Latest Happenings

HIYA GUYS!

Oh my goodness, it's been AGES since I last posted something. Yeah, right, I've said that three posts ago, but it's true -- I've been busy lately with school stuff, extra-curriculars, work and many more, so enough talk, on with the updates...

Last month our school participated in the Conflicts of Law, an inter-school sports and events competition. One of the events that the school joined in was the debate competition. I was one of the debaters for the school, with my boyfriend and another classmate of mine.

Mind you, this was the first time that our school competed in any debate competition EVER. There was a little bit of pressure from our part because of that fact, but our adviser told us to just enjoy the moment and learn from the experience because this will be the foundation of the debate club that we will be establishing.

Long story short, we did not win the competition but it was okay. We did learned from the experience, and even for me, that is all that matters.

The Debate Team (plus our student adjudicator)

The debate team in action (actually while formulating our arguments before the debate proper starts) Photo courtesy of Dr. Cyril Consuelo

More updates from my life when you click 'Read More'

The (Anti-)Solo Traveler Diaries (PPUR+ Edition): THIS Is Why We're Here

Today, whenever you say you've been to Palawan, the first thing people will ask you is, 'Have you been to the Underground River?' Because ever since this landmark made it to the list of the New Seven Wonders of Nature, everyone -- from locals to foreign tourists -- wanted a glimpse of what's inside the 'cave with a river.'

I was one of them.

And seven months ago, I was beaming in pride to say that 'I went inside the Puerto Princesa Underground River.

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The road leading to the place was a long one though. The underground river is located in Sabang Island, some 50km south of Puerto Princesa city proper. So it was a pretty long ride from the lodge to the port that will bring us to the island. That included a stopover, which is an opportunity to 'do our thing,' because such activities has a charge upon reaching the port.

Some souvenirs for sale

A baby goat

Taratitat is the name of the coconut stand, not the talkative person

It was around 10:30am when we got to the port. The line for the boat ride going to Sabang Island was also a long one, but we did not get bored easily because of, well, photo-ops.

Miss Red Hat...

And Mrs. Pink Hat

 Upon reaching the island, I was amazed at how soft and silky (is this a skincare product ad?) the sand feels. Reminds me so much of the white sand in Boracay, but this one is much cleaner, and 'pure.'

Before getting to the river itself, we have to put our names in the 'guest list' of the visitors' lobby near the entrance. After that, we walk on a long stretch of wooden path (much like a boardwalk) leading to the 'lagoon.'

Along the way, I saw different plants and creatures such as exotic orchids, monkeys and a monitor lizard or bayawak. Taking photos of these animals are prohibited so I do not have pictures of them. But I swear, the bayawak I saw was so big, it was almost the size of a young (not baby) crocodile.

Read before proceeding...

The wooden path leading to the river

I say 'lagoon' because there was a shallow (read: knee-deep) lagoon leading to the river. The guide, however, says that the river itself was deep, and more of that later on.

Blue lagoon over here...

To preserve the integrity of the place, the flow of visitors are regulated; thus only two boats with ten passengers each enter the river each time. But since there was a line (again, so spell PUP: Pila Ulit Pila), we have to wait for our turn to ride the boat inside the river. That also means another round of cam-whoring!

To save precious battery life for the more important things, I used my phone camera for the photo ops of Team Grade Six. I used the camera to take the picture of a school of fishes in the lagoon.

Yes, the water is so clean you can clearly see these almost-transparent fishes.

Finally, it's our turn to ride the boat. Each boat is powered by a single oar; and has a high-powered flashlight attached to the front which serves as the guide light throughout the dark 'cave.'

Here we go...

According to our guide, the underground river spans 8.2km, but only one kilometer of it is accessible to tourists. The rest is open only for further research. Also, some areas are closed due to its extremely low elevation. And just like what I have mentioned, the water inside the cave is deep -- human deep, actually.

Seven months after visiting the underground river, I could not bring myself to describe in detail what was like inside. For this reason, I post some pictures of the inside of the underground river. But I still highly suggest that you visit the place and see for yourself.

Most of the things found inside the underground river consists of stalactites (above) and stalagmites.

Can you see the Virgin Mary here?

How about here?

Was that a jellyfish?

Looks like a bird perching from a branch...

A mushroom? Another jellyfish?

A cacao fruit (where cacao seeds come, where chocolate and cocoa butter are sourced)

Another jellyfish?

It's faintly lighted, but could you see the Holy Family?

It's a banana heart! I wonder if I could open my mouth from above this one and let an amulet drop from it. (Captain Barbell a la Edu Manzano?!)

The things you see here are not man-made -- they are formed by years of lime deposits brought about by droplets of water.

Now you know why people voted for PPUR to be included in the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

The (Anti-)Solo Traveler Diaries (PPUR+ Edition): Falling for Estrella Falls

I've always been fascinated by waterfalls -- for me it looks amazing how the simple act of water spilling out from a cliff creates a veil-like effect. That is why I'm pretty excited for the destination of our second day in Palawan -- the Estrella Falls.

Located in the municipality of Narra and some 95 kilometers from Puerto Princesa, Estrella Falls is a destination commonly offered in Palawan package tours. And for a good reason -- it's simply stunning. I think every Palawan local would recommend this destination because after all, Palawan is more than just their underground river.

There goes that red hat again...

Mi abuela, soy en mi madre...

The people in falls area cautions us on monkeys such as this one, as they are notorious for getting stuff from cottages when the people aren't looking. Better keep the camera now...

One word: breathtaking

And looking back, I think this particular day was one of the few days that I dressed more decently than the others. Well, almost.

Is the Royal bottle a prop on this pic?

I'm wearing a bikini underneath this cover-up. Don't ever ask me for the pics without the cover-up, I'm telling you...

Pwede na bang pang-calendar? :P

The (Anti-)Solo Traveler Diaries (PPUR+ Edition): Sleepless in Puerto Princesa (II)

Even during the flight to Puerto Princesa, my eyelids still feel heavy because of lack of sleep. But just like on our way to NAIA, I could not understand why I could not fall asleep. I thought, maybe I could crawl into the bed upon arriving at our lodge...

Or so I thought.

Upon getting out of the Puerto Princesa airport, we loaded our luggage into the van (which has been waiting for us for, like, an hour), hopped into it and drove to our lodge. Which was just a few steps away from the airport, by the way. And when I entered the room assigned to us, I thought I could just lie in the bed and sleep until the next day.

But I was wrong. Because we still have a city tour.

First stop: Crocodile Farming Center

Palawan is known for their abundant flora and fauna, and what better place to discover more of them than right here. Don't be fooled by the name -- this place houses more than crocodiles. They have birds, monkeys and animals that are endemic to the province. And for the record, the biggest croc they have here is more than half the size of the infamous Lolong. *sorry*

There was a crocodile captured the same size as Lolong was. This was his 'leather'... 

And his bones

These are baby crocodiles...

That can grow as large as this one...

Welcome to the Nature Park!

A bear cat

The hornbill or kalaw

The Palawan parrot

An eagle!

Second Stop: Mitra Ranch

It is named as such because it is owned by the legendary House Speaker Ramon Mitra (which reminds me of a lolo that any grandchild would want to have). The view is simply breathtaking, but if you want to see more of this view (and if you want a bit of an adventure early on in your Palawan trip), I suggest you go ziplining.

The team and the breathtaking view from the ranch

My attempt for a jump shot

My most pa-tweetums pose ever

Third Stop: Baker's Hill

What started out as a bakery turns into a mini-theme park this side of the forest city. But amidst the mini-butterfly farm and attractions that caters to children, I say go for the bakery to taste their to-die-for baked products. I highly recommend their hopia.

This is actually a feeding ground for butterflies. The flowers are floating on water.

The house at the (Baker's) Hill...

Last stop: Plaza Cuartel and Puerto Princesa Cathedral

There happens to be a mass going on when we arrived at the cathedral. We decided to sit at the pews and participated for the rest of the mass. Afterwards, we proceeded at the Plaza Cuartel, a park which was once a prison compound for American prisoners of the Japanese during the World War II. Actually, I could not imagine how a park this beautiful was once a prison. There might be people who died there, so imagine how creepy it might have been, had it not for the view of the sea. And with the cathedral just walking distance from the plaza, it was like having a cemetery of sorts near the church. By the way, the cathedral reminds me so much of San Sebastian Cathedral.

Smiling at the Plaza Cuartel. See the waters at the upper left corner?

The Palawan Cathedral

So that ends the city tour. Upon returning to our lodge, I immediately fell asleep on the bed. Little did I know that they went to a nearby resto for dinner. When I saw the photos, I immediately regretted that I slept immediately. :(

Guyabano shake pa lang, oh!

The (Anti-)Solo Traveler Diaries (PPUR+ Edition): The Back Story

 It took me two years before I rode the plane again for a trip out of town. By then, I'm already earning my own money, but then not that enough to go out of town whenever I wish. It's because I'm also studying law, thus most of my expenses go for there. But when an opportunity to travel comes to you, would you have second thoughts about it? In my case, I sorta have to, but nevertheless went for it.

The destination: Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

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The Palawan trip was offered to me at a pretty last minute -- the trip was on April, the offer was made to me on February. It was because one of the Team Grade Six backed out from the trip for some reasons. By that time, the said member has paid a certain amount for the plane ticket. So all I have to do is to pay the remaining amount. But I was still astounded at the amount that I have to pay -- around P2,500. Whereas I was able to score a round-trip ticket to Palawan at more than half that price during a mock booking.

Anyway, I accepted the offer, because I would only have to pay in installments, since the plane tickets are paid by credit card. The same way goes to the accomodations, where Mom pays for me for the moment, and would have to pay her later on.

I almost backed out of the trip because of the summer classes that I took back then. However, upon learning that you are only allowed one absence per subject, and since I'm not the kind who skips classes at a whim, I decided to spend those absences in this trip.

And so the trip to Palawan commenced.

The (Anti-)Solo Traveler Diaries (Visayas Edition): The Long (and Hard) Way Home

If you've been following my (Anti-)Sole Traveler Diaries series, you might be wondering in my last post why we're taking a bus on our way back to Manila instead of riding a plane like we did on our way to Bora.

This is because the Team Grade Six decided to book a one-way plane ride to Caticlan. Probably because the promo is only available for Manila-Caticlan and not on Iloilo-Manila. Or maybe they intended to forego the Caticlan-Manila ride to save money.

Whatever the reason may be, they are about to learn their lesson the hard way. Siyempre, damay na rin ako sa bad decision nila bilang kasama ako sa trip, 'di ba?

As I have mentioned before, Dingle, Iloilo is four hours from Caticlan by bus. But because I'm starting to get sleepy (my MP3 player could not help me perk up this time), I started to take pictures of the scenery from the outside of the window.

Once we're in Caticlan port, we wait for the bus driver to book the RORO (roll-on, roll-off) ship tickets for his passengers. While waiting, we decided to take our lunch at an eatery near the dock.

Note: for those who are unfamiliar with this mode of transport, most, if not all, bus trips to Visayas and Mindanao get by through the RORO ships -- ships that lets vehicles get in and out of the ship by 'rolling.' Thus, the term 'roll-on, roll-off' or RORO. This mode of transport allows buses to travel into different island destinations, albeit longer (a trip to any Visayas destination can take up to 24 hours).

Upon getting the ship tickets, off we board into the RORO, heading to Roxas, Oriental Mindoro.

We're riding up there!

Caticlan port as viewed from the ship

Onboard the ship

It was almost nightfall when we got to Roxas. I did not bother to take any more pictures from this point on, because flash photography is battery-consuming and we do not have easy access to power outlets during the entire trip (for charging batteries).

We got into the bus again for a road trip to Calapan that spans another four hours. During the trip (and even as we head to Caticlan), I was mulling my thoughts of getting down in Calapan, ride my way to Naujan, my father's hometown, stay at my grandmother's place and remain there until May. However, thinking that the idea might spell major logistical nightmare, I postponed my plans.

It's practically bed time when we get to Calapan, so it was no surprise that we have to be waken up for us to know that it's time to get off the bus again. We obliged, although we were like zombies as we walked off the bus.

Fact about me: I find it hard to fall asleep again after my sleep has been interrupted. So I remained wide awake during the entire ship ride to Batangas City, and even as we rode our way to Manila.

We got to SM Fairview (bus driver was persuaded to take us to SM Fairview instead of getting off at Cubao) at past 12am. It also marked a new day... which is also my 20th birthday! Because of that, the Team Grade Six sang 'Happy Birthday' to me before reaching our destination.

I was dog tired when mom and I got home. But I did not mind. I had a hell of a good time, and was able to do new things before I turn 20. Good enough for me. :)

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So that ends the Visayas edition of The (Anti-)Solo Traveler Diaries series. On my next post, we're heading back to Luzon, to one of my favorite destinations in the Philippines. I'll give you a clue: I've mentioned that place somewhere in my Bora-Iloilo documentation. Enjoy guessing!

Oh, let me remind you that please feel free to comment in my posts for questions or anything. You may also shoot me an email at navyisthenewpink@gmail.com, like the Navy is the New Pink page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.