Puerto Princesa: The City in a Forest

Since this blog is relatively new, I decided to edit my Palawan post. :D One post per destination! ^_^

Yes! Finally, summer class was over. I had only one thing in my mind: PALAWAN. This is part 2 of my Palawan Huling Hirit sa Tag-init post :) Back to the City in a Forest. 

Why skip to Day 5? Check Day 1-4 El Nido Adventure. :D

Day 05: Puerto Princesa City Tour

• Baker's Hill. If you want special hopia as your pasalubong or home-made pizza or better yet some good food for lunch, this is the place to be. :) They have a mini zoo too! Free entrance and viewing.

• Butterfly Garden. They also have some scorpions, millipedes (yayks) and tarantulas! P50 entrance, P25 if you have any valid ID.

• Crocodile Farm. Meet and greet the giant crocs, live! Entrance fee was P40.

• Iwahig Penal Farm and Balsahan. This place truly amazed me. The inmates here are like free men. They have jobs to do like tend to the farm animals, plant/harvest rice, fish, and they also guide and guard the visitors in the Balsahan. Entrance to the Penal Farm is free, Balsahan is P10-15.

• Iwahig Firefly Watching. One of my favorite part of the whole trip. Seeing the small lighted creatures crowd mangroves along the Iwahig River is a magical sight. P600 per boat, good for 3 passengers.

*We took a tricycle for this tour and paid P700 (for crocodile farm, iwahig penal farm, iwahig firefly watching).

Day 06: Underground River Tour

This is the most exciting day I had in Palawan. We set off at 10am to the San Jose terminal to catch a ride going to Sabang. Instead of riding a shuttle van, we were only able to catch a public jeepney and paid P120/pax. It's not a comfy ride but hey, the experience was worth it. The trip took almost 3hours because the jeepney had to drop off passengers or packages/products in almost all municipality/barangay along the way.

• Underground River Tour. We were the last tourists to avail of the tour so we had to pay P700 for the whole boat and environmental fees of P350. The boat was supposed to carry 8-10 persons. It felt like a private tour. hehe

Had to request/plead/ask a private van to give us a ride back to Puerto Princesa since there were no public vehicles left going back to the city.

• Dinner at Balinsasayaw Restaurant. We had a serving of balinsasayaw soup/bird's nest soup which is a must-try! :)

Chao Long, aVietnamese soup popular in Palawan

Day 07: another City Tour

This time, I was given some alone-time since Yani was busy with work. I opted to go around the city on my own so as to see what more it has to offer.

• Plaza Quartel. This is where hundreds of American prisoners of war were burned alive by the Japanese. Entrance is free.
• Puerto Princesa Baywalk. Met some friends from Gensan who coincidentally were having their happy time in the city too. :)
• Booze at Tiki Bar. If you want to have some drink in PP, Tiki Bar is a must-go! They have live bands playing every day and offer some good food too!

Plaza Quartel

Day 08: Last night in PP

• Puerto Princesa Sports Complex. Since we're out of places to go to, we spent an afternoon checking out the sports complex and having a little walk.
• Visit to relatives. It was my last night in PP and I opted to pay yet another visit to my relatives. I was supposed to stay with them but since my Lolo would not allow me to go out at night, I checked in to some place else. hehe
• Baragatan Festival, Day 1. Checked out the flea market at the capitol and also saw some bars and restaurants where tourists and locals frequent.

Waiting for the banca back to Sabang

Day 09: Time to say good bye. :|

• Palawan Museum. Time to visit the roots of Palawan. Entrance Fee: P20.
• Airport. This place concluded my visit to Palawan. It was a good nine-day trip, full of new experiences, wonderful scenes, good food and drinks.

Overall cost: around P25k for 2pax (excluding airfare, accommodation in PPC was FREE! thanks to PN Seabees barracks ^_^)


Next stop: Ilocos Norte

Huling hirit sa tag-init: Palawan and Ilocos Norte Getaway

yeah, i know this is kinda late. should have updated the list a few weeks ago but i was not so sane lately and i'm not really in the mood to write.

so without further emotional explanations about my mood swings, i had two major trips just before i called the summer officially over. first stop, PALAWAN--the city in a forest. the beautiful beaches and islands of El Nido. the awesome works of nature. the amazing creations of God.

one could not possibly describe such a wonderful place in one note like this. my eight-day trip to Palawan was the best. i saw a lot of wonderful creations including a couple of sea turtles making their way to their home, the Turtle Island and an eagle diving for some fish right in front of our eyes. and who could ever forget the city of fireflies lighting the Iwahig River at night and the amazing rock formations in the Underground River. the experience was way above and beyond my expectations of the trip.

next stop: LAOAG, PAGUDPUD and VIGAN... this trip was nearly cancelled due to some financial issues but bringing your parents somewhere is one priceless experience, and I'm glad we pushed through with the planned trip.

I'm a beach person, so when we were in laoag, I was not that super amazed with what I saw. but, as soon as i caught a glimpse of the white beaches of Pagudpud, my jaws dropped. the Bangui Windmill was my favorite too (maybe because it was situated in the beach. hehe) it felt like i was not in the Philippines when we were in the windmills, it felt more like hmmmm.. i don't know, bangui? lol *corny*

Vigan was one beautiful place too. it's a cute sight, those old houses make you feel like you're in the Spanish era (i felt like a maria clara for a while. what?! haha)

having that trip with my parents was a really nice experience. i get to show them how i go about my trips even without a company and actually telling them that they have nothing to worry about when I'm out somewhere. :)

oh well, i guess that's about it for my summer getaway. my palawan trip had some drama attached to it but, hey, i'm ok and i still love palawan, no matter what. hehe ilocos norte was amazing too, might want to go back to spend a night in pagudpud.

so, next stop?the queen city of the south, Cebu. :)