Adventure Accounting

Point 303 was our third accommodation for this trip. We unpacked and packed on a daily basis. I initially booked a resort located in the town proper, General Luna. The rates there are lower by just a few hundred pesos per room per night. I changed my mind on the night before our ferry ride to Siargao and googled Point 303's number and reserved just one room.   The resort had well-maintained grounds.

We were cozily tucked in our room for the past hour before the weather became more forgiving. The clouds had mercy and the rain stopped at around 11:00am. Cloud 9 is acclaimed to have the best waves for surfers. The best swells are during the rainy months of September to October. International surfing competitions are held here, an event that keeps the town pumping.  I had my failed attempt in surfing when I was in Baler. While it isn’t the end of my non-existent surfing career, I wasn’t feeling up for a surfing lesson. Surfing lessons were offered for Php 450-500 and the instructors guarantee that you’ll be up on that surfboard cruising with the waves. The weather washed away my surfing dreams. I was content on taking pictures along the boardwalk. I was more excited with the island hopping tour. My last beach trip had been almost 6 months ago, in Isla Reta, Davao.

Island Vacation seems to be the most popular vacation home in the town of Socorro. I booked a room for the night by texting Sir Ed 09199897331. We booked the family room for 6 pax.The room costs Php 1,500 per night or Php 250/head. It took a couple of minutes for the caretaker to reach Island Vacation. Kuya Jimby was nice and patient to wait for the caretaker before leaving us. It took the caretaker a couple of minutes too to put in the fresh linens and blankets in the room. I think he wasn't informed that we were coming? Oh well. All was in place after a couple of minutes. The family room was decent enough: there was still enough space to move our luggage around. There is one private bathroom, and another common bathroom. We were the only tenants so we had the bathroom and the place to ourselves. We took showers and freshened up for dinner. The boat ride from Bucas Grande to Socorro left us with a salt-tanned skin. The aircon took a while to cool the room. T...

My first plan was to explore Bucas Grande Islands with Claver as the home-base for the night. But after talking to Sir Tata Bulabog, he convinced me to spend a night in the islands. He recommended Cinnamon Cottage. The selling point: not waking up very early in the morning to travel from Claver to Bucas Grande Islands. Solb! This is managed by SAVE Sohoton = Strengthened Association of Volunteers for the Environment of Sohoton.   You can contact Tata Bulabog to arrange your accommodations here: Tata’s Contact Number:   09399043585. We got picked up by our boat from Hayanggabon port and survived a nasty and scaryride going to Cinnamon Island . Please insist on a life vest when you rent out a boat. We were welcomed with warm greetings and sincere smiles from the staff.  We were welcomed by snacks: Cinnamon tea and some kakanin. Merienda, may view ka pa ng beach!  

The day started early. We were up and awake at 6:00am. Breakfast was served at 6:30. A feast. With our tummies filled, we were ready to conquer Bucas Grande. Clear waters greeted us. Our boatman, Kuya Jimby. Ang tunay na lalaki, hindi takot mag-suot ng pink!   Tiktikan lake. Dogs. And a pair of Pawikan is in those nets.  The two-storey cottage has a dive pad. Try to dive. I was only able to to the first level. My knees shook at the height. No thanks. Ang tunay na lalaki, hindi takot magsuot ng pink at mag-dive

At dahil hindi naman pwede maging lagging spoiled sa magulang at hatid-sundo sa airport , I decided to take the MRT to Taft then take a cab from there to NAIA Terminal 3. The standard rate was Php 150 but for some reason, the taxi drivers were bent on charging me Php 200 as a fixed rate because it was “traffic” daw. Weh, di nga? That was enough to drive up my blood pressure so I decided to have breakfast at McDonald’s first. Then... I saw jeepneys with the sign “NAIA 3”. Wohooooo! I see a tipid opportunity! So nag-upsize ako ng fries sa McDo. Hihihihihihi! It was still a tad early when I reached the airport. The check-in counter wasn’t open yet. I camped   on a seat and charged my cellphone in a socket. The Info desk said there are no charging stations but I can use a socket when I see one. 0_o Silhouette of fellow airport campers in NAIA 3 Sockets in NAIA 3 to charge your gadgets.

I heard about this place in Surigao where you can touch the jellyfish, and they won’t sting! I heard this from a fellow traveller in UBBE Palaui way back in 2010 . The place was not that popular yet. Summer 2012, pictures of these jellyfish in Sohoton Natural Park plagued my Facebook timeline. Flashback moment: Oh, I’ve heard about this!   In July 2012, I chanced upon Airphil’s Php 188 seat sale and booked an RT flight from Manila to Surigao. The base fare was Php 376.000 but adding all the add-ons, the total fare amounted to Php 1,334. Ganun na talaga ang "seatsale" ngayon. I excitedly started researching about my itinerary and projected costs. Ooops, it seems that the costs are quite pricey for a solo traveller. For one, I will have to rent the entire boat myself (gulp!). So I shared the details of my trip to my travel buddies in my GenSan-Saranggani trip. Abangers mode ng seat sale. By November 2012, they were able to book their own flights. Yay! There w...