Paano magTravel?

Paano nga ba? Palagi kong nababasa itong katanungan na ito mga FB travel groups.
Try ko nga gumawa kung papaano nga ba.

1. Alamin kung saan mo gustong pumunta at bakit ka pupunta doon?
Mahirap naman kung sasabihin mo na gusto mo magtravel tapos pag tinanong ka kung saan wala ka namang masasagot. Tapos kung masagot mo naman kung saan, bakit ka nga naman pupunta doon? Alamin mo ano ang gusto mong gawin, gaya ng aakyat ng Mt. UIap para makita ang sea of crowds.
Or sa masasa beach para magpictorial second sa paglangoy activity.

2. Petsa ng travel at gaano katagal?
Kung nasagot mo ang unang tanong kung saan mo gusto pumunta, next naman eh kung kailan? Maraming bagay ang dapat ilaan para dito. Una dapat makapag file ka ng bonggang leave at maaprubahan ito. Mas okay kung more than 30 days ang petsa ng travel mo para may panahon ka pa para makapag ipon at makapag research ng mga activities an pwedeng gawin sa pupuntahan mong lugar. Kung aakyat naman ng bundok may panahon ka pa mag jogging para preparation sa pag akyat

3. Budget
Di biro ang gastos sa travel. Gagastos ka sa pamasahe (kung malayuan naman pati airfare kasama), gagastos ka sa pagkaen, gagastos ka sa mga entrance or registration, at meron ren guide fee. Kung guided tour ang kukunin walang problema basta alamin lang kung ano ang kasama sa package. Kung DIY?Backpacking naman, mag research kung paano ba makapunta sa lugar na pupuntahan, magkano ang pamasahe at kung saan murang kumaen. Pwede ren naman magbaon. Alamin ren kung magkano ang bayad sa mga attractions.

4. Itinerary
Kung guided tour madali lang, susunduin ka nalang sa accommodations, sasakay sa shuttle at hayahay na ang buhay. Pero kung gusto mo naman na hawak ang oras mo at mag DIY/Backpack kelangan merong kang plano sa buhay. Gumamit ng Excel para i-plot ang araw araw na activity.
Mga dapat na ilagay sa column ay kung anong araw, anong oras, anong gagawin. Mas okay ren kung masasama mo yung pangalan ng Hotel, pangalan ng Guide at contact nya pati na ren yung budget na nakalaan para dun.

5. Mga dapat dalin.
Damit. Toiletries. Electronics. Pera. ID's.

a. Damit - Polo/Shirts/Shorts/Undies/Pants/Socks/Shoes/Panyo
b. Toiletries - Shampoo/Sabon/Toothpaste/Toothbrush/Facial Wash/Tissue/Wet Tissue
c. Electronics - Cellphone/Charger/Camera either point and shoot/action cam/slr or all of the above
d. Pera - Pambili ng pasalubong, barya para sa paid restrooms, etc
e. ID's - may mga hotels na need ng ID para makapag checkin

Wag ren kakalimutan magdala ng Twalya, Travel Pillow at Kumot.

6. Execution
Kung okay na ang lahat ng nasa taas. Magdasal ka muna kay God na gabayan ka pag travel.
Pangalawa magsabi sa magulang/kapatid at kaibigan. Pangatlo lumabas ng bahay dalin ang gamit at umpisahan na ang travel.

Naway medyo makatulong ang post na ito. Kung kayo po ay may katanungan. pa Comment nalang po. Maraming salamat and enjoy travelling. :)

Exploring Puerto Prinsesa (Palawan)

2013 is the year when we (some of my online games, planned to go to a trip to Palawan). It was Manong Kawnt (my great great great great grandfather in the online game, Audition PH specifically) that we planned to visit in Puerto Prinsesa.

After the long wait, Feb 2015 - during the travel exposition in SMX, where the planned become a reality. At first we planned to have a tour in Batanes, plane tix is quite expensive. Then came the idea with the Legazpi trip. In the end we decided to be in Palawan.

Thanks to my dear friend ate Julie who happened to be in the expo with her relatives, who have their booth in the expo (Trio Queen - http://www.trioqueentours.com/) for Palawan trip. There are many options to choose from, Puerto Prinsesa, El Nido and Coron. Having no experience in Palawan, they recommend us to avail the Puerto Prinsesa Tour. Quoted price is PhP 3200/pax (as of 2015) and they have added the Underground Subterranean River for the price of PhP 1200/pax. Payment can be installment, we paid 1000 each for the tour. Since we don't have an airfare yet, TrioQueen send us a sample Itinerary for the tour.

Then came the March piso fare seat sale of Cebu Pacific. Booking the plane tix was challenging. You have to ba patient to buy the tix, after 3 attempts, I have successfully booked for Puerto Prinsesa by September 2015. After the confirmation from Cebu Pacific we have emailed Trio Queen for them to prepare the tour for us. And the payment will goes from March to August, thru bank deposit, for the remaining balances. 

After 5 months of waiting. The day of the travel . September 18, 2015 when we arrived in Puerto Prinsesa. Just outside the arrival area, there are many resorts and transportation that we're offering their accommodations and/or services. In our case, we have land transfer from/to the airport to the hotel (Angelic Mansion) that we are going to stay for our 3 days and 2 nights stay. 

Day 1. Puerto Prinsesa City Tour.
The day we arrived in Puerto Prinsesa is the same day with the city tour. Since we are only 2 in the tour, we are joined by other tourists in the Van. I forgot the name of our kuya guide (forgive me). I also forgot the order of the destinations we visited. Below are places we visited in random order.

Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center
Formerly the crocodile farm. You can see crocodiles from babies to adults.
Babies are placed in tubs while adults have crocs pens. The tour lasted for an hour. After the tour you have a photo op with a tween croc (neither a baby nor an adult, lol). You have to hold him (or her) and the photographer tell us to open our mouth like we're going to eat the poor croc. The picture can be purchase but not mandatory.

Baywalk
It is the Bay area, we visited the place during lunch time. The stores and restaurants are still close. Our guide advise us to visit the place at night.

The Cathedral and Plaza Cuartel
Plaza cuartel is place where the American and Filipino soldiers were held by the Japanese during WWII. Our guide told us that there's a pit there were the soldiers were place and gasoline is being poured to them, to burn them. There are survivors who escape the tragedy. 

Mitra Ranch and Mansion
It is house of the former politician and said to be the highest point in Puerto Prinsesa that can be visited by the tourist. You can see the Honda Bay from the house. If you want to enter there's certain fee.

Bakers Hill
Since Puerto Prinsesa doesn't have any amusement park, they have this place called Baker's Hill. This is a beautiful park landscape with life size statue of different Super Heroes, cartoon characters, etc. The park also have a playground with swings, slides, etc. This is also where we have our snacks because there's also a bakery in the place.

Binuatan Creations
Binuatan means weave. People here use the grass to create a weave mats that can be used to create bags, wallets, placemats etc. You can try to do the weaving and/or buy their finished products.

We also visited the tyangian where you can buy the pasalubongs. They have wide range selections for jewelries made from pearls. cashew nuts, t-shirts, key chains, fridge magnets and more.

By night, my former students who happened to work in Puerto Prinsesa treat us for dinner. We have our dinner in Nitchies and Kinabutch. Nitchies serve Vietnamese foods, we tried Chao Long and some spring rolls. And in Kinabutch we tried crocodile sisig and Tamilok (mangrove worms).


Day 2. Puerto Prinsesa Subterranean River + Ugong Rocks
After breakfast in Angelic Mansion. Our tour provider (Trio Queen) sent an SMS that we a van will will be arriving at our place for the tour. Just like the first day, we are joined by other tourist. Our ate guide (also forgot her name) told us that underground river is way to far from the city. We have the first stop over at a store along the road where there's a view deck to see the Tres Marias (a group of island). The store offer's foods/drinks and pasalubong. The second stopover is the Ugong rocks. It is a cave adventure and a zip line, though there's an option to go down by foot, where it is more convenient going down. Exploring the cave and the zipline is optional. There's a fee to experience these activities. All proceeds will go to the community. After the ugong rocks we headed to Sabang port where we'll have our lunch before going to the Underground river. Our guide booked a boat to take us to the Underground River. It's more or less 30 mins ride. The motorized boat is different from the boat that will be used to the underground river. The entry to the Underground river is a mini forest where monkeys, lizards and other animals can be seen. In our visit a bayawak cross our path to the underground river. We are 6 on the boat to the river, 3 college students, The foreign guy, me and lowla. The river divided into different sections. You can see lot's of bats inside. There's the cathedral where you can see a large candle, the holy family and even the last supper. There a section where they called the market place. The underground river tour lasted for an hour and half. Then we head back to the city.

Lowla's friends are in Palawan too on our second day and invited us to be with them during dinner in the Baywalk. We have grilled liempo and rice.

Day 3: Honda Bay (Isla Pandan+Cowrie)
Our last day in Puerto Prinsesa is the day for the beaches. After breakfast we, we also join other tourists for the Honda Bay tour. Our guide, Ranil (o yeah, i didn't remember his name but Lowla added him in facebook, lol). We have two options in Honda Bay, either visit Luli/Starfish and Cowrie Island or Isla Panda/Cowrie Island. Since we don't want more sea transfers the group decided to have the latter set of Islands. Isla Pandan is named after the name of the plant inhabited the island which is Pandan (hahaha). There are lots of activities you can do in the island, they have jet ski, snorkle, etc. But lowla and I opt to stay in the beach and enjoy the view since it was our last day and we don't want to get tired of any activities. I purchased a bread to be fed to the fingerlings by the shore. 

Our flight back to Manila was delayed by an hour and a half. And the plane do 4 rounds above Manila before it allowed to descend. 

I enjoyed staying in Palawan, they say that there's still more to see in El Nido and Coron. So I'm planning to go back to Palawan for the other two destinations.


Our Hotel: http://www.angelicmansion.com/
Our Tour Provider: http://www.trioqueentours.com/