User:Ms.backpacker/sandbox

A with Susan Calo Medina Of Mountaineering and Potty Politics The Origin: Where Have You Been Lately?

Coron D1: Gala at Lamon

MNL to USU Rowjie and I were scheduled to fly at 12:00 noon so we still had ample time to finish packing our stuff since we went home right away after our night shift. This was the first time that we left this late.

If you happened to have been reading my blog posts since I started this site, you would know that I am not a fan of regular-amount airfares. I always wait for seat sales and promos because I cannot afford to pay for 4000-worth of tickets. With that being said, our trip to Busuanga via Cebu Pacific only costs us 100-plus with no check-in baggage.We only brought Rowjie's 45-liter backpack, my small sling bag, and a camera bag. Our things weighed in 9 kilos, at most. Alright, here's the terrible part (what a nice way to start the trip, I thought).

We fell in line and waited for our queue since there were a few people ahead of us. When we finally got to check-in, we were told that we can proceed to the boarding area since our stuff didn't excess their baggage allowance and we need not to pay for anything. Alright. I didn't bother to ask if they need to put any sticker on our stuff or whatsoever because their policies change from time to time.

When we were about to pay for the terminal fee, one of the crews of CebPac asked us to go back to one of their counters and have our backpack weighed again. He said his weighing scale shows that our baggage weighed more than 10kilos. Uhm, okay. Why were we told that we were good to board and now this man was telling us that we need to have our baggage rechecked and that we needed to fall in line again. FINE, to cut the discussions short.

We fell in line, we waited for our turn. I think this has happened already. Déjà vu? Anyway, the next lady who assisted us told us that we had 7 kilos of baggage allowance each and we needed to lessen our 10-kilo stuff and/or separate it for it to weigh 7 kilos plus 3 kilos. Separate, how? Good thing I had plastic bags. Okay, to avoid further annoyance and delay, I just took out some clothes out of the bag and put them inside the plastic bags even if it meant we had to carry several small bags. Lesson learned. Next trip, we'll bring two big backpacks.

I thought we're good to proceed but I thought wrong. When we were paying for our terminal fee, the very same guy who told us to have our baggage rechecked approached us again and told us that we needed to go back to get a handcarry sticker. WTF. We already waited for several minutes twice to get assisted and now he's telling us that we need to redo the whole stuff. Effin' no! We went straight to the x-ray thingie without minding the crew and with him yelling, "Hayaan mo yan. Pababalikin din yang mga yan." We only had a few minutes left before boarding time so I said to myself, keep your cool. If not for the small amount of time we had, I would have went back there to tell right to this guy's face, "Eh kung ayusin niyo kaya trabaho niyo para wala tayong problema?"

Calling Cebu Pacific's attention, you're the biggest fleet of aircraft here in the country, you gotta train your crew well.

Alright, that almost ruined my day but thanked Him I was able to sleep during the 1-hour delay due to air traffic and during the air travel itself.

1300H, hello Busuanga!

USU Day 1 Nothing has changed, the airport still looked the same since we first landed there. But most parts of the road to Coron town proper were already fixed and cemented. Our 30-minute van ride to Coron was smooth and fast.

The first time we went there, we stayed at one of the superior rooms of Darayonan Lodge. I liked it the first time, so I've been recommending the lodge to all of my friends who want to visit Coron. I just got disappointed this time since we paid for standard rooms for 1300/day/2 pax. Darayonan has been honest, the room was located in the old building and the room was not at par to my expectations. But what the heck, we were on a budget travel and complaints won't be helpful.

We just left our bags and hurriedly walked out of the lodge to eat since we haven't eaten our lunch yet. There were quite a few new restaurants, and to my amazement, there was a newly-built BPI branch with two ATMs. What a relief for travelers who are not fond of bringing cash.

Anyway, we decided to try out some of the new restaurants and so we had our lunch at Centro Coron. They serve pizza, pasta, and a lot more. We ordered their version of chicken ala king and siopao. After satisfying our hungry tummies, we went to Jackie's Restaurant and asked if they still do "paluto." And yes, they still do for the same amount, P70 for 1 kilo regardless of the type of food. Ate Jackie was attending to his sick son and so we were entertained by her employees. After buying all of the ingredients for our dinner, Paltik (local version of Lobster), and lunch for the next day, Guinataang Alimasag, we headed back to the lodge and took a dip at their cozy pool.

Around 8PM, we went back to Jackie's Restaurant for our dinner. Paltik tasted just like lobster but it was MUCH cheaper (P130 vs 500). After munching on five barbecue sticks, we bid Ate Jackie a good night and walked around the town looking for a place for a few bottles of beer.

Gawd. I think every restaurant/bar/pub in the town had a connivance that a bottle of beer must be served from 50 to 70 pesos. Too much, eh? Oh well, tourism is money.

We haven't consumed half of our first bottle yet when the entirety of Coron was filled with darkness due to brownout. Then one of the foreign customers in Lolo Nonoy's Restaurant where we were that time yelled, "welcome to Coron!" Brownout is nothing but a common phenomenon in Coron. Whoa! That did rhyme!

After a bottle, we decided to call it a day as we had a set of tiring activities awaiting us the next day.

Lights off at 2300H.

Day 1's Expenses:

Wawa Dam not from Montalban

Alright, so it is inappropriate to label my photo albums with Wawa Dam, San Rafael, Montalban, Rizal because Montalban has long been replaced by Rodriguez (1982). I stand corrected.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodriguez,_Rizal

Short Trivia: The legend of Bernardo Carpio is beleived to have had happened in the mountains of Rodriguez.

Hakbang Kalikasan Mountaineering Society (HAKAMS) conducts a Basic Mountaineering Course (BMC) every year in hopes of promoting responsible mountaineering to adventure advocates who would then become members of the society after completing a year-long set of trainings (first aid, ropemanship, compass navigation, map reading, etc.). The group has been conducting the BMC in Rodriguez, Rizal for the past years.

This year's my third visit in San Rafael where the famous Wawa Dam is located. And this year's the only time I've seen the dam overflowing with water and it's amazing! That was the closest I could get to a dam, dammit! LOL

A hike to the Pamitinan Cave is usually part of the BMC, including my batch's (2007). I consider it my first official and literal hike. I almost cursed mountaineering back then. I thought I'd die after that hike because it was sooo frikken tiresome. Oh well, who would've thought that a few years after my cussing scenario, I have already climbed some of the country's highest mountains.

I didn't know that the cave I used to call "bat cave" is a historic site wherein Andres Bonifacio with eight other katipuneros first declared their independence from Spain (April 1895), which was a year before the start of the Philippine revolution. According to what I've read, Pamitinan Cave still bears the inscription of the katipuneros, " Viva la Independencia Filipinas.” Too bad for me I haven't seen it the first time and no way I am going back to that cave. It's like the live version of Joe's Apartment with live, gigantic, and funky cockroaches.

That's it for me and Wawa. I hope to see you, again, next year!

--

Mactan: Almost Siargao I am so lucky to have been chosen as one of the four winners of a roundtrip plane ticket care of Cebu Pacific. Just like my entry said, I am afraid of the sea water but I chose Siargao as my destination as I am fascinated by its world-renowned Cloud 9 waves. Dispatch Magazine, I can't thank you enough. This is the first time I've ever won a travel-related contest.

Okay. I got free plane tickets but I got no free home to stay at. And so here's what I did. I surfed the web, searched for lodges in Siargao, took note of their info (email address, website, contact number, room rates, etc.), emailed them asking if they could give me some kind of accommodation in exchange of ad placement and favorable review on my blog.

Got several replies with modest offers of discounts but Wave Cave, A Surfer's Lodge told me that I could stay at their lodge for free. Uhm. AT NO COST.

Alright, everything's set but the date. My first schedule was May 27. It was cancelled due to inavailability of flight and bad weather. Oh-kay. I got no choice but to move it to a later date, June 17 to June 20.

Trivia: Cebu Pacific flies to Siargao via connecting flight to Cebu during Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays only.

Travelers who wish to land in Surigao can ride a ferry for a three-hour trip to Siargao. Last trip leaves at 12 noon.

Now, let me show you a timeline of what happened to me last June 17, the supposed first day of my first solo trip, thanks to Typhoon Egay.

0510 - rode a cab from Libis to NAIA Terminal 3 0600 - checked-in my baggage 0615 - boarded plane 0635 - departed MNL to CEB 0720 - arrived at the Mactan International Airport 0800 - munching on Dunkin Donuts' munchkins 0830 - constantly switching seat positions while playing Cut the Rope 0900 - power nap 0915 - continued switching seat positions while playing Cut the Rope 0930 - browsed Facebook 0950 - starting to worry since passengers were still waiting 1000 - worry has escalated, we should be boarded by now 1010 - CebPac announced Siargao's deteroriating weather and to stand by for update at 1040 1040 - flight cancelled 1100 - waited for my queue 1230 - was told that they can rebook flight to Surigao the next day (needed to stay in Mactan at my own expense), rebook to Siargao two days after (needed to stay in Mactan at my own expense), and that I can go back to Manila and have the whole trip rescheduled 1300 - flight rebooked and would go back to Manila 1330 - ate at the expensive and not worth-it RESTO 1400 - still switching seat positions now browsing and updating Facebook 1430 - needed to pee, couldn't hold it any longer 1500 - Cebu to Manila passengers were now swarming the boarding area 1530 - rained heavily, thought I'd be stranded 1600 - boarded, finally 1630 - departed CEB to MNL 1720 - arrived at the NAIA Terminal 3 1730 - waited for the NAIA bus to Baclaran 1800 - bus arrived 1805 - departed NAIA to Baclaran 1845 - Baclaran to Mandaluyong by bus 1945 - Mandaluyong, Pioneer bound home 2000 - home, at last

You be the judge. Was it productive at all? I was just an hour away from my dream Siargao and its Cloud 9. Why, oh, why?

Dear Siargao,

I'm thinking we're not meant for each other but I am not giving up on you! I'll see you soon.

Love, MissBackpacker --