amazing underground river (part 3 of 3)

after what seems to be an eternity of always waiting, lo and behold, our group was finally called. i was so excited that i didn't mind sitting at the front. my seatmate was tasked to hold the flashlight while i.. i just enjoyed the sights. hehehe.

we could not easily take pictures of what we saw because, aside from the fact that it was dark, the cave is dripping with rainwater and.. bat urine?! anyway, the experience of seeing those spectacular sceneries is.. indescribable! you should see it yourself.. capture and seize the moment while you are there.

top photo courtesy of ate cenee (Regional Cluster Director of Region VIII)
2nd photo shows a peek of what is inside the cave

amazing underground river (part 2)

when we arrived at the island leading us to the underground river, we were greeted by a crawling creature (they say it is a komodo dragon).

on our way, i was looking for monkeys (i must have missed my ex-husband too much. hehehe). i was told these bunch of animals were notorious of grabbing anything that are in the plastic bags. (again, i remember my dear beloved ex-husband. hehehe) alas, i found one but he was somewhat tamed, huh?! he must have been civilized! good for him...

while waiting for our turn to ride a boat going to the cave, we kept looking at the entrance of the cave (see photo) and we were sort of in a meditative mood, wondering what would be in store for us inside the subterranean park.

(to be continued..)

amazing underground river

the day 2 of our stay in puerto princesa started with our trip to sabang terminal. we passed by a long and winding but sometimes rough road. after more than an hour trip, we dropped by a place (pardon, i forgot the name of the center) where our tourist guide got us a permit to go to underground river. good thing, it was a chance for us to take a breath and had a picture of ourselves (see top photo).

when we reached sabang beach, we waited for three long hours to get a slot for a boat that would take us to the underground river. well, we got irked at that inconvenience but it was somewhat eased when we were already aboard the boat (see bottom photo).

to be continued..

exploring puerto princesa

we had the chance to roam around puerto princesa the day before we were scheduled to invade el nido. since we already visited their infamous public market on day 1 (we were not too excited, weren't we?), we rushed first to mitra farm and quickly surveyed the area before we got to our second stop, the baker's hill. there the store almost ran out of hopia to sell. the scenario looked like panic-buying from impatient buyers.

our last stop before we called it a day (& before starting our night out) was the croc farm. as shown in the inset photo, we had a picture taken with the baby croc. i was somewhat nervous of any eventualities that might happen e.g., the baby croc's tail might spank us or its mouth might bite us.

nothing bad had happened. otherwise, i would not be writing here, would i?

on my way to palawan..

i was already talking about el nido when i should have blogged first about my escapades in going to palawan to attend the Government Association of Certified Public Accountants (GACPA) 30th Annual National Convention.

anyway, when i arrived at the Centennial Airport, i found my colleagues already waiting in line at the check-in counter. we pooled our tickets so as to get more baggage allocation for the souvenir programs that the organizers were bringing.

at the plane, we began to start napping after the stewardess served us with snacks. me and my officemate/seatmate didn't even bother to drink our coffee as we were determined to catch sleep for the duration of the flight considering that we barely slept the night before for some unreasonable reasons.

after a few minutes, we were awaken by the shaking of the plane. it was so strong that we grabbed the cups containing coffee and water so as not for it to fall. as a result, our hands holding that still hot coffee were smudged with and felt the burning sensation (hehe. yeah right, it's an overstatement..).

i admit i was nervous. although it was not my first time to experience air pockets, but knowing that there was a typhoon at that time, i closed my eyes and swore i would never ride a plane again should there be bad weather. my seatmate noticed i was somewhat worried already. she got worried too.

to make the story short, we arrived at puerto princesa safe and sound. and the adventure continues..

top photo: with COAns from National Kidney Transplant Institute
below: walking to the puerto princesa airport arrival area

a glimpse of el nido

i did not seem to enjoy el nido very well, did i? hehehe. for more pics, check it out at friendster.com by searching this email address: guia_madz@yahoo.com

mesmerized in el nido

oh my! my heart is left in el nido! the natural beauty of the place will be etched forever in my mind and in my soul. sounds corny, right? hehehe. how can i not be? with its pristine, white sand beaches and breathtaking sceneries, the child in me took its toll once again and dominated my being for two fun-filled days. even the scorching heat of the sun was not able to pull me away from frolicking in the sand, savoring the joys in snorkeling, and interacting with a variety of sea-based species. as an added bonus, i found nemo! actually, a number of them!

well, was my brief rendezvous in el nido just a dream? too good to be true? oh, don't wake me up yet please. i'm starting to dream again..

my days are numbered..

yes, i have exactly one week more to go and i'll be off to manila. but i'm not ready to say goodbye to tagaytay yet. please, not too soon.. how could i even think of leaving this lovely place? if only i could stretch the time..