Catanduanes Trip

 

August 31 - Sept 3, 2023

Catanduanes Island.

For me, this is one of the underrated yet best islands I’ve reached so far and would want to go back - over and over again.

I would love to visit every pristine white-sand beach it offers and other wonderful, mystic and scenic places it has.

Twin Rock Beach, Binurong Point, Puraran Beach, Blue Lagoon, Nahulugan Falls and a more than century year old Bato Church are just few of the superbs must visit spots! They are truly Instagrammable and Fb Reelable!

Our Catanduanes tour has been a chill and adventurous trip in one.

It was also a budget-friendly four-day vacation. Locals are great, hospitable and warm.

The food there is great as well especially the sea foods! A truly recommended place for you to visit, come and see the sea.

So, book that flight and go discover Catanduanes!

 

Here’s our itinerary and budget for this trip.

Day 1:

Virac Airport. We booked a flight from Manila to Virac. We arrived in Virac at 7 am.

Then we had breakfast at a  nearby Cafeteria.

Then we’re off to explore the beauty of Catanduanes!

Our first stop was at Twin Rock Beach Resort. Its beach sand was pure and off-white. The rock formations were beautiful and it got its name there. The vibe there was just chill and peaceful.

Then we went to Tampad Beach, Talisoy. We just had a quick visit there then we’re off to our next destination.

It was the Hicming Falls. It was a 15-minute walk going to the falls. We also witnessed a wide rice puddy as we walked along the rocky trail.   

We took a dip at the falls and we enjoyed it as we were the only guests when we arrive there.

 

Next stop was the Bato Church. It was on the way going to Puraran Beach so we took a quick stop over at the church to pray and to be amazed by its beauty.  

Baras, Catanduanes. Our booked accommodation was in Baras at Puraran Beach.

We checked in at 2 pm. 

Then we had our late lunch at 3 pm before going to our next stop.

Binurong Point. They often call this as their mini version of Batanes.

There will be a 20-minutes trek going to Binurong Point. But it’s worth it!

We reached the peak at almost sunset and again, we were just the only people when we got there as if the whole place was just ours to enjoy.

At 6 pm, we’re back to our accommodation and we had our dinner before calling the day off.

We had a fully booked day 1! It was tiring but we truly enjoyed it.

 

 

Day 2

Today’s agenda was just to chill out.

I woke up before 6 am to witness the breathtaking sunrise of Puraran Beach.

I enjoyed my solitude until 7 am.

Let me share to you a journal entry I have written while staring at the wide sunny horizon and sitting at the fine sand.

 

Sept. 1, 2023 Friday

Puraran Beach, Baras, Catanduanes

Dear God,

Thank you for everything.

Thank you for every opportunity you have given me to go to wonderful places. I am always grateful for the safe travel, good health and for providing everything for me. Your creations are truly appreciated.

I find happiness in the seas, mountains, locals I get to see every time I go out there, to wonder and wander, to experience all Your majestic gifts to humanity.

To feel the bright sun in my skin, to touch the sand with my bare feet along with the waves and to breathe the air that is so fresh, all I can say is thank you but actually, I am running out of words to say what I truly feel.

It’s all goodness, gratefulness, happiness and contentment.

And I believe that I will go farther. But still thank you, for giving me home where I can return to in every trip that I have.

Thank you for the life I have. You are great!

-end of journal entry-

 

We then had a breakfast by the beach. We just ordered food.

 

Then all through out the day, we just chilled by the beach.

At 4 pm, we had our early dinner. We had lobster! Yey!

Then we had a night swim while having some drinks.

It was a perfect day!

 

Day 3

For our third day, we went again on an adventure by exploring some great beauty of Catanduanes.

At 10 pm, we check out on our hotel. Then we went to Blue Lagoon. It has a trek going to the lagoon and it’s a bit hard going there because of the path with big rocks.

But the lagoon is breathtaking especially during low tide.

 

Then we had our lunch on a nearby Inasal restaurant. The food was delicious yet affordable! We enjoyed our lunch.

Then we’re off to Nahulugan Falls.

And then we’re back to Virac.

We went to Virac Port to buy some pasalubong then we also bought food for dinner.

We then checked in to Sunset Coast Beach Resort. It was already dark when we reach the resort.

 

 

Day 4

For our last day, it’s fly back time to Manila.

We checked out at 6 am and we headed to the airport which was 15 minutes away from the resort.

And finally, it was a home sweet home with a lot of happy memories that we brought home!

 

Thank you to my best travel buddies!

Our Total Budget. Php. 5,000.00/ head (for group of 5 pax) was our over-all expenses for food, accommodation and van transportation. Flight fee was excluded. We got it from a promo fare last March.

Breakdown budget:

Amount	Expenses description
1,000.00	Van transportation
2,000.00	Food
2,000.00	Accommodation
5,000.00	Total budget per head

 

Lian, Batangas | Get Together with TSG Friends

Get Together with TSG Friends

January 14-15, 2023

Lanie, Jhonah, Marky, Cecil, Dhez. They are my college best friends.

Every year, we see to it that we get to see each other to celebrate Christmas or New Year.

And what we usually do is we exchange gifts, give gifts to the kids and eat.

But this year, we went into a higher level of our typical meetups.

We had an out-of-town trip!

And this trip was saved up for a year.

Every month, we had a 400 pesos per head contribution

that will be used to pay all our expenses.

We literally saved up for 12 months.

And so, on the 14th of January at exactly 10 in the morning,

we’re off to a beach house in Batangas with the kids.

We’ll be staying there overnight.

The house we rented is a beach front, has a swimming pool,

large living room, kitchen and bedrooms that we all fit in.

We already bought food beforehand that we’re going to cook upon arrival.

Before reaching our destination, we had lunch first at Jaytee’s Tagaytay.

It also felt fulfilling to have dined in a pricey restaurant with my friends.

Back in college, we were already happy with siomai and rice as our food.

And throughout the years, whenever we have out of town trips,

we always go for the budget-friendly expenses as we don’t have much yet before.

But now, we are already able.

It is really humbling to experience all of these now

as we all remember our struggling beginnings.

And here we are, still together to share each milestone.

 We’re still here for each other with our ups and downs.

I am really grateful to have these few friends

yet authentic and people whom I can really rely on.

An untoward accident happened just after

we had lunch and we’re supposedly off to the beach house.

Lanie’s vehicle had an accident.

A sleepy driver bumped them.

Luckily, my friends and their child were fine.

But it caused us inconvenience and delay.

Lanie was rushed to the hospital for a check up on her head

while Jac – her husband needed to go to the police station

together with the reckless driver.

Their daughter joined us in the van going to the beach house.

I took care of Daina for a few hours while waiting for them.

While the other kids already enjoyed the pool.

My husband, Giovanni – Dhez’ husband,

and Carl – Jhonah’s husband were busy preparing our food.  

Marky was also with Lanie and Jac.

They are waiting at the police station for the mother of the driver to settle with them.

Three of them have joined us at midnight already.

 I joined the pool by midnight with Jhonah and Cez.

I slept at 3 am and then woke up again at 6:30 am.

While Cez, Marky, my husband and Giovanni slept at 7 am

right after they cooked breakfast and also had breakfast.

By then, the kids were already awake

and it was swimming time again for them after they had breakfast.

Our check out time was at 11 am.

But before we left, we had our tradition of exchange gifts and photo ops.

Our trip was short and sweet but definitely a worth memory for keeps.

And we look forward to more trips together.

Hopefully in the future, it will be a trip abroad. Why not?

 

I’ll try my best to run down some of our yearly trips together:

2009 – Daranak Falls, Tanay, Rizal

2010 – Alfonso, Cavite

2011 – (can't remember)

2012 – Baguio Trip

2013 – Puerto Galera Trip

2014 – Sessions at Tide’s

2015 – Sessions at Tide’s

2016 – Calatagan, Batangas and Quezon Province

2017 – beach in Bataan

2018 – Lanie’s house

2019 – Oyo Hotel at Poblacion, Makati

2020 – SM Aura and Starbucks BGC

2021 – Lanie’s house

2022 – Hara’s birthday, Daina’s birthday, Damara’s Christening

2023 – Tagaytay and Reyna Beach House, Batangas

Legazpi - Sorsogon Trip | October 8 – 11, 2022

 

Another trip for this year and my heart is happy!

Last October 8 at 3 am, we flew to Legazpi with my friends.

We actually had a problem with our van but later on, we found a new van

that took us to our destinations.

Our first stop was at Cagsawa Ruins in Legazpi.

We had our breakfast there and then some photo ops and we also had an ATV.

I’ve already been here last 2018 and it felt good to be back for another adventure.

I was actually not feeling so fine a day before our trip but thank God

I still pushed through to go with my friends.

After our ATV ride, we traveled to Matnog Port in Sorsogon.

And from there, we rode a boat going to Subic Beach.

Before riding a boat, we bought food first in the nearby market.

I enjoyed the boat ride a lot. My eyes were filled with nature –

the waves, the sun, the wind, the islands, everything!

I am grateful for everything that I see and feel.

I took some videos and it was not enough to share

and cherish the beauty of what I am witnessing.

Subic Beach is a part of Calintaan Island

and it was also called as Pink Beach because of the pink materials

that can be found in the sand.

I love our little island for three days.

There were also some locals living there

and there were also other tourists when we got there.

I took some walks on its beautiful beach whenever I had the chance.

I helped in cooking food for our late lunch

and then some of my friends had an evening swim.

I also swam on the beach for a short time before rinsing off.

I actually felt tired already when it was 9 pm

but I still joined my friends who were having fun by the beach.

Most of them were already drunk.

We all went inside by 10 in the evening and went to sleep.

 

The next day I woke up at 5:30 am to see the sunrise by the beach.

And the view didn’t fail me.

I had some alone time and I appreciated it.

We had our breakfast at 7 am and then we started our island tour at 8 in the morning.

We rode a boat again.

Our first stop was at Tikling Island.

It was also a white sand beach island where a lot of wild boars

can be seen roaming around.

We spent our morning there and we all dipped in the sea.

We also took our lunch there inside the boat.

And then we headed to Juag Fish Sanctuary where we fed some fishes

and they can be seen up close. 

The next part of our trip was at Calintaan Cave

and it was my most favorite part of our island hopping.

I’m still scared of water because I can’t swim but I still faced my fears anyway.

I still jumped out of the water and enjoyed our adventure at that time.

We entered a cave and a beautiful secret beach welcomed us.

The waves were strong but we loved it and we all had so much fun.

We even called ourselves as “kwekwek” since we

were all wearing an orange life jacket.

Our next destination was at a Fish Farm.

We caught Bangus here for our dinner.

On that same destination, we also went to an overlooking site.

We also had a short break wherein we bought

and drank buko juice fresh from the tree.

 

Just before the sun sets,

we finally went back to Subic beach and to our room.

We still had time to play and swim by the beach.

 

We prepared a birthday surprise for one of our friends and it was a success.

Then we had dinner.  But I don’t eat bangus so I just ate boiled eggs.

After dinner, we rented a videoke. We slept at past 11 in the evening.

 

The next morning, I woke up again at 5:30 am.

And it was a Me time again!

I took a walk on the beach.

And then breakfast time before we checked out.

We went back to the main island/ Matnog Port.

And then we bought food again at the market.

Then we’re off to our next resort just a few minutes away from the port.

 

We then prepared for our lunch. We all took a nap after having lunch.

Then I woke up at sunset.

And we had dinner and drinks.

I slept early.

Day 4 and our last day in Matnog.

I woke up again at 5:30 to see the sunrise

and spent a little time to walk along the resort.

At 8 in the morning, we finally headed to Bicol International Airport.

It was a three-hour trip.

We passed by pasalubong centers in Sorsogon to buy pasalubong.

We also bought Buko Pie. And it was yummy!

We were already at the airport by 11 in the morning.

We just had our lunch there and waited for our flight back to Manila.

 

I reached home at 6 in the evening.

This has been a wonderful trip for me and for all of us.

And I can’t wait for the next adventure!