Sabang, Palawan version 2

After new years, Nabs and I went to Sabang and decided to stay there for 3 nights. Public transportation both ways, which was scary but quite fun I must admit,  I even got to ride at the top of the jeepney along with the bags of coal, rice, and chicken (which almost fell off on the highway). It was really nice, I’ve been to underground river before but never really got to explore Sabang that much.

What I didn’t know about Sabang was that electricity doesn’t run 24 hours, like in El Nido, it only comes at certain hours of the day. In Sabang it was from 5 or 6pm to midnight, luckily the cottage we stayed in was by the beach, so it was pretty breezy and sometimes even chilly in the morning. The weather was nice, the sun was shinning and the temperature was fine, not too hot, although it did rain a little bit.

Day 1, all we did was swim at the beach, the resort we stayed in (Mary’s) is at the very end of Sabang beach, but if you go further down the coconut trees you’d see another beach and a river where they have mangrove tours. I really like the beach there,  less people. Scary thing about the beaches in Sabang is the undercurrent, it freaked me out a little bit and the waves, so trying to look all baywatch and all nah..  trying not to get sucked out into the ocean will be your main concern

We heard there was this place with waterfalls near by, so we decided to check it out the next day. I think it took us about 45 minutes to find the place, it wasn’t really that easy to walk through big rocks in flip-flops. The waterfalls was smaller than we expected, but it was really pretty. It was right by the beach and after walking through those big rocks it was nice to take a dip and enjoy the place.

So, apart from that all we did was bum around. We were planning to do the mangrove tour but we were too lazy, instead Nabs gave me a massage right by the beach. Mangrove tour VS massage by the beach?? easy choice. It was soo perfect, the beach, the wind, the beers, being away from the city, and being with Nabs.. it was just way too good to be true.

back to reality…

What a sad day it is. I’m back in cold and rainy Denmark. This is the worst part about vacations, when it ends and you have to face reality again. Bills have to be paid, school, and being alone. I miss Philippines already and I can’t wait to go back. The month I spent there was awesome. It has been a good start for 2009 so far. New memories made, issues resolved, and stronger relationships is what I bring back with me here today.

I miss Palawan soo much, especially the dummy that keeps up with all my crap. I miss you!

See you in six months.

Christmas in the Philippines

Sooo… December has finally arrived.  I’m slowly counting the days before I leave for the Philippines. My parents just managed to buy me a plane ticket last week, which was crazy expensive. It was all because my school wouldn’t tell us when we’ll be having exams until mid-November so this plane ticket to Philippines will be my Christmas present for the next 5 years or something. Anyways, I AM SOOOOO EXCITED!! We’ll be having a huge family reunion at our house in Palawan with my mom’s sisters and brothers. This is probably the first time in what? 5-7 years that we’ll all be spending Christmas together. SO that should be exciting.

Apart from being with the family again, Christmas, good food, warm weather, etc… I’ll also get to be with  my special someone. You know who you are. SO yeah, I’m all pumped up for going back home again. The 20 hours that it would take for me to actually get to Puerto Princessa is soooooo worth it. I’ll be in the Philippines for a month and then come back here to be welcomed by my very first exam in uni, which is somehow exciting but at the same time scary since it’s an oral exam and I’m not a big fan of oral exams.  ANYWAY, even though vacation is sooo close, I have this big school project that I have to do first before I can sit back and relax and think about drinking mango shakes, eating bagoong, and bear hugging my lolo.

At the same time, my procrastinating levels have hit an all time high. I KNOW I should be doing my project, but somehow I always get that urge to just go check what’s going on online even though I just checked like 15 minutes ago. Next thing I know I’m watching videos on YouTube,  reading Photoshop tutorials, and/or browsing through forums. And next thing I know it’s 5am in the morning. Great.

Anyway, that’s all that has been going on. Nothing exciting has been happening lately partly because I’m too lazy to get off the computer and breath fresh (and very cold) air. But yeah, this week involves Christmas shopping, trying to finish the project, and packing. I know it’s only 3 things, but the amount I procrastinate now, those three things can easily take up two weeks.

Have a good day

Dos Palmas, Palawan, Philippines

pool by the beach

Since Rey and Xingy left, Helena, Michael and I have just been bumming around the house, watching DVDs and eating. So we decided to take a day trip to the closest island resort called Dos Palmas, it’s called Dos Palmas because when approaching the island you could see two palm trees sticking out among the other palm trees, so yeah. However a couple of years ago, one of the palm trees just fell.

ANYWAYS, we went to Dos Palmas with my little brother since he hasn’t been out of the house for a couple of days, he needed a little bit of sunshine. From the boat station in St. Lourdes, the boat ride took 45minutes. Slept both ways so I didn’t get to see the other islands, but yeah, Dos Palmas has changed a lot. They renovated pretty much everything, from the pool, to the bike path, to the gift shop.

my brother, me, michael

new and improved pool

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A day trip package includes round trip boat transfer, welcome drink, lunch, free use of snorkels and kayaks, boat transfer to snorkeling site, coffee and tea throughout the day, and all their entertainment stuff. Using the pool costs money, but since the beach wasn’t that exciting we opted for the pool. No people.

The people in Dos Palmas are REALLY friendly and attentive, the island is really beautiful however after seeing Boracay beach and El Nido corals nothing could compare, the beach in Dos Palmas was just bleh. If in Palawan, it’s not really a must see place, but if you’re in Puerto Princessa and have nothing else to do and want to have a little bit of luxury for a day at a pretty good price Dos Palmas will be a good time killer.

Sabang, Palawan

The Entrance

Sabang, home to Puerto Princessas Suberranean River (aka Underground River). From El Nido we drove another 6 hours to Sabang. We were suppose to spend a night there but we wanted to go back to the city the same day so we decided to just do it all in one day. We arrived around 10am, found out we were number 277, I’ve been to the Underground River 3 times before and back then the line was never that long. The most we had to wait was 15 minutes. It’s crazy the amount of people who come now since that whole New 7 Wonders of Nature voting started.

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We were told we had to wait around 2 hours, so we decided to take the Monkey trail. Lets just say, the Monkey trail is like the mini-version of the Great Wall in the forest, with all those uneven steps and the thigh burning, the panting, and an extremely painful stitch. I didn’t even make it half way, so I decided to just go back until I was cornered by a monkey and a monitor lizard.

monkey trail

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monitor lizard

We made it in the cave 12:30, right before the boat men’s lunch break, it was awesome, even though I’ve seen it a couple of times, it was still pretty cool. I can’t really describe how it is to be inside the cave. Cool lime stones, crazy dark, lots of bats..  and that doesn’t even give it any justice. Anyways, you just have to see it for yourself!

on the way out

After the underground river, we caught a boat to Sabang beach to have lunch at a palce called Taraw. Their food was awesome, all grilled, eaten off a banana leaf, and a really big coconut on the side. SO yeah, this was the last leg of out trip when we’re all together. Two days later Xingy left for Denmark.

El Nido, Palawan

El Nido

After the partying in Boracay we headed to El Nido, Palawan, a quieter and more primitive place. From Puerto Princessa we took a 6 hour car ride to El Nido city. We stayed at a place called Bayview Hotel. In the city electricity ran from 2pm-4pm and 6pm-6am and every night at 10pm really loud sirens go off telling little kids to go back home. The city is soo small but very cozy. People there were used to tourists but the place doesn’t look touristy at all.

breakfast at our hotel

Most of the time we were there we went snorkeling. We rented a boat with my aunts boyfriend there to guide us. We first went to Small Lagoon, no pictures since we had to swim to get there then we went to a couple more islands, I can’t really remember since my head was still a little hazy from waking up at 4am.

The next day we went to the Big Lagoon, we managed to get the boat in, we went snorkeling and then trekked through the forest for a bit, we got to see where they had the elimination ceremony for Survivor (French). The corals were awesome and seeing all the different fish was cool. It felt like I was in a fish tank.

entrance to the Big Lagoon

The next day we rented a kayak and kayaked into the Big Lagoon, this is something you have to do, it was surreal. Michael, Xingy, and I were the only ones there. It was really beautiful. On our way to Helicopter Island we saw dolphins, I’ve never seen dolphins in real life before so I was jumping up and down like a little girl in a candy shop.

dolphins

From all the snorkeling we’ve been doing, our backs were all sore and badly burnt but it’s all good. There wasn’t really much to do in town, so bring something to entertain you! Overall, it was nice to be in a place that wasn’t as hectic as Boracay, in El Nido you just go with the flow, no one around to stress you out, no annoying vendors.

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El Nido is a nice place, definitely worth a visit when in Palawan.

Boracay

Boracay was awesome.. it was smaller than I expected but the water IS crystal clear and the sand is soo fine.. We partied all night and sunbathed in the day and drank our mango shakes when the sun set. It was truly paradise. I met some awesome people as well… I have awesome memories in Boracay and maybe one day I’ll be back.

We were lucky that for the 5 days we were there, the sun was shinning even though just days before we got there, there was a typhoon. Nightlife was alright, good enough for low season, I was kind of expecting more places to go clubbing, but most of it were bars. One bar had awesome location, lighting, and music, the only thing missing is a dance floor. But still, we had tons of fun, a truly unforgettable experience.

Sunset

by Ray

So yeah, I don’t really have much to say  about Boracay. I loved it there and I will be back soon!

See you there!

absence

So I haven’t been updating my blog for ages now, I have a good reason though.

I’ve been traveling. Made my way from the south of China all the way to Beijing and then back to Hong Kong.  We arrived in Manila on the 14th of July, then went to Boracay from the 16th to 21st. So, haven’t had the time to really write anything about what’s going on.

Anyways, I’m not going into details right now because I don’t have much time. This is just to let the online world know I’m still alive and kicking.

As for the IB Diploma Programme. I will elaborate on that later.

Until then,

Kamila