Southeast Asia - Week of June 25: Philippines Week 3
Welcome to Week 3 in the Philippines. Our story starts in Coron Town Proper on the Busuanga Island (where I landed last Saturday), I fly to El Nido on Palawan Island and, on Saturday, I fly to Manila for two nights. I am enjoying the Philippine people, food and, of course, the baked goods for my sweet teeth. I've noticed there are far less feral dogs on the beach and the dogs I have come across are much more chill than Sri Lankan beach dogs. Philippine beach dogs may look at you as you walk by, then turn put their head down or turn their attention to something else. There are also far less black flies to contend with, which is a blessing. Finally, no mammoth crows, that I experienced in Sri Lanka, are totally absent as well.
The common underlying experience throughout Sri Lanka, Thailand and Philippines to date, has been the caring, warm and helpful approach that everyone has offered to me in my travels. This consistent kindness makes the difference every day. I believe I have the same experience in Canada, however I may be guilty of being less appreciative of.
One last thought before more details about the week. For some untethered reason, I can imagine myself spending more time in the Philippines in the future. Will see where that specific energy lands as life unfolds.
This Week's Travel: Philippines Week 3 Travel Map
Coron Town Proper - Island of Busanga
My stay started with mixed feelings about my hotel - Harbour Bliss. Fantastic warm welcome from Abby and her father Vincent - hotel is family owned and operated. Abby's husband is the chef (originally from Bulgaria) and her mother is also actively involved. I got the spiel on the island hopping options and off to my room. What threw me off was the packets of mosquito repellant and ear plugs on both end tables by the bed. Oh my goodness, what should I expect over the next three nights??? Learning much about the linkages my mind makes with visual cues. Decided to chill and let life unfold. The ear plugs and repellant were unnecessary.
The community is completely organized around getting people to and from the airport efficiently and economically. 250 pesos each way. Hotel advises the van company to pick you up - arriving and leaving. Smooth and efficient transportation (arriving and leaving an airport) is important for a good travel experience in my life.
 |
| Coron Proper Town pier area |
 |
| Pier where island hopping boats depart |
 |
| Another hill to climb for a view |
 |
 |
| Community in the pier area - different way of living |
 |
| Rotten Ronnie is ubiquitous in the Philippines |
Island Hopping - Coron
Sunday was spent updating my travel blog and going for a walk around Coron Town Proper. I also met Andy, another guest, who spent a week on Busuanga. He had a couple recommendations - take an island hopping tour and avoid Manila because it was dangerous (I had plans to spend three nights in Manila when I first spoke with him). Andy was in the Philippines, with Lovely (his Filipino wife), working on plans to build a home for their retirement.
A couple actions came out of my Andy discussion - I booked an island hopping tour and took one night off my visit in Manila. As it turned out, Abby had equally strong concerns about foreigners being in Manila. She was very specific about where she would let her husband go in Manila - Pasay was deemed ok. I also learned that Makati, the business district, where I eventually booked my hotel would be ok as well. This is the first time in my trip where I was second guessing a proposed destination. Andy and Abby had thrown the fear of God into me about visiting Manila. My thinking about choosing Manila was that most of my flights routed through the capital so it seemed a reasonable idea to spend some time. Hang on.
 |
| Chose C1 - had the shortest distance to travel between stops Stop sequence was reverse order |
The island hopping tour was a great experience. Everything was well organized and run by K&Y Tour and Travel. Made my life simple by booking the tour through the hotel. Hotel pick-up at 8ish. Seemed a little chaotic initially in organizing who was going on what boat when we got to the pier. Once on the boat, we all had life jackets that we were asked to wear in the 90 minute trip to the first island. We had a fabulous lunch on Banana Island that included cooked fish, calamari, eggplant, rice, cucumbers, fresh crab, bananas and watermelon. Beaches, water, snorkeling to your heart's desire. Back to the pier at 5ish. Tour company organized a tricycle ride back to the hotel. Nice. Island hopping is a mainstay activity in every location I have visited.
 |
| Stunning blue water - Bulog Dos Island |
 |
| Bulog Dos Island |
 |
| View from Bulog Dos Island |
 |
| Island Hopping Cruise Liner (our boat) |
 |
| Welcome to Banana Island! |
 |
| Banana Island |
 |
| Banana Island beach |
Breakfast - Philippine style
My breakfast objective remains steadfast with having the local cuisine. I was served two different types of fish for breakfast - one day I had a local fish that was crispy and I had the national fish with an egg and garlic rice (in photo) for the other two mornings. I gained some notoriety with the hotel staff because I was the only foreigner who asked for a Filipino breakfast. If you want to charm your hosts, one way is to eat what they eat. After all, what is the sense of traveling to the other side of the world to eat the same food as if you were at home???
 |
Flight to El Nido - Island of Palawan
I inserted a separate topic to highlight my Air SWIFT travels. I was enamoured with their online and in person airport service. AirSWIFT is a small regional airline that flies to the smaller islands with smaller aircraft (photo below). They had umbrellas ready for the walk on the tarmac to board the plane. I was so pleased with the experience I completed the Survey Monkey survey they sent to me.
However, later in the week, the airline did their very best to take the shine off my initial experience later in the week. On Thursday evening, they canceled all their flights from July 1 to July 3 inclusive for 'voluntary preventative maintenance'. My AirSWIFT flight to Manila was on July 1. Fortunately, I was found a seat on Philippine Airlines flying from Puerto Princessa airport (the international airport on Palawan) to Manila on Saturday afternoon. I just needed to take a six hour van ride from El Nido to Puerto Princessa with 11 of my newest friends leaving at 6 am. The Carong Beach Resort staff were wonderful in helping identify the transportation options and booking the van ride. Life is filled with daily blessings.
Post script - AirSWIFT confirmed on Sunday I will get a refund for my canceled flight. In their initial communication on Thursday evening, the company advised they would be making alternative flight arrangements for me along with booking the necessary transportation. They also advised I had four options if their travel arrangements were unsuitable. I waited until 11 am on Friday for their help on rebooking after which I did made the necessary arrangements on my own.
Corong Beach Resort
I arrived at my new home on the beach in the pouring rain. Once the rain eased up I went down to see the hotel owner and take a walk on the beach. And look at what magic I found...
 |
| Looking at hotel from beach |
Yes, I was asked if I wanted a brewed coffee. I was presented with this French Press that had coffee prepared with freshly ground coffee. OMG - I thought I was in heaven. You see, I prepare my daily coffee using a french press and grind coffee beans so I have the freshest of coffees. The last time I had coffee prepared like this was late March. Fresh coffee on the beach. As my good friend Steph would say (and I quote) - "Life is good!'
 |
| Brewed coffee on the beach |
 |
| 1st coffee with French Press since mid-April |
El Nido Beaches
In short, the beaches that I visited were good, not great. Marimegmeg Beach was about 2 km south of my resort and the El Nido beach was about 2.5 km north. The El Nido beach abuts the townsite so this beach has a completely different vibe. Much busier and much more commercial. The water is very shallow so you have to venture a long ways from shore for any depth. I've been on beaches with much nicer sand as well.
That said, the island setting for the beaches is spectacular. Beautiful islands rising straight out of the water with sheer sides and lush greenery. El Nido is another version of paradise on earth.
 |
| Marimegmeg Beach - South |
 |
| Marimegmeg Beach - North |
 |
| El Nido Beach - South |
 |
| El Nido Beach - North |
 |
| Corong Corong Beach from a distance |
 |
| Corong Corong Beach - South |
 |
| Corong Corong Beach - North |
Sweet Tooth Satisfied
Just so you know, when I discover a bakery, I usually buy a small something for me and I also purchase sweets for the hotel staff where I'm staying. The banana cake was amazing!
 |
| Home SWEET Home |
Dinner at Happy Home Restaurant
I made life easy for myself by having breakfast by the water at the resort and feasting at the Happy Home Restaurant that was a short walk up to the main road from the resort.
Gina has a special place in my heart. Remember when I reported earlier in this post that it was pouring rain on my arrival at the resort? Well this is where Gina initially fits into the story - even before I discovered how good the food was at the restaurant. The tricycle driver parked at roadside and contacted Amerie, the hotel owner, to confirm my arrival so she welcome me and walk me to the resort - umbrellas in hand. Gina saw me waiting in the tricycle so she walked across the street to offer me an umbrella so I could be on my way. And her action and kindness was my introduction to four nights of delicious food and excellent service.
 |
| My friend Gina and I in front Happy Home Restaurant |
 |
| Gina and David |
 |
| Squid Abodo |
 |
| Canton Pancit - Chicken |
The squid adobo meal has a special story. On Thursday evening, I was chatting with Geraldine, who manages the restaurant, as I was paying my bill. I owed for two nights as she lacked the change for me to pay on Wednesday night. During the conversation, she introduced to two women who were her friends. They collectively decided that I should have squid adobo for my Friday evening meal (my last meal in El Nido). When I reminded Geraldine that what she suggested was unavailable on her menu, she turned to one of her friends to suggest that she cook the meal and bring it to the restaurant for me on Friday night. While I am unsure of the mechanics of how I got the meal, I can share that the squid adobo was one of the best meals I have had on this trip.
Construction Challenges - Rainy Season
I took the construction site photo to share with my older brother Richard who is in the construction business. I was reminded of the potential construction challenges when you live where there are monsoon rains and you still need to get buildings completed.
BTW - My resort was just a little further down the path on the right. This is the same path I walked up to have dinner at the Happy Home Restaurant.
Introducing Lucy
During Friday morning breakfast, I met Lucy - a fellow hotel guest. I mention Lucy as she is a great example of all the remarkable people I am meeting on this journey. She is a truck driver from Australia. She took the time to share photos of trucks she has driven. In one instance where she was working at a mine, she drove a truck along with three buggies (a small train) that carried a 350 tonne payload. The logistics and risks associated with moving that weight around is mind boggling. She also mentioned she had a ship christened with her name. Her father was in the shipping business and his company decided to name a new ship with her name. She and her father flew to Korea, business class, to participate in the christening. How cool is that! What are the chances of meeting someone who has had a ship christened in their name. And there is no need to provide me with a statistical probability of the chances of this happening...
Good bye El Nido
It's Saturday morning. I'm preparing for my six hour van ride to Puerto Princessa airport for my 1.5 hour flight to Manila. I look out my balcony window to see this beautiful sky. I went down to the beach for take these photos. I found there was pure magic in the colours, the stillness and the reflections. Hope you enjoy the photos as much I enjoyed the moments when I captured these images.
 |
In the event of an earthquake...
I want to share helpful information about what to do during an earthquake. This sign is posted at the Puerto Princessa airport as you enter the passenger check-in area. While I've seen tsunami preparedness signs in my travels, hopefully this is more information that I need to be aware of and never have to apply in my life.
Updates
Mission accomplished - luggage is now less than 20 kg.
- I left a pair of water walkers with the Island Hopping tour guide. They were a good item to part with. I infrequently used the water walkers along with the walkers being very heavy relative to their purpose. Best of all, the tour guide will get much better use of them in some way.
- I always carry an emergency first aid kit when I travel that is in a plastic carrying case. I transferred the contents into a series of zip lock bags I have and left the case with the Harbour Bliss Hotel for their first aid needs.
- I may now need to purchase a smaller suitcase as what I have is now much bigger than what I need. Gaining more travel wisdom...
Next week
Next week is my last full week in the Philippines.
I've landed in Manila safely and spent my first night at the Herald Suites Polaris. Minor drama at the airport when my driver discovered he was at the wrong terminal waiting for me. See, here is another benefit to having a local sim card with local calling privileges. Fly to Dumaguete on Monday, July 3, then take a ferry to Siquijor on Wednesday. Still finalizing my travel for the last four nights. I depart for Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, July 12.
Comments
Post a Comment