remembering bohol [dec 21-23]

we just got lucky we made it to the 9:15am flight. we arrived at the airport at around 8am, hehe so much for being prompt! we were allowed to board anyway, but the dad and son pair who got there a few minutes after us were not allowed to do so... so sad and sorry for them :(

we landed on tagbilaran airport and we were welcomed by the van driver who was the tour guide at the same time. :)

first stop was loboc river for the sort of lunch cruise. lunch was not that exceptional but we were hungry and it was good food just the same. notable sights in the loboc river lunch cruise: green but clean water, lush and rich trees surrounding both sides of the river, acrobatic children diving from trees, energetic children's choir, and just the relaxing atmosphere... everything's worth a spot in my memory :)

we also visited the usual tourist attractions: blood compact site, haven of tarsiers, a giant python's nest (where we actually went inside the cage and touched the python for good luck), souvenirs shop, the old church (name?), and of course - chocolate hills, which was not so chocolate-y at that time... more of green... errr grass hills then? :)

and then it was check-in time. paragayo resort wasn't located in the beach front, which was also good because it has an extremely peaceful atmosphere. not a 5-star ambience but it has a garden/gazebo as the main attraction and it is here where we met some interesting characters.

trevor - is the canadian guy who was travelling alone. i am inspired to someday travel all by myself. wouldn't it be great and adventurous?! trevor is pretty talkative for a guy. hehehe. he's a nice guy. we had some interesting conversation with him.

tita nenette and abbie and shobe - mom and daughters tandem who, like us, are relaxing in bohol. they come from cebu. tita nenette is a funny, interesting lady. she has the gift of healing and umm, she sells beauty products which are her own formulations from the jungles of basilan (no joke!). :) we tried her body scrub and toner and moisturizer... and the products seem good. might actuallly get a 2nd set! she calls her products ascend in honor of the ascension of the blessed virgin mary. how can you not try such a product? :) plus they seem to be good-hearted people.

kuya wasn't impressed with the short beach front. but for me, i get excited with any body of water hahaha! so beach it is at, yes, 1:30pm after lunch on the 2nd day. me = negrita. as always. the sand was white, not as fine as boracay or puerto though. good beach :) and there were sea creatures even in shallow water! how neat!

it was my first time to see a starfish. wawin and i brought it to shore but the lifeguard barked at us to bring it back to the water. ok, ok, i'm sorry starfish! i am a good creature and i didn't intend to kill you... awww so sorry.

and on the third day, we had to fly back home. flight was delayed for 2.5 hours because of bad weather. all in all, the overpriced (hmmm, bad agent!) trip was good (nothing is so special about the food though). it was a great time spent with ma, kuya, and wawin. :) i lab it!

more pics here :)