[TRAVEL] Hidden Gem: Camotes Islands, Cebu 2012

This blog is 3 months long overdue, but no matter, here it is! :) 

Last January my whole family and I went to the Philippines for a two week vacation and one of the places that we went to was the Comotes Islands. First, let's have a wiki moment before I go into details about our vacation. Camotes Islands are a group of islands that form part of the province of Cebu in the  Philippines. The island group is located east of Cebu Island,  southwest of Leyte Island, and north of  Bohol Island.

The Camotes is composed of the following four islands andtheir municipalities:

• Poro: the municipalities of Poro and Tudela.
• Pacijan: the sole municipality is San Francisco.
• Ponson: the sole municipality is Pilar.
• Tulang: is part of the barangay Esperanza, which is part of San Francisco.

I can personally say that the Camotes Islands is one of the best places to visit in Cebu. Unfortunately this paradise hasn't been well-recognized. However, it is also good that this remain to be hidden because it is perfect for a secluded adventure and relaxation.

Day 1 - ánimo de aventura 

So last January 24^th 2012, we headed to Camotes Islands the homeland of the "Pesquera's". The last time my dad and I went there was 10 years ago so we were pretty excited that we finally had a chance to visit our relatives again, this time with my mom, little bro, two of my aunts and my cousin. :) We had to travel for an hour to Danao Port since (I think) that's the only place where they have ferries that goes straight to Camotes Islands.

Danao Port

We got off in San Francisco or San Fran (as what most of them call it) and as usual, there were quite a lot of people there waiting to help and carry your bag(s)for you, but of course it always comes with a price. So if you don't want to have to pay, it is better not let them take your bags. Thankfully, my uncle was there to fetch us and from there we headed straight to Tudela. 

San Francisco Port

Poro Town Hall

When travelling especially in big groups, it is very important to find the best way to be as economical as possible so our first stop was the Tudela Public Market. My dad decided it would be cheaper to cook our own meal during our whole stay on the Island so we loaded up on fish (see picture for proof). I was quite surprised because the market was not dirty nor was it crowded, there were hardly any people so we managed to get a jump-shot (well sort of!).

Tudela Public Market

After "shopping" for fish, we went straight to BUKILAT CAVE in Tudela. It was scary the first time my dad and I went to that cave because the roads back then were rough and the path going to the cave was quite steep. I'm very happy to see that the place has greatly improved and now the roads are cemented. Impressive! Inside the cave was a pool of water just below my knee. It was clean and I heard that you're actually allowed to swim in there (maybe during high-tide season but you have to swim at your own risk - hehehe) I did try to step in the pool of water, but there were too many small stones and they hurt like crazy! 

Entrance Fee is Php10 for adult and Php5 for Children below 12 years old. After Bukilat Cave, it was time to head home to Puertobello where most of my relative lives.

Day 2- Escapade 101

Early the next morning, we went to Secante to visit my father’s brother. The best part about living in the province is seeing all the little things that we don't get see in our fast-paced life in the city. Like appreciating the best of nature, the green trees and grass spreads vastly in the area, spring water, buffaloes having a dip in the river; people chilling outside their houses while having a chat with their neighbors. It's a simple stress-free life. 

Since the place was quite steep we had to walk all the way to my uncle's home which was technically on top of the hill. When we got there "namutong mi" which means, we harvested some coconuts and made coconut juice.

Our second stop was the Flying Fish Resort. Sadly, there weren't any fish flying around when we arrived and the people there said that they only come at night. Oh well! As a consolation, the place and the view were beautiful.

Our third stop was "Danao Lake" or "Mozambique Park". It's a freshwater lake and has the shape of infinity or you could say the number 8. It is not just a lake but a fishery complex as well where they breed "Tilapia" and other kinds of fishes. Lake Danao is one of the best places to visit when you're in Camotes, It's a must see plus people there are very friendly and they'll welcome you wholeheartedly and also the entrance is free.

The facility is open to the public free of charge and accessed through BFAR 7 Carmen Lake Danao Fishery Complex,Union,San Francisco, Cebu. 

Lastly, our final stop for the day was Mangodlong Resort (MAN-GOD-LONG). It's another one of Camotes' beautiful places to visit. Many people call it the little Boracay and I totally agree. We got there at around 5pm, thankfully there was still enough light to take pictures and of course the best part was the sunset. It was simply Ah-MAY-ZING! 

The entrance was free of charge but we were asked to pay Php500 for the cottage which I personally think was a little too expensive for a 2 hour stay. But when I told them we were going to order food from them, they waived the cottage fee instead plus we get to stay there as long as we want. We ordered 6 dishes and only cost us 1500 pesos. :) Worth it!  

After all the pictures and our tummies were stuffed with food, it was time to head home. The travel back home was quite long, around an hour and a half so you can imagine how tired we were when we got home, we were drained and uberly exhausted, but we enjoyed every bit of it.

Day 3 - Maayong pagbyahe! (Bon voyage)

Early the next day, it was time to say goodbye to Camotes. Our trip back to Cebu City was 5am in the morning so we had to wake up really early. Good thing is, we didn't have to travel far because there was a new port near my Aunt's place and was only a 15min walk.

Puertobello Port

Agora Market & Puertobello Port

Though Camotes has now improved, there are still some downsides if you are a tourist planning to wonder around the Islands. Firstly, the transportation there is limited. There are no jeepneys, no buses, no tricycles (Not that I've seen one) so you have to rent a car or a scooter if you prefer. Secondly, cell site ... are there any? Joke. I think there is but the signal is really bad, from where we were staying. There was hardly any signal at all, so if you are on a sabbatical... It's the best place to be. :D I had my mobile switched off the whole time I was on the island so I was basically on gadget detox which I did not mind since I was having so much fun. If I'm given another chance to visit the place again, I'd go in a heartbeat. Even though I wasn't born and raised in Camotes, I have learned to love the place. 

So there you go... another place and another blog to prove that It is more fun in the Philippines! 

How to get there:


From Cebu City (SM Mall) take a Van going to Danao Port (ride usually takes an hour or so)
Cost: Php50 

Danao Port take the Pumpboat to Camotes (San Fran)
Cost: Php180 -200 (approx) (Students and Child gets a discount) - one way.


Til my next entry! Adios for now!

bex ♥

[TRAVEL] Mixxed Girls in the Philippines!

Aloha mi amigas! We are back from our vacay yay! Did you miss us? Hehe

So long are the days of us rolling around in our beds not having to worry about the days ahead. Not that we spent our 5 days JUST rolling around and getting all the sleep we need in fact to our dismay we barely got 8 hours of sleep during our holiday, we blame the uber awful traffic in Manila, most specially the area of the hotel. Why, why do we need to get a hotel in Edsa?! We can tell you this for reals, you lose 3-4 hours of your day being stuck in traffic. Seriously, someone has to do something about this! MMDA get you act together man! Well aside from our “exciting” (not!) experience with the traffic we do have some fabulous stories to tell you during our stay. Let's see some proofs why "It is more fun in the Philippines". Let’s break this down… gently? LOL

Day 1: Take a Flight!

We had breakfast in Popeyes, nothing spectacular in fact in our opinion KFC is better. We wanted to sleep during the flight but we were so giddy with excitement we talked all the way through. Sometimes it truly baffles us how and why we have so much to talk about. We work together so we are pretty much ALWAYS together and yet… we talk like there’s no tomorrow. Ha! I think this calls for Ripley’s Believe it or not!!! Anyways, back to our trip…

As soon as we landed the stewardess announced that the weather that day was *drum rolls* 34 degrees!!! Yay for Mr. Sun for burning us. LOL But we were very happy to have landed safely and also we were so ready to kick this trip in its face, you have no idea! To our surprise the old airport has greatly improved, phew! But… as it happens Jcel’s luggage almost got lost in translation. In fact, her mom decided to tie a red ribbon on her luggage just so she would recognize her own luggage at a glance. Oh well, unfortunately (in British accent), there were loads of black luggage’s with RED ribbons on them. So after the dreadful wait for her luggage (Zeus knows how long that was) thankfully it showed up. 

The moment we exited the airport we were embraced with not so pleasant scents and super humidity but still that didn't put us down. There were letter systems for the parking area so we found Jcel’s cousin easily. We were so grateful when we got in her car and air-con flowing in our faces. Jcel’s cousins took us to Resort’s World for lunch and we ate in Crisostomo Restaurant which was so cool. I actually had to think who in Persus name is Crisostomo? Why does that name sounds so familiar?! LOL. Anyway, their theme is filipiniana and all their foods were named after Jose Rizal’s book characters (Ahhhhh). Besides the super cool theme the food was also really good. After stuffing our bellies with true Filipino cuisine we went to our hotel to check in, got dressed and met up with Jcel’s college best-friend Abby who booked us for a Nail Spa and dinner. 

The Nail Spa was nice, but there was one regrettable part where they dipped our hands and feet onto a very very VERY HOT wax that we had to let out a big cry, well at least I did. After all those excruciating pain, we all had buffet dinner in Makati Shangri-La “Circle” which was tres amazing, for obvious reasons! After that, we went out for a few drinks and called it a day. And yes this was only Day 1!

Resorts World - Taguig

Crisostomo - Turn of the Century Dining

Crowne Plaza Galleria - Edsa

Nail Spa at Serendra

Makati Shangri-La "Circles Event Cafe"

Day 2: Celebrate with a Gong!

We don’t have anything planned for this day because it was Jcel’s birthday and we actually decided beforehand to leave it that way so she could spend it with her family (the relatives). But when we had lunch the other day in Resorts World, Jcel’s cousin has convinced us to watch the Broadway show “The Sound of Music. 

I, particularly, was very excited since Broadway is one of my passions and actually one of my frustrations too (lol). We got the Premium seats which Jcel and I think was the best seats ever, because it was not too near nor too far from the stage and we were seated just right in the middle. I grew up watching the movie, but its different watching it on Broadway. We totally enjoyed it and I have so much to say about it but Jcel thinks the review should be done in another post. But all in all it was a really awe-inspiring show and we urge everyone to watch it.

The Hills Are Alive with the Sound Of Music! 

After the show Jcel’s cousin picked us up and drove us to Red Crab in Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill. I swear the places in the Philippines are losing their Spanish or Filipino touch. Anyway we went to Red Crab to have Jcel’s birthday dinner which was so fun and full of stories. The restaurant was so empty we thought they’d rented the whole place for us but it wasn’t the case. It just so happened that… people wants to give us privacy LOL. The food was tres bien again! And whilst eating, suddenly a gong went off and out loud someone shouted the words Happy Birthday which shocked the crap out of all of us then all of the waiters and waitresses were singing Happy Birthday! Weee a surprise birthday cake for the birthday girl. 

Short clip of the surprised birthday girl.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JCEL! 

Midnight in Manila

After the fun-filled dinner we planned to go to Mall of Asia to stroll around but on our way we passed by Star City where the Aliwan Festival was held. We didn't get the chance to see the performances & competitions because it was rather late, but we got there right on time to see the fireworks (see video below) and tried on some of the costumes. After that, we headed to MOA where we end our day with Jcel’s cousin treating us for a Halo-Halo in Razon’s and we made a unanimous decision that Razon’s halo-halo is Ah-Maze-Balls! :D

The highlight of the day ... 

Razon's of Guagua - Pampanga's Famous Halo-halo & Pancit Luglug

Day 3: Wedding Day!

This is the main reason why we were in the Philippines. One of our good friends was going to get married and we were invited in her big day. So early morning Abby and Joyce fetched us from the hotel and kindly drove us to Tagatay. For breakfast they took us to RSM, a restaurant that serves one of the best bulalo (beef soup) in town and it truly was a delicious feast. Then they drove us to our hotel and left us there to fend for ourselves, kidding. We were already booked in Taal Vista which was near the wedding place so it was pretty easy from there. We got to our room and immediately started preparing for the wedding. It took us hours to get ready you’d think it was OUR special day. LOL Anyway, the wedding was pleasant and very intimate. I’m pretty sure the pictures will show how happy they are and will be til the end of time. We wish them both a lifetime of happiness and MORE BABIES! Woooh! Hehehe

After the wedding as exhausted as we were, we decided to go grab some grub in… McDonald’s!!! Hahaha yes surely you can’t possibly go to another country without tasting their McDonald’s. The moment we got to our hotel we were so tired and drained we jumped right in our beds and… that’s the end of it.

Taal Vista Hotel

"Mabuhay ang bagong Kasal"

♫♫ pa pa  ra pa pa i'm lovin it! ♫♫

Day 4: Unexpected!

the "List"

We are going to label this day as Unexpected! We were supposed to be fetched by Jcel’s cousin but due to work related conflicts we were left in Tagaytay. But it was alright, because we were booked in the hotel for two nights so we decided to make the most out of it. We had breakfast at the hotel, but it was neither amazing nor tasty and was not worth the price! 

Since we have nothing planned out, we decided to go Robinson’s supermarket just 2 min drive from our hotel and do all the shopping we had to do as time is crucial at this point. Much to our surprise we really did go out of our heads in buying. We bought so much we didn't even know if it will fit in our luggage anymore. 

One of our original plans was to go food tripping which I think we had been doing so far, so to add to our list, we decided to try out “Bacolod’s Chicken Inasal” and we did not regret it. We’ll just let you see the pictures, after all a picture is worth a thousand words. When we got back in our hotel we had to repack our bags just so all the things we bought would fit. After we have grappled with our bags (phew!), we were exhausted. We wanted to get massages but to our disappointment they didn't have any slots available so we just decided to re-energize and went to our next best thing… Room Service! The food was good, I enjoyed my carbonara and fries and I believe Jcel enjoyed her club sandwich and tea as well. It was not the best but it sure was better than the breakfast buffet we had. Then we watched Amazing Race on TV, where we caught an interesting poem; (see below) then it was time to say Good night! 

To move, to breath, to fly, to float,

To gain all while you give,

To roam the roads of lands remote,

To travel is to live.” 

― Hans Christian Andersen

Bacolod's Chicken Inasal - Tagaytay

Roaming around Taal Vista Hotel

Day 5: Excess-ted! (inside joke)

Jcel’s cousin was surly going to fetch us this time (!) so we woke up early and settled everything at the front desk. Then we did a bit of sightseeing and figured we can squeeze in a little massage. The spa was okay, not as relaxing as we’d hope but all the same. There wasn’t much traffic going back Manila so we did get time to go to the mall and buy last minute items. For Brunch, we ate at Cabalen buffet (Lutong Bahay) I’d say it was worth our P368. After that all we did was buy buy buy "pasalubongs" for the family. Because we could not literally fit all the things we bought in our luggage we had to buy 3 extra bags and well... the rest is history. 

View from Jcel's cousin's Condo.

Our last meal in Manila

Au revoir, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye, Joi gin, Paalam Philippines! 

To sum it all up, this was a fun vacation. Not only did we get to witness our friends tying the knot but also we get to roam around Philippines and had a chillaxing and fun times with friends and relatives. So the 5 days holiday and the money was all well spent. 

However, despite the super packed holiday we had believe it or not we did get to "mixxed" in (get it?) a little business here and there. We have so many plans for the shop and hopefully all the meetings and discussions we had during our trip will push through. So dolls be prepared. Mixxed Shop is about to get serious!

That's all for now... The pictures and some videos will be shared in our Admin account, www.facebook.com/mixxedadmin

but please excuse us if it will not be ready in a few days, there are so many pictures we need to get them sorted first.  

Til our next travel,

bex ♥

[TRAVEL]: Cebu City (Queen of the South) 2012

My whole family had our grand vacation for 2 weeks in the Philippines. Grand not because we splurged away our money but because we have visited our relatives from different islands in the Philippines and that is grand!! First stop was CEBU CITY! Cebu is my mom’s hometown and it is the place where "yours truly" was born. I have little recollection of what Cebu used to be, maybe because I was quite young when we left for Davao then to Hong Kong.

Day 1: Adjustments

The last time I was in Cebu with my whole family was in 2002. So going to Cebu after 10 long years was like going to a place for the very first time. Cebu Pacific air landed at exactly 4am on 20^th January at Mactan Cebu International Airport, we took a taxi to the City and reached home at around 5:30am. I spent the whole morning sleeping and in the afternoon, my brother and I went to SM mall, where he enjoyed his meal of Jollibee.

Day 2: Carbon Market(5:30am)

Carbon is known to be Cebu's oldest and biggest produce market. Hearing it most of the time from my grandma I decided to go for a visit the next morning. Usually that place is jammed packed with people but since we went there at 5am in the morning there weren't a lot of people. But I have to warn you, when you're nearing the fish stalls, the smell... it's unbearable. **Kaboom**

Day 2: CEBU ZOO 

The zoo  in Cebu is not the typical zoo that I see on TV. Though the people there were 101% friendly and very hospitable, the place was under developed. In my point of view the animals needed new crates. Though the place was clean it needed renovating. I was surprised when I saw the Tiger, it was Huge! Except you have to walk down the hill just to get a glimpse of it, but what bothered me was that, the Tiger was crippled. But they said that it was crippled already when they rescued him. After, we decided to go swimming, thankfully the swimming pool was just 10 minutes away from the zoo so it was very convenient. 

Day 3: Sunday - Church Day.

Afterchurch, we went to SM mall to watch Chipmunks 3. The funny thing was, I fell asleep! It was a snooze-fest movie! 

So that pretty much sums up the days I spent in Cebu City. Though we didn't get to visit other famous places our intention was to really spend time with our relatives. But our trip did not end there I have more yet to blog ... cause after 3 days spent in the City, we went to one of the Islands in Cebu which is the Camotes Islands. 

So wait for it! :D

Yours truly,

bex

A "Berry" Nice Trip!

Okay so this post is loooong overdue! Tsk tsk but it's better late than never, right?! so here goes... 

On March 24 we went on a little field trip. We found it in a website called, BeeCrazy. Don't mind the name but they offer good packages for all sorts of things from clothes, gadgets, outing, travels and whatnots. So we took a shot and went on the Strawberry Picking tour. The package comes with hiking, a free lunch and obviously picking Berries so it was a pretty good deal. 

We were so excited the day before the outing that on the day of the meet up we didn't write down the contact no. of the agent plus the exact meet up place so when we got to Kowloon Tong train station we had to ask gangs of people one by one which trip they are in. Talk about being organized right?! After a good 30 mins of asking and running around we did manage to find our bus. Phew! 

Once we got on the bus the next obstacle was that everyone was Chinese and we were the only 2 foreigners, so to speak. It was a good thing Jcel knows how to communicate in Cantonese, so just a heads-up to those interested in joining these kind of trips, be Sure to bring someone who speaks the language! The tour guide explained the itinerary and also gave us maps for hiking. We had 2 choices, either to take the 2 hours hike or the 30mins one. We decided that since we are young and wanted to be "Adventurous" we took the 2hours hike. And we are happy to say it was a decision we did not regret :)

The hike was not treacherous in fact it was quite enjoyable. They took us this rocky mountain via boat. When we say boat we meant Boat wherein only 10people can fit in. The ride was fun and quick so nothing special there. When we got to the mountain the tour guide explained to us the different kind of stones in there. Surprise surprise even the stones and rocks have history! We enjoyed it so much we didn't realized it has already been 2 hours of walking. You get to experience fresh air and a different scenery. At the end of the mountain there was a little beach or bay. With water so clear you'd want to drink it! There was also a place we thought it was just a garden but on a closer look... it was a cemetery! Good thing we figured that out before going in, ha! 

After the brief hike, they took us to Shatin for lunch, yay! It was a Chinese restaurant, no surprise there! Outside the restaurant was a little garden, real garden and cages for peacocks. The restaurant was clean and they rented an area for the tour. As soon as we got seated, the food started coming along. And the first thing they served us was... Pigeon! Each of us had a complete pigeon with its head on our plates and there were 10 of us in each table. ACCK! But everyone was eating so we had no choice but to join in. As I am biting my way through the pigeon's body I can feel PETA hunting me down. Poor little bird had to endure such tragedy. However the other food they served was delicious so... they made up for serving us the bird. hehe

After we got our tum-tum full they took us to an antique market. Nothing spectacular. Just a place with antiques. We only walked around for a good 30minutes and they quickly took us to our last destination and the highlight of this whole tour... the Strawberry Field! 

The Strawberry Field was located in a very rural area. It was so refreshing to see people growing food here in Hong Kong. Also they were selling them to those who visits the place. Fresh from the field! For the strawberry picking they will give you baskets and each field has its specific kind of strawberry they grow such as from France, Japan, etc. We tried to pick from every field but eventually tire out ourselves and stuck with Japan berries. Obviously they are not free they will price it per kilo, I think. :p 

All in all it was an extremely fun experience. It's nice to see that Hong Kong also offer tours like this. We always thought that Hong Kong is too modernized and so to go hiking and pick fruits is a completely new experience for us, HK-wise. 

Costs (for reference): 

Tour Coupon from BeeCrazy: $138 (per head)
Tour Guide Fee: $35 (per head)

On a final note, I'd say we recommend this tour. Check out their website for more packages. 

More pictures will be posted on our Facebook page. 

Jcel & Bex