Paradise Found!

Pacific Plaza Towers (where we live)

When we learned that on Thursday, July 16th the power in our bulding would be shut down for the day so they could repair the electrical system, LaDawn suggested I take a day off and we do something together.  So I did so and then later learned that Friday had been declared a holiday for Ramadan.  That meant we would have a 3 day weekend (we wanted to be back for Sunday).  So LaDawn started searching and found a nice little resort in Palawan near the Underground River which we had talked about wanting to see before ever leaving Houston.  Could this be the opportunty?  Well, the resort had a room available (since it is the rainy season, the resorts are not full at all). She then had to fnd a good airfare, which she did (she s the world's greatest travel agent and trip planner), we decided to take the plunge and go on an adventure.  What a great trip it has been!

Terminal 3

Day One
Our driver (Raffy) drove us to the airport Thursday mornng, leaving our home around 7:30 am.  We were at terminal 3 before 8:00 am.  Miraculous in Manila traffic! Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:00 am.  We boarded around 9:45 and then sat on the tarmac until about 10:30. The flight was right at an hour, so by 11:30 we were in Puerto Princessa, Palawan Province.

Our Cebu Pacific Jet

Puerto Princessa Airport

We had hired a private van from the resort to take us from and to the hotel.  As it turns out, we could have booked a much less expensive option, (it was about $70 each way), but it was nice to have a van to ourselves as well as a trusted driver.  The drive from Puerto Princessa to Sabong was about 2 hours.  A winding mountainous road, but generally in good shape.  I think everyone drives too fast on it!  I was glad I still had some bonine in my system from the flight, otherwise, I would have gotten car sick.  When we arrived in Sabong, we stopped along the road and a guy came out and opened a upwardly swinging pole gate   The driver paid him 20 or 50 pesos and we proceeded down a very bumpy dirt road surrounded by rice fields.  At that point LaDawn and I were both thnking "oh-oh".  Turns out the road is the only entrance to the resort and it is owned by an individual that charges the resort to come in and out on their property.  When the van stopped and we got out and walked to the registration desk, we could tell then that everything was going to be just fine.

Cabana 401 (bottom)

View from our veranda

They gave us room 401.  A bottom room on a two story cabana facing the South China Sea.  The room was small but clean.   First thing we did was head to the restaurant (Pawikan Restaurant) and eat some lunch.  We hadn't eaten since leaving home, so by this time it was close to 2 pm.  We both selected pulled pork sandwiches.  Served on small mini buns, with some pulled pork and coleslaw right on the bun.  Delicious.  That was definitely a good sign that the food was going to be good.  As it turned out, the food was consistently excellent while we were there.  It is amazing that they have such a creative and talented chef working at this resort on the other side of the world from nearly everything!

Lunch at Pawikan Restaurant 

After lunch we took a ride on a boat through the Mangrove forest.  Mangroves grow in brackish water and are now a protrected tree because nearly 75% of the original mangrove acreage in the Philippines have been destroyed.  During our ride down the river we saw a couple of mangrove snakes and 2 pythons.  Both are highly venomous.  The mangrove snake is not aggressive, but the python is. The ones we saw were both sleeping (one had a full belly from a recent meal).  We also saw a monitor lizard, which it turns out is very passive, not venomous and on the protected species list.  There are a lot of them in Palawan. Two cheers for our guide (Jane) and oarsman (Romeo).  Jane was a wealth of knowledge and even sang for us as we ended the tour.

The venomous but lazy Mangrove Snake

Python, resting after a big lunch!

The Magnificient Mangrove Tree

The friendly Monitor Lizard

After our ride in the mangrove forest, I asked our guide (Leeford) if it would be okay for me to fly my quadcopter along the beach and take some shots.  He said sure (I don't really think he had a clue what I was talking about), so I went into the room, put the Go Pro on the gimball, inserted the battery and walked out to the beach.  What a beautiful day to fly.  

Daluyon Beach & Mountain Resort from the air

The Beach along Daluyon Beach & Mountain Resort and the South China Sea (looking West)

Although not much of a beach guy, I decided to give the South China Sea a try.  So I put my Phantom 2 back in the room, changed into swimming attire, and then went back to the beach.  LaDawn brought her Kindle, found a shady lounge chair and she read while I went for a swim.  The water was beautiful!  Sparkling clean, white sand beach and a gentle wave action.    As I walked back to where LaDawn was reading, I realized there were some really interesting patterns in the sand, so after lounging a bit myself, I fetched my Nikon and went back to the beach and spent some time taking pictures.  

Sand Warrior?

The Tree of Life?

Muscles of the Body?

The Last Leaf of Autumn...

For dinner that night LaDawn order a delicious clam chowder.  I ordered a Filipino Dish called Insala Chicken with some rice.  It was actually intended for two, so LaDawn was kind enough to eat some of it.  It was delicious.  We got back to the room around 8 pm and really struggled to stay awake after a long day, so we eventually just read scriptures, prayed and went to bed around 9 pm.  A really great start to a min-vacation.

Day 2

On Friday morning we woke up around 6 am and headed for breakfast.  Breakfast was included in the price of the hotel,  so we thought there would be a buffet, but with so few guests I guess they figured it didn't make sense.  So we were able to order ala carte.  We both chose an American breakfast of hash browns (really good), a couple of eggs (over easy of course), meat (I had ham, LaDawn had bacon).  I ordered some toast on the side.  It was VERY filling and very good as all our meals had been.

Boat ride over

The Sleeping Giant

Sabang Boat Terminal

We finished breakfast, went back to the cabana, got my back pack and water shoes and then met back in the lobby for a 7:30 departure to the Underground River.  Again, Leeford walked us down to the Sabang Boat Terminal (maybe a bit of an overstatement). He got us on the first boat leaving which turned out to be a great thing.    In fact, we went with 6 young people who work at the entrance (they have a little staging area with a place for photos, restrooms and registration).   On the way over to the underground river, we could see the mountain where the underground river flows from.  They call it the "Sleeping Giant".  Perhaps you can see him laying down sleeping with a pronounced "non-Filipino" nose.

On the tour itself, we were in a boat with a family of 7 Filipinos.  They had the front seats and we had the back seat.  Our boatman was Richie.

The smell upon entering the cave was pretty bad.  Turns out this is really just a bat cave with a river running through it (smile).  The underground cave is home to 40,000 bats, and they were flying all around us the entire time.  The video above gives you a 3 second idea of what it was like.  At first it was kind of creepy, but then it just seemed like normalcy.  The cave has quite a history, first discovered and documented in 1887, but in reality the native tribes were well aware of it long before then.  The bat poop (officially called guano) is a great source of fertilizer and in some cultures (get ready for this) coffee.  It is apparently quite expensive.  In this national park treasure though it is illegal to gather it. Which is why there was so much of it and why it didn't smell so great.  But like most things, we quickly acclimated to the smell and the flying bats.

We went 1.5 kilometers into the cave in the boat.  Richie was pretty funny, but at times, he turned a bit crude.  There are quite a few formations in the cavern of stalactites and stalagmites,and they have tended to be named over time.  When we reached the most spacious cavern, they called it a temple because there were so many formations that had religious parallels. Perhaps the most striking was a formation that indeed looked like the holy family, with Joseph, Mary and Jesus. 

The Holy Family in the Center of the picture with Joseph on the left and Mary on the right

The entire ride lasted only about an hour, but something I am really glad that we did.  It truly is one of the unique wonders of the world.

After finishing the river tour, we began the trek back to the resort by taking a 3.5 km jungle trek.  Our guide was a college aged young woman named Merly.  She did the entire trek in flip flops.  When we asked her about it, she said her shoes were broken and she couldn't afford to get them fixed.  We later gave her some money to buy new shoes.  Her gratitude was humbling.

You talkin' to me?

Mother & Child Reunion

At the beginning of the hike we ran into quite a few monkeys on the "stairs".  Merly had to pick up a stick and gently "shoo" them away.  She said they can be pretty aggressive.  I did get some great pictures though.  We didn't see much more wildlife, but we saw some amazing forest scenes.  At one point we came to some caves where early tribes lived.  Merly knew quite a bit about the jungle, but was not always the easiest to understand.  She had no English classes in high school, only a semester in college in Puerto Princessa.  She is studying to be a caregiver and had already spent 6 months caring for an old man in Manila.  She said it was hard to be away from her family for so long and hard to just sit in a room at the end of a narrow hallway all day with an old man.  My heart went out to this vibrant, intelligent Filipino who was trying to make a better life for herself.  It was an honor to be "guided" by her thru the jungle.

At one point she pointed out two white doves, but I struggled to see them to take a picture until they flew away.  On another occasion we heard the call of a peacock, but we never saw the majestic bird.

The super high tide meant the end of the walkway was underwater

When we came to the end of the jungle trek, we found that "super high tide" had moved in and we couldn't get to the end of the footbridge that crossed the mangrove river we had toured the day before.  So we took off our trekking shoes and put on our water shoes and waded into the water and onto the bridge.

After we returned to our cabana, we rested for about 30 minutes and then went and had our prearranged lunch that came as part of the tour.  We both had baby back ribs and potatoes.  However, the ribs were not traditional baby back, as we had some end joints, but the meat was absolutely outstanding.

Baby Back Ribs with Potatoes (delicious!)

The rest of the afternoon we rested for a bit again and then went out to the ocean and played in the water for a while.  It was pretty shallow and by the time we got back out to it the tide had begun to drop.  However, there was a bit more power in the waves, so I would walk out and then try to jump right in front of the wave and have it push me into the shore.  It was quite a game.  Good way to burn calories!

After playing in the ocean for a while we walked down to the little village called Sabang and found me a t-shirt to buy.  I also bought a mango banana shake and we shared it.  I was hoping it would not make us sick, and I am happy to say we survived without any consequences.

For dinner that night LaDawn again had clam chowder and I had some delicious red snapper on mashed potatoes.  For dessert we shared a mango crepe like dessert that was a lot like a cobbler and then something that was similar to a cross between a snickers and an almond joy.  Both were delicious!  After dinner we went back to our room and watched the second X-Men movie.  The TV was small and no hi def, but it was still fun to watch.

The sun setting on our min-vacation to paradise

Day 3

We woke up at 6 am and went to breakfast around 6:45.  This time they had the buffet.  After checking out we got back in the van with a different driver and he took us back to Puerto Princessa.  This driver was a lot more aggressive on the road and there were several times I thought he would hit a pedestrian or a car next to him.  At one point we got behind two public transport buses. 

These buses were something you would see in the movies. On the back of the one we followed for quite a while was a crate and a basket of small pigs.  When someone inside the bus wanted to smoke, they would step out, climb the ladder to the top of the bus and light up.  This while the bus was traversing mountain roads at between 35-45 mph.  To see people sitting on top of these things as though it was a hayride, just blew my mind.  I was grateful for the comforts of our private van.

We made it to the airport in about 1 hour and 40 minutes.  Coming back we passed many many vans loaded with people headed to the underground river.  I mean lots of vans.  I am so glad we did that on Friday and that we were first through the cave.  It made the experience much more memorable. 

The flight back to Manila was on time and uneventful.  Just the way we like them.  We took an Uber from the airport home and was so happy to sleep in our own bed again!

We loved Palowan and wouldn't think twice about going back!

I've discovered Uber!

Now I realize for many of you this will come as a big surprise.  I mean, after all, isn't Uber the brainchild of Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp?  Well, okay that MAY be true, but last week, I discovered Uber here in Manila - with a little help from my friends.  It all started on Tuesday when  LaDawn and I had to be at our condo for our final walk thru by 10 am.  I tried to schedule a car through a company Shell does business with (Shell offers 21 days of car service as part of the
relocation package) but they were fully booked.  So we went down to the lobby to catch a taxi and since I insisted on having one with seat belts, we were having trouble getting one.  Two came by, but we turned them away.  When the third one came (we had now been waiting about 10 minutes), we were relieved to see seat belt receivers in the back seat.  So we jumped in, knowing that we were going to be late if we didn't leave right then.  Once we got in the car, we were disappointed to learn that seat belt receivers do not mean seat belt BELTS!  Yup, no seat belts, but at that point it was too late to turn back and on we went to Global City.


After the appointment, we walked about a block to a place where we knew taxi's picked up people.  I mean, there were hundreds of them on the roads, surely it would be easy.  Well, it wasn't.  We waited about 20 minutes before a taxi stopped and again, being pressed because of a meeting at work, we jumped in a taxi with no seat belts and off we went.

Traffic in Manila is bad enough, but a car without seat belts?  Call me paranoid.

I had been intrigued enough by what I had heard about Uber from people in the US that I had already downloaded the app.  But I had not registered and I had never made the leap to actually try it.  A guy at work told me that Uber was pretty good in Manila and worth a try.  Since on Thursday my driver cannot take my car into Makati (there is a numbering system that disallows the driving of cars with plates ending in 7 or 8 driving into Makati on Thursdays.  1 and 2 cannot go on Monday, 3 and 4 on Tuesdays....you get it).  So I was determined not to be at the whim of a taxi driver and took the plunge and signed up with Uber and made my first booking for Thursday at 11 am.  IT WAS SUCH A GREAT EXPERIENCE!

For those of you who don't know, with Uber when you make a request, they send you the name, picture, rating (out of 5 stars), contact information and the license plate of the driver right to your phone.  This particular driver called me, told me he was on his way.  When he arrived I received a notification on my phone.  I walked out of the lobby of our condo building and into the car.  The driver was cordial, had some light reggae playing on the radio.  The temperature in the car was perfect and the car was about 3 years old (Toyota Altis) .  Best of all, he had SEAT BELTS THAT WORKED!

The cost of the trip was billed directly to my credit card.  The price was actually the same or slightly less than taking a taxi and it was SO MUCH BETTER!  I WAS SOLD!

So on Friday night we let our driver return home because we were going to spend Saturday working on getting unpacked and settling in and didn't think we needed him.  On Saturday morning we decided we needed to go into Makati to go to The Landmark department store.  It is like a cross between a Wal-Mart and a Sears.  We needed some lamps and cords and plug converters as well as a small amount of food items available only there.  So what did we do?  We called Uber.  Again, we had a great experience.  When we finished shopping, we made another request and got a ride home with our shopping treasure.  Today when we went to Church, again we called Uber.  Such a great  experience!

Transportation is cheap in Manila.  Taking a taxi or Uber from our home into where I work costs about $2.  In the states, it would be $15 or $20.

So if you are ever in a strange city somewhere in the world (or even at home without a car), check to see if they have Uber and if they do, I encourage you to give it a try.  No means of hired transportation is perfect, but I find Uber to be very close.

Tom