three stop

on our second day in Puerto Princesa we made another three stop before going to our main destination. when you're in Puerto Princesa, one of the best way to travel around would be by renting a van from travel agencies. here's another three stops that we made that you might want to consider. [4] Nagtabon Beach
Northwest of Puerto Princesa's town center is an almost forgotten beach shore. less and less tourists considers Nagtabon beach on their itinerary for the reason of being out of the way to most of the travel spots. one needs to cross the central hills and pass by rough road to get to a sleepy village. cottages under towering coconut trees remains to be the most firm structure in the area as this is often been threatened by some of the big waves of South China sea. there's not much to see and do in the beach area if you're there for a limited time. not really a recommended spot for weekend trips to Puerto Princesa. but if you have ample time

estimated travel time from Puerto Princesa town center: 45minutes

[5] Honda Bay Viewpoint
one of the usual stops when one goes to the underground river in Sabang. a souvenir shop, a canteen to cater hungry travel tummies and a view deck of Honda bay. a short hike up cemented stairs leads you to a viewdeck which can dismay photographers. it lacks height for a good point of view of some of Honda bay's island. the place is just a good stopover to stretch a bit from the trip. the souvenir shop sells some woodcrafts and shell decorations. tambol and gong is available to wake you from a sleepy trip. estimated travel time from Puerto Princesa town center: 1hour

[6] Sabang Beach
the gateway to the subterranean river is a more lively beach village. the beach is very similar to that of Nagtabon but here one can find restaurants and souvenir shops. it's touristy here but still the place maintains a nice aura and is a good stop.hammocks are available for free and if you want to try something exotic, here one can buy tamilok. worms grown inside mangroves which is a natural delicacy to the locals. one plastic cost P100. dare?estimated travel time from Puerto Princesa town center: 2hours

backpack photography lake sebu

the backpack photography that i will highly recommend. Ferdz Decena opens another opportunity for only 12 slots to a trip to one of Mindanao's best travel destination for culture and nature.i've learned from Ferdz the essentials of photography through our trips in Batad, Taal and Palawan. it's time to pack and head to Mindanao. click on the poster for details. deadline for registration is this weekend.

microtel palawan

it is true that the journey counts the most in most travels but in Palawan, you just can't resist to be in a place that can complement the idea of being in one of the country's most desired island. a place where for the meantime, you will forget what rush hour means.

located along Palawan's East coast on a semi-private area just about 20 minutes away from the town center is Microtel Puerto Princesa. location, security and comfort makes it one of the highly recommended resort and the staff and crews' hospitality is a bonus.

majority of the rooms has its own view of the beach and few steps from the main lobby are these irresistible hammocks. an outdoor swimming pool for those who prefer to just take a dip and enjoy Microtel's gentle pacing.

by night, expect a beautiful display of light on some of the trees in the beach. a short walk along the beach front will get you to the lighted-mangrove which adds a relaxing experience and is actually my favorite spot.

on some occasions mostly on weekends, expect good music by the pool side area. beach activities available includes kayaking, and beach volley. the thriving mangroves of the beach reinforces the call of the resort and Palawan as a whole to preserve nature.

this has been our home for three days and two nights and the great service was notable. expect really good food with a special mention of their quarter pounder burger. plus the availability of wi-fi will definitely won't leave you outdated.
Microtel holds international standards for hotel and has several locations like Boracay, Baguio, Batangas, Davao, Tarlac, Cabanatuan and the newly opened Microtel Mal of Asia.

for inquiries call or visit their office:

Microtel Inns&Suites (Pilipinas), Inc

2F PHINMA Plaza, #39 Plaza Drive

Rockwell Center, Makati City, 1200

Tel:

632-8997171

632-8700100

632-8971039

Fax:

632-8700319

Email:

sales@microtel.ph

info@microtel.ph

or visit www.microtel-palawan.com

three stop

on our first day we had a lax itinerary, instead of going around the town center we decided to make some stops slightly away from the busy streets of Puerto Princesa.
[1] Lawiswis Organic Shop
the first stop requires few steps uphill which leads you to a small house surrounded by a garden and a man-made mini-pond. you won't realize that it is a shop of organic soaps and ointments as it looks more like an abode for someone who loves ornaments.it has a nice garden where one can actually relax in a hammock or just walk around the compound. though there's not much to see it is worth a short stop when you have some extra time.the products are available only on this shop and you can request for the owner to spend time explaining how and why we should use organic.

estimated time from Puerto Princesa town center: 30mins


[2] Mitra's Ranch
long way up to another hill leads you to a viewpoint of the Sulu sea and a part of Honda bay. one of Palawan's most influential person used to have this as his vacation house and home to some of his horses.
now, it's a place where one can just sit on grass lawns and enjoy the view from above. there's not much to do around so a short stop will be just right.

estimated time from Puerto Princesa town center: 20mins


[3] Baker's Hill
a place that looks so much like a shop in Tagaytay where one can buy some pasalubong. choose a spot around the area and a good place to relax while you try their newly-cooked serve-hot ube hopias. did i say it's just P40 for ten pieces?

estimated time from Puerto Princesa town center: 20minsnext stop our home for three days.

island of beautiful harbour

a new series of escape to a group of islands that is composed of almost one fourth of the 7,107 islands of the Philippines. many years back, when one says he's going to Palawan it would most likely refer to Honda bay in the capital town of Puerto Princesa. but not these days as Coron and El Nido has also captured its share. in this series, we will explore the country's second largest city in terms of land area, Puerto Princesa. i was tagged along with six other bloggers namely anton of our awesome planet, eric of byahilo, ferdz of ironwulf, melo of out of town blog, mica of micamyx, and winston of batangyagit. we will give you enough reason why you should not miss out this city.

capones island zambales

this island reminds me of two extreme experience. first, we had the chance to stay overnight with a whole island for ourselves. second, it's here that we had our near-death experience two years ago. it was signal number two in Zambales yet with the heavy rains and expected rough waters we did proceed. we made it safely to the island but came night time when rain and the wind started to pound our tents. but we thought that this experience ended that night not knowing that our boat trip going back to the main Luzon island will be our worst boat experience. but the island of Capones retains its splendor even under a typhoon or on a sunny summer day. that's how beautiful this island is. the rock formations vary from each point in the island. a haven for landscape photographers. it has a number of beach shore of which the best side is its Eastern coast. if you review my posts here two years ago, you'll notice that i made a map and named each shoreline. on this visit, we chose eskaso beach which actually has the best beach stretch with stunning rock formations as the backdrop.what this island best offers? green awesome rocky hills. with an island like this, a day trip won't be enough. you can't really say how great this island is until you reach its hills. the old lighthouse between eskuro and kamino adds character to this island.so when you go there, don't make Capones a side trip. it's worth a weekend trip exploring this island.

when on a budget: to camp somewhere along the long gray sand beach coast of Pundaquit or best yet in one of the islands. we did the latter when we first visited these islands.
when there to relax: one option is Punta De Uian resort where we stayed for this trip.

escape factor:
road trip: 3.5

island hop experience: 2.5

beachscape: 4.5

beach sand: 3.5

seclusion: 3.0

overall escape factor: 3.5

capones island

province: Zambales

boat take off: coastal village of Pundaquit, San Antonio

GPS location:

latitude: 14`54' 45" N

longtitude: 120`1' 15.09" E

camara island zambales

what brings an extra thrill to see a place is to see it first from afar under a wonderful sunset. with the idea of going for an island hopping the next day, it was worth spending a night over a delicious dinner by the beach.

it was our company's outing and the choice of Zambales was just right. also on the same month two years ago, i was on the same coast but a typhoon was all over this part of Luzon island. so seeing the coast of San Antonio under a fair weather was something new.

the next day, we were off to drop by two islands, first was Camara which is just about 15 minutes away from the resort in Pundaquit. composed of two rock islets which on some rare conditions are connected by a small strip of sand.

the beach was enticing at first look but not when we noticed that dozens of small jellyfish were floating on one side of the beach. it could be a breeding season for these transparent creatures. definitely not the best time to enjoy its waters.

this is a popular island stopover when one visits Anawangin cove and Capones island. but because of its size, there's not much to do around the island except for snorkeling and beach combing.
when on a budget: to camp somewhere along the long gray sand beach coast of Pundaquit or best yet in one of the islands. we did the latter when we first visited these islands.
when there to relax: one option is Punta De Uian resort where we stayed for this trip.

escape factor:
road trip: 3.5

island hop experience: 2.5

beachscape: 3.0

beach sand: 3.0

seclusion: 2.5

overall escape factor: 3.0

camara island

province: Zambales

boat take off: coastal village of Pundaquit, San Antonio

GPS location:

latitude: 14`55' 22.64"

longtitude: 120`2' 32.48"