Palawan 2016: Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour

9:39 AM
After our one-day El Nido adventure, we went back to Puerto Princesa City and checked-in at Go Hotels, which is just a walk away from Robinsons Mall. The next day, we had the eco-tours including the Sabang Mangrove baddle boat tour, Ihawig firefly-watching and the world-famous, Puerto Princesa Subterrranean River or "underground river" which is part of the new 7 Wonders of the natural world.

After checking-in, we went to the nearest Vietnamese resto coz we miss Saigon! Shout out to my mekmek friends :)




The next day, the van picked us up at the hotel by 7:30AM and headed north towards Sabang Bay.


We stopped first at the Buenavista viewdeck where our tour guide had breakfast while we took pictures of the view.

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on


There's also a souvenir shop at the area. This is a small rainmaker with colorful hand-woven patterns.

We continued the 2-hour ride to Sabang Bay and saw cool rock formations along the way. Here is Avatar mountain which resembles the floating mountains from the award-winning Spielberg movie.
This is what they call the "Elephant" mountain. Can you see it?

This amazing view of the karst mountains became a pitstop for two Amazing Race episodes. The signage is still there as a souvenir.

This peacock, the icon of Puerto Princesa Palawan, is the Palawan Peacock Pheasant which is an indigenous species that is threathened to extinction.




Finally, we arrived at Sabang Bay! While waiting for our turn in the Underground River tour, we did the Mangrove Paddle Boat tour first.


Our guide who tried his best to speak English. He know his facts very well!


Together with our tour buddies. The freckeled girl is a solo traveller from France, and the last girl at the back (left) is Korean.


These huge mangrove trees grow tall for centuries and only thrive in these parts of the world.


Manong's paddle is engraved with these cool pattern.

Just chillin'

Back at home, I only saw mangroves a bit taller than me. I felt amazingly small here.



Done with the tour. Groupie!

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on


Up next: Underground River Tour! Read here.
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Palawan 2016: El Nido

10:08 PM
After the busy summer and month of June, I had the chance to take a break and get to travel to my dream destination, Palawan! Together with my travel buddy/photographer, @josephlou, we went to Puerto Princesa City and El Nido last July 7 to 10. Here's the photo story of our first day in Palawan.


From Zambo to Manila... from Manila, finally we arrived at Puerto Princesa!


Upon arrival, we headed directly to El Nido via van. We arrived by 6pm and caught a glimpse of the karstic islands by the horizon.


We checked-in at Together Pension and had dinner with Jot's highschool teacher, a Jesuit Priest, Fr. James.




Woke up with this view. The huge limestone cliff at the background. Unfortunately, all tours we're cancelled :( but we don't have anything to lose so better seize the day!


We decided to go Sunset Bar where I saw the beautiful view from the previous night's travel.


Love the view! That cliff is the one seen from the pension house.


Then, we went down to a Lugadia Beach cottages to check out the view from the shore.


Time for some snacks! We went to Artcafé, the most recommended resto in foursquare app. Indeed, it was a nice place to chill! But before we ate, we bought some postcards at the boutique in the ground floor.


Staircase leading to the café.




We ordered some crepes and delicious home-made icecream in three flavors of our choice. We had langka, cookies and cream and avocado. Yum!


Sumptuous!


Stage area with nice decors.


We explored the rest of the area and checked out the shore view of Artcafé right infront of the main building.


We were surprised to see this amazing view! That's the Cadlao Island from afar. FYI: El Nido is currently ranked #1 in Condé Nast Traveler's list of "20 Most Beautiful Beaches in the World."




We only had a little time left before our trip back to the city, so we had a short swim at the beach after our photo session.


We bought a dome lens for the GoPro and tried it here for the first time.








At the municipal hall of El Nido.


After the swim, naturally, we got hungry. We passed by a carinderia and i noticed a strange viand. I asked what it is and they said it is shark meat in coconut milk, a local delicacy. With no doubt, we tried it, and it's yummy! Another first for us!


Lunch time! *nomnom*


Dropped the postcards at the local post office.


To be continued...
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2016 CineChavacano Festival de Película y Animación

9:50 PM
By virtue of Ordinance 374, the 23rd of June is officially recognized as the city’s Dia de Fundacion de Chavacano to commemorate the founding and encourage the use of the Chavacano language.

For the second year, the local government is hosting the Cine Chavacano to showcase our local language through short films produced, written, and directed by homegrown filmmakers.



Love and hatred, flaw and beauty, friendship and adversary, failure and success. Now on its 2nd year, CineChavacano Festival de Película y Animación features an array of Chavacano stories, which will be screened at the Centro Latino Theater Room, Paseo del Mar from June 20 to 23, 2016. Here are the finalists of this year's CineChavacano.

PELÍCULAS (Live Action Category)



Tiempo (Time)
Directed by Tennyl Dehm Canlas

Synopsis: Sam, a 20-year-old college girl discovers that she can turn back time but little did she know that there are consequences along the way.



Entre Medio del Fin (In the middle of an end)
Directed by Ryanne Murcia

Synopsis: Khalil and Danny are left to figure out their lives after Ayesha, who promised to give them her child, decided to go back with Omar, the father of the child, who left her before.



Su Puesto (In their place)
Directed by Kendrick Rico

Synopsis: Five personas face their daily struggles in life such as bullying, abuse and prejudice. Each of them represents different problems and issues in this world that needs solution.



El Cara de Mama (The face of my mother)
Directed by Kimberly R. Kilat

Synopsis: In the process of knowing one’s self is also knowing one’s root.



Sombra (shadow)
Directed by Sheena Mae Alcala

Synopsis: With recurring shifts of personality, Miko shows his hidden alter-self, his shadow, which brought him to finding his seemingly predominant personality, pushing him to plot revenge.



Escondido Amor (Hidden Love)
Directed by Icy Mae Colipano

Synopsis: A coming out story of a gay guy,explore the bizarre characteristics of love in the most exotic and erotic way.



Lengua Pranka (The Forthright Tongue)
Directed by Pristine Padua
Co-directed by Lee Why Halasan

Synopsis: Pepita, more fondly called Pipay, is forced to live in Zamboanga, a place she has never been to nor whose language she understands; here she must work hard for her education, and she must work harder to understand and be understood.



Next Time
Directed by Mark Kim Tayona

Synopsis: We choose the moments that we want to remember. A guy meets a girl at twelve midnight in a twenty-four hour store. They rewind time with their stories until they’re both synced. We choose the moments we want to remember; and after every great moment, we wish for a next time.

ANIMACIÓN (Animation Category)



Despedido (Departed)
Directed by Ryan Covarrubias

Synopsis: A story about defeating self-doubt or defeating your old self.



El Bloques (The blocks)
Directed by Danica Jane Follero

Synopsis: The story is about a little girl who is playing alone inside her room. Despite her solitariness, she learns to accept what she has and where she is.



El Amenazo (The Threat)
Directed by Kendrick Rico

Synopsis: The blood cells play their roles to help maintain the health of a human body. One day, a white blood cell had an abnormal mutation and turned into a dangerous cancer cell.



Dividido (Divided)
Directed by Aljhun Rey Canillo

Synopsis: In a society where the poor and the rich are divided and separated by a tall wall, two boys, Anton and Olot, developed an unexpected friendship.



Fallares (Flaw? Where?)
Directed by Jade Christel de Guzman

Synopsis: A personal dilemma leads a girl to discover what it takes to bloom.

Watch the Omnibus Trailer of ‪#‎CineChavacano2016‬. Open public screening will be held on June 20-22, 5PM at Centro Latino Theater Room, Paseo del Mar. Viva el Cinema Chavacano! Viva el Dia de Fundacion de Chavacano!


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