We had originally reserved the last few days of our Philippines trip completely open to spend time with Alan’s family, but since we learned that his parents would be away in Japan, we decided on an impromptu trip to go surfing in Baler instead. We booked 2 nights at a hotel on Sabang Beach, the most popular beach in town with tons of surf shops catered to the newbie surfer. The journey to Baler was a lot more exhausting than…
The first night that we hung out at Spin Hostel, the guys connected with two artists who were performing at their jam night. This eventually lead to us having connections for our island hopping tour and hike up Taraw Peak. Lucky enough, one of the artists, Mike, is also known as “the surfing guy” in El Nido. He introduced surfing to the tiny town and is solely responsible for teaching every local surfer how to shred. They even named a surf…
Taraw Peak. Where do I begin?!?! It’s not the most difficult climb in El Nido. It’s not the highest peak either. In fact, it’s the easiest and most tourist friendly of all of the limestone monoliths surrounding Town Proper. With that said, you’re probably expecting a nice little hike along some developed trail. Well, you’re terribly wrong… It’s the absolute opposite! The peak is guesstimated at ~230m (754ft) and should only take 3 hours max out and back. Seems simple enough,…
You can’t go to El Nido and not go on an island hopping tour. It’s like paying for an all-you-can-eat buffet and not eating. Literally the second that we left LIO airport, we saw a poster advertising the various tours in our trike. Then once we were in town, we began seeing them on practically every wall we looked at! Town Proper is extremely small given how popular it is but probably 90% of the businesses there advertised something to…
When planning for my trip to the Philippines, pretty much every online article I read recommended going to a place on the northern tip of Palawan called El Nido. The pictures online were stunning! White sand beaches, clear waters, and limestone cliffs… Everything online just stated that El Nido is “a place like no other” with “breathtaking views above and below the water.” All the recommendations given to each of us were pointing to El Nido, but with our initial…
I have been living the sweet life. Every since I quit my job in March, I’ve been able to travel across the country with my boyfriend and dog making stops in Asheville, the French Quarter, SXSW, White Sands, etc. We got settled in LA and decked out our bedroom to actually look suitable for two young adults. We then traveled to Vegas, and then Utah to experience the most beautiful skies either of us has ever laid eyes on. We…
Camiguin, or the Island Born of Fire, is a tiny island located in the Bohol Sea. It was a 30 minute flight from Cebu (although scheduled as a 45 minute flight.) Approaching the island by air, you can’t help but notice the lush bold green of the island and large volcano peaks. You also can’t miss the white awkwardly shaped landmass in the middle of the ocean. Turns out this is White Island, an uninhabited white sand bar that’s viewable…
With a few days left to spare at the end of Cebu stay, we decided to make our way to Bantayan Island to spend two nights at Kota Beach Resort. We didn’t originally intend to make a stop here, but the port was about 2 hours away from Cebu City (without traffic), we still had access to the driver, and supposedly the beaches are one of the best around. With such short notice, the only room available was the beachfront…
May 3-7,2016 We lived like royalty in Cebu. Due to Alan’s connections and the generosity of his aunt, we were able to stay at his aunt’s guesthouse for free. This guesthouse was unlike anything you’d imagine. It was 7 stories tall and each floor pretty much served as a separate apartment. To top things off, Alan’s aunt was away in London so we had her personal driver throughout our entire stay there. It came complete with maids who tidied up…
BOS–>Penn Station, NY via bus. Penn Station –>JFK via taxi. JFK–> ICN via 14 hour flight. 4 hour layover in ICN. ICN–> MNL via 5 hour flight (due to delay). We arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Friday April 26th just past midnight local time. Despite the illusion of chaos going through security and customs, the process was fairly painless. Alan and his father had already been waiting for our arrival. PJ, Corey and I worked our way through the…