Road to Kalinga

This road links northern Isabela province and Kalinga.

The valley is known as Mallig Plains, a vast agricultural region benefiting from the spills of chico river in Kalinga. Click on the picture for more.

Taken with Canon 30D and17-40mm lens.

San Fabian Beach, Pangasinan

My first time to see San Fabian beach was in January 2007. It was a holiday and the long beach was jammed with people, tricycles, jeepneys, trucks, and dogs. Like Divisoria during pre-christmas days. It was a terrible view to be honest. The beach has good slopes but the sand is dark-grayish to black making the water bit murky.

I was there again last week. I thought of spending my weekend in Baguio but ended up driving down to Pangasinan early Saturday. This time we stayed at PTA (Phil. Tourism Authority, wow!) beach resort which has large quarters and nice swimming pools.

The beach is still the same but looks much better without the crowd. Its a public beach and I did not see anyone cleaning the beach or sorting things. In some area, you can tell the smell of dead hermit crabs or other crustaseans -- probably of heat stoke (hehe).

Anyway, the beach is still a wonderful natural beauty.

Bohol - Cost of Travel (Last Part)

Here is how much it costs to be in Bohol for a 3 day vacation (for two).

Fare = Php7,000 -- Cebu Pacific. Return tickets can be as cheap as Php2,700 each but i booked our flight only a week before the trip.

Terminal Fee = Php400 -- collected at Manila Domestic terminal.

Transpo to/from Panglao = Php800 -- rent per car, small car can accommodate 4.

Accommodation = Php4,200 -- 3 days/nights, house can accommodate 4.

Car Rental = Php1,800 -- 1 day tour to at least 7 destinations.

Boat Rental = Php 1,500 -- half day island hopping and snorkeling.

Snorkeling = Php 600 -- for the guide. there are optional gears (flippers or shoes) rented for Php150/pair which are actually useless.

Food = Php3,500 -- estimated at 1,000 a day or 500 each.

Entrance Fees = Php 200 -- estimate

Tips = Php 1,170 -- estimate; too generous at some point i.e. Php 200 for the driver.

Souvenirs = Php 1,000 -- estimate

In total, its around Php20K or 10K per head. Since we went out of control on some expenses, I think Php6K each is a reasonable budget for a group of at least 4. That's still a lot of many though.

There's also internet cost but its minimal. At least 2 computer shops are available along the beach; connection can be good but most of the time very slow or none. There's wifi in some resorts including Flower Garden but unfortunately I wasn't able to use mine as no one is available to assist with the settings.

Bohol - Island Hopping (Part IV)

At 6:00 AM, we boarded a bangka (mid-size) to look out for dolphins off Alona Beach. Dolphins here are smaller than those I have seen in Puerto Galera 3 years ago.

An hermit crab.

After the dolphins, we headed to Balicasag which is known for dive spots and snorkeling. The fish sanctuary is amazing. The guide positioned us in a reef where you can see small fishes and corals on one side and school of bigger fishes and the deep blue unknown on the other side. The view of deep blue is really scary--- looks endless and you have no idea whats in there. I should have bought waterproof camera for pictures.

A group of divers early in the morning.

Next is Virgin Island- a tiny uninhabited island. It's about 20 minutes from Balicasag and is famous for it's shallow white sand shores. This place is good for photo shooting but unfortunately my camera setting was not adjusted for that bright sunny day. All I know was i'm taking nice shots until we got back and had a normal monitor view. Too bright! The pictures should have captured the clear water and the long stretch of white sands.

You can actually walk hundreds of meters away from the island with waters just above knee.

It's a half day trip so at around 10:45 we headed back to Alona Beach which took us less than an hour. It was our last day in Bohol so we decided to have some rest in the afternoon as we need to fly early the next morning. At 6PM we went to Alona Palm Beach for our grilled fish dinner - it was the last for the trip and turned out to be the best. This is a nice beach but surprisingly, most restaurants (cheap or expensive) don't have at least good sea food to serve. More popular are western style foods.

After dinner, we had a last walk at the beach from end to end. The tide then is low and the sea retreated far from the beach. Reaching the end of the beach... we ran across this crawling object. It's a sea snake.

Creepy. It's trying to crawl back to the sea but apparently it cant crawl as fast as land snakes do. It's tail is like those of fish.

NEXT: Cost Accounting.

Bohol - Island Tour (Part III)

There are at least 7 destinations in mainland Bohol and Panglao Island.

First stop is Hinagdanan Cave in Panglao Island. Its a small cave with lagoon at the middle. There is nothing much of interest about this cave though the tourist guide said the lagoon has passageway to the sea but no one ever succeeded trying to cross (wow!). Also there are no bats inside, only paniki-like birds (i forgot the name) so the lagoon is guaranteed free of paniki droppings -- but looks stagnant. Here are other stops:

Sandugo Monument - where Datu Sikatuna and Legazpi held the historic blood compact. I wonder sometimes about history. How did those spaniards communicate with an indones or a malay chieftain? Even today its very very frustrating and even scary talking to locals in the suburbs of Jakarta or Bangkok who don't speak or understand English.

Baclayon Church (1700s) - This has little appeal to me. Why? I know there are much older and architecturally amazing churches in Europe. And the temples in Wat Pho or Angkor Wat or Borubudor are far more interesting.

Loboc Tarsiers - I would say this is the best part of the tour. Tarsiers are cute and sweet, shy and harmless little animals. They eat crickets/insects and can jump so quick. They are social animals and can live in relative captivity - not in a typical small cage (they get easily depressed and can kill themselves) but in an open controlled area. Selling or buying is illegal. Tourist can smuggle (illegally transport) but they have remote chances to survive in other places.

Obviously, tourist are so amazed by the tarsiers. The Loboc sanctuary, along the riverbank, has 4 tarsiers in "display" but they say there are more in the mountains of Bohol. The caretaker is equally amazing, he speaks Japanese, French and perfect English. Ayos!

Loboc River Cruise - The cruise is a floating restaurant. The location is just right for lunch after going trough several destinations. The buffet meal is at Php250 each and the cruise takes approximately an hour.

It rained hard while we are at the middle of the river causing little disorder as we are having lunch. Anyway, food is genuine Filipino and good enough for the price. Below is an old bridge crossing the Loboc river.

Chocolate Hills - I did not expect much and true enough the chocolate hills is just like what you see in postcards. I am more interested to go around the hills and walk the rice paddies beneath them.

At the back of this peace-post is "jumping area" where tourist can do fancy jump for a perfect postcard. I must say the photographers are pretty good - not the typical photographers with manual cameras but digital SLRs with good lens (Canon and Nikon) and instant canon photo printer. They charge Php100 for each print.

After Chocolate Hills, we passed by Butterfly garden. The tour guide mentioned many things about butterflies from scientific names to life cycle to biggest and smallest etc. All i remember now is that they breed and raise butterflies in that small garden.

Last stop is Souvenir shop and the Bee farm. The bee farm has restaurants perfectly overlooking the bay-- so scenic and relaxing.

Tired and satisfied, we drove back to Panglao island at around 5PM.

NEXT: Island Hopping

Boho - Panglao Island (Part II)

The best place to stay in Bohol is along Alona Beach in Panglao Island. Its about 30-40 minutes from airport/city. Rent-a-car is the only option which costs Php400 one-way.

Compared to Boracay, Alona Beach is smaller but equally touristy. While Boracay has problems with green algae, this beach has lots of sea weeds specially after high tide.

The sand in Alona is more fine than Boracay- like a talcum powder.

Beachfront resorts can cost up to Php 7K a night while in Boracay Regency (a 3 star resort) its around Php6K. Anyway there are lots of options when looking for accommodation, the farther you go from the beach the cheaper. Alona Palm Beach, Alona Tropical and Alona Kew resorts are popular high-end beachfront resorts. Cheap hotels are available in tagbilaran, but its not advisable to stay there unless you intend to stay out of the beach. We stayed at Flower Garden which is not a beach front but just 5 minutes walk to Alona Beach. We rented a car for a one-day Bohol Tour and a boat for half-day dolphin watching and island hopping.

NEXT: Bohol Island Tour.

Bohol - Part 1

Among the 1,700 islands, Bohol is probably one of the most gifted. It has Chocolate hills, Tarsiers, Loboc River, Alona Beach and Resorts, Balicasag Diving and Fish sanctuary and few other local attractions. I skipped working on Monday for a 3 day trip over the week end hehe..

The capital, Tagbilaran, is 1 hour 30 minutes by air from Manila.

Above is one of several islands viewed while approaching Tagbilaran airport.

I Am a Certified Traveller

My Lakbayan grade is C- Traveler!!

Born in Kalinga, partly raised in Isabela, lived and studied in Baguio-Benguet, worked and lived in Makati which brought me to Bulacan, Laguna, Batangas, Bataan, General Santos City, Cagayan de Oro, Misamis, Iligan and Davao. Been also to Cagayan, La Union, Ifugao, Sagada, Puerto Galera and Boracay for vacations.

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Pasig Ferry

The pasig ferry transport system is now open. I really didn't know until i saw one advertisement in glorietta. So.. having nothing to do last week-end, we thought of giving it a try ala tourista.

Going to Guadalupe

Inside a jeep. This jeep can stop wherever it wants. Always try to pick up anyone standing by the roadside. Drops passengers wherever they wish to take off. All for Php 7.00.

National symbol? Maybe yes, there is still something in it, but I wish it will evolve and improve into something much better. The air-con jeepneys plying Makati Loop are nice and organized.

Guadalupe Station

The station is near Guadalupe Bridge and MRT station. It is convenient for those coming from Taguig and Fort Boni area since jeepneys can drop them in front of the station. But for passengers coming from Rockwell area and MRT station they need to walk about hundred meter across the busy typical JPRizal which is not comfortable. Ofcourse "accessible terminals" is all-important if they want his system to work. It's a work-in-progress so let's wait and see. The station is also secured, air-conditioned and every equipment looks fine (new!). But it looks too small to accommodate 50-100 waiting passengers.

The Route

The big plan is to connect Marikina to Manila.

Tickets cost Php25 from Guadalupe to Escolta in Manila which is cheaper compared to around Php45 FX fare from Guadalupe to Taft- Quiapo. The ferry operates from 5AM to 10PM.


Hulo and Lambingan are on the side of Mandaluyong - never heard of these places but I hope they are strategic enough to draw passengers.

Pasig River viewed near MRT station. That's Globe and Rustan's at the background.

Inside the twin-hull catamaran boat. It has nice plastic seats and large TV in the middle playing Bryan Adams DVD concert. This shot was taken at Guadalupe and the boat got almost full when we reached Escolta.





PUP Station.

The big problem of Pasig are the squatters along the river banks. There are only few factories, at least in Makati, Mandaluyong and Manila areas, and so I think domestic waste is primarily to blame.





Guadalupe to Escolta (near Carriedo) took us 50 minutes with stops in Hulo, Lambingan, Sta. Ana, and PUP. Not sure if it saves time compared to commuting by jeep or FX. From Escolta, we walked to Carriedo. It's the same Carriedo 3 years ago - but getting shabby and seedy again. Maintenance is a big problem in all those "buhayin ang maynila" projects. Anyway that's another stroy.

Side Trip - Carriedo

I didnt know Carriedo is a walking distance from Escolta. Its just a few blocks actually on the right side of ferry station. Well, carriedo is, maybe since year 2001, known for its flourishing piracy. We bought pirated DVD of Next for Php35 only.

That's Palito beside Mr. Bean. We didn't notice him until one of the vendors asked for autograph.

The Fall of Bataan

"There is a limit of human endurance and that limit has long since been passed. With out prospect of relief, I feel it is my duty to my Country, and to my gallant troops, to end this useless effusion of blood and human sacrifice. With profound regret and continued pride in my gallant troops, I go to meet the Japanese commander.
Goodbye, Mr. President."

--Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainright to U.S. Pres. Roosevelt before surrendering to Japanese Gen. Homma (Corregidor, Bataan)

Corregidor Tour

I spent the week end (right before independence day) at Corregidor with my Baby. The tour well exceeded my expectations. It made me realize my ignorance on the what happened in Bataan during the second world war. All I remember is Mc Arthur and the infamous Death March and I didnt know that:

1- McArthur and president Quezon were bestfriends (Quezon is the godfather of McArthur's only son).

2- Pending defeat in Bataan peninsula, Gen. McArthur and his family, Pres. Quezon and thousands of American and Filipino soldeirs positioned in Malinta Tunnel in Corregidor.

3- Corregidor is a fortress island accross Bataan peninsula ( I heard this from my Dad when i was a kid) with several batteries positioned at Topside overlooking Manila Bay. The whole island is a military camp with almost complete amenities.

4- Gen. McArthur escaped from Malinta Tunnel to Mindanao (as ordered by Pres. Roosevelt) and left command of US and Fil. troops to Gen. Jonathan Wainright who after savage battles and dwindling supplies surrendered to Gen. Homma of the Japanese army.

5- At marami pang iba..

Corregidor is now a national park with awesome historic ruins and beautiful dense jungles. You can even spot monkeys on trees along the road. The park operator (a Magsaysay company) offers guided tours at Php1,600 for day tour and Php 1,900 overnight- check google for more details.