El Nido - I Believe in Paradise

For our 1st Anniversary we decided to go to El Nido. It's one of my dream places. Seeing images of El Nido made me stop and think if it was really that beautiful...

We were able to book a flight via Cebu Pacific Air for around 3,000 pesos roundtrip for the both of us. Not bad right?

Sharing with you our itinerary for the whole trip.

DAY 1
We arrived Puerto Princesa at around 10:30 am and was able to get a van (Lexxus shuttle) outside the airport going to El Nido. (650.00/person) The trip was scheduled to leave at 11:30 and took us aroundd 5-6 hours to get to El Nido. (including stopovers)

After checking in at Rovic's Pension (1,700/night) We walked around and realized that El Nido is a very small town. You can actually visit all the places in one day.

We decided to eat dinner at Squido's (Buffet at the mountain) Food was fairly okay for 250 per person, don't expect much though, it's not like Buffet 101, Vikings or the like. It's kind of a buffet for a house party. :)

After that we went out for a few drinks. Then went to sleep.

DAY 2
Our 1st island hopping tour - TOUR A. Met new friends and had so much fun!
Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Simizu Island, and 7 Commandos Beach
P1200/person. Lunch, mask & snorkel, life vest and tour guide are included.

Small Lagoon

Big Lagoon

7 Commandos

7 Commandos

Tour started at around 8am and ended at 5pm. After the tour we passed by a few food stalls and saw the famous Belle Ile Crepes!! Of course we had to try it out! I got the Nutella! It was to die for!
We ate dinner by the beach at Bacuit Grill. Food and drinks were awesome! :)

Day 3
Our 2nd island hopping tour - TOUR C.
Hidden Beach, Helicopter Island, Secret Beach, Matinloc Shrine. P1,400/person. Lunch, mask & snorkel, life vest and tour guide are included.
**we weren't able to go to the Secret Beach since the waves were too strong.

Hidden Beach

Hidden Beach

Helicopter island

Matinloc Shrine

Tour started at around 8am and ended at 5pm.
We ate dinner at the Art Cafe. Really yummy pizza!

Day 4
Our trip back to Puerto Princesa. Grabe! We already knew there was a storm coming. Super great timing, it rained so hard this day. Good thing we were done with our tours, but I feel unfortunate for those whose tours got cancelled. Anyway, we left in the morning hoping to go around Puerto Princesa. But we were so tired and we thought of just buying passalubongs so we won't have to the following day. We ate at Kinabuch - this is not to miss!

Day 5
Is it really over?! That's it 5 days. #sepanx but oh well. We'll definitely go baaaaaack!!!

El Nido is a the most beautiful place I've ever been to. Now I do believe in Paradise.

Nasugbu Batangas - A Simple Birthday Celebration

Since my birthday, June 18, was on a week day this year, I decided to celebrate it the weekend before that. I treated my friends on a vacation trip to a beach that is within driving range from Manila -- Nasugbu, Batangas.

Well, honestly Nasugbu wasn't the first choice, Laiya was. But since most of my friends like hanging out super late at night along the shore while drinking beer and grilling our pulutan, I opted for Nasugbu. 

I brought our own van and driver since Nasugbu was only about 3-4 hours away from Manila. There were 7 of us. We met at Carlo's place along Commonwealth Ave. at around 6 am. After making sure everything was packed, we drove straight to Batangas.

We arrived at Marlou's Beach Resort at 11 am. That was a 5-hour travel time including stop overs for bathroom and snack breaks.

Marlou Beach Resort is a very simple place to stay in. They have very affordable rooms too. It has a beachfront with a beach volleyball court. Its shoreline has dark sand though. but nonetheless the rooms where nice and the beds were comfy. Plus, they offer a boat ride to the what they call the white sand beach. Unfortunately for us, we weren't able to go since the waves were so strong during that time. 

We cooked our own lunch, brought our own food. No corkage fees, so yehey! We were charged a small fee for borrowing their cookware and gas stove though. 

There wasn't much to do on our first day, so we decided to just chill and drink. :p (alcoholic?!)

The following day, we swam on the beach and played volleyball. We met fishermen selling their catch for that day. I bought 2 kilos of Tanigue and paid only P400 for everything. Not bad right?! It's Tanigue! 

We had 3 fishes - we fried one, the other grilled, the other kinilaw. Yummy! 

After dinner, the drinking began (again). Of course an inuman session would not be complete without Videoke! they charged 5 pesos per song. It was an honesty basis system. Just tell them how many songs you sang. :) 

It was so much fun. 

Carlo surprised me with fireworks, he knows how much I loooooove fireworks. That was the time he told me he loved me.. Yup before my birthday! (Nagtitipid yata, gusto isa nalang gift for birthday and anniversary. LOL)

It was a super exciting trip with my close friends, unforgettable to be exact. We'll surely go back there soon! 

Notes:

Expenses for 3D/2N stay

Marlou Beach Resort 

email: dondonchuaii@yahoo.com.ph

mobile: 09155761566 or 043-740-0459

Look for Tita Lourdes Chua, she's really very nice and approachable. 

Room Rates: 

Cookingware/Gas Stove: P400

Boat ride going to white beach: P1000 per boat

(room rates to follow)

Food and Drinks (brought our own), but grocery costs P5,000

All in all we spent  P13,000 for 7 people for # days and 2 nights. That's like 1,800 per person for 3 days and 2 nights! Not bad at all! 

Global Dining Etiquette

I came across this post by The Restaurant Choice .

Here's an infographic on how to behave in different restaurants around the world. :)