DAY 3 - PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN

we are departing empire suites hotel in a little bit and say goodbye to puerto princesa city. but, not without an account of what we did yesterday, day 3 of our trip here.

yes, we went to one of the world's seven wonders of nature, the puerto princesa underground river. and, proudly, and with a sheepish smile on my face, i came, i saw, and i conquered! it was not as scary as i thought it was and in fact, God must have looked kindly on me that day that He paved the way for a smooth-sailing trip from sabang wharf to the park, it was low-tide so it was more roomy inside the cave, we were the second group to enter the cave on that day so there was no stress in queueing, and it was so airy inside despite the darkness. i thank God that i mustered enough courage to marvel at one of nature's wonders. i am so blessed.

we capped our PPUR trip with a buffet lunch at sabang beach at penao resto. afterwhich, we proceeded to lawiswis organics to get some organic products. i got some unique finds like charcoal toothpaste, their ultima soap made of herbs and spices and minerals, their mosquito repellent, and a healing balm for mosquito bites. the owner of the place is an ilonggo.

(photos soon!)

while the rest went on to shop some more, i opted to explore mercado san miguel again and discovered isla de casoy coffee shop where i had their blueberry cheesecake. i was hoping to find a kasoy-laden cake but they ran out of their sans rival. the cheesecake was good, though! i also bought some kasoy for hubby.

we heard mass at the immaculate conception cathedral and had dinner at jollibee (yeah, i know. hehehe) instead of going to a vietnamese resto because everybody was tired already. but, before calling it a night, i wanted to end my memory with something local so we dropped by itoy's coffee shop for some hot choco and chocolate cake.

all in all, it was a great experience. puerto princesa is such a clean place with friendly people. the food is great (and not that expensive!) and the tourism industry is very organized. we were billeted at empire suites along rizal avenue and it was such an ideal place to be in, within walking distance of commercial establishments.

God is good. 

DAY TWO - PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN

day 2 of our puerto princesa trip had us up and ready at 7am for our honda bay tour.

the honda bay tour is an island-hopping tour. literally, in a span of around 2 hours, we hopped from one island to another! some of the islands, though, are closed to the public for "hopping" either because it's a protected area or owned by a famous male TV host with political connections.  nevertheless, we managed to visit three islands - starfish island, pandan island, and cowrie island. the islands were best for snorkeling but we were not equipped for that so we were there taking the usual "touristy" route of taking photos instead. but, at pandan, i couldn't resist and took a dip in its oh-so-salty waters! we also had fresh buko to quench our thirst. 

we left honda bay around lunch time and passed by kuyba almoneca, a meditation garden. the cave in this place prepped me for the bigger cave i would be witnessing the following day. :)

we quickly went back to our hotel famished. we decided to have lunch at hap chan, just across our hotel. i missed going to hap chan the last time i was in manila so it was such a welcome treat to be having their steamed fish fillet in garlic after a long time!

we took a rest at the hotel only to realize that we had an early dinner reservation at the famous ka lui resto (strictly by reservation only). we had to be there at 6pm or no later than 630pm, otherwise, our reservation will be cancelled. still full from our heavy lunch, we trekked to ka lui (some 15-min walk from the hotel) instead of taking the tricycle. the place is amazing! it has a filipino vibe with an indigenous feel to it. palawan is home to the tagbanuas and bataks and ka lui embraced its local culture to the hilt! be prepared to take off your shoes or slippers upon entering the resto. it's very clean and even going to the bathroom is such a visual feast so no worries. they even have a small shop selling local bags and wallets from rurungan sa tubod (artisan crafts). for our dinner, we had the ka lui special, catch of the day, and tubbataha salad. seafood galore! i focused on the salad and loved the combination of assorted fruits with fresh tuna strips and its signature palawan dressing. 

(still looking for the photos from another camera, will post soon!)

we were planning to go to sabang beach the next day in lieu of our supposed trip to the PP underground river but what do you know....sometimes, things really do go according to plan! 

what lies ahead in day 3?

I went to Puerto Princesa, Palawan and documented our adventures on Facebook sans pictures. This is a copy of what I wrote in my FB page with photos.

DAY ONE - PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN

i liked what the Poor Traveler said that there are no missed adventures just misadventures. 

well, you could say that to our trip here in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. so far, we've gone to a lot of places without any tour guide, banking on that spirit of "wherever our feet will lead us next."

on our first day, we went to the City Coliseum to process our permits to enter one of the world's nature wonders, the PP Underground River, which, suffice to say, is still wishful thinking at the moment. (not sure if this was brought about by my inner struggle.) across the coliseum is a newly-opened commercial establishment where we had our first meal for the day. the staff at Cafeliza Resto were so kind to help us with our planned city tour.

there are no taxicabs in PP, so our options for traveling are riding the jeepney or tricycle. it's been awhile since i rode both so i found it exhilarating but the fumes coming out of the tricycles are really not welcoming!

we went to Mitra's Ranch and Baker's Hill. Mitra's Ranch, the ranch of then former senator Mitra is open to the public for horseback riding. it also has a trampoline for rent and a zipline. we just went there to look at the view. then, off we went to Baker's Hill and hoarded a lot of their famous delicacies like hopia and pianono. we also went around their garden that has been meticulously arranged by a landscape artist. 

we stopped by mercado de san miguel where we marveled at the pearls both freshwater and south sea and other interesting souvenir items. we found an interesting-looking resto within the area, gypsy lair, and it was such a quaint, artsy-fartsy place that so reminded me of my bathroom (because of its sandalwood scent - the scent of my lulur body scrub!). the food didn't fail to impress us! we had pancit buko, pin-thai (their take on pad thai), asian spare ribs, and binakol. their guyabano shake was a hit but so were my lemongrass slush and banana ice cream. i loved the resto's vibe. they even have palm reading services offered on weekends! :)

we took a respite at the hotel and then went to a tiangge to look at other souvenir items like shirts, dried fish, cashew butter, and other indigenous items. we had dinner at kinabuchs grill and bar and had the usual pinoy fare - sinigang, lechon kawali, sinuglaw, pinakbet, fruit shake. good ambiance!

day 2 unfolds and as i am doing some additional research for our "suntok sa bwan" itinerary, i just thought i'd document what we had done so far lest my already failing memory fails me.

here's to a new day and to a new adventure!