TRAVEL: White Beach Puerto Galera 2013

Edward's long-time friend had his birthday last month and invited us to join them in their 2-day 1-night barkada outing at White Beach Puerto Galera, Mindoro. We were able to reach Calamba, Laguna at around 7:00 am and took the most convenient route which is from Calamba Exit via Alabang-Calamba-Sto. Tomas Expressway or ACTEX (also known as South Luzon Expressway or SLEX) straight to Batangas Exit via Southern Tagalog Arterial Road or STAR Tollway.

FEES:
ACTEX Calamba Exit = PhP25.00
STAR Tollgate to Batangas City = PhP67.00
================================
One-way pass = PhP92.00
Travel time = around 1-1/2 hours

We decided to leave our car or "Park 'n Sail" at Batangas Port. You may bring your car to Puerto Galera via Roll-on Roll-off ferry, a.k.a. ro-ro but this is not advisable because most resorts have no parking areas especially those near the beach, plus, it is more expensive.

Approaching Batangas Port. We turned left going to the parking entrance.
No, we didn't enter this arch.

The Batangas Port Terminal was jampacked that day! Well, I kinda expected a crowd because we went there on a Saturday but didn't expect so many! I guess those people (just like us) are trying to make most of the summer season.

There are different shipping lines that can transport you to White Beach. They are recognizable by their boat color: Gallerian (blue), Father & Sons (yellow), and Minolo (red). We bought tickets from Father and Son's Shipping Lines (FSL).

FSL Blue Penguin-9 Boat (Photo Credit: http://puertogaleraferry.net)

Round Trip Fare to White Beach via FSL = PhP500.00/person
Environmental Fee (one-way) = PhP10.00/person

FSL also transports to Sabang and Muelle. Here's the link to their website for the updated fares and trip schedules.


You had to confirm your roundtrip ticket back to Batangas at the Father and Son's Shipping Lines Ticketing Booth upon arrival because it gets fully-booked fast. We booked the 1:30 pm schedule so we won't catch the bigger waves in the late afternoon.

Edward's friend is a geodetic engineer who happens to have a colleague whose family owns a resort there. We stayed at Moreno's Resort. It's a 3-storey apartelle, no swimming pools, but have enough rooms to accommodate several groups, some have AC, some have electric fan only (for the budget-conscious). It's not beachfront but that's fine with us because it's just a few blocks away from the shore. We stayed at room H on the second floor; it has a toilet & bath, 1 single bed, 1 queen-size bed, and an electric fan. It only cost us PhP750.00 for a 24hr-stay (very cheap!)... Well, this is actually a discounted rate because of our friend! :-)

After checking-in, we decided to grab some food at the beachfront restos. Ed and I love seafood but found out that the restos are offering only either: prawns, squid, tilapia, or milkfish (a.k.a. bangus), if not chicken or pork. We're kinda disappointed and ended up ordering Sinigang na Hipon. The waitress happens to be a fire dancer at night and invited us to watch her perform. It was something I looked forward to.

Ed and I... (Sorry, no pictures of the food. It took a while before it was served. We were so hungry that we ate it as soon as it landed on our table! LOL)

We decided to do snorkeling in the afternoon. We rented a boat for PhP1,900.00 which took us to a drop-off point where we had to transfer to a smaller boat for PhP200.00/person. The smaller boat was the one to take us to the corals. Manong bangkero asked us to jumped into the water and hold on to a hose tied securely to his boat. We were dragged by it going to the "fish feeding area". We really enjoyed that ride because as we saw live corals in different forms and different fishes while being dragged. It was really a fun experience!

Here's the video of our ride:

Unedited video

Some photos:

Group shot going to the snorkeling area

Corals

... and some fish

Sea Urchin (Uni)

Ed and I. Oh how we love this ride :)

I bet everybody's so tired when we came back to Moreno's resort but no it didn't keep us from "gathering" that night :-)

Overall, it was a fun (although quick) weekend escapade! Looking forward to more weekend getaways with friends!

xoxo,

TRAVEL: Boracay Island, Aklan 2008

It's that time of the year again! No, it ain't Christmas but company anniversary! For employees, like me, it's a date in a calendar that you look forward to because celebrations and awardings usually take place. Last year, we had an outing in Sigayan Beach Resort (see post here). This time around our generous bosses flew us out to none other than..... BORACAY! Woohoo!!! It's the first time for most of us to be riding a plane so that contributes greatly on the excitement factor of this trip. Plus, who would not want to go to Boracay, if given a chance, for free! :)))))

Although Boracay is just a small island in the Philippines, located at Aklan, just by the photos on the Internet, you will be already mesmerized by it... white sand, clear water, fresh seafood, night party... 

We flew via Seair and I'm a little anxious about the airplane because it is an open-propeller type of aircraft... Scared... What if it hits a bird... but since everyone is so excited, I pretended to be very brave :))

We stayed at Boracay Courtyard, which is a cheap hotel located in Station 2, Boracay. It is non-beachfront and a few-minutes-walk to white beach, restaurants, and shops. I don't have the rates but it is considered one of the cheapest hotel in Boracay. It is managed by the well-known La Carmela Resort, where we had our buffet meals. Super Sulit! Super Busog! 

It is my first time to experience a banana boat ride and it was a blast! We managed to get a hold of the banana boat and prevented it from flipping upside-down despite the many attempts of the driver to do so by doing those crazy sharp turns! Other activities that you can do in Bora are island hopping, helmet diving, snorkeling, scuba diving, sailing, jet skiing, aqua sub, bar hopping and MANY MORE!

And what better way to finish the exhausting day than to relax (oohhhh spa!)... buy souvenirs & pasalubongs... and do some reflection while enjoying the sound of the waves and the beauty of nature in Boracay...

TRAVEL: Sigayan Bay Beach Resort 2007

The company that I am working at had its first 3days/2nights anniversary outing at Sigayan Bay Beach Resort last May 24-26, 2007. The beach resort is located at Laiya, San Juan, Batangas. 

The girls stayed at Halaan 1 & 2 rooms. Halaan room is air-conditioned, has lying capacity of 8 persons, has a private toilet and bath, and water dispenser. The boys stayed at Sigay 2 room, a big room with lying capacity of 10 persons and has 5 double-deck beds, private toilet and bath, and water dispenser. Of course the bosses, have separate bigger rooms and their helpers are in charge of the cooking. 

Day 2 is activity day. We had games like Sack Race and Tag of War... I'm not a very active kind of person so you can imagine how much I struggled with Sack Race... Ugh.

We also went snorkeling... Now, I had a totally different feeling this time because I just love water! The sea, sand, and whatever's under! Too bad the corals are already dead and there are only few fish to see underwater but it's a new experience for me, well for most of us. I want to do this again next time!

That night, we also had occasional drinks, videoke (sing-along) and forum. Revelations and affirmations! I will always remember this trip! Always...

-Glai

TRAVEL: Dampalitan, Padre Burgos, Quezon 2006

In May 4-6, 2006, I had my FIRST beachin' with a group of friends at Dampalitan, Padre Burgos, Quezon, Philippines. YEY! It was a non-commercial island, with pure white sand, without electricity, and no stable source of water (we had to buy fresh water for consumption). Everything's fun except on our way home, when the boat we were boarding sank... :-( yeah and because it's saltwater all my gadgets were dead (HP R707 camera, Apple iPod shuffle, Nokia 3650 phone)... Yeah, such a pain... Good thing my memory card's functional. whew! It's really an unforgettable first time.

-Glai