When a dream became a reality: Leaving a paradise :(

BF and I were up around 6AM but we got out of bed around 6:30AM. Hahaha. It was really hard to get up because we were too sleepy and I guess we just felt the tiredness from the previous days filled with water activities. We were planning to go to the market to buy some fresh sea foods that’s why we woke up really early.

We didn’t took a bath anymore that’s why we were in the market at 7AM. And guess what, almost all of the stores were still closed by this time. We went to the wet section of the market and there were few vendors selling sea foods. I guess all of the sea foods were reserved for tourist and restaurants there. Some would probably had been sent to Manila already. We just decided not to buy anymore and just sit beside the sea, and talked about anything that happened during our vacation. I love it when we talked like this because that’s the time that we can exchange opinions, and treat each other like “best friends”. For me, the best foundation for any relationship is friendship. And even though we just sat in the park and talked, it still feels complete and perfect.

looks sleepy

Anyways, enough of the cheesy moments, let’s proceed with the blog. Hehehe. Our flight was scheduled in the morning so we don’t have enough time to roam around the town because the travel time going to the airport is more or less 45 minutes. We went back to the hotel around 8AM and waited for the van to pick us up. The van driver was in the hotel before 8:30AM, and as I expected, there were other tourists already in the van. It was too awkward because we were the last group to be picked-up, therefore we need to rush everything even though there is nothing to rush about.

While the crowded van was proceeding to the airport, one of the tourists received a text message telling that the Zestair flight would be delayed (our flight). I was not in shocked anymore because I actually expected it. The flight would be delayed for a good 1 hour due to some technical issues that only Zestair knows.

Upon reaching the airport, different tourists were already waiting for the Zestair booth to open. We already fell in line so we will not be the last pair to board the plane. There was a signage in the booth stating that the check-in time would start at 10AM. It was just 9AM and we haven’t eaten breakfast. Imagine that. 

the long queue, waiting starts now!

But miracles do happen! Around 9:30AM, the booth opened and accommodated the tourists. Then after a few minutes, the Zestair plane arrived. The flight would not be delayed anymore! Woot Woot! I think Zestair miscalculated the schedule. Well I’m just assuming. Hehehe

The plane departed in Busuanga Airport at 10:40AM. We arrived at Manila at 11:45AM. It was a rough landing for me. Full of turbulence. Seems that the pilot had a struggle upon landing.

Guess where we headed after getting our bags? Well it was in Mang Inasal! Hahahahaa. We’re very much hungry that all we want to do is to eat unlimited rice!

That ends our Coron Adventure. But our itchy feet will never stop traveling! Until next adventure!

When a dream became a reality: Coron Planning and Arrival

Our First Anniversary trip to Puerto Princesa last year was a very memorable one. It opened our hearts desire to travel more and explore, if not all, atleast some of the tourist spots that the Philippines can be proud of. Before, I was hoping to take a trip around the world, but after Puerto Princesa, I realized that I need to travel first our country before going out. So when the time comes that someone would ask me, what can the Philippines offer? I would proudly state every places I’ve been to, until they’ll get tired of listening :P

Coron Island, as I quote Wikipedia, is the third-largest island in the Calamian Group of Islands in northern Palawan in the Philippines. The island is part of the larger municipality of the same name. It is about 170 nautical miles (310 km) southwest of Manila and is known for several Japanese shipwrecks of World War II vintage. The island is part of the ancestral domain of the indigenous Tagbanwa people.

The area around the wrecks has rock formations which provide for snorkeling opportunities, with underwater visibility extending up to 80 feet (24 m). The water is often calm. Coron is one of the most visited destinations for wreck diving in the Philippines. Wreck dive sites are found in depths as shallow as 10–30 feet and as deep as 120–140 feet (37–43 m). Most are in the range of about 60–80 feet.

Kayangan Lake, you'll see more of this on Day 2
courtesy of Wikipedia

With this information, and not to mention a lot of blogs about how beautiful this place is, BF and I decided to come back to Palawan for more! Hehe. But this time, we will go to much laid back place which is the Coron Island. My former board mates, Kwek and Jah, together with their BFs, decided to come along since they haven’t been to any places for leisure and vacation outside Metro Manila.

November 11, 2011 (11-11-11), a seat sale from Zest Air was announced which cost Php 11.00 one way (excluding other surcharges). But I wasn’t able to book on the mentioned day since their site was not accessible and having an internal server error. Probably a lot of people were trying to book a flight. The next day, Nov. 12, 2011, I checked the website of Zestair again, it was now accessible. So I tried to book a flight for our desired travel dates, and BOOM! The eleven peso seat sale was still available, on our desired travel dates that include our exact Anniversary (Aug. 20)! I immediately booked a flight from August 19-August 22, 2012, contacted Kwek and Jah, and borrowed my officemate’s credit card for payment. (I paid my officemate immediately, don’t worry :D)

credits to the owner

Fast Forward, three weeks before our flight, raining was non-stop! The sun was not even showing even for a while! I was really anxious that on the day of our trip, there will be a storm. There was TS Gener, Habagat then just days before our flight, there was TS Helen. Luckily, TS Helen just spent four days in the Philippines, the sun shone on the day of our trip and our flight with Zestair was smooth and on time. I was really thankful to Jesus that He granted my wish. Seriously, He never fails to listen. 

our tickets

in case of emergency

getting nearer

and nearer :D

We arrived in Busuanga airport around 10:05AM, picture taking with the aircraft (hahaha), waited for our luggage then proceeded outside the airport to look for our van that will bring us to Coron town. Since we availed the package tour offered by Coron Wonders (as recommended in Girltalk), they provided the van for us. I saw my name and Kwek’s holding by a man, then he pointed Kuya (I forgot). Kuya asked how many are we then he accompanied us to his van. Actually, I was a bit shocked and disappointed when we were not alone in the van; there were other tourist inside (around seven of them I presume). I thought that the van service will be all ours but it turned out that it was not. I thought of this because when we tour in Puerto Princesa, Palau-yo Tours provided a van for us and it was all ours. No other tourist hitched with us even though we are only two.

touchdown Coron!

Francisco B. Reyes Airport

Couple Pic! :)

our names..vans are waiting

Anyways, back on our trip, the travel time from Busuanga Airport to Coron town is approximately 30-45 mins. The road going town was already cemented so the ride was smooth. Mountains and nature can be seen along the way. 

We were dropped-off in our hotel, which is R2R Bayview Inn. There was confusion between Coron Wonders and R2R. Coron Wonders thought that we booked R2R through them. I didn’t hear their argument until Kuya (forgot his name, they said it was the owner of Coron Wonders) called Ms. Rina and she confirmed that we directly booked the hotel. That was the only time that we were allowed to enter the hotel and accompanied to our rooms. But here’s the thing, R2R haven’t cleaned the rooms for us! Only one room was clean enough for us to stay while waiting for the other rooms to be cleaned. So we waited for like 20 minutes before me and BF can have our own private room (room 208). Also, our assigned tour guide (forgot her name also, I am not really good in remembering names!), seems that she doesn’t know our itinerary. She told me that she will pick us up in the hotel around 5PM for our Maquinit Hotspring. A question mark drew all over my face. Then I told her, “Akala ko mag-mt. Tapyas muna bago maquinit? (I thought we will be climbing Mt. Tapyas first before proceeding to Maquinit?)”. Then I showed her the itinerary that was sent by Ms. Rina. After reading, she changed the time to 4PM. Actually, before Mt. Tapyas, according to the itinerary, we will be touring around the town. But since according to my officemates who previously went in Coron and to the blogs and forums that I had read that Coron is just a small town, and thinking that we can do the town tour all by ourselves, I decided not to discuss it to her anymore. Also we were a bit tired from the travel.

our hotel for four days and three nights

 I did not bother to rant about these scenarios during our trip, because I don’t want our vacation to be ruined. But as I was writing this blog, I felt really annoyed to what happened to us on our arrival and we can’t do anything about it.

Proceeding to our trip, lunchtime came and we were really hungry. Exactly 12nn, we went out. We really don’t know where to eat. I just relied on what I had read online. Lolo Nonoy’s came up to my mind and Centro Coron. BF and I let our new tourmates (Jah and her BF, Reinier) decide where to eat, and they chose Centro Coron.

Centro Coron Bed and Breakfast is located near the market. It is right across Ralph’s Pension House and GMG Hotel. It also offers package tours and accommodation. The restaurant is quite small. Actually the whole building is small as for me. I heard that this restaurant have delicious meals. The four of us just shared the meal since it was a bit pricey but has big servings. We ordered sinigang sa miso (pink salmon), pork liempo, six rice (the BFs have a huge appetite..haha) and 1 mineral water. The food taste is…OK. It doesn’t taste bad but it’s not that delicious. Good for very hungry people (like us!). It’s forgettable hehehe. Our total bill was Php 800.00. For the taste and because we are “kuripot” (thrifty), the food is a bit expensive. We didn’t experience bad customer service, probably because there were few clients by that time.

pork liempo

pink salmon; it's pink when you open the head

BF and Me with Jah and Reinier

After eating, we decided to roam around the town. I wanted to see what I have been reading about in blogs for so many months :). First, we went to the market. It was like a typical market. The difference is there was souvenir items (shirts, ref magnets, keychains) sold in the shops. Almost all of the eatery was carinderia type, small but I think their food were reasonably price. I want to see how far the port to our hotel is. The port is located at the back of the wet market. We passed by Coron Gateway Hotel. This hotel is the nearest hotel to the port, but it is very expensive to stay there.

road signage

Mt. Tapyas View from the Market, the cross cannot be seen, too much light

lualhati park

near the market

Overlooking the port was different accommodations on stilts. One of them was Sea Dive Hotel. It has its own docking area. It looked clean from afar.  I noticed that there is a restaurant with mermaids design. I later found out that it was La Sirenetta. Good location for a restaurant right? It would be a romantic place for lovers especially when the sunset is coming.

la Sirenetta

sea dive

the port

Since it was around 2PM, the sun is really, really high and it was super hot. We went back to the location of Centro Coron and decided to have a mango shake beside it. The shop is pure white. I really love its color. It looks really clean, neat and relaxing. It’s called Ice Valley. They only sell different kinds of halo-halo and shake. Bf wanted the special halo-halo but it was not available. So we all settle for a mango shake. But the mangoes can only make three shakes! The other only available shake would be banana shake. BF gave way so he was the one who availed the banana shake. I just let him sip my mango shake. hehehe

Menu

fave shot for the day :D

Mango Shake and Banana Shake

After some chit-chatting and photo ops, we came back to our hotel. It was around 3PM so we will have an hour to prepare for our Mt. Tapyas and Maquinit HotspringTour.