Cool Bohol

Upon our arrival in Tagbilaran airport we were greeted by a huge map of Bohol and a wall of hotel brochures and tourist information. I was so thankful because we hadn't arranged any accommodations prior to our trip. We settled on staying at the MetroCentre Hotel & Convention Center in Tagbilaran City as opposed to staying in the pricier resorts in the Panglao Island area. We mainly wanted to see the major attractions in Bohol and it was just better to stay in the city because of its close proximity. The hotel is also affiliated with Panglao Island Nature Resort & Spa so we were also able to avail of the facilities there.

The staff was really helpful and even arranged a tour for us so the next day after our complementary breakfast we were on our way to see Bohol. First stop was the Blood Compact Site sculpture depicting the treaty made between Miguel Lopez de Legazpi of Spain and Datu Sikatuna. Imagine drinking a cup of yours and a stranger's blood to symbolize peace and friendship! Eh. Good thing nowadays a simple handshake will do :)

Next stop was Baclayon Church which is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. The facade really shows how old it is, I mean, has no one ever thought about giving this church a facelift since 1727?
Note the holes in the capiz windows and the general deterioration of the place.

And finally, behold the majestic Chocolate Hills. It wasn't summer when we visited so the hills were a lush green, but a cool sight nonetheless. Folklore stories tell of two giants who hurled massive rocks and boulders that eventually formed the hills as we see it today. Our ancestors really had a good imagination :)

We only went to one of the groups of hills since more of them are scattered throughout the Bohol area. It's always amazing to see natural wonders like these.Interesting why they chose this passage...
We made a pit-stop at the Hanging Bridge - also one of the tourist attractions. It's nothing fancy, just a bridge made of bamboo, rope and some metal rods suspended over water. It's quite long though and sways back and forth as you pass through. On the other side is a souvenir shop selling native hats, fans, etc. and a magbubuko was there also. So we had a refreshing drink of fresh buko juice before making our way back to the car again.
As it was noon already what's more appropriate than going on a lunch cruise on a floating restaurant more popularly reffered to as the Loboc River Cruise? They have so many variations of these floating dining rooms supported/propelled by motorized boats and it's pretty much the same story - have lunch with entertainment along the Loboc River and see Bohol pass by. It's quite charming actually - same concept as a sightseeing gondola in Venice. 
My lunch from the buffet was this.
The river was a murky brown due to the rainy season but it was really clean [no floating garbage despite all the eating happening in this river]. 
Here's an interesting picture - this huge bridge is actually constructed to run through the old Loboc Church. Legend [here we go again] has it that there was supposed to be gold under this church so some high-profile person attempted to build this monstrosity to try to demolish the church. For some reason, it never happened and this unfinished eyesore is now [surprise!] another tourist attraction. Weird. 
And finally, the requisite picture of me and some tarsiers. They are such cute little buggers!
I love Bohol! I even got a shirt that says that :)

Meeting The Smallest Primates On Earth

I finally saw a real live Philippine Tarsier on my trip to Bohol. They are cute little creatures but already endangered species due to them not being able to breed well in captivity. There are only a handful of Philippine tarsiers left in the wild because their natural habitat is threatened by illegal logging and deforestation. 

Among the things that surprised me with these animals were that their eyes are humongous compared to their body... Imagine a human with watermelon-sized eyes, now that's a scary thought. And I never thought they would be so small, you can fit them in your hand! 

Such cuties, huh? I was able to feed them with some insects, it was a cool Bohol experience. :)

Bohol Beach Bum

I really wanted to check out the beaches in Bohol and since the hotel we were staying at in Tagbilaran City was affiliated with Panglao Island Nature Resort & Spa, that's where we went. 

Of course some people still prefer the infinity pool even with a beach just steps away.

This is the reception area which connects to the dining area and shops.
There were a lot of leaves and twigs floating around the beach area, also I didn't get the weird color of the water - kind of a murky seafoam green beside the beach and then turning dark blue-green towards the sea. Maybe because the beach was shallow up until the [manmade?] island, I don't know. 
Here's an artsy shot of a wind surfer...
And me chillaxing and happy to finally get my beach fix. 

Another artsy shot.
And the view from the restaurant - nobody's swimming anymore...

Native Filipino decor is used throughout the resort and contributes to its calming ambiance, a perfect setting to unwind. All in all a pretty relaxing time spent in Panglao Island.

Raving About Gel Insoles

Every time I buy a new pair of shoes I almost always get gel insoles to go along with it. Of course, comfort is an essential factor when purchasing shoes but admit it, heels don't spell comfort. That's why I need my gel insoles to provide extra cushioning and prevent sore, achy feet as much as possible. They also provide good grip so say goodbye to slippery feet! I've tried so many different brands of gel cushioning and below are my favorites:

Airplus for her is one of my favorite brands of gel insoles. They're clear and hardly noticeable. The really stick to your shoes and the grip they have on your feet is amazing. 

Apara is another brand I've just discovered that is very similar to Airplus. They almost blend into the shoe itself and the cushioning it provides is so nice and soft. As an example, I'm using my Etienne Aigner shoe...

So if you stand or walk for long periods of time or just have sore feet from your not-very-comfortable shoes it's time to go out and get some gel insoles! They're available almost everywhere shoes are sold and there are some really great non-expensive brands out there. Protect your feet, after all they are the ones that hold the rest of your body up.

Wakeboarding In CWC

Jemn and I tried our luck in wakeboarding. What better place to do it than at the CamSur Watersports Complex in Naga. This cable waterpark boasts about being the best in the Philippines and rightfully so. They really did a good job promoting and developing this place, no wonder wake-boarders from all over the world come here.

The facilities are clean and well-maintained, there are lots of accommodations inside the complex catered especially for out-of-towners. The pool and showers are reserved for wakeboarding guests but anyone can come here and enjoy the place.

You can even get massages as low as Php 200 in their outdoor cabanas. Now how convenient is that after a day of sore aching muscles from wakeboarding.

Their wakeboarding rates are really affordable and the staff and instructors were very pleasant.

If you're a first-timer they want you to try the knee board first because it's easier. I don't get much exercise so after this stint my arms [especially my forearms] ached so much from the pull of the cable. Not to mention the callouses I got from hanging on for dear life.

After 4 rounds of the kneeboard I graduated to finally getting on the wakeboard. And it's not as easy as it looks. It's hard to keep your balance on these things and I really admire these hardcore wakeboarding enthusiasts who stick to perfecting this sport and get so good at it!

A couple of pictures of the pros...

Rainy Adventure In Caramoan

Our Caramoan adventure started at 4 in the morning. We caught an early Cebu Pacific flight from Manila at 6 20 am and got to Naga Airport at around 7 15 am. The plane fare was only Php 1,085 per person. 

 It was quite gloomy when we arrived in Naga and the airport while fairly new was small, clean enough and had a provincial feel to it. As usual, there were a lot of porters swarming about waiting to assist us with our luggage but we didn't really need them since we only brought backpacks with us. 

We were planning to take the bus going to Sabang Port but ended up just hiring a van for the three of us. The ride was really comfortable and really fast thanks to our awesome driver, Chris. We found him outside the airport terminal waiting to take passengers and we paid about Php 1,200 for a one way ride to Sabang. Not bad since it only took us an hour to get there and it was really convenience we were after.

From Sabang Port we took a motorized boat to Guijalo Pier that cost Php 120 per head. The ride was really loud, uncomfortable and 2 hours long. While on the boat we were thinking to ourselves, "Caramoan better be worth it!" 

After we docked at Guijalo Pier we had to take a tricycle to got to the town center where our accommodations were. It took about 30 minutes and it was a bone-jarring experience for all of us. The roads in Caramoan are not paved with lots of stones and since it was rainy season it was also muddy. The tricycle driver kind of felt sorry for us since we obviously weren't used to this kind of thing but he tried to console us by telling us that it was worse in the summer because it gets really dusty.

We were the only ones staying in La Casa Roa at that time and we paid Php 1,950 for the whole room per night. Not bad, considering it includes breakfast for the three of us, air-conditioning and the place was clean and homey. Not to mention the staff and the owner, Ramon Perez, were very nice and accommodating. 

I would definitely recommend this hostel if someone were to go to Caramoan and I would stay here again. It's close to eating places and convenience stores as well as the paradahan ng tricycle. The town is pretty small and establishments close quite early, there's really not much to do here at night as people just stay home and sleep.

After we rested for a while we proceeded to Bikal Port where all the boats are docked for island hopping tours. The rate we paid for a half-day rental was Php 600 and Php 1, 500 for a full-day island hopping with tour guide excluding tip. Here's a pic of our boat driver, Mang Johnny and that's the boat we rode in.

Getting to the islands required a 30-minute or so boat ride from one island to the next so after a while we were so sick and tired of boats and the novelty wore off pretty quick. You really can't do much in the boat and since it was small, it was loud and it would just drown out any music you're listening to. You even need to yell out loud if you wanted to talk to somebody so we just tried to concentrated on the scenery to drown out the noise the boat made.We didn't get to as many islands as we wished because it was raining all the time and the seas were choppy. But I did get to soak up a few rays...

Here are a couple of pictures from Bikal Port. They have an abundance of mangroves there, I really liked it.

The sand in some of the Caramoan islands is not as white and as fine as Boracay, instead it has a yellowish tinge. The beaches are pretty clean though and quite clear when the weather's good.

Here's an obligatory feet shot. I miss my Teva sandals. I lost them on the way back to Manila.

Here are a couple of fisherman bringing in the day's catch. It was quite refreshing to see everyday life unfold in the province. This is definitely something I don't see everyday.

Probably the coolest thing we did was check out the cave in Tagbon. Instead of going up to the statue, which I heard is one of the major tourist attractions in the island, we went spelunking instead and it was definitely the highlight of our trip. I would go back to Caramoan just for this cave.

Getting to the cave is another story, we had to take a tricycle and then trek for 30 minutes in the rice paddies. It was a funny yet harrowing experience as I cut my foot and had to pass by the community hospital on the way back to our hostel.

We had to pass through this really small opening at one point and you have to kind of submerge yourself in the water in order to get through. Sorry, but if you're big you can't proceed to the rest of the cave.

All in all we were only charged Php 100 for entrance fee and Php 100 for the price of the gas used for the lamp. Here's a pic of Jemn and me with the local boys.

And finally some awesome jumping shots that we were just dying to make. Here's a couple with me and Jemn again.

And then funny ones I took of Jemn and Jemuel.

These turned out pretty cool. We definitely had fun in the process.

It rained again on the way back to Sabang Port and the ride was sea-sick inducing but I guess rain is good once in a while, otherwise these hills wouldn't be so lush and green...

I want to go back to Caramoan someday when the roads are paved and when it doesn't rain...