This weekend was set out to be a weekend I would go and meet my college friend Paul in either Cambodia or Vietnam. We planned to meet over the weekend since that is really the only time I have to travel, unfortunately, it didn't work out. Since it's starting to be "high" season, airfare has tripled not to mention, getting flights out of Manila is extremely difficult and inconvenient. It's not to say I didn't try my hardest to make it work, but I just couldn't justify spending over $500 for a two day adventure. So Cambodia and Vietnam will have to wait for another time.
Bummed about my failed plans, I didn't want to spend the weekend in Manila so I asked some of my local co-workers where I should go for the weekend, the answer was Puerto Princesa Palawan. Palawan is a small island on the Southwest side of Manila. It's famous for its underground river, a popular scuba spot not to mention a great beach location. So I looked up flights and for a round trip it was going to cost me a whopping $60! So I announced to some of my co-workers that WE were going to Palawan for the weekend! We found a great hotel and plans were set.
We left early Saturday morning, the hotel picked us up in pouring rain and all of us were just praying that it wasn't going to be that way the whole weekend. We go LUCKY! Once we got to the hotel, the clouds cleared up and the sun came out, and it was like that the rest of the weekend.
Saturday night we went out to dinner at a great restaurant that sat in the middle of a Mangrove forest. If you have never seen a mangrove, they are trees that grow on the shallow ocean surface. They are really cool looking because the roots grow out of the ground and are visible. They also have Sand Mites that live in the trees called Nik-Nik's which cracked me up....luckily I had some great bug spray so I wasn't bitten by the Nik-Nik's!
Sunday we pretty much hung out by the ocean and pool. I had planned to go to the famous underground river, but someone told me that the top of the cave is really close to you so you feel a little trapped in the cave, being Cloister phobic, I wasn't too excited about it....Not to mention, it was so nice outside I just wanted to swim and relax.
Puerto Princesa is a very small town where most of the transportation is tricycles which was something I had never experienced before, but it’s pretty much a motorcycle with a side car that fits 3 people on it, so three of us sat in the side car while Hazel sat on the back of the motorcycle, since it was pretty much the only way to get around it was a "when in Rome" moment, not to mention, they drive very slowly in Palawan so it was too terrifying!
It was nice to go around the Philippines, especially with some Philippines since they are able to speak for me. The only part that I do not like, I outweigh all of them by an easy 50lbs so it’s hard not to feel "big" when I'm around them! ha! One funny story that came out of this was one of the girls Cae wanted to move her lounge chair but wasn't able to lift it herself, so she went to call Kuya (Kuya means older brother, but it is also a way to call for a man), I started to laugh at her and picked up the lounge chair and moved it, she said to me, "Wow, you are so strong, who needs a Kuya when you have a Keri." I got a kick out it and it made me feel better that my weight had some perks!
Palawan is a very nice, very easy going island, if you are traveling around the Philippines, you definitely need to visit this island!
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