Filipino by blood and by heart, but haven’t even been around the beautiful provinces her country can offer. After my Palawan-Halloween-Weekend, I promised myself that as much as I love crossing borders, island-hopping in the Philippines should be part of my itinerary in my quest of exploring culture, one country at a time. And BECAUSE it is just as fun –and hurts my wallet less.

A random night-out with my friends, Kamille and Angela, gave me another reason to be impulsive. Gela booked me a ticket to Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, under five minutes. What can I say, it was one of the best (impulsive) decisions I’ve ever made.

It was Todos Los Santos weekend, which means everyone will be battling it out to vacation spots and cemeteries. I never been a fan of Halloween or going out-of-town during this time of the year but since I put up this site, I figured it’s time for  a change and embrace every opportunity to travel.  It was given that traveling during the weekend would entail heavy traffic. So, if you want to avoid the excruciating traffic jam, you can stay at home and watch what’s scary on TV. Otherwise, you can beat cars (or not) with your patience. Gela and I left Los Banos at 1PM, and uhh, our flight was at 5.35PM. Paranoid much?

Hello, Puerto Princesa City (PPS)

The capital of Palawan, PPS is home to various tourist attractions and protected areas. Does Underground River ring a bell? Although we didn’t visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site, we explored Honda Bay aka Island-Hopping and an emerging tourist destination, Brgy Simpocan. Out of the ordinary? Oh yeah.

We arrived at PPS around 7PM and the first thing we did was to have a nice Filipino dinner with Gela’s good friends from the United States, who are in PPS for their internship. And what’s a weekend without nightlife? After dinner, we chilled at a reggae bar called Katabom. If you’re looking for laidback environment but all alcohol requisites are met, Katabom is the place to be. PPS has a long strip of bars and restaurants with live bands and good food –the nights are never boring in PPS.

The next day was dedicated to Honda Bay, famous for its island-hopping and activities such as snorkelling. Five islands in a day? That can be pretty tiring, but it was all good. Jumped, floated, burnt our skin, picture-taking with a bunch of starfish, became beach bums, spent less than PHP1500… it’s the perfect weekend getaway.

I can’t swim but after our island-hopping madness and I got home in one piece, breathing normally, I was up for anything. For our last two days in PPS, we had a camping trip by the beach in Brgy Simpocan. It’s around a 2-hour rough-road ride up and down the mountains, so a 4×4 vehicle is crucial. Serene, peaceful and relaxing –you literally own the beach. Brgy Capt Boy Macasaet expresses his plans of developing this area into one tourist attraction. By the beach and hidden, hmm, anyone who’s into camping and soul-searching together with the sound of the big waves will definitely fall in love with Simpocan.

Enough of the chit-chat… Here’s Palawan for your eyes only!

So you see, this is my first Philippine entry. I’ve been to provinces but my blogging life hasn’t even started back then. I would love to explore more and perhaps revisit some of my favorite places like Sagada up North and Cebu City down south and Camiguin in Mindanao. The thing with traveling within the country that I appreciate is  we discover more of our own roots –with friends to find the coolest places and getting lost in the way and ultimately, helping the country’s tourism business. Oh well, in time. My career as a travel writer has just begun.

PS A big THANK YOU to Matt, Justin, Ginelle, Billy, Cory, Elyse, Kat and Ray for an adventure-filled weekend! 🙂