Ocean Jet: The Fastest Ferry

Well my title on this blog may be biased as I haven't really tried all the ferries here in the Philippines.  I'm more referring to our experience in riding a ferry boat to and from Dumaguete/Siquijor.  We arranged our ferry transfer care of Coco Grove Beach Resort, as initially instructed to them, I told them we prefer a ferry boat that is the fastest going to Siquijor from Dumaguete.  Since I do not have any idea on the various ferry boats available and its schedule, I let Coco Grove decide.  You can check my previous blog on the ferry schedules they have provided me.

From the schedule they provided, it seems that GL Express is the next ferry that could take us to Siquijor for just an hour.  We will be arriving in Dumaguete at around 8:30am so their 10am schedule is just right.  Ocean Jet is listed but their schedule is 1pm, already too late.  When we came back here in Manila, I read from Girltalk forum that Ocean Jet have early schedules, like 9am, from Dumaguete to Siquijor but the port will be at Lorena, which is quite far from Coco Grove Beach Resort.  But there was no such schedule indicated in Ocean Jet's website so I'm not sure if that's true.

Dumaguete Port

Jay Lann Jeziel

As mentioned in my review on Coco Grove resort, they bought ferry tickets from Jay Lann, with an hour and 15 minutes travel time.  But in reality, it took us 1 hour and 30 minutes! I am used to long ferry travels like going to Camiguin from CDO, to Caramoan from Naga and to Calaguas from Daet.  But maybe I expect a short travel time to Siquijor that I really got bored and almost pissed.


So by the time we asked again Coco Grove to book us a ticket in going back to Dumaguete, I make it clear to them that we wanted the fastest ferry, whatever the its cost is, and they offered Ocean Jet.  That time, I'm not really familiar again with the various shipping lines but I told the receptionist that we do not want to ride Jay Lann again.  Our schedule was at 2pm so we settled at the lobby area before 1pm.  Coco Grove's jeepney service will drive us to the port.

Siquijor port going to Ocean Jet

This is the Ocean Jet

Seeing the Ocean Jet, we were quite relieve as it is bigger and air conditioned!  We thought even if the travel time will be again longer, at least we will be relaxed with its quite comfy seating and of course the air conditioned ferry.  But to our surprise, it took us only less than 1 hour to arrive in Dumaguete port.  That was fast!  With that, we learn to love Ocean Jet!

Picture before boarding

I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures inside the ferry but aside from it has air con, comfortable seats, it also have LCD TV and rest rooms.  I wasn't able to check if the rest room is clean.  The ferry was quite big and life vest was already provided under the seat.  The ride was smooth sailing, you wouldn't even feel the waves, if there was any or maybe because it wasn't strong at that time (it was summer!).

Inside Ocean Jet

Ocean Jet operates mainly in Visayas and a few routes in Mindanao (Cagayan de Oro and Camiguin - I didn't know this before).  They offer various class to suit the passengers' preference and budget.  With their motto: "taking you there fast and easy", with our experience, it was indeed a fast travel, convenient, safe and easy.  I will surely take note of this the next time I needed to travel by sea in the Visayas region.  Check their website for the schedules and rates.

Enjoy traveling!

Review: Coco Grove Beach Resort

If you've been reading and following my blog posts about Siquijor, its this famous resort, Coco Grove Beach Resort that made us stay longer and extend for another night in Siquijor.  I maybe exaggerating but arriving at Coco Grove mad us feel at home with its relaxing by the beach ambiance.  The scenery and long stretch of white beach captures our hearts together with its friendly staff that made us decide to stay longer.

mini cottages

relaxing at their hammock

As mentioned in my previous blog, our initial plan was just to stay overnight since according to my research, Siquijor can be explored in half to one day.  Our plan was to tour Siquijor after having lunch at the resort (we expect to be arriving at the resort by lunch time) then swimming the following morning at the resort.  But maybe because of the long and quite exhausting travel from Dumaguete port to Siquijor (about 2 hrs including waiting time) and the beauty of the beach, we decided to just relax on our 1st day.

We availed Coco Grove's transfer service from pick up at Sibulan Airport in Dumaguete, getting ferry tickets bound to Siquijor port and going to their resort.  If you prefer DIY, Sibulan Airport to Dumaguete port is just about 15 minutes travel time via tricycle, which are easily available outside the airport.  From the port, several ticket booths for ferry boats are available.  You may refer to my previous blog on various ferry boat schedule.

Upon arriving at Sibulan Airport, we easily spotted Coco Grove's van to take us to Dumaguete port.  It was care of Coco Grande Hotel, Coco Grove's sister company.  Arriving at Dumaguete port, we waited a little while in the van while the driver bought us ferry tickets.  During my inquiry with Coco Grove, I specifically requested for a ferry boat that will not take more than an hour travel time to Siquijor.  The ticket we had was for Jay Lann Jaziel.  The travel time took us 1 hour and 30 minutes! But nevertheless, the staff of Coco Grove Beach Resort greeted us upon arrival at Siquijor port with refreshing wet towels and bottled water.

Aboard their improvised jeepney, the lady staff briefed us a short background of Siquijor as well as features of Coco Grove Beach Resort.  We passed by some tourist spots along the way which the lady staff also briefed its history.

Capilay Spring Park

St. Francis of Assisi Church

 

About 15 minutes, we finally arrived at the Coco Grove Beach Resort.  Refreshing drinks were again served and the front desk staff quickly assist us in our check in reservations.  There were tour offerings posted at the reception area, including Apo Island tour and Siquijor tour.  Similar to their website, their tour offerings have minimum number of pax required.  That's why I just ignored it during the time I was researching about Apo Island tours.  But what's attractive to Coco Grove's tour is that they are the ones who will be completing the number of pax required for every tour.  They do this by inviting every guests if they would like to avail the tour.  This is another reason why we decided to extend our stay for another night at Coco Grove.  Since we do have plans of going to Apo Island once we get back to Dumaguete, we thought it will be more convenient for us to avail Coco Grove's tour to Apo Island at Php 1,600 per pax all in.  This already includes lunch and snorkeling gears.  The tour will take up 1 whole day.  Quite expensive than DIY but it is very convenient.  Read about our snorkeling experience here.

We reserved for a Deluxe room at Php 3,100.  I initially requested for either Frangipani or Sunset Villa (you may check here the location of the rooms at various rates) but they told me that the room availability is dependent upon our arrival at the resort.  But we were surprised that they upgraded our room to Executive room and still at Deluxe price!  That's another attractive point in this resort that we were more eager to extend another night.

We stayed at Plantation 4, room #37.  It was a very spacious room.  Our only concern is that, signal for phone and wifi is very weak inside the room and a slight signal at the veranda.  See below for pictures of our room.

The bed with mini ref

Quite big room

View of veranda

Garden view from veranda

The toilet

Separate toilet and shower

I like their bathroom with separate toilet and shower.  It is also very spacious!  Being only a 3-star hotel, no other toiletries were provided except for toilet tissue.  But that wasn't really a big deal for us as we always brought our own toiletries.

The coffee table; Far right on the picture is their bamboo closet

Our comfy and clean bed

The way to our room

The Plantation Rooms

Stairs going to our room

Free books to read.  Our room on the left with bf peeking

Like in any hotels, keys have magnetic cards attached to it where you need to place it near the switches inside your room to turn on/off the air conditioning unit.  Since it was summer, we wanted our aircon to be running all the time but unfortunately, we cannot separate the card to the key.  But nonetheless, even if it is summer, the aircon is functioning well.

Coco Grove's location reminds me of our stay in Pimalai Resort in Krabi, Thailand (haven't finished my blog about this).  The vast area has several rooms along the way with lush greens in the surroundings which makes it a nice sight seeing adventure while you are walking to or from your room.  You will also pass by several pools, restaurants and even souvenir shops.

This is one of their pools with mini bar

This is near the pool, i'm not sure if its also a bar

The resort have 2 main restaurant: Sunset Restaurant and Salamandas Restaurant.  The pool also have a mini bar though I'm not sure if they are serving foods and drinks there since we didn't try it.

The mini bar at the pool

Sunset Restaurant

Salamandas Restaurant

The resort is also expanding.  I believe come December, new buildings and hotel will already be operational.

And because we had a very relaxing stay at Coco Grove Beach Resort, we were not able to tour Siquior as planned.  Also, as mentioned, we availed the resort's Apo Island Tour package.  You can check my blog about our snorkeling experience here.  We also ask the resort's assistance to book ferry tickets for us back to Dumaguete on our 3rd day.  This time, I clearly told them that we want a faster ferry going back.  They book our ticket from Ocean Jet.  You may check my blog about our experience with Ocean Jet here.

Overall, I recommend staying at Coco Grove Beach Resort if you are in Siquijor.  Just staying here is already relaxing: A blissful vacation away from the hustle and bustle of stressful Manila.

Jet-Setter

A jet-setter is defined as: "A person who travels to numerous places around the world to places that other people always want to go but never do." - from http://www.urbandictionary.com/ 

I never considered myself as a jet-setter but many people are calling me one.  According to Lakbayan site, I'm only a B- traveler.  I have only traveled around 30 provinces out of 80+ provinces in the Philippines.  Not a lot, not even half.  I still wanted to become an A traveler if based from Lakbayan site but that's quite difficult to do considering my work, my resources and priorities.  But if I got the time, I will definitely travel around the Philippines first before I travel abroad (although I've been to a few foreign countries already).  Love your own! And its More Fun in the Philippines!

I guess its because I have different group of friends who loves traveling that gave me an opportunity to visit the beautiful provinces in the Philippines, particularly the beaches.  But still, I don't consider myself as a jet-setter because when I looked at other jet-setter people and bloggers, I'm not even close to where they have gone.  There are more places I need to go and discover to appreciate better the beauty of the Philippines.  Thank God for blogs and forum sites (like Girltalk) which give information on various provinces, destinations and tourist spot in the country.

This is the reason why I created this blog to share the beautiful places I've been to in the Philippines.  But unfortunately, I can no longer recall all the details of most of my travels that's why there's a few travel post on this blog.  That's the problem with me.  I immediately forgot those details, like accommodation, fares, expenses, etc.  But those memories are all kept through pictures.  If I have the time, I really try to recall my travel experience by recalling the events from the pictures.  I wanted to share and help my readers on their upcoming travel adventure with my post.  I'm glad I am able to help some.

It really doesn't matter to me whether I am tagged as a jet-setter or not.  What's important for me is that I am able to help my readers through my blog post at the same time I got the opportunity to explore the beauty of the Philippines.

Let me take this opportunity to thank my readers and advertisers who supports my blog and find them helpful.  I'll try my best to post more travel experience with lots of pictures.  Thank you again.  Happy traveling!

Flying with Air Asia: Local and International Flight

I'm not really too observant when it comes to airlines.  I don't see much difference since most of my flights are not longer than 1-1/2 to 2 hours.  Here in the Philippines, I've tried almost all of the domestic airlines available for my trips.  It was just last October when I tried Air Asia, which was Zest Air before here in the Philippines.  But for Air Asia, I tried flying with them in my local and international flight for the same trip.

In my previous blog about my free trip to Pimalai Resort and Spa in Krabi, Thailand, I choose Air Asia as our airline.  Well, its not really a free trip since the flights or airfare and other transportation cost will be shouldered by us.  In my previous blog, I am choosing from Phuket, Bangkok or Krabi as destination coming from Manila.  It was Air Asia who holds a flight direct to Krabi from Malaysia at the cheapest rate.  Tiger Air also have flights to Krabi but from Singapore. 

From Manila, I booked a flight going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia via Air Asia/Zest Air, then I booked another flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Krabi, Thailand.  I did the same for the return flight, from Krabi to Kuala Lumpur via Air Asia but then I chose a different airline from Kuala Lumpur to Manila.  Main reason is because of the flight schedule.

It was my first time to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia via Air Asia/Zest Air.  It was a 3-hour long flight.  I regret that I didn't "book" for a meal (at an extra cost) for the duration of the flight as there was no any food for sale on board.  I felt it was the longest 3 hour of my life.  The time of departure from Manila was quite delay by some minutes but that's understandable since it has been a common problem in the runways here in the Philippines.

From Kuala Lumpur to Krabi, the airport will be at LCCT in Malaysia, domestic flight.  We were not allowed to stay or lounge at the departure area hours before our flight.  The in-charge personnel will just call on the passengers about 30 minutes before the flight. 

LCCT is also the same airport destination from Krabi to Kuala Lumpur.  Since we toured in Kuala Lumpur (you may read my blog post about it here), we can take either the bus or train going to our destination.  LCCT airport have various bus, shuttle and vans available to wherever your destination is.  It is nice that Air Asia have Skybus, their bus transportation brand, purchase option on their website upon booking.  It will be helpful if you plan to ride on it after you arrived at Kuala Lumpur.  But I think the rate is more expensive on Air Asia's website than buying tickets at the LCCT airport.  We chose the latter. 

Overall, my experience with Air Asia / Zest Air is ok.  Not much to rave or rant about but the flight was safe and cheap of course.  We didn't experience too much delay as well.  Although on the first day, our flight schedule was changed but it was only 10 minutes earlier.  A notice/advised was sent via email on the changes weeks before the flight.  What I like about Air Asia is that they hold seat sales even to near traveling dates.  So anytime you wish to go somewhere on an unplanned trip, you may check Air Asia's cheap fares.  I may not be able to grab a very cheap fare during my Thailand/Malaysia trip but somehow it was on promo.  By the way, I booked our tickets about only a month before our travel date.  Cost is about Php 6,000 per person, roundtrip (Mla-KL-Krabi-KL; KL-Manila from different airline).  Not that cheap but I think it was still a good deal.

Review: Rachel's Summer Place (Replacement for Baguio Pines Transient House)

If you have read my previous blog post, this is the replacement house given to us by Ms. Mila of Baguio Pines Transient House due to their mismanagement of reservations.  To refresh your memory, we reserved House #3 of Baguio Pines Transient House and paid the 50% downpayment.  About a week before our booked date, we were informed that it wasn't reserved to us (not under my name) and so they gave us another house, and this is it.  It was called Rachel's Summer Place.  Thanks to Google, I was able to check their FB page and found that it was indeed the house we stayed.

It was the house caretaker, Manang Femia, who mentioned to me the real name of the house.  According to her, the house was no longer maintained by the owner for several years already who is already a widow and resides in Manila.  True enough, the house needs some improvements and renovations.  Let me first walk you through the pictures sent to me by Ms. Mila on this house.

Facade of the house

The living room

Dining room and kitchen

Dining area

The fireplace

Stairs to second floor

One of the rooms

Here's the other room

Another room located at the attic

Room in the first floor

Toilet at the second floor

If you compare this to House #3 of Baguio Pines Transient House, Rachel's Summer Place is indeed, smaller.  In all fairness, the house was clean, the floor was well polished, and each room was carpeted.  The house also have a veranda but it is quite small and we were not able to lounge there since it was always locked.  Maybe the plus point can be attributed to the fireplace which is not available in House #3.  Though the house is small, it can accommodate big groups but with only 2 toilets.

Now for the drawbacks of this house, let me enumerate as it is quite a lot.

Rooms:

• 4 Rooms available but it seems the 2 rooms were just converted to become a room (located at the ground floor and the attic)
• The 2 converted rooms can only accommodate 2 people.  The other 2 rooms can accommodate up to 4 people.
•  Even though the 2 rooms are quite big, no adequate beds or even cushions are available.  It seems that each only has 1 double size bed with thick mattress.  This mattress were removed from the bed frame and served as extra beds.  The bed frame were now covered with very thin cushioning or even nothing at all.  This was our assumption since some of the beds are hard while some have enough cushioning.
• Wallpapers are chipped off already.
• I saw a cockroach in our room (attic area), not sure about the other rooms
• The living room can be converted to a sofa bed.  Throw pillows are also provided when you will lounge near the fireplace.  Although I saw some insects on one of the throw pillows.
• Bedsheets, pillows and blankets in each rooms are ok though.

Toilet:

• 2 toilets are available, in the first floor and second floor.  Both have lots of buckets of water and each has portable water heater.
• All knobs for water to flow are closed, even for the flush on each toilet.  This is because water consumption is controlled, thus the presence of buckets of water.
• There is enough water in the water tank but Manang Femia refused to switch it on while we were renting the house and all throughout our stay because she claimed that the water tanks may have leaks that makes it empty easily.  Thus, we can only use water when needed.  Even late at night, we still need to bother Manang Femia to open the water tank.  In my experience, I wasn't done in taking a bath, yet, there's no more water flowing in the faucet.
• The flow of water in the second floor can become weak when people are using it in the first floor.
• Flush in the toilet at the first floor is not working.  I don't mind pouring buckets of water just to make it flush but apparently it is clogged and is not flushing properly.  In short, this toilet is useless.
• Water is very very cold in Baguio.  Its a bit hassle to use portable heater from time to time just to get a warm water.  Its even hassle that the electrical outlet in the toilet at the first floor is not working.  You need to take out one bucket of water from the toilet and plug the water heater from available outlet.  Once warm, you need to bring back that bucket in the toilet.  Indeed, toilet in the first floor is useless.
• Toiletries and toilet papers were provided.

Kitchen:

•  Kitchen equipment and utensils are available for use.  Drinking water is also available.  The refrigerator was most of the time turned off during our stay.  It will only be switched on when needed.
• Gas tank can be used free of charged, but again with limitation.  The main gas tank will only be switched on when needed.  So if you feel like eating midnight snack, you won't be able to cook anything unless you wake Manang Femia up just to open the gas tank.
• Water in the kitchen is similar scenario as the toilet since the house only has one water tank.  Most of the time, we use water from the bucket to wash the utensils.
• There is a water leak in the ceiling that falls near the area where you wash the utensils.  The water leak seems to be coming from the toilet in the second floor.

Its frustrating that everything is controlled, most especially the water and gas tank.  Food and water are basic necessities of man, yet we cannot have these freely from this house.  It is not scarce but it was controlled just to save on it.  We came into a conclusion that because the owner is no longer maintaining the house, Manang cannot waste any of its resources.  Maybe she's the one managing it now so her monetary resources is limited to pay off gas and water.  But we paid for the rent of the house.  Isn't it our right to avail what we paid for?  At the rate of Php 4,500 per night, discounted price given by Ms. Mila, I don't think it was worth it.  We didn't fully enjoy our vacation.  

Well, I guess Manang Femia's controlling on all these stuff were understandable if she is indeed the only one managing the house with limited monetary resources, we cannot blame her.  Who to blame was Ms. Mila because she gave us a house that is not at par to the initial house we reserved.

From the Facebook page of Rachel's Summer Place, it was posted that the cost to rent the house is only Php 3,500.  But that was year 2012 post.  Maybe prices have changed due to inflation or whatever.  If the current rate is still to be at Php 3,500 and Ms. Mila charged us at Php 4,500, that would really made us mad.  I didn't bother to determine it.  I just believe in Karma.

Thank you, 2013!

Just like the previous years, 2013 was another year to be thankful for.  It may not be a perfect year for me but another experience, another learning was imparted to me this year.

Beach from Pimalai Resort and Spa

 

For my personal life, I'm happy that my relationship with my boyfriend is still going strong.  You really get to know each other when you travel together.  And this year was the test of our patience and understanding when we both traveled to places we've never been, locally and internationally.  Though it may not be a perfect trip as our attitudes were put to a test, I'm glad we were able to survive it happily and those memories are one of those to be treasured.

For my career, I'm glad that I'm always blessed with challenges on my work.  And because I endure those challenges, I was noticed and an advancement for my career happened.  I hope I will continue to do good and perform well that will be pleasing to the management eventhough there were times that I really want to give up.  But through prayers and patience, I am still here.  Thank God!

For my family, this year was when an unexpected event happened that tests our togetherness.  I am glad that we survived it and we continue to stick together and love one another.  Through thick and thin, to whatever challenges we will face, through all those hurtful times, my family will continually to grow as one.

For my passion: writing, i am happy that my blog is starting to earn! It may not be that big but I'm glad for the advertisers who believed in my blog. I'm also thankful to my followers, readers and friends for all the likes, comments and viewing/reading my blog and page.  I appreciate your time and your gratitudes in making my blog useful to you.  I still have a lot to share, hopefully I'll write more next year.

Lastly, for my another passion: traveling, thank God I'm still alive and all my travels were safe and fun!  I may not have traveled enough or as much as the previous years but I will try my best to impart and share useful information and tips about my travel adventures.  I cannot promise nor say more travel next year (as my priorities may have changed) but hopefully I can still visit places I've never been to.

Thank you everyone for being part of my 2013.  Thank you 2013 for the experience and memories. Thanks to you who are reading this.  Thank you thank you thank you!  See you again next year!

Rice Terraces in the Philippines

Upon searching the internet for an interesting fact about Banaue Rice Terraces, I came across the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras.  All of these can be found in Banaue, Ifugao Province.  (refer to Wikipedia about these here and here.)

This explains why I saw a lot of Rice Terraces when we visited Sagada and passed by Ifugao Province last 2009.  Pictures below show some of the various rice terraces we passed by.  I can't identify which is which.  Can you?  All I know is that I was able to visit this historical landmark of the Philippines which can also be seen in an old Php 1,000 bill.

I recall I found these rice terraces to be similar with each other thus I don't have much pictures of it.  But based on the pictures from Wikipedia, I believe we were able to visit those Rice Terraces in Cordillera, specifically the Batad Rice Terraces.  Nevertheless, it's nice to know that these amazing landmarks were man-made and were included in UNESCO World Heritage List.  It's more fun in the Philippines!