Hidden Beach, El Nido (Tour C) 4/16

Finally, a new post after 2 months of hiatus! lol

As usual, got hit by the lazy bug and I just got really unmotivated to make a blog entry the past few months.

Anyway, I'm back now! hopefully, my renewed self (?) will last til the end of the year so I could continue with all the lagged posts waiting to be written!!

Starting off with the continuation of my long overdue El Nido trip!hahaha

This happened over 6 months ago so pls forgive me if I might forget some details of the trip =/

As you may or may not remember, my last entry was about the Coral Garden.

After that, we headed to the Hidden Beach which is one of my faves in this tour.

Same with the Secret Beach, Hidden Beach is concealed by some high rock formations so again the boat will dock a bit far and you have to swim/walk your way to the beach.

This is what makes Tour C amazing, it's quite an adventure reaching these beautiful places!

The beach is right behind those 2 huge cliffs on the left..

There you go.

The perfect spot!

You could see the path where we swam from the boat in the middle and the beach on the right side.

❤❤❤❤

El Nido Town April 2016

After our first trip in El Nido last 2011, we knew we had to go back and see more.

So here we are, back at the most beautiful island in the world!

HOW TO GET TO ELNIDO:

As you all know, there is no direct flight from any parts of the Philippines to El Nido.

Unless of course you take the Island Transvoyager chartered plane which is exclusively for El Nido resorts' guests.

To get here, one simply needs to book a flight to Puerto Princesa. 

From PP airport, you need to ride a van for 5 hours going to the town.

There are already some shuttle service you could ride for P500-600, one way.

Remember to haggle since they usually give tourists a rate of P800-1000!

There are plenty of hotels/lodge/inns around El Nido.

Just make sure to research ahead of time so you could choose the most suitable for your taste/needs.

In our case, we decided to stay in Bacuit Lodge which is a few minutes away from Serena St. --where all the restos/shops are located.

It's a very basic,simple room and if you're not very picky, it's ok.

For only P716/night you get a standard room good for 4 people with a free breakfast daily.

They also have wifi  but it's a bit weak so don't expect much.

Their dining area and air-conditioned rooms are on the 2nd floor.

Breakfast with a view ;)

Island hopping tours are scattered all over the town. 

Though I recommend inquiring from the place your staying so you could bargain more and get a good price!

city hall

Bacuit Bay

dining by the beach!

When In Iloilo: Tatoy's Manokan and Seafood

After our Gigantes getaway, we went straight to Iloilo City to stay for a night.

It's my second time to visit and I wanted to eat in other famous restos I haven't tried yet so we decided to eat in Tatoy's!

It's a bit far from the city. 

There's no jeepney that directly goes here so we hired a taxi and it took almost 30 minutes to reach the area.

Their resto is so big, they have both air-conditioned and non-aircon rooms plus they have function halls perfect for special occasions like wedding receptions or birthdays.

What their menu looks like.

They have so many dishes to choose from. 

Of course we had to order their house specialty, Lechon Manok.

It was quite different from the usual lechon manok we eat here in Manila.

Skin was crispy and the meat wasn't drowning in oil lol

We also got Lato (seaweed) since we wanted some kind of vegetable to go with our dishes .

Their Boneless Bangus was the best I've ever had!!!

They cooked it Inasal style and it was so tasty and juicy..not to mention the size was really huge too <3

We were so full and satisfied with our orders!

Highly reco both the chicken and bangus! Everything was delicious and cooked to perfection <3

Gigantes Islands: Getting There from Roxas City Feb 2016

After our quick escapade in Roxas City, we then went on with our itinerary and headed straight to Islas de Gigantes aka Gigantes Islands!

Our journey to Gigantes:

1. Took a tricycle going to the van terminal (can't remember the exact name but it's basically the terminal for vans going to other destinations like Kalibo, Iloilo city, Caticlan etc.)

2. From the terminal , we rode a van going to Estancia.

*Fee was P75 and it took an hour and 40 minutes to reach Estancia terminal.

3. From Estancia terminal, rode a tricycle to Estancia/Feeder Port which is the gateway to paradise!lol

4. Registration upon reaching the Port and finally boat ride to the island

 (we already have a contact person and booked a packaged tour weeks before coming so we didn't pay any additional fee for the boat)

The boat ride was sooooo long.

We left the port at around 1:20 pm and arrived at 4pm!!! Can you imagine that?!

my gosh, very similar feels to Caramoan!haha

*FYI, if the waves are strong, the trip would really take a long time but if the sea is calm, it would only take as fast as an hour and 15 minutes ;)

the small *standing* boat that transferred us from the main boat to the island haha 

~survivor feelz

Infinite scallop shells will immediately greet you on the shore!

I must admit, never knew Gigantes was very rich in scallops until coming there!

Our tour guide told me that it's just usually priced at P90/kilo!!!! O_O

A few walks after, we then rode a motorbike to get to our resort. (also included in the package)

Our cute resort, Gigantes Hideaway Tourist Inn.

We booked everything by phone so we actually had no idea what the resort would look like! lol

Just a heads up, there's a very weak-no signal reception in the island.

In my case being a SMART user, I totally had no signal for the whole duration of our stay there haha =P

NO WIFI in the resort too! so say goodbye to social media when you go here lol

Our cute little house.

Very basic. No aircon, no hot/cold shower but there's a lovely porch with a hammock in front :)

and btw, no electricity from midnight until 4pm ~just so you know =P

Places included in the tour... plus Bulubadiang Island!

After resting for almost an hour, we wasted no time and proceeded to the light house haha!

It's just a few minutes away from the resort by motorbike but once you reach this undeveloped part of the road, you'll need to trek for about 5 minutes ;)

some scallop souvenirs along the pathway

Good timing, we were the only ones there!

You can already see Bulubadiang island from here <3

This view!!

 Beautiful ruin <3

 the new solar-powered lighthouse which was donated by Japan! domo arigato! hehe

Our hefty dinner <3

Seafood heaven: sweet and sour fish, adobong pusit, bbq scallops and baked scallops with cheese!

FYI, we literally ate scallops everyday in this island LOL

Package tour cost: P2895/person for 3D2N, all in (boat transfers, island hopping, food, accomo)

Contact person: Mr. Adecano -09184685006

Villa Escudero 2015

Villa Escudero has always been our go-to places for a quick getaway from the city.

Since I was young, we've always brought our balikbayan relatives here for some sight seeing and a beautiful lunch at their waterfalls site--more of that later ;)

Map of the area

The resort is located in the town of San Pablo in Laguna and takes about 2 hours by car from Manila.

Day tour costs P1250 for Adults every Mon-Thurs and P1400 during Sundays and Holidays.

The package includes welcome drinks, carabao cart rides, use of outdoor recreational facilities, lunch at the waterfalls and access to the museum.

Too bad, their swimming pool was under renovation when we went there...

Our ride going to the falls!

Such a pleasant ride with the staff singing some native songs during the ride!

Highlight of the tour!

Lunch consists of mainly Filipino dishes like...

Steamed okra with bagoong, kangkong and salted egg

Pancit, lechon manok, ginataang gulay, caldereta etc.

Turon, banana cue and some fruits for dessert.

jam packed!

there were some Korean/Chinese group tours that go here too so better come early to avoid the crowd~

Above the waterfalls site is Lake Labasin where you could do some bamboo raft paddling ;)

The resto by the lake..

The cultural show also takes place here.

After lunch, we then headed to see the church.

so beautiful!

Last stop was the museum.

The exterior resembles that of a church but inside..

...houses a vast collection of random things such as religious art, ceramics, costumes weaponry and other items they acquired from the family's travels abroad.

various dolls

money collection

Philippine costume display~

some random riddle lol