Bird's Eyeview of El Nido

Day 4
April 24, 2015
El Nido

We spent the morning of our fourth day rock climbing Mt. Taraw - a towering limestone cliff. The climb took an hour of body strength, sheer courage, and unwavering faith that each rock we firmly held or stepped on was steady. The view from top was absolutely worth the hold-on-for-dear-life climb.

Vhy, Ryan, and Anjo before the climb

The view at Taraw cliff

Vhy at Taraw cliff





At noon, we rented a van to bring us to the twin beaches of Nacpan and Calitang, which were about an hour away from town proper. It was scorching hot when we got to Nacpan beach. While plenty of tourists sun-bathed, I stayed on the cottage and did not even bother to go to Calitang beach.

Tourists at Nacpan beach

At around 3 PM, we headed back to town to try the 750-meter zipline which connects Snake island to Las Cabanas beach resort. We then stayed for a while at the beach resort, which has a very cool and relaxing vibe. A lot of tourists (mostly couples) were just sitting at the shore, staring into the horizon, waiting for the sun to set.

Susanne at the zipline

Estimated expenses:

3151 PHP - Round trip air fare
3000 PHP - Biolina Guesthouse - 4 nights ( 1500 PHP /night/double room)
1200 PHP - Round trip van to El Nido
1400 PHP - Tour C
1200 PHP - Tour A
 200 PHP -  EcoTourism Development Fee
 250 PHP - Cliff climbing guide fee (500 PHP/2 pax)
 500 PHP - Van to Nacpan and Calitang (3000 PHP/van)
 500 PHP - Zipline - one-way
2500 PHP - Food
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13,901 PHP

Kayaking and Snorkeling at El Nido

Day 3
April 23, 2015
El Nido

We took island hopping tour A the next day. The tour included Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, 7 Commandos Beach, and Simizu Island, which we seemed to have skipped.

Our first stop was at the small lagoon where we rented some kayaks. From where our boat docked, we had to travel a short distance to reach a small pathway leading to the small lagoon. The place was serenely beautiful - but only until a large crowd of tourists poured in. It was a great thing that we started the tour really early - it got really crowded and noisy by the time we left.



Small Lagoon

 

Kayaking at Small Lagoon

After the small lagoon, we got to the big lagoon. No kayaks here - our boat, like the others, just quickly passed through (as if we were running after something) and went on to the next destination which was at the shore where one can found the Secret Lagoon - an even smaller lagoon compared to small lagoon. This one has a very narrow opening - only one person can fit at a time. It was not impressive at all and most of the people just swam and snorkeled near the shore. This was where everyone stopped-over to rest and ate lunch.

Big Lagoon

Secret Lagoon

Afte lunch, we spent an hour in the middle of the sea to snorkel. Then, we proceeded to the last stop of the day at 7 Commandos Beach.

Island Hopping at El Nido

Day 1 & 2
April 21-22, 2015
El Nido

I have always imagined that when I go to El Nido, I will be staying at one of those fancy resorts in Lagen or Miniloc. This, of course, means that I have to live frugally for at least a year.  Hence, I never got to visit El Nido - I have been to Palawan thrice before but never in El Nido - until recently. But instead of a 5-star accommodation, we stayed at one of those guesthouses - Biolina Guesthouse, which, come to think of it, was a practical choice, considering we were out most of the time we were in El Nido.

We arrived in Puerto Princesa at 9 AM, after one and a half flight. Then, it was time for the long van ride to actually get to El Nido. We were all seated comfortably at first, until the driver picked additional 2 passengers along the way. I felt bad for the co-driver who had to sit in makeshift wooden seat and for the four foreigners crammed in the backseat  (while we, the 'little' Pinoys, were on the more spacious seats!).

It was already late in the afternoon when we checked-in at the guesthouse. After a brief rest, we rode a tricycle to get to Corong Corong beach to catch the sunset.

 

The next morning, we took tour C which included the following islands: Helicopter Island, Hidden Beach, Matinloc Shrine, Star Beach, and Secret Beach, which I think we missed.



Helicopter island

Anjo and Ryan at Helicopter Island

Hidden Beach

Susanne, Vhy, Jovie, and Anjo at Hidden beach

Matinloc Shrine

Star Beach

Food trip at Taipei

Day 3
Dec 1, 2014
Taipei

It was December and suddenly, the weather became cold. It has been warm the past 2 days so it was surprising for the weather to quickly change on the 1st day of December. Finally, I got to use the jacket I recently bought.

Our first stop for the day was at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, erected to commemorate Republic of China's first president. The hall square is actually an excellent location to photograph Taipei 101.

After a brief train ride, we reached Daan Forest park, which is known to be Taipei's version of New York's central park. There was not much to do here, judging by number of people in the park - three - Rissa, Enoy, and myself. No one else was in the park so we quickly left to find a place to eat lunch.

We ate lunch at Yong-Kang Beef Noodle. Judging by the number of people eating inside and waiting in line outside, this looked like the place to be to eat Taipei's best beef noodle - and it really was. The beef was cooked to perfection and the soup tasted just right - not too tasty but not bland either. Not bad for a 200 TWD lunch.

Next on our list was Mengjia Longshan Temple, a famous place of worship built in the early 18th century.

Our next two stops were two famous themed restaurants in Taipei. Fist one was Hello Kitty Sweets. Everyone was required to order at least 300 TWD worth of pastries and drinks so I ordered cheesecake, which was just ok, and pudding bubble milk tea, which was really good.

The second one we went to was Modern Toilet restaurant. In direct contrast to Hello Kitty Sweets where everything is pretty and sweet, Modern Toilet may not be one's idea of a hearty and appetizing dinner. We were seated on toilet bowls, drank from a urinal-shaped glass, ate from a toilet-shaped bowl, and ate ice cream shaped like you know what. It was a fun experience even though the food was not exceptional. It was a good night to end our Taipei trip.

Estimated expenses:

   990 PHP - Air fare to Taipei

 1475 PHP - Air fare to Manila
   176 PHP - Bus fare to city center (125 TWD)
   176 PHP - Bus fare to aiport  (125 TWD)
 1044 PHP - Easymind Hostel (740 TWD /night/person)
 1410 PHP - H132 Hostel (500 TWD/night/person)
   705 PHP - Taipei 101 Observatory (500 TWD)
   353 PHP - National Palace museum  (250 TWD)
   113 PHP - Yehliu (80 TWD)
   282 PHP - bus fare to Yehliu (100 TWD/one way)
   423 PHP - Hello Kitty Sweets (300 TWD)
   423 PHP - Modern Toilet (300 TWD)
   423 PHP - MRT (100 TWD/day)
 1692 PHP - food ( 400 TWD/day)
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  9,685 PHP

Tour at Yehliu Geopark

Day 2
Nov 30, 2014
Taipei

On our second day at Taipei, we went to Yehliu Geopark - a 1700 meter-long cape of rock formations in the shapes of mushrooms, sea candles, a fairy shoe, and a queen's head, which actually commands quite a long queue for a picture-taking.

For lunch, we ate at one of the seafood restaurants found across the park.

It was already late in the afternoon when we got back to the city and it was time to visit Taipei 101, once the world's tallest structure at 508 meters.

Going up the observatory floors was quite costly at 500 TWD but they do offer quite a few attractions. There are multimedia gallery featuring different trivia about the structure, souvenir shop, art boutique, and one particular highlight - the world's largest and heaviest wind damper - the only one in the world that is displayed for public viewing. That was quite amazing - for something that was worth more than 100M TWD, it better be.