BICOL's PINANGAT: My Pasalubong Recommendation

I consider Bicol as one of the best provinces I have been to in the country. In my experience, the people were so nice, the beaches were so good (see where I stayed in Donsol here), and the food was really unforgettable!!!

Indeed Bicolano Cuisine are freaking delicious! From coconut milk (gata)-based dishes to unique desserts (try Pili and Sili Ice Cream), almost everything is a must try.

Pili Ice Cream is the bomb!

So after the whole Bicol trip, I looked for something to take back to Manila to share the goodness of Bicol  to my friends and loved ones.

You can buy different pasalubong items in Ibalong Pasalubong Center located in Legazpi Grand Terminal. But if you want to take home a delicacy like I did, I recommend Bicol's Pinangat. It's Manila's version of Laing, made from gabi leaves,  dried fish, shrimp paste and maybe some coconut milk. You can buy it in local restaurants along Camalig, Albay but if you already happen to be in the terminal, you can go to SM Supermarket. They sell famous Dad's Special Pinangat in chilled packaging, perfect for transporting. They sell each pack for Php 45. I recommend getting the spicy flavor.

Pinangat sold for Php 45

Travel from Legazpi to Manila took 12 hours so prolonging the life of this dish was very critical. In order to keep it chilled, I bought a cooler box for  Php 150 and put some ice in it. Tube ice were conveniently placed beside the Pinangat's chiller.

Tube Ice

The icebox had to be sealed securely to make sure that the ice water would not spill during the trip. Thankfully the staff from the supermarket helped me seal it using packaging tape. (Bicolano's are sooo nice!)

Right after I went home, I immediately checked the package and still found some ice on top.
I put the Pinangat in the fridge and left one pack to be heated for dinner.

Activities in White Beach Puerto Galera

TAMMARAW FALLS

Please read my previous blog: On the Spot Puerto Galera, a Detailed Guide to White Beach PG  for complete information on our Puerto Galera experience.

45-minute trip from White Beach by tricycle

We had to travel for 45 minutes to reach the Tammaraw falls. Our transportation was one tricycle only because she could not get another one for some reasons. So we fitted ourselves, all six of us,  in that vehicle until our bodies ached during the 45-minute travel to the falls. Entrance to the falls was only 30 pesos. The Falls was not that magnificently stunning, but still beautiful nevertheless. It was hard reaching the main falls because of big steep rocks, it became sort of a rock climbing/spelunking challenge. We enjoyed swimming because unlike other falls, the water was only waste deep, perfect for non-swimmers like us. We spent 30 minutes swimming and taking pictures, then we headed to our next destination.

Falls is just beside the road

Tammaraw Falls, White Beach, Puerto Galera

Swimming pools in Tammaraw Falls, White Beach, Puerto Galera

VIRGIN ISLAND:

The island was called Virgin Island simply because of the Virgin Mary Statue in the location. You can do nothing except picture taking and appreciating the beauty of the sea. We spend only 10 minutes there.

ETC.

We had a short trip to the market to buy some things we thought of buying cheaper if we buy it in the market. We had a gallon of water for 50 persos, one 1.5L of soft drink for 45 pesos and some chips. We also bought ballot, penoy and pugo for merienda. We had a short stop over to the ATM to get some extra cash before finally heading “home.” We reached white beach shore around 6 PM. The whole trip was from 3 PM to 6 PM, Almost 2 hours spent only for travelling.

NIGHT LIFE IN WHITE BEACH PUERTO GALERA

The thing that Puerto Galera beated in Boracay I think was their fire dancers. Unlike Boracay whose good fire dancers are mostly inside tented bars which you have to spend some cash. Galera’s fire dancers are in the shoreline. Performing to the whole crowd for free (optional to give tip for picture taking) and there are lots of them! There are also much better than the Boracay performers because of the tricks that I have not seen in the latter like tumbling while fire dancing. They also had plenty of female fire dancers! I remember my father being excited while going to a bar in Boracay with fire dancers and later got disappointed after finding gay fire dancers. Haha! No offense to gays out there. J

SNORKELLING, FISH FEEDING, ISLAND HOPPING

For our Snorkelling / island hopping activity, we decided not to call Ate from yesterday after what happened to our Tammaraw Falls activity. The moment we reached the shore, we were done negotiating with the first fixer who approached us. The package costed 1500 pesos for 6-8 persons, not bad for 250 for each of us. We have to travel by tricycle to take us to the mini port where the boat that would take us was waiting. We paid an extra 50 pesos per tricycle; we took 2 tricycles so we would be comfortable during the trip unlike yesterday. Aling Rodora, the owner of the boat told us that her offer for the Tammaraw falls trip was only 1000 pesos and that we would be taken by a multicab. Now atleast we know who to call next time. She gave us bread for the fish feeding, 2 bags for 20 pesos.

Free advertisement for Queen Reyna for Treating us well. :)

We had to take a tricycle to take us to this port

As we were sailing to the Snorkelling area #1, we noticed small boats tailing us. I knew from the blogs I have read what these boats were for, and that was to take us to the Snorkelling Area #2, where no big boats can go, for additional price of course. I told Manong that we were not interested with Snorkelling area #2 so Manong signalled the guys from the small boats to stop tailing us. When we reached the Snorkelling area, there were some guys on small boats stil offering us to take us to the Snorkelling site. Since I was bit disappointed with the quantity of species I found in area #1, we finally agreed after his assurance that we will not be disappointed with area #2, however, we still haggled down the price from 200 per person to 100. We took two boats, 3 persons per boat not including the sailor. When we reached the Snorkelling area, we were asked to carefully jump down the water and hold on to the rope hanging from the boat’s side. We were then slowly pulled / dragged while our bodies were in a Snorkelling position and then I saw the difference of Snorkeling Area #1 and #2 and decided the #2 was the real Snorkelling area. We were careful not to stand in the water as we might step on the corals or worse on poisonous sea urchins! We also saw sword fish and sea snake on the bottom part, far enough to harm us. Manong was right, 100 pesos was totally worth it, we even shouted to tourists from other boats to agree to go to Snorkeling Area #2 because they would not be disappointed.

check out the video of our snorkeling experience  here!!!

Small boats tailing us

Very persistent in following us

Snorkeling Area # 1, where big boats park, few fishes to feed... boring

It's more fun in Snorkeling Area # 2!

How Snorkeling in Snorkeling Area #2 was done, Snorkelers would be pulled by Small boats

UFO VS BANANA BOAT

After the snorkelling, we were also offered the underwater cave trip and giant clam activity but politely declined as we were already short on budget and time. We had a short stop over on a small island first to have some Halo halo and then finally head back “home.”

We were back to our hotel at 10 am and decided to do another activity before we go back to the city. At 10:30 in the morning, we did the UFO instead of the Banana boat because of two reasons. Banana boat required 10 persons and we have to wait for 4 more if we are going to ride in it, and second was that we felt that the ride was kinda scripted and boring. It was our first time on the UFO and totally enjoyed it. The UFO ride costed 1800 for 6 persons.

UFO Ride in White Beach Puerto Galera

WHAT TO EAT

We found this restaurant serving unlimited rice and was open for 24 hours. Now don't expect too much with the "Garlic" in Garlic Rice. Its just plain rice topped with shredded garlic. lol

Restaurant serving unlimited rice in Puerto Galera

I spent 149 pesos for one meal consisting of rice, chicken wings, salted egg and tomato. The taste was not extraordinary but the salted egg sealed the deal.

Affordable food (unlimited rice) in Puerto Galera, for only 149 pesos

Also Read:

Where to Stay in White Beach, Puerto Galera

Where to Stay in White Beach, Puerto Galera

On the Spot Puerto Galera, a Detailed Guide to White Beach PG

After a couple of changes in our plans, my high school friends and I finally decided to stick to our original plan which was to celebrate our High School reunion in White Beach, Puerto Galera. We were only six in the group (4 high school friends to celebrate our reunion, lol, plus two other “friends”), all first timers in Puerto Galera. The date was April 13-14, 2013, Saturday to Sunday. At the end of this blog, I will list down our expenses which totalled about 3,600 pesos per person.

White Beach Puerto Galera

PREPARATION:

We had no hotel and ferry ticket reservation so I can say that this was a sort of on the spot outing. The only preparation we had was the setting of the call time and making sandwiches and adobo to serve as our “tipid food.” We also packed our things enough for an overnight outing including my snorkelling gears and aqua shoes. We also read some blogs first to gather information on where to stay, activities etcetera. I made this blog and made it as detailed as possible for the benefit of readers/outing organizers like me, hope this looong blog helps. J

GOING TO BATANGAS PORT

We arrived at Jam Terminal, Cubao (aka Kamuning, Kamias Branch) at around 3:30 in the morning. Thanks to the late comer such as myself, we were not able to board the 3 AM trip. I was actually surprised that at that early, there was already a line of passengers waiting for the next trip, mostly Puerto Galera bound to spend the weekend. We left Cubao at 4:30 AM. Fare was 175 per person.

Batangas port on our way to White Beach Puerto Galera

BATANGAS PORT TO WHITE BEACH

We reached Batangas Port at around 6:10 AM, after reading a couple of blogs, we knew we only had two options: Father and Sons Shipping Lines (FSL) and Minolo Shipping Lines (MSL). We also had already anticipated fixers/barkers who would like to assist us in booking ticket for Puerto Galera. We politely refused Manong from FSL’s offer and told him that we do not have budget for his tip (we really intended to spend as little as possible for this outing). But he assured us that it’s okay and his job is just to bring passengers to FSL, maybe that’s where he's getting his commission, and so we agreed. He was the one who lined up to pay in the cashier, but one of us was beside him to be safe. We paid the same amount as the other’s who paid personally without fixer’s assistance (Php 500 round trip ticket), so we were sure that we were not charged by Manong. I momentarily became paranoid when he told us to wait and suddenly ran to the other side and disappeared, he still had our Php 480! I nervously looked for him and eventually found him, turned out that “the other side” was the terminal fee cashier. P30 for terminal and P50 for environmental, not sure which was 30 and which was 50 really :-D). After getting our tickets, we lined up for the entrance, we did not pay Manong any tip because of his assurance a while ago, we just told him “God bless po” for his kind assistance.

And so we boarded the boat. FSL boat is big and can accommodate many passengers. Aside from White Beach, FSL has also trip going to Muelle and Sabang.Time check: 6:30 AM.

We reached the shore of White Beach, Puerto Galera around pass 8 o’clock in the morning. The place was okay, a bit crowded because it was weekend. Since we bought round trip tickets, we were asked to approach the FSL booth by the shore to confirm/reserve our return tickets for next day and chose a schedule of departure; we chose the 4:30 PM trip.

Father and Sons Shipping Lines

Father and Sons Shipping Lines Crew

FINDING A PLACE TO STAY

Our next mission was to find a place to stay. We decided not to book a room online because of the rates ranging from Php 3,500 to 4,800 for a capacity of 6. There were fixers in the FSL booth offering us a place to stay. We told them that our budget was Php 2,000 – 3,000, to maintain our maximum budget allocation of 500 pesos per person for the accommodation. One of the fixers gave us two options: first was on beach front for 3,000 pesos and the other was located in small alley a little far from the shore for 2,500 pesos. We chose the first one, Mindoro Korea, beside Mindorinne Oriental Beach Resort.

We had to wait long because they are still preparing/cleaning our room. Luckily, they had their own restaurant so we decided to have an early lunch. We just bought rice and had our “tipid food” Adobo as our meal. Our room was ready by the time we were done eating.

Also read my blog: Where to Stay in White Beach, Puerto Galera  to know more about accomodations in Puerto Galera

Mindoro Korea Hotel

ACTIVITIES

For a detailed version of this part of our trip, check out: Activities in White Beach Puerto Galera

We booked Tammaraw Falls and Virgin Island trip with the same fixer who brought us to to Mindoro Korea. She charged us 1500 for the whole trip, I am not sure why we did not insist on haggling for a cheaper offer, but we later found out that 1500 pesos was really expensive. The package also included a trip to the market to buy some stuff and a stopover in an ATM for extra cash. The whole trip was from 3:30 PM to 6 PM, 1.5 hours spent on travelling alone.

Tammaraw Falls

We then spent the rest of the night watching fire dancers whom I thought were much more entertaining than the performers I saw in Boracay. Plus they also have more hot fire dancing chicks there than in Boracay. We also tried the famous Mindoro Sling and honestly I did not like it! It tasted more alcohol than juice. We even ordered from another bar thinking that it would differ in the mix, but the alcohol taste was still dominant.

Then came day 2. After having our breakfast, (our tipid food adobo of courseJ), we decided to do the Snorkelling / island hopping activity. We did not want Ate from yesterday after what happened to our Tammaraw Falls activity. The moment we reached the shore, we were done negotiating with the first fixer who approached us.  We paid 1500 for the trip, excluding the tricycle fare, tip and “others.” The entire activity was fun specially the fish feeding in the “real” Snorkelling area (aka Snorkeling Area #2). The entire activity lasted almost two hours including travel time.

Queen Reyna free advertisement for treating us well :)

More fishes in Snorkeling Area #2

At 10:30 in the morning, we did the UFO instead of the Banana boat because of two reasons. Banana boat required 10 persons and we have to wait for 4 more if we are going to ride in it, and second was that we felt that the Banana ride was kinda scripted and boring. It was our first time on the UFO and totally enjoyed it.

For a detailed version of this part of our trip, check out: Activities in White Beach Puerto Galera

GOING HOME

Our check out time was 11:30 in the morning and since our trip back to Batangas is at 4:30 in the afternoon, we decided to have  lunch first to kill some time. We left our bags in the reception area of Mindoro Korean to look for a place to eat with videoke. We ate, sang, and drank a mild version of Mindoro sling which we totally enjoyed this time, for more than 3 hours. We went back to Mindoro Korea to fetch our things, bought some pasalubong and finally head to the FSL ferry waiting for us.

Going Home

EXPENSES

Expenses for one person

Also Read:
Where to Stay in White Beach, Puerto Galera

Activities in White Beach Puerto Galera

Where to Stay in White Beach, Puerto Galera

When we went to White Beach, Puerto Galera last weekend, (April 12-13, 2013), we decided to take a risk by not booking a room online. Rooms we found online rated from 3500 – 4800 pesos for 6 persons and would not fit our budget allocation of 500 pesos per person at the most per person.

You may also want to read: Puerto Galera Detailed Guide.

White Beach Puerto Galera

When we reached the white beach shore, we were already approached by people offering us accommodations. We immediately told us our budget was 2000 pesos only. ;-). One woman told us that we would get a room that was 3-5 minute walk from the shore for that amout. She took us to two locations, first was an alley a little far from the shore, the air-conditioned room has 2 beds, for 2500 pesos. 

Mama Ching Lodge, located in a small alley about 3 minutes away from the shore, 2500 pesos for 6 persons

The second location was almost on beach front; room was a bit smaller than the previous one but also had 2 queen size bed and a bathroom. We took the second one primarily because it was beach front, even if it is more expensive. It was beside Mindorinne Oriental Beach Resort

Mindoro Korea

Mindoro Korea, beach front, beside mindorinne oriental beach resort

not sure if this was working

Things I did not like about our room:

1.        Aircon was kind of faulty

2.        Few outlets. Only three, so there was a shortage when it came to charging our gadgets

3.        The CR was not that pleasant, plus there was a screened window with no cover/curtain, enough to freak us out.

4.        Nevertheless, the room was okay for us considering it was on beach front and we got it for a bit lower price.

Our room included: 2 queen size bed, extra mattress, TV, 1 bathroom with hot shower, and electric fan to compensate for the not-so-cold Aircon.

When you plan to go to Puerto Galera, it’s your choice if you want to do the reservation online or just do walk-in. You can still find rooms much more affordable even if its peak season, except Holy Week I think. I took some pictures of available rooms posted at the time we were there.

Vacant Rooms in Puerto Galera

Available Rooms in Puerto Galera

Also Read:

On the Spot Puerto Galera, a Detailed Guide to White Beach PG

Activities in White Beach Puerto Galera

Cebu Pacific Now flies to Dubai, Offering Seat Sale for 888 Pesos

Cebu Pacific, the country’s number 1 airline in providing affordable fares and tons of seat sales for “every Juan” is now offering its first ever long haul flight to Filipinos. Today, January 17, Cebu Pacific has announced that direct flights to Manila to Dubai have been added to their list of international destinations. Flights will be daily and will start on October 2013.

To celebrate the announcement, the budget carrier has launched seat sale offering a base fare of 888 pesos one way. There are about 2,500 seats to offer on this sale, going from Manila to Dubai and vice versa.

I have tried to avail the promo and booked myself to visit my sister in Dubai and I have quoted around ten thousand pesos for a round trip flight. This was including the base fare (888 pesos one way), the web admin fee, tax, the fuel surcharge and the baggage allowance fee. Not bad if you would compare it to other carriers which offered about thirty thousand pesos one way, the lowest price I could find.

Emirates Airlines, the only airline to offer direct flights to Dubai before Cebu Pacific’s launch, has added an additional flight daily to Dubai this January 2013.

The flight to Dubai will be 9-hour long and will be once a day. Cebu Pacific Airline will use aircrafts called Airbus 330-300. The said aircraft can handle up to 13-hour flight which means the biggest Budget carrier in the Philippines may also offer flights to other parts of the world in the future. Stay tune as CebuPac told that they will announce more international destinations this 2013. 

Ilocos La Paz Sand Dunes

Check out this video I uploaded where you can see my mother rocking Ilocos La Paz Sand Dunes.

The place was okay, but really really hot. We planned to go there early in the morning, so the sun will not be that much in effect, but the place was still blazing hot even at nine o' clock in the morning!

My advice for you folks if you plan on going there, wear rubber shoes, or anything with think soles. The sand was so hot it almost burned my feet!

On the Spot outing: Cheap Hot Spring Resort in Pansol, Laguna (Bonsai Resort)

Last weekend, my boyfriend’s relatives from Cabanatuan visited us in Cavite for a semi family reunion, because his Tita came home from Japan. We decided to have an on the spot outing that day and the nearest and most ideal place to go to was Laguna.

I initially looked for a nice but affordable private hot spring resort in Pansol, Laguna online but since our outing was on that same day, I had difficulty looking for an available resort. There were some I have found to be available but the rates were a bit higher than our budget.

We realized it was pointless to look online because of the time constraint and decided to drive to Pansol and just look for a nice resort on the spot.

Luckily, when we got to the main highway of Pansol, there were already guys with placards with “Resort for Rent” or “Private Pool for Rent”. We talked to the first guy who approached our car and quickly made the deal. It was 7pm already.

He escorted us to the resort that met our qualifications (he was on a motorcycle), just less than 5-minute drive from the highway. Bonsai Resort was a compound type of resort divided into three pool sections. We had bonsai 2 which was in the middle. We rented the place for P4000 pesos overnight, for a group of 15 persons.

It had the following amenities:

• 1 adult pool (3ft-5ft) warm water
• 1 kiddie pool (which is more like a Jacuzzi for me 
• 2 rooms with 4 double decks per room, air-conditioned 
• 3 bathroom 
• 2 sinks for cooking with stove   a refrigerator with 1 pack of tube ice
• Tables and chairs
• unlimited videoke
• wide area parking

BONSAI 2

 

kitchen

2 bathrooms inside

4 double decks per room, air conditioned

The water in the pool was clean and warm. At first I couldn’t bear the temperature of the water in the kiddie/Jacuzzi pool but it felt better after a few moments.

 The only thing I did not like about the place was that blankets were not provided. I had difficulty sleeping because I was so cold and I could not turn off the air-con because some of us were okay with the air-con turned on.

BONSAI 3, a bit more pricy than bonsai 2

This was the sign at the corner of the street going to Bonsai Compound

Of course, our trip to Laguna wouldn't be complete without stopping by to Colette's, famous for it's bukopie. :)

Colette's

You might also want to check out our trip to 88 Hotspring Resort also in Pansol, Laguna.

On the Spot outing in Pansol, Laguna (Bonsai Resort)

Last weekend was a blast for me. Finally, I have met my boyfriend's relatives, (on his mother's side). They visited us from Cabanatuan with his Tita who came from Japan. We decided to spend our time together by having an "on the spot outing." We were already in San Pablo, Laguna at that time, so the nearest and most appealing place to go to was Pansol, Laguna.

We tried to look for a private hot spring resort in Pansol online at first but decided that it would not be practical. Aside from the resort that we found were a bit higher than our budget, we were not sure if these were still available because we would rent the resort on that same day. So we decided to go to Pansol and look for a resort ourselves which was actually not hard! The moment we reached the main highway of Pansol, guys with placards that said "Private Resort for Rent" approached us. After 5 minutes, we arrived at Bonsai Resort. It's a compound type of resort which we rented for P4000 from 7 PM to 9 AM. After seeing the place, I realized that I have seen the resort online when we were still looking for a nice resort that day. As I remembered, the price was a bit higher than P4000, it was P6000 in sulit.com if I was not mistaken.

Bottom line is if you are going on an on the spot outing in Pansol, Laguna, it will be more practical to go there and look for a resort personally than look online. There are many guys along the highway of Pansol who would be happy to assist (because they have commission, hehe), and recommend an affordable and ideal resort for the guests.

Bonsai Resort, more pictues at viacommute.blogspot.com

You can also read my other blog here for more details about bonsai resort. :)