this is Part 2 of my entry detailing how Jeff finally proposed + that surprise Bohol weekend adventure :)
eager to start the day, we got up really early the following morning and syempre headed to the beach straight away.
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| amazing view to wake up to |
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| stretching muna! |
not sure what those were but here's a closer look:
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| more like sand swirls, actually |
apparently, these were "castings" daw which are ingested and excreted by worms
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| view of the resort from where we were |
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| now you see me |
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| now you don't |
there were also elevated patches of area filled with seagrass
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| Jeff on the edge of the 'cliff' |
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| and me on sea grass |
I noticed groups of tourists were headed out in boats. Jeff mentioned they likely signed up for a tour which includes Balicasag island. we didn't have that in our itinerary now so I'm really looking forward in getting to going there next time!
breath-taking 'no?
and as we were finally heading back to the beach front -- this was the view that greeted us naman next!
glad we got to see that in its entirety!
as it was already about 7 am then, we hurried off for breakfast just before the start of our Bohol day tour
while we had a clear idea of what the day tour will comprise of we weren't really sure what to expect in terms of tour arrangements, order, and all.
turns out we had an exclusive guide and a whole Innova to ourselves!
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| day 2 breakfast buffet of corned beef and mixed veggies |
turns out we had an exclusive guide and a whole Innova to ourselves!
since the Chocolate Hills were farthest in the itinerary we headed out there first. it was a good 1.5 hour drive rin pala! so we had some time to catch up on sleep since we were up really early that morning.
it started drizzling though half way through but hoping it won't be na, by the time we got to the hills.
I actually thought the hills were just concentrated in one portion of Bohol. pero we actually passed by some while we were on the road though we only saw most of it from a far.
 closer to the viewsite - here's a pretty bad attempt of taking a photo of the hills |
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| here's a better view, albeit farther away |
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| Chocolate Hills marker |
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| at the foot of the view deck |
finally the Chocolate hills in all its splendor. rain and all.
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| hello Chocolate Hills! |
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| yup mahangin sa labas :) |
the rain was intermittent. so in the minutes that it stopped--photos galore!
before coming to Bohol I've always seen photos of tourists riding broomsticks seemingly flying over the hills. I've always thought these were taken directly from the viewsite--pero turns out they had a back-drop lang pala all along.
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| chocolate hills kuno |
but we settled for the real thing though...
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| he gets his turn |
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| more photos under the rain |
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| clearer skies - finally! |
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| we just can't take enough--photos that is! :) |
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| another Chocolate Hills marker at the top |
just before our next stop, we chanced upon some signs we missed to take photos of when were headed towards the view deck.
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| and yes, we really had to stop for this |
now on to our next stop--a butterfly sanctuary
I think butterflies are not endemic naman to one specific province so you would expect to see butterfly farms in various parts of the country. still it would be interesting to see what they had here and the last I've been to one was way back in college pa when we went to the Butterfly Pavilion near Luneta.
each group was assigned a tour guide each. and this was the guy we got. he was actually quite amusing and he had jokes to almost every bit of trivia he shared.
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| butterflies vs. moths |
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| I wonder how it would be like if there really were insects as huge as these replicas |
we also got to see them at various life cycle stages
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| larva |
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| pupa |
they actually wiggled in place when they sense the slightest touch
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| wiggle it! |
this was a set of butterflies naman whose wings changed colors depending on the angle. sayang forgot lang what these were called.
as we progressed with the tour, I noticed that the jokes our tour guide made were similar rin to the one-liners the other guides were giving out. mukhang may full script ata lahat silang sinusunod. sabagay if you had to do this everyday for years nga naman and at least it brings a lighter feel to the whole tour
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| butterfly conservatory exhibit |
they had been able to form the whole alphabet by capturing images from various butterfly wings
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| neat-o! |
it was quite a huge facility! and the arrangement wasn't far from their actual habitat which should be conducive for them to propagate in.
right after I entered, the coolest thing happened--a butterfly fluttered by near me and landed on my head. by the time we got to take a photo though they transferred it on my fingers na.
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| it must be my natural sweet scent! kidding! :p |
while passing by the right side of the conservatory, our guide asked us to stand at a specific location and turn our backs on him. yun pala there were wings on glass that they would have tourists take photos with.
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| on the wings of love ;p |
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| yan ang jump shot! |
I could not remember na if the butterfly was placed on my head intentionally or if another one perched on me. but just the same this has got to be one of my most favorite shots in the whole trip!
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| may 60's vibe effect itong butterfly look haha |
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| Jeff gets his turn. this actually started from his lips and just moved up. silence of the lambs ang peg |
we had a few more close encounters with these beautiful winged creatures
what I initially thought would be ho-hum part of our tour turned out to be really fun!
almost done with the tour, we had one more photo-op!
medyo KJ lang si Jeff
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| fresh blooms all over |
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| meet our new mascot friend! |
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| sinong pinaka-photogenic |
we actually passed by this earlier on the way to the chocolate hills, but we just took this quick stop on the way back
it was actually reminiscent of the forests in Subic sans the monkeys hehe
and finally the Tarsier conservation area
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| "see a tarsier" they say |
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| sana walang pasaway |
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| pretty nice tickets/passes. they must be earning a lot |
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| syempre we just had to have ourselves taken with the signature poses |
it was quite a good habitat for them na rin I think. it seemed that they were left to themselves rin naman most of the time. the tarsiers had their own sheds if you may call it and I think they also hunt for food within the compound. they are territorial daw kaya it was unlilkely rin for them to leave and escape the conservation area
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| a view of the area. just ignore the guy in the middle. haha |
on the way out was a line of souvenir stores. here are just some tarsier finds:
conscious of the time we then headed to our last stop before lunch: The Hanging Bridge
there was really nothing more to it than 2 hanging bridges. you just had to walk across one to get to some souvenir shops/for a drink of buko juice and return back by taking the other bridge.
well admittedly our guide shared it was just a normal bridge for the community living there anyway but tourists who would pass by the area and have their photos taken there so they just went with the flow
and since we had a schedule to keep up with-- we then headed next to the Loboc river for the cruise and of course for lunch!
there were a number of "cruise lines" if you may call it, to choose from pala. our package was with Riverwatch. unfortunately though when we got there the next cruise was starting pa in an hour! so we had to wait pa.
well what else to do in these situations but just amuse ourselves with the place. there was actually an airconditioned hall with TVs but there were just too many tourists also waiting for their cruise so we opted to wait outside
after almost 1.5 hours we were finally ready to go!
our guide hooked us up with the best seats -- right in front of the ferry
kaso it was quite far from the buffet table haha. so by the time we had our turn...
we were told that the cruise would span 6 kms. here were some of the view from the ferry.
we had another pit stop in one of the huts which was occupied by local performers
they provided additional entertainment using native musical instuments (on top of the cruise provided band) and I think also sold some native products
the cruise also had an 'official' photographer on board to take photos and provide print outs as souvenirs. kaso he charged 150 pesos so we just opted to take selfies of ourselves instead
here are more shots from where we were seated
over-all the cruise experience was okay naman. though I hoped it could have been more a tour around a river more than a to and fro kind of trip but pwede na rin. for one I didn't really expect they'd offer a buffet and all. all for roughly Php 500. other boats lang that we saw were less crowded than ours but those might have been rented out exclusively.
while we were waiting before the cruise, we saw a lot of people eating some kind of ice cream kaya I insisted we try it right after... and so we did!
while it was not part of the itinerary - we requested to have a quick stop in front of the Loboc church
there was really nothing more to it than 2 hanging bridges. you just had to walk across one to get to some souvenir shops/for a drink of buko juice and return back by taking the other bridge.
well admittedly our guide shared it was just a normal bridge for the community living there anyway but tourists who would pass by the area and have their photos taken there so they just went with the flow
and since we had a schedule to keep up with-- we then headed next to the Loboc river for the cruise and of course for lunch!
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| reminiscent of Wow Philippines |
there were a number of "cruise lines" if you may call it, to choose from pala. our package was with Riverwatch. unfortunately though when we got there the next cruise was starting pa in an hour! so we had to wait pa.
well what else to do in these situations but just amuse ourselves with the place. there was actually an airconditioned hall with TVs but there were just too many tourists also waiting for their cruise so we opted to wait outside
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| view of the Loboc church across the river |
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| trying to charm the cute kid |
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| hindi halatang gutom |
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| terminal / docking area |
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| our take-off point |
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| now boarding! |
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| my cruise ticket/pass - acts as a souvenir itself |
kaso it was quite far from the buffet table haha. so by the time we had our turn...
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| uh-oh seems like some got a lot more than they should |
it was quite disappointing that some took more food than they should. marami rin tuloy ang hindi nakatikim nung lahat nung dishes. I guess we really can't rid of that mentality 'no? saaaad. well good thing the cruise has a pit stop for food refill.
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| nakuha pang mag-pose kahit gutom :) |
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| and finally we were off! |
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| looking up: zipline over the river |
we had another pit stop in one of the huts which was occupied by local performers
they provided additional entertainment using native musical instuments (on top of the cruise provided band) and I think also sold some native products
the cruise also had an 'official' photographer on board to take photos and provide print outs as souvenirs. kaso he charged 150 pesos so we just opted to take selfies of ourselves instead
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| mga kuripot! |
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| just around the river bend |
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| back in front of the Loboc church |
while we were waiting before the cruise, we saw a lot of people eating some kind of ice cream kaya I insisted we try it right after... and so we did!
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| The Buzzz home-made ice cream! |
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| here are the flavors to choose from |
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| I really liked the cone they had + Buko flavor! |
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| 80 pesos for two cones + a bonus PDA behind |
yes we have a thing for churches. sayang lang we didn't get to go inside na...
whenever we go on trips, churches would be a usual stop. I wish we had stayed longer here instead of the next item we had on the itinerary...
the Bohol Python and Wildlife Park
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| about to see Prony |
I thought yung python lang ang makikita namin so it was a good surprise to see other forms of wildlife in the park
the park was actually more like a big backyard full of animals but I understand the local government checks on them and the condition of the animals in captivity which is good.
while we were told that Prony eats only once a month and she just ate a week ago, we did not bother to have a photo taken near her. so all I had was this view from outside the cage. haha.
apparently apart from Prony there was another attraction in the park -- si Marimar ang taong python. haha. beki sya that entertains the crowd especially since Prony doesn't really do much around the cage. he/she had a snake-eye look/effect too btw.
we didn't stay long there obviously--eager to get to our 2nd to the last stop
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| Baclayon Church |
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| "miracle" - can you see the image/face on the church wall |
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| view from the church yard |
along the church corridors were these posters which looked more like old shirt designs to me.
I really like this corner area with the image of the Mother of Perpetual Help. look how the walls are turning green--adding to the old-century appeal of the church
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just before going inside the church, I was given a piece of clothing to wear around my waist, since I was wearing shorts. I should me more mindful of that next time.
finally...
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| inside Baclayon church |
what I particularly loved about the church was the effect made by the mosaic windows
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| with my wrap-around skirt and my poser boyfriend |
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| looking up |
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| looking down: mismatched tiles |
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| inside looking out |
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| one last look before leaving |
and then we have our final stop: the Blood Compact site
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| cheers! |
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| over-looking site |
it actually took us longer to wait for our turn to have the photo with the statues dahil medyo madaming tourists taking turns. but apart from that and a few souvenir shops on the side. that was about it.
that wrapped up our Bohol Day tour. over-all I really enjoyed the trip. but highlights would definitely have to be the butterfly sanctuary, loboc river and baclayon church. haha. I could give the hills another shot when I get a chance to go back--hopefully with sunnier skies na
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| oh the places we got to go to :) |
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