Bobohol... Doing Nothing

September 21...

Like my past Davao trip, I was lazy to pack up my things/clothes. All girls naman, puwede maghiraman.. hmmm Nokia naman si Ellaine puwede maghiram ng charger... hmmm damit? hmmm puwede na to...

Good thing I was able to pack everything I needed and the clothes that I chose were just right. So here we go on my 4 day adventure to the Land of Chocolate Hills: BOHOL...

First off, we were booked for this trip since March I believe. Parang di pa kami nakakaalis for Davao eh may trip na ako agad na kasunod. Thanks Cebu Pacific! But when it came to choosing the hotel/resort that's when we got tied up with work that it was only in August that we started to look. Who would plan a trip during the monsoon season? Surely all resorts will have available rooms now. Well we were dead wrong. My first choice, Isis Bungalows, was already fully booked for the said dates. Which prompted an exchange between me and Vanessa (the caucasian looking girl) which goes like this:

Mel: "Vanene!! Fully booked na daw! Whadda?"

Vanessa: "Really? Sino naman pupunta ng ganitong panahon??"

Mel: "Mga kuripot na tao tulad natin"

Vanessa: "So pano na nyan?"

Mel: "Hanap ka, then hanap ako"

Vanessa: "Sige tapos rank natin"

Mel: "Okay, game!"

BTW, yeah she's Filipino...

A lot of drama happened along the way, I think we finalized our booking with Alona Kew White Beach Resort two weeks prior to our flight. Whew! And when we got there we noticed that you don't need an advance reservation, there are lots of available rooms - binigyan pa kami ng discount.. well it was just a precaution anyway..

4:45 am at the Domestic Airport. We were first in line: Ellaine, Vanessa and Me.. and where's Sab? Let's just say I'm glad I called her. Around 5:40ish Sab arrives looking like she just rolled out of bed. Well she just did... Flight got delayed by an hour -- pasalamat ka Sab...

(dun-dun-dun) "Sa mga pasahero tungong Tagbilaran, maari na po kayong tumungo sa lagusan bilang isa" (dun-dun-dun)

And just when I was to doze off, we arrive in Bohol.. The airport is simple, quite simple.. well at least it's an operating airport.. Right after boarding off, we searched for a washroom and then ten minutes later, voila! our bags were on the floor... Well I trust that we can rely on the honesty of the people there.

Since we woke up at the crack of dawn and I was up till midnight convincing Sab to come along (makinig ka kay Goy, Sab. Sumama ka na! or else...) we decided to spend day one DOING NOTHING, which we got to do. Ah yeah, before I forget... There are a number of tourist guides/vans for rent that you can avail of in the airport grounds. Php 2,500 for an L300 van (yes they still exist) for an 8 hour tour covering everything that Bohol has to offer. Great price specially for a big group. It also included transfers to the hotel.

Bohol countryside was nothing new to me, goodness I live in the province sceneries like those are not new to me. But still, it was very relaxing. Alona Alona Alona Kew... First thing that greeted us was this dog, whom I called Brownie...

Brownie never left our side throughout our walk of the seashore.. And then there was another dog, then another and another.. let's just say there are a lot of dogs in Bohol but I did not see a pregnant dog and yet there are a lot of dogs.. Aside from our canine friends (Surbaybor, Bruno, Patrash, Brownie, Princess Sara, Lotty, etc) there were also lots of European tourists and Europeans who have decided to live in the idyllic island of Panglao. (Oh yeah, did I mention that we stayed in Panglao Island?)... Anyway, we just sat on the shore on day one, had a massage in the afternoon and tried out the swimming pool. There were a few tourists, enough to say na dinadayo talaga ang Bohol. Lunch was at Hayahay. We asked the waitress what it meant, she asked the people in the kitchen and yet we yielded no answers. Siguro its when you ran out of answers on where to eat. It was definitely the best place we've dined at, best ambience pa...

"Uyy san tayo kakain?"

"Kahit saan"

"Hayahay naman oh"

It was a bit cloudy and the sea did not look that inviting but hey it was more than enough for a day of doing nothing.