Paradiso Palawan: Day 6 - City Tour and Iwahig Firefly Watching

Because of the fun dinner the night before, we woke up late the following day. It was past lunch time already and we opted to have lunch at Bona's Chaolong. This place is popular for their affordable Vietnamese food. Although there are a lots of chaolongan in Puerto, this one is the closest to our home.

Beef Stew Noodles (Php 65.00) and Longganisa French Bread (Php 40.00)

I ordered their Special Beef Stew and paired it with Longganisa French Bread. Bona's is pay as you order and self-service; the place is also not air-conditioned so you might feel uncomfortable. This is my first time to eat Vietnamese food so I can't vouch for its authenticity.

Our schedule for the Iwahig Firefly Watching Tour was 7PM that evening, so to kill the time we decided to do a mini city tour. We went to visit the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral and Plaza Cuartel which are just opposite each other.

Inside Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral.

Plaza Cuartel was a garrison where American prisoners were burned alive by the Japanese soldiers way back around the 1800s. Despite the sad history of the place, the plaza is a popular hang out spot as it has a nice view of the ocean.

Lovers at the plaza hehe..

We got hungry from taking pictures and pagtambay at the plaza so we replenished our energy with some coffee and sweets at Itoy's Coffee Haus.

Coffee!!! Hurray!!!

Going to Iwahig, we hired a tricycle for Php700.00 (for all three of us) to take us there and back to Puerto Princesa. We left Itoy's around 6PM hoping to get there before 7PM. Travel time was supposed to be 40-45 minutes only. However, we didn't make it on time due to traffic (sigh).

The boat ride costs Php 600.00 (good for 3 pax.). Strictly no more than 3 passengers per boat. Children are allowed but there is a height requirement. No diving and no night swimming. 

It was a very interesting tour; our boatman was very knowledgeable, telling us trivia's about the fireflies here and there. And even though I don't see his face, he has a very nice voice (pwedeng singer!). He even told us not to hesitate if we have questions.

So you might be asking if I have pictures of the fireflies or of the tour? Well, sadly I don't. Flash from cameras are highly discouraged. According to our boatman, its because fireflies determine the alpha through the light they omit. And because the flash "outshines" them, there is a tendency that they will leave the area. With that, I just relished the experience of watching and observing the fireflies. Besides, seeing them in IRL is definitely worth it!

 After the nakakabitin 40 minute boat ride tour, we asked Tatay Rey (our tricyle driver) to head us back to the town. He dropped us at Kinabuch where we had our dinner and capped the night with some beer J

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!)