Palawan ‘14

PALAWAN ‘14Treston International College – Tourism 101 Experience

Oct 1 – 3, 2014a.k.a our days of rest after ONE TOUCH AWAY. After slaving for weeks

for our seminar, we ‘treated’ ourselves to a 3-day

vacation.

With our luggage (or in my case, backpack) packed, we set off to our vacation and educational trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

VACATION MODE: ON

Palawan, I’m on my way!Photo credit: Precious De Castro

In the picture:Most of us

Not in the picture:

Precious, Marynel, Sam, and Ms. Luigi.

MNL - PPSWell, as usual, here’s a picture of my boarding pass. It’s quite blurred though. Anyway, since we got there a few hours early, we were just resting and waiting for our flight.

DAY 1:ISLAND “HOPPING” IN

STARFISH AND COWRIE ISLAND

(Well, there wasn’t really a good time for me to take pictures ((read: enjoy-the-moment-without-technology-as-much-as-possible-rule by me)) so I’m crediting the next slide to Alyssa and Precious. Thank you guys.)

Seminar with U.E.#PagodMuch #MedyoOP#HyperMode#CremaDeFruta

After snorkelling and swimming, naturally, we would long for our hotel rooms and beds…but a shower comes first, of course. Unfortunately, that was not possible. And so here is Angelica and Alyssa (and Precious’ elbow) ‘listening’ to the speaker in a seminar about Palawan’s sustainability. It was realy interesting especially the things that makes Palawan unique, but to be honest, we’re more interested with sleep at that moment.

DAY 2:UNDERGROUND

RIVER(But first…)

The reason why I love travelling:No, it’s not the sunrise here in this photo. It’s the fact that I could sleep really well and really early, waking up earlier than usual, and taking a bath without the shocking coldness of the water.

Thank you Microtel. Your beds, shower, and beautiful location did not disappoint.

(Your food was lacking a bit of variety each day though. )

Karst Mountain featured in The Amazing Race and a sign about Karst Mountain being featured in The Amazing Race. Oh and me.

A random view of a random island on a

random angle in a view deck on the way to the

Underground River.

A carabao taking it’s time looking at the paparazzi

(aka us) while bathing under the sun.

Taste the saltiness of the wind against your face as every other sound gets drowned by the waves…

It would’ve been a perfect boat ride if it wasn’t for the noisiness of the boat and the splashes of water trying to bathe me for a

second time.

…and the noisy

engine of the boat.

A secluded piece of privacyUnfortunately, Ms. Belle, our tour guide, told us that those small beaches we passed by were off limits. But it was alright since they were doing that to further preserve its beauty and naturalness.

Smells fabulous~In Filipino: Amoy digmaan. Just like manong bangkero said, “the water is 50% freshwater, 49% saltwater, and 1% bat poop”.

Aside from the smell……since it was very dark inside, taking a picture inside would be worthless and bothersome. Anyway, we were too busy watching out from bats and bat poop that could fall down on us at any time. The boat ride was really fun though. With us being Filipinos, it added to the experience for the Filipino jokes the boaters could tell while relaying the history of the place.

It’s drizzlingBy the way, so as not to forget the experience, the sky decided to give us a light drizzle while we were at the underground river location. Because of that, we weren’t able to see the monitor lizards. However, a monkey decided to greet us on our way back. Good thing our group wasn’t carrying anything worth stealing for the monkey.

Remember: plastic bags and food are monkey-magnets!

(Too tired and out of it to take pictures. Thanks Alyssa!)

For dinner, we arrived at KaLui, which is the most famous restaurant in Puerto Princesa. The place was really good. Seafood lovers would also love it here as well (I must admit that I wasn’t

that thrilled with desert though. See picture on the right).

DAY 3:LAST FEW HOURS

Wondering where the tour wentI actually thought of this for the two days that we were in Puerto Princesa. Normally, there would be tons of historical tours but for two days, we went swimming and underground river-ing. But hey! The third day answered it.

Iwahig, the prison without bars wasn’t really as scary as it suggests. Although it might get you feel a bit wary, it was amazing how order and peace resides in this place.

OmnomnomNot really. But seeing those teeth, I wonder how much this crocodile ate for his lifetime?

Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center (Crocodile Farm) or PWRCC houses the world’s largest caught crocodile named Macarascas or Mac Mac. Rio was the title holder before him, then Lolong, who both died due to stress.

See? See how dangerous stress could get? Say no to stress!

Huh?The only thing that confuses me is this:

Why do they call it a crocodile conservation center if it sells crocodile meat?

Last but not least:We visited their version of Manila Bay (which is waaaay cleaner than our Manilay Bay), the Memorial Marker for the 143 American POW and the church beside it.

Due to curiosity, I asked Lolo Google a picture of Don Schloat, one of the 11 American POWs who survived the Japanese prison facility during the War, which is now a place now called Plaza Cuartel, who made the Marker as a remembrance for his fellow soldiers and countrymen who was burned alive.

Photo credits: Google and I.

FooooooodWe actually went to Mitra’s ranch and Baker’s hill before going back. But due to the light rain, we didn’t stay for long, bought pasalubong, and immediately went back to eat and prepare for checking out our luggage.

There were more time for pasalubong afterwards but since we were so busy, there were no pictures.

…I miss the food.

I’m going home, to the place where I belongOriginally, our boarding time was at 5:05 PM but due to a thunderstorm back in MNL, our flight got delayed for 2 hours (if my memory serves me right).

With nothing to do, some read books, ate food, or were just facing the fact that our vacation just ended.

It was fun while it lasted. However, it’s time to go…

BACK TO REALITYEnd.