I opened my eyes and there before me I saw the vastness of the sea unfolding and undulating, the mountains rising, and the sun mightily shining upon the white sandy shore. Yes, the perfect view of nature right infront of me calling me into indulge in the moment. Puerto Princesa, Palawan has beautiful wonders just waiting to be discovered and experienced. I feel pretty lucky to have seen and felt it. Last weekend was just divine, because I was able to spend time with my family at a great place. Everytime we travel seems to be filled with new learnings and discoveries.
DAY I:
We arrived Puerto Princesa last Friday at about 4:30 pm and we were met by Tito Ed Ahorro, one of my dad's friends, then we went straight to Hotel Asturias, our abode for the next 2 days and 2 nights. While we waited for our dad to get back to the room (as he was doing his usual business talk) me and my sis(TiN)ordered something to eat. So we got barbecued wings, fries and pasta. Sounds delectable, but to our dismay it was anything but that. Anyhow, we just ate since we were starved na. That same night we accompanied my dad do his "magic." It made me so proud knowing that he was contributing so much to the local travel industry even if he's not a Filipino himself. After having dinner there as well we went and had a city tour considering it was quite dark na. It's refresing to know that Puerto is still unspoilt by the invasion of malls; ie. commercialism. The lifestlye is paced at a very relaxed and slow pace.... How I wish MANILA would follow suit. SO anyway, on the way back to the hotel I couldn't help but notice the big, bright moon... I wanted to take a picture of it but I couldn't get a nice view so instead I took pictures of the pool and myself(VAIN!!!)
DAY II:
We all got up early, as we were going to the underground caves. The first half of the ride was relatively calm, then came the oh so horrible roads.. Believe me, it was horrible, like a one and a half hour massage minus the pleasure. Haha.. I felt like a lettuce leaf being tossed around a salad bowl, only in this case it was my body being thrown around.. Don't even think of sleeping in this kind of condition, you'll wake up with a perrenial headache!! hahaha.. Our destination on the other hand was the exact opposite because of the gentle waves lapping the exterior of the boat, the first boat went faster because it was motor powered. When we arrived the tshore of the hidden cove, we were welcomed by the clearest waters and the powdery sandy beach. Just a short walk from that area, I was welcomed by a very eager, hungry and friendly monkey, a perfect oppoortunity to take some photos. We then proceeded to the underground caves, all I can say is that it took my breath away. Amidst the darkness where it was hidden, there was so much beauty waiting to be seen. I can only describe it this way because I would want the others to experience it's beauty without spoiling the experience. We had our lunch near the beach together with the bayawaks and monkeys running and walking free. Talk about getting close to nature :) It all felt so good and so right.. Only thing is I wish we could have spent more time basking and baking in the sun rather then being on the road. The ride back to the city center was uneventful, except of course for the free massage "hapil-hapil" road. When we got back to the hotel it was relaxation time. We all went for a swim in the hotel's divine pool while watching the moon, talking and arguing. (family siyempre) I was extremely exhausted by dinner time but we had to entertain our hosts so I fought to keep my eyes open even if it was quite obvious I was "physically present and mentally absent" *evil laugh*
DAY III:
We were supposed to go to Honda Bay, Snake Island or Dos Palmas Resort but it was cancelled so we could rest a bit and go to mass. This would give us more reason to go back to Palawan to discover it sometime. We had breakfast then went to the Cathedral for the 10 am mass. The homily was quite odd as the priest ended it with some insights on the new pope. It went somewhat this way:
PRIEST: What's the nationality of our new Pope?
PEOPLE: German
PRIEST: Yes, so that would make him a GERMAN SHEPARD.
PRIEST: Do you know what his name is? It's Joseph Ratzinger... So we can also call him PAPA RATZI (paparazzi??)
Yes, I believe that this has to be a creation of a Filipino mind. Anyway, we proceeded to the market to buy some fresh and dried fish to take home to Manila. I witnessed the most gruesome massacre yet of my life of Nemo looking creatures. Pretty freaky for someone who doesn't frequent this place. I got fish juice all over my slippers so ... nevermind. They had ALL sorts of fish big ones, small ones, flat ones, fat ones, orange ones, blue ones, gray ones and spotted ones. I could feel the fish eyes staring at me as they helplessly lay there. So they were de-gilled, salted and packed in a cooler all for a hefty sum of 300php(packing lang). Let me just say that the experience was very enjoyable and educational. My mom taught me and my sis how to choose fresh fish. When all was set and packed we returned to the hotel where we got ripped fy 1000php for 4 hours transpo.. waaahhh... We replaced all our stuff in our bags had a sumptuous barbecue lunch in our hotel room. We then finally proceeded to our final destination for the day.. HOME..
As the plane took off from PALAWAN, I strained my head to catch a final glimpse of the island. I felt giddy and happy inside as I saw sand bars, mountains, beaches, houses and the ocean come and disappear from view. Whew, what a trip, I was really able to bond with my family most especially my mom and sister. I felt great being able to catch up on the lost time when I was "NOT" myself before. I took home lots of pleasant(and a little unpleasant) memories, experiences and pictures.
HAPIL v. waray transaltion of throww or toss
SNAP BACK TO REALITY:
Now, I'm back home typing away on my laptop remembering beautiful memories of days before while listening to the tunes of Borodin: String Quartet No.2(III. Notturno)
