Playing slipper game along the white beach of Panglao Island
Just today (January 6, 2012), Department of Tourism (DOT) launched their campaign with the new slogan “It’s more fun in the PHILIPPINES”. This event is now trending in Twitter. Filipinos shared their own opinions by tweeting criticisms, praises and sarcastic remarks aimed at the DOT. Having read a lot of comments, I still choose to support this campaign. It’s more fun in the Philippines! I can testify why I support this campaign.
On the first day of 2012, my church mates went to Panglao Island. Many would go to Panglao Island to swim in the beaches. But us, we went there not just to swim but to play slipper game. More fun! One of my churchmates has a relative who tends an undeveloped beach located in between the famous and luxurious Bohol Beach Club and Eskaya Resort. Thus, our accommodation was free! The place is quiet and you can truly appreciate the beauty of nature!
The whole cast
At first glance, it is a white sand beach!
Others who did not play, they collected sea shells.
Chilling Out in Panglao Island Nature Resort
Spending quality time with my friends is a great way to treat myself during my rest days. We had fun in Panglao Island Nature Resort located in Bingag, Dauis, Bohol. The place is perfect for us. The entrance was only PhP 450.00/head. The PhP 150.00 is for the swimming pool while the remaining PhP 300.00 is consumable in which you can spend in ordering your food or drinks inside the resort.
- The overview Panglao Island Nature Resort’s swimming pool and its so called Dream Islet.
- The entrance.
- We spent more time taking a picture of ourselves with this signage.
- I like how this plant beautifies the surroundings of the resort.
- The way to the mini bar near the pool.
- A view of the swimming pool.
- Relaxing view when you eat.
- A view from the second floor of the restaurant near the pool.
- The orchid.
- A view taken from the receiving area.
- Fresh cold buko juice at PhP 50.00
- Chocolate Milk at PhP 50.00
- I forgot how much this one cost but this Lechon Kawali is tasty.
- Beef Steak.
- Pancit.
- Fish.
- The snacks we ordered. Clubhouse Sandwich.
- Another view of the swimming pool.
- The Panglao Island Nature Resort taken from the Dream Islet.
- The waving flags in the Dream Islet.
- The Dream Islet taken from the second floor of the restaurant near the pool.
- Benches for sun bathing.
- Seats for chatting.
- The shore of Panglao Island Nature Resort.
- The swimming pool.
- We, enjoying the pool.
Cebu and Bohol | Skies and Seas
You must come to the Philippines. It is an archipelago composed of 1,107 islands. The country has white sand beaches to indulge, rich marine and wildlife sanctuary to discover, interesting and well preserved history to learn, natural and man made tourism sites to explore… and a lot of seas and skies to gaze upon…
I am not your typical traveler but I always take pictures no matter how insignificant they are. So this is my story about how I got from Cebu City to Tagbilaran City aboard Weesam Express…
The brave and fluttering Philippine flag
Cebu City Pier 4 and 5
Cebu City as seen from a far.
Cokaliong Ships docked in Cebu City Pier 1
Ocean Jet on its way to Tagbilaran City
Sulpicio Lines going from Cebu to Manila
The Skyline near Carcar, Cebu
Skyline near Sagbayan, Bohol
The sky and the sea and island of Cabilao, Loon, Bohol
The town of Maribojoc, Bohol
The Tagbilaran City as seen from a far
The Maribojoc Bay. Peaceful, quiet, calm what else you have in mind
The small yet clean Tagbilaran City harbor
The Philippine skies and seas! What a wonderful God’s creation. 
) God bless the Philippines
Cebu – Bohol Sea fast ferries
If you ask me: how to get there in Bohol if you are in Cebu? Well, the answer could be either Supercat, Weesam, Oceanjet and Starcraft. These four big names are enough to answer that question, that literally means that you can ride in a fast ferry.
I don’t know… maybe talking about this would give my readers an insight what fast ferry to take if they are planning to go to Bohol. I am no tourist but I can give a review of these fast ferries.
SuperCat
Picture of Supercat in Tagbilaran City Pier
RATE (promo): PhP 500.00 (one way) / PhP 300.00 (return trip) – PhP 25.00 Cebu terminal fee & PhP 11.25 Tagbilaran terminal fee
You go to Cebu Pier 4 to take this ship. Supercat takes 3 trips daily from Cebu to Tagbilaran (vice versa). You can check the schedule in their website: http://www.supercat.com.ph/sched.asp?route=68#dtn Estimated Travel Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
COMMENT: This vessel had a lot of cancellation trips. I have my own share of frustration about their trip being cancelled. Also, this ship is late most of the time. My friend sometimes quote this vessel as Super Dog instead of Supercat… Super Dog… as in Super Dogay. LOL Well, past is past and I do not intend to pour out my frustrations. The accommodation is nice for their rate. The passengers are not crowded. You can relax pretty well inside the ferry. And I like their TV inside, the crew seems to be friendly.
Weesam Express
Weesam Express 7
RATE (promo): PhP 500.00 (one way) / PhP 100.00 (return trip within 3 days) / PhP 200.00 (return trip within 4 – 7 days) / PhP 300.00 (return trip within 8 -15 days) – PhP 25.00 Cebu terminal fee & PhP 11.25 Tagbilaran terminal fee
The ship’s docking place is in Cebu Pier 4. Weesam also has 3 trips daily from Cebu City to Tagbilaran City (vice versa). Estimated time of arrival: 1 hour and 45 minutes. For more information, you can call their hotline: Cebu City Ticket Office (032) 412-9562 / 231-7737 ; Tagbilaran City Ticket Office (038) 501-8223
SCHEDULE: Departure Cebu – Tagbilaran: 9AM, 2PM and 6:30PM ; Departure Tagbilaran – Cebu: 7AM, 11:20AM and 4:30PM
COMMENT: Weesam is my favorite fast ferry so far especially now that they are having PhP 600.00 promo. If you are a type of person who prefers to go with less crowded people, this ship is okay. The number of ship’s passenger is moderate. Just don’t let Supercat cancel their trips so their passengers won’t be transferring to Weesam. So far, I did not experience any delays. The TV inside is very old. I don’t like watching their movies. I would prefer to sleep with their level of entertainment. LOL
Oceanjet
The Oceanjet with pictures of Philippine tourism sites on its windows
RATE (promo): Cebu to Tagbilaran & vice versa one-way trip is PhP 500.00. Advanced purchased rates for one way or round trip tickets: ONE (1) day before departure date PhP 400.00 open air accommodation only; TWO (2) days before departure date PhP 500.00; ONE (1) week before departure date PhP 400.00; TWO (2) weeks before departure date PhP 300.00
This ship is found in Cebu Pier 1. It has 5 trips daily from Cebu – Tagbilaran (vice versa). You can check the schedule at their website: http://oceanjet.net/schedule.php?origin=Cebu&destination=Tagbilaran Estimated Arrival Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
COMMENT: Oceanjet is pretty successful in their promos. Because of their promotions, many people can afford. Because many people can afford, many passengers are waiting in line to get inside the ship. Its very crowded. The seats are pretty small especially in the “open air accommodation”. The TVs inside are fair enough. You can watch the movie if you want. The actual estimated travel time is usually for two hours. Well, I like Oceanjet because it has 5 trips daily which makes Cebu and Tagbilaran more accessible anytime and I like their promotional rates.
Starcraft
Starcraft speeding its way from Tubigon, Bohol to Cebu City
Starcraft is the only fast ferry that travels from Cebu City to Tubigon, Bohol and has an estimated arrival time of 45 minutes. This is probably the easiest and most convenient way to reach Bohol. But I live in Tagbilaran City this is the reason why I don’t ride in this ship and I don’t have any comment about this ship. LOL I will try Starcraft sooner…
I have done some research about the ship’s schedules and you can check it here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iloilocity/4992862722/
So that is all for now folks! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. Thank you for reading.
Bohol Tour: Dream Team Building in Bohol… (part two)
This is the 2nd part of my post about our Team building in Bohol. You may read the first one.
So we’ve been to Hinagdanan Cave, Bohol Bee Farm, Chocolate Hills Complex in Carmen, Butterfly Conservation Center, Man-made forest in Bilar and Hanging Bridge in Sevilla. Our next stop…
NEXT STOP: Loboc River
I must say I enjoyed my time while cruising and having my lunch in Loboc River. For PhP 350, you can eat your lunch with “all you can eat” foods. The ambiance of Loboc River is worth the pay. The amateur singer inside the floating restaurant is enough to add the happiness of the atmosphere. I tell you if you have a big problem while you are there, you will suddenly forget it. My experience there was simply amazing! The river was clean to look at though I was not tempted to swim. It took us more than 30 minutes to enjoy the cruise. Part of the cruise, we were surprised by the locals who all wore in a costume… they were dancing and singing… It was really happy. One of the tourist tried to dance with the Tinikling and it seemed that she had a hard time on it. What was more appealing to the eye was when we reach the end of the cruise. It was the Busay Falls… with its serene waters doing its natural activity. It was relaxing!
Our time in Loboc River was the greatest highlight of our tour for me!
Next Stop: Python Prony in Alburquerque, Baclayon Church and Bool Blood Compact Site
LAST STOP: Tagbilaran Pier. We were bound for Cebu City 5:35PM that day 02/17. We were tired but we had fun.
The team building was successful. I had the chance to get along with my team mates and know each other more. The experience was all worthy.
Bohol Tour: Dream Team Building in Bohol… (part one)
All work no play may have made Jack a dull boy… Just recently my team mates at work decided to unfreeze for a short while… and went to Bohol to enjoy and forget the stressful job.
I don’t know why they chose Bohol… maybe because some of my team mates were never been there or maybe because the place is just near from Cebu, so the budget would not be a real problem or may be Bohol is the unbeatable best tourist destination in the Philippines. hehehe So the last sentence is not that convincing, coming from myself who is a Boholano.
It was a 2 day and 1 night outing and the rest of the team so far have enjoyed the stay. We stayed at Dao Diamond. We were 10 and we accommodated the dormitory-type room of the hotel. We departed Cebu on the 16th of Feb at 9:20AM. We arrived in Bohol at around 12:00PM. Upon arriving at Tagbilaran’s port, we were welcomed by a friendly driver of Dao Diamond, holding a banner with our Team Leader’s name written on it. We were happy to see the banner and took a picture of ourselves.
The first day was spent in touring some parts of Panglao Island. We went to Hinagdanan Cave and Bohol Bee Farm. Most of my team mates bought their Bohol t-shirts in Hinagdanan Cave. We only spent few minutes inside the cave, it was creepy and I believed, there was not that much inside the cave. But we enjoyed checking the pasalubong stores near the cave. We had a farm tour in Bohol Bee Farm. It was indeed educational. We learned the life of the bees and also about organic farming. We were introduced to different types of herbs, although I already forgot their names. We tasted their home made ice cream, it was delicious. We were in their Bambo resto and took our snacks. The ambiance of the place was really comforting.
Chocolate Hills tour
First Stop: Chocolate Hills
On the second day 02/17, Dream Team had the Chocolate Hills tour. We left Dao Diamond, Tagbilaran at around 8:30AM then drove directly to Carmen, Bohol arrived there at around 10:00AM. Entrance fee to Chocolate Hills complex is PhP 50.00 per adult, PhP 10.00 for children. We spent most of the time there taking pictures. Amateur photographers were present and available to take a perfect picture of you with the Chocolate Hills. There was this large banner picture of Chocolate Hills where we spent much of our time taking pictures and played with our cameras like kids, doing body jumping. Sad to say, most of our shots were not perfect. Also, three of my team mates had a massage done by a skilled blind hilot. For PhP 50.00 per massage, the three were satisfied. Maybe you can try for yourself if you like to.
Next Stop: Butterfly Dome in Bilar, Bilar Man made Forest and Sevilla’s Hanging Bridge
We had another educational tour in Bilar’s Simply Butterflies Conservation Center. We were introduced about butterflies and moths. Because of this tour, I learned the difference between a moth and a butterfly. I learned that male butterflies are smaller than the females. There are also butterflies who are either male or female, abnormal butterflies which are called drones. In the human scenario, they might be called as gays or lesbians.lol This thought made me laugh for a moment. So the difference between a moth and a butterfly can be determined by their antennas. Moths have hairy antennas compared to butterflies which is clean. See, I learned something from this tour. The place was environment friendly. Other than listening the lectures from the tour guide, most of our time were spent into taking pictures obviously.
We did not do much of our time in Bilar Man Made Forest other than observed the place and took pictures. It was not that exciting though. I just think that the forest is cool.
Our time in Hanging Bridge was a bit exciting. It was not that scary for me, but for Ivy and Kristine, my team mates, crossing the hanging bridge could be a bit scary, for sure. I noticed that the place have two hanging bridges now. It was only one before. We did not take much of our time in this place. We did enjoy crossing the bridge.
So that is all for now. I will continue the second part of our tour on my next post… Thank you for reading!
Read the second part of my Bohol Team Building…
