Closing The Third Quarter of 2014 at the Last Frontier

Summer is not really over. We ended the third quarter of the year with a short vacation at my favorite getaway place, Palawan, and this time, with my girls.

Flight to PPS usually takes an hour and fifteen minutes, depending on the weather condition. Since the weather was fair, we arrived ten minutes earlier than schedule.

We were picked up by the hotel's shuttle service from the airport and dropped us off the Honday Bay port. 

Photo below: Me, Leli, Dee and mom onboard Calypso 2 cruising along Honday Bay.

We stayed at Dos Palmas Island Resort. It is my third time here and there had been many changes since I visited 3 years ago.

We stayed at one of the villas fronting the beach. 

Room rate: 10,800php per night for 4 adults max capacity, inclusive of buffet breakfast and access to all sports and water activities.

While waiting for dinner to be served, we played darts, billiards and table tennis.

The night was also graced by the cultural dance team of Dos Palmas.

We capped the night with some few minutes of relaxing dip in the warm pool.

Day Two started with few minutes of biking within the resort.

We also had few shots taken at the western part of the island, where a beautiful stretch of sand bar appeared at the center.

Breakfast followed our early morning activities, followed by a short trip to the nearby island.

Above photo: selfie shot with my Go Pro at Isla Puting Buhangin.

After the short island trip, we had kayaking and snorkeling.

The current was strong so the water was not clear at the surface.

All shots underwater were taken by our  guide, using Leli's Olympus Tough.

And who would miss Nemo?

After snorkeling, we had another dip in the pool, had late lunch, and packed up for our trip to the city.

We had dinner at Badjao Seafront Restaurant.

Budget: 1,000php for buttered shrimps and crispy pata with rice and drinks, good for four.

Day Three was spent within the city for a whole day tour. Our first stop was Buenavista View Deck. It is located 30 minutes away from the city center.

After another thirty minutes of roller coaster ride heading west, we reached the Sabang Wharf.

This is the gateway to the World's Seventh Wonder: The Underground River of Palawan.

We had another boatride to reach the entrance to the cave.

We entered the cave with a paddle boat.

We cruised the river for fortyfive minutes inside the cave and was welcomed with different rock formation, stalactites and stalagmites.

Next stop: Crocodile Park

We roamed around the park for thirty minutes, checking on the crocodiles and other animals in the wilds.

Next stop: Mitra's Ranch and Baker's Hill

We also had stopovers at the Immaculate Concepcion church, Plaza Quartel and the Bay walk area to watch the sunset.

Bulalo and Lechon Kawali was served for dinner at Balinsasayaw. This wrapped up our 4d/3n trip to the Philippine's Last Frontier.

We left the city on the fourth day with a morning flight to MNL. 

Palawan is still the best tourism city for me in the country so far. They have the best beaches and the food has the best value for your money. The hospitality displayed by the locals are also extremely incomparable.

I would love to visit this place again soon and will focus more on the northern part of the province.

Until our next trip! :)

Davao and Digos: Revisited

Touchdown: DVO 0900H

This is my third time here, second for my gf, and first for the rest of the idle drivers.

Our group, composed of seven mixed breed, chose the adventure and action-packed tours over the other serene beach packages offered by our tour provider.

The hotel is an hour away from the airport and 20 minutes from the foot of Mount Kapatagan.

We were picked up at 1200H after our early lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Our first stop: Base Camp (for gear fitting).

After an hour on the road, we arrived at the rafting site. This part of Davao River has the best rapids for rafting.

The whole rafting experience lasted for two hours. 

The rapids range from flat to level 4.

It was a life threatening experience, but was fun!

After two hours of rafting fun, we had our snacks at a riverfront hut, went back to base camp for the photos and DVD, and was dropped off at our hotel at around 5 in the afternoon.

After an hour of rest, we had dinner at Penong's.

Lights off: 2200H

Day two started early. We had breakfast at 6 in the morning and was picked up at 7.

Next stop: Camp Sabros

Travel time to the camp is 2 hours by van and 15 minutes uphill by a 4X4 open vehicle.

The uphill climb was another action packed adventure as the road tilts to up 45 degrees.

When we reached the top, everyone was amazed by the majestic view.

Our first zip ride was a 380 m tandem ride, followed by an 820 m solo ride.

This was so far the best zip ride ever that I have experienced.

Next ride was a cable lift to the other side of the hill and the last ride was a 400m downhill zip. No photos or videos can illustrate the amount of adrenaline rush felt for every zip ride. They have their own reasons for being the best zip rides ever.

After all the rush, we some side trips at the city. We went to Japanese tunnel, Jack's Ridge, Crocodile Park and went pasalubong shopping.

After the tours, we went to the Riverfront restaurant in the Davao Crocodile park, where we had our exotic dinner.

We had some more stopovers for pasalubong shipping near Ateneo de Davao before we were dropped off at our hotel.

Lights off: 2200H

Day Three: Anything goes. We had our last minute church visit. After breakfast at the hotel, we also had some series of photo shoots and chill moments.

This is definitely one of the most action-packed trips that we've had.

Budget: 10k per pax (excluding pasalubong).

Message us for more details. 

Until our next trip, idle drivers! :)

City of Friendship (Leli's 2014 Birthday Trip) :)

Who said we can only visit the beaches during summer? Or is summer really over? For beach enthusiasts (like us), there's life at the beach even after summer. :D

Leli (the birthday girl) and I left the office (aftershift) at 5:30 a.m., arrived Terminal 4 thirty minutes after, boarded, took off, and after an hour of flight, we finally had a glimpse of where we're heading.

Touchdown: TAG 8:30 a.m.

[Above] That's the birthday girl, Leli, and her beautiful smile, saying hello to the City of Friendship. :)

I arranged a shuttle to tour us around the famous landmarks in Bohol. (Thanks Sir Ramil of Bohol Rent-a-car).

It was Leli's first time here and we enjoyed each and every stops around the province with my ever reliable Redrick mounted on her monopod.

Among the many attractions in Bohol, we visited the Chocolate Hills, Shiphaus, Butterfly Garden, Loboc Bridge, Loboc River, Tarsier Conservation Center and Manmade Forrest. The road to Sagbayan was not accessible when we visited, so we had to drop some attractions from our bucket list.

We also both witnessed the damage brought by the magnitude 7 earthquake last year, same reason why some roads were still not accessible.

So heartbreaking. :(

Moving on, we had our lunch at the Loboc River ...

... followed by an ice cream break at the Bohol Bee Farm.

After 8 hours of fun-filled roadtrip and photoshoots, we finally arrived at the resort.

We stayed at Alona Kew White Beach Resort in Panglao Island. 

It is a beachfront property, and our room was few steps away from the beach.

The 8ft. pool invited us over to take a picture before our dinner.

And the two beach bums [below] enjoyed the feel of the sand beneath their toes every step of the way.

Lights off: 9 p.m.

We went bonding with the sea the next day. 

We started at 6 a.m. and the hotel staff had let us taken out our breakfast.

Leli had coffee, hotdogs and eggs ...

... And I had bacon and eggs and orange juice.

First stop: Dolphin watching

[Below] This was probably the best shot that I've had with the dolphins (and the birthday girl).

Our next stop: Balicasag Island

Thanks to manong boatman and Olympus Tough for these great photos [below].

Our last stop: Virgin Island now known as 

Isola de Francesco.

We went back to the resort after almost 5 hours of sailing, and continued our swimming exercises at the pool. 

What's next? Lunchtime!

That's the two of us at Buzzz Cafe [above].

We had pool bonding and beach hopping and foodtripping in between, followed by sunset watching, moon and stargazing and bar hopping.

Lights off: 12 a.m.

The next morning was spent on the beach, starting with a buffet breakfast, pasalubong shopping and ice cream stopover.

After some last minute picture taking, we packed our bags up and off to the airport we went.

Touchdown: MNL 1:30 p.m.

It was a fun-filled trip with the birthday girl. Until our next trip! :)