el nido, palawan

i believe most people when they say that once you've stepped onto the beach, you'll find it hard to leave. shocking statement coming from someone (like me) who isn't a big fan of the open waters. however, after my el nido experience, i just want to keep going back for more.

palawan is such a beautiful place. it's my first time to go there, and i must say, i was amazed by its beauty. where we have land in manila is where there is water in palawan. :) they have no roads for cars, only the ocean for boats. we hopped from one island to the next and enjoyed each island for its own beauty and uniqueness.

day 1 (march 20)

our flight was 11:30am so my family and i left the house around 8:45am and went straight to a. soriano hangar. waited for my relatives (who were going with us) there. first thing we had to do was have our bags checked. and being an easily starved girl, i brought around 4-5 bags (for a 4 day 3 night stay) of junk food :) the guy checking my bag smiled at me and simply said that they had to make a hole in the junk food bags as to prevent it from popping when pressure arises on the plane (i think). so i allowed them, frettting over the fact that my junk food will lose its crispiness. hmph. so an advice to those of you who bring junk food on plane rides, BRING MASKING TAPE. so when they release the air in your oh-so-yummy junk food, you can tape the hole again as to preserve its crispiness. :) or bring ziploc bags so you can pour all your junk food there. :)

the plane ride took approx. 75 mins. a 19-seater private plane, we could see how the pilots maneuvered the airplane. it SEEMS like an easy task actually. they just push some buttons and we're off. hahahaha :) wonder what'll happen if i were to fly a plane. hahaha :) it's so cool how they have a computerized compass/navigator attached to their system. anyway, when we touched palawan grounds, a group of singing lolas and a kalabaw gave us a warm welcome by singing to us. we entered a bahay kubo (which was, i think, palawan's version of an airport) and waited for a LARGE jeep. i could stand up inside the jeep and still have space above my head. and no, i am not THAT small. :) took a less than 5 minute jeep ride to the dock where we met our to-and-from the airport guide. :) he took us to miniloc island.

upon reaching miniloc island, it was already past 1:00pm and everyone was starving. we couldn't really enjoy the staffers who were singing a "welcome to palawan, take care of the environment" song 'cause everyone's eyes were on the buffet table next to them. :)

we checked in to our respective rooms and then set out for our first destination - the small lagoon. it was a 20 minute or so boat ride from miniloc island. when we got there, our boat was stationed somewhere in the middle of the ocean, so we had to get on kayaks and kayak our way into a small hole in the rocks. :) it was fun and scary, since it was my first time to kayak. thankfully, my best cousin rode with me and he was the one shouting directions and how to maneuver the kayak. not to mention that there were around a hundred times we ran into rocks and i had to push our kayak away from the rock. :) but we managed. and i'm glad we did. 'cuz who would have thought that inside that hole was a sight to behold. the water was deep but we could see sea urchins, fish, and my sister got lucky enough to spot a baby shark (hammerhead, if i'm not mistaken). kuya chito, who was our guide from that time onwards, stated that the baby shark would stay in the small lagoon till it grew a bit bigger then it would swim to the ocean. it's when it swims out (or when it reaches its adolescence stage) when it will be able to eat people.

the first day was spent kayaking and exploring the resort, which was really nice :)

day 2 to follow. :)