1st day - ALAMINOS
After office on Jan. 30, we (group
of 4pax) set Jollibee 5th Ave as our meet up point. From there we
rode a bus to Victory Liner terminal in Cubao(P21). Upon arriving, we saw the
long lines of people waiting for their bus to depart. We went straight to the
counter and inquired about the trip to alaminos. Scheduled trips are 10:50PM
and 11:40PM. Just imagine our reactions when they said that both scheds were all fully booked! Try na lang daw naming mag-chance
passenger. So with worries on our minds, we lined up along with other
passengers. First Bus came and we eagerly went near the entrance. Sabi ng
kundoktor, unahin daw muna yun may mga reservations so naghintay pa kami.
Nagdagdag na rin sila ng bus na bibiyahe so dun kami nakasakay. We left cubao
at around 11PM. Trip was uneventful, mabilis lang and we reached Alaminos
terminal ng 4:10AM. Pagbaba ng bus maraming mangungulit sa inyo na trike.
P10/pax lang ang trip if around town proper but if to lucap wharf, P20/pax. Wag
kayo magpapadaya. You can have early breakfast sa may Angies’, just beside the
Victory Liner terminal. May bakery din na katabi so bili na dun ng bread
pang-almusal.
From the terminal, I called City
Hotel to inform them na mag-early check in kami. They said na ok lang since may
available naman sila. Upon arriving at the hotel/inn, we were greeted by their
receptionist and were led to our room. Basic room, 1 double bed, 1 double deck
w/ cr, aircon, cabinet, chairs. Towels, soap and shampoo were provided. We were
asked to fill up a form and there we learned that they’ll be charging us
another P1600 for the early check in up to 12noon. I asked them if meron silang
“short time” and they said meron, P500 daw for 3 hours. 4:30AM na noon, we’ll
be checking out at 7:30AM. Sakto lang for our island hopping trip, so yun na
ang kinuha namin. And because we’ll be checking in ulit after island hopping for the
overnight, they allowed us to just leave our bags in the same room we’re
staying in, instead of sa reception. So dun pa lang nakatipid na kami since for
basically the same purpose (pag iiwanan ng gamit), we were charged P500 instead
of P1600. Yehey! We were able to have a few hours sleep and recharged before
island hopping.
At 7:30AM, we left city hotel for
lucap wharf. P20/pax ang trike and travel is around 15-20mins. Pagkadating sa
wharf, may mga tourism employees na that assisted us. May form na papasign,
then you’d need to pay P20/pax for the tourism fee. Dun ka na rin pipili ng
boat na kukuhain niyo ang what type (if Day tour or Service Boat). We chose
service boat and got the small one for P1400. The boat fee will be paid sa
boatmen na mismo after your tour. They’ll issue a receipt for that and then may
mga magtatanong na sa inyo if may gusto kumuha ng snorkling equipments. Set is
P250 with snorkel, mask, aqua shoes and lifevest. If lifevest lang P50. May
lifevest din naman sa boat pero pang navigation lang yun, meaning if mag swim
kayo, di niyo magagamit yun provided ng boatmen. You’d need to rent your own
from the wharf.
Food can be bought from the wharf
(carinderia). Pipili ka lang ng food and sila na magpa-pack para sa group niyo. In our case, we bought some
shrimp, fish, salted egg, rice and 2l water for P395 for the 4 of us. So parang
P100 lang per pax, puwede na. Sila na
rin nagprovide ng plastic cups, spoon and fork. Walked to the wharf and talked with the
boatmen. Sabi nila naubusan na raw ng small boat and they’ll give us a medium
boat na lang daw at P1500 (original price – P1800). We agreed na rin since baka
di kayanin if small boat yun gamitin. Medyo malaki kasi ang alon since open sea
na yun parts ng 100 islands.
1st stop is Governors
Island. May part dito na you’d need to climb 123 steps before reaching the
viewing deck. Nice view, ok dito mag-pictorial. Nandito rin ang PBB house where
the 1st gen PBB teens stayed (kim chiu, Gerald Anderson, etc.).
meron din dito maliit na cave. The island has a small store where you can buy
some drinks (c2, coke, etc).
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| stairs to the viewing deck |
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| viewing deck |
2nd stop, Marcos island. This one has
really nice white sand beach, parang boracay. Although short shoreline and
mabato. You can go cliff diving here though at the time na nandito kami,
binawalan kami ng boatmen kasi low tide. Delikado at baka tumama kami sa rocks
sa baba. Stayed here for 15-30mins then alis na.
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| cliff diving |
3rd stop, is sa may
snorkling area near Marcos Island. We saw the giant clams that they are
promoting. Ang ganda and nakaka-amaze since it was my first time to see
something like that.
4th stop is Children’s
island. Dito kami nagtagal. Had lunch here and enjoyed the beach. Puwede din
dito mag-kayak pero may rental nga lang. medyo maraming tao dito since Quezon
island at the time was being fixed (bawal magdock ang boat), so yun mga groups
sa children’s island lahat nag-stay for lunch. Tables are for rent P200. Yun
cottages mas mahal. Since theres only 4 of us, we opted na sa sand na lang
mag-set up. Nilagay naming yun lifevest naming apat paikot sa food then ok na. dun
kami pumuwesto sa may lilim ng cave near the dock. Stayed here up to 2:30PM
then called our boatmen. Before bumalik sa wharf, dinaan nila kami sa Quezon
Island which is being fixed, Cuenco cave na parang may treasure hunting yata na
ginagawa and other islands like Monkey Island, turtle island, etc. All in all,
I think sulit naman yun binayad namin. If you’ve been to Palawan though, better
lower your expectations. Iba pa
rin ang rock formations sa Palawan.
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| dito kami tumambay hehe |
Reached the wharf at 3PM. Nag ikot
ikot kami sa souvenir shops dun and had merienda. Price of Halo halo ranges
from 25-30 pesos. After that, went back na to our hotel to shower and change
clothes.
For dinner, nag ikot ikot kami sa
bayan para tumingin ng makakainan. Ended up at Mang Inasal dahil ang aaga
magsara ng mga tindahan and restos. Nag milktea rin kami sa “I Love Milk Tea”
na shop above 7-11. 35-40 pesos per small cup. Bought another 2L bottle of
water. Went back to hotel and slept early for our trip to bolinao next day.
We woke up at 6:30AM and prepared
our bags. Took a trike to the town proper (market) para bumili ng Tupig. Was able
to buy 1 pack(5-6 pcs) for P10. Mura na rin. Rode trike to bus stand, across
5star bus terminal for mini bus to bolinao. Sabi nung iba puwede na raw kami
dumiretso sa CSI since dun din naman hihinto yun mini bus to wait for other
passengers. Di na rin kami umalis kasi ang dami ng gamit namin and paparating
na rin naman yun mini bus. Fare is P50/pax. Travel time is approximately 45mins
– 1hr. Reached bolinao town proper at 8:30AM.
