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No matter how you plan your travel, there are things that you cannot control. You should learn how to accept, adjust and deal with it. There are so many things in Sagada that we did not expect but it happened.
First thing is the weather, I was not expecting that it would rain in Sagada but unfortunately, it rained. So we were not able to witness the sunrise in Mt. Kiltepan.
Second, when we woke up, we have no electricity except for the light that was run by the generator. According to the owner of the lodge, it is not always the case, may problem lang talaga. We cannot take a bath without hot water, ayaw namin mag-ice bucket challenge.
We did not want to waste our time waiting for the electricity so we went to town proper. We’re just waiting in the car while eating our breakfast. We are hoping that the rain will stop so we can start our tour, but two hours had passed and we still can’t see the sun. So my husband bought raincoats for us so we can start our Echo Valley Walking Tour. Rain or shine, go sa walking tour.
Echo Valley Walking Tour
There are three types of Echo Valley Walking Tour and since we have a kid in tow, we chose the short hike which is Echo Valley Hanging Coffins.
Guide fee is P200 + P10/person access fee.
You can finish this tour in less than an hour because you will only visit the St Mary the Virgin Church, St Mary the Virgin Cemetery, Echo Valley and Hanging Coffins. I have very limited pictures on this tour because of the rain but you can check the Sagada Echo Valley Tour video here.
We skipped the church and went straight to the Sagada Anglican cemetery. I was looking for William Henry Scott coffin but I was not able to locate it. I asked the guide but he was not aware of it. Well, William Henry Scott is a famous historian who was settled in Sagada in the year 1954 and was buried in this cemetery on October 10, 1993.
Then we continued our journey to Echo Valley, remember the movie of “That Thing Called Tadhana”, so this is the valley where you can shout your feelings. I tried it, kaso nakakahiya din pala sumigaw pag madami tao. Hehehe!
We can already see the Hanging Coffin from where we stand but if you want to see the coffin up close and personal, be prepared in challenging and slippery walk. I don’t want to take the risk of going down with my son so we just stayed. My husband and the guide went down to see the coffins. This will be added to unique cemeteries that we have visited in the Philippines.
Read: Unique Cemeteries in the Philippines
After the tour, we went to Salt & Pepper Diner for our early lunch but it took them so long to serve the food, so just in time for lunchtime na. Hehehe!
We went back to our lodge and finally, we can already take a bath. Taking a bath is a new luxury. hehehe!
Sumaguing Cave
Aside from the Echo Valley Tour, the famous attraction here is Spelunking. We asked the guide if he thinks my 8-year-old son can do the cave tour and he said yes, “kaya naman daw”. I believed him but I don’t want to take the risk so again, babysitter na naman ang peg ko. Huhuhu!
Our lodge is just a few minutes away from the Sumaguing Cave so my husband just met the guide at the cave. You can also do the Cave Connection but my husband just chose the short course cave which is more or less two hours.
Read: Sagada Bilza Lodge
My husband brought waterproof bag, waterproof phone casing, lamp and bottle of water. Since I was not there, I will just share his pictures. Guide fee is P500.
Waah! I don't have pictures inside the cave. I'm pretty sure that we won't visit Sagada in the near future, I hope when we go back I can still do spelunking. Baka di na kaya ng powers ko, lol. #signsofaging.
Read: Day 1 in Sagada
Day 3 Sagada Pottery and Lake Danum
Day 4 Goodbye Sagada
Sagada Bilza Lodge
Where to Eat in Sagada
A few days ago, I posted our 4 Days Adventures in Coron, Palawan. Now, I decided to share our 3 Days Puerto Princesa Palawan trip with the fambam. Almost seven years ago we went to Puerto Princesa, Palawan for our family outing. This was a much-awaited trip because this will be the first family out of town of via plane. Four generations kami, from my grandmother up to our own kids.
Read: 4 Days Adventure in Coron Palawan
Ysabelle Mansion
We’re group of 13 people so a month before the trip I already booked our accommodation at Ysabelle Mansion and rented a van for our three days tour. We stayed in Ysabelle Mansion for our 3 days and 2 nights trip. It is a hostel that offers basic accommodation. The rooms and bathrooms are clean. The service staffs are all friendly and nice. It is very near in seaport, airport, market and restaurant so transportation is not difficult.
Day 1: Honda Bay Island Hopping
Our rented van picked us up at the airport and we dropped by at the hostel to leave our baggage and off we went to sea port for our Honday Bay Island Hopping. Since our flight was delayed for almost an hour, we only have limited time for island hopping.
On our way to sea port, we went to 7 Plates Building to book our Underground River Tour, we bought mineral water and picked up our food. I ordered BBQ liempo, Grilled Pusit, Spicy Garlic Shrimp, Ensaladang Talong, Lato Rice, Grilled Baby back ribs, Buttered lobster, Kangkong w/oyster sauce and Atchara. The food were placed in a bilao and plastic container. I also brought disposables just in case magkulang. Good thing that I already ordered our food in advance because we were all hungry before we reach Snake Island. Sa sobrang gutom, walang pictures ang mga food.
Boat rental is P1500 good for 6 person, additional pax is P250 including kids. There are different islands in Honda Bay that you could visit such as Cowrie Island, Bat Island, Lu-Li Island (lulubog-lilitaw), Dos Palmas Island, Pambato Reef, Pandan Island, Starfish Island and Snake Island. Each island has its own entrance fee except for Snake Island but you have to pay for cottage.
Pandan island entrance fee P 50/head
Starfish island entrance fee P 50/head
Pambato reef entrance fee P 50/head
Pandan island cottage P 400/cottage
Snake Island
We only choose Snake Island, Star fish Island and Pandan Island. First stop is Snake Island, where we ate our lunch. The place is quite crowded maybe because there is no entrance fee. You will enjoy swimming and snorkeling even you are not a good swimmer because you can see school of fishes at knee deep of water.
Starfish Island
Next stop is Starfish Island but we just dropped by and moved to Pandan Island.
Pandan Island
Pandan Island has the best facilities and amenities among the three islands. They have their own comfort room, restaurant and massage place. So we already stayed in this Island till 5PM.
Bilao at Palayok
After Honda Bay Island Hopping, we went to Bilao at Palayok for our dinner. It is one of the most recommended restaurants in Puerto Princesa so we want to try it. The place has native ambiance and look.
We ordered Boodle Feast, Lengua Estofado, Buttered Garlic Crab and Ginataang Seafood. Among the food, my favorite is Lengua Estofado. For 13 persons, our bill is less than P2000 so price is very reasonable. Don't forget to bring your insect repellent. We took tricycle on our way back to Ysabelle Mansion.
Day 2: Underground River Tour
It’s been raining the whole night because there was LPA. I am bit worried that our Underground tour will be canceled but thank God for giving us good weather in Sabang. The travel time going to Undeground River is almost two hours and expect that is very long and winding road. It is not a smooth ride because some roads are not cemented.
Fortunately, we had stopover at Viewdeck because some of us are really dizzy and about to vomit. So don not forget to take bonamine to prevent biyahilo moments. This road is the same road that I will need to travel if I want to go to El Nido so I am really thinking twice about El Nido.
Underground River Expense
Van Rental P3000
Permit P150/head local, 200/head foreigner, 13-17 yrs old P50, 6-12yrs old P30 and 5yrs old below free
Boat (good for 6pax) P 700/boat
Tip: Do not forget to bring ID because they will look for it. I forgot the cost of terminal fee. For toddlers, bring your own life vest.
You need to ride boat to get to Underground River, it is just 15 minutes travel time. Upon arrival, you have to wait for your turn, yes pila ulit sa boart for Underground River Tour, it is about 45 minutes tour inside the cave. You will not get bored because the tour guide is really good, he will explain everything to you. I am proud that I have been here.
We availed the buffet lunch at the beach for P200 per head. The food is just ok so it is not worth the price especially for the kids because they have the same rate.
Puerto Princesa City Tour
After lunch, we decided to proceed with City Tour since we still have time. Itinerary for the day: Iwahig Penal Colony, Cathedral, Crocodile farm, Mitra’s house -Sta. Monica Ranch and Baker’s Hill.
Crocodile Farm and Nature Park
First stop is Crocodile Farm, there is a souvenir shop where you can buy pasalubong while waiting for your turn. I bought crocodile stuffed toy here. Between Crocodile Park of Davao and Crocodile Farm, I like Crocodile Park because there is so much to see in their park. But in Crocodile Farm, we were able to hold baby crocodile.
Then we visited Iwahig Penal Colony, Mitra’s house -Sta. Monica Ranch and Baker’s Hill. At this point, my grandmother was already complaining bakit hinto daw ng hinto, hehehe! City Tour nga e! So we did not stay long in each spot because our grandmother was just staying inside the van.
You will enjoy the Baker’s Hill because there is a playground for the kids. The place is big and it is not just a bakery. You can also buy food pasalubong here, the famous here is hopia.
Last stop is Cathedral na ako na lang ang bumaba just to take pictures because pagod na ang lahat. They did not want to go out anymore for dinner so we just ate at Ysabelle Mansion.
By the way, there is Vietville, Plaza Cuartel and Butterfly garden too but we did not include them in our itinerary.
Day 3: Palawan Museum
This was our last day in Puerto Princesa, since our flight was still 2PM, we decided to go to Palawan Museum. We just took a tricycle to get there. P10 for entrance fee.
We checked-out at 12 noon and naiinip pa kami na ihatid sa airport. Yun pala sarado ang airport, hindi man lang kami ininform na nagsasara pala yun. So we waited more or less an hour bago nag-open ulit ang airport.
Ysabelle Mansion
214 Abad Santos Extension
Puerto Princesa City Palawan, Philippines 5300
Contact Nos.: Landline (63)(48) 723-0992
Mobile No. (63)918-4089377 / (63)929-2417797
Email: info@ysabellemansion.com
Website: www.ysabellemansion.com
As promised, I will share to you our cave experience in Bolinao, Pangasinan. There are three caves that you can visit in Bolinao such as Cindy’s Cave, Wonderful Cave and Enchanted Cave. But because we have very limited time, we can only visit one cave. We chose the latter because it is the popular cave.
So far, Enchanted Cave is the third cave that I’ve visited in the Philippines. I’ve been to Cambagat Cave which located inside the Panglao Island Nature and Resort Spa and of course the famous Underground River in Puerto Princesa Palawan.
It was long weekend so the place was really crowded, good thing that we were able to park immediately.
Effective March 2, 2015, the entrance fee is P150 per person. I was thankful that they did not charge my 6 years old son.
Upon entering the resort, you will notice the coral rocks and fossils clams. I’ve read in one signage, this is a proof that the place was part of the sea 10 million years ago.
There are cottages that you can use inside.
We immediately look for the cave and as expected, the place was packed. My son was scared at first, it was his first time to swim in a cave. If you are not a good swimmer, you can rent a life jacket.
The cave is not that big, I guess it is similar to Cambagat Cave in Bohol.
After several minutes inside the cave, we went to kiddie pool so my son can enjoy.
This is the shower area, you need to get water from the deep well pump. The dressing area is beside that shower area too.
As much as we want to stay long, we need to go home early. I guess, we only stayed for 1 hour. Di namin nasulit ang P150 entrance. Hehehe!
My husband was born and raised in Pangasinan so we always have reasons to visit this province. Most of our visits in Pangasinan, we just stayed in their house or we will visit Lingayen beach. You can check it here.
It’s been three years since our last visit in their province so we took advantage of the long weekend (May 1 - 3) to visit my grandmother-in-law in Bugallon, Pangasinan and at the same time visit Bolinao, Pangasinan.
We’ve never been to Bolinao, Pangasinan so few days before our trip I checked possible places that we could visit for a day. After breakfast (May 2), off we went to Bolinao, Pangasinan. We used google maps and Waze for directions.
1. Our first stop was St James the Great Parish located in Don Alonzo Ponce Street, Poblacion, Bolinao Pangasinan. The church was made out of black coral stones. Its church tower is seventy-five feet which is the tallest in the whole Pangasinan but the earthquake toppled about half of it in 1788. After that, the church was accidentally burned in 1819 and suffered in Typhoon Emong in 2009.
2. UP Marine Science Institute - my husband suggested this so I searched if this is open for the public. We’ve been in Giant Clam Culture in Camiguin but I have no idea that the Bolinao Marine Laboratory (BML) is the main office.
According to their website, BML is the official marine station of the Marine Science Institute (MSI), University of the Philippines, Diliman. BML serves as a research base for the scientific activities of MSI’s senior staff, visiting scientists, graduate students, and other collaborating institutions.
The clams that I’ve seen in Camiguin came from Bolinao, Pangasinan. There is no doubt that this is the main office because their outdoor hatchery is bigger compared to Giant Clam Culture. The entrance fee is P20.
3. Sungayan Grill at Balingasay River
We had lunch in Sungayan Grill, it is a floating restaurant in Balingasay river. This river is one of the cleanest rivers in the country. I will share more of our experience in my next post.
4. Cape Bolinao Lighthouse
I’ve first seen this lighthouse in the “The Promise” movie starring Angel Locsin and Richard Gutierrez.
I’ve been to Cape Bojeador Lighthouse in Pagudpud and Guisi Lighthouse in Guimaras so this is the third lighthouse I’ve seen in the Philippines but unlike the two lighthouses, we can’t go up to the top.
5. Enchanted Cave
There are three caves that you can visit in Bolinao, Pangasinan such as Cindy’s Cave, Wonderful Cave and Enchanted Cave. We chose the latter because it is more popular. I will create another post for this cave. Entrance fee P150.
The cave was our last stop because we have to drop by at the Bani market to buy seafood for our dinner.
Places that you can visit in Bolinao, Pangasinan.
Falls - Bolinao Falls 1 & 2 and Tara Falls
Resort - Puerto Del Sol Resort, Punta Riviera Resort and Treasures of Bolinao Resort.
Beach - Patar White Beach and Rock View Beach Resort
