Macau: A Colorful and Lovable Place

On our second day in Hong Kong, we got up early to catch the first ferry to Macau, the terminal was near where we stayed, it was an advantage for people who can’t get up early or move faster in the morning. Mandy (a colleague from where I used to work) helped us with regards to getting a cheaper price of the ferry. She got us a roundtrip ticket for HKD 230, way cheaper than the ones on the internet (I forgot how much but really, but again a big savings). There are different ports and ours would be at Coloane (near Venetian Hotel) terminal. The ferry was nice and spacious. LIV was still sleepy and was able to take a nap during the one hour ride. When we got off, a cold breeze surprised us in Macau. It was freezing, I had to lend V one of my scarves, as he wouldn’t stop shaking.
There were free busses to take us from the terminal to Venetian Hotel, the ride was less than 15 minutes. The hotel was breathtaking inside, but it was too cold and too foggy to appreciate it outside. Venetian hotel is just one of the most amazing hotels I’ve been to. The ceiling was designed with almost as real clouds and blue skies. It was just fabulous, it really felt like you’re in Europe.
We ate our lunch in the hotel’s affordable food court. LIV had Fat Burger and I had local Chinese food and V had Vietnamese food.
After checking out the hotel, we went out and find our way to Macau Peninsula to see the famous Ruins of St. Paul. We were able to take a bus and for another 15 minutes or so, we took another tram and we got off near Senado Square, we walked around, stopped by at some churches and finally saw Ruins of St. Paul. After taking tons of pictures, we walked around for few more hours and finally we head back to the ferry terminal earlier than our schedule. We were not able to see the beautiful streets of Macau at night, it was a shame to leave and not see the Little Las Vegas of Asia, but it was getting late and it would have a price difference if we purchase a ticket for 6:00pm trip. Macau is an amazing place with Asian and Spanish culture mixed together. I would love and visit it again and hopefully this time, see the lights and stay a little longer.

Siem Reap Cambodia: What a Wonderful World

November 2009
Just after breakfast at Royal Inn in PP, our service bus arrived to take us to the bus terminal. On the way we picked up 3 more groups for the same trip.

For another 6-7 hours bus trip, I made the wrong decision to settle my backpack on my lap, worried cause my netbook was on it. We had one stop over, we were near Siem Reap when we got off the bus to check on a local market. We were greeted with some seriously weird street food, crickets and spiders as appetizer!
It was interesting, but I wasn’t brave enough to try it. What got me were the mangoes, and they looked unusually huge mangoes. I am a fruit lover and especially on the sour side. I bought one mango and a pomelo for less than a dollar, it was on the street and was on a plastic (later on the mango got me pretty hard). Another 2 hours on the bus and we arrived at Siem Reap. We were greeted by a man wearing brown long sleeved shirt (most of them wear the same thing) with a big placard that says Golden Banana Resort. He helped us with our bags and led us to…tadaaa! A camry! How cool is that?!! We felt spoiled, we had a driver and comfortably sitting inside a car while other tourists negotiate with tuktuk drivers.
Just after few minutes, we arrived in our little paradise. Golden Banana is situated in a narrow street. They have 3 types of resort; Golden Banana bed and breakfast, Resort and the Hotel. We got our room in the resort where they have cold salt water pool. After checking in, we were brought to our room which for me is already a villa. 2 floors of Mexican/Spanish theme, on the first floor, there were two beds (1 king size and another bed just a bit smaller than the other one), we also had a closet, with safe box, and a door to the back side where the best seat on the house is located (the rattan swing). On the second floor, there’s a single bed, a tv, mini ref, a table with lamp and 2 big couch, the bathroom is also on the second floor. Every corner of our villa was sooo clean, I definitely felt at home and fell in love with the interior of the whole place.

We all changed into fresh clothes and headed off to Angkor Wat to watch the sunset. The receptionist arranged us for the trip either we take the sunset or the sunrise visit.
We arrived at the ticket booth with other tourist gathered around with their guide. We lined up and paid $20 for one day visit. The ticket should have your id picture, so after paying they will focus a camera on your face and without warning take your picture and voila! your "clueless look" is printed in your ticket.
Our tuktuk driver, Mister T asked us if we want to watch the sunset on the hill or just around Angkor Wat, we chose the hill. When you arrive in your hotel, they would usually let you choose between sunset or sunrise…its part of the $20 one day visit. We opt to go for sunset, rather than having to wake up by 5am.
We arrived at the hill side, our tuktuk parked somewhere and we started our hike. The hike wasn’t so bad, for about 10-15 minutes you will get to the top for the perfect view.
When we got there it was all ready full of people trying to get their perfect spot to witness the sunset. I am very adventurous and up for dirt and all and at first I was worried about Pin but I was pretty impressed when she started climbing the very steep stone stairs without any whining. I followed her up and we began our “ass-to-ass” climb. On top, it was hard for us to get the perfect view as most foreigners are too tall, we got to the side where though it was a dangerous spot, we thought, what the heck! It’s our only chance to get a view.
After the sun gave its fabulous performance of ending the daylight, the crowd gave a standing ovation and heart-warming applause. It was a time to practice gratitude, that a day just passed and you're still alive witnessing the $20 sunset.

We met Mister T and asked him to drop us off to the night market. He left us there apologizing that he couldn’t wait for us cause he lives far and it would be really late for him. We agreed and he told us that he would meet us early the next day to tour Angkor Wat.
I find the night market a bit expensive, the Russian market in PP was way cheaper, but I was able to haggle and bought shirts for LIV and my mom. I was of two minds about this vintage looking tiger eye ring…but I didn’t buy it and now I regret it. I should've *sigh*
We had dinner at one of the restaurants outside the market and ordered more Khmer food. It was a bit awkward for us, cause after they serve you the food, they would stand right beside your table and be there to assist you if you need more rice, its like having a personal butler which we're not comfortable of. It was just too gracious and we felt weird that someone would be serving us rice…we were not used to it. We gave the waiter that was assigned to us a tip, we don’t normally give tips but we felt that they were too kind to us even if we don’t look like foreigners to them.
We ended our first night at Siem Reap with some night shots by our resort’s pool.
The next morning, the group were up and ready to hit the road. Right before we finish breakfast we saw Mister T waiting for us outside. We grabbed our stuff and off we went to Angkor Wat. The morning weather was perfect, and surprisingly cold. We didn’t expect that kind of breeze as Pin video us as we hit the road and very much unprepared of the coldness.
We toured inside Angkor Wat and took pictures of the amazing structure of the famous temple. For the whole day, Mister T took us to different places and temples...it was all amazing but around late afternoon that was it for us. There were still a lot of temples to visit, but we thought we’re satisfied already and also…we were getting tired. I could feel my skin and the dust…not sure which one is getting thicker, I imagined the pool at our resort…the first thing I thought was to jump on it even with clothes on…or running to the pool like a mad man while getting it off.
That night we went off to the old market and along pub street to try out more Khmer food. We explored the streets with bookstores, restaurants, flea shops, old markets and more local delicacies. After a hearty dinner, we thought we could use a glass of beer or two, but because of the heavy meal, each of us just passed on it and decided to retire early.
The next day, we had the whole day to shop, explore and enjoy Siem Reap for the last time. We took off that morning and went around for our shopping spree at the old market. Everything in SR cost around $1 dollar. But if you use your charm and smile and smart ways of haggling you could even get 2 for a dollar, which I always do. I got some nice colored balls with little bulbs on it, an eco friendly bag to use for bottled water or jugs, of course…fridge magnets, scarves, and one of my prized possessions rights now…a brown fedora hat. I could say that it's pretty cheap to shop in Cambodia, it is a haven.
We had lunch back in our room, because as backpackers/budget travelers…we brought food, and I can advise it to anyone. We were not on a tight budget but it did helped a lot and got us to save more for shopping.

For our last night, we decided to hit one of the biggest bars along pub street called Temple Bar. A draft beer cost $50 cents, I fell in love with Siem Ream even more. From French fries to chicken barbeque and beef skewers! everything was superb that night.

The next day, we were up early and heading out to the resort’s restaurant for early breakfast. Leaving Siem Reap at 7am, it was a mixture of sadness and of course excitement, to go home and see LIV and show him my adventures. Our stay in Golden Banana resort felt like home, but the thought of ending our trip was the low part of it. We were picked up by the service van and we said our thank you and goodbyes to the kind staff of the GB.

The trip back to Vietnam was a pain. Unlike the ride from Saigon to Cambodia, it was only 6 hours and we stayed for a night in Phnom Penh. This time, it was a straight trip, only getting off once for the border. I will not recommend it to anyone, if we had another day, we would stop by PP again, stay for a night and continue our trip the next day. Almost 15 hours of bus trip is a pain, I felt my butt cheeks hurt, Pin threw up for half part of the trip, I got bored…really bored. That was the only ugly part of everything. I was too happy when we finally got off the bus, but Pin almost kissed the ground if she was only feeling much better. We saw couple of taxis lined up waiting for passengers. As soon as we had one, we filed up the small taxi and we were on our way to the airport where we decided to have our dinner. Jun and I arranged our stuff on the carts while Ina and Pin arranged the taxi fare. As soon as the taxi left I saw their faces with disappointment. We were overcharge the driver grabbed a dollar bill from Ina’s hand and claimed it was airport tax. The two were too shocked to react. The driver got away with $30 from us, and the trip only took 25 minutes. The first taxi who drove us from the same airport to the bus terminal charged us half of it, we were robbed! We whine and complained about it for full 15 minutes and just told ourselves…we’re almost home…so just breathe.

Our flight back to Manila was in time and arrived at Terminal 3 by 4:30am. My Pap was there to pick me up and I couldn’t wait to see LIV. When I got home, LIV woke up and went straight to the living room and called out, with hair standing from his head and was still half asleep when he saw me. My 8 year old ran to me and wrapped his arms around my body…aaah home.

for more info about the places we stayed in, please visit:

http://www.goldenbanana.info/ (in Siem Reap accomodation)
http://www.royal-inn.net/index.php (Phnom Penh accomodation)

For more Cambodge picture: http://islandermaui.multiply.com/

Phnom Penh : My One Night Stand with PP

November 2009

The much awaited trip of the year just happened. I am now sitting on a bus on the way back to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to catch our flight back to Manila. I am travelling with friends, Pin, Ina and Jun (the usual roadtrip group). We’re tired, can’t wait to be back in Manila and I can’t wait to see my little kid again. From November 20-25, we travelled from Vietnam to Phnom Penh for a night then to Siem Reap for 3 nights. It’s the only vacation we got and seeing the beauty of the famous Angkor Wat is worth to visit even just for a day than not see it all.

Straight from our day job, Pin and I went straight to Terminal 3. We waited for Ina and Jun to arrived, after swapping stories, we boarded our flight on time and we slept all the way to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to start off our trip.

We arrived in Tan Son Nhat airport at 1:30am, the airport was basically empty. The bus terminal won’t be open until 5:30, we found ourselves sleeping just right outside the airport. It was hard, we were sleepy, hungry, and we don’t have any choice but try to catch some rest before we head off to Cambodia. By 4am, we head off to the bus terminal, which was about 30 minutes from the airport. The taxi driver charged us $16 dollars for the ride, we were 4 so it was okay I guess.
We got to Sapaco tour bus terminal and inquired for tickets. From Vietnam to Phnom Penh, the bus ticket is $12 each, this comes with free one bottled water and a bread (either you get a croissant or other pastries). Pin and I were together while Jun and Ina took the seat in front of us. We settled on our seats and by 6:30 am off we went for our 6 hour journey.
It was almost 12noon when we reached PP. With the help of one overseas Filipino guy, we were safely turned to an English speaking Cambodian tuktuk driver. I told him our hotel name (Royal Inn) and showed him our address and with full understanding he said “okay, yes!” For the ride, our fellow Filipino whose name escapes me while doing this blog helped us to negotiate with price of the tuktuk ride. It wasn’t much, he told us $5, we’re okay with it.
We were too happy to get inside Royal Inn and find that Standard rooms all booked so we were upgraded to superior room! Wuhoo!!! And one of the best part…they have wi-fi access. We were charged $16 per person/night with breakfast, Royal Inn was clean, the hotel staff speaks English well, the bed was nice, and the room was great and spacious.
We agreed to meet after an hour downstairs. Pin and I hurried off to our room and took a decent shower…put some clean clothes after more than 24 hours of wearing the same clothes
We went out to look for our first decent meal.Just few steps from Royal Inn, there was a Korean Restaurant. After we order our food, they started filling our table with different types of kimchi, we were not sure if it was free or if we touch it, we buy it. But the kimchi was too delicious to be ignored…our food came and it was great! I loooove that Korean meal we had, it was superb! And one meal cost only $6, the kimchi was free, and after meal they served watermelon and cinnamon tea, isn't that cool?! And they were free, they only charged us $24 for every thing and we left $1 for tip cause we were blown away with how cheap it was.
On the way back to hotel, our tuktuk driver was waiting for us in front of our Inn. He took us to the Genocide Museum, it was one of the most interesting part of our travel, being able to walk around inside the walls of the notorious S-21 prison. A former school was transformed into a gruesome prison cell for thousands of Cambodian people who at that time were under the Khmer Rouge regime. It was devastating, sad and scary at the same time. There were pictures of all the victims that were tortured and killed, from children, adult, men, women, they were all killed by the orders of Pol Pot. I remember myself just standing on this particular board, I was just there, staring at the faces of those children who died in there, I took a moment and prayed for them. For a mom, it was heartbreaking. I once read Angelina Jolie’s book (Notes from my Travel) she talked about her experienced inside Genocide Museum. According to her, she couldn’t breathe, she needed to get out of the place as soon as possible as she was feeling sick just seeing the faces of the victims, and she had nightmares for days.
It was the same feeling for me…or for the rest of us. We didn’t even bother to check the other floors, one room can already give you a chill on your spine.
After the prison tour, we cancelled our tour to the killing fields. I think we had enough devastation. We asked our driver/guide to take us to Russian Market…to change the mood we thought shopping!
We got some nice but very cheap Cambodian silk scarves and some knick knacks to bring home. We then head off to the bus terminal to buy our bus tickets for the next day and after that…some relaxing coffee by the river…well, we went overboard to do a night out with break fast theme, cappuccino complete with basket of bread and jam. Cappuccino or Americano coffee cost about a dollar to 2.
Phnom Penh is a beauty to explore, unfortunately I only had a night to even think, breathe and flirt with it.
Back to Royal Inn before 9pm, we decided to rest for a while and meet again for a late snack, but everyone just ended up sleeping for the night.

Royal Inn info: http://www.royal-inn.net/accommodation.php

Hundred Islands : For your information its 123 Islands

Bitter about my friends pictures uploaded in Facebook, I made plans with my ever “go everywhere” boyfriend to hit another roadtrip.
I have never been to Hundred Islands and though I heard about it from some friends, never did I put it on my to-go list, but after browsing blogs and seeing amazing pictures of the place, I changed my mind and decided for it to be my first summer getaway. With two of girl pals (Cath and Rhea) and Dy, we waited at the bus terminal of Victory liner Cubao where we bought tickets for the last trip to Alaminos. We left Cubao at 10:50pm and set our bodies to the best sleeping/sitting position for the 5-6hours drive.
We arrived in Alaminos by 530am, got into our tricycles and straight to our resort at Island Tropic. I found the place thru Yahoo, the room was decent and very clean, and there were 3 double deck beds, for a total capacity of 6 persons per room. We got the island tour package for Php1,500 inclusive of full board meal and am/pm snacks, own boat, entrance fee to the islands, and one night accommodation, not bad at all. For the second night we only paid for the room of Php2,000 inclusive of breakfast. For me, the place is the perfect accommodation for anyone who would like to visit Hundred Islands.

We tried to sleep some few minutes but we couldn’t get any more power nap in our system, so after coffee and more chitchats, we changed to our island hopping outfit and off we went for a day at Hundred Islands.
We first went to Governors Island, another hundreds that we saw are jellyfish, the locals told us it’s that time of the year again. Our tour guide (2 boys) told us we have to climb the cliff...time to do cardio while on vacation by climbing 123 steps to reach the perfect view of the famous scattered islands. The huffing and the puffing to get to that spot was worth it, but the place was too small, it’s not advisable if there are lots of visitors at the same time to be on that place.

After clicking our cameras away, we went around to see another “hundreds”...bats! one islands are called Bat Island, there they were, sleeping soundly by the trees....yay! We told our boatman to bring us to another island where we can stay and if possible empty of tourists. Right across the Children’s Island is the small Scouts island. Surprised by the white sand, the crystal clear water...I couldn’t believe that I ignored Hundred Islands for so many years! Except for few dead jellyfish, the place was perfect. I loved it there. We decided to stay there until after lunch.

After some time the girls and I heard the little monsters inside our tummies and opened our lunch pack from Island Tropic. For morning snacks, we had suman and puto, and for lunch...it was heaven! Pinakbet (Ilocano style! Loveee ‘et!) with famous Alaminos longanisa on top and two big grilled boneless milkfish. Along with the lunch pack are drinks (water, iced tea and sodas good for 4) and more suman and puto for pm snacks.

We decided to pack up and say goodbye to our little island of paradise and asked our boatman to bring us to another tourist-less island. We passed by the crowded Quezon and right across we saw an empty place and decided to stay there for a little bit of sun and more swimming. This time we all enjoyed snorkelling, too bad, we all forgot to bring one, so we borrowed the one from the boatman’s kid and we alternate on using the kid’s abused goggles. I can advise that people should bring their own snorkelling gear whenever they go and for me, that would be the last time I would forget to bring it.

We went back to our resort few hours after lunch. Showered and decided to take a nap. Market trip that afternoon to check out the famous mouth watering Alaminos longanisa and bangus (milkfish) Dagupan. We decided that we would buy our pasalubongs the next day so it will not stink in our room.

Back in the resort for dinner, though I can’t remember what we ate, the quantity and the quality is just superb! The owner even gave us fresh tuna that they served as sashimi complete with wasabi and soy *yum* and tales of the Hundred Islands, where the resort owner revealed that actually, it’s 123 Islands. Dinner while we watch cable tv, the place was quiet, the waiters are helpful, the owner and his family are friendly and one thing I couldn’t forget was...I was full. Amen for good food!

Full and not up for sleeping yet, the girls together with dy and I went for a night stroll in their town plaza where they celebrated a local holiday (sorry I wasn’t able to get what was the celebration about) but there was live band, food stalls and tiangge (shopping stalls for souvenirs). After going around, we felt hot and sticky already, we remembered the vodka that we bought earlier, we thought ice, vodka, humid night...perfect!

The waiters of Island Tropic, were kind enough to give us freebies! (Ice and usage of their glasses and even an ice container). The Bar, salty chips and watching Hating Kapatid...it was a night of being laid back and just enjoying a relax time inside our room, or to sum it up, a gimmick for 30+. Our happy hour ended up as soon as I start yawning. We went to bed and snooze until we fell into a deep sleep...except for Cath.

The next day, Alaminos is bright and shiny and happy to greet the tourist! It was a perfect day for another beach trip. We had our mouth watering breakfast of Alaminos Longanisa, fried rice and fried boneless milkfish, it was again, yummy....

At 9 in the morning we were all set to travel for one hour to Bolinao where we decided to spend our last day. We went to town by tricycle and as per direction of the helpful waiters we got into the van going to Bolinao. For 55 per person and an hour travel, no traffic, we reached Bolinao town in no time! We got off the old Bolinao Church, but we didn’t go inside to respect church goers, as we were all in beach outfits. We arranged another tricycle ride going to Patar Beach and the old Cape Bolinao Lighthouse. This is going to be my second time to visit Bolinao, previous company outing was the first one.

After almost an hour of bumpy ride, we got off our 3 wheeled service and ask Manong driver to wait for us. For the ride, he was asking for Php500 for the whole trip, beach, lighthouse and caving, but the haggler in me acted out and we got him for Php400 (since we are 4 I think it was just fair, Php100 each).
Patar beach is beautiful, it was worth the trip. There were huts for rent and stores where you can buy food and ice. The sand was clean and creamy, though when you get to the water, its a bit rocky.
We stayed there until 2 in the afternoon and went to lighthouse and another stop over at enchanted caves (where hundreds of Koreans are dipping and we decided to skip the cold dip. Finally we found our way back to Alaminos, where we bought our pasalubongs before heading back to our resort. After packing our longanisa and milkfish with newspapers, we headed out to the plaza where we had a not-so-okay dinner...we should’ve stayed in the resort to eat. Anyways, Cath’s daughter was scheduled for a pictorial on her ballet recital so we decided to go home early than the original plan. We took a nap after dinner and 30 minutes before midnight, we were on our way to bus terminal waiting for the 12:30 first trip, but then a bus pass by so we went ahead to save time.

By 5:30 am we were strolling on the busy streets of Cubao. Cath waited for her husband to pick her up, while Rhea went to ride her bus going to Sta. Cruz Laguna and dy took me home to Pacita.

All in all it was a pretty great vacation, cause we were able to enjoy the sun and the beach of Pangasinan and by Sunday, we were already with our families and still have time to rest before we go back to being a corporate slave the next day.
For information of where we stayed and package tour : http://www.islandtropichotel.com/

Expenses:

1. Cubao-Alaminos (Victory Liner) - Php370 (one way)

2. From Alaminos bus terminal to resort via tricycle Php100 per person

3. Island Tropic Resort - Php1,500 (Island package tour)

-inclusive of overnight accomodation for 4/full board meal (1 day)/ entrance fee / boat service

4. Alaminos - Bolinao via shuttle van Php55 per person

5. Bolinao town - Patar Beach/Cape Bolinao lighthouse service (roundtrip) Php100 per person

6. Bolinao town - Alaminos town via bus (cause we missed the van) Php65 per person

7. Alaminos - Cubao Php350 each

Total: P1,415

Parque Espana Residence Hotel: 3 Bedroom Suite for one night only

I love hotels, the polite service of the crews, the nice comfy bed, the fluffy pillow, the smell of fresh flowers...it is pampered living.
I was given the one night stay at Parque Espana in Alabang, and who else are the perfect companions for these kinds of freebies? My boys! (Enzo and Dy).
As early as 10am we were already wandering around Alabang Town Center, I was looking for a really nice classic bag where I can use for work and play. After bag searching I contemplated with two different bags and I ended up not buying anything at all. The boys though had fun at Timezone.
After lunch we headed off to Parque and checked in where, the 2 bedroom suites are all fully booked, so they upgraded us to...tadah! 3 bedroom suite...soooo sweet!
Our room at 1605 was just perfect. We entered the room and all we could say was “aaah, wooow...” The room was huge! I looooved it.

The room has got that homey feeling, maybe because you have your own dining area, kitchen, maids room, living room, a bathroom right next to the kitchen, and 3 bedrooms (the biggest room has its own bathroom).
We stayed at our suite for the next few hours, Enzo got busy with my iphone while Dy and I relaxed in our room and watched a movie. By 3pm, we took Enzo to swim at the top floor of the hotel. It was cold but Enzo, just like any water baby, enjoyed his swim.

Posing inside one of the bathrooms

For afternoon snack, we head off to Cavite, where my soul sister introduced me some killer beef mami (actually not just beef, but everything on it, chicken, pork, even egg!) I’m not an avid fan of noodles, but for this one, I’ll make an exemption. We went to Festival right after Cavite, straight to Wendy’s burger (geez, aren’t we so hungry?) anyway, we bought some popcorn and bacon cheeseburgers for our movie night in our hotel.

Night view from our room

The stay at Parque Espana was nice, the hotel is not so big but the people were nice enough to feel that their service is really sincere.
I recommend Parque Espana to anyone who loves to stay in a hotel with a touch of your own home.

With my boys

Special thanks to Odette for a wonderful night at Parque!
For more info about Parque Espana, visit their website: http://parqueespana.net/

Nagsasa Cove and Anawangin: In a relationship in Zambales

I was pretty excited, this trip was a first, and the first after a looong vacation from my gypsy mode kind of life. January, my boy friend and I decided it was really time for a real roadtrip. No private car, no hotel accommodation and no airports. I haven’t tried travelling with someone you are involved with. I always travel with friends, family or work colleagues. I once went out of town with someone I was dating, many moons ago, though it was by land, I felt I was travelling first class while I sit on the passenger side of his X5 BMW, reading the news paper channelling the first lady wearing my white linen pants, white shirt and checking my email on my laptop once in a while.

Now, officially in a relationship, happier than ever, huge back pack on my bag, I went to Makati to meet him where I saw my guy sitting inside SM department store with his mountaineer look. If I think my backpack was huge...his was enormous. We went downstairs to the food court to have dinner before catching the 11pm bus ride. After shopping for some snacks Dy and I took a cab from Makati to Pasay Victory Liner bus terminal.
The place was crowded with people going home, travellers, tourists, and vendors. Dy and I settled in one area and waited for almost 4 hours. We did everything to kill time, from whining about my work, to watching videos through my phone, eating “taho” as we alternate in yawning. The bus finally parked in front of us, he went and checked in his mini house (as what I call his enormous backpack) in the bus compartment and finally settled ourselves in our seats while Dy covered me up with his “malong”. I fell asleep right away and besides 11pm is way past my bed time. The swaying of the bus, I was awaken with our bus swaying through Olongapo City. It was pretty scary, I tried to sleep it off but I couldn’t so I woke up Dy, he tried to ignore me but the charm worked eventually.

We finally reached the town of San Antonio at 3:30am. A tricycle driver holding a cup of coffee greeted us if we are going to Pundaquit. The tricycle was fast but not a short ride. I could feel the morning mist hitting my face, I was quivering, I could feel Dy’s arms turning like chicken skin. It was soooo cold, three trench coats will do it.
We arrived at 10 minutes before 4am at Wild Rose Beach Resort. The resort advised us to only pay P50 for the ride, but we decided to just give P100 since it was so early he wouldn’t get any passenger at that time when he goes back to San Antonio. The place was like a house turned into a resort. I called up our contact person, and he woke up and opened the gate for us.
He directed us straight to our room where Dy and I crashed in immediately and fell asleep until 6am.

After breakfast of tocino and sunny side up egg, we went to meet our boatman who was also recommended by the resort. We paid 1,500 for the boat ride to Nagsasa and Anawangin Cove. We left at mid morning and the waves were still manageable.
Nagsasa Cove is an hour away from Pundaquit. We passed through Anawangin and saw campers on the island. Nagsasa is beautiful, we were greeted by the locals and stayed on one of the tables and chairs owned by Wild Rose Resort. Dy and I took a walk with my camera and tripod and walked around the beautiful cove of the island. As I’ve read through some bloggers, the place doesn’t look like your typical beach in the Philippines. The pine trees around the island stood out and I could smell that strong pine scent. After taking pictures, Dy and I went ahead to visit one of the falls near the island. Our guide, Lito, an aeta who lives in the island walked ahead of us, not really caring if we can keep up with him or not. But it was okay, Dy and I had fun while we pass through tall grasses, a stream with huge rocks and a lot of carabao poop. The falls was really small but really cold, Dy never dared to go down, while I did my best jumping style into the water (too bad Dy didn’t caught it in my camera).

After lunch we headed to Anawangin and were greeted by campers and mountaineers. We even saw a friend of ours, Adie who were on a trekking trip with other mountaineers. Originally, we planned to stay overnight at Anawangin, we had our tent and that’s about it, lacking from other things we decided that we will just do our camping some other time.

We left Anawangin Cove in the afternoon. We braced ourselves to a roller coaster ride back to Pundaquit as we hold on to each other and praying we make it in one piece. Several times it felt like we were about to tip over, I was pretty nervous about the ride and thankful that Liv wasn’t there cause it might scare him and not ride a banca for the rest of his life. The waves were big and strong, it was making our trip longer than it should take. Finally almost near the shore, a group of local people helped us to safety by pulling our banca. It’s a warm feeling that I was there to witness that people still help one another. My Gratitude Highlight of the trip. It didn’t matter if Dy and I were soaking wet when we finally reached Pundaquit, we were safe.
The next day, we went strolling down the beach. It was windy, drizzling and dark clouds were covering the islands. As early as 7am the waves were crashing and forming foams on our feet. We took pictures of surfers and watched them enjoying their rides. It looked like the day will be rainy, we just hoped that the campers and everyone there will be safe all throughout their trip. For me, it was still a great day, to be able to experience that trip with Dy. Our first roadtrip was a success and of course, romantic, we couldn’t wait to plan another one soon.
We got home the same day, my ever loving Dy took me home, I was feeling sick and really tired (that very moment, I was soooo thankful I have my boyfriend to take me home). Zambales is another trip we are sure to come back. I will have Lorenzo with me (and his life jacket) and definitely we will stay in Nagsasa Cove for a night.