Becoming a boat girl a hundred (and twenty three) times
July 7, 2008
sunrise
3 travbuddies (coffeefairy, JeAr, jennethm)
plus 5 hours drive from Metro Manila to Pangasinan
plus a very muddy encounter in the mountains
plus 2 days and one night in Alaminos city
plus 123 islands to hop
equals?
One fabulous road trip to remember!
With almost just a couple of hours' sleep, I hoped and prayed that I would be able to wake up at 4 in the morning and make that long drive to Pangasinan.
We planned to have only a day trip to see the Hundred Islands in Alaminos City but thankfully we decided to make it an overnight stay instead at the last minute, otherwise, I think we wouldn't have the chance to enjoy the islands since it was cloudy and raining when we arrived in Alaminos on Sunday morning and it rained most of the day.
Since I wasn't familiar on the exact route to go there, I was a bit surprised that we managed to find our way by just following the some improvised and some almost invisible signs along the road and from asking people a few times. However, our luck ended when we reached Alaminos City and we took a dirt road saying "to Hundred Islands" via Bolo beach. As I drove farther, civilization seemed to also become farther, with almost no houses around but just trees, land and it seemed we were going into the mountains! The drizzle also made it worse and at one muddy rural village, I successfully trapped ourselves in the mud! I had a bit of a scare there because I thought the car would turn over. But a big thanks to the very kind and helpful residents there, they helped push the car and saved us.
(Mental note: I need to improve a lot on driving on reverse!!!)
there are actually 123 islands in this park
Anyways, the correct route is to go Barangay Lucap, and when you reach St. Joseph's Cathedral turn right at the intersection, and a good 3 kilometers straight would be the Tourism Welcome Center where you could inquire and pay for the boat tours and overnight accomodations in the islands. The rates are regulated and centralized here so better be wary of those boatmen offering you their boat for a lesser price, as they may not be accredited by the city government. You can stay overnight on an island but we chose to just spend the night in Villa Antolin, one of the hostels along Boulevard Street, just a few meters away from the Tourism office. We decided we would just do the island hopping tour early the following morning.
It was a good decision indeed, as the following day the sun finally showed up and we were able to spend the whole morning going to the 3 major islands: first to Governor's island, the biggest of the 123 islands and where you could go up to it's highest point and have a spectacular view of the islands from there; then in Quezon Island where we spent most of the time because here you could have a swim in their nice beach, do some snorkling (we didn't) and find some giant clams (we didn't get to see one because the waves were too big in that part of the sea where the clams were located) eat (we had a yummy brunch here of corned beef, meatloaf, eggs and tons of rice!!! :) and have some revealing photo opps (*wink wink* :p ); and then there's Children's island where there was a cave.
Quezon island
We didn't go to any other islands besides these three as we were already satisfied so we went back to the city and headed back home. It was another very good decision because just right after we got back from island hopping, the rains poured heavily again. It seemed like it just stopped that morning just for us to have the opportunity to see and enjoy the islands. I guess, luck was still with us after all.
****
Official website of the City of Alaminos: http://www.alaminoscity.gov.ph/index.aspx
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sunrise
there are actually 123 islands i…
Quezon island
breakfast at 5am
breakfast at 5am at Chowking Nor…
number 64 (take your pick :P)
a bridge in Tarlac
Carabao
a long drive
the driver
rice planting
the road to nowhere
man in red: do these girls know …
oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! how d…
Jay, that's not helping at all! :P
oh yes, im such a skilled driver :P
our saviors in our muddy encounter
Mr. Ferman is the man!
Jay could be thinking of joining…
no Jay, don't jump! there is sti…
we are lost, hehehe
mangroves somewhere out there
St. Joseph's Cathedral - this is…
Tourism Welcome center - you can…
finally, we found the right place!
Wharf
Jenneth at the passenger seat
Jay haggling for a good price
Villa Antolin hostel
presenting Jenneth, the banyo qu…
burning time while it rains
how to burn some time: Jen kept …
how to burn some time: Jay watch…
i am soooo hungry i could eat an…
helping ourselves with Shakey's …
grocery shopping
the witches of Alaminos (hihihihi)
the new promo girls
star margarine boy
thats a weird statue
boats on low tide
travbuddies at sunrise
sunrise at Hundred islands
early morning fishing
the sun's up
Governor's island
Governor's island
123 steps going up the peak of G…
view on the top of Governor's is…
Jenneth gets too overwhelmed, hehe
Finally! i saw for real another …
travbuddies in Hundred islands!
a cave in Governor's island
Governor's island
Quezon island
Quezon island
talikogenics :P
Jay, the new model
Quezon island
Quezon island
Quezon island's mermaid
thinking...thinking...
i wanna see some giant clams!
but the waves were too big!!
Jay, don't think of jumping agai…
Jay gets too comfy with the merm…
Quezon island
Quezon island photo opp (hehehe)
brunch at Quezon island
Quezon island
Children's island cave
Children's island cave
Children's island cave
Jay: i'm king of the islands!!!
scandalizing Children's island :P
Jen
Jay needed a toilet
happy from the island hopping
our boat and boatman
presenting: coffeefairy as your …
the new boat girl
on our way back to Manila: raini…
on our way back to Manila: this …
on our way back to Manila: halo-…
Clean, pleasant and affordable
Villa Antolin is a cute, clean little hotel that would be a good place to stay if you would like to spend overnight in Alaminos City, Pangasinan, Philippines for going to see the Hundred Islands because this is very near the tourism center and where the boat station is.
The two double-bed room's price was at 1500 pesos per night for this off peak season but we managed to negotiate to 1200 pesos per night. What I liked about the place was that it was still quite new so everything was clean. I like their reception area and hotel facade too, it looked very dainty and homey. The room also had cable TV. However, their bathroom doesn't have a heater.
The two double-bed room's price was at 1500 pesos per night for this off peak season but we managed to negotiate to 1200 pesos per night. What I liked about the place was that it was still quite new so everything was clean. I like their reception area and hotel facade too, it looked very dainty and homey. The room also had cable TV. However, their bathroom doesn't have a heater.
Villa Antolin - facade
Villa Antolin - entrance
Villa Antolin - bedroom
Villa Antolin - reception area
Villa Antolin - reception area
