Southeast Asia: the Philippines, Round 2 (Palawan, Zambales, Makati)

After 3.5 years of teaching English in Korea, I decided it was time to take a break – a looong break. I began my time off with a trip to the Philippines. After spending another week there (I first went there on a mission trip in January of 2008), I’ve decided I need to go spend several months there, island hopping and relaxing! As for this trip, I spent my first 4 days in Palawan. Palawan is a great island, about an hour flight from Manila. There is a lot to do in Palawan, but as I only had 4 days I opted to stay in Puerto Princesa. To be honest, there isn’t much to do in Puerto Princesa; it’s usually a starting or ending point for those traveling around Palawan as the airport is based there. However, it is a nice place to relax. The bay is a nice little area to walk around. 

I stayed at the Banwa Pension, which has a very nice veranda where travelers can hang out, meet, compare adventures, give each other ideas, etc. I met a lot of people, and talked a lot about places to go (in the Philippines and elsewhere). 

I also went on a couple of tours. The first was to the Underground River in Sabang. It was a great tour – good company, good food, and the river itself was amazing. There were lots of small bats, including tiny baby bats. We got a bit of insight into the Filipino culture on the tour, too, as myself and a girl from Calgary were the only non-Filipinos. One thing that was pretty funny was that many of the stalactites and stalagmites in the cave “resembled” something – whether vegetable, or Jesus’ face, or even the entire Holy family.

The second tour I did was of Honda Bay. If I’d had more time in Palawan, I would have headed north to El Nido, but instead I spent a day island hopping in Honda Bay, near Puerto Princesa. The tour was ok; I had the same guide, and once again it was mostly Filipino couples (and one old Korean guy). We had a lot of time to do what we pleased, which was nice. Our first stop was a large coral reef for some snorkeling. Then we went to an island for more snorkeling, plus swimming and relaxing. We went to one final island before leaving. We had a lot of time at this island; we ate lunch and swam more. A couple of us took advantage of the free (yes, FREE) massages in a shaded area on the beach. It was very nice, but shorter han I’d been told.

Coming back from that tour, we got held up in traffic. There was a festival going on all week (the Balayong Festival) and we’d come across a parade. We got out to watch for a bit and snap some photos. 

On my last day in Puerto Princesa I spent some time at Itoy’s Coffee Haus (note: Americano there super sweet L), found a great vegetarian restaurant (Ima’s), and then watched part of the street dancing (part of the festival). I only watched 3 groups because by that time I was very hot! March is a hot month in the Philippines, and this year they are having hotter-than-usual temperatures, according to all the locals.

After 4 full days in Puerto Princesa, I flew back to Manila and then took a bus up to Olongapo. I spent the weekend at the Aeta Children’s Home where I had gone during my mission trip in ’08. It was great to see the children and teachers again. I swam with some of them (they put in a pool after I was last there), and watched TV with them. As it was so hot they didn’t run around and play much! So instead I just sat with them, and took naps in the afternoon when they were in their dorms resting. I spent my last night in the Philippines in Manila. I stayed at Our Melting Pot, which is a very friendly hostel. I walked to the Greenbelt mall both Monday night and Tuesday morning. It’s a huge place, and quite confusing, but I found some good food (and passed by many places that looked good), spent time at a bookstore, and made myself avoid entering any of the dozens of stores I saw offering me clothes in my size (as I’ll be backpacking the next several months, I’m not allowing myself to buy much, especially clothes that I won’t wear until next summer/fall anyway; I’ll shop in the States when I get there!).

The Philippines is a great place for traveling. It is often overlooked as most people choose Thailand over the Philippines (just as how most people visit Japan, but not Korea). I think it is unfortunate as the Philippines has a lot to offer – amazing rice terraces (I’ve only seen photos thus far, but hopefully on my next trip I’ll make it north of Manila to see them), hundreds of white sand beaches, a myriad of places to snorkel and/or dive, cheap beer and food, and friendly people. Oh, and they speak English! If you’re traveling around SE Asia I highly recommend adding the Philippines to your list of destinations! J

Oh, I was greeted by snow when I arrived back in Korea! Flip-flops + snow = cold toes for the taxi ride home!