Foot and Fire

     After my Palawan vacation together with my parents, cousin and friends, I decided that it is indeed the ultimate destination that represents our archipelagic riches, with her string of islands, fine white sand stretches of beaches, giant karsts, cool caves, different corals, colorful fishes, lush mangroves, and infinite series of blue waters. Added to that riches is our signature Filipino smile which can easily be found everywhere in Palawan, from the tour guides, the boatmen and often, the Visayan-speaking pedestrians. Our day started with a meeting at the airport. My cousin Cooky with her two friends Sharon and Marissa emerged in the airport fresh from their respective hectic nursing duty at St. Luke's Medical Center, and two more friends of hers, Jo and Jess, a mother and daughter tandem, came from Iloilo City while I and my parents and family friend Nida, came in the airport in travel lite mode. And the fun began! TWO DAYS IN CORON TOWN AND C...

By GERLIE M. UY As in all markets, fresh fish and other seafoods reign. We had a great time doing the marketing here. Here are some snapshots of the wet market in Coron Town....

By GERLIE M. UY lobster These are the photos I took of the food we partook in Coron Town, Palawan. We stayed in Coron reef and they allow us to do the marketing and they cook the meal for us ((@100 service charge/kilo). Since the wet market is just walking distance from our place of stay, marketing in the wet market was a fun activity for us too...  small fish, fried. okra, boiled.  bam-i  pinakbet  Caldereta, compliment from the Coron reef owner, Mrs. Chinita Pe Grilled red fish...  crabs.. fish tinola sweet and sour fish salted eggs with tomatoes and green mangoes

The initial dip of the body in this 40 C hot spring is a challenge but once one gets into it,  one cannot help but dip and take a plunge. ***  Enjoying the initial and challenging dip. *** Getting used to the hot waters for a while...  And everyone wished that this hot spring is just within our neighborhood access.  *** A welcome signage. it spelled Maquinit but I saw it spelled Makinit somewhere too... Entrance fee is P150 and it closes until 10pm. *** A welcome piece inside the hot spring.  *** A birthday celebration of Jess inside the Maquinit Hot Spring.  *** The lush mangrove just before the hot spring pool... *** *one* *two* *three* *four* Four shots of the rough and curvy road going up the hot spring... whooosh.  Tricycle hire is P300/4pax per trike. ***

The unstoppable nine. Before I ever proceed, Busuanga is the name of the island where the plane lands while the town proper is called Coron Town. It is apart and often mistaken as Coron Island where the Kayangan Lake is located.... We proceeded the day with our DIY tour. We rented a boat for a day at 2,500 and had our lunch prepared at P200/pax but on the next day, we bought our own food and the boatmen cooked it for us. From the Coron town, we left the wharf  called Gateway and headed to Siete Pecados where we had snorkeling and fish feeding, then we went up the cliff where the postcard photo of the Coron Karst can be seen and then down to the Kayangan Lake where we swam towards a small cave and had lunch at Banol beach. We headed to the Twin lagoon after lunch and swam in another white sand beach. We also went snorkeling at the Skeleton Wreck. (Note, Just prepare for the entrance fees for each place of destination since each place is managed by different cooperative/fou...