AdventureScapes

Bellarocca Island Resort and Spa is a Class AAA Resort situated in a picturesque island off the coast of Marinduque. Formerly known as Elephant Island, the place was developed and transformed into a luxurious sanctuary for the wealthy.

First glimpse of the island from Lipata Port

The whole resort structure is made up of white, pristine, modern buildings atop seaside cliffs. Several accommodations were built entirely with privacy and isolation in mind, such as the terrazas, the casas and the most expensive of the lot, the villas. Each accommodation, including the cheapest (at USD 680) boasts its own balcony with a splendid view, climate control, a king-sized bed, a 32-inch Sony Bravia LCD TV, private refrigerator and a spacious, sexy, see-through, bathroom with a hot tub.

The Main Lobby

It calls itself the Santorini of the Philippines, and while I've never been to Greece, I sincerely doubt the comparison.

This is blog post is essentially a review of our 3D/2N stay at Bellarocca, literally, a "Beautiful Rock".

The Reservation

Reservation was a breeze. We were lucky enough to grab a fast-selling voucher from Deal Dozen, so all we had to do was email our voucher and our preferred dates to Bellarocca. They responded promptly, and answered all our questions. Days before our trip, they called me to confirm where and when we would be picked up and wished us a happy trip.

Our room. Notice the glass-walled bathroom.

Getting to Bellarocca

There is only one airline that flies once a day to Marinduque: Zest Air. I'm not particularly fond of this airline as they are known to be always delayed. And their schedule shaves a half day off your vacation time because they arrive in Marinduque at around 12:30 pm.

We went via land. I reserved tickets from JAC Liner at Kamias for Php 880 including the terminal fee. This is for a one way trip to Buenavista. The bus will board a ferry (locally known as roro) and make its way across the sea to Marinduque. There is only one trip per day and it leaves at 5:30 pm. We arrived in Buenavista at 5 am.

A tricycle took us to Lipata Port for Php 200. The drive took roughly 20 minutes. From there, a speedboat from Bellarocca picked us up for a 5-minute ride to the island.

Sunrise by the marina

The Welcome

Apparently, if you arrive very early in the morning, you are not served any welcome drinks or given flower necklaces, as I've read in other blogs. Perhaps we were not welcome for waking them up so early in the morning? The staff also did not offer to carry our luggage for us to our rooms. They only did when I handed my bag to one of them but my companions still carried theirs.

The Rooms

We stayed at Sparta IV. This was one of 21 units of Hotel Deluxe Rooms. Despite being the cheapest of all the accommodations, the room was spacious and tastefully furnished. In addition to the amenities I already mentioned, the room also provided a Skype-enabled phone, LAN cables for internet connection, a safe to store your valuables, lots of bath towels and hand towels, bath robes, and a complete line of toiletries like toothbrushes, glasses for gargling, a hairdryer, hair conditioner and a shower gel.

The sheets and pillows were very comfortable. Our balcony had a view of Mt. Malindig, an inactive volcano which was the source of the hot springs in Buenavista.

I was very happy with our room, which was good considering that we spent most of our time here. Lol.

Golf cart service to get you around

The Facilities

On our second day, we took advantage of their complimentary tour of the island. So we rode a golf cart while our guide pointed out the sites. The resort had a meditation room, a helipad, a marina, an aqua sports facility, a souvenir shop, a spa room, a karaoke room, a gym, an entertainment room and two pools: one inside the hotel and the other was an "infinity pool" overlooking the beach.

Relax

I especially liked the location of the spa. It was situated on a high cliff with a Jacuzzi out in front. All around were trees and plants and the atmosphere was very calming. Too bad that I felt the spa itself was overpriced at Php 1,900 for 60 mins. If it was half of that price, I would've tried it.

Private charters can be arranged at the front desk. That is what the helipad is for. According to our kayak guide, the owner flies in via a private helicopter.

Work Out

The Activities

Well, aside from snorkelling and swimming, there's not much to do. We rented some DVDs from the entertainment room, played foosball, and kayaked around the island.

Playing monopoly in our room entertained us for a bit but most of the time, we just watched Discovery Channel, Nat Geo and Animal Planet.

The two infinity pools

We did some exploring and climbed the 299-step view deck but the peak was kinda disappointing. It was overgrown with foilage. At one point, it might have been a lovely picnic area but when we got there, it just looked neglected. The view of the sea was partially obstructed by more trees.

We sang at their karaoke room until 10:30 pm in the evening, and at first, we had the room all to ourselves. But gradually, other guests came in and we let them have their turn. Lol.

The Food

Food was okay but nothing spectacular. I felt it was overpriced for the quality of the dishes prepared. The crispy pata cost Php 1,800 but tasted like paper and the lack luster sauce didn't compliment it. The beef with broccoli was good, though. The sinigang tasted the same as all sinigangs do.

Pork tocino for breakfast

On our first day, we took our complimentary set breakfast in our rooms and ordered pork tocino, a Filipino favorite. Portions were good and large but the tocino was just so-so.

On our second day, we had the buffet breakfast and this was better. There was fried rice, tapa, tocino, arrozcaldo, scrambled eggs, bread and butter, fruits and watery lemonade.

The bar at the karaoke room

I was disappointed with the dinner buffet. For Php 850, I expected more choices. But there were only 4 or 5 main entrees, no soup, two choices of desserts, a few fruits and only water. Of the main entrees, only the mixed seafood tasted good. The lechon kawali tasted the same as the crispy pata. Bland. There was only plain rice.

The Service

Despite the non-welcome we received on the first day, service was still overall excellent. The staff were all smiles and were helpful. They were eager to assist us and promptly brought us towels when we went swimming, even when we didn't ask for them. They were also very friendly.

I made friends with the man who accompanied me when I went kayaking and learned that he was from Palawan and was previously employed at Miniloc Resort in El Nido. We talked about stuff about El Nido, while he also pointed at various far off islands and told me trivia about them.

Most structures look like this

The Farewell

Our package included roundtrip airport transfers so we joined the people leaving for the airport at 10:30 am. When we asked the front desk how much we needed to add to be transferred to Cawit Port, they told us it would cost a whopping Php 1,750. In the same breath, they told us that we could instead take a tricycle for Php 30 per head. It made me wonder why they couldn't extend their service for a mere 15-minute drive to the port.

We left Bellarocca promptly at 10:30 am and took the 5-minute boat ride back to Lipata port. From there, a van took us to the airport. Total duration was an hour.

Aqua Sports Activities

Massage Services

We took the aforementioned tricycle to Cawit Port but when we arrived, we were told that the ferry was cancelled and that the next schedule would be at 7 pm. That was definitely bad news.

Fortunately, we had another option. There was another ferry at Balanacan Port which would leave for Lucena at 2:30 pm. So we rode a tricycle to Boac for Php 50 per head, then a jeep to Balanacan Port for another Php 50 per head.

We arrived at Balanacan Port at 1:30 pm and bought pasalubong here, too. The ferry tickets cost Php 260. There were people who sold bus tickets in advance at the port. So we bought bus tickets going to Ortigas for Php 176. I'm not sure if this is actually cheaper that what fares from Lucena to Ortigas actually cost.

By 5pm, we had arrived in Lucena and boarded the JAM bus. We arrived home some five hours later.

The Verdict

The Virgin Mary shrine at Balancan Port

Would I recommend Bellarocca to other people? Sure, if they get a promo deal. Otherwise, I could think of many other adventure-filled ways to spend almost Php 30k a night.

The place is still great for privacy and relaxation and I guess people looking for those will greatly enjoy it.

The natural beauty of the place pales in comparison with other popular destinations in the Philippines. Corals are dead and sites of interest are not on the island itself, but on the surrounding baranggays, like the hot springs and caves.

I think 3D/2N is enough to enjoy the island. Stay longer and you may get bored.

Crescent Moon Cafe Culinary Experience
Angono Petroglyphs
Art Houses: Nemiranda and Blanco Museums
Balaw Balaw Restaurant: An Extraordinary Fare

So maybe the exotic menu of this restaurant is perhaps the weirdest selection I've ever come across up until now, but that's what makes the Balaw Balaw Restaurant a great attraction.

The Balaw Balaw restaurant is pretty close to Nemiranda's Art House and in fact, when we came, Nemesio Miranda was presiding over a meeting with (I presume) other artists. Perhaps the Atelier he founded? We were too shy to come forward and talk to him. We recognized him from the photos we saw at his Art House.

The wild boar and breaded frog legs dishes. They don't look scary at all.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised but really, to find out that the restaurant doubled as a folk art museum, brought our art tour to a whole new level. That meant every single place we visited today was an art stop, even the restaurants. Lol.

The owner and artist of the restaurant is Perdigon Vocalan, now deceased. His paintings and sculptures can be found mostly on the second floor of the restaurant.

I wanted to try the creepiest dish (in my opinion anyway), which was the uok, or beetle larvae, but my companions weren't as adventurous. So we ended up ordering the wild boar, breaded frog legs and a minaluto, which were decidedly less risky than the other exotic dishes. A minaluto is a huge basket with everything on it: pork, salted eggs, chicken, fish, squid, clams, shrimp, various vegetables and a huge mountain of yellow fried rice on a bed of banana leaves. A single order of this was enough to satisfy our group, which was composed of seven people. I found it to be really delicious.

The delicious minaluto

Other exotic dishes were frogs marinated in wine, crickets, cow butt and balls, aborted duck eggs (balut) in banana leaves, and freshwater eel. I'd like to return one day to try one of these.

This final destination ended our Angono Art Tour teambuilding activity and we went home with a higher sense of cultural knowledge about the Philippines.

Balaw Balaw Specialty Restaurant: Folk Art 16 Dona Justa Street, Angono Rizal
Contact No: 651-0110

Crescent Moon Cafe Culinary Experience
Angono Petroglyphs
Art Houses: Nemiranda and Blanco Museums
Balaw Balaw Restaurant: An Extraordinary Fare

Next on our list was the Nemiranda Art House, owned by Nemesio Miranda, Jr. He is a well know painter and sculptor, and his works can be seen all over Angono. In 1975, he founded the Angono Atelier Association, the first group in Angono to popularize sculpture in concrete.

Nemiranda's Gallery

The Art House itself, was surrounded by huge sculptures of his work, often mythical figures in graceful poses. This particular sculpture below is known as the Mermaid of Angono.

The gallery of paintings showcase the paintings of Nemiranda and his children. I think I was more interested in exploring the house. It just had so many twists and turns, and was by itself, a form of art. In my opinion, anyway. Lol.

The Mermaid of Angono

Our next stop was the Blanco Family Museum. On the way, we were awestruck by the sheer number of sculptures, murals and paintings that lined the streets of Angono. If we had more time, I wouldn't mind just walking along the streets to get a better look on the art pieces.

Did you know that there is a family from Angono whose every member is an accomplished painter? The head of the family is renowned artist Jose "Pitok" Blanco. All his seven children are gifted painters and their museum showcases their work.

Done by one of Pitok's children

The gallery is arranged from the works of the youngest Blanco child up to the father, Jose Blanco. The children's works had their ages posted together with the painting. Even at 7 years old, the Blanco children's work rivaled professional painters. As the children grew older, their styles became more developed and the vast improvement of their skills really shone through.

Jose's wife, Loreto "Loring" Blanco, also paints but she started much later, at the age of 48. Jose Blanco was inspired by the works of Botong Francisco. One of his works I particularly liked was the Filipino version of the Last Supper, where a group of 13 fishermen dined on shrimps they caught.

The man who is bent over is said to be "Judas"

The "Angono Fisherman's Festival" is also considered to be Pitok's Obra Maestra. All the people depicted in this painting were people Pitok personally knew and he obtained permission from each one to include them in his masterpiece. Pitok also painted himself and his family in this painting.

Angono Fisherman's Festival

Interestingly, the Blanco Family logo was an upturned fish with a bulging belly. The museum guide explained that Jose Blanco was the son of a fisherman and people often called him "Pitok Bunggan" because he was bald with a huge stomach, vaguely resembling an upturned fish when he was asleep.

All too soon, it was time to go and we needed to heed the calls of our growling stomachs.

Crescent Moon Cafe Culinary Experience
Angono Petroglyphs
Art Houses: Nemiranda and Blanco Museums
Balaw Balaw Restaurant: An Extraordinary Fare

Information on the Petroglyhs from the mini-museum

Therefore, there was no better place to be the home of the oldest work of art in the Philippines, the Angono Petroglyphs. These are 127 human and animal figures carved onto the surface of a rock that dates back to 3000 BC.

From Crescent Moon Cafe, we travelled to Fiesta Resort and Casino in Binangonan, since this was the site of the petroglyphs. See the map below.

Map to the Angono Petroglyphs. Click to enlarge.

Before actually going to the petroglyphs, we passed through a short, unlit tunnel and took a five-minute walk to the mini-museum. There was an entrance fee of I think Php 20 or Php 30 per person. I can't really remember. A guide accompanied us to the viewing deck.

The figures

I could make out a turtle, some frogs, and a group of people gathered in a circle for some sort of celebration. It was unfortunate that erosion has caused some of the figures to be less discernible.

I learned that this site was discovered by Carlos V. Francisco, popularly known as Botong Francisco and (surprise) a National Artist of Visual Arts. Didn't I mention already that this place had a lot of National artists?


 Today, the Department of Tourism and the National Museum are trying to preserve this heritage site, and it is listed as one of the Cultural Treasures of the Philippines.

Crescent Moon Cafe Culinary Experience
Angono Petroglyphs
Art Houses: Nemiranda and Blanco Museums
Balaw Balaw Restaurant: An Extraordinary Fare

Crescent Moon Cafe Interior

A co-worker suggested that our first stop would be at Crescent Moon Cafe in Antipolo. We were supposed to have brunch here but we late in starting so it became lunch, instead.

Feeding the koi

We left Ortigas at 10am and arrived at Crescent Moon at around 12 noon. The place has a very homely feel.  It is owned by Lanelle Abueva-Fernando, the niece of the National Artist for Sculpture, Napoleon Abueva.

This restaurant is unusual in that it has no set menu. You walk in and order whatever is the dish of the day. It's still guaranteed to be awesome. While waiting for our meal, we had fun exploring the place.

It was obvious that careful thought and love went to building the restaurant, with small personal touches here and there, like the crescent shaped tiles in the walkway, or the shell and starfish windchimes. There was also a pottery workshop, while the finished pieces were displayed in the restaurant.

It was a pleasant surprise when we were handed a small bowl of fish food to feed the huge koi in the pond. One of them vaccuumed the food straight from my hand!

Appetizer

The restaurant is famous for its's appetizer, called the alagaw. The alagaw leaf is said to contain medicinal properties and it is used as a wrapper to hold the ingredients such as bean paste, dried shrimp, minced onions and coconut shavings.

We had fun wrapping them in the alagaw leaf and taking a bite. The taste is unusual but definitely a must try! Next, we were served a bowl of pumpkin soup that I positively enjoyed. I'm not usually a fan of vegetables but I really liked that soup. Lol.

The rest of our meal proved to be just as awesome. I can't name them though. I'm not good at cooking and can never identify half of what I eat. Lol. Let me just say that the food was great and leave it at that.

Suman with mango

I know the desert, though. It was suman (sticky rice cake wrapped in coconut leaves) with a slice of mango. The suman was so delicious that we bought a dozen more to take home.

On weekdays, meals cost Php 350 and Php 450 on weekends. It's also a good idea to make a reservation first so that you won't have to wait too long for the food. You can reach them at 658-3866 or 09175232356.


A map to Crescent Moon Cafe is provided below.

Map to Crescent Moon Cafe via Ortigas

Next, we headed to Angono to see the ancient Petroglyphs.

Mt. Pinatubo Trek Itinerary

Our Pinatubo Eco Trip was unusual in that we bought a voucher from a group-buying site, namely Ebay Kuponan, to avail of the trip. The merchant was Nature Trip Travel and Tours.

The voucher advertised that for only Php 888, it already included the 4-wheel drive and a tour guide. I didn't do enough research, else I wouldn't have bought the voucher. It didn't include food, the environmental fee and the transport from Manila to Tarlac. So really, for that price, we could have hired our own 4x4 vehicle and tour guide at a lower cost.

4-wheel drives

There were initially 5 of us but one person backed out, although he was already fully paid. One thing that got us really irritated with Nature Trip was because they grouped us with another couple even though we paid for our own 4x4. We wouldn't have minded the additional people but on the way back, they made us wait an hour before returning to the vehicle and we couldn't leave without them. We blamed Nature Trip for wasting our time by sharing the vehicle with others when we fully paid the price for five people to be able to have it all to ourselves.

Still, aside from that negative experience, we enjoyed the trip as a whole. It started when we left Manila at 3am to travel to Tarlac. By 6am, we were already at Sta. Juliana at Capas, which was the meeting point.

Picture perfect. This was just before we reached the trekking point.

We boarded the 4-wheel drive vehicle and journeyed for an hour from Crow Valley to reach the trekking point. The ride was rough and muddy from the rain early that morning. Mud would fly along the sides of the vehicle to splash my sides. I didn't mind much because I was busy looking at the vast expanse of white, volcanic sediment in front of me. We passed by giant, white mountains of ash deposits and I could see huge craters that our guide told us were from bomb tests.

You see, Crow Valley is really a bombing and gunnery range used by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. They use it for bombing and strafing practice, as well as ground unit maneuver and live fire exercises.

This is mostly what you will see.

All too soon, we reached the trekking point, from where we would hike for two hours to reach the crater lake.

 It was exhausting for me but I had no choice but to trudge on because one of our companions was an experienced climber and I had to keep up or be left behind!  We passed by mountains of volcanic debris and also had to walk across streams. I suggest bringing footwear which you won't mind getting wet and one which pebbles or sand can't easily get into.

We hardly stopped for any breaks and made it to the crater in record time. One and a half hour. The view was truly magnificent and of course, we rushed to have our photos taken.

We've finally arrived!

I was the only one who swam in the lake. I was thankful for the refreshing dip after all that trekking. Boat rides were being offered so that people can explore more of the crater lake but we were too tired to do anything else.

We also ate our packed lunch here, and after a little while, it started to rain. That's when we decided to go back down. The trip back was way easier, partly because it was all downhill and partly because of the rain. It was hot when we first climbed up and I really prefer the rain over the sun in times like these.

All that trekking was worth it to see this.

I was soaking wet by the time I reached the 4x4 vehicle but I knew that I could take a shower back in Spa Town, which I did, for P50. So, refreshed, we prepared to leave for home.

On the way back, we had dinner in Pampanga, at a very delicious sisig house: Aling Lucing's, the original inventor of the sisig. It was the perfect end to a very eventful day.

Taking the Ohayami Bus to Banaue
Experiencing the Rice Terraces
Tappiyah Falls and Banaue Museum

Banaue-Batad Itinerary
Banaue-Batad Expenses

A tip from a friend who had been to Banaue several times before, advised us to buy return tickets as soon as we arrived in Banaue. Sometimes, the buses going back to Manila could run out of seats.

So we bought return tickets first thing after getting off the bus. The latest trip back to Manila was 5:30 pm on Sunday.

Then, as we were doing so, we were approached by people offering tours. Usually, even before we arrive at our destination, I would have everything planned and a contact would fetch us upon arrival to start our tour. But for this trip, I trusted my friend when he said to book everything upon arriving in Banaue. I was a little worried because it was a long weekend and there might be a lot of people and we'd run out of accommodation or transportation, but everything went fine.

View from one of the many viewpoints around Banaue

So we chose one of the people who offered tours, a guy who was himself the driver of the jeep. We agreed to pay Php 2000 per day for 2 days, which, according to my research, was the correct price.

By now, we were starving, so we followed our new guide to a nearby restaurant to have breakfast. One thing I specifically can't forget about Batad and Banaue is that food preparation takes a long time. And I mean LONG, especially in Batad. We joked that they were still trying to catch the chicken to serve to us. But in this case, it was probably true.

After breakfast, we started the tour. Our guide took us to see the popular rice terraces viewpoints. As far as I know, there are five viewpoints but my friend said it wasn't necessary to go to all of them, just the best ones. We visited 3 of them, including the view of the Php 1000 bill which is from the Aguian viewpoint.

P1000-Bill View from Aguian

A kindly old Ifugao woman (who spoke excellent English!) entertained us while we took photos with her and her cute granddaughter.

We also visited the Hanging House, a house built on stilts on the edge of a cliff. I doubt anyone really lived there, though. We did see some caretakers.

Donate to the people of Banaue and get a nice memory in return

After the Banaue tour, we headed to Batad, about an hour by jeepney from Banaue. The ride was rough and sometimes scary, as we skirted very near the edge of cliffs.

Jeepneys and other vehicles could only take us as far as the Saddle, after which, we had to reach the town on foot. Our jeepney driver promised to pick us up the next day at 2 pm. He also found us another guide who would take us to the town proper.

The Hanging House

Now, I was prepared for everything but this. Somehow, I didn't know that the trek to the town proper took about an hour. My feet hurt from all the walking on rocky ground. And to think this was the easy part since it was mostly downhill. Sigh. I knew I was NOT going to make it tomorrow when we needed to hike back up.

I hardly have any physical activity but for this trip, I started exercising two weeks before by climbing up and down our staircase everyday. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and I still got tired very easily. Still, it was way better that I exercised because at least, I didn't almost black out like what happened in Caramoan. That particular experience was my greatest worry about this trip, because I knew I might have a repeat of the incident if I pushed myself too hard.

Batad Village

Tired but otherwise okay, we arrived at Batad just in time for lunch. We checked in at Batad Pension and Guest House. I originally wanted to stay at Rita's or Hillside Inn but they never contacted me back after several attempts at text, and no one was answering my calls.

But the view at Batad Pension was lovely and it was where our guide led us. Rooms were simple. No electric fan or air-con. At only Php 200 a night, I didn't expect anything, really. Besides, Batad is not a place for luxury hotels. We were there for only one night, anyway.

Carved souvenirs

Breathtaking Natural Beauty

We ordered lunch that took a looooongggg time coming. Like an hour or more. I almost fell asleep waiting. We resolved to order our lunch at 9am the next day so that it would be ready by 12.

After lunch, we did some trekking again. The view of the rice terraces from Batad was simply amazing. Some parts of the rice terraces were deteriorating and it was sad to see that they were falling into disrepair. I know that there was a volunteer group to help build the rice terraces but we didn't have enough time to help with the work seeing as we were only there for a day.

Around 4 or 5 pm, we went back to the pension house to take a bath and order dinner. Some of my friends and I, opted to get massages after an exhausting day. I befriended the therapist and she told me all sorts of stuff about Ifugaos. Mostly about how expensive Ifugao weddings were. Lol. She also taught me a few phrases in Ilocano!

Then, we just talked until it was time to sleep.

Taking the Ohayami Bus to Banaue
Experiencing the Rice Terraces
Tappiyah Falls and Banaue Museum

Banaue-Batad Itinerary
Banaue-Batad Expenses

It's been a long time since I last updated this blog and I'm ashamed to say I almost forgot about it. A friend of mine recently started a blog and made me remember mine. Lol.

Still, my adventures don't stop like my writing does, so let me share my trip to the Banaue and Batad Rice Terraces.

Now that's what I call green!

One thing I learned immediately while preparing for this trip was that most of the popular bus lines that traveled the Manila-Banaue route like Autobus and Florida were now forbidden to do so. They were never licensed to travel this route and in fact, only one bus line had a license. This was the Ohayami bus line. Before this trip, I had never even heard of this bus company.

But, in times like this, Google is my best friend and with hardly any effort, I was soon calling their office (09276491711 or 09058814361) and inquiring about bus schedules.

Now our planned date was the Independence Day long weekend, June 9-10. We saved 11-12 as rest days. Why June, you ask? Isn't that a rainy month? It is! But I read an article that in June, Banaue rice terraces are green while Batad rice terraces are golden in color. Well, I later disproved this because everything just looked green to me. Maybe in August, when it's harvest time, do the rice terraces truly turn gold.

Ohayami informed me that we had to personally go to their office to buy advanced tickets to secure our reservation. However, after checking their website (www.ohayamitrans.com) now, it appears they accept online reservations. It's still a good idea to personally buy the tickets, though, because you learn the best way to get to the terminal and don't waste time getting lost.

I do believe there are a few golden flecks here and there.

Ticket fares cost Php 450, one way from Manila to Banaue. We chose to take the 10 pm schedule on June 8 because we still had work during the day. Travel time was expected to be around 9 hours.

To get to the Ohayami bus terminal, the easiest way is to meet up at the Jollibee store directly below the Legarda LRT2 station.

The Jollibee store is right alongside Figueras street where a lot of tricycles wait for passengers. Ride one of these to Ohayami Trans. Fare is Php 10. Right before you reach the Florida bus terminal, the trike will turn right and go along Fajardo street. Ohayami buses are a bright violet so it should be easy to spot them.

This is Batad. The pictures prior to this are from Banaue.

We left at exactly 1 0pm. The bus was quite crowded with passengers even on the center aisle, making it hard to get out during stopovers. I felt bad for the people on the aisle since they always had to get up when people wanted to pass. Fortunately, the bus we took going home didn't have center seats.

We took longer than the estimated time because we arrived at 8 am in Banaue. See my next post for our activities that day.

Related Posts to this story
Puerto Princesa Underground River
Spelunking at Ugong Rock
A Very Helpful Boatman
El Nido Island Hopping Tour B
El Nido Island Hopping Tour A and C
Puerto Princesa Delicacies

Puerto Princesa and El Nido Itinerary
Puerto Princesa and El Nido Expenses

Alright so I decided to make a separate entry for the delicacies in Puerto Princesa. I've always researched what are the must-try foods in all the places I visit but I seldom give emphasis on them in my blog posts. So for once, let me do.

Fresh Tamilok with Vinegar

Of course, the most famous (and the most dreaded) specialty found only in Puerto Princesa, is the tamilok. We'd been in Coron and there's no tamilok there.

The tamilok (woodworm) is a long whitish worm-like creature found on mangrove trees. They are dipped in vinegar before being eaten and they taste like oysters. Since I don't like oysters, I didn't care for the tamilok either.

For the less adventurous, one can try the breaded tamilok in Kinabuch's Bar and Restaurant. We didn't try this because they ran out of tamilok, and even then, I wanted the classic serving. In Kinabuch's, it costs Php 135 for a serving of tamilok. It's cheaper to try in Sabang Port (near Underground River). Vendors offer it for Php 100.

The next interesting specialty in Puerto Princesa is the crocodile sisig. This, we found to be delicious, and only slightly different from the usual pork, chicken or bangus sisig.

And finally, I've heard the hopia found in Baker's Hill are the must-buy pasalubong. Unfortunately, we didn't get to try this because we ran out of time to do the city tour. So if the hopia are really as good as I've heard, let me know!

Related Posts to this story
Puerto Princesa Underground River
Spelunking at Ugong Rock
A Very Helpful Boatman
El Nido Island Hopping Tour B
El Nido Island Hopping Tour A and C
Puerto Princesa Delicacies

Puerto Princesa and El Nido Itinerary
Puerto Princesa and El Nido Expenses

The next day, we had the boat all to ourselves. The plan for the day was to have the combination tours A and C which included the following:

1. Helicopter Island
2. Secret Beach
3. Matinloc Island
4. Shimizu Island
5. Big Lagoon
6. Small Lagoon

Helicopter Island was so named because its shape resembled that of a helicopter. It had powdery white sand but a small shore.

Helicopter Island

To get to Secret Beach, one has to go through a small rocky opening. Unfortunately, the waves were too strong and only one of us was able to get through. Clin warned us that shouldn't attempt to go through any longer. Oh well.

Next, we visited the Matinloc Shrine. Clin told us that bishops used to visit the shrine and have their spiritual retreats there, but lately they haven't been coming back. Only the caretaker of the shrine resides there.

Matinloc Shrine

Shimizu Island was where we were to have our lunch. It was a crowded island. Lots of tourists were already there and the shore was almost filled with pump boats. While Clin and the other boatmen prepared our lunch, I snorkeled and marveled at the various fishes found on this island. The fish here were fearless. I often got bitten by palm-sized fishes if I stand still on the water. I was taken more by surprise rather than pain when they did this. Still, I had the uneasy feeling that a piranha attack would be akin to this.

If yesterday was any indication, then our lunch this day would be just as bongacious. And in fact, it was. Clin once again laid out a feast for us. We had pork, grilled squid, steamed shrimps, ensaladang talong (grilled eggplant), grilled fish, bananas and mangoes.

After the sumptuous lunch, it was time to feed the fishes! I still maintain that the fish we saw in Balicasag Island were the most vibrant I had seen. While those in Coron, specifically near the sunken shipwreck, had the most varied species. The fish in Shimizu were still abundant, though, and were more varied than those found in Boracay. Still, I was disappointed that the corals in El Nido were mostly dead, too, just like in Coron.

In my entire life, the most beautiful corals I had ever seen were in Nagarao Island, off the coast of Negros Occidental. The live corals were huge, maybe almost a meter in diameter and all clustered together. And at night, every step you took disturbed glowbugs on the beach. They were like faint disco lights on the beach. But that was way back in 1994. I haven't returned since.

The Big Lagoon

Anyway back to El Nido. Our next destination was the Big Lagoon. This was one of the most scenic spots in all of El Nido. Our little boat passed through a small opening while our expert boatment avoided the rocks. Clin told us that most of the pictures of El Nido were taken at the Big Lagoon.

Our final stop was the Small Lagoon. Like the Secret Beach, we needed to pass through a small opening to get to the lagoon. It reminded me of the Twin Lagoons in Coron, only larger. This was a very peaceful place. No waves. And we just relaxed and swam all around.

When we were done, it was time to go back. It was nearing the end of our adventure.

That night, we had dinner at Arts Cafe, where we enjoyed the live acoustic band and also bought a few shirts from their souvenir shop.

We left El Nido at 3 am the next morning, with Clin still accompanying us all the way to Puerto Princesa. We had a short stopover to buy pasalubong before finally heading for the airport.