Just before I go ahead and put myself into a new battle of work load and studying, this trip was sure the greatest way to end my summer vacation. Beware: Semi-detailed post :)
My workmates and I went to Puerto Princesa, Palawan days before the 2013 Philippine National Elections (so what?). It wouldn't really be a matter of importance had the person behind the development of the city was not running as for a higher post in the government, but he (former Mayor Haggedorn) was.
I could never forget how we ALMOST did not make it and ALMOST waste our money (and of course, go home without any proof that we went to Palawan). I am not exaggerating when I say ALMOST. Spell that will all capital letters.
Excited for Palawan!
Our flight was scheduled at 6:15pm. We are sure of this, and we planned everything to be at the airport on time. However, you know how life plays. Sometimes, it teases you the moment you least expect it. One hour before our flight, we're stuck in EDSA. This is not surprising since it was a Friday. But 30 minutes... 15 minutes prior to our scheduled flight and still not in any where close to the airport? That's not a joke. Most of us will be riding the plane for the first time and we sure would want that experience. So what do you when you're stuck in traffic and there's no way you are going to catch your scheduled flight? We prayed. Yes, we did. Hard. But that's not enough, we've got to do something. Thus, the start of the GREAT ADVENTURE. We (there were about 30 of us) decided to WALK SLASH RUN going to NAIA Terminal 4 to catch our beloved flight. We were THAT determined. We started walking meters before NAIA Terminal 1. To add some more adventure is the rain.... of all the given time in the world, it started to rain just as we were walking slash running along the roads of NAIA. Isn't that fun? Catch is: When we arrived at the airport, our flight was delayed. Holly molly, Tatay God was sooooo good! It may be luck for some, I consider it a MIRACLE. Then it hit me, "the universe conspires to make your dreams come true."
The waiting game
We waited for almost two hours and when the moment came, I found myself inside the airplane trying to manage all the ways for me to survive my first time. Again, of all times, the rain fell hard when we were on the plane, causing some turbulence and all those uneasy feelings (by uneasy, I mean dizziness, feeling of throwing up--sorry, had to say it :P, feeling as if my heart was taken out of my body for a split second). It wasn't bad for a first time, but it was a FIRST TIME TO REMEMBER.
We arrived at Puerto Princesa at around 9:00pm. We took some rest at the Inn and went out for a late night walk. We had dinner and some of our colleagues rode bicycles. We finished at midnight and hit the sack.
Tamilok tasting
Our Day 2 was like a continuation of the Day 1 great adventure. We went to Karst Mountain Elephant Cave and took pictures (of course! haha!). Then, we went to a souvenir shop along the road which also served as our stopover. The main destination for Day 2 was the famous Underground River. The entire day was planned for it. We went to Honda Bay, a white sand beach and ate lunch in a cottage there. After eating, the rain started to fall again which made us soaking wet (soaking... like we swam). We rode a boat going to the Underground River and had to wait for about an hour or so before we got to enter the cave. But mind you, all the wait was definitely worth it because the wonders of the stalagmites, stalactites, and columns inside the cave are a must-see! Plus, the tour guides were very accommodating and had a good sense of humor. We saw various formations which were really amazing. After this, we went home very tired. We were given some time to rest and had a great time eating seafood dinner. We went out again late at night to explore (the rest is history, haha!)
Our last day in Puerto Princesa was a city tour. We went to Souvenir Shops, Crocodile Park, Baker's Hill, Rancho Zipline Adventure, Binuatan Creations, and Plaza Cuartel. We ate lunch at Ka Inato and the rest of the afternoon was given to us for rest/more adventures depending on us. We left the inn at around 6:00pm for our 8:00pm flight. We got back to Manila by 9:15pm and arrived in Pampanga almost midnight.
P.S. The second airplane experience was waaaaay better than my first! (Lesser turbulence that is) Having all foreigner seatmates are kind of awkward though, hehe.
No comments:
Post a Comment