Bantayan Island Escapade

Last September 26 to 28, 2013, M and I visited the awesome beach of Bantayan Island,Cebu, Philippines. According to Wikipedia :

Bantayan Island is an island located in the Visayan Sea, Philippines. It is situated to the west of the northern end of Cebu Island, across the Tañon Strait. As per the 2010 census, Bantayan has a total population of 136,960.The island is administratively divided into three municipalities:

• Bantayan, Cebu (the largest municipality, covering the central part)

• Madridejos, Cebu (covering the northern portion)

• Santa Fe, Cebu (covering the eastern portion)

Here is the map of the island courtesy of Google Map:

Our chosen resort, Kota Beach, is located at Santa Fe where several beach resorts are located.  You may also browse the site wowBantayan.com which I really find to be very helpful.

To reach the resort, we first traveled via plane for about an hour. From Mactan International Airport, we took a cab to the North Terminal for about 30 minutes. (Damage to the pocket: approx. Php 150.00) Take note that we didn't avail of the airport taxis which rates  are  higher than that of the regular taxi. The cueing bay for regular taxi is just across the building from the exit point of the airport.  Look for the signs pointing you to the regular taxi bay or just ask the security guard to tell you the way in case you got confused.

The North Terminal has an aircon buses which ply the route to Hagnaya port. Fortunately, our bus - Ceres - has a free wifi which took the boredom from us for about 3 hours and 15 minutes with one (1) stop-over for comfort room break. (Damage to the pocket: approx. Php 160.00) When we reached the Hagnaya port at around 3 pm, we were informed that there was only one (1) available boat that would sail for Santa Fe port at about 530 pm that afternoon. The boat ride took about 1 hour and 30 minutes. (Damage to the pcoket: Php 170.00) It was already dark when we reached the Santa Fe port. From there, we took a tricycle to bring us to Kota Beach resort. (Damage to the pocket: Php 100.00)

Oh boy, it was a long and sometimes nauseous travel. It actually took us a total of 12 hours just to reach our resort!

I was really sad because I made plans to go afternoon beaching. Unfortunately, the delay in our flight and more than 2 hours of waiting time for the boat prevented us from doing so. 

We dined at the restaurant inside Kota Beach and ordered grilled squid, shrimp and 2 plates (Yes, 2 plates. NOT cups) of garlic rice for Five Hundred Pesos (Php 500.00). I tell you, it is sulit! 

The next morning, we wanted to have a taste of  the regular Bantayan breakfast. Kota Beach rented us bicycles for One Hundred Fifty Pesos (Php 150.00) for each bike until we leave the resort. For cheap seafood, we highly recommend Daddy Doks. They have an array of fresh seafood and you can ask them to cook for you. We biked around Santa Fe and noticed that bicycles and motorcycles are the common mode of transportation in the area. Bihira ang jeep o private cars.

And finally, we hit the beach! I wish I had a better camera to capture the wonderful and serene beach of Bantayan Island. If you want to relax sans a throng of tourists and commercial establishments, we highly recommend this beach for you. We feel that we had the beach to ourselves!

Blue skies + fine white sands + blue green water

Our little paradise

our nook in the corner

No other tourists in sight

M enjoying the sunshine :)

Here is a little tip, if you want to buy danggit to which Cebu is famous for, you can buy straight from the fishermen. Just drop by Ogtong Cave Resort and the tricycle drivers will actually bring you to the shore where fresh unsalted danggit can be bought. A kilo will cost Php 450.00. From Kota Beach, we just biked to the other side of town where Ogtong Cave Resort is located.

We had a very relaxing weekend. Thanks to Kota Beach for upgrading our room to cottage. For more details, you may visit their website at http://kotabeach.bantayanresorts.com. 

I will certainly return to this little paradise especially if I want to escape from the chaotic life of the city.  There are still so many things to do here. Hopefully, I could explore more this island. :) 

Welcome Summer!

My favorite time has arrived - SUMMER! Time to hit the beaches and wear those oh-so-flattering summer clothes. =) For most of you out there, I am pretty sure that you've been on a rendezvous since the summer has started. Good for you! 

To this date, I've been to two cool places to beat the summer heat. Zambales and Subic. Thank God I have generous sponsors so I still have some moolah for another getaway right after my birthday. Probably a new place I've never been to. And there should be SAND + SEA + STARS + BOOZE + AWESOME COMPANIONS! =)

Despite the busy schedule, I am really hoping that I could post here more often. So many things on my plate right now but I find writing in this blog a place to vent everything.

I am  hoping that you all have an awesome summer wherever you may be!

One of my fave pics: Paragliding at Boracay. December 2012. 

Christmas Lights Show at the Ayala Triangle

Christmas is really just around the corner.

Ayala Triangle, Makati boasts its Christmas Lights Show which is surely a crowd pleaser. With thousands  of christmas lights synchronized with the music, young and old alike are amazed by this show.

Take note, its FREE. Perfect for family and barkada night-outs. =)

I hope my photos captured the awesomeness of the show.

 Can you see the density of the people? Ayala Triangle was packed.

 My most favorite shot. Glamorous.

White lights.Preparing for the big bang of the show.

Can you see the love story over there? =p

Tagaytay's Go To Places

Today is steady Saturday.

Every Saturday, I would post (as much as possible) something about my travel experience. For this year, I am really blessed that I was given the opportunity to travel for work and leisure. I could attest that our country is full of surprising places that you never thought exist in the Philippines. There are so many things to do that you would find exciting and exhilarating.

Since long weekends are still a few weeks away, your weekends could still be spent outside the chaotic Manila. Tagaytay is my go to place when I want to escape the city even for just a day. 

Budget-wise, you don't need to spend a lot of money.  You could visit People's Park with a minimal entrance fee and see mountains and kilometers of greens. You could eat famous bulalo at Antonio's or even at a cheaper alternative at Leslie's.

For this entry, I would like to focus on the place that I always visit -Convent of the Pink Sisters and a new one which I discovered last August - the Taal Volcano.

Pink Sisters is frequently visited by families and exam takers (like me). A paper and envelope is provided to you on the side of the chapel where you could write your prayers, put it inside the envelope, and seal it.The sisters will pray for you. They even send you a letter when you indicate your home address in the paper. Some visitors often leave a small amount of money in the envelope as a church donation but it is not mandatory.

Technically, the Taal Volcano is one boat-ride away from Talisay, Batangas and within the boundary of San Nicolas and Talisay, Batangas. However, we were approached by agents outside Antonio's restaurant in Tagaytay. We went down a mountain through a tricycle and we never thought we are actually going to the Batangas boundary.

The descent via tricycle was a long and scary  one. The roads are a little steep, winding and one wrong turn might lead you to a ravine. Also, pray that your ride will not encounter any problems because it is very difficult to find a vehicle that will bring you to your destination. The tricycle ride took us 30 minutes.

The tricycle will bring you to the boat that will bring you to Taal Volcano. By the way, damage to the pocket of riding that tricycle and the boat is Php 1,800.00. There are 2 of us so that makes an expense of Php 900.00 per head. 

The boat ride was exciting. We were asked to wear our life vest since the water was not that tranquil. When we arrived at the foot of the volcano, we find out that there is still a long way to trudge before we could reach the crater. We have a choice of walking a few kilometers or ride a horse for Php 500.00 per head plus additional Php500.00 (for the two of us) for the tour guide.

We thought that the fees for the horse ride and mandatory tour guide were expensive but when we saw how far the guides had to walk while watching us and how dangerous it could be, we thought that it was worth it. The one way 30-minute horse ride was tiring and somehow risky because one wrong turn and we could fall in the ravine! The ride back to the foot of the mountain was less scary maybe because we already became used to it.

The crater was picturesque but we stayed for only 20 minutes. At that period, you could already take a lot of pictures and souvenirs. The real deal is actually the horse ride and i bravely took pictures while on top of the horse despite the chagrin of my guide.haha. There are also merchants on top selling various souvenirs, sodas and even allowing you to strike a golf ball!

The trip to Taal volcano was indeed a one of a kind experience which you should try.

You could visit the Convent of Pink Sisters and Taal Volcano all in one day. Just be early of course. This could lessen your expense since you don't need to stay in a hotel anymore. You could go back to the city within 2 to 3 hours. Ayos, di ba? :)

Calligraphy Afty Session

There is a little secret that I have to tell you: I've never been artsy or crafty.

When I was a kid, my coloring book was full of colors in different directions (don't ask me about color-combination, I'd fail). My cross-stitch project only got 92 % (almost everyone received 99-100%). My penmaship would pass me off as a doctor than a .... uhh nevermind. :) My newspaper basket was a big fail (I thought the varnish would make it stronger and look better.

So when my good friend C, invited me and another friend,R, to join a calligraphy class to celebrate their birthday last August, I was really ecstatic. Finally, gaganda din ang sulat ko! :)

Here are some of the pics I took during the class:

Included in the Php 1, 000.00 class fee. Lesson sheets, nibs and ink.

Ms. Alessa, our teacher for the day, and some of our classmates.

Our Wall of Fame. Guess where is my masterpiece ;p

Yummy merienda from Pipino. Included in our fee.

The calligraphy session was indeed a wonderful experience especially when I attended it with good friends. I discovered that I have a lil bit of talent streak in my blood. Lol. :)