Bakers' Hill Pasalubong shopping and Palo Alto PUerto Princesa

Bakers' Hill Pasalubong shopping and Palo Alto PUerto Princesa

Van ride to Puerto Princesa

Again, we woke up early for breakfast and our trip back to Puerto Princesa.

last breakfast at casa cecilia

By 7:30am, Kuya Joseph and the van was already waiting outside of the hotel. Kuya though would not be able to accompany us back to Puerto Princesa kasi may other guests siyang kadarating lang din sa El Nido. Anyway, mabait ang driver na kinuha ni Kuya for us and safe naman magmaneho.

Stopped at roadside, for last picture taking of El Nido islets.

we'll be back!

2015. Be back next year? let's see...

Had an early lunch at the resto AFTER "half way resto", better food and service. Then after 5 hours of driving, we are finally back in Puerto Princesa. Returned our snorkling gears and camera case to Ken's and went straight to BAKER'S HILL.

Tourists flock baker's hill for their goodies like hopia, bread, casuy which are sealed and good for pasalubong. They are cheap but taste good. Saktong pangpasalubong. Aside from that, people are free to roam around their garden and have pics with the characters there. See some of our pics below.

I've found LOVE in palawan!

We then went to a souvenir shop before checking in for PALO ALTO. Medyo mahal yun ibang items so di kami masyado namili dito. Won't mention the shop and place anymore but this is just 1-2 blocks away from MCA pasalubong Center which is where the cheaper pasalubong items can be bought. Yun mga printed shirts dito rin mas marami mabibili so if your guide suggests for another place, just tell him to go to MCA dahil mas mura talaga dito. Did not have much time anymore so decided to go there the next day na lang.

PALO ALTO BED AND BREAKFAST

Already advised them in advance that we'll be checking in late. Arrived there at 4pm na. Check in was fast, they gave out welcome drinks and assisted us with our luggage. We booked 2 deluxe rooms with loft, again 1 for 4pax and the other for 5pax. 

They have a pool (located at the other side of the compound) and a resto. The place is very clean and quiet, has a relaxing vibe and if you really want to be with nature, then this is the place to be. Though its a bit far from the city center, need to take a trike ride (around 5 mins) just to go to the main road.

They do have a shuttle service available, however these are scheduled and you are about to go outside of their schedule, you'd need to pay 300 per ride (for the whole group) to the city center and then another 300 back to the hotel. If you have cash to spare then that's ok but if its a budgeted trip, then you'd probably think that it'll be cheaper if you just go by trike ride.

reception area

reception area

resto

pool area

now for the rooms.

loft with double bed

balcony with tables and chairs

We had a great sleep in this room. The bed and pillows are soft, good quality linen. Place is very quiet and sleep quality is great! Towels are clean and soft, water pressure is good. Electronics are all working well. Aircon is cold and enough to cool the room.

Got the rooms for around 5k per deluxe room with addt'l 750 for addt'l pax, for the quality that we get, ok na ok na siya. Cons lang talaga is medyo malayo siya sa city center pero that's what you get if you really want a good sleep. Medyo maingay kasi pag near the main road kumuha ng hotel.

after fixing our things, got into our swimsuit and checked out their pool. Sayang ang oras, need sulitin ang bayad. LOL

When it got dark, nag-ahunan na and showered. Needed to be ready for our 8pm dinner at Ka Lui.

Puerto Princesa To El Nido (longest van ride ever!)

Our flight time via Cebu Pacific was at 8:15AM at NAIA3, after approximately 1 Hr we arrived in Puerto Princesa.

touchdown Puerto Princesa!

We were to be fetched by a van of DAYTRIPPERS which was contacted by our friend, CM. Their vans are far newer and bigger than the usual Lexus Vans that plies the PP-El Nido route. Regular vans costs P500/head while Daytrippers charge P800/head. This is inclusive of light snacks/water during the roadtrip. Their vans are roomy and well maintained.

CM called our contact to tell them that we were waiting at the airport passenger terminal but were informed that our co-passengers for the trip (a couple) had a delayed flight. We were then asked if we're amenable to a later trip to El Nido in exchange for a free 1 spot tour in the city. Since 3 of us haven't been to Bakers Hill yet, we agreed. Already hungry at the time (only had a light breakfast at Jollibee in NAIA 3), we told them to just go to BALAI INATO at 11AM as we'll have an early lunch there. We rode a trike to the resto for P50/chartered trike (3pax max) which was just 15 mins away.

at balai inato, waiting for our food

Balai Inato is a guesthouse their resto is called HAIM CHICKEN INATO. The food is affordable and cooked well. Cooking time is quite long though, we waited for almost half hour before our food was served. Their specialty is their chicken inasal (P90+). Place is clean and you could enjoy a moment of privacy as their tables are separated by walkway. 

At 11AM, the van from daytripper arrived and we gladly went in. From Balai Inato, it was 20-25mnins before we reached Bakers Hill. There were some improvements going on. As it was still quite early, very few tourists were onsite so we had a nice feel of the place. There was a playground at the back of the site where children freely roam around. A small Japanese-esque garden, a tower of sorts with a view of the surroundings. You could spend an hour at the place and just chill with your friends. Bakers Hill also has a resto and a souvenir shop. I would've wanted to buy pasalubongs but we'll only leave for Manila 5 days later. Baka masira lang yun food, sayang naman.

From Bakers Hill (12:30PM), we went back to the airport to wait for our co-passengers. The thing is, they were again delayed by 1 hour! By this time, we were already tired and impatient. We had nothing to do but to listen to music as other city tour spots are quite far. So on we wait.

By 1:30pm, our co-passengers arrived and we commenced our trip to El Nido. Arrived at our El Nido hotel (Four Seasons Resort in Corong Corong) at 7:30PM. What was supposed to be a 5hr van ride became longer due to the delays that we encountered. Sayang yung oras! Nakapag ikot pa sana kami sa town proper.

We were all so tired by this time that we decided to eat dinner at the hotel instead of at the town. After dinner, we freshened up and rested early for our early sched the next day (Combi Tour B+D c/o Northern Hope Tours).