top 10 vietnam and cambodia moments

i love countdowns. actually i just love watching or listening to countdowns. but if i'm the one who'll do it, hindi masyado. but since we lilly-lilly-lilly-lilly-lilly enjoyed our recent trip to vietnam and cambodia, i will be obliging myself to write one para pandagdag sa pang-reminisce namin later in life. what makes it a tougher job for me though is that i have to select just 10 out of the million blog-worthy moments we had.

since nakapag-post na ako about my lost luggage, out na sya isasama sa listahan.

SPOILER ALERT: some items could be a bit private, baka hindi lang masyadong maka-relate yung ibang magbabasa.

so let the countdown begin.

10. water festival tragedy at phnom penh

i ranked this at no. 10 kase eto lang yung hindi fun sa mga entries, i must say. i included it because it is something historic, and it coincided with our trip. while we were informed early on at the tourbus that there is an ongoing festival in phnom penh, we did not make an effort to go out that night as we were dead tired from the 6-hour land travel from vietnam and the half-day killing fields-genocidal prison tour, which was an emotionally-torturing tour, by the way.

we only learned about the phnom penh tragedy the following morning. taselle received a worrisome call from back home and they were apparently tracing our whereabouts after seeing the news on tv.

God bless the families of the ~400 victims, and thank you for guiding us too.

now, on to the fun part...

9. tuktuk and Angkor Wat


ang mga dating nakikita ko lang sa tv, movies and ads, ayun at nasa harapan ko na. oops, hindi yan sina angelica panganiban at boy abunda.

tuktuk is the modified version of our tricycles, common to other neighboring asian countries. kung sa atin eh jeepney ang main mode of transpo, tuktuk naman ang mga hari ng kalsada dun sa kanila. meron din silang mga siklo, pero hindi kami sumakay. para kase syang dambuhalang wheelchair. joke.

from the hotel that we stayed in, kumontrata kami ng dalawang tuktuk for the 5 of us para sa aming Angkor Wat tour. in fairness, mababait yung mga nakuha naming driver. feeling ko naman hindi nila kami tinaga for the amount of 15$ per tuktuk, kase whole day yung tour at sobrang lalayo nung binyahe namin. at binigay nya pa as souvenir yung map na gamit nila.

Angkor Wat, finally. nakita ko na ng personal yung lugar na pinuntahan ni angelina jolie as lara croft sa tomb raider. no wonder she fell in love with the place. we just took the 1-day tour, so we were able to visit only a handful of temples, pero sulit na rin. ang sakit din kase sa paa kakalakad. at kung masakit ang paa, masakit din sa panga kaka-smile sa pictures. maghapon ka ba namang nakangiti e, tingnan ko lang kung hindi ka tubuan ng kulane sa panga.

btw, tuktuk din ang sinakyan namin for the Killing Fields tour.

8. food and shopping


i won't get tired of saying that we were so lucky to have Tin with us in Vietnam. he was the one who prepared our itinerary, and he brought us to places where we could enjoy the best and authentic vietnamese food and the best bargains.

i especially liked the pho and the steak. i liked it a lot that's why i even brought home some instant versions of the pho. and not only that, Tin was very cautious with my constraints with food that he even prepared canned goods for me, which are equally yummy. parang ako lang. Ü

before we left for cambodia, Tin told us that we might not like the food there. surprisingly though, we thought it was good. naging suki nga kami nung katabing kainan dun sa hotel sa phnom penh e.

and who would ever buy an underwear for 320,000? of course, i won't. teka lang, para klaro, in Dongs po yan. pero kahit na, mahal pa rin yun para sa akin lalo na at hindi naman boutique yung binibilhan ko. then comes Tin to the rescue. ang ending, he was able to negotiate the price at *drumroll* 3 underwears for 100,000. san ka pa?

i was also able to buy my new laptop bag, 2 shoulder/body bags, a handbag for my inay (pang-gimik nya, sabi ko. hehe.) and some small abubot bags at the best bargain prices.

i'm sure my ka-trippers enjoyed the shopping spree a lot at ben thanh market and the two saigon squares. eh kung hindi ba naman nag-enjoy, ayun at nagkanda-excess baggage kaya hindi magkamayaw kung paano iuuwi ng pinas.

7. ang jukebox at ang sundance


si taselle. wag ka lang makakabanggit ng isang word na sobrang identified sa isang kanta, at bigla na lang syang kumakanta. parang jukebox na hinuhulugan ng barya. sampolan natin.

pagsakay ng taxi...

abby: "ate, usog naman ng konti. mainit dito e, andito ang sunlight."

taselle: (a la kevyn lettau) "sunlight... oh, sunlight... bring me the love i need to guide me... shine it deep inside me..."

o kaya...

"bilisan na natin, baka abutan na tayo ng rain."

taselle: (a la madonna naman) "rain... feel it on my fingertips... hear it on my window pane..."

yan, ayan si taselle.

speaking of rain, si abby naman, tinuruan si Tin ng sundance para daw hindi matuloy ang ulan. eto yung sayaw na hango dun sa john lloyd-sarah movie na A Very Special Love. panay kase ang ulan sa vietnam pag hapon. in fact, bumaha pa nung bumalik kami galing cambodia.

sa lahat naman ng pwedeng ituro, di ba? hehe.

6. the attack of the look-alikes

you just know that you are not far enough from home if kahit alam mong wala ka sa pilipinas, pero naglipana ang mga mukhang pinoy din sa paligid. bukod sa climate, hindi rin tayo nagkakalayo ng hilatsa ng mukha ng mga taga-karatig-bansa natin.

as in, kasalukuyan kang namamasyal, pero bigla na lang may masasalubong kang familiar faces. pero hindi pwedeng maging sila yun dahil wala nga kami sa pinas. sige, mag-sample tayo.

for sure, hindi siguro si chairman bayani yung sa front desk ng hotel namin. pakakantahin ko sana para makasiguro e. kaya lang hindi sya masyadong marunong mag-english, so hindi nya ako maiintindihan pag sinabi kong, "are you sing for us? very well, mayor?"

at lalong hindi namasukan si jovit bilang attendant sa tourbus. lalo na at kasalukuyan pang namamayagpag ang singing career nya ngayon. hindi nya nakuhang kumanta. si taselle kase yung kanta ng kanta habang nasa byahe, hindi makasingit si jovit.

or, definitely hindi senior officer ng bangko yung naghubad ng blouse dahil sa alinsangan nung tumirik yung tourbus namin. wag na nating pangalan yung ubp officer, baka maka-offend pa ako.

at marami pang ibang karakter mula sa nakaraan at kasalukuyan.

5. the mystery of the missing S


eto naman napansin ko lang. common for both the viets and cambodians yung nahihirapan sila sa 's' sound pag nasa dulo sya ng words.

sabi ni Tin nung magpapapalit sya ng pera namin. "tomorrow, i will go to CHAIN your money." (translation: "tomorrow, i will go to CHANGE your money.")

nung nakita nya yung nabili kong laptop bag at sinabi kong mura ko lang nakuha, sabi nya, "Very NIE!" (translation: "Very NICE!")

minsan naman natanong lang kung saan kakain. "we can eat at <place> because I know Taselle want to eat RIE." (translation: [ay ang haba naman nito. cut natin.] "... RICE.")

si manong tuktuk driver naman during the Angkor Wat tour, tinanong ko. "So where do we go next?"

while holding and pointing at the map, sabi nya, "Ok, so now we go to Bayon temple. There are LOT of TEMPLE in there, you go around, will take you 1 to 2 HOUR, depending on you. You go out here (points at the map) at the TERRAY of the Leper King, I will meet you there. AFTERWARD, we go here (points at the map). Here you can eat your LUNT, and maybe RET for a while." (translation: [i-cut ulit natin.] ... LOTS... TEMPLES... HOURS... TERRACE... AFTERWARDS... LUNCH... REST for a while.")

o sige, isama na natin yung pambubuska ni elmer kay tin.

elmer: "ok, this is how they would sing lady gaga: ~JUT DAN, gonna be ok...~" (aynaku, pag hiningan nyo pa ako ng translation nyan, tutuktukan ko na kayo.) tapos mauuwi naman yun sa no. 2.

4. language barrier moments

the trip made me realize that probably, you don't really need to ace 6 english subjects in grade school, 4 english subjects in high school and another 4 english subjects, at least, in college.

while we pinoys see english as an international language, there are certain places where you won't be able to communicate well as you would in other english-speaking countries. this is why it really would be good if you have a local friend who can communicate for you. especially when shopping. ~waves at Tin.~

when we were in vietnam, i had cough and colds so i decided that i should buy medicines. Tin went with me at the drug store, so it was quite easy. unfortunately though, i misplaced the medicines. sabi tuloy nya sa akin, "you always forget everything. first your luggage, now your medicines." haha.

anyways, so that was the challenge. i should be able to buy me cough medicines while in cambodia, without the help of an interpreter.

first, i went at the hotel lobby. "hi, good evening. is there a drug store near here?" nginitian lang ako ni ate, tapos umiling sya. tapos may hand gestures sya na parang sinasabing, "teka lang, hintayin natin yung kasama ko."

pagdating nung kasama nya, nakapag-communicate naman kami kahit papano. basta ang naintindihan ko, "paglabas mo, kumanan ka. tapos lakad ka ng konti. pagkatapos ng dalawang kanto, may drug store dun." salamat naman at natagpuan ko yung botika.

ang problema na ngayon eh kung papano naman ako bibili. uubo ba ako sa harapan ng saleslady, tapos imu-mwestra ko na umiinom ako ng gamot? pero sinubukan ko pa ring mag-english muna, last option ko na yung version ko ng sign language na yun. "hi, good evening. do you have cough medicines?"

pumalakpak ata ang tenga ko nung sumagot sya. "yes, we do. for what type of cough? do you have phlegm? or dry cough?" hay manang, hulog ka ng langit! hindi mo ako pinahirapan!

at dahil nga nawawala at that time ang aking bagahe, syempre limited lang ang aking saplot na dala so i had to wash. imadyinin nyo ngayon kung papaano ako bumili ng detergent sa kalapit na sari-sari store. your guess is as good as mine. haha.

btw, eto singit na lang na kwento. speaking of paglalaba, muntik pa akong hindi makatuyo ng damit dahil inubusan ako ng hanger! inunahan kase akong maglaba! itago na lang natin sya sa codename na Epalyn. hulaan nyo kung anong nickname nya. (ang mag-react dito, guilty. hahaha!)

3. ang hiwaga sa likod ng WC


at dahil lahat kami ay observant, napansin na namin on our second day sa vietnam na pag kailangan mong mag-restroom, isa lang ang hahanapin mong signage: WC.

para namang nag-usap ang dalawang bansa, kase pagdating namin ng cambodia, WC din ang signages na gamit nila.

nung sa vietnam pa lang, na-curious na kami syempre, kaya tinanong namin si Tin kung anong ibig sabihin ng WC. baka 'kako it's an acronym for the local translation ng comfort room, or restroom. kaso mukhang hindi rin alam ng bata, kaya tinatawanan nya lang kami.

dahil hindi na-satisfy ang aming curiosity, gumawa na lang kami ng ibang meaning ng WC. Wiwi Center. bagay naman di ba? ang mahirap lang, kung gusto mong jumebs, hindi pwede dun. pang-wiwi lang kase. hehe.

ang pinakatumatak na kwento ng WC sa isip ko sa kahabaan ng bakasyon namin eh nung papunta na kami sa last na temple na bibisitahin namin sa Angkor Wat. sa sobrang haba kase ng lakarin, parang sobrang nakakauhaw. kaya ayun, kailangan din naming uminom para mag-replenish ng fluids.

nagulat na lang ako nung narinig ko si abby na kausap yung tuktuk driver nila. sabi nya:

"where is the nearest WC here?"

muntik na akong mapahagalpak ng tawa, sabay baling kay abby ng, "WC talaga, ate?" hahaha.

eh dahil hindi marunong mag-english yung driver nila, nginitian lang sila hanggang sa lumapit na yung driver namin. nasabi namin sa kanya na "we want to use the restroom before we go inside (the temple)."

sabi ni kuya, "the what?"

kaya inulit ko, "the restroom."

tapos sabi nya, "oh, the toilet? come on, we'll bring you there."

ayun naman pala. alam naman pala nila yung "toilet." buti na lang talaga.

by the way, mga ka-trippers. tatapusin ko na dito ang hiwaga ng WC. it actually stands for Water Closet pala. ang sosyal nila di ba. sa atin, yung maliit na espasyong yun, Room na ang tawag natin, samantalang sila, Closet lang. hehehe. now, that's trivia for you.

2. the never-ending elmer vs. tin saga


naaliw kami sa dalawang tour guides namin sa vietnam. they argue on almost everything, although we know asaran lang talaga.

sasabihin ni tin: "techcombank is the best bank." at sasagot si elmer ng: "of course not. just next to hsbc."

o kaya sasabihin ni elmer: "tin, you are so fat!" "no, you are fatter than me!" sagot naman ng isa.

elmer: "let's just change their money there near ben thanh."

tin: "no. i know of a money changer where the exchange rate is higher."

lahat halos, pinagtatalunan. kung maglalakad ba o sasakay, kung kakain na o hindi pa, kung saan kakain, at marami pang iba.

idagdag na rin natin yung kapag kinokorek ni elmer yung mga pronunciation ni tin, gaya nito:

elmer: "tin, can you hold my bag first?"

tin: "i'm not your MED!"

elmer: "maid!"

1. "kiss-kiss-kiss! love-love-love! we love spain!"

this one, i really, really won't forget. part yan ng cheer nina elmer sa isang activity nila sa office. ang kwento, they were divided into groups, and each group is assigned to represent a country.

so sa group nila, spain ang naka-assign. next, kailangan nilang mag-cheer para sa country na yun.

ang linyang yan ang finale ng cheer nila, and dahil iba yung accent ng mga tao dun, hindi nila ma-pronounce ng tama ang spain. SPEN ang lumalabas.

ang clincher, syempre since kaya namang i-pronounce ni elmer ng tama, sinisigaw nya talaga ang "spain!" kaso dahil sya lang ang mag-isang gumagawa nun, may guilty feeling daw sya na sya ang mali. hahaha.

dapat ivi-video ni taselle si elmer while doing this e, kaya lang nakalimutan na kase nangarag ang lola ko sa excess baggage. Ü eh ang hirap ikwento ng steps, at feeling ko hindi sya ma-a-appreciate kung kwento lang.



so there you have it. marami pang fun moments pero nakakapagod ding magbilang. besides, nanunuod ako ng tv. kailangan kong mag-concentrate.

'til our next adventure!

the tale of the lost luggage

 

"Your first trip to Vietnam is quite memorable... you travelled light... No luggage in tow... ^^" - Dinny Nguyen

That was the message of Tin, our new friend from Vietnam, which he wrote on one of my souvenir pics taken during my recent Vietnam trip. While some good stories might start with "Dear Charo," this story of mine started with "WTH?!?!"

Friday, Nov 19, a little past 11pm. I got on board Cebu Pacific's flight 5J 751 en route to Ho Chi Minh, together with friends Abby, Bernie, Nora and Taselle. (O, wag nang umangal sa billing. Alphabetical yan.) It was a reunion of sorts, as it was the same group who went on a Caramoan-Naga-Legaspi trip earlier this year (minus Elmer and Jay). This time, it is extra special since it's our first out-of-the-country trip together, and we will be visiting Elmer and new friend Dinny (or Tin). Special as it was, so we were just all too excited.

After enduring the little-less-than-3-hour flight, we arrived safely at Saigon. Until we realized that one of our check-in luggages was nowhere to be found, and it just happened to be mine. Apparently, while were busy chatting at the time that we checked in the 8 luggages, we did not double check that the luggage claim tags issued to us were only 7. Lesson learned: check in baggages should not be more than 7. Joke!

Pwede bang mag-Tagalog na dito? Ang hirap e. (Elmer, paki-translate na lang kay Tin. Hehe.)

So ayun, ang excitement namin ay biglang naglaho na parang bula. Ay, gasgas na pala yang metaphor na yan. Gawin na lang nating makapal na wallet na ipinaparada sa kahabaan ng Quiapo. Hindi mo namamalayan, nawala na pala. O, bago yan. That was evidenced by our pictures nung vinu-view na namin. After kase ng shots paglapag namin sa airport, ang kasunod na pictures na eh yung during breakfast na the following day. Walang pics nung sinundo kami nina Elmer at Tin, walang pics during the travel from the airport to the hotel, at wala ring pics nung pagdating sa hotel.

Anyways, to cut the story short, this post is just to give everyone some pointers on how to enjoy a vacation even if you lost your luggage. Papatalo ba naman ako sa depression? Syempre hindi. Eh ano kung wala akong isusuot na damit for the next 10 days? Inisip ko rin yun syempre, pero not for long. Sayang kaya ang moment.

So what did I do to still enjoy the vacation despite the bad luck? Here's a quick run down.

1. Friends. I have the most generous set of friends there is. They offered to lend me some clothes to get me by. Will post an album later to document this. To quote Tin again, I remember him telling me, "Don't worry. We have lots of clothes that you could borrow." To think na first time lang namin mag-meet nyan ha.

2. From Next Top Model to Survivor. Of course, marunong din naman akong mahiya. So kahit nag-volunteer sila na pahiramin ako ng damit, naisip ko rin that 10 days is too long a vacation para mabuhay sa puro hiram. Kaya sabi ko, bibili na rin ako ng konting damit ko. Kalimutan na muna ang pagiging fashionista. Survival na ang pinaguusapan e. Besides, mahabaang gastusan pa kaya kailangang magtipid para umabot ng 10 days ang baon kong kayamanan. At isa pa, kung ang damit, pwedeng hiramin, ang underwear, parang hindi ata. Hehe.

3. Selective amnesia. Kalimutan muna pansamantala yung problema ng nawawalang bagahe habang namamasyal. Kase kung yun ang lagi kong iisipin, hindi ako makakangiti at makakatawa ng todo. Ang lungkot siguro ng mukha ko sa pictures. Unglamorous. Hehe. Pero syempre, pagkatapos maglakwatsa, pwede na ulit isipin yung problema at gumawa ng paraan about it.

4. From Teleserye to Adventure-Reality Show. Relative to no. 3, etong lakad namin was more of an adventure. Science project kumbaga. Hindi melodrama, kundi totoong buhay. So kahit na may lungkot, dapat may time pa rin para magsaya, matuwa, magmasid, magmatyag. Matanglawin. (Kuya Kim, pahiram nito.)

5. Laughter is the best medicine. Idaan sa tawa ang problema. Wala kaming ibang ginawa kundi magtatawa, bumungisngis at humalakhak kahit sa pinakamababaw na dahilan. Pero mahirap paniwalaan yun. Yung baliw dito sa amin, kahit panay ang tawa, hindi gumagaling. Baka kulang pa.

6. Facebook, Plurk and Twitter. Whenever possible, we try to find time to update our social networking sites with what's happening to us. Masabi lang na nakabakasyon kami. Pang-inggit ba sa mga naiwan sa opis. Hehe. Pang-destress na rin. Sa kabilang banda, some people back here were waiting for our updates pala at that time when the stampede in Phnom Penh occurred. Ironically, it was through a phone call from the Philippines that we first heard of the news, despite of us being in the same city that time.

7. Friends. I also have to be thankful that the friends I have here in the Philippines were accommodating and caring enough. Pinakiusapan ko kase sila na kontakin ang Cebu Pacific about my luggage. At syempre, hindi naman ganun kadali yun na isang tawag lang, may feedback agad. It took time, as in, araw-araw na follow up, before we finally got the good news. Salamat na rin ng marami sa Facebook at sa technology.

In conclusion, everything boils down to one thing: CHOICE. Making good choices, that is. I made a good choice when I selected my friends. I made a good choice when I decided to forget the problem for a while. I made a good choice when I did a paradigm shift to be on survivor mode. I made a good choice to laugh. And to enjoy, despite of.

So let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who has taken part in turning this bad experience into a wonderful event. You guys all rock!

all-expense paid overnight accommodation na, choosy ka pa?!

what's not to like about:

1. a free overnight stay in boracay?
2. at a well-known resort/hotel?
3. with free buffet dinner and breakfast?
4. inclusive of all transpo expenses?

sounds perfect, right? but i would like to borrow carlo aquino's infamous line in the vilma santos starrer, bata, bata, paano ka ginawa?

AKALA MO LANG WALA! PERO MERON! MERON! MERON!

we were supposed to be back in manila hours ago. thanks, but no, thanks to seair's i-don't-know-if-it-can-be-called-customer complaints handling, we are back here in la carmela for an extended overnight stay. that is, just 6 hours from checking out this afternoon.

looking at the fun part of it, the extra 1 day vacation seemed to be indeed a good thing. what was hard for us to accept was the way the problem was handled. allow me to let you in on what happened.

our original caticlan-manila flight was set at ETD 1620hrs, and boarding time was set at 1605hrs. we were at the crampy caticlan airport as early as around 3pm, and have completed the tedious manual checking in process as the baggage x-ray machines have all conked out. since it seemed the aircon was not enough to cool down the entire place, we decided to stay at the smoking area (which was, ironically, had a decent working ACU) and endure the time bathing in second-hand smoke while waiting for the boarding time call.

at around 3:55pm, we left for the waiting area. no call for our boarding time was announced at 4:05pm. what we kept on hearing were individual names being called to go to the check in counter, one at a time. at 4:15, fritz decided to inquire about the flight, but he was told there is going to be a delay, and they promised to announce through the paging system. which they did, and they even promised to make another announcement after 20 minutes. which never came.

at shortly before 5pm, i heard my name being called to report at the check in counter. upon arriving there, i was told that they will be arranging for our overnight accommodations as the flight has been cancelled already. the irony of it is that out of the 30+ passengers of the flight, there were only 11 of us who were left. apparently, for the passengers that were called before us, special arrangements have already been made for them to be able to go back to manila.

everything that ensued next was an exchange of complaints and non-sense replies. or at least, that is what it seemed to us. they cannot satisfactorily explain the reason why there are only 11 of us left, and how they decided who leaves and who stays. it was as if they ruled our lives and they had all the right to decide for us. and the argument lasted for more than 2 hours.

unfortunately, to cut the story short, we really never had any options but to stay, because of these reasons:

1. our flight was the last seair flight for the day
2. the other airlines are fully booked
3. caticlan airport doesn't operate/allow flights beyond 5pm
4. taking a manila flight via kalibo was out of the options as the flights are fully booked as well
5. the one who should be calling the shots for seair was nowhere to be contacted

well, i just hope my boss is reading this. and i hope this gets an approval for a half-day leave tomorrow.

and you know what, i just realized another thing tonight. it was sooooo difficult writing your blog with fingers crossed.

P is for Palawan

...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...~