Puerto Princesa Palawan Philippines, The City in a Forest

I have never really managed to go around the islands. I barely go out of Luzon let alone the country. So this January, my friends and I started to plan a trip to one of the Philippine Islands' Edens - Puerto Princesa, Palawan also known as "the City in the Forest". It's a good start since I indicated that one of my goals for 2011 is to travel more and go out of the country. Remember to click on the images to enlarge

When this all started, I took note that it was my girl's birthday on the 5th week of January. Plus considering she also got promoted a week after the planning, this was all too much of a great celebration for her. Just FYI, all she knows is that we'll be on a business trip in Davao and that we'll be traveling with my uncle.

I won't be tackling any deeper on personal thoughts as to how the surprise was but I'll bullet out the general info as to how we pulled it off:

• I got her parents' permission 2 weeks before flight.
• She thought we were flying to Davao
• We flew to Puerto Princesa, Palawan
• I kept on distracting her to keep her from hearing the captain and any announcements saying the words "Puerto Princesa"
• She realized we were in Palawan when we arrived there with the help of the big airport sign.
• We headed for Microtel Resort, then transferred to Dolce Vita with my alibi that it was cheaper there
• Her friends were in the room when we got in - Surprise!
• Then we continued with our Palawan Escapade - traveling, eating a lot, and doing more activities!

Now to review a bit of the places we've stayed, the food we ate, and the activities we've done:

Microtel Resort is a very nice place to stay in for those who have deeper pockets. The resort's situated by the beach about 20 minutes from the airport and is the only beach resort facing the morning sun (East) in PP.

The view from the resort was great. One thing I can't forget is that you can actually see the moon surface from the ocean. And when it does, it gives off a bright red color, which must be a reflection of the sunset from the other side of the island. I kind of find it weird and amusing because here in Manila, you never see the moon surface itself. It's always already up there around 16:00 and this is a very beautiful thing to see.

Their beach side front is equipped with a lot of hammocks and mangroves that are equiped with capiz lanterns which definitely set up a good mood at night. Wood is also provided by the resort for those barkadas wanting to do a bonfire.

Another thing to note is that by day, during low tide, you can actually tread the sand and walk by the mangroves and go further out to sea, whereas the high tide by night gives you a good serene sound of the waves as you just chill on the resort's sand.

Buffet breakfast variety is fair enough and I favor their sweet and yummy tocino. WiFi is free at the lobby though you'd have to pay for the WiFi that reaches the rooms. They also offer free shuttle services to and from the city, at least 4x a day.

Dolce Vita was the second place we stayed and it's situated in the middle of the city. This is not a beach side resort but more of a resort villa where you could station yourself at a cheaper rate.

We stayed in a room that's ideal for the barkada (group of friends) and the room is fairly nice. Beds are ok and everything's just neat, the a/c's very cool, and the room's pretty much spacious.

At a cheaper cost (our 3D2N stay was cheaper than Microtel's overnight Stay), we were presented with a package that included Honday Bay Island Hopping with lunch, an unlimited supply of sheets and towels, access to their pool and bar, as well as 2 buffet breakfast meals, which were fair treats to the taste buds.

Our overall stay there was pleasant and we had no qualms with the management. The villa had a very homy atmosphere, which gave much comfort with regard to moving around.

Through our stay there, we were able to go on a Honda Bay island hopping tour.

We initially went to Snake Island where we had free lunch, which was awesome because we didn't feel that quantity/quality of the food was compromised considering it was already packaged with our stay.

Snake Island is where tourists could go to swim and snorkel freely within the safe boundaries. Massive varieties of fish are present and once you go further, you'd be able to see even more fish and corals. We were even able to see what seemed like the EAC from Finding Nemo! You know... that school of fish that's swirling around and around. It was an awesome and amazing eye candy. Just don't panic when a lot of fish come by you.

Note to self: Buy DSLR Underwater Case.

Next stop was Starfish Island - an island abundant of starfish and mangroves but not that ideal to swim in, due to so many sea grass and rocks that fill up the shores. It's definitely still worth the visit though.

Final stop of the tour was the Pambato Reef. Our boat stopped by a floating cottage and we walked over a floating bridge to another floating cottage shaped and made up to look like a pawikan (sea turtle).

From there, in the middle of the sea, we dove and did more snorkeling. More fish here, more corals as well - some even so high it'd be wise not to swim by them as fish might become defensive and nibble on you! We enjoyed going around the perimeter. Only thing bothering us were the minor, but bearable and somewhat itchy stings we felt during the activity, which was caused by plankton according to our guide.

Aside from the Honda Bay Island Hopping activity, we went on to see Fireflies by the Iwahig River. It was a 45-minute trip to the mangroves that held fireflies all over.

Sadly, we were not able to take pictures of fireflies because the light these little fellas emit are too low to be captured by the lenses we had (Somebody sponsor me a top-of-the-line DSLR!). As the boatmen would put it, "It's for your eyes only." But let me tell you that the experience was awesome. It was quite scary at first considering you're going to ride a boat in a pitch dark mangrove forest but kudos to the boatmen who were throwing in a lot of punchlines to make their tourists feel comfortable through the ride. Oh and accompanying the sight of fireflies was an open sky bejeweled with thousands of stars that you will never ever see in the metro. Glorious. Just be sure to wear some insect repellant!

Foodtripping-wise, we were able to dine in three (3) known places: Kinabuchs, KaLui, and Chicken Inato.

Chicken Inato was much of a disappointment for us, really. The servings were small, and the place looked like any other eatery in the metro. On top of that, we all believe the management tried to cheat us. How? Well, when the bill came, we opted to double check, compute, and even use a calculator during the process. As we do our thing, our waiter left us (probably because he saw us computing) and came with a new bill saying "Ma'am this is the correct bill." Obvious much? The excess was above PHP200.00. Nuff said.

Kinabuchs is a fine big place to dine in. Equipped with billiard tables, neon lights, and umbrellas. It's more like a hub or station of bars situated in one big place. The price range was fairly cheap compared to the usual prices in Manila and the food was delicious. I love their Banana Mango Delight as dessert.

And just near Kinabuchs situates KaLui. The place shouts out exclusive as reservations are needed to dine in. Yes, it's that wanted. Luckily I was able to reserve early in the morning.

KaLui's very much Hawaiian inspired with the venue embroidered in fruits, colorful foods decors, and a few artworks. You're required to take off your footwear inside the restaurant. The dishes are primarily seafood and they are all very yummy to the tummy! The ambience and theme helps put one's self in a very relaxed eating mood. They offer a variety of seats that are different from the usual table with chairs such as low-leveled tables with couches and such.

All restaurants primarily featured seafood. We had no problem with it though, because they all served quality food that would tickle your buds and make you want to eat more!

Our 4-day stay was definitely worth while. There were a lot more activities we failed to do given such limited time. I hear the likes of the Crocodile Farm, the Underground River, the numerous Falls, and even more places do wine and dine. The next time we visit the place, we are definitely going to try these activities.

Then again, we might even try other places in Palawan! Palawan also caters to a lot more locations other than Puerto Princesa such as El Nido, Coron, and Busuanga. But note that Puerto Princesa is Palawan's capital and much more established in terms of development so it's nice to start from there.

I hope readers are compelled to try and visit the area. The place is filled such natural beauty accompanied with very warm people who give you nothing but a friendly smile and great assistance to help you enjoy your trip even more.

Visit Palawan! I personally promote and encourage you, considering how you've read this long. It holds at least 1,000 glorious islands out of the Philippines' 7,107. Enjoy!

On the other hand, if you've already tried Palawan, you can share your experiences and thoughts by commenting on this entry. You can also check out one of my friends' entry about our trip to Palawan - We Just Wanna Go to the Beach by Jorelle.

How about you? Care to share?

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