Malabsay Falls, Naga City. A falls in the city.

Naga City is the center of commerce in Camarines Sur. This is also known as the heart of Bicol. Naga city is an urban center sprawling with different businesses and different people from the nearby towns and cities. But despite its being urbanized, there is still a place in the city where you can enjoy the beauty of nature. Naga City is at the foot of Mt. Isarog and there are several waterfalls located at the Naga City side of Mt. Isarog National Park. If you’re looking for a place to relax and just feel the cold breeze, green scenery and cool mountain waters, then you’ll need not to look far, because there’s a waterfalls just one ride from the city center.

Malabsay Falls

Malabsay Falls is located in the upper barangay of Naga City. It is located in Barangay Panicuason. This barangay is at the foot of Mt. Isarog National Park. It is about 30 minute jeepney ride from the city center. Barangay Panicuason has several waterfalls but the more famous is Malabsay Falls. There’s also Yabu falls, and Nabuntulan falls. There is also a hotspring near Malabsay Falls. So if you’re tired of swimming from the cold water of Malabsay Falls, then you can go to the hotspring and enjoy its warm water.

Malabsay falls resident

So how do you go to Malabsay Falls? If you don’t have a car then you can ride a jeepney bound for Barangay Panicuason. The jeepney terminal is located near the Naga public market. It is near Metrobank and BPI at Padian Street. The jeepney ride from the city center to Barangay Panicuason is 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Tell the driver that you’re heading to Malabsay Falls and they will drop you off at the Girl Scout camp. If there are only few passengers going to Malabsay Falls, then they will just drop you off at the Mt. Isarog Welcome signage which is a 30 minute walk to the Girl Scout camp. From the Girl Scout Camp you’ll need to hike for about an hour to reach the gate of Mt. Isarog National Park. Of course this will also depend on your phase. Kung mabagal kayo at madalas kayo magpahinga kagaya ko, then more than an hour ang paglalakad nyo.hehehe! There are no guides going to Malabsay Falls, but at the Girl Scout camp there are kids who are more than willing to serve as your guide. They don’t have a rate for their service, so it’s up to you how much you will pay for those kids’ service.

the pool at Malabsay Falls

Anyway, upon reaching the gate of Mt. Isarog National Park, you will need to register and pay an entrance fee of 10 pesos. Sometimes, the gatekeeper is staying at a house near the GSP camp so you’ll be ask to pay even before reaching the gate. You might sometimes think that they are extorting you kasi tatawagin ka lang nila at sasabihin na magbayad ka ng 10 pesos. But don’t worry, they are legal, and to make sure that they are also the legal collector ask for a receipt, usually they will give you this small stamp-like paper with the face amount of 10 pesos with the naga city seal. You can also ask for their ID’s since they always wear there IDs.

Malabsay Falls

So after paying the fee at the gate, you turn right to go to Malabsay Falls. If you go left, that’s the trail to the summit and to Nabuntulan Falls. There are concrete staircase leading to Malabsay Falls but most of it are already damaged. The walk from the gate to Malabsay falls is about 15 to 20 minutes. Again, it depends on your phase. Siempre kasama na jan ang pagpapapicture at sightseeing so malamang aabutin kayo ng more than 30 minute sa paglalakad.heheh! The waters at Malabsay Falls is ice-cold. It’s very cold that if you’re not used to swimming in a cold water, you’ll be experiencing muscle cramps. Please be also aware that the pool in Malabsay Falls are deep so if you’re not a good swimmer, better stay at the shallow part of the pool or better cling like a monkey to that mossy rock.hahaha! There are no facilities at Malabsay Falls, no cottages and no store to buy foods so better bring your own food before going to the falls.

Santan flower

After swimming at the falls, if you still have time, how about go to the hotspring nearby. The hotspring is about 2 hours of walk from Malabsay Falls. This is located near the Mt. Isarog welcome signage. Jeepneys pass at the entrance gate when you’re going to the GSP camp and Malabsay Falls. Oh, by the way, on your way to Malabsay Falls, you’ll also pass a resort near the GSP camp. It’s called the Stonehouse Resort. You will mistakenly identify that as a resthouse but it is a resort, however, you’ll need to call and make a reservation at the resort before going there.  The last trip of jeepney going to downtown Naga City is 4pm so better leave Malabsay Falls before 3 pm so that you’ll be able to make it to the last trip of the jeepney. So this summer season, may you enjoy the beauty and coolness of Naga City’s Malabsay Falls.

If you’re coming from Manila:

There are daily flights from Manila to Naga. The plane lands at Naga Airport which is located at the Municipality of Pili. The airport is about 30 minutes bus ride to Naga City. There are also regular bus trip from Manila to Naga City. The travel time for bus is 8 to 10 hours. The PNR train also serve the Manila-Naga City route. The travel time is 12 hours. Upon arrival at Naga City, just tell the driver that you’re going to the Panicuason jeepney terminal. The minimum tricycle fare is 8 pesos.  If you’re coming from Naga City Bus terminal or SM Naga, the fare is also 8 pesos. 

Whale Shark's favorite

When I was in Oslob, Cebu for the whale shark interaction, the fishermen were feeding the whale sharks with krill, and the smell of the krill reminds me of something yummy, something which I always want to eat or something that is a partner for those viand na may sabaw. I'm referring to sauteed krill with tomatoes and green chilies, hmmmmm...yummy! Krill or alamang or call it minute shrimp is one of the favorite food of whale sharks. Despite the huge size of the whale sharks, they are just eating small creatures, but they ate a lot of it, maybe tons of it.

Krill or Alamang or Minute Shrimp

I always love eating this tiny shrimp, well, not to mention, I also love eating the large shrimp. I love seafoods and I would rather eat seafoods for 1 month straight than to eat meat for 1 week straight. Krill is a tasty seafood, it's somewhat salty and it has that what we call "langsa" in tagalog. It has that fishy taste. However, when sauteed with red onions, garlic, tomatoes and chilies, it taste so amazing. I can even live eating a sauteed krill as my lunch for 1 week straight, and maybe I was a whale shark in my past life.hahaha! 

Krill or Alamang

Anyway, krill or alamang is also one of the main ingredients for that hot Bicol Express. A mixture of krill, pork fat, chilies, coconut milk and other spices. So how do I cook Sauteed krill? Here's how I do it: First, pinipiga ko muna ang alamang para maalis ang katas nila, and in order to remove excess saltiness. Second, I prepare the other ingredients, the tomatoes, onions, garlic and chilies. Third, I sauteed the onions, garlic, chilies and tomatoes in the frying pan and then after that I will put the krill. I'll just cooked it and wait until it becomes somewhat dry, and that's it, it's ready to serve. That's how simple it is to cooked a sauteed krill with red tomatoes and green chilies.

Finger chilies

Garlic

Red onions

Red tomatoes

The finish product

Camotes Island Experience

Continuing with my Cebu-Masbate travel series of blogs, this post about Camotes Island travel will be the last post. After having travelled from north to south of the Cebu province, this time, I travelled to the eastern part of the island province.

Camotes group of island in Cebu has been on my travel list for almost 2 years now, and it was last January 2012 that I had finally set foot at this magnificent island. After a day trip at Oslob and Dalaguete on a Friday evening, me and my friend took a well-deserved sleep at Sugbutel. We chose Sugbutel since we will be just be staying for less than 10hours to sleep. Sugbutel is cheap and just near the SM Cebu. Our accommodation in the dormitel only cost 250 per night.

Santiago Bay, Camotes Island

It was a raining Saturday in Cebu City, and we started the morning with a breakfast. Well, we only ate some cookies and bread for our breakfast and then from Sugbutel, we rode a jeepney bound for Danao City. The travel time from Cebu City to Danao is about an hour. Anyway, you can also ride a bus at Cebu North Terminal. There are a lot of north bound buses that will pass Danao City.

Upon arrival at Danao City, we immediately proceeded to the port and bought our ferry ticket. The ferry leaves at 5am, 8:30am and 11am. We arrive at around 8am at Danao Port so we bought a ticket for the 8:30am schedule bound for Consuelo, Camotes. The fare is 180 pesos for economy accommodation. By the way, there are several ports in Camotes. One is in Consuelo, the other one in Poro and there is also a port in Cawit. When we arrive at the port, they were already a lot of passengers. The economy accommodation is first come, first serve basis only. There were a lot of Koreans at the ferry and I guess, Camotes is one of their favourite getaway destinations due to its proximity to Cebu City. Feeling nga namin nasa Korea na kami dahil sa dami ng Koreans na nasa ferry. Hehehe! 

RORO bound for Consuelo port, Camotes

After 2 hours of ferry ride, we finally arrived at Consuelo port and it’s not really a big port. Upon arrival at the port, there were a lot of motorcycle drivers who will be asking you if you want to rent a motorcycle or a vehicle for a tour around the island. Well, most of them has flyers and maps of Camotes and most of them same lang naman ang mga rates nila. We rented a motorcycle and his rate was 600 pesos for a whole day tour at Camotes tourist spots. 

Consuelo port, Camotes

Our first stop was our accommodation. Wala pa kasi kaming matutuluyan so we asked our tour guide if he knows a cheap accommodation in Camotes and he brought us to Pitos Sutukil. This lodge has only 2 rooms: one fan room, and one airconditioned room. We took the fan room since mga nagtitipid kami.hehehe! The price for the fan room was 750 pesos per night. By the way, this lodge is just near Santiago Bay Resort, and this is near the Santiago Bay beach. Madami din murang kainan sa lugar so I think it was a nice place to stay.

Santiago Bay, San Francisco, Camotes Island 

Santiago Bay, San Francisco, Camotes Island

After taking our lunch, we then headed out for our first destination.  Our first destination is Bukilat Cave. This is a cave with salt water pools. There are a lot of pools inside the cave. The cave is located at Tudela town, about 1 hour travel from Santiago Bay. We only took some pictures and just spent around 30 minutes and then we travelled to our next destination. Madami kasi kami gustong puntahan sa isla kya we won’t be able to spend long hours on every destination. Past 11am na kasi kami dumating kaya kakapusin kami ng oras kung magtatagal kami sa bawat tourist spot. Anyway, for our next destination, pumunta kami sa Buho Rock, this is a resort located at Poro, Camotes. There is actually no beach at the resort, but if you want to jump from a cliff, then this resort is the place to be. Actually there is a sort of a plank where you can jump to the sea.

Bukilat Cave, Tudela, Camotes

Bukilat Cave, Tudela, Camotes 

Buho Rock Resort, Poro, Camotes

Buho Rock Resort, Poro, Camotes 

After taking some pictures, we proceeded to our next destination. Our tour guide brought us to Baywalk. This is located at the town center of San Francisco. The idea was copied from the Baywalk in Manila. There are path walks near the shore and this area is also near the public market and the town hall. As usual, kumain lang kami at nagikot ikot and then nagpicture and after that umalis na din kami para pumunta sa next destination. Meron pa kasi kaming 3 destination na pupuntahan and it was already past 3pm when we arrived at San Francisco.  

Baywalk, San Francisco, Camotes

Our next stop was Tubunga Cave. This cave has a small entrance and inside the cave was a spring water pool. It’s kinda cold inside the cave but I find the cave a little bit overly renovated since there were already concrete stairs inside the cave. And well, my travel buddy was also kind of disappointed so after swimming for a few minutes at the spring pool inside the cave, we proceeded to Danao Lake. The travel time from Baywalk to Tubunga Cave is about 30minutes.

Tubunga Cave, San Francisco, Camotes

Danao Lake is not a huge lake located at Camotes. You can paddle a boat around the lake if you want but we chose to just take some pictures and enjoy the scenery around the lake park. And since it is already getting late in the afternoon, and of course, we want to catch the sunset at our last destination we immediately left for Mangodlong Rock Resort. This is where we will be spending the last leg of our our Camotes tour. However, I guess, luck wasn’t on our side to watch a beautiful sunset, a thick clouds blocked our sunset view, napaka KJ ng clouds na yun, ayaw ipakita sa amin ang Camotes sunset. Hehehe! So we just stroll around the resort and of course, kasama na din jan ang walang sawang pagpapapicture.

At nung nagsawa na kami sa pagpapapicture at dahil gabi na din, we told our guide to bring us to our lodge. We paid him the agreed fees and we took our diner at lumangoy din ng konti sa dagat and then natulog na din since sabi namin sa guide na balikan nya kami by 8am.

Lake Danao Park, San Francisco, Camotes

Lake Danao Park, San Francisco, Camotes 

Lake Danao Park, San Francisco, Camotes 

Mangodlong Rock Resort, San Francisco, Camotes

Mangodlong Rock Resort, San Francisco, Camotes 

Mangodlong Rock Resort, San Francisco, Camotes 

Sunset at Mangodlong Rock Resort, Camotes

Mangodlong Rock Resort, San Francisco, Camotes 

Sunday came, and it was a very beautiful morning. A cloudless blue sky, a nice beach and a cool sea breeze…aaaaahhhhh, beach life! After eating our breakfast, lumangoy na kami papunta sa marine sanctuary. It is really not that far from the beach since you can even walk going to the marine sanctuary. You’ll have to walk about 100meters on waist deep water. The nice thing about the beach at Santiago Bay, kahit ang layo na ng nalakad mo, mababaw pa din ang tubig, kya walang kachallenge challenge sa paglangoy.hehehe! 

After swimming for more than an hour, we got back to our room to pack our bags but after waiting for an hour, hindi kami sinundo ng aming guide. Ang usapan namin ay sunduin kami ng 8am para makasakay kami sa ferry ng 9am, but no guide appears at our lodge. So since we won’t be able to make it at the 9am ferry, we then chose to take the 2pm ferry instead since yun naman talaga ang next na ferry schedule. We just spent the next few hours swimming around the marine sanctuary and the sanctuary was full of corals and some fishes. Unlike sa other marine sanctuary that we’ve been around the Philippines, the fishes in this area are not used to being fed by people, kaya nagenjoy na lang kami sa paglangoy at panunuod sa mga lumalangoy na isda. 

Anyway, may bayad nga pala na 100 pesos sa marine sanctuary pero dahil Sunday and it was early in the morning, wala pang nagbabantay na mga bantay dagat personnel kya sinamantala na naming ang pagkakataon. Kuripot kami pagdating sa paggastos kaya kung ano anong strategy ang ginagawa namin.hahaha! Pero at around 11am may lumapit na sa amin na bangka at sinabi na magbayad daw kami sa barangay but we made an excuse, we told them that we didn’t know that there is a fee for swimming in the sanctuary so sinabi na lang namin na aalis na kami. (after almost swimming for 4 hours, nakalibre pa kami sa pagbayad ng 100.hahaha!)

Santiago Bay, San Francisco, Camotes Island 

Santiago Bay, San Francisco, Camotes Island 

Santiago Bay, San Francisco, Camotes Island 

After namin na masita ng bantay dagat personnel nagbanlaw na kami and we took our lunch and we just enjoy the cool breeze at the shore while waiting for 1:30pm. And then we informed the lodge owner na sila na lang maghatid sa amin sa Consuelo port and he agreed. 100 pesos was the price for 2 person for one way, from Santiago Bay to Consuelo Port.  So ayun, pumunta na kami sa Consuelo port and sumakay na kami sa ferry na 2pm na aalis. After arriving at Danao port, sinundo na kami ng one of our friends because she invited us na mamiesta sa Carmen. It was my first time to experience a fiesta in Cebu. Kakaiba pala sa fiesta sa amin sa Bicol kasi sa Carmen, everybody are welcome, at kahit saang bahay pwede kang makikain at two days pa daw ang handaan. Magastos pala ang magfiesta sa Cebu.heheh! So that ends my story about our Camotes travel. Mabilisang pagbisita sa mga tourist spot. Well, next time na bumalik kami sa Camotes, malamang we’ll just spend most of the hour bumming around the beach, especially at Mangodlong and Santiago Bay. So that’s it pusit! Till the next adventure!

Oslob's Whale Shark and Dalaguete's Osmeña Peak

This blog entry is part of my Cebu-Masbate Adventure. After spending about 2 days in Malapascua, Cebu, I continued my travel to Oslob and this time, I have a travel buddy na pwede kong kulitin.hehe! After I arrived in Cebu City on a Thursday evening, I proceeded to Sugbutel. I chose Sugbutel since late evening na din ako dumating ng Cebu and I would just be spending 6 hours to sleep kasi I need to wake up early on Friday because I would be meeting my travel buddy who will be arriving in Cebu City from Manila. Sayang naman kasi kung maghohotel pa ako or magrerent pa ng room sa pension house.

Sugbutel is a dormitel. It’s cheap and it’s located near SM Cebu. The rate for the dorm type accommodation is 250 pesos only. They even have a 99 pesos per night promo, but you’ll need to reserve that dorm type accommodation at least 30 days before your intended stay. Anyway, to continue with my story, after I arrived at Sugbutel, naligo lang ako at natulog na. The next morning, I woke up early to meet my travel buddy who will be arriving from Manila. We met at SM Cebu at around 6am and then we immediately proceeded to Cebu South Bus terminal. It is a 30 minute jeepney ride from SM Cebu. After arriving at the terminal, we look for a bus bound for Oslob, Bato or Dumaguete. There are several bus companies plying the Cebu City-Dumaguete or Cebu City-Oslob or Bato route. We boarded the Ceres airconditioned bus since the price difference for an airconditioned bus and the non-airconditioned bus is only 5 pesos. The airconditioned bus fare from Cebu City to Barangay Tan-awan in Oslob is 155 pesos.  It was a long bus travel. The travel time from Cebu City to Oslob was about 3 hours long at dahil sobrang kulang ang tulog namin ng friend ko, natulog lang kami sa buong kahabaan ng byahe. My friend didn’t had enough sleep since she woke up early to catch the 4am flight from Manila to Cebu. At ako naman, gumising ako ng 5am since matagal akong maligo.hahaha! kaya I always have enough time allowance para hindi ako malate sa meeting time namin na 6:30am. 

Barangay Tan-awan, Oslob, Cebu

After almost 3 hours of bus travel, we finally arrived at Barangay Tan-awan in Oslob. This is the jump-off point for butanding encounter. Even from afar, you can already see some butanding or whale shark swimming near the shore of the jump-off point. We register at the registration and briefing area and paid 300 pesos for the whale shark encounter fee plus another 20 pesos for the life vest. We’ve brought our own snorkelling gear so we don’t need to rent but if you don’t have your own snorkelling gear, you can rent it from the registration and briefing area. It’s 100 pesos for snorkelling gear rental. After the briefing and all the do’s and don’ts stuff regarding swimming with the whale shark, we’ve finally boarded the small boat. We were so excited to swim with those gentle giants at ang mga ngiti namin ay hanggang tenga na.hahah! We were like kids who went on to a beach for the first time.hahaha! Anyway, after  a 5 minutes banca ride, we reached the site where we will be swimming with the butanding. We excitedly jump from our boat and swim like there’s no tomorrow. We dive, snorkel, swim, swim and swim while having that excited smile on our face. Ahhhhhhhhhh…this is it, we are finally swimming with the whale shark. It’s so huge! It’s almost the same size of a jeepney or let say, a mini bus. I was excitedly swimming with 3 whale sharks. Even though it’s tiring and the sea current is kinda strong and the sea is a little wavy, I continued swimming. I told myself that I should make the most out of the 30 minutes time limit that the Barangay Tan-awan officials had set as a rule for butanding encounter. Yes, that’s correct, you only have 30 minutes to swim and interact with the whale shark. We had some photo ops, videos and after swimming and snorkelling and diving, I finally got tired, but I still want to swim with those whale sharks, luckily, masyadong makulit ang travel buddy ko dahil kinulit nya pala yung bangkero na gawing 45 minutes ang pagswim namin with the whale shark. So dahil dun, naextend kami ng another 15minutes. And we maximize that precious minutes, that we swim, swim and swim with the whale shark. And daming swim na word dito.hahaha! So matapos ang 45minutes na swimming with the whale shark, bumalik na din kami sa dalampasigan and then we ate lunch. We ate at the carenderia inside the resort and then nagbanlaw na.

snail

Our next stop is Dalaguete. We plan to hike the highest point of Cebu province, the Osmeña Peak.  So after eating lunch, we then catch a bus bound for Cebu. We got off at Dalaguete junction. The travel time from Barangay Tan-awan, Oslob to Dalaguete junction is approximately around an hour. We looked for a habal habal for us to go to Osmeña Peak. The motorcycle ride from Dalaguete junction to Barangay Mantalongon is roughly about an hour.  Barangay Mantalongon is also considered as the summer capital and the vegetable basket of Cebu province. This is due to the cold weather in this area. On our way to Brgy. Mantalongon, we were greeted by thick fog, even though it was 2 in the afternoon, it feels like it was just 6 in the morning. Ang lamig sa lugar na yun. Ang kapal kapal ng fog na parang nasa ulap ka lang. After an hour of travel, we’ve finally reached the jump-off point of our trek to Osmeña Peak. The trail going to the peak is quite easy. There are lots of vegetable farm along the way. After hiking for 45 minutes, we’ve finally reached the peak. Sad to say, we didn’t enjoy the view at the top since the thick fog engulfed the area. It feels like we’re just on a piece of land somewhere in the clouds. We can’t see any interesting view. It doesn’t feel like we’re at the highest peak of Cebu island. It was kind of a disappointment but for sure we’re going back to that place so that we will see the view on our next hike to Osmeña Peak.

On our way to Osmeña Peak

One foggy Osmeña Peak

After spending 30 minutes resting at the peak, we decided to descend from the peak and go back to the jump-off point where our habal habal driver was waiting. We then proceeded back to Dalaguete town proper. By the way, if you don’t want to rent a motorcycle going to Osmeña Peak, you can also ride a bus or a jeepney. There are buses bound to Barangay Mantalongon from Cebu South Bus terminal. Jeepneys also ply the Mantalongon-Dalaguete route. But these public transportations travel up to Mantalongon public market only, so you’ll need to walk several kilometres from that market to Osmeña Peak. It would take around 2 to 3 hours of walk if you will start from Mantalongon public market or you can rent a motorcycle from the market to the jump off point of Osmeña Peak and cut your walking/hiking time to just 45 minutes or an hour.

Dalaguete tricycle

Anyway, continuing to my story. After we arrived at the Dalaguete town center, we decided to just roam the town center since it was kinda early to go back to Cebu City. We’ve walked around the town, visited their church, their park, and their market. We took some pictures, some photo ops and eat some native snacks and then nung mapagod na kami, that’s when we decided na sumakay na ng bus pabalik ng Cebu City. Ganun kami kalala pagdating sa gala, kahit na ang dami na naming napuntahan: lumangoy sa Oslob at umakyat sa Osmeña Peak, may energy pa rin kami para magikot ikot sa town.hehehe!  Anyway, at around 7pm, we boarded the bus bound for Cebu City. 3 hours later, we were in Cebu City. Our bus travel going back to Cebu was a little bit long due to traffic near Cebu City. 

San Guillermo de Aquitania Church

San Guillermo de Aquitania Church bell tower

San Guillermo de Aquitania Church

 After arriving in Cebu City, we ate our dinner at Larsian near Fuente Osmena. Okay kasi sa lugar na to kasi kakain ka na nakakamay lang and it’s a cheap place to eat. Most the food there are ihaw ihaw or grilled. You have a variety of choices, from local products, to meat, to poultry and seafood. So after dinner, we proceeded back to Sugbutel since, as usual, we are budget traveller and we just need a place to sleep because on the next day, we need to get up early for our Camotes Island adventure. I’ll write stories about Camotes, for the mean time, pagtyagaan nyo na lang munang basahin ang ibang blog entries ko.hahaha! Nakakapagod magsulat, inabot na nga ako ng more than 1 month bago ako nakapagsulat ng kwento ko tungkol sa adventure na to. Anyway, till next time chowtime!

Pinaypay (fried banana)

white flower