46
comments
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
just got back from my 4 days, 3 nights vacation in palawan! bwahaha =D had a really, really great time, and it was well worth all the planning, trouble and moolah (it better be).
we flew out to puerto princesa on the 8am flight last thursday (7.5) and just got back on the 10 am flight yesterday (7.8), we took cebu pacific both ways. we almost postponed our flight out due to a meeting, but when i was ready to ask for the meeting to be rescheduled (because duh, we planned this vacation for a really long time, and for it to be postponed even for a few hours is not something i'm willing to take just for some meeting), my officemate called me up to tell me that it was posponed to monday (today), so whee!!
so we were at the domestic terminal at around 7am, checked-in and waited for our boarding time of 7.40. for some reason, 7.40 has come and gone and we still haven't boarded our flight. flights for kalibo and caticlan scheduled later than ours even boarded first. this is my first manila departure flight with cebu pacific (we always use pal in the office, centennial terminal is way way better than the domestic terminal, but they have the same terminal fee amount of php 200 - wtf??!!) so i have no idea if late flights are normal for them. anyway, we boarded at about 8 and by 8.20 we are on our way to puerto princesa =D also just realized in that flight that cebu pac does not give out snacks anymore - is this because they have super low fares compared to pal? they offer snacks for sale though, for the prices of either php 50 or php 100. when they announced this, i thought i was a price range, but their sandwiches and chips are priced at flat php100, and their juices/drinks are priced at flat php50 i think. well if you really are hungry, you don't really have a choice do you..
the arrival terminal at puerto princesa was really really crowded, as both flights from pal and cebu pac arrived at about the same time, and pal has this really really huge plane. my foot got hit by a falling stroller and rolled on by another one while we were claiming our bags. they also have this really funny guy at their pa system, one moment he was announcing:
"mr. elipante - ang sundo mo ay nasa..." - i pity mr. elipante
and in the next he's saying:"ang mga pasahero ng pal, huwag kayo magreklamo na maraming tao, malaki kaya eroplano nyo" - o diba, malinaw na explanation (because cebu pac and pal passengers are told to check out in separate doors, so the guard can check the baggages and receipts, and pal's door is way crowded than ours).
we eventually got out in one piece and scanned the crowd for our resort pick-up - we stayed at my friend's family's resort because they have way cheaper accommodation and tour rate packages than the hotels i know there, and well because it's my friend!! whom i haven't seen since college grad! we didn't have to scan long since we saw this guy holding up a sign with my name in BIG, BOLD letters - whoa. after a short ride to the resort and checking in, we then proceeded to nccc - their mall to buy some stuff and of course, food!! we also had lunch in giacomino's - this pizza place we found in front of nccc. i remember they have branches/kiosks here in manila but i haven't seen them here for the longest time. so i had to beg boyfriend to have lunch there, for old time's sake, and promised him that we can sample palawan food after that. we got spaghettti, chicken and pasta - and it was really good.
afterwards, we went back to the resort and got ready since the travel agency we booked ourselves on for our trip will pick us up for the city tour. we then proceeded to:
the city museum
i remember seeing this banga in history books and just had to take a picture of it, unfortunately, it's only a duplicate.
the butterfly garden:
where this two are sharing an intimate momentcrocodile farm:
where there are lots and lots of crocodiles
and this very huge whale panga
iwahig penal colony:
where i bought my dreamcatcher
mitra's ranch with this view of honda bay
baker's hill with these cute miniature cakes
and their bread was really delicious. i love their mini asado - bite sized asado balls =Dafterwards, our tour group met up again and grabbed dinner at ka lui - which has an amazing atmosphere/ambiance (complete with these incredible masks)
and of course, really really amazing food at inexpensive prices - they even have free dessert! - fresh fruits in season topped with muscovado sugar and presented in a bowl of coconut =D
we were really very very lucky with our tour group. for some reason, we really bonded and ended up sticking with each other for the duration of our respective trips. we bonded over food - and got to sample different palawan restos for dinner in the process, and a lot of other stuff. it was really funny because we all got along really well considering we were all so different, one couple was a lakwatsera couple in their mid-30s, another was a balikbayan couple currently based in california in their mid-50s and are already a lolo and lola but who always takes the time for a vacation in their home country, another is a mid-20s quite famous travel blogger who plugs his blog in sites including the ateneo multiply group, and us - a not married couple in their early 20's who's quite new with this whole travel, tour, vacation thing. hehe =D
i just realized that posting my whole trip in one post is quite long, so i'll post another one some other time =)
