The Islands of Halo-Halo and Mangoes
Cebu
We landed in Cebu the second largest city in the Philippines and took a taxi ride ($5) from the airport to our Agoda apartment called One oasis condominium. The next day we woke up at 5 AM to prepare for a dull day excursion and to beat the Cebu City traffic.
After 3 hours of driving, we finally arrived at our destination -a small town named Oslob. There we met Yancy who was our friendly tour guide for the day. We had a “local” breakfast of mangoes, rice, and coffee. I was surprised how much better the fruits tasted compared to the ones back home. The difference was night and day as these mangoes were yellow skinned, compared to the more greenish ones I am used to. We quickly realized we would make mangoes a staple to our diet in the Philippines.
After breakfast, we set off for our real reason we came for the Oslob shark “diving”. But don’t think great white sharks or cage diving, think friendly whale sharks –like Dori’s friend in Finding Dori. They re lovely giants.
The adventure started on the beach where we watched a brief safety video and learned how to respect the whale sharks. After getting our snorkeling gear, me boarded a canoe and sailed out into the big blue. Upon making it about 200 yards out the guide told us to jump in. I looked around at the other 8 people in the boat as none of them had snorkel gear. So we hopped in for a private encounter as we swam we could see a party of 3 whale sharks heading our way looking for a fresh snack-fish. We snorkeled in as we watched what was said to be the largest “fish” swimming around us. It was a sight to behold, after what felt only too short we were called back in. Yancy met us with a smile and told us we were not done yet.
We drove off the main road to a local waterfall where we walked down a tremendous hill, wondering how we would walk back up. Upon entering the waterfall park Yancy had us take our sandals off and stick our feet in a pond for a “foot massage”. Confused we did just that and quickly were jolted up from the cleaning from the small rainbow fish tickling our toes. I noticed they like my feet more as I never had a pedicure and they cleaned and massaged my feet.
We wondered back to what I can only describe as a giant shower water fall, Tumalog Falls, as it came down not in a powerful flow like Niagara Falls but closer to a spread drizzle of a shower. We swam around and showered off under the almost the giant waterfall. Dreading the hike back up the hill we opted for a local ride on a motorcycle for $1 per person as the jet you up the angled hill, speeding along as though they were on the highway.
After all the activity we were getting pretty hungry so Yancy took us back to our favorite Oslab restaurant where we had a buffet lunch of local fish, chicken, soup, and of course rice. After eating to our stomachs content we said goodbye to Yancy as we journeyed back to Cebu and onto our next Philippine Island. The day was bliss and a perfect opening act to a beautiful country.
You can do the snorkeling with the whale sharks for $20, although we read the price may be increasing shortly. We opted for a full day package that included a driver, guide, breakfast, lunch, and waterfall excursion as well. Thanks Yancy!
Coron
A small one hour flight in a prop plane dropped us off at a more intimate island – Coron. We exited off the plane surrounded by mountains and forest with not a building in sight. We took a 45 minute shuttle ride to the village of Coron ($3 per person) where we were dropped off on the main street where we saw a sign for our hotel, we wondered along a narrow path off the street towards the waterfront to the Sea Dive Resort.
Being right on the water in the Philippines summer we knew where we wanted to spend our days in the water! We booked a day tour called the Coron Ultimate Tour - $25 per person. We got up early and set sail on the blue ocean waters. This tour was called the “island hopper” as we bounced around from island to island surrounding Coron. Each stop of course included a delightful dive of the boat into the warm waters. We swam and snorkeled to our delight seeing corals and colorful fish at every stop. Being right on the water in the Philippines summer we knew where we wanted to spend our days in the water!
Around lunchtime we came around a bend to a small oasis. Beach 91, where we were met with an amazing buffet lunch on the clear sandy beach covered by canopy's. Eating a delicious meal of grilled “milk fish” rice and vegetables we were serenaded by the sound of a Philippine Mariachi band. To work off our lunch we went ocean kayaking, paddling to a nearby bay we saw on our journey. We were met with pristine water and a spectacular view of cliffs shooting off into the sky. Paddling around we found some much needed shade under the mangroves before heading back for our afternoon of boating.
Afternoon sights included the spectacular two lagoons where we hiked up the side of the hill for a view back over the bay. After a few photos we went down the other side where we were met with the fresh water of Kayangan Lake that looked straight out of the Leonardo DiCaprio movie “The Beach”. Our final stop of the day ended at another twin lagoons –this time they were both salt water and on a good day when the tide is low you can swim from one to the other in a 20 foot long underground cave. But due to the high tide the cave was closed so we took the stairs up and over. It was a perfect day of island hoping.
The following day was spent exploring the quaint yet bustling streets of Coron, where we found our favorite restaurant Brujita a vegetarian restaurant with meals for around $3-5 per person. We bought an endless amount of fresh mangoes off the street, each one tasting perfectly sweet and juicy. As Julia decided to cool off with an afternoon nap, I set my sights on the local hill where a giant cross and the letters Coron covered the peak. It was not a very high hike compared to others we have down, but it was the hottest and humid. I tried to just look down and keep moving in the sun, only stopping when I could find a bit of shade. Upon arriving at the top of Mt. Tapyas I was met with a breathtaking view of Coron and the surrounding islands- many of which we had explored just the day before.
Our final day in Coron I wanted to submerge myself in the warm seas. We set off again on a boat but similar to our first day but this time we were going under. Our amazing guide Allen took us to two dive sights where I scuba dove, while Julia watch from above snorkeling on the surface. We enjoyed more reefs and colorful fish that would rival the Great Barrier Reef, as we would know from our previous Journeys! The second dive in the afternoon was a real treat as we dove to 12 meters (my deepest dive) and explored a sunken Japanese Ship from World War II. 40 meters long and covered in coral from sitting on the ocean floor for almost 75 years.
We spent our evenings at the Sea Dive enjoying the amazing sunsets, eating – you guessed it – mangoes, and sipping on San Miguel beers. A perfect end to each day on our oasis.
Manila
Manila starters and end with the Lao’s our gracious hosts in the Philippines who we spent our short but amazing time with from arrival to departure in the capital. I want to take a second to thank Joel and Jun Lao’s families, Mapa, and Karen for taking us in and giving us a warm welcome and home in the Philippines! With love and Salamat Po from Julia and Michael
Upon arrival we were greeted by the friendly smiles of Karen and Dudette holding a sign for us! But she did not get to the airport on their own, that honor belongs to Joel Mapa “Kuya” who became our excellent chauffeur over our brief stay.
We had arrived in the late afternoon which was the perfect time for dinner on the Manila waterfront at the Aristocrat, where we had a delicious meal (the first of many with the Laos 🙂 ). At the end of our meal we were delighted with a purple desert served almost like a milkshake. A Philippines staple “Halo-Halo” we watched as our friends showed us how it was done, pouring the milk on top and mixing the colorful layers together. What we were met with was an exquisite array of flavors and taste in each bite. Where has this been all my life?
We ended the day watching the sunset over Manila bay, before taking off to our home away from home in Marikina City. We were greeted by Joel, Lizette, Lizel, Kit, and Mitzie who welcomed us in and made us family. Even putting us up in my good friends' room- thanks Joe and Jesse! We spent our evening catching up in the cabana over San Miguel.
In Manila we learned a lot about the Philippines and the history, starting with a Kalesa (horse ride) around the historic areas in old Manila. We were greeted on Palm Sunday at the Cathedral of Manila where we stepped in for service in the spectacularly beautiful church. Afterwards we continued our history lesson at the Fort Santiago, where a hero to the Philippines Jose Rizal spent his dying days writing about the atrocities of the Spanish. We continued on our journey along the Philippines National Museum of Art (free) and around Rizal Park. We thanked our driver for the cultural journey.
We spent our afternoon at the Ocean Park (aquarium), where we spent the day learning more about the many fish we had spent the past week swimming with. It was an amazing facility sitting on the bay, capped off with a Sea Lion show!
We met up with the Lao family for a tried and true Philippines tradition that evening... Mall-ing! As we journey along the Greenbelt in Makati. Our journey involved 5 separate greenbelt malls, the landmark mall, and the SM mall. IT was a sight to behold and a spectacle unrivaled by our malls back in the states. We shopped to our hearts delight before settling down to a meal at Café Havana.
We capped of the evening with a journey to Italy as we went to McKinley Hill and the luxurious and new Venetian Mall, where we sailed the night away on a gondola to the sounds of Italian opera sung beautifully by Joel and our gondola captain.
We spent our final day with the Lao family learning about the history of their beautiful home before heading off to the National Museum of the Philippines where we learned about the amazing animal life, forests, and waters of the Philippines.
As we left for the airport for our next journey, we said goodbyes to our host family. All I could think about is that I did not want our time to end with them. We said Salamat Po until next time and thank your family Jun and Joel for making us feel at home!
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