Travelogue XXXIII: Puerto Galera Series Part III

There are just so many things to do in Puerto Galera and so many places to visit. If you haven’t read my other posts on this wonderful beach paradise yet , do check them now: Puerto Galera Part I and Puerto Galera Part II.

 If you’re on the way to the port of Calapan, you would pass by this magnificent view of the mountain and sea…

I mentioned before that we usually frequent the white beach every year. Sometimes, even twice in one summer. We just couldn’t get enough of it! For this travelogue, let me feature the other hidden nooks, this piece of paradise has to offer…

 Another great view Puerto Galera’s valleys…

Tamaraw Falls

You can ask any local and they would point you to someone who can give you a ride there. Renting a jeepney would cost around Php800-Php1500  depending on the number of people and whether it’s a half day or a whole day trip to this famous falls. If you rent a tricyle, it will cost a lot cheaper but the ride would take longer. On the average, a ride to the falls will take around an hour. Be sure to bring food and a bit of cash so you can pay for the entrance fee of not more than Php20 per person, buy some chips or fruits on the way down and get yourself some souvenir t-shirts before going back to white beach.
 

 
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Post Birthday and Pre-Father’s Day Celebration

Last Sunday was our third consecutive visit to my family in San Mateo Rizal. Despite the fact that Peter was starting to get the flu (I didn’t realize then it was THAT serious), we proceeded with our plans of turning it into a fun day for the entire family. Also, we really needed to go because we wanted to see Sam (we gave her to my Dad since we couldn’t take care of her with our very busy sched and all) and baby DM’s stuff were still with us. We spent the entire Saturday shopping for them, and I couldn’t wait to give them to my nephew (we spent a whopping Php13,000++ for his Disney multi-purpose crib, with a matching Disney stroller, pillows, blankets, pampers, milk, baby bottles, etc.). I told you if I had a baby, I’d go shopaholic myself. Perhaps, if we do have our own baby, I’d go buy the Graeco stroller that sells for Php16,000! My goodness! But who knows?!

This was taken last Saturday evening at Starbucks in SM Southmall. We were amazed at how wonderful the layout of this SM barnch is! It definitely is more pretty and nice than SM Megamall and Robinson’s combined! We promise to explore it some more next time. On another note, I think Peter got his bum tummy that weekend from drinking all the milk and coffee in Starbucks. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Anyway, so we were there last Sunday not only to give away our gifts but to treat the family to Ciudad Christia, this very famous resort in our town with the 9 waves (If Bulacan has the 8 waves, we have a better one than that!). Unfortunately, the resort was teeming with kids and families and there were no cottages and rooms left and Peter’s tummy hasn’t been cooperating well. We went back near our place and discovered this smaller swimming resort with less people and more rooms and cottages to offer — Villa Diaz. And it only cost  me Php120 each for the entrance fee as compared to Ciudad’s P250, rooms beginning at Php2500 for 12 hours worth of rent and cottages costing Php750 per half day.

 Between bonding with my family and worrying about Peter, I hardly had the time, motivation and energy to take pictures of the place. I did this photo ops before we left at around 6pm when most of the people  have gone home.

So, at Villa Diaz, I got us an open-air cottage near the swimming pool area (only Php300) so we can have our mini picnic while I got Peter a room with bathroom and AC ( only Php100 per hour, minimum 3 hours). Poor Peter, he spent the entire day in and out of the bathroom and I was really starting to get worried. You see, even when Peter was still in the college, he has this knack of  pretending to be ok even though he’s is already super sick. I remember a time when we were just sweethearts and we went shopping with his then alive mom, we didn’t know that he was burning with high fever the whole time. That’s my hubby… always the generous and heroic type. The downside is, this demeanor of him was also the one that got him hospitalized in 2004 because his fever reached 44 degrees celsius!!! So knowing him, I let him stay in the room, gave him his meds and let him sleep the entire day. I was praying that time that he gets better. Otherwise, I will really have to bring him to the hospital. He also wanted me to have a good time with my family. He will feel better that way, knowing that he wasn’t hindering my time with them. That’s my sweetest better half…how did I get so lucky?!

The ADAMS Family (L-R): Peter, me, Daddy, Mommy, Smeerf with baby DM and Mac.

Mac looks like my Dom more than my Dad.

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Not In The Mood

I’ve been so tired lately that I haven’t had the time to blog. I need to work doubly hard so I can earn more money. Maybe I’m PMSing… It’s been a while since I last had my period. Add to that the fact that Peter has been sick for three days now and I know it is stress-related. I’ve been in that position before. When I was bedridden for several days due to stomach upset that I thought I had cancer. It was THAT painful. Then I had my colonoscopy only to find out that my insides were clean. The doctor said it’s psychosomatic and my EVIL BOSS was the one causing my illness. There’s also a degree of worry that pops in my head every now and then. I try to ignore it as much as I can but sometimes it just feels like it’s too much to handle and I feel like I’m suffocating. Though our cash flow these days is much more liquid than it ever has in our entire lives, the money that goes to expenses is also quite huge… a lot more than it ever had before (sometimes, even more than a quarter of a million pesos in a month! And we don’t even have kids.). I’ve been budgeting our money very well but sometimes, unexpected things pop up that shatters our liquidity. But that’s okay. Money is easy and comes frequently is what I say to myself all the time.  Anyway, I’m not just a daughter, a wife, and an elder sister. Now, I’m an aunt too. And whether I like or or not, I now have another degree of responsibility added on top of everything else that I worry and think about. I just hope that someday it will all be worth it… that all the sacrifices Peter and I make won’t be for nothing.  To Baby DM, I hope you grow up into a better person than anyone of us ever did. We will help you out and your family as much as we can. But we are hoping too that they can eventually learn to stand on their own. I know they will. It’s just a matter of time and positive attitude. 

I Can Be A Couch Potato Again

I Am Legend

Will Smith

This is sooo depressing. But I admired Will’s acting here.  

The Bucket List

Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman

 Maybe it’s also time for me to make myself a bucket list… but definitely, bungee jumping and sky diving are out of the question. The list is supposed to make me feel more alive… not get a heart attack from fright! Hehehe. To each his own.

The Brothers Solomon

Will Arnett, Will Forte

 Stupid, stupid, stupid movie! At least, it’s a bit funny.

The Game Plan

The Rock

Hmmm… ok, I guess. 

Jumper

Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Samuel L. Jackson

If I only have his gift!!! Gosh!  I’d be a lot more careful than him and I’d live my days not only traveling the world… perhaps, I’d be visiting other planets too. Hehehe.

 Juno

 Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner

Awww… this is so touching. Kids these days should watch this!  At least, if it won’t help them prevent unwanted preganancy, it will teach them to be strong and to believe that it’s not yet he end of the world for them.

Officially An Aunt

Yep! My brother’s girlfriend Smeerf gave birth to a beautiful bouncing baby boy last weekend and we couldn’t be any happier! We are worried too but hey, babies are always blessings to families, right? Smerf is one heck of a very brave woman. What she did, I think, I can never ever even try to do in this lifetime. She is just 22 years old, was in and out of the hospital several times for many weeks now, thinking that she was ready to give birth. And finally, when she was about to, she was nowhere near any hospital nor clinic and so my Dad was forced to look for a midwife in the neighborhood (San Mateo Rizal). Good thing he found one and the rest as they say is history! She gave birth at 3am last Saturday, and according to her, it was painful but beautiful. There was a point where she couldn’t breathe anymore and she wanted to give up. But with one last push, and with the help of the midwife’s hands and my brother’s hands pushing the baby down her belly, out came little Dominic Marc Adams (yeah, they changed their minds about naming him Bryan)… DM for short which is also the nickname of my grandfather, in the hopes that baby DM will be as smart and as responsible as my grandfather who is a Lawyer/Educator/Dean/Haciendero all in one. Yeah, it’s really hard to top that but who knows?! And speaking of babies being blessings, I really think so coz Peter and I have been visiting them for two consecutive weekends now (which is a very rare thing I’m telling you) and we’ll try to make it a point to make Sunday a family day (unless we’re traveling). We’ll be back there this Sunday to buy some really cool stuff for the baby. We also left Sam (our basset hound) to my Dad because she can be better taken care of there. Plus she’ll have two other dogs to play with. That’s another reason for me and Peter to come and visit them every Sunday. On the way back home, we dropped by Five Forty Surf Shop to buy a bar of wax for our surfboard. We were supposed to cross the street to buy some Kopi Rotti bread but I noticed this cute little food place called Banapple. We checked it out and tried their Banapple Smoothie and Caramel Fudge cake. Gosh… both tasted soooo divine! We couldn’t help sharing the news so we called Peachie, bought her a Banapple smoothie as well and we ended up hanging at their house until 30 minutes before midnight. It was a good weekend. It was not what we expected but it turned out great.