elle's tinker toes ♥♥♥

Dinosaur Island Park is located in Clark Freeport Zone, Angeles City, Pampanga. Since we live in Marilao, its just an hour away via NLEX from Marilao Toll Gate. We exited at Mabalacat Toll Gate, then followed the road that leads to Clark FreePort Zone. The signs are easy to follow, so going there is easy as a breeze! :)

When we visited Ilo-ilo January of this year, the original plan was to side trip in Guimaras. But after a lot of thinking and pondering, Bee and I decided to skip Guimaras and go to Islas Gigantes  instead. We had an amazing experience in Islas Gigantes but I promised myself I'll go back and see The Mango Capital of the Philippines!!! And so here it is...

My friend and I planned that when we reach Bacolod Airport, we'll go separately and we'll just meet again in the airport for our flight back home. It was a good idea as I've always wanted to try travelling solo. As they say (and I believe), it's a very fulfilling and liberating thing to do. But as my departure date came approaching, I started to feel hesitations if I could do it. A 4-day trip was too long for me to roam around all by myself and the thought of leaving Bee in Manila saddens me... I guess, I was not prepared yet. I still need to muster enough courage to finally complete task. Someday. I promised myself. Generally, our itinerary is this:

There has been many stories as to how Siquijor was named as such. According to wikitravel, "Siquijor Island or Isla del Fuego as the Spanish named it, due to the intensity of fire flies lies some 22 km east of Southern Negros . Legend has it that Siquijor rose from the sea during a tremendous thunder storm sited as evidence is fossils and shells which can still be found in Mount Bandila-an, Siquijor's highest point. While the coastline is mostly white sand beaches, oceans full of tropical marine life the interiour is mountainous." Siquijor is interesting in its own way and this is the reason why we chose to visit it in the first place. How we got to Siquijor? We booked a flight (from Manila) to Dumaguete City. In Dumaguete is a port bound for Siquijor. At the time we were in the pier, a ferry scheduled to leave at 1pm was already full and the only option we had was a 3:30 PM schedule. It was only 11:00 AM then.  My friends and I decided to take a ni...

After 5 months of nestling in my own crazy world, I got to finally take a break and set foot on a different soil. Before the our Dumaguete-Siquijor trip, I was excited and a little bit scared at the same time. Excited because of the thought of braving through a land famous for shamans and the like in Siquijor. Scared because one of my friends has this 3rd eye and it frightens me in an exciting way that we might encounter something extremely scary because of this. The Plan Research.. research... We'll be landing in Dumaguete City via Cebu Pacific on Sept 7 at 8am and we'd like to spend one night each in Dumaguete and Siquijor. Upon researching further, I learned that we could day tour in Apo Island!! Swimming with turtles would be so fun. I wondered if we could squeeze this in our itinerary. So as we planned, our itinerary would be like this:

Finally!!!!!!!!! A trip somewhere far from the crazy busy city impeded me from insanity. Seriously... After months of stress from work, I badly needed a breather. Bee and I had two options -- Boracay or Cagbalete. I really really realllllyyyyyy wanted to experience riding in a 2Go ship from Batangas to Boracay. Added to the thrill was that our favorite radio station was set for a summer party in Boracay on the date of our target trip!!! It could have been a perfect plan for me and Bee. We'll arrive in Boracay in the morning, then party all night and then go back to Manila via the same ship the next day taking the early and only trip. Sounds like a plan right?

It was our last day in Bantayan Island and in a short while, we will be going home.

Good morning Bantayan Island!!! Our experience yesterday was great and we looked forward to our Island hopping this day.

Going to Bantayan Island is very easy. First, we need to go to Cebu North Bus Terminal, then take a bus to Hagnaya port, then take a roro boat to Sta. Fe. Piece of cake, right? :) We checked out from Sampaguita Suites at 8:30AM and instructed the cab driver to drop us off at North Cebu Terminal. From there, are airconditioned and non-airconditioned buses plying for Hagnaya.  Fare: P132 (non-aircon). Travel time: 3 hours.

Second stop for our Visayas trip is a visit to Bantayan Island in Cebu. I realized there's more to Cebu than I thought. There's just so many places to see. Sadly, I only have limited time. My original plan when I booked our flight was Cebu-Bohol-Cebu but then I thought, oh well I'll just visit Bohol separately....

Let me share our itinerary and expenses for this trip. Itinerary: Day 1 -  12:45 PM - Arrival in Iloilo International Airport 3:00 PM - Checked in at Iloilo Midtown Hotel 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM - left Super in Iloilo Market and arrived in Miag-ao church 5:30 PM - 6:00 PM - Wandered around the vicinity of Miag-ao church 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM - left Miag-Ao church and arrived in Iloilo town proper. -Free time-

Our day 2 was packed with activities - Parola (lighthouse), Caving and Island Hopping. :) PAROLA First, we woke up at 5:30AM so we could visit the lighthouse. Locals call it Parola. We rented a motorbike for P60 each. Then if you want to tour the entire island, just add P40.

Welcome to Barangay Asluman, Carles Iloilo!!! :P During our entire trip in Gigantes, we stayed in Gigantes Hideaway Resort or Gigantes Hideaway Tourist Resort. Prior to coming, we reserved a room good for 3. Accommodation is only P200/person/night!! Very cheap right?!!! And you can stay in wherever rooms available for the same price!

I was browsing through the internet one day, researching about my first travel destination for 2013, Iloilo, when I stumbled upon this photo... This popular shot is taken from Cabugao Gamay, one of the islands in Gigantes. Isn't this paradise???!!! I knew instantly this is where I'm going to be....

From Manila, we arrived in IloIlo International Airport quarter to 1 in the afternoon. After meeting our friend who arrived in Iloilo earlier than us, we kinda got lost on what to do next... There was a little brainstorming going on while at the airport. We have yet to decide how we can leave the airport and reach the town. Second, where to stay. Third, where to eat.

Getting to Subic via NLEX and SCTEX Thank goodness it was a hassle-free trip to Subic for us. We left house at 5:30AM, then headed onto NLEX Marilao. We exited at Dau Toll Gate then followed the signs that lead us to SCTEX. We exited at TIPO and then after 2 hours, we were at Subic Bay Freeport Zone!