A how-to guide on how to get out of Mactan by way of public transportation (multicabs). It also links to a post on “how to get to Mactan Airport” the cheapest way. Please click on the picture to get to the blog post. Thanks. Thanks.
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coron village lodge
15 Apr
going home. bought a hanging lamp @ 500 pesos (roughly $12). click on picture to know more information on where we stayed while in coron (busuanga) palawan.
sunset in boracay
1 Novit’s november 1, and the entire philippines is celebrating all saint’s day. during this time, the entire country is on holidays from school and work. for us in the labor force it’s a start of a 4-day long weekend. let me repeat, four days of no freakin’ work. so, what’s a girl to do with so much time in her hands?
simple. pine over the “where could have beens”. top on that list is this prime destination in the philippines. where else, but boracay! of course, i’m not cured of the travel bug, it’s simply a case of not having resources. big SAD. so, since i can’t pack my bags and hit the road, let me just drool over this sunset picture taken at white beach boracay during my last september 2011 boracay trip. click on either of the images to plan your own vacation to this wondrous place.
boracay sunset, white beach 09-11-11
my vetlongwalks mark at white beach boracay. again, just forgive the feet (LOL!)
boracay: how to get there
8 Aug2004 was the first time i stepped on the fine white sands of boracay island. it took me some 7 years before i could visit the place again. that said, it is also taking me some time to update my blog entries about the place (er, entry pala – haha, i don’t think i ever managed to blog about that first trip saved for the post on “getting to boracay“) well, that entry could still be useful if your point of origin in getting there is iloilo. nothing much has changed, i think – except probably of the prices. anyhow, i could be wrong as 7 years is a long time.
so, in the interest of keeping this lil place on the web updated, and making true of my promise to my friend juliet, let me tell you again about ‘how to get to boracay’.
unlike the original entry, i’ll start off from caticlan airport instead of iloilo city. flying directly to caticlan is the best route to take in terms of travel time. however, the direct to caticlan ticket can sometimes be so elusive that one is left with no choice but to fly to iloilo and endure the 5 to 6 hour bus/van travel. but before you take the iloilo option, try the second best ticket first through kalibo, aklan. i’ve never personally flown this route, but kalibo is much nearer to caticlan. give or take, it will only take you 1.5 hour or so to get to caticlan. according to a friend residing near there, there are vans outside the kalibo airport that will take travelers to caticlan for a fee of PhP 150.
caticlan jetty port and passenger terminal
whether you flew in from caticlan airport or took the bus/van from iloilo or kalibo, the building below is the jump off point to your boracay experience. somewhere near this building is where you’ll find the drop/pick up points of the ceres buses and vans traveling to iloilo and back. 
caticlan airport to caticlan jetty port
if you flew to caticlan, you’ll land in this narrow little airstrip that is godofredo p. ramos airport or boracay airport. 
while the airport may be small, it’s new and have little amenities that you don’t find in our own mactan airport. as soon as you enter the airport’s arrival building, you’ll find its tiny baggage carousel.
near it, you’ll find a counter where all guests are required to register prior to leaving the airport.
within the vicinity, you’ll also find two touchscreen computer kiosks for guests’ use.
here, people can search for information such as accommodations in the island. the nice thing about these computers is that the database are in different languages ranging from tagalog, english, chinese, korean, to 2 other languages.
after registration, one may proceed to exiting the airport. if you don’t have arranged transportation, simply walk a short distance to your right upon leaving the airport building and you’ll find public transportation there.
outside the airport
the customary picture as proof that i was actually there and not talking nonsense- LOL!!!
public transportation available outside the airport
in this area (the encircled part of above picture) , you’ll find the counter below where you will pay for your trike and ferry boat rides.
fee per tricyle is 50 pesos with maximum of 3 passengers and 25 pesos/per person for the ferry boat. the trike will take you to caticlan’s jetty port and passenger terminal. trike ride to jetty port is less than 10 minutes if my memory serves me correctly.
if you flew from caticlan airport and took the trike ride, simply secure and pay for the jetty port terminal fee (PhP50) and the environmental fee (PhP75) at the counter shown in the picture below.
if you took the bus/van, secure your boat tickets first and pay the same terminal and environmental fees. as soon as you’ve paid for everything, you may proceed to the building’s main entrance and go through security check. then, register at the information and registration counter prior to proceeding to departure area for ticket inspection and boarding of ferry/fast craft.
15-20 minutes or so, and you’ll arrive at this beautiful shoreline of cagban jetty port, and you my friends will have officially stepped on boracay and can start exploring travel + leisure magazine’s 2012 best island in the world!!!
that said, you’re on own after here, hehe..PEACE. but seriously, i will still have to find time to write a post on how to get to the famous white beach next – crossing fingers! 🙂
happy traveling to boracay, everyone!!!
for other travel stories, visit my other site —> HERE.
off to siquijor – the mystic island
4 Aprif things go according to plan, i’ll be able to see first hand why the place is called such. i and two others from the office will be heading towards the beauty that is siquijor tomorrow. of course, after several cautious warnings from well-meaning office workers, but i’m never one to let jokes or scary thoughts dampen my lust to see new places. in my mind, things will happen if they’re bound to happen. anyhow, this travel will be the first time that i’ll be hitting the road without doing much research. one of the things i’m working on in the personal front is easing up on being much of a control freak. it’s a struggle, i tell you – because at the last minute i talked rhea into sitting down with me for a few minutes just to get a rough itinerary. it’s not my usual detailed itinerary, but i’m happy that i didn’t force her to really get down and dirty just to come up with an IT that will satisfy my control “freakiness”. so, the plan in the coming days will be just to go with the flow and trust in the innate goodness of fellow filipinos. oh, but i did learn that one of the things we’ll do, hopefully, is attend this event (told you, it’s a struggle to let go of control)
and enjoy the waters of salagdoong beach.
photo credit of the beach: byahilo.com
enjoy the long holidays, everyone!
for other travel stories, visit my other site —> HERE.
coron, palawan NOT
7 Feblast december, i bought tickets for coron palawan. my travel dates are supposed to be this february 18 and february 21. i’m supposed to fly out to manila in the morning, then head to coron, palawan in the afternoon. unfortunately, this is one foiled travel plan again. my sister’s flight for coron was canceled, and i don’t want to spend more mullah to rebook tickets and join her and my brother for a trip back to puerto princesa on those same dates instead.
i guess, coron will have to wait for me this august. unless, that’s foiled again, HAHA!!!
my travel feet are itching to ride an airplane and get out of my beloved cebu for a break. unfortunately, my budget changed and nothing’s left to allow me to travel. although broke, i’m still contemplating on getting a return flight for cebu. i’m thinking, maybe i could just fly out, get the ID for my kskcoop membership in some pasig office, and return back to cebu the same day.
then, i received an SMS from my grade school friend informing me that’s he’s in town from abu dhabi for his wedding on that same day: feb. 18.
drat. i don’t have that many childhood friends, and he’s one of my closest friends  so..i’m really torn between flying to manila and taking care of my ksk coop membership or attending my friend’s wedding at a chapel in mactan airbase.
still undecided. darn.
anyways, advance best wishes on your wedding Godfrey!
tangub or not
25 Declast june, rhea and i booked a flight for ozamiz city and a return flight from cagayan de oro city. however – a few Fridays back, typhoon Sendong visited the PH and devastated parts of Mindanao. It specifically hit the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro. This wrath of nature claimed some 700 lives and a thousand more people missing. while my adventure for travel wasn’t quelled, the typhoon after-effect definitely put a damper on my december travel plans. i initially heard that some bridge in Iligan was badly damaged that traveling to neighboring cdo could proved problematic. while i have no way to confirm this , what truly clinched the decision to cancel the trip was the thought of the many lives that succumbed to the tragedy. i just couldn’t summon myself to be excited for the trip knowing many families have lost some of their loved ones. of course, one can argue that I had nothing to do with their deaths and that tragedies shouldn’t let the living from continuing on with their lives. i should go, right? my travel thirst says I should, but my moral voice says i’ll be the most insensitive dick on earth if i go. some part of me truly wants to go despite the voice, but the other part is scared of the devastation I might see while there. given these thoughts, i fully understand why rhea decided to cancel on me as well. my initial reaction was truly of fear, so i don’t take it against her that she decided against going.
now, the travel thirst is definitely still there. i know i’ll give myself a bad beating if i decide to stay put and spend the whole vacation at home. in addition, the itch to go to tangub is getting “itchier and itchier.” it’s been three years now since I promised myself that I’d see the Festival of Lights in Tangub someday. since june, i’ve been looking forward to finally see the country’s Christmas Capital. so, to ease the thirst, i got myself a return ticket from Ozamiz yesterday. while i may have secured myself a safe ticket back home, what’s stopping me from feeling truly at ease with this trip is the idea that i need to be at tangub at night. i’ve been trying to locate a place to stay in tangub, but to no avail. the accommodations i could find are from ozamiz and oroquieta. this means, i need to go back to ozamiz at night. now, i’ve no information as to the transportation available for tangub-ozamiz and back. so YES, i’m kind of hesitant if i will truly go to tangub. i could go to tangub by day, but will i have the means to go back to ozamiz at night? i need to be in tangub at night, but have to return to ozamiz at night, too as I didn’t have any luck finding a place to stay in tangub. it is because of this uncertainty that i decided to book a return flight the next day. my only reason for booking a flight to ozamiz in the first place was to be in tangub.
i guess, i will have to wait on december 28 and see for myself if i could summon enough guts to go to tangub alone at night.
for other travel stories, visit my other site —> HERE.
Puerto Princesa’s Ka Lui Restaurant
2 Octsome friends from the office are traveling to palawan before the year ends. as i’m forever a pakialamera when it comes to traveling, i thought of checking out my own site to see if i have enough info about palawan to help them out. voila! i only have two entries about the subject!!! obviously, i’m tremendously a big disappointment to this blog’s main goal. late as this may be (haha, 3 years late!!), i’ll try to rectify the situation.
let’s start with FOOD. when speaking of travel, it won’t be complete without mention of some nosh. palawan, i tell you, has one of the “bestest” restaurants i was fortunate enough to have visited. your palawan trip won’t be complete if you don’t drop by puerto princesa’s famous KaLUI.
as i visited KaLui back in February 2008, i want to make sure that the restaurant still exist to this day and YUP, it’s still kicking. below is an image of their website. click on the picture to get ideas on their Menu and Prices.
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when visiting KaLUI, it is advised that you make a reservation as the place can get packed. YES, they are that famous among locals and tourists alike.
at KaLUI’s you had better prepare to part with your slippers and shoes when entering the restaurant.
but you have nothing to worry as they have SQUEAKY CLEAN and SPOTLESS wooden floorings:
you’ll generally love the interior of Ka Lui. i’d say, it’s Filipino setting at its FINEST! (it’s just too bad i don’t have a kick-ass camera, and i suck at photography)
of course the best thing about KaLUI is the FOOD! their menu is not fixed as they based their selection on the day’s catch. if i remember correctly, Ka Lui only serves seafood and vegetable viands. during that time, i had the best “talong” (eggplant) side dish ever. the talong was deep-fried and comes with a to-die-for sauce. some pix of the food we ordered. unfortunately, the pix doesn’t do justice to how tasty and yummy the food were. blame it on my cam and inadequate skill.
and here we are, VERY CONTENTED folks!
for other travel stories, visit my other site —> HERE.
august 14-20, 2011 viet-cam trip
3 Sepjust a few pix to chronicle the said dates. will find time to blog about the details of my cambodia-vietnam trip. my sister got most of the tips from other travel bloggers. so, will return the favor soon…
****opps, view of the fountain and street FROM inside THE independence palace
———————the end of my vietnam – cambodia trip ———————-
in brief:
airfare: cebu-manila-saigon-manila-cebu PhP 10,014.31**
(**if not for me changing my return flights for saigon-manila-cebu, airfare would only have been PHP 5,413.1 for ceb-mnl-sgn-mnl-ceb via cebu pacific’s promo fare
terminal fees/travel taxes: PhP 2,770 (mactan/naia.loc 200*2/ naia.intl 750 / dep tax 1620)
taxi, food spent in PH: 958
pocket money: $500 – 246 (money in hand upon return) = $254 (accomm/food/misc in cambodia and vietnam)
USD @ time of exchange: PhP 43.30 x 254 = PhP 10,998.2
NOTE:
USD I changed to Vietnamese Dong was only $100.
$1 = 21,000 VND
We used VND in Vietnam, while US dollars in Cambodia. When traveling to Cambodia, make sure you have a lot of $1 bills. Most prices are in USD. If you pay in dollars, they will give you change in their local currency, which is very much lower in value.
TOTAL EXPENSE: PhP 24,740.51 *
*airfare bought in feb. 2011 (cebu-mnl-saigon-mnl-cebu PhP 5,413.1) and rebooked in april 2011 (saigon-mnl-cebu PhP 4,601.21). my sister and 3 others bought theirs in august 2010. this means, i had a year to save for this trip.
i hope that by showing the amount i spent for this trip, i can show fellow filipinos that travel outside the country need not be THAT expensive and IS POSSIBLE for anyone who desires to travel within southeast asia, but has budget constraints. of course, this doesn’t apply if your travel goal is to SHOP. mine is only to see new places and from the perspective of someone who doesn’t have immediate cash for travel purposes (thus, the far into the future choice of flight sched). that said,
HAPPY TRAVELING, PINOYS!!!
vetlongwalks
there's no special reason for the name except the love of putting my foot in front of the other until i'm breathless. traveling is a new found love for me. though i'm not blessed with beautiful-looking feet, i've gotten the habit of taking photos of my feet every time i set foot on lands outside of my beloved cebu. THANKS FOR VISITING!!! leave me a note or two. send it to vetlongwalks@yahoo.com or drop me a comment here. would love to hear from you!
BE WARNED: i'm no seasoned traveler nor a professional travel writer. contents here are purely accounts of my own travel experience.
[photo taken @ the sunken cemetery, camiguin island - aug. 09]
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