Palawan trip
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After a week of grueling exams, me and some friends spent our first week of our sem break in palawan.
October 10 - Sunday
We left the day after our last exams. Joey, jenn, patty, robbie, and timoy were in the 8:00 PAL flight while omar, jo, and I were in the 8:30 Cebu Pacific flight. Omar was the first to get to the airport (he was there at 7 AM...hows that for excited). Jo got there at around 7:00 and I arrived 15 minutes after her. I saw her first (she and russ were waiting at the parking lot) and as we entered, we saw omar. Jo wasn't able to get any sleep (she and I were texting each other in the wee hours of the morning, the both of us were doing our packing) and despite what she said, I still had a lot more stuff than she did. Apparently, russ did the packing for her. Jo and omar grabbed something to eat in the airport proving that airport food will cost you an arm and a leg. I didn't get anything since mom prepared some breakfast for me but I did have to spend on some batteries for my cam. I didn't check it the night before and I only noticed that I was low in batt when we were about to have our pictures taken. Gahd, P300 for one battery! Anywho, the flight was okay. We got to Puerto Princesa about an hour later. Joey and the rest were already waiting for us outside. We would be spending our first night at Jenn's house then leave the next day for starfish island.
It wasn't actually jenn's house...it was her grandfather's. All eight of us were put in one room with two beds and one air mattress. When I said "they", I meant the caretakers of the house. Jenn's grandfather is in the states and only the caretaker and her family live there. We did some freshening up, had lunch, and slept. When we woke up at around 3 then we were off to NCCC (the local "mall") to get our supplies for our stay. Since it was a sunday, the place was packed. We managed to get everything we needed. We would be staying at starfish island for three days and since joey and the rest were members of r.o.c.k., a mountaineering/conservation club, they decided to "rough it out". This meant we would be cooking our own meals, not to mention buying it. We got water (5L per person), vegetables, seasoning, noodles, and other cooking things. We went back to the house to the house to pack/unpack (the others left some of their things in the house since they didn't want to lug it to starfish island anymore). We watched TV, slept some more, ate dinner, and watched more TV. By this time, we had finished about a third of all our snacks. We had already made sleeping arrangements. Joey and omar were in one of the beds; jenn, robbie, and timoy were in another and patty, jo, and I were on the air mattress. The others were already asleep while joey, patty, timoy, and I were drinking. We slept late considering Patty, joey, and timoy were leaving early the next morning to go to the palengke (wet market) to buy things for our meals. The plan was they were to leave at 5 and come back for us at 6 so that we can be ready for our 7 AM ride to the docks. Unfortunately, jo's phone kept us up the whole night (russ kept on calling her at weird hours). The three ended up leaving at 5:30 (by this time everyone but jo and robbie were awake). I was able to sleep a little more but then I woke up to screaming. It was already 7:30 and we only had a few minutes to change. We left the house in less than 30 minutes and we were on our way to the docks.
October 11 - Monday
The docks was lined up with booths that were selling things from shirts to dried fish. We browsed around a little since we had to wait for another boat. The boat we got was anchored in the shallow area which was not part of the cemented dock. We had to step on rock after rock to get to the boat. Joey (being the eldest and the president of r.o.c.k.) was standing on a big rock directing the rest. The girls had already gotten on board the bangka (a small boat) and were getting the bags the guys were handing out. Robbie was handing the camera's to joey when all of a sudden the first accident on our trip occurred. The 'big rock' joey was standing on was unbalanced and when joey leaned on it the wrong way, he slipped into the water. The camera's were safe enough and nothing was harmed except maybe for joey's ass (and ego). The trip to starfish island was uneventful. The sea's were calm and the weather wasn't too hot. We got our first glimpse of the island 45 minutes later. There was only one resort in the island and it was built on the shore. It was built on stilts since the water level changed depending on the time of day. There were only 6 cottages which were connected by bamboo bridges. When the water level rises high enough, you could just leap off the bridge into the water. The island was small compared to others and the shore was shaped like a crescent moon (meaning when you can't really go around the island). In the middle of the island (between the two ends) were several mangrove trees.
The original plan was for us to rent two cottages but upon inspection, we decided to rent only one. This way we wouldn't have a hard time with preparing the meals and we'd be spending quality time with one another. The cottage we rented had four single beds which we put side by side. The "patio" (the area in between the bridge and our room, was transformed into our cooking area and our laundry area. The cottage was airy enough since we had a lot of windows and we were facing the beach. We unpacked our things and changed into our suits. I wanted to go swimming but I ended up staying on the beach with Patty and jo who were sunbathing. The prospect of being bitten by a jellyfish dampened my enthusiasm. Omar and the rest were already cooking our lunch. We had corned beef and cheese omelets. The rice took us a lot of time to cook since it was really breezy in our cottage and the rice wouldn't cook. We took some time to rest after that then we went snorkeling.
This was my first time to go snorkeling and I was happy that we had such a nice view. The sun was shining and the water was just right. Jo, omar, and I rented flippers from the resort while the rest used their own (no wonder their bags were way bigger than ours ^^). There were so many fishes and the corals were so cool. It was a bit scary...thanks to my over-active imagination. I kept on watching out for sharks and eels even though the staff at the resort assured us that none have been spotted ever. I had a great time though and by the first half hour I was addicted to snorkeling. Jo kept on pointing to the "little nemos". I'm glad that I brought along my aqua cam. I hope the pictures I got come out clear.
Now for the story of the little fish. When we first started swimming near the corals, I noticed that a small yellow (with black stripes) fish was swimming near me. I didn't pay it any attention except that he kept on following me. We had started off on one side of the beach (where the resort was) and were heading towards the other side of the island. By the time we got half way, he was still there! He kept on swimming around my legs (pervert fish!) and when we got back to the resort, he was still there. Jenn said that she saw the fish kept on tugging (biting?) on my shorts. Omar says I had a stalker fish! i wish jenn could have taken a picture. Mom said I should have taken it home with me.
When we all got back to the cottage, we took turns washing up. As usual, omar cooked our dinner which was barbecued tanigue and jo cooked adobo. I don't really look for fish..i'll eat it if there's nothing else to eat but it wouldn't be my first preference. However, omar's cooking changed that. The tanigue was sooo good. Even better, jo made the sauce for it and she put in sili (chili) so I was really enjoying it. We ate at the benches near the ocean since our cottage is too cramp for all of us to eat in. After dinner, there was nothing much to do but wash up for bed. We had to wake up early the next day because we would be island hopping but none of us were able to sleep early. Omar, joey, jo, and I were star gazing inside the cottage since there was a window near the top of the beds. Patty and timoy were in the patio drinking and talking while jenn and robbie were next to me sleeping side by side. We had our own little groups, i guess. Omar, joey, jo, and I were usually together. Jenn went with robbie while patty went with timoy unless the four of them went together. And that's how we slept. Jo was at one end followed by joey, omar, me, jen, robbie, patty then timoy.
It was hard to sleep that night (and all the nights after that) because of two reasons. One, it was so hot. The wind that was blowing hard that afternoon had disappeared. There wasn't a single fan in the cottage and to make matters worse, there wasn't much room on the bed to stretch around in. The second reason were the boys. They were loud. No, they weren't talkative....they just snored....LOUD! We were all laughing at robbie (the worst offender) since he sounded like a piece of sago was stuck in his throat (joey's words not mine). It was pretty late when I fell asleep.
October 12 - Tuesday
I woke up to the sound of jo and omar arguing, which they did constantly during the entire trip. They weren't seriously fighting tho, it's just our way with each other. But still they were loud and I woke up. Omar and jo were already cooking breakfast. We had cheese and ham omelet, corned beef, and danguit (fried fish). Jo cooked the danguit but something went wrong and it got burned (although she said it was perfectly fine). After breakfast, we packed our gear and some extra shirts and were off to the first island. There was nothing in Snake island but a few huts and lots of trees. It got it's name from its shape which looks like a snake from the air. We claimed one of the huts as our own and were off snorkeling. Snake island was better than starfish island in more ways than one. First of all the water was cleaner. In snake island, the water that was just so clean (meaning there was no debris or seaweeds unlike in starfish island). This goes on for a bit until you reach the part where the corals are. This part was better. There were more fish and more exotic looking corals that in our island.
We had lunch our lunch (tuna, eggs, and veggies) at the hut. A boat full of people from Dos Palmas arrived and they were all koreans. We were watching them while we ate and it was funny because all of them were snorkeling in the shallow area where there weren't any corals. There were a few fish in that area but those fish were the small ones.
The next island we went to was pandan island. We rented one of the huts and this time only joey, timoy, patty, and I went snorkeling. The water wasn't as clear as snake or starfish island. There was too much seaweeds that you couldn't even see the fish. We got to a portion where the there were corals but the water was full of baby jellyfish which stung us all. We quit pretty soon and we went back to starfish island wishing that we had gone on a second round in snake island.
After washing up, preparing dinner was next. As usual, omar took the helm with jo as his assistant. Meanwhile, patty, jenn, joey, robbie, and I were playing volleyball. Admittedly, I am not a good volleyball player. I either run away from the ball or do nothing but watch it coming towards me. Jenn was pretty much the same and only patty was good. So the boys were having a good time watching us girls do our crazy stunts. Omar joined us after a while (I guess he sensed that we were having fun without him) and the game became even more hilarious, if possible. We stopped when it got too dark to see (although the boys said it was because they were too tired from running after the ball) and omar began barbecuing the food. He cooked ginataang tanigue which was sooo great. Like I said, I'm not really into fish but that dish was so great. Joey and I were preparing the dishes and drinks. Joey's peaceful getaway was put on halt when paola and tom called him about the concert, which we were suppose to have on november. I'll write about this topic more but this isn't the right place for it. Suffice it to say that joey wasn't having such a great time after that phone call.
October 13 - wednesday
One our last day on the island, we didn't have much activities prepared. After breakfast, Joey, timoy, omar, I went out snorkeling. Robbie and jenn came too but they didn't swimm. We took out the boat to where the corals were and we took our time swimming with fish. We had a hard time managing the boat since we didn't know which cord to pull to go left or right or front. Joey, omar, and I swam back to the resort to get patty. Omar and I stayed behind while joey and patty went to the boat. We got back in time to prepare lunch, which only joey, omar, jo, and I ate since the rest were still in boat trying to figure how to get back to the resort. It took them a while but they got back.
Joey, omar, jo, and I went back again this time we asked the boat man to come with us so he'd be the one to maneuver the boat. He remarked that we must love swimming a lot since we hadn't done anything but swim since we got there. We went back to the corals and we brought along rice so that we could feed them and they'd come near us. We were all laughing since joey kept on pretending to be a fish while omar and I threw the rice at him. Jo and I spotted more "nemos" and then it was time to go back.
Dinner was great. Omar cooked monggo and barbecued some pork and chicken pieces. We were all a bit sad to be leaving the next day but we were also anxious to be going to the underground river which was the highlight of the trip.
We spent some time bonding with the staff. They were laughing at omar and joey's antics. They even thought that we were studying theater ^^. All of us were outside stargazing except for jenn and robbie who were already sleeping . Patty and timoy were on one side while omay, joey, jo and i were on another. Patty and timoy had already seen eight shooting stars and omar was trying to beat their record. Joey and I were reciting a nursery rhyme ("starlight, starbright") which omar wanted to learn. He had such a hard time remembering the lines and he kept on shuffling the stanzas.
It was unnaturally breezy that night. Unnaturally because for the past nights it had been so hot. Still it took us quite some time to fall asleep.
October 14 - thursday
We got up early, around 5 in the morning. We were all sleepy since we had less than 5 hours of sleep which was irritating since it was windy that night so we shouldn't have had any trouble sleeping. Packing was hard since it was dark outside and we didn't have electricity yet. Good thing I packed the night before. We waited for the sun to rise (which was the first sunrise we ever saw since we got to the island) and took some photos. The boat ride back to puerto princesa was uneventful except that omar kept on falling asleep on my shoulder and I would end up tilting to the side. This wouldn't have been a big deal except that the boat we were in was super small and if omar tilted some more I would be in the water.
When we got to the docks, the tour guide was there to greet us. They didn't expect that we had that many bags so while they (the tour guides, timoy, and joey) were discussing what to do, jo, patty, jenn, robbie, omar and I headed off to the nearest canteen for some chow. We didn't have time for breakfast so we were pretty hungry. Jen, patty, and I bought some candies while jo was buying rice and vian. After we had finished we were off to sabang where the underground river was. Our bags were already taken to the house and we only brought along our essentials (money, phones, camera etc). The trip was two hours long and the road was BAD. It wasn't paved so the road was really bumpy. When we got there, we rented a boat that would take us to where the caves were. Patty, jo, jenn, robbie and I were on one boat while timoy, joey, and omar were on another.
The area where the caves were was also known for the monkeys and the bayawaks (a kind of lizard). We had to walk for a few minutes until we got to the river. After putting on life jackets and helmets, we boarded another boat and we were off to the caves. The place was really interesting. We saw a lot of stalagmites and there were even those that looked like dinosaurs and religious figures. The whole trip lasted 45 minutes and we only traveled half the caves. The boatman said that if we were to go from one end to the other, it would take us three hours since it was 8.5 kilometers long. Jo was pretty quiet the whole trip and I was wondering why. Turns out she was scared since the boat man mentioned that there were pythons and other snakes around the caves. The water was 27 feet deep and it was pitch dark inside. The only thing that bothered us was the smell. Since it was dark, lots of bats were living inside. The smell of the bats was dizzying.
The tour guide had prepared lunch for us since it was part of the package. We had fish fillet, crabs, and binagoongan. We didn't see any monkeys though but we did see a lot of bayawaks.
The ride back to the house was the same, only it felt longer. We were all happy to be back in the house after a tiresome day. We went to take a nap and after a while it was time to leave for dinner. After a week of cooking and cleaning, we thought it best to treat ourselves. We went to Kinabuchs, a resto which had been recommended to us by many people. The place was nice and it was out in the open so we felt that we were in Boracay because the place had a beach-y feel to it. We didn't have time for much sight seeing around town since we had an early flight, so we went back to the house to do some packing and sleep.
October 15 - Friday
The PAL flight was at 10:30 and the Cebu Pacific flight was at 10:35. We didn't need to wake up early so we took our time packing our stuff and cleaning the room. Isabel (the care taker) fixed us breakfast and pretty soon it was time to leave. When we got to the airport, we separated from the others. The PAL line was so long while there was no one in ours. Omar and I bought some souvenirs from the gift shop then we went to the waiting area. We were worrying about the PAL flight because it was already past boarding time and they were still there. Our flight left on schedule and it was only when we got to manila that joey said their flight was delayed. Omar hitched a ride with me and we dropped him off at school for the sec and csl meeting.
The whole palawan adventure was great...I wish we could do it again next break.