Philippines 2009

The fam and I (minus Ang) headed to the Philippines in January 2009 as part of Chi's college graduation present. Chi was last in the Philippines in 2000, when Grandapa passed away, so he was rightfully excited to go back and most of all check out Grandpa's Mustang that he wishes to ship back to the States one day. My mom's childhood home is homebase when we visit and we then hop around to my dad's sister closer to the city limits in Quezon City. Traffic is horrible, it will take you about 2hrs to get to the city that should only take 30-40min. So, we spend a lot of time in the car...sleeping! hahaha. Nonetheless, going back to visit is always exciting and fun. This time around we hit up Coron, Palawan, about an hour or so plane ride southwest of Quezon, then a 25 minutes drive to the port, then 25 boat ride to our resort, El Rio Y Mar. El Rio was AH MAZE ING. A private resort of about 14 cottages on the serene beach front. The rooms or private cottages were so clean and had plenty space, only downside was no TV, but I quickly learned to appreciate the quiet time and beautiful surroundings. There was running hot water and air conditioning too! Our family loved this place! Our 4 day stay included all inclusive meals and drinks and your selection of excursions. The meals were amazing, just right for our liking. Many of the tourists were Europeans and some Asians, we were the only Filipino Americans staying at that time. Upon our arrival, we signed in and were greeted by song, dance and a frothy iced tea. We were led to our cottages, my mom and I shared one and Chi and Dad had their own. The inifinity pool was another great feature to this resort, the entire time Chi and I couldn't believe we were there. The first day was an excursion tour of the island. Activities included snorkeling in the Twin Lagoons and Cayangan Lake; hot springs visit and into town for some local shopping. Palawan is known to be an eco-envinroment. The breathtaking views and land are amazing and definitely an experience.

 

We had to climb up 200 steps here at Cayangan Lake...

to get to this unbelievable site...