Puerto Princesa Underground River Tour

Dec 5, 2017.

We were a bit tired from the trip the night before but we had to wake up early for our Underground River Tour. I had a very good sleep because of Inn Greenspace's very thick and heavenly mattress and pillows. Although our breakfast was not prepared early by the kitchen staff, they gave us bread and bananas for take away since our pick up for the tour came in early.

The van contained 10 of us tourists: 6 Filipinos, 2 Belgians and 2 Scottish couples to be exact. Our tour guide was Marie who was very enthusiastic. The drive to the Underground River was about 1 hour and 30 minutes and instead of waiting in the port where there are a lot of tourists, Marie gave us an option. We can either do the Mangrove boat tour or the Zipline. Majority of the group voted for the Mangrove Tour and so all of us went on a boat to see and learn about Mangrove Trees. This costs 350 pesos per person.

Fun facts I gained from the Mangrove Tour:

1. Mangrove trees are either male or female. This can be distinguished with their leaves.

2. Mangrove fruit is elongated and are eaten by monkeys.

3. The crocodiles get stuck in the mangrove roots and so they are not seen in the area.

After the tour, we had lunch which was included in our package. It consisted of Filipino dishes such as pancit, adobo and fried chicken. We ordered another dish, the Tamilok or wood worm. It is one of the must try exotic food in Palawan. It was scary to taste at first but when you do so, it tastes like squid.

We then went to the port where we rode a small boat to where the Underground River was. We transferred to a second boat with a rowing boatman to get into the cave. The staff made sure that our audio device was working before heading inside.

The Underground River is pretty big - 8 kilometers long and was explored by the group Laventa. Only 1.2 kilometers is navigable by boat. I liked that there is an audio device wherein you can clearly hear the information about the site. There were a lot of bats and stone formations - stalagmites and stalactites formed by nature. There is a part of the Underground river named as the Cathedral where stones are somehow shaped like that of a big candle, of Mother Mary and of the 12 Apostles. I can't help but tilt my head and stare upwards and open my mouth (but opening the mouth is not advised as there are a lot of bats and their poop may be land in your mouth!)

After the tour, we were brought back to Puerto Princesa City and dropped back to our respective hotels.

I am super happy to have had the chance to visit this UNESCO world heritage site. This one is now  checked on my list. Thank you for reading and 'til next blog! :)

TS Vinta

image taken from weatherph.org

So, I am heading home for the holidays and it is all over the news about Tropical Storm Vinta expected to have its landfall in the Philippines around the holidays. The weather stations even said to seriously treat it because although it is fast moving, at around 18-20kph, it also brings quite a lot of wind and rain.

I was already feeling a bit anxious starting 21 December when the airline: Cebu Pacific already announced their Travel Advisory about cancelled flights. I felt like I'm a bit of a stalker when I visit the Pag-asa website almost every hour to check on updates as well as the airline's advisory page.

I am writing this post to commend our weather men and women in the office who are working hard to update the Filipino people of this typhoon that comes at a very crucial time: when almost every body is rushing home to the provinces to be with their families and celebrate Christmas with them. I am sure it is not only me who is praying for this storm to move on or be over and allow us to travel back safely to our waiting families. Here's to hoping and praying that all will be okay.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog!

Niall Horan - Too Much To Ask

I am not very sure why I play this song on repeat. It is a bit sad but maybe because of its rhythm and Niall's voice.

Here's the video with lyrics. Enjoy! :)

Our Trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan

I saw a promo flight from Cebu to Puerto Princesa which falls on my birthday and persuaded my sister for our annual family trip. She agreed and off we went for my birthday. I want to share with you all how I arranged our trip and fell in love with Puerto Princesa. 

Flights:

AirAsia has 1 direct flight to Puerto Princesa from Cebu daily. This was the flight I chose for our trip and was scheduled to depart 1845 and arrive PPS (Puerto Princesa) at 2000H. Our departure was delayed for about 30 minutes but we didn't mind it too much because we were excited. The promo I got was 990 pesos for 1 person.

Since my sister didn't want to fly back to Cebu late at night, we opted to buy our return ticket with Cebu Pacific. Our flight was supposed to depart PPS at 1230H but was delayed to 1330H and finally left PPS at 1600H. It was an excruciating wait at the airport but we had no choice but to do so. The promo fare I scored was 999 pesos for 1 person.

So for 1 person, the total flight cost was about 2,000 pesos. 

Accommodation

There are tons of accommodation options in PPS. Me and my sister researched for nice hotels near or in the city. I capped our budget and found Inn Greenspace which is at the heart of the city and just a few minutes walk to the center of action. For 3 persons in a room and for 3 nights and with breakfast included, we paid a total of 4,700 pesos. What a great bargain! I also love that they have free wifi and gave us free pick up and drop off to the airport.

Underground River Tour

our tour mates for the Underground River.

This is one of the must see sites  in Puerto Princesa. There are heaps of agencies and hotels that offer the tour which ranges from 1700 pesos to 2200 pesos. One has just to read reviews of these agencies and research a lot. For the three of us, I paid Tripidito Travel a total of 4,800 pesos for the whole day tour which includes pick up, buffet lunch, and environmental fee. 

I will write a separate blog about our Underground River Tour :)

City Tour

I opted not to take advantage of the city tours offered by popular agencies because they cost a lot. While doing my research, I found out that there are tourism accredited tricycle drivers that do the tours. I was lucky that I came across Kuya Ricky's number from another blogger and messaged him if he can do a tour for us. This was just a few days from our trip and he obliged. For our city tour, I paid a total of 600 pesos. You can contact Kuya Ricky at 09157816964(globe) or 09194074955(smart). He is very kind and knowledgeable about Puerto Princesa and we had a great city tour with him. 

I will write a separate blog about our PPS City Tour :)

Some fun things I learned while visiting PPS:

1. Their dialect is Kuyunin or Cuyonon. It is a mix of Visaya and Spanish therefore we can understand some words but they generally speak to Filipino tourists in Tagalog.

2. There are a lot of Opp Shops or Wag-wagan (ukay-ukay) in the city. For me who loves to get nice fashion in cheap prices, this is truly paradise.

3. It is the greenest city in the Philippines and has strict laws about tree cutting.

Our itinerary:

Dec 4: 1915H - departed Cebu City

            2030H - arrived Puerto Princesa. We immediately found our driver waiting for us :)

            2045H - Check in, freshen up, dinner and sleep

Dec 5: 0700H - breakfast at hotel

            0730H - pick up for Underground River Tour

            1630H - back to the city

            1730H - explore some Op Shops (ukay-ukay), dinner, watch news

Dec 6: 0800H - breakfast at hotel

            0930H - start City Tour

            1130H - Lunch at Ka Inato

            1330H - Mitra's Ranch

            1400H - Baker's Hill

            1700H - dinner

Dec 7: 0800H - breakfast at hotel

            1130H - left for airport

            1600H - depart PPS

            1700H - arrive Cebu

This is just a simple itinerary because we now like vacations that are not so busy and with enough time to relax and sleep.

I want to come back to PPS in the future and also try their Iwahig Firefly Tour. Please stay tune for my blogs about PPS Underground River Tour and City Tour. Thank you for reading and 'til next blog! :) 

Defining the Relationship

I saw this quote from Godly Dating101 in their Instagram account which rings very true as a friend also told me about this before. I myself have been kept wondering by a man that I liked and I assumed that he liked me too but he never really said anything about it. There's always peace of mind when someone defines the relationship and doesn't keep you hanging. 

The Tale of BPI and Phishing Emails



Dear BPI,

I keep receiving this kind of email in my inbox. I've only been a client of your bank for 2 months and yet I am experiencing phishing scams like this. Please strengthen your bank security as it is where your clients trust you. I sincerely hope that innocent people won't be lured into answering this kind of emails and God forbid lose their money.



Sincerely yours,

Katmeifucan