It was April when we first started to go out of the busy city life of Manila and explore the beaches in the Philippines. Our first stop back then was Zambales in the Resort called, Sunbloom and with a fantastic island called "Potipot" (Photos here).
We enjoyed our trip so much that I've been craving to go and visit the wonderful, unexplored, unpopular but great beaches or swimming destinations in the Philippines whenever I go back for a holiday. Since me and my family had plan to spend the Christmas/New Year vacation in Phils, then.. how about another round of beach trippin' with the same cool peeps from Potipot, right?
Anyway, so.. back in April, our plan was to spend our 3 days and 2 nights stay at Puerto Galera, which became Batangas and eventually became Zambales @_@ And now, the plan is to spend 2 days and 1 night in Island Cove, Cavite which became Punto Miguel in Anilao, Batangas and suddenly became Solomon's Paradise in Bolinao, Pangasinan. How about that?!?
After searching the net and reading some blogs about what to do and where to go in Bolinao, it was around 11PM of January 14, when I sent everyone a text message of the possible itinerary once we get to Bolinao. Since, it is a gruesome 6-7 hour bus ride to Bolinao, I thought that it would be better if we have taken the first bus trip from Cubao to Bolinao at 3.40AM so that by the time that we have to eat breakfast, we are already in Bolinao (by 8AM). I have decided not to sleep anymore since I still have to prepare the BBQ and hotdogs by 12 midnight and Abe might arrive at around 2AM.
So far so good.. I have started prepping for the BBQ at 12 and Abe arrived at around 2:30 AM. The only bad thing is that we could not contact either Joby or Ivan @_@ major bummer. Abe and I have decided to go to the cubao terminal already and just wait for them to arrive. We were at the terminal at around 4AM. While waiting for the two guys, we have asked the different bus terminals for the bus time and the fare cost of our trip to Bolinao. Victory Liner has buses that depart from Cubao at 3.40 AM then the next one is at 7AM and the fare would cost you around P440-450 one-way. Then we walked from Victory Liner to 5 Star and the next bus to Bolinao is at 5AM (aircon - P408 one-way), the next one would be at 7AM (aircon) and the other one will be at 8AM (ordinary bus - P287). I was talking to Abe how I hated boarding ordinary buses since it will totally ruin my hair and will mess-up my clothes full of polluted dirt. We find it odd that as one bus to Bolinao comes and leaves, our two buddies still cannot be reached. We waited... waited... and waited...
Abe can't help but sleep while we are waiting for the two guys to arrive
Ivan's text message that they have already reached Cubao at 7AM with Abe sleeping in the background
Yup... these two guys overslept.. OMFG @_@ filo time
1. Be on Time.
2. The only way to know how long the journey is from Cubao to Bolinao is to watch the 4 sequels of the movie, Fast and the Furious
3. It is better to negotiate the price first before riding the tricycle, getting a bargain is everything.
4. Search on the net the travel time from the bus terminal to the resort and not just the travel time from the Metro to the province.
5. Don't be fooled if you start to see glimpses of the beach... it is a mind trick, you are not there YET!
6. Always be camera-ready.
7. Don't put a container of food especially if it has Toyo in your bag full of clothes, you will never know what might happen.
What to look forward to the next set of blog posts:
1. Did Amber really arrive?
2. What is Solomon's Paradise and how was it for us?
3. Was if fun to have more guys on this trip?
Potipot Island taken in front of Sunbloom Beach Resort in Zambales
We enjoyed our trip so much that I've been craving to go and visit the wonderful, unexplored, unpopular but great beaches or swimming destinations in the Philippines whenever I go back for a holiday. Since me and my family had plan to spend the Christmas/New Year vacation in Phils, then.. how about another round of beach trippin' with the same cool peeps from Potipot, right?
Anyway, so.. back in April, our plan was to spend our 3 days and 2 nights stay at Puerto Galera, which became Batangas and eventually became Zambales @_@ And now, the plan is to spend 2 days and 1 night in Island Cove, Cavite which became Punto Miguel in Anilao, Batangas and suddenly became Solomon's Paradise in Bolinao, Pangasinan. How about that?!?
After searching the net and reading some blogs about what to do and where to go in Bolinao, it was around 11PM of January 14, when I sent everyone a text message of the possible itinerary once we get to Bolinao. Since, it is a gruesome 6-7 hour bus ride to Bolinao, I thought that it would be better if we have taken the first bus trip from Cubao to Bolinao at 3.40AM so that by the time that we have to eat breakfast, we are already in Bolinao (by 8AM). I have decided not to sleep anymore since I still have to prepare the BBQ and hotdogs by 12 midnight and Abe might arrive at around 2AM.
So far so good.. I have started prepping for the BBQ at 12 and Abe arrived at around 2:30 AM. The only bad thing is that we could not contact either Joby or Ivan @_@ major bummer. Abe and I have decided to go to the cubao terminal already and just wait for them to arrive. We were at the terminal at around 4AM. While waiting for the two guys, we have asked the different bus terminals for the bus time and the fare cost of our trip to Bolinao. Victory Liner has buses that depart from Cubao at 3.40 AM then the next one is at 7AM and the fare would cost you around P440-450 one-way. Then we walked from Victory Liner to 5 Star and the next bus to Bolinao is at 5AM (aircon - P408 one-way), the next one would be at 7AM (aircon) and the other one will be at 8AM (ordinary bus - P287). I was talking to Abe how I hated boarding ordinary buses since it will totally ruin my hair and will mess-up my clothes full of polluted dirt. We find it odd that as one bus to Bolinao comes and leaves, our two buddies still cannot be reached. We waited... waited... and waited...
Abe can't help but sleep while we are waiting for the two guys to arriveAlas, Ivan called in at around 6AM and said that they are still about to leave their place in Cainta... they overslept and I was just soo pissed off that we have wasted so much time waiting for them when we could have been on board the bus already and sleeping. By 7AM, Ivan already sent us an SMS that they are in Cubao already. These guys arrived at around 8AM.. but... heck... we still missed the 7AM aircon bus and now my worst nightmare has come... we would have no choice but to take the ordinary 8AM bus from Cubao to Bolinao T_______T
Ivan's text message that they have already reached Cubao at 7AM with Abe sleeping in the background
Yup... these two guys overslept.. OMFG @_@ filo timeOn board the bus was okay, the seats were comfortable enough (but not as comfy as the nice chairs of aircon buses), the driver turned the TV on and played The Fast and the Furious 4 for us to watch and me and Abe took advantage of the student fare discount (you just have to show your ID ofcourse) even if we're not students anymore XD. Because we all have watched the movie before, Ivan and Abe had their own 'boy-brokeback-bonding thing' while Joby started talking to me about this girl that he has recently met, Amber.
Ivan started to realize to transfer the container of Liempo from his baggage to the baggage full of food so that his clothes won't smell like Toyo. But, the container had a crack and some of the juices leaked from the container to some of his clothes. It was still a good thing that he had noticed this earlier in the trip. Major bummer though that most of his clothes now has Toyo, even his undies x_x.
Ivan started to realize to transfer the container of Liempo from his baggage to the baggage full of food so that his clothes won't smell like Toyo. But, the container had a crack and some of the juices leaked from the container to some of his clothes. It was still a good thing that he had noticed this earlier in the trip. Major bummer though that most of his clothes now has Toyo, even his undies x_x.
The four of us (L-R): Joby, Kat, Ivan and Abe.
Learnings:After 2 hours on the trip, the movie has already finished and another one was about to start.. guess what?!? It is Tokyo Drift @_@. Now, we started wondering if after the movie, the driver will show Too Fast Too Furious... which eventually came true after 2 hours 0_o?!? In the middle of the trip, I send a message to Camille that I do sometimes feel out of place since I am the only girl on this trip and how I wish sooo badly that it would have been nice to have her around. Out of nowhere (as in out of NOWHERE), Joby's friend, Amber who lives in Laguna, has decided to follow us all the way to Bolinao. I was hoping that she will come so that I can get to meet her and also for me to have another girl companion throughout the getaway. The brokeback guys couldn't believe it that they bet on whether Amber will be going (Abe's bet) or not (Ivan's bet). And yup... Joby was 'kinikilig' like a kid.. omg.. it was irritating, weird, yet awkward to see a guy like that.. well, that's just my imo.. or maybe, it was because of the fact that it was Joby (plain and simple).
At around the 4th or 5th hour of the trip when the bus has already started playing The Fast and the Furious, we started to see glimpses of the beach. It was an awesome feeling, I felt happy cause I can already start taking a bath and the guys were happy because they can already start eating breakfast/lunch. We also saw signs going to Bolinao and Hundred Islands so we thought we were already near the town of Bolinao. Yet, after 30 minutes, we started to see plains and fields again.. awww... how sad.. so we couldn't help but buy banana cues to satisfy our hungry stomachs. =(
Then finally, after about 7 hours at around 3PM when The Fast and the Furious has almost reached its ending, we have arrived in Bolinao. I find it a bit irritating that upon stepping out of the bus, a bunch of tricycle drivers started to haggard us on the different places to go or even resorts to stay at. Before heading to the resort, we dropped by at the local market where Joby and I bought some clothes for Amber so that she'll have some spare clothes to wear while Ivan and Abe bought rice for our lunch/dinner. Then we took the tricycle from the market place to the resort located at Barangay Patar. Mind you, it was not just an ordinary tricycle ride BUT it was a gruesome 30 minutes tricycle ride to the resort. We kept on wondering if the driver knows where to go or if we are already lost but OMFG... that was some RIDE! After 30 minutes, we have finally reached our destination, Solomon's Paradise.
btw.... since we are local tourist, the tricycle drivers will take advantage of that fact and will charge you more than what you SHOULD pay.. from the market to the resort, we paid P200 but it should be around P150. Be wise!
At around the 4th or 5th hour of the trip when the bus has already started playing The Fast and the Furious, we started to see glimpses of the beach. It was an awesome feeling, I felt happy cause I can already start taking a bath and the guys were happy because they can already start eating breakfast/lunch. We also saw signs going to Bolinao and Hundred Islands so we thought we were already near the town of Bolinao. Yet, after 30 minutes, we started to see plains and fields again.. awww... how sad.. so we couldn't help but buy banana cues to satisfy our hungry stomachs. =(
Then finally, after about 7 hours at around 3PM when The Fast and the Furious has almost reached its ending, we have arrived in Bolinao. I find it a bit irritating that upon stepping out of the bus, a bunch of tricycle drivers started to haggard us on the different places to go or even resorts to stay at. Before heading to the resort, we dropped by at the local market where Joby and I bought some clothes for Amber so that she'll have some spare clothes to wear while Ivan and Abe bought rice for our lunch/dinner. Then we took the tricycle from the market place to the resort located at Barangay Patar. Mind you, it was not just an ordinary tricycle ride BUT it was a gruesome 30 minutes tricycle ride to the resort. We kept on wondering if the driver knows where to go or if we are already lost but OMFG... that was some RIDE! After 30 minutes, we have finally reached our destination, Solomon's Paradise.
btw.... since we are local tourist, the tricycle drivers will take advantage of that fact and will charge you more than what you SHOULD pay.. from the market to the resort, we paid P200 but it should be around P150. Be wise!
1. Be on Time.
2. The only way to know how long the journey is from Cubao to Bolinao is to watch the 4 sequels of the movie, Fast and the Furious
3. It is better to negotiate the price first before riding the tricycle, getting a bargain is everything.
4. Search on the net the travel time from the bus terminal to the resort and not just the travel time from the Metro to the province.
5. Don't be fooled if you start to see glimpses of the beach... it is a mind trick, you are not there YET!
6. Always be camera-ready.
7. Don't put a container of food especially if it has Toyo in your bag full of clothes, you will never know what might happen.
What to look forward to the next set of blog posts:
1. Did Amber really arrive?
2. What is Solomon's Paradise and how was it for us?
3. Was if fun to have more guys on this trip?
................................. to be continued.
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wohooooo ampogi ko hahaha
kelan ka ba naging panget? Wahahaha.. Me ganun?!?