La Sirenetta Restaurant

Coron Palawan Philippines

Photo Set by YAPtography

Owned by once Survivor Celebrity Castaway, Mika Batchelor. We were able to say hi to her but was not able to take pictures since she was on her way out.

Seaside Restaurant (Day 2 Dinner)

After a full day out in the sea (naks, feeling explorer and adventurer lang), we had our dinner at Seaside Restaurant. We were almost at the entrance of the small pathway when suddenly the electricity went out. This is not unusual in Coron as they have rotating brownout. Shortly, the lightbulbs in the eskinita lit up giving us enough light to have our way to the restaurant. We made a few stops asking for directions as we were not sure if we were in the right track. There was another restaurant right before the bridge but we were instructed to cross the bridge to get to the Seaside Restaurant.

When we set foot to their steps and saw their menu -- Sigh! Finally this is what we expected. Their menu is quite big having a variety and the prices is from  Php 250 up. Nice ambiance showcasing woodwork and furnitures. The chair is quite heavy so I assumed purong kahoy talaga. The surrounding was pitched black because of the brownout so we really didn't get to see the view of the sea that night.

We ordered quite a number of dish and suprisingly served in big plates. We took a few bites and just had our leftovers for takeout (we had it over breakfast the next day).

But had to say that we were unsatisfied with the service even though there were a number of servers that night. Our waitress seems to be in a hurry wanting to leave our table immediately everytime she approached our table. Gusto ko ng sabihin "May lakad ka, teh? Nagmamadali???" So sorry we did not leave any tip for them.

Centro Coron (Day 1 Lunch)

We arrived Busuanga at 2pm-ish and had a 45-minute ride down to the Coron Town Proper. When we got there we were already hungry so we were on a look out where to have our late lunch. The Balaibinda Lodge personnel boasted that they are walking distance to restaurants. So we took it upon us to walk around the vicinity and true enough we started seeing food signages.

We were expecting nice interior as well but to our disappointment there was none. Hmmm...Did we put up the bar too high? We really had a budget set aside for dining because we wanted to try their local offerings. But our stomach is already growling so we decided to explore in the following days instead and ended up at Centro Coron.

Centro Coron offers buffet starting at 6 o'clock in the evening. But for lunch we ordered just a couple of ala carte meals which cost Php 150 each.

There was nothing special on our food. Although when we asked our Mt. Tapyas Tour Guide Chris, masarap daw duon. I dunno maybe he was referring to the buffet meals or what-have-yous.

Kapemos (Day 1 Dinner)

So after our tiring climb to Mt. Tapyas but soothing dip in Maquinit Hot Spring, we had a quick route to the town plaza. We asked our tour guide Chris to drop us off to a nice place to eat. They brought us to Kapemos. It has better interiors than the previous place. It was an open-air restaurant at the side of the street but the servers have uniforms. At that time there were only two servers since in my estimate the place could only accomodate 40 people at a time.

It was the night of our 15th Year Anniversary (3rd Wedding Anniversary) so were ready to splurge but then again we were surprised that the prices are lower than our prepared budget.

I find the beef in the bulalo pretty tasty because of the freshness of the meat but hubby (our home cook) said he could do it in our house plus if you compare it to MIL's bulalo, mas marami pang sahog kay Mommy.

Bistro Coron (Day 1 Midnight Snack)

Because we still have money to spare after Kapemos, we decided we could still try out something from Bistro Coron but for takeout. From what I heard, it is Italian owned. We ordered a pizza and ate it in our room back in the lodge since we have a full day ahead of us the next day plus there is no ambiance to experience in the place. Although I have to say that the pizza is really worth it. I could taste the herbs and it was bursting with cheese and pineapple.

To tell you frankly it has been very tricky for me to dress up according to my style since I gained weight due to my hypothyroidism. I am used to being within normal weight range all my life so first things first is learning to adjust to the new pear shape body type. It is still hit and miss as I study what works and what doesn't. But I have to say that 'A' for me for Ae~ffort for trying not looking like a slob. Thanks Lifestyle Channel's What Not To Wear for always reminding me that it is not your size that is causing the problem but rather how you dress up for your size.

Next issue is that not many brands carry sizes for 2XL that fits within my allotted budget. Even if they do, it would be one size smaller or one size bigger for me. So it wasn't easy scouting for items that fits. Thus, patience until you find something you like.

Anyhow, here we have my Coron getaway ensemble.

Flight to Busuanga and Mt. Tapyas afternoon tour: Suelas Corte Tan, Bluegreen coverup and Midi Halter Summer Dress both from Fashion Market.

Island Hopping: Jelly Bunny black sandals, Pink&White stripes Coverup from Fashion Market, Body Music black shorts and Sassa Swimwear from Metro Department Store.

Dinner and souvenir shopping: Suelas Corte Tan, Black Camisole SM Department Store, Violet Dress and Yellow-Orange shawl from Fashion Market.

As you can see I am a minimalist for I am not good with accessorizing. So if you have tips for me feel free to comment or email me in the address found in the sidebar.

DIRECTORY:
Suelas Online
www.suelasonline.com

Jelly Bunny
Ground Floor Activity Center
Market Market BGC Taguig

Fashion Market**
Metro Department Store - Ladies Section
2nd Floor Market Market
BGC Taguig

** Fashion Market is the Tiangge-style setup inside Market Market mall where you can find different stalls selling clothes from local to factory overruns. Imagine, Greenhills Shopping Center or 168 Mall in Divisoria.

DISCLAIMER: I don't breathe fashion, heck you will find me everyday going to the office wearing a boring black pants and basic blouse partnered with flat shoes with no makeup on (I don't know how to do it either). But occassionaly, I would channel the kikay lady inside of me esp. when I go out with hubby and put on some pretty things. My mom used to own a RTW store where I used to get my supplies from when I was much younger. I grew up reading Candy, Cosmo, Marie Claire and Woman's Today Magazine. I like watching makeover and fashion-related reality tv shows such as Project Runaway and America's Next Top Model.

Balaibinda Lodge is a charming, compact, cozy place located at the Coron Town Proper. It is a few steps away from the Local Tourist Center Building and a 2-minute walk to Lualhati Park where the boats docking area are also located.

Outside the lodge is the usual provincial town set up where the public market and small establishments are accessible. A few more walks or a tricycle ride is the Municipal Town Hall and Plaza. It has the common busy rural feel outside. But once you step inside the Balaibinda, you will find some quietness and homey feeling featuring a pocket garden at the center of the 2 storey-lodge with rooftop.

Reception and Lounge Area adjacent to the Garden

We stayed at Room 205 Courtyard Queen. Inside the room you will find a queen-sized comfy bed, 19" LCD Cable TV, Aircon and ceiling fan. A slim built-in cabinet has 4 hangers while the bathroom has a shower heater. The available toiletries are 2 white towels, a shampoo split sachet, 2 soaps and toilet papers. There were no toothbrush and toothpaste. Knobs and locks are working and no problem whatsoever in all furniture. Wifi signal is also good in our room, we actually saw a couple of routers so just in case you still want to stay connected.

Right outside our room in the second floor is the restaurant where set breakfast is being served daily.

Although the place is small and compact, you cannot discount the fact that it is adorned intricately with different ornaments. Since it was Christmas Season, they have Christmas decors combined with their locally

made displays. We spent a good hour just taking pictures around.

One thing I also love about Balaibinda is that right beside its gate is a Zagu Pearl Stand...my favorite!!! It is a good way to refresh coming back from Mt. Tapyas hike and Island Hopping Tour.

Balaibinda Building Facade

Read here on how to reserve to Balaibinda Lodge

One of the many things we learned from watching Paco Guerrero in his travels to is to get the story behind the people you meet in the places you go to. So even before blogging about details of the tourist spots in Coron, let me introduce to you first our Island Hopping Crew.

Aside from their accomodation, Balaibinda provided us with all the land arrangements and tours during our trip. So they were the ones who facilitated and contacted the local tourist guides. Our Day 2 Itinerary is for the Island Hopping Tour and it was through Calamian Islands Travel and Tours.

We were picked up from the lodge then dropped off to the docking area in Lualhati Park (5-minute ride). We met up with the boat crews which consisted by a Captain, a Boatman and of course Rico, our tour guide.

Our group only consisted of 4 adults and 1 kid: with that we had more time to ourselves to explore so Rico opened by asking us whether we want to walk 300 steps NOW or LATER. Our legs are still shakey from the 700+ steps of Mt. Tapyas the day before so we agreed to do it later.

Maybe because Rico was already doing this almost everyday, he would just utter information about the places very softly. His lack of gimmicks in explaining is well compensated in his skills once we were already in the water. He patiently "pulled" while three of us were holding on the floater and snorkeling looking at the scenery below us.

Rico fixing my mask and giving me instructions

When we reached the 91 Beach that is were we all started to bond. We actually had ample of time there to take pictures of the rock formation, the beach and underwater. During lunch time, even though we tried convincing them but the guides would not eat with us. (It was sort off a SOP to them not to eat with the guests). So instead, Rico entertained us by answering our kulit questions while we were eating.

Gangsta lang yung peg pero mabait yan!

Rico is just 30 yrs old so we stopped calling him Kuya since we were a year older than him. He doesn't have any girlfriend by choice because according to him "Mahal po ang bigas! Php 32 NFA Rice, may amoy pa yun". Hahaha.

The funny banter amongst us continued to Twin lagoon and Kayangan Lake. Rico even took great photos of us and really directed us how to pose. San ka pa, di ba?

Twin Lagoon

Kayangan Lake

Buwis Buhay Underwater shots of Hubby and Rico

Shot inside the cave

Lastly, this is my personal favorite among all of our pictures in Coron

Shot by Rico for YAPtography

Innate to Pinoys is their light hearted nature despite living a life with rotating brown out in Coron and receiving a minimum wage monthly salary. The crew cannot accept freelance tour so if you wish to avail their service please coordinate with Calamian Travel and Tours and if possible request for Rico. And do not forget to tip them especially if you enjoyed their service!

Boat Captain

Boatman sometimes Hubby's Photographer

Thank you everyone for taking good care of us.

I speak blessing upon your way and may the Lord use your skills to send out His blessings.

Keep safe and stay down to earth!

Three months before the date of our trip to Coron, I started sending out my inquiry to different travel tour agencies and accommodations. Although their package for 2 pax is slightly higher than our budget, I decided to reserve at Balaibinda Lodge. They just opened last March 2012 so their facilities are pretty new. And since only a handful of people have blog about it, I thought it would be interesting to feature them in their first year of operation. It also helped that when they replied to my email, they answered with all the information I needed.

One month before our trip, I deposited 50% downpayment to guarantee our reservation to their BPI Account. Below is the tour inclusion they prepared for our trip:

Number of pax in group: 2 persons

Length of stay: 3 days 2 nights

Preferred room: Courtyard Queen

RATES:

3D2N Coron Island Joiner Tour P4,050/person

INCLUSIONS:

1. Round trip airport shuttle service

2. Room accommodations in a Courtyard Queen
3. Tours:

   a. 1/2 day Town tour (exclusive)

   b. 1 day Island tour (joiner)

4. Fees:

   a. Transportation (trike & tourist banca with life vests)

   b. Tour guide

   c. Entrance fees

   d. Cottage rentals

5. Meals:

   a. Set breakfast at the lodge

   b. Picnic lunch during island hopping days

   c. Snacks during island hopping days

  * Guests are given the option to explore other restaurants around town for Dinner or place an advanced order at Balaibinda restaurant with an extra charge (P250/order from the regular meals menu, P350/order from the deluxe meals menu).

ITINERARY:

DAY 1: CORON TOWN TOUR (4 - 8 p.m.) exclusive

1. Souvenir Shops - pasalubong shopping

2. Lualhati Park - leisurely stroll by the bay side, photo-op

3. Mt. Tapyas - trek up 700+ steps to view the Calamian Islands from the top

4. Maquinit Hot Springs - relaxing dip in hot spring waters to soothe tired muscles from the hike up Mt. Tapyas

DAY 2: CORON ISLAND TOUR (8 a.m. - 5 p.m.) joiner

1. Siete Pecados - snorkeling at a marine sanctuary

2. Kayangan Lake (Hall of Fame awardee for cleanest lake in the country)- short trek, swimming in a lake

3. Atwayan Beach - picnic lunch, swimming

4. Twin Peaks Reefs - snorkeling

5. CYC Beach - swimming, beach activities 

DAY 3: FREE TIME

- Visit the local market and casuy shop for more pasalubong & souvenir shopping.

- Relax and pack for trip back to Manila.

Balaibinda Lodge Reservations

Mobile: +63.929.322.1776

Email: reservations@balaibinda.com

Website: www.balaibinda.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Balaibinda

Twitter: @balaibinda

Budget conscious traveler like us only count on Seat Sale Promos that the airlines usually offer during holidays. You can say it is definitely a midnight madness sale since once the promo is up at 12MN, the seats get sold out very easily like hot pancakes and you will already have a hard time finding available dates if you search at 7 AM. 

If you are suki of the Seat Sale, you are probably used to on how crazy cheap you can book a flight compared to normal days. So I am writing for those who are first timers and new to this. Just to give you an  idea, here is how much our airfare cost for roundtrip to Manila-Coron for 2 pax:

Seat Sale cost less than 2K

Just for comparison, I tried booking 3 weeks before the travel dates and almost to the same flights. Here is what I got (wala pang fees and taxes here if I am not mistaken):

Regular Fare cost 15K+

WOW!!!

Definitely we cannot afford the regular fare just for traveling so I am pretty glad knowing that we get to enjoy the Philippines without hurting our budget. For this year we have to give kudos to Cebu Pacific. Hubby and I only take one domestic travel per year since we got married. As I oftenly say, we do not have a credit card so we save up first and wait for good deals then travel without worries. Thank God for His amazing provision that He doesn't only provide just for our needs but also for leisure.

Here are my personal strategies when availing for seat sale:

1. Goal Setting: Have an idea where and when you wanna go. Ensure that the travel dates you pick are not in the near future, at least 3 months to 6 months before. You can have options like below which you will use when searching for deals para hindi basta kung saan at kelan na lang kayo pupunta just because may sale doon.

      Plan A: Destination 1, Travel Dates 1

      Plan B: Destination 1, Travel Dates 2

      Plan C: Destination 2, Travel Dates 1

2. Don't get yourself into debt. Although credit card number can easily be inputted in your web browser doesn't mean you should do so. Since this is for leisure, it is better that you save up first, at least for the air fare muna. As you saw, your Php 2000 is already good for 2 pax, roundtrip flights. 

3. When you have the money at hand, monitor the Seat Sale Promo via alerts in Facebook or visit Cebu Pacific website daily or every other day. Base on my observation, they go on sale during the holidays and the promo is up either 12 MN or 12 NN. So be ready to stay up late on the sale day.

As for me, when I don't have the airfare budget yet I just ignore the ongoing seat sale. I'd rather wait for the next one instead of pushing it. You travel to unwind and explore new places with your love ones. So beginning your traveling plans with stress is no good sign at all. So make it a delightful experience at the very start... Enjoy!

It's more fun in the Philippines

To celebrate my 30th birthday last Saturday, hubby and I went to a 3-day tour in Puerto Princesa Palawan. I was able to avail a seatsale last June via Airphil which cost Php 1,430 roundtrip for 2 pax including tax. Then arranged accommodation with Mercedes Bed & Breakfast 3D2N Room Package 1 - Double Room with daily breakfast for only Php 2,400.

Mercedes B&B already has a tie up with the tour guides so we also avail their add-on tour package. I was initially eyeing for either Underground River Tour or Dos Palmas Day Tour but that would be best for those who has 4D3N. We didn't want to jam-pack our trip, we opted for just a City Tour (Php 600/pax) and Honda Bay Tour (Php 1,100/pax) so we had a lot of free time to ourselves. The rates are pretty standard across the travel agency although you might find locals offering services with much cheaper rates. But the standard rates include travel insurances according to our tour guide.

Day 1

Crocodile Farm & Nature Park