A week since my last update? Indeed, I haven't been touching the laptop when I am home but I assure everyone that I will try my best in keeping up to everything now that I have a full time job all over again. But that really is a story for another day. Just as we approach the end to my Philippines adventures, perhaps I should list out some things that you should look out for while you're in the country.

1. They are extremely clean.


It is worth nothing that while many people would think that Manila and Bohol is set in Philippines, thus being fairly run down and quite dirty but it's exactly the opposite. In fact, the toilets in the Philippines would put the public toilets in Malaysia to shame! They're not only spotless and dry, one of the public toilets we visited at Loboc before we got on the river cruise lunch was also air-conditioned. There was no stench whatsoever and they even had air fresheners spritz out fresh scents, bearing in mind it's just a toilet. So yes, hygiene seems to be numero uno in the Philippines!

2. It is quite safe in Manila.


This applies to Manila as we we were never left alone in Bohol but having heard so many horror stories on being extra careful in Manila with thugs and snatch thieves, I felt no danger whatsoever. They had metal detectors and staffs checking through your bags when you enter several buildings but really it's all in the name of safety. In fact, it (again) puts the streets of Malaysia to shame as every street was well lit and there were people having their night exercises and spending quality time with friends at family at times like 9 PM, closing to 10 PM. What's up with you now, Malaysia?

3. There are taxes when you exit the airports.


I initially had no idea about this but watching Ashman pay for our airport taxes made me realize that there actually is such a thing. I am not too sure about the amount but I am estimating a PHP 50 when you exit the Tagbilaran airport to return to Manila and a PHP 550 when you exit the Manila airport. This of course is just an estimate but I do advise on keeping some pesos in hand when you want to leave.

4. People in the Philippines are very cheerful.


If there was anything that had caught my eye, it was that everyone in the Philippines is a cheerful person. They're always in smiles, always happy and constantly just in high spirits. In the words of Jacky, they are poor but they aren't broke and they are happy that way. It almost makes you rethink the decisions you make in life as a city person as we are constantly chasing after something big and never stopping to smell the roses. Perhaps it's time to step back to re-evaluate things now.

Now that I've wrapped up on most of everything there is about Bohol, I just thought of giving my thank yous away, because we all need to be grateful for all that we receive, right?



Big thanks to Ashman from AirAsia who liaised with me from the beginning to the end soonest as Tania got the word out to him that I would be going on her behalf. Truth be told, I was half expecting a scary looking man who would bark at us through every stop but meeting him at the airport was such a pleasant experience. Bigger thank yous are extended to AirAsia for making this trip come to live what with the arrangement with people over in the Philippines, making it a memorable end to my seemingly dark 2014.

For information on how you could jet off to Manila and then to Tagbilaran, check out my wrap on the AirAsia flights I had in November over here.




It is with great pride for me to say that I once shook hands with the mayor of Bohol, Gov. Edgar Chatto and also took a picture with him alongside the press release of which he signed for me. Their arrangements over every matter while we were in Bohol is much appreciated and I couldn't have imagined better hospitality than the one we were offered. It actually made me feel like a VIP, something that I wouldn't be in another 20 or 30 years unless I marry a dignitary of some sort but really, thank you.



I usually don't quite like travel agencies because they seem to take you on for a ride with sky high prices then dump you around and rush you through everything as though they were herding cows. And those cows would be us. I don't like being a cow. With Angels' Wings however, it was different because they had assigned one of the friendliest, most energetic and extremely helpful tour guide to us - an extremely knowledgeable man named Erico Joseph (Of who we called Eric all along the way).

They had also covered most of our expenses throughout, what with the experience at the Chocolate Hills Adventure Park and tarsier watching at the Tarsier Conservation Loboc. Everyone seemed to be friends with Eric and it was made so much more pleasant knowing that we were in safe hands. They are contactable via e-mail at boholangelswings@yahoo.com so if you're looking for tour guides in Bohol, I do highly recommend them.


From meeting at KLIA2 to jetting off and being on adventures together, thank you to each and every blogger and media people who were there for this trip. I've always been made to believe that a trip will only be enjoyable when you have the right sort of company and I am really glad this group of company has become such easy travelers. From the left to the right, bar the ladies in traditional clothes and the one holding the sign: Ashman, Jerome, yours truly, Kittie, Syahir, Ah Bok, Jacky, Illa and Tatie.

I had initially planned for this to be written together with my previous talk of the Abatan River cruise but having to cover 2 villages and the cruise all at once had made the post seem extra long, thus an extra piece was born! If you've read the previous post, what followed the cruise was a visit to an island called La Manok Island before we were to rest over the white sandy beach of Anda; both of which I will speak of today.


Placed away from beach at Anda, La Manok Island is also known as The Witch's Island over the kind of history it holds. It took us a great half hour to arrive by a boat and it took almost an hour before we left the shores because the waves were too great to begin with. The sea at Anda Beach was definitely not quite a child's play as it did get fairly rough at a point but it was otherwise a great ride anyway.

I usually don't quite like it when I am nearing the end of my holiday posts but what has to close just has to be, right? So let's get talking about my 3rd day in the Philippines. The itinerary seemed simple enough - we were just off to a river life tour before being guided to an island called La Manok only to end the day at the Anda White Beach. But let me tell you that it isn't all that simple!


There has always been a saying that when you know a place, that's when you fall in love with it and Abatan River in Cortes, Bohol isn't anywhere different from that. The Abatan River flows over 13.5km and the word "Abat" is taken over the context of "converge" where fresh water meets sea water at the Abatan River.



Along the river cruise, you will stop by several villages and be greeted with numerous sights that you hardly ever see in town. In fact it actually looks as though the Abatan River is their only way of getting away from home, though I have no idea if that's true. Scroll through my pictures, it's the first time ever that I'm not leaving captions through them.





Pretty quaint, no? Truth be told, I was really sleepy when we first arrived the beginning of our tour but heading on to sights like these made me wake up to take it all in. To call it an eye-opener wouldn't just be a pun anymore.









Our tour set us off a little while after we watched as the villagers made their roofs from "nipah" leaves and were guided to a village called Antequera, a place so vastly wide in greens that it's impossible to NOT feel at peace when you're there.