Enjoying the Rest of Cagbalete Island
December 29, 2009This is a continuation of my previous Cagbalete Island blog posts. Please refer to the links below for prior details about this trip:
A Sneak Peek: Cagbalete Island
~~~oOo~~~
Peter and the girls were drinking until dawn the previous night. Naturally, I was the only one who woke up at dusk to catch this beautiful sunrise. At times like this, I wish time would just stop so I can be at that very moment for as long as it takes. The sky was so majestic, the moon’s crescent was still smiling down on me and the horizon was displaying colorful hues of the waking sun. It was so pretty.
Have I told you that Mr. Pansacola, the resort’s owner, let us transfer to a bigger hut since it was just us and another couple who was being accommodated at that time? Yup, he did! But we didn’t pay extra anymore. This hut was supposed to cost us Php3,000 per night. But we only paid Php1,500. Moreover, the dining area where we hung out was just outside this big hut. More convenient for us. Thanks, Mr. Pansacola! ^_^
Since breakfast wasn’t ready yet and there was nobody else awake at that time, I decided to spend some time with Paolo Coelho’s book, The Winner Stands Alone.
At around 8:00 am, people started waking up in time for our BIG BREAKFAST! Whoopbee!!! We had tuyo, eggs, beef steak, fried rice, bananas and coffee.
By the time we finished eating, the water started subsiding… more sand appeared…the wind stopped whistling… the sea was so still and clear…
Time to frolic for more camwhoring!!!!
“My life is like a stroll on the beach…as near to the edge as I can go.”
–Thoreau
“I have always loved the beach. The smell of the salty water, the wind in my face, the gentle roar of the waves all combine to create a sense of peace and calm.”
–Anonymous
“The waves of the sea help me get back to me.”
-Jill Davis
The Island Life at Cagbalete
This is a continuation of my previous Cagbalete Island blog posts. Please refer to the links below for prior details about this trip:
A Sneak Peek: Cagbalete Island
~~~oOo~~~
Like I’ve mentioned before, we arrived at Cagbalete island in the afternoon. After enjoying our lunch, all that was left for us to do was to start enjoying the beach. That’s what we came here for after all.
Aahhhh… c’est la vie avec mon amour!
Us girls immediately got busy taking tons of photos… camwhoring galore!
“Don’t grow up too quickly, lest you forget how much you love the beach.”
– Michelle Held
“I am you; you are ME. You are the waves; I am the ocean. Know this and be free, be divine.”
–Sri Sathya Sai Baba
“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.”
–Isak Dinesen
This photo here is what I call a “Baboo Win!” ^_^ We were trying to set Daena’s camera to get a photo of us three. We didn’t know that Peter was just there behind us all along. ^_^
How to Go to Cagbalete Island
November 19, 2009The other day, I gave you a sneak peek into this wonderful paradise we’ve visited over the weekend — Cagbalete Island in Mauban, Quezon. On this post, I am going to share with you how we were able to go there on a tight budget but with memories and experiences full of sunkissed glorious moments. It all began about a month or two ago when my girlfriends and I planned for an island getaway. Koryn was the one who recommended the place since she has already been there with her family over the summer. She was telling us how nice, serene and “virgin” the place was. It’s not intended for vain travelers as we would need to just simply commune with nature and let go of all the luxuries we’re used to in all the other beach resorts we’ve visited before (like nice toilets and shower rooms). We all said “game!’ and the planning began. There were supposed to be around 7 of us. But as the intended date of departure from the city (Nov. 14-15, 2009) was nearing, attendance boiled down to four (Peter, Koryn, Danes and moi). Since we originally budgeted P2000 per person, we presumed that our budget would go up to P2500 or even P3000 per head. Well, we couldn’t back out anymore. We’ve waited for this moment and we were raring to go! We coordinated via email and the final budget and itinerary was as follows (emailed by Koryn, intended for five people):
Hi guys! Eto na! Eto na! 
Here’s our budget breakdown for the trip:
| ITEM | AMOUNT | AMOUNT / HEAD |
| Gas | 4,000 | 800 |
| Ferry (to island) | 40 | |
| Rented boat (from island to town) | 1,500 | 300 |
| Hut (with no bathroom) | 1,500 | 300 |
| Set meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, 2 snacks | 0 | 700 |
| Drinks, alcohol, etc. | 500 | 100 |
| 2240 |
Inclusive in the 700-peso meal package are the following:
Breakfast
Snack 1
Lunch
Snack 2
Dinner
Masasarap food nila, promise! Think lutong-bahay and fresh seafood. 
Because we’ll arrive at the island around 11:00am, the serving of meals will be as follows:
SATURDAY
Lunch
Snack 1
Dinner
SUNDAY
Breakfast
Snack 1
And here’s my proposed itinerary:
SATURDAY
3:30am - Call time at Peter and Jen’s in Alabang
4:00am - Departure from Peter and Jen’s
*We can just eat breakfast on the road
*Travel time to Mauban is 3-4 hours pero I gave ourselves some time allowance for breakfast, photo ops, and possible
confusion in directions hahaha.
9:00am - ETA Mauban, Quezon
- Park Car at Rommel Pansacola’s (my contact) house
9:45am - Head to pier
10:00am- Ferry departure from pier
11:00am- Helloooooo, Cagbalete Island!
SUNDAY
3:00pm- Departure from Cagbalete Island
4:00pm- ETA Mauban town
- Pick-up car from Rommel’s place
9:00pm- ETA Manila
On Sunday, we’ll be riding a rented boat back to town. The ferry kasi leaves at 1pm so naisip ko baka mabitin lang tayo kasi magmamadali tayo, hahabulin pa natin yung sked kasi one trip lang yung ferry. But if you do want to leave earlier so we can arrive in Manila a little early also, let me know para I can tell our contact.
* We decided to stay until 4 pm on Sunday so we added P200 each for Sunday lunch. ^_^. We also gave tip of P100 each. So total planned budget went up to around P2700 per person.
Finally, Nov. 14, came. I was so excited! We all were! I’m all packed since Friday the 13th. Peter arrived at 12 midnight from work, packed in a flash and slept for a few hours. At 4:00 a.m, Koryn and Danes were here at our home and we were all set to go. We left our house and was on the road by 4:30 a.m. Below is the map we followed from Muntinlupa to Mauban, Quezon.
If there were more than five of us, we would’ve used the bigger car, the Revo, which consumes more gas than usual. But because there were just four of us, we used our smaller car instead (Toyota Yaris). Full tank of gas cost us P1,200. We hoped to save as much as we could so we can make the most out of this trip. For directions, here is the text message sent by Koryn’s brother Carlo. You can follow this too:
From SLEX, exit to Sto. Tomas Batangas (going Legaspi/Bicol). Pass through San Pablo going to Tiaong Town proper (take that). Go straight to the towns of Candelaria and Sariaya. In Sariaya, there’s this fork going to Lucena, the other going to Tayabas. Take Tayabas (there’s a sign), go straight until you reach Tayabas town proper. Once in Tayabas, find the main road. If it’s one way going to the church, take the second corner from the church. Take a left turn to the main road. Once in the main road, find the Shell gas station. Take the road beside it. At the end of that road, turn right. That road will already take you to Mauban. It’s quite a long road. You will pass by Pansacola street on your right…a school…. until you see another Pansacola street cor. Quezon street., also on your right. Stop there on that corner. Park your car and cross the street.
Across from where we parked, we saw this house with capiz windows on the second floor and store/carenderia below. That’s the house of Mr. Rommel Pansacola (0928-5058633), the owner of the Pansacola Beach Resort in Cagbalete Island. Because we had previous arrangements with him through Koryn, he let us park our car inside his garage and assisted us in getting a tricylce that will take us to the boat station.
***When you call him for booking, tell him you got to know about his resort through Jen and Koryn, who went there last Nov. 14-15, 2009. You might just get a discount like we did. ^_^
We were there at around 9:30 a.m. We unloaded our stuff and rested a while inside their carenderia. Peter was very exhausted since he hasn’t been sleeping for two days due to his very hectic work schedule. So after a few photo sessions, we let him rest while we waited for our tricycle ride.
The tricycle ride took no more than 5 minutes and cost us only P5.00 per head. The boat station is nothing special. The boats they have are small, something like the boats we used to ride when going to Puerto Galera, only a bit smaller. It was supposed to leave port at 10:30 a.m. but because the captain was trying to fill up all possible spaces with people, food, drinks and other commodities, we waited a bit longer. Here, you will smell all kinds of possible smell. Like I told you before, this is no picnic. But wait till you get to the island and everything will be worth it. By the time the boat left port, it was already drizzling and we were feeling gloomy. We’re all praying for the weather to be nice at the island and hopefully the sea won’t be as turbulent.
The boat ride took an hour. By the time the boat docked, the sun was already shining. Hurray! However, our calvary is not yet over. Considering that it was low tide, the boat docked not so far from the beach. We still had to wait our turn to ride (in standing position) an even smaller boat that will take us to the beach. Quite an adventure, I tell you! On the beach, people were asking us where we’re staying. We didn’t mind them coz Koryn already knew where we’re going. But we still had two kids guide the way because it was a bit far from where the boat docked. I can’t say how many kilometers we walked that afternoon. Probably a kilometer or two or even more. I thought it was neverending. But I didn’t complain. I was enjoying the view while I was losing more and more calories every minute. ^_^
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Sneak Peek: Cagbalete Island
November 17, 2009Hi folks! I’m all tanned and gorgeous from our weekend island getaway. I know I’m not yet done with my Singapore blog posts but I couldn’t help giving you a preview of my latest vacation. I don’t have the time to blog much right now so let me just give you a sneak peek of the beauty of this wonderful paradise .. Cagbalete Island… the nearest island to Mauban, Quezon…
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