Be Careful When Climbing Coral Formations

I always thought of corals as beautiful mansions where the fishes and creatures of the sea live and thrive!

They can be deadly din pala!

Here are the blisters I got while climbing ahuge coral formation in Puerto Galera! They are very slippery pala so it's hard to get a solid footing, tapos they have numerous tinny-tiny sharp points which you can feel on you ass as you sit on the coral or in your hands when you touch them!

Since nakashorts ako, my legs were exposed so pag nadulas sa coral, ayun, sugat sugat ang peg!

So ingat ingat din pala when you want to climb on corals for that summer photo you want to show off to friends!

Exotic Summer Food: Halo-Halo with Breast Milk (only in Puerto Galera)

Mainit ba kamo ngayon sa labas? Gusto mo magpalamig?

The Beautiful Sun Sets in Puerto Galera!

A trip to the beach is not complete without the compulsory beach sunset photo!

Almost missed my chance but was just in time to snap this one!

Sunsets like these only happen in the Philippines!

A Picture Atop A Coral Formation in Puerto Galera!

This is my most favorite picture of the summer of 2015!

And just like many favorite pictures of ours, it wasn't particularly easy to get this one. Apparently, there was this huge coral about five meters from where our banca was anchored. Manong boatman suggested to us to swim to it and have our pictures taken there.

Well, easier said than done!

The coral was huge and its topmost part was almost jutting out. It was also big enough to accommodate the six of us. Problem is, nobody told genius me that corals are deceptively slippery and that on its crevices lived the sea urchins with their menacing long black spines! Also, marami syang sharp edges which sadly caused some blisters on my knees and hands.

Since I had my goggles on while swimming towards the coral, I could see the sea urchins (which added to me freakin out!). And I was really struggling to get my footing on the coral since it was just freaking slippery! Also, since I hadn't done yoga or Body Balance for months, my core strength and balance was very poor so what would have taken me 5 seconds in a more coordinated body took me almost a minute!

Butete me has many things to do in the gym!

Buti na lang, JR (our cute young boatboy), waited for all of us to settle down before he took a plethora of pictures. This though was the best amongst all of them!

Snorkeling and Beach Hopping at Puerto Galera

We Filipinos are spoiled for choice because every beach destination we go to has island hopping and snorkeling as their activities! The same is true at Puerto Galera.

However, I would have to go back to FF Aura and do some serious lapping before I go on another beach trip. As you can see from the pictures, all of my friends were having great fun in the sea, while I was barely struggling keeping myself afloat!

I think the last time I snorkeled was 7 years ago and I was like 40 pounds lighter! Anyhow, I tried first doing it without the life vest but I realized I haven't lapped for months so my endurance at floating was very poor!

I was shocked to find myself struggling to reenter the banca! Buti na lang, manong and his son, JR (more on him later) were very helpful to me because everytime I had to reenter the boat, they'd lift up my whole body since my upper body was very weak. Kainis! Now I know which part of my body to really work out when I go back to Manila!

I decided to wear my life vest para naman mas relaxed ako and since I haven't swam in months, my hand and feet coordination was very poor. So note to myself - if planning on going to beach destination - do laps in the pool the week before just to reawaken that part of my body and brain!

How To Get The Best Digs at Puerto Galera On Your Budget!

Our modest digs with a view of the blue horizon separating the Puerto Galera sky and the sea. If you're just traveling with friends and are patient enough to look for the most reasonably priced yet comfortable digs, you can get a tout as soon as you arrive there and he or she will show you around.

Rule of thumb is, the nearer the inn or hotel to the center, the more expensive it is. So that weekend, those at the center cost 3000 pesos (for 3 or 4 people) per night while those at the fringes (on the sides) cost 2000 pesos per night. We got the one near the leftmost part of the beach and at 600 plus per person per night, it was a good deal!

There's an aircon and cable TV (they have French and Spanish channels hurrah!) and the toilet was clean, sunlit and airy. The room we got was spacious as well, we can actually do our Body Jam there!

Also, the restos and the beach was just 10 meters away so it was perfect!

Amazed at How Big and Bustling Batangas Port Is

I've always had a love/hate relationship with ports. You'd have to remember that in the 70s and 80s, only the upper middle class and rich people could afford riding in planes. PAL was a virtual monopoly before so they could dictate any price they wanted.

So families like ours, who had to travel around Luzon, Cebu and Mindanao, took the boat. And my first recollection of a pier was a scary one! I was just five years old, and it was 1976, and I remember being afraid of falling into the cracks of this wooden pier! Papa was walking so fast kasi and I had to keep up with him!

That was in Kolambugan in Lanao del Norte and we had to take the boat to cross to Ozamiz. I even remember riding a boat to Iligan before where Muslims and Christians were segregated! And the food was terrible! It was stale pork and beans huhuhu

So when I saw the modern-day Batangas port, I was pretty impressed! I had so many bad memories of stinking and crowded ports that today's generation is so lucky not to experience anymore what I had to experience as a young person!

Well, a lot of improvements can still be done to make it safer and more convenient for everyone but at least, it doesn't look like the 1920s Chungking port!

They have to do something though with the boats going to Puerto Galera since it's not very PWD or elderly friendly!! It would be tough to bring Mama along because even if the weather is fine, the sea is not calm!! I think she'd have a hard time maintaining her balance as the boat sways from left to right!

The planks are too small, as well, so big people like me have to be very very careful, otherwise, man overboard!

A Banca Towing Another Banca: Only in the Philippines

Only in the Philippines would you experience a banca towing another banca! Sa dinami-dami ng bangkang pagpipilian going to Puerto Galera, we picked the one that was almost a dud!

Actually, Vic already warned me about these boats but just like any Pinoy who just throws caution to the wind, we just shrug off these concerns and think of them as hazards of living in the Philippines! Of course, being stranded in the middle of the sea in a boat with a dud engine is not really my idea of a good way to start a weekend on the beach!

But it did happen to us! You would hear the engine of the boat just straining itself too much to the point that it was exerting so much effort but you could feel that the boat was only moving at 1mm per hour. Yeah, that's millimeter - and the boat is at the mercy of the waves!

Of course, you can see in all the passengers faces that this was nothing alarming and the boat crew were really looking busy trying to make it appear that everything was ok. Well, around 5 kilometers from the beach of Puerto Galera, a boat from a rival company, mercifully towed us, yes that picture there is that boat towing us to the safe sands of Puerto Galera.

Nakakaloka talaga!