My latest foray

[Ako Si Jamie]

Part 1

For 2015 I was planning on visiting Texas in September as I knew people over there but the summer passed and nothing materialised. When September arrived I was really itching for a holiday and by the last week of the month I had booked another trip to the Philippines including two domestic flights to Puerto Princesa and Cebu. I had seven weeks left to the plan the rest of my trip.

A few days later I decided to go back on the dating sites as I was concerned I might get bored on my own for three weeks. It was my third time back on them since splitting with my ex from Pampanga and the previous two occasions were a disappointment so I wasn't expecting much but thought what harm can it do. My plan was to date several women in different cities and by the end of the first week I had 4 to 5 possible dates but one really stood out. We spoke in great lengths and got on famously and in the end I decided to spend the entire three weeks with her.

By the time I was ready to leave I had booked the majority of the hotels leaving around four nights for keeping my options open. Three hotels in Manila, two in Puerto Princesa, one in Subic Bay, one in El Nido and one on Bantayan Island.

[mickcant]

Well, you had a good holiday after all, are you still seeing the new woman?
Mick.

[Ako Si Jamie]

Well, you had a good holiday after all, are you still seeing the new woman?
Mick.

I still speak with her. Lovely woman and a true Filipina although there are a few downsides.

[stevewool]

Bloodly hell Jamie, sounds like you need another holiday

[Ako Si Jamie]

Bloodly hell Jamie, sounds like you need another holiday

I take it you're referring to the busy schedule, Steve? I prefer travelling about the Phils than stopping in just one or two places.

[jonnijon]

I still speak with her. Lovely woman and a true Filipina although there are a few downsides.

Presume the downsides are family?

[Ako Si Jamie]

Presume the downsides are family?

I never met them as they live in Cotabato City. One thing she said to me that I found surprising was that she put God first, a partner, second, and her family, third.

[stevewool]

Yes referring to your busy travel plans Jamie,
Well putting god before her partner and family maybe good for her , thats until she has found a partner to be her number one

[Ako Si Jamie]

Arrived in Manila on a cloudy Monday morning and the time it took me to leave the airport from setting foot on the tarmac was around a mere ten minutes. My date lived north of the Pasig River but arrived late to meet me due to traffic so I had to endure 45 minutes or so, fending off persistent taxi drivers, even though I told them I was waiting for someone.

The hotel I booked offered rooms priced from P7000. This was according to their website but I smugly paid P2000 for the solitary night via an offer on Agoda. The website also stated that the hotel was located in Muntinlupa City and was only a ten minute journey from the NAIA. Yeah, right! It took nearly an hour to arrive in an area called Sucat which I don't think is Muntinlupa at all. I was expecting a plush establishment as it had a poncy title - Bellini Suites at Presidio, Lakefront, but it didn't look anything special going by the exterior.

It was a tower block amongst other tower blocks with a shared swimming pool. A pool we couldn't use due to being closed for maintenance for the entirety of our stay, and this was one of the reasons BSAPL was chosen. Our booking wasn't recognized at first so we had to hang around reception getting scowled at by a Imelda Marcos wannabee who presumably was a guest here. By now my smugness had completely worn off and we were eventually allocated a room. It was decent enough although the balcony area was grubby but I certainly wouldn't pay P7000 for it. The room had all the facilities to cook food but strangely enough it didn't have a kettle but more annoyingly it didn't have a bottle opener, so each time we wanted to open a beer, we had to go down to reception.

At around 10am the next morning I was glad to leave this "hotel" behind. We headed to the Victory Liner Bus Station in Pasay to catch a ride to Olongapo in Zambales, a four hour journey away.

[Ako Si Jamie]

As soon as we got off the bus in Olongapo we were encircled by taxi drivers. We agreed on a P200 fee for the ride to Subic Bay but when we left the bus station and arrived at the taxi around the corner, the price took a jump to P300. A trike driver overheard and offered to take us for the originally P200 we had agreed earlier with the cab driver so I knocked him down to P150 and off we went.

We stayed at Treasure Island Resort situated on Baloy Beach for two nights before returning to Manila. It cost around P1400 per night with a swimming pool (usable) and had a "mini bar" in the room AKA a fully stocked fridge. Oh, it had a bottle opener too.

It was Aimee's idea to come to Zambales because she wanted to visit Anawangin Cove & Capones Island. I already had been here on my last visit but I didn't mind going again. Funnily enough the boat tour was P700 cheaper than previously.

[Longweekend]

Zambales is a nice part of the Philippines, we use to live opposite Capones Island in Pundaquit....

[Ako Si Jamie]

Zambales is a nice part of the Philippines, we use to live opposite Capones Island in Pundaquit....

I remember you saying Yep, very scenic with the beach, islands, and mountains!

[Ako Si Jamie]

We were back in Manila on the fourth night as we had to be at the airport just after lunchtime for the flight to Palawan. I had already pre-booked Sogo Hotel for the solitary night but wrongly booked the Sogo Hotel in Buendia rather than the one closer to the NAIA in Pasay.

Going by first impressions I was pleasantly surprised by the Sogo. It had a large spotless lobby and a couple of comfy sofa's. Something not really associated with a 1100 peso-per-night hotel in the Phils. Around the corner were these three sided cubicles that housed amorous couples while they waited to be assigned a room. I didn't know until later that Sogo was popular with guests who only wanted a room for a few hours, but to be fair I can't recall seeing anyone who looked remotely sleazy so I must have stood out like a sore thumb.

The room itself had no windows but it was clean and spacious, contained a nice TV and had a decent AC unit. Not long after arriving the hammering started but it wasn't the amorous couples who were culpable - it was workman. The hotel reception is situated on the ground floor and all the rooms are located on the fifth floor with various establishments sandwiched in between and all around. To get to the fifth floor you had to use this ancient lift which was constantly manned 24/7. It was that old it was probably there before the Spanish.

On top of the hammering, we could hear a band playing in the nearby mall so the noise of Sogo Buendia really took the shine off a nice cheap room for the night but sometimes you do have to accept that you get what you pay for at times. Anyway, tomorrow Palawan beckoned and it was farewell to manic Manila for at least two weeks.

[Ako Si Jamie]

We arrived in Puerto Princesa after 4pm because our AirAsia flight was late, caught a trike to our hotel via a stop off at a resto for some food. The place we were staying at was called Ala Amid Bed and Breakfast located in a quiet area in the north east of the city near Robinsons Mall. I think I paid P2,300 per night and this is one hotel I totally recommend. Welcome drinks and towels supplied after using the pool were just a few things that made it special along with the spacious clean room that had a balcony overlooking the pool. It was also the first establishment in the Philippines I've been to that had a guest book too. The staff were spot on as well.

Two nights were spent here meaning the one whole day was mainly spent relaxing and not on a tour to the Underground River which we were thinking about but decided against based on a 3-4 hour round trip to get there and a six hour jaunt up to El Nido the next day. My original schedule could have accommodated the UR but I met Aimee afterwards so the schedule was changed to a new one hence why the first part of the holiday seemed slightly chaotic.

We decided on spending a bit of time at Nagtabon Beach but we never got there. I wasn't prepared to pay more than P600 for the trip but the trike drivers wanted nearly double because of the steep hills, so in the end we spent the day relaxing by the pool, visiting the mall and taking a stroll down the baywalk in downtown PP.

[Ako Si Jamie]

The next morning we lounged around the hotel before catching the green non air-con RORO bus to El Nido at lunchtime. The journey took less than six hours and the bus stopped twice for breaks at Roxas and Taytay.

We arrived in El Nido early evening and got a trike to our accommodation in Corong Corong which was a small establishment that consisted of just the two beachfront nipa huts overlooking Bacuit Bay. We stayed here for four nights but halfway through the stay we had to change huts due to a heavy downpour one night that caused the roof to leak. I was glad in a way because the previous night I was woken by something jumping on me. I staggered to the light switch to catch the culprit but all I saw was Aimee fast asleep, so it couldn't of been her. There was no forced entry so it wasn't the maid either. In the morning Aimee concluded that the perpertrator was a rat but I wasn't so sure.

The three full days in El Nido was mostly spent at Nacpan Beach and on one of the boat tours. Nacpan Beach is one of the finest beaches I've seen in the Philippines and it stretches for a good way. I calculated that it would take roughly an hour to walk from one end to the other. I can imagine that White Beach was similar to Nacpan before Boracay was commercialized.

The current here is strong and visitors are advised not to venture too far out from the shore. According to the locals around three tourists perished during 2015 ignoring the warnings with one of the unfortunate victims still unaccounted for.

The boat tour we went on was Tour A which consisted of the Small Lagoon where I was nearly crushed by a boat, the Big Lagoon and a couple of islands. All in all a great day out even though the banca broke down on the way back.

I changed diet in El Nido. Our accommodation didn't offer breakfast and I wasn't prepared to fork out P200 for a sausage and some rice etc...That's why I like Subic Bay because westernized breakfasts are widely available and cheap enough too. Banana's it was then and a few of those pandesals thrown in for good measure. Cost no more than 50 pence and filled a space. Job done.

On the way back to Puerto Princesa we went by van with other tourists. Our destination was Palawan Village Hotel located directly across from the airport. Handy for our flight the next day to Cebu!

[jake]

Thanks for sharing

Any pictures?

[Ako Si Jamie]

Thanks for sharing

Any pictures?

I sure do. I will add them at the end.

[Ako Si Jamie]

Having trouble locating the USB cable for my camera, Jake. It has to be around somewhere.

[Ako Si Jamie]

Palawan Village Hotel offered good value and the price of a spacious room for the night was a mere P800 but this was with a fan although AC was available at extra cost.

We arrived In Cebu early evening after flying in from Puerto Princesa and the plan was to reach Bogo City before 10pm where we had pre-arranged a night’s stay by telephone a week or so earlier at a Pension House.
Bogo was only around 15 mins from Hagnaya Port where the ferry sails to Bantayan Island but the ferries stop early evening so we wouldn’t have made the crossing in time. It took between 3 and 4 hours to reach our destination and it was really cheap on the Ceres Liner bus - less than P200.

Bogo City is an interesting place. The bus station is some way out in an area that reminded me of the Wild West for some reason. The town itself (not really a city) is different and has similarities to towns I’ve been to in the UK with a neat manicured garden with benches. It’s very clean here and I witnessed in excess of twenty students adorned in green t-shirts sweeping and cleaning up the town centre on the morning of the next day.

We arrived on Bantayan Island by around lunchtime and headed for our resort namely Beach Placid on Alice Beach for a 4 night stint. There are two main beaches on Bantayan at Santa Fe with Alice being one of them. Both are spacious both in length and width with nice sand and an inviting aqua coloured ocean. The only downside was that the water was too shallow to swim.

There’s not a great deal to see or do here. Virgin Island (not to be confused with the one in Bohol that bears the same name) is one attraction, although I would describe it more as a tourist trap. The island is nice enough but it’s no great shakes and doesn’t warrant the P500 entrance fee for a party of two. For seating additional fees apply on top of the short crossing from Bantayan which was P600.

After our four nights here, we had three spare before our last night in Manila. I was thinking of doing both Malapascua Island and Camotes Islands but realistically it had to be a choice of one or the other and the former got the nod. I had decided on choosing a resort with a swimming pool this time and I had been eyeing up Thresher Cove Resort. The website states in excess of P5000 for a standard room but I noticed that the price on Agoda was slightly below P3000 when I was surfing the net on Aimee’s phone. I didn’t book it until the day before leaving Bantayan but this was at a new much reduced price - P1100. Unfortunately this price only covered two nights but after arriving we liked Thresher Cove so much I haggled for a third night which set me back P2000.

[Michael Parnham]

A rep for all the effort you've put in compiling such an interesting Thread, thank you

[Ako Si Jamie]

A rep for all the effort you've put in compiling such an interesting Thread, thank you

Thanks Michael.

[Terpe]

Good thread Jamie

Interesting and nicely written.
Thanks for your effort
Rep on it's way

[Ako Si Jamie]

Thanks Peter

[Ako Si Jamie]

Rock climbing is one activity available at Malapascua Island - and it’s mandatory. Actually it’s at the port of Maya where the boats travel to the island so it’s not ideal to be clambering over rocks to get to the boat especially with luggage in tow. One false move could mean tumbling into the drink from about ten foot and possible injury. More fun in the Philippines indeed.

Malapascua reminds me of a mini Boracay but without the crowds and high prices. The beaches here are not as wide as the ones on Boracay or Bantayan but unlike the latter, swimming is achievable here. There are no proper roads on the island, just lanes, meaning no cars or jeepneys or tricycles, just motorbikes. The main beach is Bounty Beach and it stretches for about a mile. The first half has numerous accommodation and a selection of bars while the end part is where the locals are seen mending and making their boats. It’s not at all crowded but the island is popular with the diving fraternity mainly due to the unique attraction of diving with thresher sharks.

I read some while ago that the island was named when the Spanish arrived here during a terrible storm although some reports say the meaning of Malapascua translates to ‘Bad Easter’ and some ‘Bad Christmas’.

During our stay here we went on a day trip to Kalanggaman Island and ever since I’ve been crowing about it to anyone who will listen. It’s amazing and I rank it the number one island I’ve visited so far. It has been known for cruise ships to anchor nearby and allow their passengers to sample this Visayan paradise. The island used to have two sandbars but Typhoon Yolanda put pay to one of those but it has been said that the missing sandbar will return one day. Let’s hope it doesn’t do a ‘Lord Lucan’!

To hire a private boat from Malapascua costs in the region of P4000 but a shared boat costs much less. We paid P800 each which included lunch, plus the admission to the island which was P500 for foreigners and about P150 for Pinoys, but unlike Virgin Island it was totally worth it.

Geographically and politically, Kalangamman is part of Leyte and is nearer the town of Palompon than Malapascua, and the island is accessible from here also via bangka. The trip from Malapascua takes about 1 hour 45 minutes and if you’re lucky, pods of dolphins, similar to the ones on Panglao Island can be seen. About halfway through the crossing the trees on the island protrude on the horizon.

The boat we shared was made up of different nationalities, Swedish, Chinese, Filipino and a Pole from Vancouver who had hooked up with a Pinay from Naga City were just a few. Lunch was a sombre affair and somewhat surreal. A dozen strangers all sitting around a picnic table muted and impeccably behaved apart from the Pole from Vancouver who was busy concentrating on stuffing his face with fish. I deduced here that our party couldn’t have included any Americans.

On our way back from Malapascua we took a hired van from Maya to the bus station in Mandaue then a taxi to SM Mall in downtown Cebu where we had dinner. Our flight back to Manila was the last Air Asia flight of the day to the capital and left after 9pm. Because of this I booked the 24 Hour Hotel which is located in the area of Vito Cruz train station and West Makati. On arrival you’re allotted 24 hours so for us arriving at midnight it suited us. The hotel was bog standard but was OK for a night. We left for the NAIA at lunchtime on the Sunday and the taxi ride only took 10-15 minutes, stark contrast to the 40 minute trip from the airport twelve hours earlier.

This was the second time I’ve been to the Philippines prior to Xmas and I’ve been very fortunate with the weather both times. In 2013 I arrived a day after Yolanda and on this trip I departed a day before Nona. In 2013 I only remember it raining for one evening in Puerto Galera and lightly at times on the last day. During this trip there was some heavy rain at night, notably in El Nido and a couple of showers while in Bogo and Bantayan Island.

[Ako Si Jamie]

Kalanggaman Island taken by a drone.

[mickcant]

Wow, nice video to watch while here 0n a freezing morning in the UK.
Thanks,
Mick.

[Michael Parnham]

Kalanggaman Island taken by a drone.

Nice