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For those of you who didn't know, I just spent the last four days in Coron, Palawan.
Took lots of pics and wrote a lot, so I'll be splitting the entries up to save everyone's browsers. orz
A FANGIRL NOTE: Going to Coron is kind of special to me since I sort of, uh, randomly used it in Return on Investment, my Reborn! longfic. Hibari was over in Puetro Princesa, Palawan to bust some goons up and raid a box weapon shipment, and Yamamoto had to go and pick him up in order to drag him back to Italy. He dropped the girls off at Coron before zooming over to deal with Mr. Biteyoudead.
I never thought that I'd actually be able to go! Now I'll just have to come back and actually stay at Krystal Lodge, the hotel that I used in the fic...
Pre-trip
Went with my mom and my brother Paolo to Trinoma; I mostly tagged along on mom's insistence, since I could've done without the aqua shorts, I think. The shopping trip ended up being retty productive, though, since I got a waterproof pouch for the mobile and some really pretty sandals! I didn't actually find what I was really looking for, though...
Explanation: THE TAMPON SAGA. FYI, I hate tampons. It's not that I've used them and I've had bad experiences before, just... I heard a lot of horror stories, and I am also averse to sticking strange things between my legs. Still, going to Coron meant swimming, and I knew that my period was, at the LEAST, going to last for half the trip. I wasn't about to miss out just because I was bleeding. SOOOO Mom and I decided to buy tampons in the mall ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT ALL OF TRINOMA AND SM NORTH (two very big malls, for your information) DOESN'T STOCK THE THINGS. T_T Tampons are not very popular with the women down here. Ended up having to pull a favor from one of my sisters-in-law - she's based in Makati, so it's easier for her to get a box. orz
I ALSO HAVE A QUESTION FOR TAMPON-USERS IN MY FLIST: are all tampons meant to look like space-time capsules? They're so... funky. o_O
Finished packing for serious after I got home, and chillaxed for the rest of the night. I was THIS CLOSE to bringing the laptop, but my mother gave me The Evil Eye when I so much as fielded the possibility. orz
Day One (May 29)
Faced all the usual stress and lulz that comes with driving to and being in the airport - it was a little strange at first, because my dad wasn't with us. He had gone ahead a few days ago to put some dives in.
Domestic terminal is surprisingly shiny now, although some parts of it are still under construction. Stayed with my family at the food court for some Yellow Cab while waiting for my cousins, since the Esteban Family was going to join us this time around. I found out that my cousin JP got to bring his laptop along for the trip - they even managed to convince their parents to pack their Wii. Unfairness, I can has it. ;_;
Plane ride to Busuanga was surprisingly short (lol, 45 minutes), but the cabin was hot, the flight wasn't all that smooth (I wonder if it's because we took a small, propeller-powered jet) and it was a little cramped. It was also hot when we got off at the airport...
The place was the usual domestic fare that you get in my hood these days, and the road trip trip getting to the hotel took us through what had apparently been a safari for the Marcoses.
Too bad I didn't get to see any giraffes or zebras. There WERE a lot of cows though.
Coron Gateway Hotel is, at the moment, the nicest resort in the area according to the people we've talked to.
Its surroundings are still pretty crappy in some parts since it's still under development...
...buuuuut I have absolutely no complaints about the rooms. LOOK, SHINY BATHROOM PICTURES:
That screen door thing by the tub leads right out to the room, and is so close to the bed on the right side that you can literally crawl into it from the tub. I wonder why. /waggles eyebrows
Anyway, I'm inclined to believe that this place might be one of the nicest ones my family has booked at yet, out of all of our trips within the Philippines. The service is still pretty poor and some of the facilities definitely need work (as we rudely discovered later), but the people there are honest. I'm sure that with more training and experience, Gateway Hotel will be absolutely lovely in the next 3-5 years.
On another note, Mom got this kick-ass green tea mochi from a client. I kind of want more. Good thing I'm the only one in the family who seems to love the stuff. owo
We chilled a little at the hotel and unpacked! Lol, hotel TV. In retrospect, the Mummy was such an Orientalist movie. Beyond campy, too.
'Course, since we're with our parents on this trip, us Punzalan kids were dragged to the nearest church for Mass. We didn't end up going on the first day, though, because there was a wedding. As such, it was straight to the hot springs!
(Oh, uh, pics above is a picture of the street corner from outside of the Church, and this sari-sari store that caught my eye while we were waiting around for the Adults to buy casuy.
Yes, fellow countrymen, the sign reads LAMBINGAN BRIDGE. Idek. XD)
Maguinit Hot Springs was really, really nice! It's sort of a chill place, with little huts where people can hang out after taking a dip. Water temperature was 40-degrees Celsius~ the initial drop is seriously trying, but after that, it is soooo tempting to just stay in there. I can get why people can pass out if they're not careful now. The heat really does drain you, even if it's a nice kind of tired.
Pics of the place by night down here:
And random cats.
We dropped by the hotel again after we finished up, since everybody wanted to take a shower and change before dinner. I dropped by my parents' room to see how they were doing.
Dad had a very interesting way of using the very romantic bathtub that each of our hotel rooms is equipped with. See, he needed to clean his scuba diving gear up, and there wasn't any other way of doing it...
Um. Yeah. He is a practical man. |D
When I got back to the hotel, Peter had flipped the channel to STAR Movies. They were showing this b-thing when we tuned in... it's called "Rogue", and it was also super uber campy. Lol, gigantic man-eating crocodile, so go figure. The actress for the tour guide was this hot blonde Aussie chick though.
Cousins later told me that the film is based off of an actual croc from Africa - Gustav, with a record of over 100 (maybe even 300) kills. His scales can apparently deflect bullets.
I feel for the dude who discovered that the hard way.
The trikes in Coron are kind of huge - they can fit around 5 people comfortably, unless you happen to be really big. Seems like the main form of transport from what I could tell, and it kind makes sense if it was, with the way the roads were. Surprisingly good conditions, though, in the area of Coron that we stayed in - I mean, you're far out from civilization, but you're not totally lost.
Ate at this funky resto bar over the shallows near our hotel - set menu, all veggies and seafood. Total was roughly 450 per head, as there were a ton of us. Not too bad, although I think we would've been happier picking our own food.
FYI, that is seaweed salad. It is very, very tasty.
Camera's not great with night scenes - too bad, really, since it was pretty where we were that evening. The shadows of the mountains and the moon reflected on the water (which was holy shit clear, by the way), and the stars were all out!
Hellboy was on Cartoon Network when we finally started flipping channels back in the room. I want to reread the comics now.
On another note, I always sleep much, MUCH earlier during vacations with family. Conked out right after the 10:30 meds!
Part Two is over here!
Took lots of pics and wrote a lot, so I'll be splitting the entries up to save everyone's browsers. orz
A FANGIRL NOTE: Going to Coron is kind of special to me since I sort of, uh, randomly used it in Return on Investment, my Reborn! longfic. Hibari was over in Puetro Princesa, Palawan to bust some goons up and raid a box weapon shipment, and Yamamoto had to go and pick him up in order to drag him back to Italy. He dropped the girls off at Coron before zooming over to deal with Mr. Biteyoudead.
I never thought that I'd actually be able to go! Now I'll just have to come back and actually stay at Krystal Lodge, the hotel that I used in the fic...
Pre-trip
Went with my mom and my brother Paolo to Trinoma; I mostly tagged along on mom's insistence, since I could've done without the aqua shorts, I think. The shopping trip ended up being retty productive, though, since I got a waterproof pouch for the mobile and some really pretty sandals! I didn't actually find what I was really looking for, though...
Explanation: THE TAMPON SAGA. FYI, I hate tampons. It's not that I've used them and I've had bad experiences before, just... I heard a lot of horror stories, and I am also averse to sticking strange things between my legs. Still, going to Coron meant swimming, and I knew that my period was, at the LEAST, going to last for half the trip. I wasn't about to miss out just because I was bleeding. SOOOO Mom and I decided to buy tampons in the mall ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT ALL OF TRINOMA AND SM NORTH (two very big malls, for your information) DOESN'T STOCK THE THINGS. T_T Tampons are not very popular with the women down here. Ended up having to pull a favor from one of my sisters-in-law - she's based in Makati, so it's easier for her to get a box. orz
I ALSO HAVE A QUESTION FOR TAMPON-USERS IN MY FLIST: are all tampons meant to look like space-time capsules? They're so... funky. o_O
Finished packing for serious after I got home, and chillaxed for the rest of the night. I was THIS CLOSE to bringing the laptop, but my mother gave me The Evil Eye when I so much as fielded the possibility. orz
Day One (May 29)
Faced all the usual stress and lulz that comes with driving to and being in the airport - it was a little strange at first, because my dad wasn't with us. He had gone ahead a few days ago to put some dives in.
Domestic terminal is surprisingly shiny now, although some parts of it are still under construction. Stayed with my family at the food court for some Yellow Cab while waiting for my cousins, since the Esteban Family was going to join us this time around. I found out that my cousin JP got to bring his laptop along for the trip - they even managed to convince their parents to pack their Wii. Unfairness, I can has it. ;_;
Plane ride to Busuanga was surprisingly short (lol, 45 minutes), but the cabin was hot, the flight wasn't all that smooth (I wonder if it's because we took a small, propeller-powered jet) and it was a little cramped. It was also hot when we got off at the airport...
The place was the usual domestic fare that you get in my hood these days, and the road trip trip getting to the hotel took us through what had apparently been a safari for the Marcoses.
Too bad I didn't get to see any giraffes or zebras. There WERE a lot of cows though.
Coron Gateway Hotel is, at the moment, the nicest resort in the area according to the people we've talked to.
Its surroundings are still pretty crappy in some parts since it's still under development...
...buuuuut I have absolutely no complaints about the rooms. LOOK, SHINY BATHROOM PICTURES:
That screen door thing by the tub leads right out to the room, and is so close to the bed on the right side that you can literally crawl into it from the tub. I wonder why. /waggles eyebrows
Anyway, I'm inclined to believe that this place might be one of the nicest ones my family has booked at yet, out of all of our trips within the Philippines. The service is still pretty poor and some of the facilities definitely need work (as we rudely discovered later), but the people there are honest. I'm sure that with more training and experience, Gateway Hotel will be absolutely lovely in the next 3-5 years.
On another note, Mom got this kick-ass green tea mochi from a client. I kind of want more. Good thing I'm the only one in the family who seems to love the stuff. owo
We chilled a little at the hotel and unpacked! Lol, hotel TV. In retrospect, the Mummy was such an Orientalist movie. Beyond campy, too.
'Course, since we're with our parents on this trip, us Punzalan kids were dragged to the nearest church for Mass. We didn't end up going on the first day, though, because there was a wedding. As such, it was straight to the hot springs!
(Oh, uh, pics above is a picture of the street corner from outside of the Church, and this sari-sari store that caught my eye while we were waiting around for the Adults to buy casuy.
Yes, fellow countrymen, the sign reads LAMBINGAN BRIDGE. Idek. XD)
Maguinit Hot Springs was really, really nice! It's sort of a chill place, with little huts where people can hang out after taking a dip. Water temperature was 40-degrees Celsius~ the initial drop is seriously trying, but after that, it is soooo tempting to just stay in there. I can get why people can pass out if they're not careful now. The heat really does drain you, even if it's a nice kind of tired.
Pics of the place by night down here:
And random cats.
We dropped by the hotel again after we finished up, since everybody wanted to take a shower and change before dinner. I dropped by my parents' room to see how they were doing.
Dad had a very interesting way of using the very romantic bathtub that each of our hotel rooms is equipped with. See, he needed to clean his scuba diving gear up, and there wasn't any other way of doing it...
Um. Yeah. He is a practical man. |D
When I got back to the hotel, Peter had flipped the channel to STAR Movies. They were showing this b-thing when we tuned in... it's called "Rogue", and it was also super uber campy. Lol, gigantic man-eating crocodile, so go figure. The actress for the tour guide was this hot blonde Aussie chick though.
Cousins later told me that the film is based off of an actual croc from Africa - Gustav, with a record of over 100 (maybe even 300) kills. His scales can apparently deflect bullets.
I feel for the dude who discovered that the hard way.
The trikes in Coron are kind of huge - they can fit around 5 people comfortably, unless you happen to be really big. Seems like the main form of transport from what I could tell, and it kind makes sense if it was, with the way the roads were. Surprisingly good conditions, though, in the area of Coron that we stayed in - I mean, you're far out from civilization, but you're not totally lost.
Ate at this funky resto bar over the shallows near our hotel - set menu, all veggies and seafood. Total was roughly 450 per head, as there were a ton of us. Not too bad, although I think we would've been happier picking our own food.
FYI, that is seaweed salad. It is very, very tasty.
Camera's not great with night scenes - too bad, really, since it was pretty where we were that evening. The shadows of the mountains and the moon reflected on the water (which was holy shit clear, by the way), and the stars were all out!
Hellboy was on Cartoon Network when we finally started flipping channels back in the room. I want to reread the comics now.
On another note, I always sleep much, MUCH earlier during vacations with family. Conked out right after the 10:30 meds!
Part Two is over here!
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and yes, they are supposed to look like space-time capsules. it's normal. the newer brands out there are more sleek and nifty
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O-okay, because I was staring at the first thing for like... ages.
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Anyway. You already know my answer to the tampon question djsakfj
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Oh, I forgot to mention: that's my dad's scuba gear. He even brought in tiny little shrimp with him. They were clinging to his stuff. |D
Ffff tampons. I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THEM.
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Your dad did exactly the same thing with the bathtub as how I treated my club scuba diving equipments. :D I'm curious though, what are the heap of food on that plate consist of (other than the tomatoes)? Shallots? Octopi? Baby grapes? Caviar?
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Oooh, that place looks nice, though. I need to get out of the Manila/Batangas/Pampanga area. XD
And the hotel, it looks great.
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Really nice accommodations but it was soooo expensive. I gawked a little when my dad quoted the figures to me. orz
Everything else in Coron was dirt cheap though!
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Huh. HMM. But I suppose it evens out!
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Coron. Sembreak, I am going there, totally.
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Who will you be going with?
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/goes check the other posts
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Nice hotel rooms! When I saw that backpack in the tub, I thought "On noooo, some poor guy dropped his equipment in the tub.......:("
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