Philippine Travel Notes

and remember... “For your information, please contact inside, Roy” hahaha! Oh well… the… Oh well…

That was such a grand week roaming around the city and towns of the north. And I had to start moving closer to home (in Cebu) so I could do my laundry, download pictures, clean the house, post my stories before going on the next trip – which incidentally was due in three days. Hah! But it was not just a straight sleep-through trip to Cebu. There were other places I wanted to see hehe! Medellin Route First on the list was Medellin. On arrival at the Maya wharf from Malapascua, I walked aimlessly around while waiting for a Ceres bus. Yeah, I know now… you see at least one bus no more than 20 minutes of waiting. When the yellow thing arrived, I only waited for passengers to get off and immediately took front seat! But when I checked, it was going to Cebu via Bagay. Ack! The driver was helpful though. He told me to just take this ride anyway and he would drop me off at Daanbantayan’s bus terminal (yes, there is such) where I can connect to other Ceres buses that go via Medellin. Alright, I...

As anywhere, leaving (a place) is always a bad mood if I enjoyed my stay. This was exactly that day. Ah! I skipped breakfast today in favor of nursing a little hangover. Oh c’mon now… was that really a hangover or I just didn’t want to accept that it was the final day where I had to start picking myself up prior to finally returning to reality?! Asuuus! Sometimes I lie to even my very self, Hah! Was on the beach at about 9AM and that was quite uncommon. I usually catch sunrises in my sojourns, right?! Anyway, I dabbled between wading at the little waves, observing/conversing with a lady tending to a fishnet near exotic’s imaginary perimeter boundary, and playing with her three children happily romping around or swinging themselves at a hammock amongst the young coconut trees. Oh, about 9:45AM, the mighty stomach finally grumbled. I sat at my usual seat on Exotic’s restaurant (on 2nd day, waiters already know your favorite place… this was day 3) and thought Exotic’s Mango Crepe was righ...

The tour-after, I lazed at the beach in front of exotic, dipping at times, just looking out at the comings and goings of the dive boats, humming in the hammocks, drinking beer and whatever else I could try and test during this grand solo holiday! Hey, I even tried rowing the smallest of exotic’s boats - yes, you just grab them or the kayaks as you please and row to your heart’s content. There are only two rules: don’t go far and dock those things properly so they don’t drift away! Splendid afternoon. After freshening up, dinnertime was decidedly at La Dolce Vita. How heartbreaking! They had no electricity! The girls told me their genset burst to death just yesterday. Argh! But they said they could still cook for me (there was no other guest). I was about to say I’d rather go elsewhere when it started to drizzle. Ack! So I stayed on with a beer at first and later ordered fried pork chops. Good enough but nothing to holler about! I thought the bar over at the top of TSD’s dive shop was a...

This is just a single island. After asking around and reviewing what is there to read on the web, I debated on how best to roam it. Going around by land emerged winner! How? Via a habal habal ride. I got choices on where to get my habal-habal ride. Should it be from Robin (I met at the volleyball area and his uncle has both boat and habal habal) or contacts of the hippocampus girls or contacts of the sunsplash girls?! The prices were just about the same or a few pesos different. The latter was best choice since Daylin (a wait staff) said she will come with us on her own motorbike as tour guide. Whoa! They were late. But off we went immediately upon fetching me. Hey, I noticed that though Malapascua is rather small (if you bike around), the roads are not straightforward like in other islands where these generally parallel to the coastal area. Plus, main road, minor road, feeder road or private road generally looks the same as Malapascua is not generally well trodden and has no concr...

Yours maybe different, but here was mine hehe. After playing with the little waves and staring at the boats and the moon at day’s end, I showered and lazed about exotic dive resort a bit. The friendly waiters asked if I wanted to already have dinner and I said not yet. I instead went looking for an internet connection – which I have learned earlier is available at this resort. Indeed it is! Done “registering” by filling-out a little sheet of paper, I was ushered to an upper floor (3rd?) of the main building where the “internet room” is located. Purpose, to download pictures from my memory cards and transfer then to my external drive, plus, to get a snippet at what was happening in the whole world outside of Malapascua. That was easily done. I did note of things you may want to remember when heading to that room. There are only two PCs, so you wait if they’re in use – which you will never know until when! I was lucky there was no user during my visit. A waiter did tell me that should th...

After a much needed shower and hefty lunch at Exotic, I thought a leisurely stroll along the beach and nearby places was in order. This was in fact “per schedule” on my little itinerary. So I went forth. And am too happy I did! I got to see and experience things that are not usually written on the web by those who have been to the island. Many may call these the “daily life” on the island. I call it the “wonderful life” that people live on this island. And these such things added to the memories that I cherish about Malapascua – hence, I will return one of these days! First off, I was just emerging from the resort to roam and the Exotic crews over at the water’s edge caught my attention. I sat on the sand under a Talisay tree to watch them. These are the guys in red shirts with the resort’s logo small in front and big at the back. No they’re not waiters nor room boys as those guys sport polo shirts with flowery prints. These red shirted folks are more on the back-office or utility ...

After the worrisome trip to this island, I was ready to roam, even as I looked for accommodation. The ‘Arrival Walk’ – a tour in itself! This was planned. I decided days before that I would walk from the Malapascua boat station upon arrival and go looking for accommodation. While I have targeted at least 4 of them resorts, I was open to other choices or possibilities. Called some of them while I was still in Cebu and learned that this was a very lean season. That meant, anywhere I go, there must be some room or bed that I can bunk in. Oops, there was something I forgot to consider in my plan – the hot Mr. Sunny Sun… argh! But as if to punish myself for that, I went on walking along the little paths towards the right where most of the beach-front resorts are situated. While it was generally fun on my standards, it was not at all a leisurely walk by the beach since the noontime sun was relentless. Plus, it is not actually very easy walking with a backpack that makes you heavier and s...