Last Trip= Palawan!

From last Tuesday until early this morning, our little group (Melody, Kevin, Thibaut, Huy and I) made one last trip together, this time to the Philippine island of Palawan.  We met my cousin, Ate Loren in Manila and the six of us started a week that we will never forget.  

Killing time at the airport by playing Uno... people were quite amused.

Lucky Melody had a row to herself for 3 out of our 4 flights. I changed that :]

Huy and Kevin.

From Manila, we took a short flight to Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan. We then spent the next 4 days and 3 nights at a pretty nice hotel along the main road.  After we arrived, it started to rain so we just decided to take a nap and let the rain pass. Then we went to a market where we got some awesome souvenirs for super cheap prices. Next we took tricycles to a floating restaurant where we got to watch the sunset while enjoying delicious Filipino food. 

 My 2 other traveling buddies: Ate Loren, and Thibaut

 Felt pretty cool having our "party" listed on their welcome board

 Backstory: So at the souvenir shop, we three girls bought these love pearls. Inside the box is a can with an oyster and a necklace with an empty pendant. So what you do is you make a wish, open the can and open the oyster to get your pearl. Each pearl is a different color and depending on the color, that's the quality that you'll be blessed with. All three of us got white for health.

 Floating restaurant for dinner.

 One of my absolute favorite foods, Kare-Kare.

 lumpia Palawan, crispy pata and grilled tuna

Fun (and full) group :]

Thursday was our City Tour.  We started the day nice and early with breakfast at the hotel. We met our tour guide at breakfast and we piled into the van we shared with 4 other people.  For the tour, we started in Puerto Princesa and ventured out to the surrounding villages.  We saw a church, an American POW camp, a crocodile farm (where I held and "kissed" a baby crocodile), a range with a spectacular view and the souvenir market. It was quite a fun day. For dinner we had Jollibee delivered to our room and then we hung out and played Uno for a little while before going to bed.

 We were walking around the site with other tour groups when I came across a group of older adults, the women wearing skirts and dresses and the men wearing collared shirts- all wearing black nametags :]. So I introduced myself to a nice-looking couple from Tampa, FL and they explained to me that they were a group of Senior Missionaries about to start serving in Manila and were taking a few days to explore the island of Palawan. So nice running into other members from all parts of the world :].

Friday, we again woke up pretty early (especially by college-student standards), had a quick breakfast and then headed out for a full day of island hopping.  We rented snorkeling equipment and boy, were we glad we did.  We started off going to Starfish Island where we stayed for about 2- 2 1/2 hours. We snorkeled, looked for (and found!) starfish, fed the fish with the bread we bought, relaxed along the water and had a delicious lunch freshly cooked by our guide. Next, we went to see some coral where the boys managed to play with and get stung by a small jellyfish. Our last island was very nice; we again fed the fish, swam, took advantage of the diving board, relaxed on the sand, and hung out on their floating cabanas. Needless to say, when we got back to the hotel we were pooped. But we had a birthday to celebrate so Ate Loren and I snuck out to buy a cake. We had pizza for dinner at Shakey's and celebrated Huy's birthday.  Later on that night, we went to a Tiki Bar to listen to a live band and continue his celebration. But because we had to wake up early again the next day for our Underground River tour, we came back early, hung out in a room and went to bed.

 Silliness...

Saturday was super busy. We were out of the hotel by 8 AM to meet our tour guide and pack into the van.  We first drove approximately 1 1/2 hours to a cave where other group members went spelunking. We, on the other hand, hung out and rested. We then headed to the dock where we had lunch and were assigned to a boat to go to the Underground River, one of the newest Wonders of Nature. The tour itself was pretty cool and quick. There were so many bats and swallows and they had some interesting formations. After the Underground River, we headed to another island where we went ziplining over the ocean. Now that was a cool experience. With an adrenaline rush, we headed to a river tour of the mangroves, these trees that grow from the water. We saw some snakes, listened to a song, and had a peaceful break. Then we headed back to the hotel where our driver to El Nido was waiting. The drive to El Nido took approximately 5 hours, and some of the roads were not yet developed so we had quite a dark and bumpy ride. Nonetheless, those of us that weren't sleeping managed to entertain ourselves. We arrived in our accommodation in El Nido which we were happy to find that we had a beachfront cottage divided into 2 rooms, one for the boys, one for the girls, and the beds had mosquito netting over it! We were so tired so we passed out when our heads hit the pillow.

 Entrance to the Underground River.

 Communing with the local wildlife :]

 Woodworms, a local delicacy- comparable to oysters. It tasted alright.

Our view after ziplining over the water (I actually had a 9 second video of my zipline adventure... I accidentally pressed the button twice. Oops.)

300 year old mangrove tree

Sunday was a great day. We were finally able to sleep in a little bit (we didn't have to be up until 8:30 haha). We had breakfast and then were driven to the shore to meet up with our guides for the day. This island hopping tour was truly island hopping. I believe we visited 7 islands within a 6-7 hour period. On one island, we saw a church that was built for the surrounding islanders and we climbed to a peak to take pictures of the beautiful scenery. We visited four lagoons: the HIdden Lagoon, the Secret Lagoon, the Small Lagoon and the Big Lagoon. We stopped near one island to try feeding the fish but apparently they were sleeping :[. For lunch, we stopped at a small beach where we swam in the rain until lunch was ready. And boy, was that lunch delicious; we had fresh fish, fresh crab, some pork and ripe plantains. We tried to go into the Secret Beach; however, to get there we had to swim through a small opening big enough for 1. The current was too strong and we didn't want anyone to get thrown against the rocks so we decided against it. My favorite island was the last one we visited. It was basically a small, white-sand beach just for the 6 of us. We swam, threw mangrove fruit at each other, and played in the sand. 

 So Thibaut had this great idea to wake up early and watch the sunrise. I was all for it. So he woke me up at around 6 AM, and Kevin joined us too. After a few minutes and we started to wake up, we realized that the sun had already risen and better yet, the sunrise could be seen from the other side of the island. Sooo.. we stopped and laughed about it and went back to sleep.

 Helicopter Island, or as we Americans called it, "Homer Simpson Island"

 Hanging out between islands

 Below: Our boat for the day

 Coming out of the Hidden Lagoon

Hidden Lagoon

 Underground Church. The posters explained the history of the church's construction

 The water was so blue and beautiful...

 and clear! :]

 Hanging out at the Secret Lagoon

 the Big Lagoon

 Our very own white-sand beach

 Luckily, we were able to get back and clean up in time to watch the sunset from our porch. So pretty!

 Thibaut and Melody

 Kevin and me

 Grilled squid for dinner.. so fresh and yummy

 Our lovely abode for 2 nights

 The girls' room

This experience has definitely opened my eyes to the beauty of Heavenly Father's creations. After learning that the island of Palawan was still 89% undeveloped, it gave me a glimpse of how clean and beautiful the earth must have been before industry and civilization took over. Plus, going island hopping, snorkeling, and swimming with some great friends brought out an adventurous side that I wish everyone could experience while they're young. This trip to Palawan was such a great way to have one final trip with some of my closest friends here. I can't imagine that any of us will soon forget the beauty we saw and experiences we had here.

**Countdown to USA: 7 days**