Tag Archives: beach

HOT! HOT! HOT!

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I swear the Philippines may have carved out itself from Earth and made its own orbit closer to the sun. It has been freaking hot this week that I’ve been looking at possible staycation venues just to cool off.

Anilao Awari Bay Resort. April 2019. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

But I remembered that we still have the reservation at Blue Ribbon from last year so I asked management if we could book it on 17-19 April. I shortly got an email from them confirming the dates.

Wheeeeeeeeee!

So I could dive in the morning, then have breakfast, then work. Then dive again in the afternoon to take a break from work. Lovely. ❤️❤️❤️ I need to order the diving donut and new freediving flippers soon. ❤️❤️❤️

In Maricaban Island, Batangas. May 2019. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

But before this, maybe I can book a room at Twin Lakes Hotel in Tagaytay to be able to have a cooler break this month before the AGM season starts after Holy Week. Face-to-face meetings are back so I may have to physically attend some of those.

I should also book succeeding Anilao trips early. Oh wait, I still have a Boracay trip with B. 🤪

Twin I said one of the reasons why she doesn’t want to live in Singapore is that there are no coral reefs there that we can go to in a heartbeat. Yep, that’s true. Only jellyfish in Palawan Beach 😂 Or you have to go to Indonesia to have a proper beach getaway.

In the throes of my anxiety attack because of that painting that was sent to me early last month, I ordered something from Shopee to make me feel a bit better, like a love letter to myself: a made-to-order planner cover for only PHP 600. It’s PU leather so it’s cheaper than the real leather version of this, which is around PHP 1,600. I think I will order that later. But this one still looks good and looks sturdy.

Tadah! Maroon (color of UP) side by side with the plastic ring binder planner that it will replace. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’ve been a planner junkie since elementary. I feel more organized if I jot things down and not rely so much on electronic calendars (they’re for alarms only for me).

Gold hardware. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

The manufacturer gave me a choice of colors for the cover and the hardware. I figured to get myself my school color and gold hardware to match. It looks lovely and I think this will hold up better than the Filofax Domino I bought from Kinokuniya in Singapore (always my first stop after dumping my stuff at my hotel whenever I fly in). That one was a bad binder as it got frayed within a short amount of time. So much for its advertised leather cover 🤨.

Planner pages. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I make my own planner pages because I could customize it. I download it from this blog that I’ve been following for years since it also offers pages for Midori Travelers Notebooks (which I searched for in Osaka). The Filofax fillers are hard to come by in Manila plus they’re more expensive here compared to the ones I buy in Singapore.

The numpad from Mofii that I ordered from Lazada also arrived today. I discovered I could not work without a numpad since I do a lot of computations for work. 😂 very ironic for somebody who evaded Math courses in college. But I deal with a lot of financial reports and doing simple financial ratios are easier with a numpad.

Pink! Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I really don’t like pink but I was forced to get this to match my raspberry Logitech keyboard.

My colleague in Shanghai has been telling me that he has been feeling angry and betrayed by his manager who hasn’t been responding to him, especially now that he needs to renew his working visa. He has been all over the place a few days ago and didn’t feel like working. I said you owe yourself basura days because we are not robots and there are just times that we are not 100% up to the task. We should excuse ourselves when we don’t feel like it. I told him I learned this from one of my bffs who lost her daughter to placenta abruptio when she was giving birth. She suffered from depression after that and in her grief, she allowed herself to slide during some days when depression strikes and her thoughts go back to the events that led to the death of her precious daughter. She just couldn’t comprehend the death and she was the one who told me that we need to accept that there are just things we could not find answers for. So she allotted basura days for her mental health.

She also told me to treat myself once in a while and create our own happiness.

So I told my colleague, this has been the one I’ve been doing for over a year now—just accept there are basura days and just make up for it the following day. So yesterday was my garbage day and now I’m still doing the digest that I need to publish tomorrow. And I’ve been treating myself to simple things like what I’ve been buying for myself to make me feel better or make me inspired to do my work, like my keyboard, my planner, the materials for my urban sketching. Then tomorrow I will be going out to work, do some urban sketching in between, talk to fellow journos before the start of the presscon, just interact with the outside world so I won’t live in my head anymore.

My colleague said he will adopt my strategies.

We gotta create our own pockets of happiness because sometimes the world is unfair. Self-love, because sometimes the world is harsh.

Vitamin Sea

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When the world has gone mad, take a breather and have some Vitamin Sea.

Back in Anilao again.

Bagalangit Hideaway, Mabini, Batangas. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

Booked Bagalangit Hideaway on Agoda, which was on sale this past weekend. The weather was good for freediving. The resort had a seafront access, unlike its neighbor, Bontoc Seaview Guesthouse/Bontoc in Batangas, the customers of which had to use the public access road/footpath to be able to swim. The food at Bagalangit is ok, not spectacular. And like in any other Anilao resort, meals are a bit pricey. It has a dive shop but for other equipment like underwater flashlights and diving donut, you’re better off renting it from other resorts like Anilao Diving. Their office in Marimar Building just a few km from the Anilao Port also rents out motorbikes.

On the way to Anilao Diving to rent the flashlight (PHP 400/night), I saw this beautiful sunset.

Anilao, Mabini, Batangas. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

The cost of a boat ride to Sombrero Island and some diving spots like the Cathedral and the Castle is standard at PHP 3,500. If you want to go to Masasa Beach in Tingloy Island, it could go up to PHP 5,000.

My boatmen said tourism in Anilao dropped significantly after the Taal volcano eruption. Then it took another hit from the corona virus/COVID-19 outbreak, reducing foreign tourist arrivals, that boatmen like them were barely scraping by. They said if it weren’t for the locals, they wouldn’t be able to earn a living.

After visiting the Cathedral/Castle, I decided to go back early to Bagalangit because I was not feeling well and the water was choppy. Even at Sombrero Island the currents are strong. So I only spent 2 hours diving.

The rest of my stay there was spent sleeping and gazing out in the sea.

Road trip

On the way back to Manila, I decided to take the semi-Taal Lake loop. After Mabini, I drove to the town of Taal, which I have not visited in 30 years. My maternal grandmother had a store there that sold embroidered items like table napkins, table cloths, bed sheets, etc.

Taal Basilica, St. Martin of Tours. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

The old church is under repair as I understand it sustained damage from the strong Mindoro earthquake some time ago. Then came the series of volcanic earthquakes when Taal erupted in January. Thankfully the interior is still intact.

Taal Basilica, St. Martin of Tours. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

Then after lunch at Taal Bistro, I drove straight to Starbucks at Twin Lakes in Laurel, Batangas to have a view of Taal Volcano after the eruption.

That brown wasteland is Taal volcano island. Viewed from Twin Lakes. This photo is owned by call me creation.com
Watched the sunset at Starbucks at Twin Lakes. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

It was getting chilly at the outdoor sitting area of Starbucks so I had to get inside to warm myself. And jump to another restaurant in that dining complex to have a savory crepe before driving back to Manila.

From Anilao to Taal, it only took me 1 hr then from Taal to Twin Lakes, it was about 1.5 hrs. Another 2.5 hrs from Twin Lakes to Quezon City. I was almost dead from exhaustion when I got home.

Balicasag: The place where I fell in love with underwater life

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Balicasag Island, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

First of all, skip the dolphin watching. You are unduly stressing the dolphin pods since the boats’ propellers disturb them. The first time I encountered dolphins in the wild way back in 2003, we were the only boat then at 5:30 am. This time, there were more than 20 boats chasing these poor dolphins. I should have told my boatmen not to go. I just wasted time. I told them to head straight to Balicasag. I was not interested in stressing the dolphins anymore.

When I went snorkeling in Balicasag 16 years ago, I was still wearing a life vest to keep me afloat even though I was a competent swimmer. At that time we didn’t anchor on the island and just stayed near the shore for snorkeling. There I had the life-changing experience: I saw schools of fish, of different kinds and sizes and felt like I was in a gigantic aquarium or was in National Geographic. It was sooooo beautiful. My stories of Balicasag entranced my mother, who immediately booked her trip to Panglao and dragged some friends with her. Twice.

Anyway, I was back after more than a decade, now braver in the water. This time we were able to anchor on Balicasag’s rocky shores but had to pay PHP 250/per head/per attraction and have a man row a small boat to spots like “Coral Garden” or “Sea Turtle Dive”. I opted for those two spots (That’s already PHP 500 but that’s ok since it keeps them employed and keep them from engaging in dynamite fishing). Since I am more mobile this visit and more inclined to dive deeper and farther, even away from the sea wall, my boatman grew exasperated with me because he was trying to keep up with me.

I still suck at equalizing so I could not really dive deeper along the sea wall and I was a bit afraid of the vertical currents–the bane of SCUBA divers. Still, I was able to dive deep to reach (but not touch) the corals.

In the sea turtle spot, I was able to get close to some turtles and swim above them, behind them, ahead of them. It was so beautiful but this experience was ruined by my grumpy boatman who wanted to head back to Balicasag shore earlier than scheduled. Annoying, really.

The next stop was Virgin Island, which was really a sandbar. It was already high tide so there was nothing left of the sandbar and basically the fish mongers/ambulant vendors were all underwater.

Floating palengke in Virgin Island, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

The vendors cater mostly to foreigners since they sell sea urchins, for only PHP 20 each. I don’t think Filipinos would waste their precious time in the water just to eat raw sea urchins. Unless they have a taste for uni sashimi.

These are the smaller sea urchins selling for PHP 20 each in Virgin Island, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com
The bigger sea urchin selling for PHP 80 each. Or less, depending how nice your seller is. Virgin Island, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

This guy told me they just harvest the sea urchins in the nearby seagrass spot a few hundred meters away from where we were. Judging by the amount of sea urchins consumed that moment, I wouldn’t be surprised if the creatures would be decimated from the area.

Just like any local, I was more interested in the sandbar than filling my tummy with raw sea creatures.

Yep, the water is super shallow in Virgin Island, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com
A few mangrove trees there. Virgin Island, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com
Sorry, can’t resist a selfie. Virgin Island, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

So after cooking under the sun for hours, I just decided to relax a bit and explore Panglao island more via a rented motorbike and I had a driver.

San Agustin Church, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com
Sunset at San Agustin Church, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

Lovely, lovely day.

Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

Back to Bohol after 16 years

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Dumaluan Beach, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

This. This view is one of the reasons for loving this country when everything else seems to fail. The two-hour travel time from Quezon City to Ortigas for ~7 km. One stupid thing from the government to another stupid thing…Endless reasons why I am so stressed out.

Anyway, as a birthday gift to myself, I used my Cebu Pacific GetGo miles to have a free roundtrip ticket to Bohol and booked using my Agoda VIP points. What I did was I tried to locate where Bohol Beach Club is on Google Maps and checked which resort is beside it. That way I am assured that the beach front is good. Bingo! It was Dumaluan Beach – Marilou Resort. My hunch did not fail me; I chose the perfect spot for my decompression in late October.

I took the earliest flight out of Manila and arrived in Panglao International airport at around 7:30-ish. There was no public transport available at the new airport (the last time I was in Bohol in 2003, there were tricycles outside Tagbilaran Airport). I had no choice but to book one of the white vans for PHP 400 for a 15-minute ride to Dumaluan Beach.

Warning: There are two Dumaluan Beach resorts there. The two resorts are owned by siblings but Marilou Resort is the newer one. Dumaluan Beach I is a semi-public beach which can be accessed by day trippers.

It was still early and the check-in time is around 3 pm (really??? It sucks, I know) so I asked the front desk if I can leave my stuff there so I can maximize my time in the crystal clear waters surrounding Panglao.

This is around 8:30-ish in the morning at Dumaluan Beach, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com
Dumaluan Beach at around 8:30-ish in the morning. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

I remembered that waters around Panglao are shallow so I had to swim all the way past the fishing boats for the perfect depth for free diving. Its tiring; so next time I better bring a torpedo floater with diving flag (there are a lot of diving and fishing boats around that can kill you if you suddenly surface with a propeller just above you) and a diving donut to hold my stuff (like baby shampoo to defog my mask). Kayak is useless because I just tipped it over and getting into that silly thing was harder than I thought. I rented a kayak in the nearby water sports rental shop within Bohol Beach Club. It was a complete waste of money since I just tethered the thing to one of the buoys, which was still halfway to where I was supposed to dive.

The island’s underwater ridge slowly descends but the thought of encountering sharks or strong currents was enough to scare me into sticking along or just near the edge before the sea floor slopes deeper into blue nothingness. I also made sure the fishing boats were within hearing distance in case something happens to me. NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT DIVE ALONE.

There was a man spear fishing among the sea grasses. He was using homemade wooden flippers, not different from what the Badjaos use, to dive deep down. He had a kayak with him for his gear and to take him back to shore. He set up his net to close in on the fish he needed to make bulad (dried fish). I watched him for some time, fascinated with how he speared the fish and then hooked them in his line. I proceeded to swim further as not to disturb him.

I chatted with some of the guys in the white boat just anchored nearby. They said theirs is a diving boat and they just wait for summons from resorts around Panglao if guests wanted to go on a diving trip.

I realized that swimming from the shore to the diving spot is uber tiring so I really needed a boat or a kayak. This affected my ability to dive since my oxygen intake is already compromised. Note to self: hire a small boat to spare me all that swimming and to use a spot to rest in between dives. There’s a reason SCUBA divers rent a boat even though its just shallow diving. This is not Anilao where you can have enough depth for diving.

I came ashore about noon, as the water became more violent, with the waves rising as the tide came in. I panicked for a moment but got hold of myself. But what the waves did to me was it just made diving more tiring and swimming to shore is double the hassle.

Lounging at Dumaluan Beach, Panglao, Bohol. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

Had lunch at the resort’s restaurant. Food was ok, but be prepared to spend around PHP 400-PHP 500 for a meal/pax. You are a captive market. For other options, you need to travel further, either you hail a tricycle by walking a few hundred meters and hope that a tricycle pass by to take you to Alona Beach or in the opposite direction. Or you rent a motorbike for PHP 500/day.

The pool was tempting to help me cool off. I think I already turned brown after just a few hours in the sea.

Dumaluan Beach – Marilou Resort adult pool. This photo is owned by callmecreation.com

They have a couple of kiddie pools, which I think will amuse my girls for a bit. But since they’re intermediate swimmers and good divers, they would opt for the biggest pool, which was over 6 ft at one end.

I thought I’ve had enough diving for the day; I didn’t want to fight with the waves anymore and just relaxed by the pool and by the shore.

I arranged for a boat trip to Balicasag the next day with the front desk, which was PHP 2,500, which included dolphin watching at 6 am.

I am in love again with Bohol.