Discovering Phuket: Kata Beach

Summer Time Again 

Kata beach is another beach located on the south side of Karon beach, still in the Phuket Island. All of us agreed that it’s better than the Phuket beach. This is where we spent our afternoon. The water is better and much clearer. Again, there’s a lot of tourist in the area. I guess locals where outnumbered. 

We are all in the shade

With the little birdie

Saw this cute dog while walking

Pick one :)

Crowded beach here

We do not what's going on here

Also why they are firing this up

Mandatory couple shot :)

And with the Eskapaderas :)

After having some food trip, we bid farewell to this delightful beach. No more other stories to tell as we just enjoy and relax all day. I hope they also visit the beaches in the Philippines as there are more to see, you already know why.

Kata Beach, Karon, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83100, Thailand

Discovering Phuket: Patong Beach

Such a wonderful welcome Patong Beach!

I am very excited to see the beach area in the morning. Since we arrived already late noon, we scheduled our next day to walk along the shore of Patong beach in the morning. It was a very quick walk from our hostel. It was the first time we saw the place in a calmer state. That’s the time we’re able to appreciate and see the view of the beach.

Do not forget to get fit!

A view in the morning, calmer than night. 

We saw several tourists jogging in the shoreline. We saw some empty bottles abandoned in the area. Well, it was a good view, but of course, comparing to the beaches in the Philippines, it’s really evident that the Philippines has the best beaches in the world. It was good to see that it was crowded with visitors but I am a bit sad because although I am seeing tourists in our country especially in the well known Boracay, its not like this kind of crowd, it was like as if this is the only and the best White beach in the world.

Just some of the trash and empty bottles we saw that morning

Cyclist getting ready for the tourist rush

Well, maybe because of the image of a non-safe destination, lack of promotion and other more various reasons making us very unpopular tourist destination. Hal and I actually had a chat with a guy from Canada that was also staying in our hostel and he doesn’t really know much about the Philippines. I was like, “Do you know Boracay and El Nido? You must include Philippines in your list and the beaches there are way much prettier.” That guy was actually already found the Patong beach very beautiful already. In my mind, how much more if you visit the beaches of Palawan, Bohol and Cebu.

And the crowd was ready to get sunburn

More of the crowd on the other side

They are all very busy, we are the only group trying to hide from the sun

Patong is much like Boracay because it was surrounded by stores and restaurants. The only difference is that the beach water is very salty and a bit itchy. Anyway, as we return in the beach with the group around late afternoon, there are more and more people everywhere, sunbathing, playing, swimming and just simply relaxing on the shore. 

Sun bathing, relaxing, not a fan of sun burn. 

Such a busy beach

Colorful umbrellas everywhere

And more on this side

Hal and I at Patong Beach

Patong Beach will still be a very popular beach spot for tourist, no doubt because it is accessible and it’s still beautiful on its own way. I’ll still promote Palawan and Cebu though. Of Course.

As the sunset goes, it was the moment that I realized that we are still sharing the same magnificent view of sunset in just other perspective. It was calm, soothing and just let me thank God again for experiencing the beach outside my homeland.

Such a very wonderful view to end your day

Surfing in San Juan, La Union: Getting Ready for the Big Waves

Gloomy Early Morning at La union 

After the surf in Baler, I promise myself to try surfing again in other surfing spots. Of course first thing in mind is to visit La Union. It’s the surfing capital of the North and luckily Escapaderas (My overness craziness group of girlfriends) decided for a quick getaway before the summer ends.

It’s recommended to leave Manila as early as possible. It’s almost afternoon when we arrived. It’s estimated of 4 to 5 hours drive from Manila. We went straight to Sebay Surf Resort to check for available rooms. Luckily we had 2 beach front rooms that are suitable for our group.

Sebay Surf Resort

Surfing lesson costs P400 pesos. This includes surf board and instructor. Apparently the waves were much bigger than those in Baler when we visited. We opted for smaller waves since its hard for us beginners to learn with big waves. They brought is in an area where the waves were tamer.

Walked on the other side of the Beach to watch some surfers in action

And so the surfing lesson starts, we were all excited especially me. My surfing experience were much tougher than those in Baler. I felt that the board was a bit slippery than the one I used before. And also, there were rocks on the sea bed that’s why you need to be extra careful falling because the next thing you need to avoid is not to step on pointed rocks beneath the water.

Determined friends with better waves for newbies like us at the back :) 

And since the waves were not very cooperative, it gaves me a hard time. I should lose a few pounds or work-out to prepare for this. Just kidding! Overall, the attempts paid off however since it was raining we wasn’t able to get a good shot while surfing. I still want some more, maybe another surfing spot and would still love surfing to the max!

We drained all our energies left beating the big waves after the surfing lesson. Then we finished the day with a live band in Sebay and a drinking + dancing + truth or dare session that was all happened in our room after.

I enjoyed this more...haha!

Pretty Eskapaderas in action! 

We're getting good at this, really! 

Till next surfing action! 

Northern Mindanao Escape: White Island, Camiguin

The White Island of Camiguin is actually a sandbar which is just a few minutes away from the shores of Camiguin. On our 2nd day, we decided to welcome the sunrise on the island. We were warned not to visit the place in the afternoon as there’s no shade or trees or whatsoever in the island and that will be sunburn all the way for all of us. Unfortunately or should I say, it’s a blessing in disguise that we had a cloudy and cold morning. Even in a not so good weather, we still proceed and visit the well-known sandbar.

Gloomy Beach of Camiguin

So what’s the result of the cloudy morning?! Not so lucky to watch the sunrise but a success to achieve our effort poses. Luckily the island was not crowded that day and they don’t mind our craziness. The island with its own pleasing look is really a Camiguin’s pride.

No more sunburn, just fun!

Just starting up

So it's better to just flood this up with our silly shots and creative poses

Totally not fake clouds in here

Our photographer for the day

Tired already

After our Sandbar trip we decided to leave Camiguin and go back to CDO for a complete rest. Our next destination - Iligan City.

****

"Men are afraid to rock the boat in which they hope to drift safely through life's currents, when, actually, the boat is stuck on a sandbar. They would be better off to rock the boat and try to shake it loose."

-Thomas S. Szasz

Palawan Escape: Night at Seaslugs Bar, El Nido

For those who still got some energy to go night out in El Nido, Seaslugs Bar and Restaurant is a popular place to visit. Most of those travelers recommend visiting this place to dine. The beach front restaurant set the night with a live acoustic band that is of course best with a pair of beer plus your beer buddies. A very good ambiance if you love to chill out with a good music.

We were also quite hyped out that night and prefer being loud than chilling and so we dare each one of us to sing. They normally invite, ask or dare their visitors to sing in front. So after several push, Jessie did! Jay also took his chance to impress Kate and sang for her.

Because we were still full from our dinner at the resort (in which we could’ve waited and save our hunger a bit and dine here instead), we indulge ourselves with their pizzas. We tried different flavors and they taste reasonably for their price. I forgot to take some pictures of the food but I bet it's worth to try their food plus the experience. Both locals and foreigners patronized the place. They also serve breakfast but the crowd visits mostly during the night. 

Anyway, I really do not know why they choose Seaslugs to be the name of their restaurant because “Sea slugs” seems not an appetizing creature. Lol! 

And upon arriving back to our room; Hal and I was welcomed by a friendly visitor. Hal wanted to take the Gecko home but it freaked out after some shots. And I'll also not let Hal to take this poor creature away from his home of course. It's cute but kinda' creepy to touch. :D

This post is part of the Palawan trip last August 2012.

Palawan Escape: Spending Sunset in El Nido

Exploring the rocky side of El Nido

One of the best experiences for me is ending the day in El Nido. As the sun goes down, the water subsides and revealed the rocky seabed at its low tide. From the resort, it's just a few steps down and you can literally walk far from the shore. 

We saw some locals, mostly kids also taking their chance to walk the seabed as if they are looking for something. We heard some children giggling, small talks but then all focus searching.

While searching for something useful

I guess, the locals have their own ways to kill time and maximize their resources.  Hal and I decided to explore on our own and get a chance to speak to some of them and see what they are doing.

We realized that they are collecting shells for dinner. We tried to find too however, we mistakenly took the “non-edible” shells instead.

All busy for work

We thought it was very easy to spot one but my determination to find one didn’t work. 

Especially the little “hermit crabs” are confusing us too, so we just ended up watching them how they do it.

Her bag is almost full and she smiled at us.

We also saw a small crab on its camouflage. It's quite hard to catch the little crab but we did it. We immediately put him back after taking a picture.

A cute crab in weeds.

A group of kids was caught throwing a stone attached to a string a far. We heard them boasting at each other. We went towards them and saw a kid holding a slimy creature while trying to pull the tentacles away from his hand.

Creepy eyes, telling that he is not good for dinner. 

It was a small Octopus, we didn’t notice it at first but we saw how strong the tentacles are and literally sucking their skin and you’ll hear a pop once they pull it and the sucker was pull off the skin. We asked if it hurt him by dragging it on his bare hands but he said it was not. I tried touching my pointed finger into one sucker and I felt how it tried to stick and suck my finger. It popped out of my finger and it sounded like popping a plastic bubble wrap after I pull it out. It was creepy. Hal tried to touch it and manage to do so but he gave it back after a few seconds.

A big catch so far.

They said that the rock that they throw is the bait as it immediately catches anything that falls near them. Then they pull it out after. Then they have their dinner.

Poor little Octopus :(

And that how they spend dusk in a very laid-back province. It's not very easy dinner but they are seems ok with it. They also welcomed us with a smile. As soon as the light visibly fading out, we said goodbye and headed back to the cottage.  

"If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Sunset picture~from Sol, Thanks!