day 2 (el nido, palawan) - call time was, i think, around 8am or so. we had our first intro to scuba diving lessons! :) it was a one-on-one experience, thankfully. so one of the instructors briefed us a bit on scuba diving - how to breathe in your mouthpiece and signals we would use to communicate with whichever scuba guy would guide us.
i was the second in line. and as excited as i was, i couldn't really get much hyped seeing waves slapping against the dock where we were going "under." but i told myself that, "hey, it's a now or never chance." so i sat down on the dock. my scuba guide told me to go into the water and wear my life jacket with the oxygen tank, and so i did. everything went smoothly except for my nerves which kept on jumping the time i touched the water.
so, in short. i tried two times since i was just practically screaming and holding onto the dock the first time. but the second time, i must say that what i saw was a sight to behold. but i must also say that the people on the dock thought that i was also a sight to see; for i had just invented the action of snorkeling with the whole scuba gear :D scuba-snorkeling, i call it.
i was pretty much drained after the scuba experience. but the adventure continued. we entered a burial cave. it had a really small entrance, so we had to do "the moves" to get into the cave. our tour guide said that rumors say that there were actually people who were fortunate enough to dig up gold in the cave. also in the cave were small holes, or should i say, landings. these, the tour guide later explained to us, were the holes or landings which sparrows spit and build their nests. and those are also the holes that thousands of people put their lives on the line for, just to get that spit. and that spit costs A LOT. the said spit is the infamous "bird's nest" or in chinese, "iyen."
we also went to an island called entalula. we did some water sports there. some of my cousins went wind surfing (one of them a point really far from the shore when her wind surf fell down; she had to kayak all the way back to shore. but she enjoyed it.) my sister and i were the first to witness the angst of the hobie cat ride. well, it was fun... if there were not as much waves as there were when we rode. it was like hanging on for dear life. let go of the line by an inch, and you were sure to be in the ocean. but i guess that's what people go for in rides - the thrill.
day 3 (el nido, palawan) - the secret beach. it's a beach inside a small hole. people would have to snorkle or go under water (depends on the tide) to get to the beach. rumors have been confirmed that the secret beach was were people in the film industry got the idea of "the beach" (by leonardo di caprio). the shoot was supposed to be done in the secret beach in el nido, but the managers didn't allow it since it would be of harm to marine life. and so, the shoot was, people say, shot in amanpulo instead.
and yes, we were supposed to go into the small hole. lo and behold, i was scared out of my wits but i didn't want the chance to pass. but we couldn't go through 'cause we were visited by a swarm of small jellyfish. and the guy who jumped into the water to tie the boat onto a rock came up the both scratching and asking for vinegar (to lessen the itchiness, i think).
so we went back to the small lagoon instead. and i snorkeled! :D
we had lunch at lagen resort (the other resort in el nido, other than miniloc), went to tour snake island, and ended the day by rock climbing. :)
day 4 (last day at el nido) - our flight was 1:30pm, so we spent the whole morning at the big lagoon and at an island (forgot the name, but it sounds japanese). snorkeled, played around with water, and went back to miniloc. got our stuff, got on the boat, said our goodbyes to the kuyas, and left a part of us behind el nido, palawan.
