The boyfriend and I went for a short weekend in Coron last week. It was two days of swimming and taking walks in an unfamiliar town, and for a few days after that I felt like I was in a Coron hangover, the trip being so much fun and all. I didn't expect Coron to be what it was, it was the right mix of small town (or barrio, take your pick) and a small city... it reminded me a lot of the town in Boracay, with its narrow streets flanked by restaurants that had foreign tourists for the majority of its patrons, and the distinct energy that you only feel in small resort towns in the Philippines.
And the food! Man, I could stay a week there and just sample the food. Fresh seafood, cashew that's boiled or peeled or sugared, plus Italian, Korean, Japanese, and virtually any kind of food that you can think of having cravings for--- it's there. I liked how small it was... just the right size for walking, and if you get tired, there's a cafe nearby for drinks.
Of course, we went there for the island hopping, which did not disappoint. A friend of ours got us a day tour for P650 for six locations and one sumptuous lunch in one of the islands. For that price you get to stop at Kayangan Lake, Twin Peaks Reef, Twin Lagoon,Atwayan Beach, CYC Island and Coral Garden. Kayangan Lake was the best stop for me, since we rode the boat to part of the island where you can hike up to the lake. This is perhaps one of the most recognized spots in Coron and going up was quite a challenge since it rained the night before. It was fun and the view from the top is well worth the climb.
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| first plane ride together |
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| touchdown Coron! |
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| He has his own snack shop at the terminal |
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| blue against green... and I look so brown! |
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| the view from the Sunrise Inn balcony |
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| the inn has these shell things all over the inn... so beachy! |
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| We took a day tour that took us to this gift shop |
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| the town park |
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| these locals are so lucky to be living here... they get to enjoy this view every afternoon. Awesome. |
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| A cyclist climbing his way to the Mt. Tapyas Hill Viewdeck... 700 steps, and we only got to the 100th... |
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| view from 100 steps (and that's where we stayed haha!) |
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| Coron kids after school. |
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| early morning walk! This is a strip of road on the way to the town from the port |
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| early photowalks allowed us to stop whenever and take pictures without getting stared at. |
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| I love these green benches! |
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| There was a schoo parade on our way back. There's a lot (and I mean a LOT) of kids in this town |
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| Ah.. this view is Coron. |
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| That sign!!! I wish we had something like that here... |
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| I love this shot... this view got me excited... we were finally starting our island tour! |
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| enjoying the lake after a tedious climb. |
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| Look at that blue-green water!!! |
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| Thank You for this amazing view! |
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| Sunrise Inn verandah. Tita Glo also serves free coffee! :) |
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| JP before our post-island hopping trip.. sleepy and nursing a headache... |
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| Coron in the afternoon. Wanted to go on a motorbike ride but it wasn't meant to be... |
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| so we went shop-hopping instead. |
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| early dinner at Lolo Nonoy's |
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| bamboo tubes filled with seeds... if you flip them up and down they produce a sound that resembles trickling water. |
Making this post is making me wax nostalgic for last week! I loved everything about this trip, apart from the fact that I suffered from intermittent migraines along the way. Coron is such a beautiful town and I would definitely want to go back (fingers crossed, soon!) Despite the size, we never got to explore the whole of Coron. Two days is definitely too short a stay, especially since there's still a lot of food that was left unsampled. Eating my way through Palawan would be the most logical goal for the next trip, whenever that may be :)
“You are the closest I will ever come to magic.”
― Suzanne Finnamore
The Zygote Chronicles
family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family, family
My cousin Daylin got married a few months back and now she's carrying a healthy baby girl that is due to come out anytime next month! I can still remember Daylin as a little girl, all bungisngis and loud whenever her family would come to our hometown for the summer. Now she is a full grown woman, married, and with another life growing inside her. It boggles the mind, frankly, how time could fly so fast. It seems like yesterday when we were kids playing and climbing trees. I suppose we all have to grow up and have babies and build our families, and I am so glad to see Daylin building her own with the man of her dreams and very soon, the first (I hope) of many children.
I cannot wait to see this little person in the flesh, all pink and wrinkly as most babies tend to be. I can just imagine this little baby growing up to be a head turner like her mother. And with an excited family, complete with aunts and uncles and lolos and lolas on both sides to greet her arrival, I'm sure this little bundle of joy is excited to come out into the world too.
I have always wanted to make quesadillas at home since apart from burritos and nachos, quesdillas are right at the top of the list of favorite Mexican food that I have cravings for. It's a good thing that I found frozen tortillas at the frozen foods section of Lee Plaza, or my homemade quesadillas would never get done (for the life of me, I do not know how to make my own tortillas, even if I have a step-by-step recipe in front of me.)
Making the quesadillas was a breeze. I just laid everything out, sauteed the vegetables and shredded the cheese so that everything will be ready for assembly as soon as the tortillas were toasty. Everything was done in 20 minutes! Definitely making another batch again soon :)
My mom is one of the most amazing people I know, perhaps, the MOST amazing.Her faith, her ability to be kind in the face of situations that normal people use as an excuse to be unkind, and her unwavering reminder to me, my brother and my sister to pray and go to church every Sunday makes me wonder about how she does it. Perhaps it is because my mother is a praying woman, perhaps that's where all that strength comes from, and perhaps I should double up on my praying too. Mothers, too me, are amazing. They are counselors and doctors and drill sergeants and sisters and best friends. Perhaps you learn all these things when you have children, perhaps there is no other way than to be all these people rolled into one, but still, it is amazing how mothers face all these responsibilities head-on and still manage to smile and laugh and give wise advice when needed--- it simply boggles my mind.
To my mother, who is both my confidant and the person who gives me a good whacking in the head when I need it, Happy Mother's Day :)
“There is an ugliness in being paid for work one does not like.
Anaïs Nin
I was kind of hesitant about using this quote... I have been trying to remove even the slightest bit of negativity from my life, and that includes words that say 'no, don't, do not'... it may seem like overkill but I prefer it that way. I don't think we can ever have too much of positivity, and by that I mean the rational kind. Today is the day that I plan on hunching over my computer and finally starting the first 50% of my legal thesis. I have butterflies everytime I think about it. I want to get started on it, and I'm so lucky to be able to arrive at a topic that I am really passionate about, but the grueling technicalities of writing a paper, the formality of it all just makes me want to spend the day working.
Legal or scholarly papers have never been my thing. I have done two of them but still I would like to avoid them if I could. I prefer writing conversational pieces, which is why I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job. My clients often adamantly say that they want something to be 'conversational, please' and I would happily reply, 'With pleasure!' None of that friendliness in a legal paper, where formality and the use of pretentious legalese is often mistaken for good content (gaaaahhhh!!!) But still, I hope my paper will be able to contribute something. It deals with cyberlaw and child exploitation which are two areas where my interests meet, so I am part-excited at the thought of all the things I'm going to learn, part-dreading the tedious task of arranging the footnotes (I think I was born lazy and am still trying to overcome that habit as I approach my 30s). I really should start writing on my thesis instead of writing on this blog haha!
Until the next post!
