Coron Adventure - Banol Beach

After Twin Lagoon, we headed to Banol Beach which is equally breathtaking;) This is where we had our lunch also. See that white sand? magnificent! Super white sand, very fine, almost like powder.



Our feet. This is our 3rd 'feet' shot:) The first was in Bora then second in Intramuros, Third in Coron! Wow!;) Wawa si Norbert, barefoot!



Underwater shot this time:)



As usual, Andy has the best pose! This was taken in one of the rocks along the sand area.  There are many nice spots in this island so we used every spot for our photo session. Hahaha!



Irene and I. Ooops...and our super nice boat "Nikka Shane." 



A very nice rock.  According to Gabe, one of our students, it looks like a dragon's head...After looking at it for a long time, I kinda figured it out already. Can you? :) Pose with Norbert and Irene



This time with Andy...



Since Irene reminded us that we need to help out in preparing our lunch, we went to the shed and started to help. Si Andy ayaw! Haha, he wanted to go back to the waters, buti Irene gave him the stare:) Bwahaha! Beside the trio is Manong Ehran - the guide in the other boat.



With Jona and Gem (gmail!) while trying to figure out how we could help in preparing for the food.  We only have one knife - swiss knife pa, courtesy of Irene, and she was the one using it to peel cucumber. So 'chill' na lang kami:)



After lunch, Mr. Bert showed us a beautiful site for picture taking. We had to walk a little along the shore to get to the place. It was sort of a big rock with a small opening - like a small cave.

Andy and I in our usual walking shot - third na din yata - Bora. Intra. Coron.



This shot was taken by Mr Bert, a super nice guy. Official photograper of the group. Nice spot for photos.



After this, we went back to our place na. Walang magawa so we decided to have the "jumping" crazy photoshoot! Hay! Super fun.  Our ribs hurt because of too much laughing.  Imagine we jump as many as we can until the camera captures what we call 'jump up in the air shot..." do I make sense? See our pics nlang....

 

Get ready...



Aim...



Jump!



 

Coron, Palawan Adventure - Twin Lagoon

I joined the Coron, Palawan trip organized by Mr. Owen Ferrer last April 4.  Irene invited me to join the group along with Norbert and Andy.  Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to the trip.  According to the planned iterinary, we will ride the Super Ferry and it wil take 12 hours to reach Coron, then 2 days tour of the island - beaches, lakes, springs - then ride again the Super Ferry back home. I find it scary especially after reading Mr. Owen's blogs about exercising. Haha, I forgot about physical fitness a long time ago!:) Anyway, since we I have tickets already, got nothing to do on a long weekend (April 7 was declared a holiday), I joined the trip.  Now, I'm so happy that I did...

The trip had a funny start. I was shocked to see our Super Ferry accomodation - Mega Value - Haha! We were directed to the orange section of the ship and the 4 of us were shocked to see how it looks like! Haha! Orange double-bed bunks, more than a hundred maybe all in 1 room.  Very low ceiling, I even bumped my head when I went up the top bunk:) We rented blankets and pillows for P15 I think.  It was soooooo hot in our area and we found out that the aircon was not working.  What a great start!:) Here are some of our ship pictures...

Irene and our bunk beds.



In the lobby



Our first dinner - meal included in our ticket is Caldereta. We ordered (super spicy) sisig, calamares and kare-kare. Yum!



Our very first group picture - not complete yet though...Coron Batch 3!



My first sunrise - was taken while still in the ship. We woke up at around 5:30 a.m. because we wanted to see the sunrise, my very first actually:) It was breathtaking! Seeing the blanket of dark sky slowly unfolding as the rays of the sun start to bring light...





We headed straight to Sea Dive Resort, ate breakfast, left our things in the front desk - since our rooms were not available yet at that time then started on with our first day in Coron...

Sea Dive Restaurant with Mr John Smith, Noel, Irene, Norbert, Andy and I.



We wet to the docking area of our boats.  We finally met who the other joiners are:)



Jona, Gem, Imee, Mr. Bert and Noel

J

Mr. John, Norbert, Irene



Our Boat-Mates:)

 

Our first stop...Twin Lagoon.  According to Owen, our guide, visibility here is brackish (combination of fresh and salt water), swimming is at its best, snorkeling is ok.  Water here is both warm and cold at the same time:)



Irene before entering the Twin Lagoon - theres a small hole where one has to swim accross in order to get inside the lagoon



Andy inside the Twin Lagoon



Andy's underwater shot



School of Fish



Bye Twin Lagoon:)

First Time in Bora. Day 2:)

Day 2:

Before I start sharing with you our 2nd day in boracay, let me tell you first my sleeping experience. It was a fun night in our room. Irene got the best foot massage courtesy of Andy. Irene was really satisfied with the way Andy rubbed her tired feet. Hmm... kaingit!

 After the massage session, we decided to call it a night. We left the tv on and funny kasi after sometime, all of us began to sing Mula Sa Puso (videoke channel:) Haha! After 2 or 3 songs, we fell asleep na.

Well, I wasn't able to get a goodnight sleep.  It was so cold in the room then I had to share pa blanket with Irene. Nobody told me naman na magaling pala si Irene sa 'agawan' ng kumot! Haha! She has the talent of pulling the kumot with her fists then tucking it in her sides, under her armpit and in between her legs! Haha! Galing:)

Anyway, our 2nd day started with a quick breakfast then everyone was eager to go to the beach already so we headed back to our room, put on our swim attire then off to the beach! We don't have any pictures since we left all our cameras in the room - ang dala ni norbert eh alcohol, comb and tissue - all inside our resealable plastic. It was a very nice day at the beach. Light breeze, happy mr. sun, cool waters..we made sand castles - nice yung sa min ni andy, it was really a sand castle with ramps and gates. Norbert made a "sand ship." He wants to be a seaman. Haha! Irene made an attempt to make Spongebob pero ugly eh! Haha. She wasn't able to finish the nose area:) We also went snorkeling - the most unforgetable thing happened! This is Norbert's version: we were snorkeling happily while holding hands then suddenly may shark kaya we were so scared that we forgot how to swim.  Haha! The first part is true - we were really happy,  swimming steadily with no life vests ha (although la syadong fish sa area na yun). When it was time for us to go back to the shore, we lost our balance. Norbert began grasping for air and couldn't move his legs. I started to panic also since I'm not much of a swimmer. I was kicking really hard, imagine stepping on 6 bikes all at the same time! (i looked so hilarious siguro:) i was thinking how i can save Norbert - and he was thinking of the same thing too...We thought that it was the end of us na...I shouted Irene's name but she didn't hear us. I shouted Andy's name...I was waving frantically until he saw us.  There was also a "manong" in a boat who approached us and helped Norbert while Andy helped me. Phew! I was scared but I was thankful aslo because we were saved. 

to be continued...:)

First Time in Bora. Day 1:)

After letting you in my 'pre-bora' story it's now time for you to see how fun the trip was, how beautiful bora is from a first timer's point of view.

November 1, 2007: Irene, Norbert, Andy and I went for a vacation in Boracay. Their flight was earlier than mine. Had to fly by myself because of the change in flight schedule and airline. I met them at the port - for our boat ride going to bora island:)

View of bora island from the plane - beautiful shot by andy!

 Our first lunch - Mang Inasal

We decided to walk along the beach and this rest house captured our eyes! So, so, nice.

This was taken at the very end of Staion 3.  Daming langgam sa trunk ng coconut tree:)

Andy took our picture with the fab beach behind us. Ganda no? I love this shot!

Norbert and Irene walking towards the Grotto where Andy and I are waiting...Pagod na sila nyan! Haha:)

This is the Grotto but unfortunately you can't see Mama Mary behind us. Haha! Andy was so happy to be in the company of bikini-clad ladies! Yihee! Si Andy;)

After walking, more or less 1-2 km, we were so tired and Norbert, as usual, was covered with sweat! haha! I took his picture while he was wiping his sweat with tissue - Irene helped and created a Sweaty Tissue Monster! :)

Andy suggested for us to taste the shakes at Jonah's Fruit Shakes and Restaurant.  Some said that a trip to Boracay is not complete without Jonah's Shakes so go kami and we ordered. Irene, what did you order again? Was it Banana Choco Peanut or Chocnut Shake (as per suggestion of Andy:)?

Too bad, I wasn't able to take pictures of our shakes. Mine was mango shake. It was ok but it was a bit sour. I'm a sweet mango shake fan kaya I didn't finish all fo it.

This was taken dinner time. We ate at a Thai Restaurant. I forgot the name!

Super spicy Tom Yum/Tom Yam soup. I didn't eat it at all.  Bagoong fried rice is good;)

After dinner, we decided to stroll around D'Mall.

Irene and I on the bora bench. One of my favorite shots!

We shared our bench with Andy. Wawa Norbert, wala sya. Busy taking our pictures:)

I look thin and tall in this shot. Haha, thanks Norbert!

Do you see the ferris wheel behind us?

Crepes! Yum! We have to satisfy our cravings..

Irene's funny face.

Uy, kasama si Norbert. Yummy noo?:)

Subuan ng crepe - hmmm...sweet...something fishy is going on between these 2;)

It rained. I took a picture of the rainy bora evening...

Phew! What a first day!:) It was fun! Wait till you read my accounts on our 2nd day. See you in my next post...

Pre-Bora Story:)

I am not really a beach person. Maybe because of three reasons: 1.) I'm so afraid of the uncertain feeling that the water gives me. It's like something is going on down under and that any moment, the sand on the sea floor will just open and eat me alive!(freaky); 2.) there's the sand. I don't like having sand on my slippers (with my wet feet). I don't know why but it's just something that I'm not happy about when I'm in the beach; 3.) lastly, the amount of dirty clothes that I have to bring home after the trip - some still wet (my bathing suits, towels, shirt, shorts, sarong...) Well, I'm sure some of you who are beach lovers have raised eyebrows already because of what I wrote here...hehe, hear me out first:) I'm getting to the "I love the beach" part in my next blogs...

Since I'm working in a preschool, we do have sembreaks.     One of the 'few' perks of becoming a teacher (harhar!).  This is the only time when we can go out of town, rest and unwind. So last sembreak (November, 2007) I was scheduled to go to Dumaguete. I already have my ticket, all my bags are packed (and I'm ready to go...haha, song yun ha:) But something happened - untimely demise of a relationship - so to make the long story short, I didn't push through with my plans...

On the other side of the fence, Irene, Norbert, Ria and Andy made plans for Boracay.  It was a planned trip since they got their tickets and bookings months before our sembreak. Unfortunately, Ria wasn't here anymore that November. She was already working in Dubai. Syang the ticket! It' s not refundable.  So Irene asked me if I want to take Ria's place. I was hesitant at first.  I was still bent on going somewhere in Negros! Harharhar! Plus the fact that I'm not so crazy about beaches... After a few sleepless nights, I decided to go with them. I told myself "hey, not everybody gets the chance to go to bora for free (thanks to ria:)"  and besides I wanted to go out and have fun, to forget about problems, to to smile, to laugh, to live...just live...even for just 3 days....I did!!!!I'm happy:) Thanks to Irene, Andy and Norbert. Thanks to Ria:)