Paradiso Palawan: Day 5 - Pristine Beach and Foodspotting

On our 1st (whole) day in Puerto Princesa, we woke up early and headed to the nearby Pristine Beach. It's only a 5 to 10 minute walk from our "home", Nelly's Nipa Hut. On the way to the beach, you will pass by bakawan or mangroves. We even spotted some crabs locally known as adik-adik because of their red eyes.

For me, the weather that day was just right. Not too sunny but not rainy as well. It was a nice weather for a walk on the beach. The tide was low when we got to there and we saw some kinds carrying pails. That got us curious so we decided to follow them.

On the other side of the beach, we saw the kids that we followed and some other locals. They were gathering crabs, halaan (clam) and sikad-sikad which is sort of a snail.

Hello there :)

Since we don't have much to do for the day, we helped out one manang in gathering the halaan and sikad-sikad. She taught us how to distinguish sikad-sikad from umang (hermit crab). And I tell you, it was difficult. They have identical shells for crying out loud!

We also asked manang what will they do with what they gather. Usually they cook it but on days that they are lucky to gather many clams and sikad-sikad, they sell it in the market for Php 15.00 per cup. Yes, ONLY Php 15.00 per cup, to think that halaan soup served in restaurants are very pricey.

It was a tough task, just imagine bending for almost half a day gathering, under the scorching sun just to provide food on the table. The experience was very humbling. I am lucky. That is one of the many realizations I had on this trip.

Entrance of Badjao Seafood Restaurant

All those halaan and sikad-sikad hunting made us hungry so we decided to have an early lunch at Badjao Seafood Restaurant. 

This is resto is a 10 -15 minute walk from Pristine Beach.

We ordered the COMIDA which is a complete course good for 3 to 4 pax for Php 950.00.  Set A is composed of clam soup, steam fish and black beans, crispy shrimps, pandan chicken, eggplant with coco milk, rice and fruits for dessert (yay! allergy attack!!!).

After the hearty lunch, we went back home to rest. We were still tired from the long travel yesterday from El Nido so we all had a good nap that afternoon. Later that day, a friend toured us at Baywalk while we are waiting for our reservations at Kalui.

Kalui is one of the food spots in Puerto Princesa that my friend recommend that we visit. She even advised me to book in advance since this place is always full. I couldn't thank her enough for that tip!

 We were immediately led to our table (despite the long line outside) because we have prior reservations.

Kalui's menu.

We ordered the Kalui Special of the Day Set, which according to the menu is good for 2. But I tell you, the servings here are big that we only added an ala carte of Fish Cordon Bleu, 4 fresh fruits shakes and 2 coco flan for dessert. All that was enough for all four of us.

Aside from the obviously well-thought of interior and decor of Kalui, the food presentation is also very pretty! Everything for me tastes really good and it was heavenly! Nice place and good food, that sums up Kalui (so never miss this!)