It's not ordinary Hill... It's Baker's Hill

City tour is one of the must-do in Palawan. One of the most popular spots and also one of the bests Pasalubong store in Town is the "Baker's Hill" here in Palawan.

I already visited this site way back 2013 and yet I still love to visit it again (2016).

Before (2013), I came from El Nido before we decided to visit here, I forgot where we were before we arrived... But I remembered we paid for Php 300 to got here via Tricycle.

Now (2016), we decided also to commute. Upon reading some of the blog online... The price of trike (tricycle) is Php 150 from City Proper to Baker's Hill. So we used this as reference when haggling some tricycle driver for the Price.

Wholla! We did got a Trike for Php 400 back and forth from our hotel to Baker's

Hill. Not bad, hah? With a max of 4 pax in one Trike.


As what it is being called.. it is truly found on a Hill. So expect some of roller coaster road and a very stiff road. As we experienced, we need to drop off 2 pax to be able to move on and pickup again the 2. (Hahahaha... we were so heavy or the trike was weak?)

Anyway, we reached the Baker Hill. What could I say? We were not yet step inside but the entrance itself gave us the wow reaction! What more when you enter? 

Garden, garden, garden, & Garden... Nice garden located on the hill. The street inside was jam-packed with decoration and structure. This tourist spot surrounded with beautiful garden.


We enjoyed taking pictures in each of the spot inside. From the well-maintained garden to the well-maintained sculpture/human figures of different characters.


There was also a snack bar and restaurant that offering tamilok worth Php 100, sorry I didn't try it.
Kids could also enjoy on its play ground (a big and spacious play ground) and some birds of different kind.

And also don't forget the good and yummy Hopia offer for all tourist available in a very affordable price (starts at Php 45/box) that the main attraction here. This yummy/delicious hopia is perfect for "pasalubong" that will enjoy by all members of the family!

This is one of my favorite spot in PP! Highly recommended to all ages.

More photos inside Baker's Hill Click HERE (just wait for 5 sec before proceeding).

Tips:
Tip 1: Most of the Trike here in PP Palawan has a lower ceiling/roof for back ride. If you are having someone to ride on the back be sure to chose the higher ceiling/roof for a convenient ride.
Tip 2: Choose Trike that is not weak to handle a heavy load. Since you are traveling in a hill.
Tip 3: Visit as early in the morning between 8-10 am to enjoy scenery with a few tourist.
Tip 4: Since garden is all around, you might want to put some insect/mosquito repellent or off lotion.

Photos Inside Baker's Hill 

HONDA BAY TOUR!

Doing some island hopping is a must not only for Coron or El Nido if you are in Palawan. Island hopping is also a must do in Puerto Princesa Palawan.

We decided to booked this tour through our hotel. Since we are only 5 pax in a group and the tour van can accommodate a max of up to 12 pax, we had no choice but to have a joined group.

For the price of Php 1300, we haggled and granted a Price of Php 1200 for the tour since we also booked the Underground River tour and Firefly watching tour.

Me and my friends inside the tourist van

 OK, so much for the booking. At the day starts, we were picked up on our hotel at 7:30 AM. 45 mins towards north from the city Proper you could reach the Honda Bay. But before we reached the island, we need to stoped over to the aqua store where we can rent proper outfit (beach shoes), Snorkeling gear (mask and snorkel) and bread for fish feeding (luckily, we have flakes). Why we need to rent those stuff? As per our tour guide (Weng), beach shoes is a must during handa bay island hopping, it is requirement not only for the protection of the coral reefs that might got damage but also for the protection of one-selves against other things living and non living that might damage your foot or your health especially the sea urchin. Unfortunately, we don't have that gears.


Rent:
1 mask & 1 snorkel - 150
1 pair beach shoes - 150
_______________________
Total        Php 300

Arrgh. I'd to cried for 300 pesos just for the rental fees. It was burdensome on my pocket.

Alright... we need this gear so to continue.. We arrived at Honda Bay warp at around 8:45 AM. We stayed in the warp for quite some time while our tour guide preparing our permits and registration to take the tour. At last, around 9:00 AM we were asked to on-board to our pump-boat that will be our ship during the island hopping. Yes! This is it!

Overpriced rental beach shoes

First pit stop is the (1) Pambato Reef. It should be Starfish Island, but unfortunately, the owner of the island has a problem on papers (document/license) to operate so we were take the Pambato Reef instead. Declared as marine sanctuary through the enactment of City Ordinance No.390 on August 27, 2008. The sanctuary is further divided into conservation, ecotourism and buffer zones. We snorkel here for about 1 hour. The water is co clear enough to see the fish (not deep) even you're not in the water. Pambato Reef have this turtle-like shed (bench) where you can rest before, in-middle, or after your snorkeling. I enjoyed snorkeling here. But when a bunch (big group) tourist arrived and soak into the water... the water became unclear enough to see those fish.
Sorry to tell you guys, but I'm not familiar with the name of those fishes, but the reef has plenty of those fish with yellow color with black strips, blue-black color, and more of corals. Note: Fish feeding is not allowed here.

Pambato reef from a distance.

Pambato reef Front Shed

Queue... Ready for snorkeling

School of fish.. shot from above water

Around 10:15 AM, we leaved the Pambato reef and headed to our next pit stop...the (2) Luli Island.  Luli is actually a short term for "Lu for Lulubog and Li for Lilitaw", which means sink and rise which exactly what the island does. At high tide the island disappears and at the low tide the island re-appears. I didn't enjoyed here. I can't see those fish clearly, since the water is not clear enough. Might due to huge number of swimmers doing snorkeling and diving. By the way, there is a diving board not that high (on my own calculation I guess a 10-15ft high above the water). I didn't try to dive since I can't swim without the life vest (haha). Snorkeling is hard on this island if there could be a huge number of tourists. Anyway, you can feed the fish here. The sand bars are nice looking into it but I didn't dare to walk through it due to the direct heat coming from the sun that made me weak and decided to stay on the shadow of one the cottages.

Around 11:45 AM we asked our tour guide for the next island. Since its lunch time, I felt hungry and must hurry for buffet. So the group were assembled and headed to the 3rd and last island which is the Cowrie Island. We had our lunch also in this island. Cowrie island is named after the small-to-large sea snail, marine gastropod mollusc called "cowrie". This island is just recently opened to the public as alernative to the crowded Pandan Island. I enjoyed the buffet here. Yes! Finally! I found a shrimp dish. Wohooo! The shrimp was fried coated with flour/egg and then sauted with some carrots. The taste was sweet and salty. I love this dish. I don't mind if the needle-sharp protrusion of shrimp-mouth scratched my own lips/mouth only for the small one, if for the bigger shrimp I did remove it.  I didn't have a chance to snorkel here, but we enjoyed taking pictures instead. The island is still in-progress, since there some carpenters working/building an establishment. One thing I need to point out is... that time there is no water in the shower rooms and rest rooms.
    

Picture taking while we are in Cowrie

Finally, after a long hours of taking pictures and resting in our designated cottage, 2PM we decided to go home which agreed of each group. And here we ended our tour. Along the way home we surrendered the snorkel gears and beach shoes.

Tips:
Tip1 - If you can provide your own Gears (mask,snorkel,beach shoes) is much better rather renting.
Tip2 - If you can provide your own flakes (skyflakes or magicflakes) is much better rather buying bread costing 5-10 pesos each.

Flying LED (Fireflies encounter at Puerto Princess Palawan)

     This is one of the attractions (a must tourist activity) in PPS. We decided to booked this tour through our hotel. Cost Php 1100 but we did haggled and they granted the Price of Php 1000 each.

     Going to Iwahig River requires a lot of patience. It requires approx ~40mins to 1 hr travel time (depending on the traffic). We left our hotel at 6:30 PM. Inside the van, I’m started to feel bored, but because of our tour guide (Ernie) we were entertained well and didn’t kill by boredom. He was talented as we were like watching an entertainment show on TV with his little Puppet. 

     Because of the show, we didn’t noticed that we already reached our destination. Upon arrival,
 we registered and had a buffet dinner first since we were arrived earlier as scheduled time of 8:30 PM. 

Registering at the Information

The dinner buffet was just so-so. 

Worth Php 500 pesos... Unli food.. Dinner buffet

     After dinner, we are ready to take the tour. Luckily, there is no queue on the firefly watching lane, so we were on-board immediately to the paddle boat. My excitement got in higher level as we across the lane to the boat with a quote on my mind saying “Yes! Finally I could see the fireflies!”.

     While the boat is moving I got more excited... but when the boat turn to the route where the mangroves are... I feel shocked because its dark all around. I can’t even take a photo since I’m not that professional enough to take one during this kind of scenario (allowed no light photography only). And plus my DSLR is for beginner only.

Sorry..this is my best shot.

     I was dismayed on what I saw. Less fireflies on mangroves and some mangrove had no even one. I feel that I wasted my time and money. You know what?…. the most frustrating for me is that there is no star in the sky for "star gazing" due to rainy season and there was a rain before we take the tour that time.

     To made my tour not wasted, instead of enjoying the view watching the few firefly... I enjoyed myself playing on water that sparks when you ticked or just hold a stick onto the water while the moving. The sparks were created by the plankton, I amazed how the plankton was. And some of the fireflies flew above us that made me more childish that trying to catch one (hahahaha..). Even though, less firefly and no star gazing... I was educated about firefly because of our tour guide. Our tour guide was very informative. Telling us about the firefly... How they are courting, make-love, and living. Also taught us what is the significant or sign of having firefly. How about you? Can you guess why there is a firefly on a specific places? Take the tour and its for you to find out.

The tour lasted for about 30 mins.

Tips:
Tip 1: I suggest don't take this tour on rainy season. Fireflies peek season as per tour guide is from Dec-January.

Tip 2: Put an off-lotion. For your protection since there's a lot of trees, mangroves, and flowers around the place, mosquitoes also everywhere.

Tip 3: Use a high-end cam as possible to take a picture. (No light photography advised)

Tip 4: If possible, try to arrange a tour without the buffet or do DIY IT. The park starts at 7:00 PM.  I heard there is a floating restaurant... Try it out.   

Underground River... How wonder the nature is?

     The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 km north of the city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. It features a limestone karst mountain landscape with an 8.2 km. navigable underground river. A distinguishing feature of the river is that it winds through a cave before flowing directly into the South China Sea. It includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers. The lower portion of the river is subject to tidal influences. The underground river is reputed to be the world’s longest. At the mouth of the cave, a clear lagoon is framed by ancient trees growing right to the water’s edge. Monkeys, large monitor lizards, and squirrels find their niche on the beach near the cave. (source: http://world.new7wonders.com/?n7wn-finalist=puerto-princessa-underground-river-philippines). For more additional info please check it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Princesa_Subterranean_River_National_Park

 

 
    The first thing got to our mind if we were talking about Palawan is the "Underground River". We don't want to miss this kind of attraction in Palawan, so we booked the tour for the Underground River. Booking a tour is much hassle-free and worry-free if you are in a group. I'll suggest if you are already 9-10 pax in a group, then its good since the max capacity of the boat is 10 pax.

     If you will coming from the city proper (Central District of Puerto Princesa) the travel took ~2hrs to Sabang port where you have to travel across the sea again via boat to the warp for about ~15 min. Going to our destination (sabang), we all feel dizzy cause of the winding road, so I'll advise you to take "bonamin" first before going to sabang. 

     Due to the long and winding trip going to Underground river, the excitement became much lesser and down. And not only that, there were so much tiring queue after the long drive. Due to a huge number of tourist on the place because of its title as "one of the 7 wonders of the world 2012", you have to wait for your turn before sailing a boat from the sabang port to underground river warp. After you got there (underground river warp) another tiring queue before your turn entering the cave. My excitement went down again. Note, 2 years and below are not allowed to take this tour.

     When our turns came... my level of excitement went a little higher. Approaching the cave gives me the feeling of sparkling crystals in my big wide eyes. Inside the cave you definitely enjoy the rock formations made and created by nature itself. The stalagmite and stalactite formation are amazing!

I could say that Underground River is worth to be a part of "New 7 wonders of the world". Hoping that each year it will be voted and count in as one of the wonders of the world. I feel so proud that we have this kind of amazing nature creation in our country and I witnessed its beauty. I will not show any picture inside the cave since I've no water-proof camera and also its hard to have a good shot inside, so I will leave the imagination to you.  After the tour we headed to our late lunch buffet.
The buffet was good will make your tummy so full.. I'm a little bit dismayed cause I'm expecting of crab, lobster or shrimp since this was included in the El Nido island hopping tour.

The tour might be more perfect if the travel time is less and less queues.

 Summary of Expense:
(We book through our hotel)
Php 1500 each.
 Inclusion:

=Round trip van transfers

=Boat transfers

=All permits

=Buffet picnic lunch

=Services of a licensed tour guide

=Environmental fee

=Travel insurance

Please feel free to drop a message or comment. Thanks!

Affordable and Clean Accomodation in Puerto Princesa Palawan

       I've always look for accommodation atleast a month before our Vacation's (Travel) date.  So last May I  did started looking for accommodation in Puerto Princesa Palawan since this is the destination for our vacation on June.

       I'd searched for affordable hotel/inn near the City/Central District of Puerto Princesa. Most of the hotel/inn are for backpackers and or for solo traveler. This is not suited to our need since we were traveling for a big group/family. It took quite time when my friend suggest 2 hotels/Inns.

      I'd read several blogs and reviews for the 2 hotels. "Charing Pension House" has the good reviews from tripadvisory (https://www.tripadvisor.com.ph) site and seems the Pension house's room is good based on their site (http://www.charingpensionhouse.com). So I decided to book at "Charing Pension House". The staff (Richard) who accommodated my inquiry via phone was very nice and easy to deal with. So I completed the transaction with him smoothly. As always, since I'm from Manila and the Palawan is far from Manila.. we need to book with down payment of 50%. That's ok since this kind of deal is not new to me. For 8 adults and 1 child (9pax in total), Richard reserved the room (dormitory type) with the price of Php 3600 per night. It was very affordable for us since we were stayed for 3 nights (Php 10,800).

    A month after, our vacation's (travel) date came (June 29, 2016). We were glad that "Charing Pension House" included the "RT airpot transfer" since the Pension house is not far from the airport also (~5 mins ride). We were fetched from the airport and dropped at the Pension.

     Upon arrival at the pension house, we were greeted with pleasing attitude of the Receptionist/Staff (Mark) and even by the owner of the Pension. After paying the full payment we headed to the room immediately since I already felt of fatigue because of the long awaiting flight due to delayed in some cases (even this is known issue for Airasia... but 4 hours delayed is not usual and really a losing-patience).

        On my surprised, the room was big and spacious. It was cleaned properly as if it was new. Shower room was also clean and spacious since it is divided into 2 with shower curtain as divider. Toilet also big enough and also divided into 2 with fiber glass divider. The room also decorated as if you were in the garden.

Basic bathroom utilities also provided (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush and towel). It's so nice and clean.

 

I will also need to pointed out that there are abundant space gardens in front of the hotel and in the side. 

       There is also a "canteen" at the pension and serving food with affordable price starting at Php 30 for 1 serving of viand. The food there.. was good as what you've paid for. By the way, our breakfast was included in our reservation so its less problem at the morning.

 

     There is also a Coffee Vendo Machine near the reception area, with the price of Php 5 each cup, you'll get addicted to it anytime.. that is.. if you are not choosy on the coffee brand. For me the coffee was good, since I'm a coffee lover but not choosy, I'm not Starbucks or CBTL fan, so any coffee will do.

     And also one of the plus point to me is that "Charing Pension house" can arrange you a tour. We booked our "Underground River tour, Firefly watching tour, and Honda bay tour" at the reception. Mark/Richard (staffs) were easy to deal with.

      Overall, after 3-nights. We felt at home. You can leave your unvaluable things at the room and request for clean service. But, if any case you left your valuable things at the room when you took your tour... just inform them before cleaning your room.

     Satisfactions granted to us. "Charing Pension house" is highly recommended! If you looking for a great value for your money on accommodation, "Charing Pension house" will not fail you!

Summary of the Expence:

(3 nights)

3600 * 3 = 10,800 (room rate for 3 nights)

10800/8 = 1,350 (budget per pax in 3 nights... 8 adults)

1,350/3 = 450 (budget per pax per night... 8 adults)

Inclusions:

Ø  4D/3N room accommodations

Ø  RT airport transfers

Ø  Daily set breakfast for 8 pax