...at P as in Pugante din. oo, pumuga (tumakas) ako sa ISO surveillance audit namin sa office last week para mag-Palawan adventure.
in fairness naman sa akin, this Palawan trip has been conceived months before the audit sked was finalized. i even alerted the concerned (ehrm, bosses) that i am on scheduled VL on the dates that they were considering for the audit. patigasan na lang ng ulo ang labanan, sa isip-isip ko.
anyways, as i have committed naman, i ensured that i've got my assignments (for the audit) covered before i go on leave. photo-finish yung review (and re-writing!) and approval ko ng procedures, guidelines and forms. mga 80 plus lang naman yun. tapos ibinilin kay essen to represent the team during the audit. (i even got periodic updates on the audit through SMS while i'm away. thanks essen!)
bukod sa audit, mejo kinabahan din ako na baka hindi rin ako payagan magbakasyon ng panahon. panay kaya ang ulan until monday, the day before ng alis ng grupo. not to mention, dalawang low pressure areas ang nagbabadya at that time na maging full blown typhoons. pero sabi ko nga, patigasan na lang talaga ng ulo. hangga't hindi cancelled ang flights, tuloy ang lakwatsa.
day 1
we spent day 1 with the subterranean river tour immediately pagdating namin ng palawan. the tour costed us Php1,500 each, inclusive of the boat rides, the permits, the driver and tour guides, and the buffet lunch. (da best ang chicken adobo nila, swear.)
the subterranean river really deserves to be acknowledged as one of the new 7 wonders of the world. it's a breathtaking experience with nature and its wonders. the paddle boat ride into the cave takes around 40mins, but only up to about 1.5 km inside, then back to the cave's entrance. mejo tinakot lang kami nung nakasalubong naming isang paddleboat, sakay yung bangkero at dalawang turistang babae. "magandang hapon sa inyo. anim po kami kanina." tinanong ko tuloy yung bangkero namin ng, "kuya, saang part dito ihuhulog yung kasamahan para magbawas ng sakay?" so far naman, kumpleto naman kaming lumabas.
we had a hearty dinner naman at bilao at palayok. the menu composed of seafoods and native dishes sa abot kayang halaga.
just before hitting the sack, we took a dip at the hotel's pool. we stayed nga pala at moana hotel, which was a few steps away from the airport. very convenient.
day 2
the itinerary for day 2 was the hunda bay tour. the package costs Php1,100 per head and includes, again, the driver and tour guides, the boat rides and entrance fees and the buffet lunch.
bale yung tour is composed of cruising around the islands, tapos stops sa tatlong islands, namely, starfish island, snake island and pandan island. along the way, we were introduced to luli, yung islang lumulubog pag high tide at lumilitaw pag low tide. reminds me of charlene gonzales during her Miss U Q&A.
starfish island was called such dahil marami daw starfish. true enough, nakakita naman kami ng anim. marami na nga yun. pero mas marami akong nakitang jellyfish. feeling ko magpo-protesta sila later on para baguhin ang pangalan ng island.
yung snake island naman ay tinawag na snake island dahil maraming snakes. nah, korteng snake kase sya, although that is better appreciated if you have an aerial view of the island. pero na-appreciate ko yung tigil namin dito dahil for the first time, nakapag-fish feeding ako. saya-saya. andaming isda, iba-ibang specie, iba-ibang size, iba-ibang kulay. and yes, we found nemo there.
yung pandan island naman, muntik ko nang pagkamalang starfish island. dito kase talagang maraming starfish pero yung specie na maliliit at payat. pero it was really as if nakatingin ka sa langit dahil andaming stars. ayaw mo man silang apakan, hindi mo naman maiwasan dahil sobrang dami talaga nila. anyways, ang kwento sa min, dahil daw dun sa maraming wild pandan naman kaya pandan island ang pangalan ng isla.
we were back at the hotel by 4pm. for lack of something worthwhile doing, napag-tripan naming pumunta sa katapat na salon ng moana. nagpa-hand paraffin si abby, nagpa-footspa si donna, at nagpa-highlights kami nina tracy at mae habang si jetroe naman eh busy sa kaka-picture. pero astig yung salon ha, kase may free drinks ang customers nila.
for our dinner, we explored rizal avenue at kumain sa 7B plates. again, seafoods and native dishes ang kinain namin. in our tinarantado-ng-adik look, dahil hindi maganda ang kinalabasan ng highlights namin. sobrang nabusog naman kami, pero pagdating ng hotel, nakuha pang tumungga ng isang the bar vodka. plakda sa bed pagkatapos.
day 3
we never really got to decide beforehand what to do on day 3. una, the city tour costs Php600 per head, tapos half day lang. parang hindi makatao. ang una naming usapan was we will explore the city by ourselves, sasamahan na lang namin ng tapang. over breakfast though, we decided to hire a van (with the driver syempre), pero wala nang tour guide. tutal wala naman kaming kahilig-hilig makinig.
after our busog lunch at mang inasal, dumating na yung sundo namin at direcho na kami with the tour.
we went to crocodile farm (kung saan pinagalitan kami nung tour guide naman nila dun dahil late daw kami. malay ba naming may oras pala ang pagpasok dun), to iwahig penal colony (at namili ng ilang pasalubong na produkto ng mga inmates dun), to ex-speaker mitra's ranch (kung saan kami inulan habang nagpipiktyuran), to baker's hill (kung saan nakahiga lahat ng mga characters on display like bugs bunny, snow white, et al dahil baka daw bumagsak sila sa lakas ng hangin kase nga umuulan. ang bukod tanging hindi nakahiga eh yung piratang nakalambitin sa bintana), to baywalk (kung saan tyinaga din naming magpiktyuran kahit inuulan kami) at sa cathedral (kung saan nagdasal naman ang mga kasama ko na wag nawa kaming ulanin paguwi namin ng manila the following day). come to think of it, naging Php250 per head lang ang cost namin. maraming salamat sa surf at naging wais kami. ambait pa ni kuyang driver.
ang 3rd dinner namin was at sari's baryo, kung saan matatagpuan ang pinakamalaking palayok sa buong palawan. (tingin ko lang.) nilubos-lubos na namin ang seafoods at native na motiff namin. the kare-kare was superb.
again, a short dip in the hotel pool bago lumaklak ng gsm blue naman this time.
day 4
our day 4 was kinda laidback. hindi na kami sabay-sabay gumising. abby and i had breakfast at jollibee tapos direchong tiangge-tiangge to buy the pasalubongs. mejo nahirapan akong mamili dahil bukod sa budget, i was also concerned with my baggage dahil naka-no check-in baggage ako na booking sa plane.
when we got back at the hotel, siya namang alis ng mga kasama namin to do their shopping. sinamantala naman namin yung mga huling oras sa pool, until lunchtime. tapos we had lunch at pizzito, na nag-se-serve ng pizza in cones. gusto ko sana syang i-try kaso nabusog na ako sa pizza at pasta na inorder ko.
by 3pm, we were at the airport already. our flight was delayed dahil kasagsagan ng lakas ng ulan sa manila. our original ETA in manila was 6pm, pero past 7 na kami nakarating. the good thing about it was that wala na ring ulan pagdating namin.
overall, the entire trip was quite pricey to think na discounted na yung airfare. ayoko na lang mag-compute. but then again, i would say that the experience was great, and i would not mind spending kung mag-e-enjoy naman ako once in a while.
~waiting for the next pugante adventure...~
