the first game. the team, especially the rookies, need to adjust to the UAAP heat again. and i am still hoping for the black magic on rabeh, as what he has done with kramer and arao.

ang importante, panalo! wooooot!

pero hah... ang galing mo talaga, jv casio. you will always have my respect. at atkins... pogi mo. angas ka nga lang. hehe.

gasgas na lalamunan ko, mehn.

sabang and dab-dab resort

Puerto Princesa City is most known for its Underground River, which is also currently one of the nominees and top-rankers for the New 7 Natural Wonders of the World. A friend who has been to Palawan several times recommended going to El Nido or Coron instead of Puerto Princesa, but I wanted to see the Underground River before it gets too famous.

Most tourists take the day tour to the St. Paul’s Subterranean River National Park located two hours away from the city in Sitio Sabang. At the time of our arrival, the tour was still at P1,300/pax but is now P1,500.00. The tour agency would pick the clients up from their respective hotels around 7AM. The main highway is already paved but a large portion going to Sabang is still bumpy though not uncomfortable. Before proceeding to Sabang, guests are asked to get a permit from the Barangay tourist office, which is also beside the ethnographic museum. The place had a great view of the mountains where the underground river is. Rates depends whether you are a local or a foreigner. Upon arrival at Sabang, the tour guide pays for permit to enter the cave to the Sabang tourist office. After which, the guests ride the big boat to the cove where the Underground River is located.

Jan and I decided to stay over at Sabang instead of taking the day tour. The beach is reputed to be lovely and there are other attractions to enjoy other than the famous river. Jane Campbell, owner of Banwa Pension House, arranged for a van that will take us there for P500.00. In retrospect, it would have been more cost-efficient to have taken a jeep (P120) since we weren’t in a hurry in the first place, but we didn’t know any better then.

Anyway, we arrived at 10AM at Sabang. Donna, the friendly tour guide of Ellen’s Travel and Tours, hooked us up with a boatman who can take us to Port Barton or El Nido should we decide to. Part of my intended itinerary was to actually go to Port Barton after Sabang, but Jane said it may not be necessary since Sabang and Port Barton are similar in feel. I was torn between wanting to see as much of Palawan in our short stay or to have a relaxed, no-rush, que cera cera honeymoon. The boat rates (P3,000 if I remember correctly) we were given sounded reasonable, but we had a limited budget and we did not want to use it all up on transportation. So finally, we decided to spend 3 ½ days in Sabang before going back to the city.

We proceeded to Dab-Dab Resort where we were booked to stay. It was actually far away from the main beach and nearer the residential homes of the sitio. The cottages were detached from each other and were surrounded by trees. There was a rattan hammock and a bamboo sofa on the veranda, while the bed had a mosquito net ready for use. The ventilation was provided by the fresh air as there was no electric fan or air con. As we have discovered, the electricity was only from 6-10PM, provided by a generator. The bathroom was quaint enough, except only a curtain separated it from the rest of the cottage. Owkaaaay…

They had a restaurant area which also had a no footwear policy. Arnold, a tom cat, entertained us while we hung out by the hammock. He was quite a friendly tom, and typical of most cats, felt that he owned the place and only paid attention to us because our fingers smelled of food.

While we were walking to the resort, we bumped into a lady selling crabs for dan-da-da-da-daaannnnn… P110/kilo! I just had to buy a kilo for lunch! I had no idea whether Dab-Dab would cook for their guests or not, but I bought anyway. Buti na lang! The Dab-Dab cook was on leave because it was off-peak. We just paid the staff P50 for cooking the crabs. We told them we will eat the crabs at noon. It was already 1030. But after a few minutes of conversation lying down, we snoozed and woke up 3PM! That’s when we had our lunch. Because there was nothing else to eat, Jan finally learned to eat crabs! I taught him how to open a crab and identify whether it was male or female, even how to cull out some flesh in the thinner legs.

Afterwards, we decided to walk around Sabang Beach. The beach front of Dab-Dab was quite rocky. It was already low tide and we could see people scrounging round for shells and crabs. Jan had always wanted a photo of leafless trees, to play around with in Photoshop I guess. And ta-daaaah! We finally have subjects as there were several fallen trees near our resort.

The day ended up to be photograph-taking. It was rare that Jan would borrow the camera for me to take pictures. But then there we were fighting over the camera and responded to with, “teka lang, may kukunan pa ako.” It seemed the latent photographer in him was roused by the fallen trees of Sabang.

We then proceeded to other side of the Sabang beach which was just wonderfully flat, to which Jan quipped, “Frisbee.” Indeed. We just sat on the sand, listened to the waves and reviewed the pictures from the wedding (and deleted some because the 4GB SD card I bought was defective. Gr!) and from the day.

All-in-all, it was a lazy, relaxed day. Something that Jan and I have not experienced for a long time. It was worth “wasting” our time doing nothing, since we just got to enjoy each other’s company. That, I can say, is as good a start of our adventure as any. Yey.

baragatan festival

Our trip to Palawan coincided with the province’s third year celebration of the Baragatan Festival. Palawan is a big province and thus in itself is culturally diverse. Not to mention the fact that a Vietnamese refugee camp used to be located there. And indigenous peoples can found in the province as well. The festival aims to celebrate this diversity.

We missed the colorful street dancing which happened on the 14^th. Too bad because I would have joined the Agfa photo contest just for fun. Who knows, I might have gotten lucky.

The culmination of the Baragatan would have been the world’s longest seafood grill but news reports indicated that it was unsuccessful due to logistical problems and lack of planning. We would have missed it anyway since it was to happen on the 23^rd and we were leaving on the 22^nd.

What we were able to catch was the baratilyo in the capitol. There were stores that showcased different products made in Palawan, including booths that featured the municipalities of Palawan and their local products. The city boasted their Underground River and the Honda Bay Islands, while Busuanga showed off the Tubbataha Reef. Cuyo Islands was promoting Judy Ann Santos’s Ploning which shot on location there (and thus edged out the Amanpulo Resort). El Nido promoted their beautiful waters and amazing limestone cliffs formation. It was basically a quick tour of Palawan.

I was particularly enthralled by the different kinds of lamps that were for sale. Some that used driftwood and Japanese paper, bamboo and marbles, capiz or rattan or abaca. I’m just glad I’ve always had the willpower not to get tempted into buying such nice-to-have things. I just brought home a bulky picnic basket (intended to be a hamper, now on display instead of in use), a half-kilo bag of cashew nuts (a hit in the office even with all the hypertensive people) and half-kilo dried fish for the house. The bags and dream catchers for friends were joint purchase.

Parokya ni Edgar was playing on the 19^th and I wanted to watch. But judging from the size of the capitol and the fact that Francine Prieto and the Sexbomb Girls will share the stage, it was better to have the locals who barely have the chance to see big time celebrities perform enjoy the performances.

It is interesting to note that one of the signs posted in the capitol that acknowledged the people of Palawan dated June 23, 2004. Good job. It’s rare for the government to highlight the people and just footnote the politicians.

While we limited our trip to most of Puerto Princesa, through the Baragatan Festival, we were able to sample most of amazing Palawan.

signos

Ang Pinoy nga naman pagdating sa kakulitan! kakaiba nga talaga ang Pinoy pagdating sa talas ng isip pagdating sa kalokohan. Ilang beses na ba tayong napatigil sa ating paglalakad sa mga kalsa-kalsada para lang magbasa ng mga pangalan ng tindahan? Nakita niyo na ba ang James Tayloring? Naka-order na ba kayo ng Prince Fries? Tatak na nga yata ng ating lahi ang paglaruan ang pangalan ng kung sino o alin man.


Dito lang sa lalawigan ng Davao, maaaliw ka na lang sa dami ng mga pangalan ng mga tindahan. Tulad ng Bill Gets Internet Shop, IsdaBest Pasalubong, Tina Pie from the Sky at ang paborito kong Harry Cutter Barber Shop. Ang larawan sa taas ay kuha naman sa Puerto Galera ilang bakasyon na ang nakalilipas. Di ko matiis na di magpa-henna!


Kaya naman kahit na nagtataasan na ang gasolina, nagdidilubyo na si Inang Kalikasan, meron pa ring dahilan para panandalian man o palagihan, may ikakasiya ang ang Pinoy.

Ito ang aking lahok para sa linggong ito sa Litratong Pinoy: Tatak Pinoy.

a short break from all this palawan talk

doggies!

i stumbled upon ihasahotdog.com while browsing icanhascheezburger.com. more furry creatures to see everyday. wheeeeee! :)


see more dog pictures


see more dog pictures

so darn cute!

* * * * *
millionaires!

yesterday, somebody won the big prize of P1M, a house and lot and a car in wowowee. goody! now if only ABS would provide winners with financial management so it is put into good use.

and today, rachel alejandro won the P1M over at singing bee.

i don't like either show.

kamaricutan: resto cum gallery

another dinner was spent at kamaricutan, as recommended by our itinerary peeps, jerry and ninin. on our way to banwa pension house, the tricycle driver who brought us there also mentioned the restaurant to us.

it was post-shopping from the baragatan festival stalls that we ended lugging around the giant rattan picnic basket i bought for mom with the rest of our bargain finds inside it.

digression: which i intended for a hamper in her room, but she found so nice that it is now stored until we have a picnic or have a trip to a beach. which is like once a year. i lugged it all the way from palawan to manila to davao just to be stored in the cabinets. jeez.

anyways, kamaricutan is a bit far from the downtown compared to the other two restos we ate in. this one was located farther than the airport. and it was not by the highway, rather one has to enter a wooded compound, probably 50 meters from the main road (am bad with estimations).

it seemed that jan and i were the only people eating there. i'd account that to the rain. people may know that kamaricutan is not an easy to place to go to in that weather, unlike us.

when the waitress was leading us to our seats, i asked if we had to remove our sandals like what we had to do at banwa, ka lui and lotus garden. apparently footwear was welcome.

at the right wing of kamaricutan was the resto and at the left was the gallery. most of the artworks on display was for sale. the prices were on the expensive side, but then these are unique pieces done by artists so it was understandble (but we could not afford anymore at that point. hehe!). there were shirts, beaded jewelry, books and organic beauty products. amongst the products was a liquid insect repellant. i was tempted to buy one because the mosquitoes were feasting on our exposed legs. but on the pretense of testing the product first, i got from the tester tube. aba, aba, aba... it works. hehe.

their menu was more limited than ka lui's and lotus garden's. they did not have set meals either. most of what they had were standard restaurant fares. jan decided on beef salpicao (P170) while i got deep friend prawns with tartar sauce (P150). we each got iced brewed tea (P55).

while waiting we went around the gallery. my favorite title was "gren," a series of postcard sized paintings of forests. i was just so amused by the title because that's how i saw green sometimes, for fun.

of course, i was taking photos. i was like on my third or fourth photo when jan pointed out a sign that said no picture-taking. oops. hehe. that's why i don't have a lot of photos. masunuring bata ako e. hehe.

before we had our dinner, jan and i used the rest rooms first. and lo! another interesting looking room of comfort! thus, i violated the no photo rule and took shots of the inside of the lavatories. i want my future own home's bathroom to be a cross of ka lui's and kamaricutan's! (at oo, sinama ko ang inidoro, to prove that it is the comfort room i am taking a photo of. hehe!)

we finally had our dinner after my extra-legal photo-taking. not-good karma though as most of the photos at kamaricutan was blurred. hehe. anyhoo, our dinner looked unassuming when it was placed on our tables. small servings in a big plate. aw.

but oooohh... when we put the food in our mouths. yummmmmmm. jan's salpicao not only tasted good but was very tender too. the tartar sauce of my prawns made it taste better, even if it had too much batter. and our iced teas? reeeee-freshing. mmmmmmmmm.

when in puerto princesa, definitely kamaricutan is another good place to have a meal and to sample the artistry of the people of palawan.

ka lui: a puerto princesa dining experience

ka lui was our target restaurant the day we came back from sabang. our second try, we were 30 minutes early. we forgot that they opened at 6PM and that reservations were actually recommended. fortunately, we were already allowed in and there were still some available tables.

again, we were asked to remove our footwear upon entering the main restaurant. true enough, the best seats in the house had reserved signs placed on the tables.

fish-fascinated dave mckean would have loved the place with the different artworks revolving on the creature. from batik to ceramic plates to windchimes and japanese lights. while there were other subjects for the artwork, the fish ones were the most fascinating.

other artwork and arts and crafts adorned the interiors of ka lui as well. fresh fruits also served as additional decor.

they had quite a selection of meals, especially seafood, to choose from. jan and i decided on their Ka Lui Special which was good for two people at only P375 (exclusive of vat and service charge). based on what was on their menu, it was actually value for money. we get have clam soup, lato (that seaweed that looks like grapes), stir-fried vegetables, fish cordon bleu, grilled tuna, garlic-buttered prawns and fresh fruits sprinkled with muscovado sugar. the food was great! the fish was definitely fresh and i particularly enjoyed the fish cordon bleu and prawns. the muscuvado sugar brought me (and jan) back to our childhood memories of the sugar. mmmmm... good and satisfying meal it was! and my avocado shake was delicious. mmmmm....

what i was most fascinated with, however, was the bathroom. i actually went back there just to take photos because it was just so well-thought off and unique. the sink was made of hard wood shaped in your usual bowl. the floor was made of wood instead of tiles. the door had a small hole when vacant. once somebody uses it, the lock to the door would close the hole up to indicate it was occupied. the hand dryer was the most environmentally-friendly i have every seen, too. it was a loooooooooong strip of cloth the size of a paper towel. users can wipe their hands then just drag it down to the little bucket below, which means it can be just washed over and over. no trees hurt with that environmental-move. go, go, go, ka lui! save mother earth by looking classic and spiffy (if those two can actually go together. hehe!)

amazing, di ba? galeng-galeng!

among the three restaurants we ate in, ka lui is my favorite. not only was it a gastronomic feast, it was also a visual and sensual experience.