Early on in the year I had set my mind on a (belated) birthday beach vacation in the Philippines. We had a week off school the week following my birthday, and in an effort to find a middle ground between good weather, flight duration and cost, we landed on the Philippines as our destination. My one issue with the country is that there are endless opportunities of where to spend your holiday, beautiful beaches and secluded islands, however getting to these destinations is sometimes a full day effort. I know for most people a week is a long time, but having spent months backpacking in my younger years, it still feels short to me. I didn't want to spend 1/3 of our time in transit, and instead chose to find an easier to reach beach paradise. Honestly though, in retrospect, I probably should have just put in the effort. Ultimately my enthusiasm for the trip was overshadowed by my exhausted at spending 2.5 weeks in Canada with 80 9th grade students, a trip I was not expected to be apart of, but am so thankful to have joined. About a week before our departure to the Philippines I was seriously considering canceling the whole thing, but didn't feel that would be fair to Seohui who just spend a month working his normal routine, just without me present. Ultimately I pushed through the exhaustion and told myself everything would be worth it once I got to the beach.... The original plan was to spend a day or two hiking, both soaking in some green nature and getting natural exercise, before lying on the beach for the rest of the vacation, but this slowly started to deteriorate. Our flight was into Manila and I had long ago heard positive reviews and Tagatay and Taal Volcano and planned to visit the area, however, after further research discovered the volcano was closed, and it was a complicated bus route from Manila (continuing on to Puerto Galera), so I switched gears. I still wanted to break up the travel, and threw in a random stop to Lipa, allowing us to get out of Manila immediately, but break up the travel to Puerto Galera. Again, if I had the chance to do it over, I would have just got a motel for the night in Manila and then traveled straight through to the beach - but hindsight is of course clearer. This feeling was reaffirmed when our Grab driver dropped us off at the PITX bus terminal in Manila Friday evening and we were met with walls of people. Apparently there was an upcoming holiday and everyone was traveling home to their provinces that evening. As we ran around trying to locate the ticket counter I had fully accepted that we would likely be spending the evening here, sprawled on the floor and if we were lucky, catching a bus somewhere around 2am. Magically, this was not the case, and we somehow managed to secure tickets for the 7pm bus to Lipa only 20 minutes before departure. This left us just enough time to grab some random fast food for the ride and get cozy in our seats. My major challenge was finding information online, everything was lacking the details I needed, I was continuously confused about needing to book a bus, if the bus existed, how long it would take, or how much it would cost. I love the beauty of the beach, but personally prefer lying poolside, so my two days of activity soon became two days of poolside lounging. I booked a poolside room at a resort just outside of the main town, a place that appeared to be quiet and secluded, but oh how wrong that assumption was. The hotel was on the corner of two busy streets, so while the grounds were private and green, the noise of traffic and honking was a constant accompaniment. The pool was also much smaller than expected, and cold, but that might just be a me problem. The staff were really the only thing that made this stay worth it, always friendly and accommodating, despite their insistance on only addressing Seohui, "Sir, would you like fresh towels?" even if I was the only one speaking, oh well, culture... Despite the noise, which almost caused me to lose my mind mid Saturday morning, we managed to enjoy our stay, explore the area a little bit, and sample some new foods. I wouldn't repeat the experience, nor would I recommend this route of travel for anyone, but it is what it is. From Lipa we had a quick bus ride down to Batangas Port where we caught a ferry over to Puerto Galera. One more tricycle ride and we finally arrived at our beach home for the next few days. I had found a cute, affordable beach bungalow and was quick to book this for the duration of our stay. There were two bedrooms, a second floor balcony and first floor terrace, more than we required really, but it was lovely. The only minor issue was the distance from everything - 5 minute walk from reception/the bulk of the property, and a 15 minute ride from White Beach, but the seclusion was kind of nice. Literally the first thing we did after arrival was jump in the ocean, which after a day of travel felt spectacular, although Seohui kept complaining about a stinging feeling. I must have been in some kind of mood because I kept brushing him off, maybe I was having flashbacks of my brother always finding something to complain about. But when we got out of the water and I saw the trail of red marks wrapping his arm the concern set in, we suspect it was a mild jellyfish sting, but I'm still unsure what joined us in the water that afternoon. We chose to take the easy route and have dinner at the restaurant on the property that evening, accompanied by the advertised 2 for 1 cocktails. Oddly the cocktail special was only from 4-6, but we couldn't get food until 6pm, so we grabbed some snacks and played cards while waiting. My margarita was electric lime green and the Napoli pizza had black olives on it, so that was the situation for the evening, not that I was expecting much more. We woke early, with the sound of crashing waves and the sun rising on the horizon, and this was easily my favorite part of the entire trip. These peaceful mornings were just the relaxation I was looking for, and followed with yoga on the terrace and a long walk along the beach, I was content to do nothing morning. Our only minor issue was the lack of food so we decided to rent a motorbike, allowing us to explore and move around and we chose for the day. The obvious first-choice of destination was White Beach, so this is exactly where we headed. Pretty typical of any tourist beach; mediocre (sometimes overpriced) food, people selling jewelry, sunglasses, cheap clothes, and other souvenirs, and men offering island hoping, snorkling, banana boat rides, kayaking, jet ski and parasailing. We entertained the thought of jet skis, but quickly changed our minds with a going rate of roughly $50 per 30 minutes. After a few hours at the beach we decided to head back and shower, I personally can't stand the feeling of sticky saltwater skin and hair, before exploring more of the island. Since we had a motorbike we decided to drive to the other end of Puerto Galera, but failed to realize that our timing was in line with the end of school and work which meant crowded roads. The main goal was to draw additional money from the ATM (easy) and find something to eat for dinner (not as easy). Half of the restaurants appeared to be closed, while the other half where merely Western style sports bars, likely catering to the more senior expat community in town (I'll let you fill in who I'm talking about).
We drove over to second pier near town, Muelle to check out the view, explore the ship/museum, and then decided to just test our luck with the street food that was on offer. I think we walked away with Siomai, Takoyaki, Sisig and a fried noodle. Most of it was delicious, although the Sisig was more fat and gristle than meat, which neither of us were too excited about. Honestly, I knew going in that food was not going to be the star of this trip, but I didn't expect that the random 7/11 snacks would be the highlight for me. Regardless, we were on vacation and having fun exploring. By the end of this day I was more than ready to head back to the bungalow, test out the Tanduay rum we bought earlier and play cards - something that came in handy with our lack of WiFi and modern day entertainment.
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AsiaPhilippinesOver 7,500 islands of pure bliss. I've been twice, both times arriving with a "what am I doing here" hesitation, but weeks later resisting my departure. Forget about being on time, or eating lots of vegetables, but welcome beautiful sunsets, gorgeous beaches, and welcoming, friendly locals. Categories
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