Salagdoong – of Forest and Sea

I dream of lying down in a grass field surrounded by trees and armed with a book but I can’t see this happening in Cebu City. So, I was very happy to be away from the claustrophobic city for a while and have a short communion with nature.

I love Salagdoong forest (mostly composed of Fire Trees and Molave trees) and beach resort but NEVER the foods that was served in their restaurant. Just thinking about the spare ribs that we had made me want to puke again.

There was an entrance fee to the beach resort and if I’m not mistaken it was just under 25 pesos.

Anyway, a lot of Filipino women are conscious about dark spots in the butt areas (due to sitting for long hours perhaps???) so it was NOT surprising how some of the girls could really stare hard at this one woman in particular who doesn’t have any reservations at all in wearing small bikini and asked if anyone knew how to get rid of dark spots. I jokingly suggested to stay under the sun for hours until they have dark complexion that it will even out the dark spots in the butt areas. They don’t like my suggestion though because most Filipinos doesn’t identify beauty with brown skin. A shame really.

Lunch at Coco Grove Beach Resort

Where to eat in Siquijor? Ace recommended Coco Grove Beach Resort because according to her, the place is beautiful and offers huge servings of food at a reasonable price based on her previous experience a few years ago but obviously, things have changed.

Upon arriving at the gate of Coco Grove Beach Resort, we had to wait for a few minutes while the guard checked if the resort could accommodate us. When we were given the go signal, these girls were so happy that they cheered which I find unnecessary really because it’s not as if we’ve been informed that we could now pass the pearly gates of heaven. Nyahaha.

I would have preferred ordering and paying for oneself because there’s a kiddie set meal available at 135 pesos which would have been enough for me and me alone but since the idea of NOT SHARING is usually frowned upon in this country, someone thought to just order foods and share it with everyone. This would have been a good suggestion if only we consume the same equal amount of foods and have the same drinks. I mean, I have an appetite of a kid compared to these women where every meal is like their last supper on earth and for drinks, I ordered a liter of bottled water only because it was cheaper at 40 pesos while some girls enjoyed pineapple shake at 85 pesos but the bill was equally divided by the number of heads. Where’s the JUSTICE in that?!@

These are our orders:
Beef in Mushroom at 250 pesos
Gulay sa Gata at 180 pesos
Sweet and Sour Fish at 260 pesos
Plain rice at 40 pesos
French fries at 95 pesos
Sinigang fish soup at 115 pesos
Mineral water at 40 pesos
Pineapple shake at 85 pesos

Total bill was 1400 pesos or 233.33 pesos per person which is OK i suppose but just look at the picture below! The soup was served in a freaking CUP!!!

Dumaluan Beach, Bohol

When I heard that people are going for a swim at Dumaluan Beach, I was a bit hesitant at first. I knew that Dumaluan is a private place with entrance fee per head but since it was Sunday and packed with mad people, I was able to get inside “undetected” because I didn’t pay a single cent. Yippee.

I love Dumaluan’s white sandy beaches located in Panglao, Bohol. It felt nice to be walking along the shore playing with the sands while enjoying the sea breeze. I would have loved to witness either sunrise or sunset but alas, it wasn’t possible at that time.

Lost in the Paradise of Bohol

For such a small island, Bohol is packed with so many delightful things to occupy even locals like me. There’s the musical river cruise, going eye to eye with the smallest primate in the world, the not-so-delicious chocolate hills, the unvirginized virgin islands and so many more.

But since I’m quite a cheapo too, the best thing I’ve ever done was… drum roll please!!

GET LOST.

Just take a hike, one step at a time, and head for nowhere in particular. Of course it would be a plus if you are doing it while holding hands with the love of your life but not all of us is lucky all the time.

Here are a few pictures I took and thanks to Picnik.com (I super love this site), I was able to tweak and shower my pictures with effects like 1960s for that vintage look.

Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol

Dumaluan beach and Alona Beach are two of the famous beach areas in Panglao, Bohol.  I don’t like Dumaluan because it’s a private resort and I didn’t really travel 2 hours on 800-pesos fast boat (14 Euro) + 250-pesos (4.4 Euro) tricycle ride just to get into another private beach when Mactan, Cebu is already loaded with one.

I love Alona Beach because it’s a beautiful public beach.

It was 180 degrees different from what I remember it to be a couple of years ago but it was just to be expected I guess. Of course I can’t really complain with so many restaurants to choose from now.

The locals thrive with the influx of tourists so can’t walk far without being urged for either motorbike rent (400 pesos/day), dolphin watching and island hopping to balicasag and virgin island (1200 pesos per trip), island tour, massage, etc. Business is definitely booming.

There’s a night life in Bohol too but I don’t think the party stays up all night long unlike Boracay because it went pretty quiet by midnight with barangay tanod (police assistant) walking around to check if everything remains safe and peaceful as it always was.

Have you been to Panglao, Bohol, Philippines already?