Sun-Kissed Journeys: Palawan Adventures
THE NEST
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| Palawan's Symbol |
I can still remember those days back in elementary or high school when I get to read about Palawan, and how it is famous for its beautiful beaches. Since then, I always thought that traveling to such places is very far-fetched because we didn't have money to spare for such leisure activities. Fortunately, budget airlines made it possible by offering up promos. Although the airfare is just one aspect of the expenses to consider, it still helped save a huge deal of money.
Day 1: Sunny Disposition
My travel buddy, B1, and I arrived at the Puerto Princesa Airport at around 11 in the morning. When we got there, the first thing that we did was bombard the person in charge of the tourist information counter with questions. The airport is really small, so that when you enter it upon your arrival, you'll immediately see the tourist information counter. Since we didn't make any plans for this trip, the obvious thing to do was to ask questions. Fortunately, the person on duty that day was very accommodating. He answered all of our questions with glee even though we were just Filipino travelers. He even gave us a city map and recommended some spots to visit.
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| Singaporean Garlic Shrimp |
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| Mexican Pork Ribs |
We headed first to Turissimo Garden Hotel where we decided to have our lunch. The hotel was just a 5-minute walk or less from the airport, and is situated just in front. The place was really comfy, what with all the vintage decorations happening in the four corners of the resto. The staff are very cheerful and would immediately cater to customer needs. The place, however, is open and is not air-conditioned. Thus, flies may pester you occasionally as you eat. But what made this lunch experience awesome was the food that they serve. We ordered Mexican pork ribs and Singaporean garlic shrimps, each served with rice. Each serving of viand was good for two. So, we shared the meal, which was worth ~185 pesos per person. The food was really tasty; the shrimp was crunchy and the serving was generous; the pork ribs were huge, tender, and really juicy. For a reasonable price, we got our tummies full and happy.
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| Immaculate Conception Cathedral |
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| Entrance to Plaza Cuartel |
We then headed to do some exploring of the city. Word of caution, though, if the tricycle drivers know that you're just a tourist or a traveler, they would take advantage of it. According to our friend who lives in PPC, tricycle ride is only worth 8 pesos per person and could go as high as 10 pesos. But normally, if you're gonna go to the airport, it can go as high as 25 pesos per person. We first went to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, then to the Plaza Cuartel just in front and to the side of the church. The blue cathedral is the perfect example of a simply built Gothic church. During our visit, it was under renovation, so the facade was not really picturesque.
The Plaza Cuartel features newly restored ruins of an old garrison during the Japanese invasion. Although the park looked simple and green, it holds a horrific historical event in which around 150 prisoners of war inside a tunnel were burned alive by the Japanese. A statue now stands erect there bearing the names of all the victims.
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| Plaza Cuartel Commemorative Statue |
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| Citybay Walk |
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| Citybay Walk |
After taking some pictures at the plaza, we walked towards the seaside to visit the Citybay Walk. It was a rainy day, so we didn't get to fully appreciate the views of the bay. Also, the locals recommend that you visit the latter 2 spots at night since there are lots of gimmick there come sundown, more especially, in Citybay Walk. The city is pretty small and the tourist spots are pretty much at around walking distance from each other, so you can just opt to walk from one destination to another.
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Cookies and Cream Smoothie
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Since, as I have mentioned, it was a rainy day, we decided to head to one of the best coffee places of the city, Cafe Itoy's. The place is rustic and comfy, and has 2 sections; an air-conditioned section, and an outdoor section where you can puff some smoke while you chat with your friends. They offer a wide variety of drinks, and pastries for the same prices as that of Starbucks. It was where we finalized our itinerary for the rest of our Palawan trip.
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| Cafe Itoy's Interior |
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| Souvenir Hub |
At around late in the afternoon, we proceeded to Mercado del San Miguel to check out Delma Pearl and Souvenir Shop, and the newly opened souvenir hub just in front of the former.We browsed some souvenirs for a while so that we know where we can come back on our last day to buy
pasalubong. The place also includes an art cafe, an Island Souvenir branch, a convenience store, etc.
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| Mercado del San Miguel |
Come sundown, since we had to have a taste of the local food, we went to Kinabuch's Grill and Bar and ordered their best seller, Croc Sisig, and a serving of Tamilok. As was mentioned to me by my travel buddy, there are only 2 places here in the Philippines where you are really allowed to eat crocodile sisig, and it's in Davao and Palawan. So we really had to try it.
However, there was really nothing special about the meat, which for me, tasted like chicken. Although, I'd have to add that Kinabuch's offers really tasty sisig. The Tamilok on the other hand, which allegedly got it's name from 2 Americans who were conversing (one was pointing the famous woodworm to his companion while saying, "Tommy, look!" Hence, the name), tasted just like oyster, except it was long and thin. Fifteen minutes after eating such delicacy, I had to go to the bathroom.
So as a word of caution, make sure you have a strong tummy before you try this one, or make sure that you don't have a long journey after tasting it so as not to torture yourself all throughout the journey.
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| Tamilok |
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| Croc Sisig |
We were then fetched by our van for a 5-hour ride to El Nido. It was still raining by that time, which was already 8 in the evening. We were caught in a moderate to heavy traffic while around the vicinity of Robinson's because of some flooded areas, and since a lot of people were trying to get home.
The trip was very tiring, which may be due to the fact that we drove too fast; the van felt like it was flying while we traversed sharply curving roads; so I didn't really dare let myself sleep because I worry that we might get into an accident. There are 2 stop-overs from PPC to El Nido: one at Roxas, and another one is at Taytay. We arrived at our Inn in El Nido at around 1 in the morning. We just unloaded some stuff as we settled in at our comfy room, which highly exceeded our expectations, and then retired for the night.
Here are some snapshots of our room.
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| Bathroom |
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| Couch at the corner |
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| View of the outside from the bed |
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| Couch for chilling |
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| THE Bed |
Watch out for the stories of the remaining days of our stay in Palawan.
- xo
