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| Trips and Tips: Bohol |
| Monday, May 12, 2008 |
I doubt if there's any word (at least in my vocabulary) that would give justice to the paradise that Bohol is; using the word awesome or fantastic or marvelous or anything synonymous is just plain unfair. Let's just say going to Bohol is like going home to a place you've never been to, it's like reuniting with a friend you've never met. Chos!
Anyway, to help other travelers out there who wish to go to bohol on a budget, I hope this would help. :)
First, the more famous destinations:
Bohol Beach Club
You don't have to stay overnight at an expensive resort in Panglao to be able to enjoy the *insert positive adjective here* beach. Entrance for day tour at BBC is @ 350/pax, 250 of which is consumable. To avail of their lunch buffet, just add 150. For 500/head, you get to marvel at and experience this pristine white sand beach in BBC, you get a nice tan (which i failed to get, dammit), a hearty buffet, and yeah, you get to be at one of the most sought-after resorts in Panglao. Not bad at all. By the way, I strongly recommend BBC coz of the beach, it doesn't get crowded even if the resort is fully-booked, purrrrfect.
Loboc River Cruise
Myth: you have to avail of the buffet lunch at the Floating Resto for you to be able to cruise the loboc river.  If you're just after the magnificent view and the experience, or if you have eaten your lunch somewhere else, you can opt to rent a boat to take you up/downstream. We rented a boat for 850 (it accommodated us - all 6 of us plus our poging poging driver Kuya Cris -- yung kulay live vest ang shirt, hehehe).
Many thanks to Kuya Cris for being our driver-cum-tour guide-cum-entertainer.
Boholanos are very friendly and accommodating! There's really a lot to love about Bohol and its people!
Chocolate Hills
This place was just wayyyy too crowded for comfort when we went there. And take note, we were there on a weekday. So if you're going there on a Saturday or a Sunday, expect other people to be the backdrop of your photos. Alternative: you can go to Sagbayan Peak (image --->) if you want a clearer view of the choco hills. It's almost the same, minus the stress of having to box other people out just to get nice pictures.
All the other famous destinations are almost for free (minimal entrance fee, the most is P25/head, as i remember).
 Hinagdanan Cave
Too bad we were not able to swim, water was under treatment when we went there. Just a tip: you can buy souvenir items outside the cave, prices there are relatively cheap(er). One saleslady at a pier souvenir shop told us that their factory (they sell shirts, will post the name when and if I remember, hehe) is near Hinagdanan cave, you can buy Bohol shirts there at 3 for 100.
Tarsiers
They're cute, and once you see them you'd wish you could have them as your pets. No fees, donations only. Just make sure you don't touch them.  Don't stress them out by using flash when taking pictures. FYI, "tarsiers have been known to injure and even kill themselves because of the stress" (Wiki). Please lang, I want my kids and grand kids and grand grand kids to see these cute creatures too. Wag natin silang hayaang maubos.
Manmade forest. Sorry no pictures. This is just beside the road. So no fees.
For the other destinations:
Bohol Bee Farm
At 20/head, you get a guided tour at the Bee Farm. Our guide was very lively and passionate (she even made us eat peppermint leaves straight from the plant-- it was much more minty than our good old mentos-- while she chewed on flowers. Hehe). Heard the food here is good, too bad we were not able to eat here coz the elders in the family were all tired and they just wanted to go home and rest. Boooo!
Famous Bohol Python, Prony
He's 24-feet long, and he's scary. Manang the caretaker usually opens and enters the cage, and she gives tourist the chance to touch Prony, take pictures more closely, etc. etc. I didn't dare go in. Baka biglang saniban si prony and my last smile for the photo could be my last. Ayaw! Note to Edison: Bakit di nagperform si Marimar sa amin?! Daya!
Simply Butterflies Conservation Center.
I always thought butterfly farms/gardens were corny. You know, they remind me of Princess Sara and Cinderella and all -- and I just couldn't fit myself into fantasies and fairytales. But no. It was fun! You can touch the caterpillars and the butterflies and you can even see them mating (when they can fly while mating, the female carries the male). Anyway, the trip here was short but fun. (see photos section)
 Punta Cruz Watch Tower
This was built during the Spanish era, and it really looked old. Nice view of the sea and nice place for taking photos. Pwede rin daw mag swim dito.
That's all for now. I'll definitely go back to Bohol. Stay in Panglao. Watch dolphins. Go Island Hopping. Go Snorkeling. Do whatever. And I'll post them here. Hahaha!
NOTE: If you need help in planning your itinerary, expenses, etc, send me a note and I'll do my best to help you out. I'm seriously thinking of becoming a freelance travel agent so habang hindi pa nangyayari yun, I'm willing to be taken advantage of. Hehehe! Happy trip!
**Cebu sidetrip will be posted separately**
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posted by Elaine @ 2:07 PM  |
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| Random Thoughts |
| Thursday, November 15, 2007 |
Ano ang lasa ng langit?
A friend asked me this, and just the thought of the taste of heaven made me taste it...well, sort of.
The taste of heaven would vary, of course. Not [only] because it has varying tastes, but because people do. It also varies because people have designated, consciously or otherwise, their own definitions of heaven.
For me, however, heaven would probably taste like--
- a 16-hour sleep after 48-hours of being awake;
- driving a Kia after years of not driving anything at all
- eating these in one sitting -- Shakeys' Mojos, Beefy Tomato Jamaican Patty, Wendy's Iced Tea, Picnic Ketchup, a pack of 3 Musketeers bite-size chocolates, and botomless serving of ginataang hipon and Mann Yann spicy spareribs -- after 3 months on a strict 'starvation' diet.
Heaven could be greatest or the simplest things in life, but for me they are always the things that we work so hard for. Simply put, ang langit -- para sa akin-- ay ang matinding sarap pagkatapos ng matinding hirap.
Recently, I saw this Harry Potter series set that comes in a box and baul-like bag and costs a whopping 8,000+ pesos (if my memory serves me correctly)!
The moment Book 7 came out, I swore that I'd buy the set as soon as it's available, but being the true-blooded kuripot that I am, I went home from Powerbooks empty-handed. Having three out of the seven books (only one of which is hardbound) makes it even more impractical to buy the set.
8k is an amout I could easily shell out for (only) three things: my bills, a trip to Bohol or Bora, or my loved ones.
I'll save for it anyway.:-) |
| posted by Elaine @ 10:10 PM |
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| Usapang Pag-Ibig |
| Monday, October 8, 2007 |
Love.
Mas masarap magsulat tungkol sa mga bigo. Sa mga sawi. Sa mga pinagkaitan. Sa mga tinimbang ngunit kulang. Sa dinami dami naman ba kasi ng nagsulat at nagtapos sa "and they lived happily ever after", hindi na siguro bebenta ang happy ending. Kunsabagay, madalas kesa hindi, hindi rin naman talaga sa happy ending nagtatapos ang maraming love stories (ewan ko lang sa mga "true love" stories).
"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish it's source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing." -- Anaís Nin
Yung kwowt sa itaas na siguro ang paliwanag sa linyang ilang beses ko nang narinig sa mga kaibigan-- "Wala, nagising na lang ako di ko na sya mahal." Siguro, natulog / or nakatulog sila in the course of the relationship, and they woke up not wanting their partner and the relationship as much as they used to.
It must hurt if you're on the other end of the line. At siguro mas masakit if you're on the other end and all this time ay gising ka, replenishing the source of your love, seeing through and despite errors and betrayals, mending the wounds, and fighting the weariness. But that's just one side of the story.
On the other end is a person who feels emptier than the Araneta Coliseum after the DLSU-AdMU match, a person who feels more and more incapable of great love, a person who tries to revive what's left of the love and repeatedly fails, a person who feels that there's no other choice but to give up than be in the same misery for the rest of his or her life.
Ang saklap di ba. Pero sa palagay ko wala namang win-win solution. There will always, always be errors and betrayals, illnesses and wounds in a love story (I believe this is the same for "true love" stories).
And it all boils down to Faith. Which I'll write about next time. |
| posted by Elaine @ 11:31 PM |
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| **Text and more pics to follow!** |
| Sunday, September 30, 2007 |
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| posted by Elaine @ 5:23 PM |
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| Frog Legs II |
| Friday, September 21, 2007 |
A SEQUEL TO FROG LEGS I - THE DRAMA THAT WAS
Prologue
Too bad I wasn't able to keep my friendster blog post "Frog Legs", an article I finally deleted after long long months of figuring out what to do with MY frog legs.
Part I, was, well, pure drama. It was about, yes, frog legs-- the ugly things you refuse to taste but are so curious about, those that remind you of the things you'd rather not have, had you been given other [better] options.
It was also a love story, a failing, dying one.
How I weaved every detail in such a post, I don't remember. Don't even care, because as the subtitle goes, Part I is the Drama that Was.
FROG LEGS II
(to be continued...) |
| posted by Elaine @ 12:00 PM |
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| 75 Years for me |
| Monday, September 17, 2007 |
Funny how I hate milk (fresh milk, powdered milk, milk candies, milk chocolate and other milk-whatevers) yet love cultured milk (Yakult! Yakult!), and how I hate the famous green mango-bagoong tandem yet be happy for a week just eating ripe ones.
Just like how I haaaate weddings yet love wedding anniversaries.
Maybe because for me, there's always something more special about things and people that went through the test of time and lived to tell the tale. Of course, the innocence and pureness of something (a newly found love, or fresh milk and unripe mango, in this case) has an unquestionable and inimitable charm, but that's beside the point and that's another story.
So, I write about wedding anniversaries.
I recently attended the Silver wedding anniversary of Don's (my partner in crime) parents. Don and his sibs prepared and ran the program, they were really amazing :-). Their parents must really be proud--having raised kids is one, but having raised God-fearing, smart and talented kids is another.
Three years ago, my lolo and lola celebrated their 50th, the same year that my parents celebrated their 25th. It was inspiring, really, not because my lolo and lola are still sweet (because they're not), but because I kinda know what they went through to bring up their kids. They were able to stand each other (stand for each other and stand up to each other) for half a century. Unbelievable.
I am still trying to find a scanned image of them during their wedding day (will soon post it, photo needs restoration). But here they are now: Ang lola kong pihikan sa pagkain, at ang lolo kong bugnutin. :-p
 Inay and tatay, 50 yrs after :-)
Honestly, I can't picture myself (yet) seeing the same person day in and day out for fifty looooong years-- but that's because I'll break the record, you guys. 75 years for me! Cheers! |
| posted by Elaine @ 2:00 PM |
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