Three Days in Paradise

It was my first time to go to El Nido. My feet wouldn’t have planted firmly on that fine sand (or not so firmly since it’s sand!) if not for the HP-Intel Synergy 2006, the mother of all IT events. Some IT journalists told me I was really lucky to have been given the chance to go to that junket and yeah, I felt like not going to Bora three weeks before was indeed a blessing in disguise (though I wish I could have someone from HIP too, just like Eva having Mitch and vice-versa in Bora).

On a more personal note, I learned one thing in this trip: having my own digicam is bad for me. Hehe! Just like what happened in Sagada, I photographed every thing that came my way. As in every detail! And then, I was with not-so camwhore people. Nightmare (just on the cam whoring part, otherwise, they’re all friendly and accommodating to a newbie like me). No one was taking pics as much as I do (except the event coordinators and KC). Heller, first timer here! (Besides, even if it wasn’t my first time, I would still be taking lots of pics! Have you seen that place?! MAGNIFICENT!)

Okay, back to the adventure…
It was a Thursday morning, er, early early morn when I left the house. Around 5:00am I guess, while my older sister was preparing to go to work. Our car was coding that day so I didn’t want kuya Samboy being caught on the street come 7:00am. So I was really pretty early. We found the hangar real fast. I felt it wasn’t opened yet. Haha! But then it was already and Ms. Grace from Strategic Edge was already inside the lounge.

Okay, let me just tell the El Nido story via pics:

We rode a 19-seater aircraft at the A. Soriano Hangar (Island Transvoyager Inc.) I was with the second plane. Good thing, Ate Riza (from NLP before, now with PDI) and KC (HWM) were with me at the plane. So was Ms. Mel of Dominguez Marketing. Not that I was afraid of flying. It wasn’t my first time. But riding a small aircraft is more “turbulent” than big planes. Thrilling in a way.

Here, cam whoring starts. Hehe! It was a delight seeing these houses from above. They’re so small yet I can still see the details. Cool.

Clouds! Clouds! Clouds! (Yep, ganyan ako kababaw!) Hahaha!

After an hour, we arrived at the El Nido airport. we were welcomed by a group of women singing a Tagalog song. Very traditional. Love it!

We rode a speed boat. This will take us to a larger boat which will in turn take us to the islands. The views here are already wonderful. Blues and greens surrounding me. Now, that’s nature at its best!

The water was splashing all around us. That’s why we need towels. At first I was asking what are the towels for?! Well, good thing I took one or I’ll be soaked before I even get to Lagen island. I’m with Riza and KC here. We look good on sea. Wahehe!

This is where the conference was held. It’s a much more upscale resort than Miniloc (where we’ll be staying). The cottages look really elegant.

This is what Miniloc Resort lacks. Lagen’s swimming pool is simply elegant. Crystal clear water in a seemingly endless plane.

The men and women behind two successful companies (Intel and HP).

On our way to Miniloc island, we saw the glorious sunset of El Nido. I wish I could have captured the whole thing with my cam but my cam can only do so much. This kind of sunset evokes an emotion that is hard to capture all over again.

This is our little hut in Miniloc. My roommates are Ms. Alma (Phil. Star) and April (Computerworld). They both picked the beds near the windows. I’m okay with the inner bed. The staff left a leaf in our bed, which has an inscription welcoming us and wishing us a good night. Sweet! They also gave us “banig” bags. I love it!

Intel / HP / Strategic Edge gave us these aqua socks and waterproof cameras for our island adventures. Since it’s all water here, we really need these!

I was at the souvenir shop when I took this pic in their full-length mirror. Okay, so this was supposed to be a Filipiniana costume but I left the “baro” in my bag and opted for a black sleeveless top and a brown shawl instead to lessen the Filipiniana vibe. Hehe! I love my black “sarong” and its details.

We had our welcome dinner at the Pangulasian Island. The place was really private. The dinner was specially set up for us. The food was delicious! I filled my tummy with shrimps! Yum, yum! After dinner, there were some singing from the Intel and HP people and of course, from the press (me excluded haha!).

I love its seashore. It’s filled with corals, stones, and shells. The water feels really cold on my bare feet. After walking for some time on the shore, we hung at one small cabana and enjoyed the cocktail drinks. I drank El Nido’s own cocktail. I don’t know what’s in it though coz I didn’t order it. Myk (Enterprise) handed it to me. The others went for wine, beer, sodas, and other mixes.

Just past 11, we went back to Miniloc already. While some hung out at the bar, I chose to go in our hut to enjoy our room on our first night in El Nido. I slept around 1am marveling at the grandeur of the place even in darkness.

I woke up early to photograph the sunrise. Yep, that’s me about to rise from bed. April prepared early because she had an early interview with the Intel people. Ms. Alma had her breakfast of cigarettes and coke on the little veranda.

The morning breeze in El Nido is refreshing. I wish we have this kind of atmosphere in Manila. Ja, dream on.

We did an Amazing Race in the morning. We were given a sheet of paper where the instructions are. During the whole challenge, I didn’t take photos coz well, I was part of the team! Haha! I was with group one: Jing, Riza, KC, Alma, Edu, Joey, and Sean.

The rest of the challenge was a blur. We rode a boat to Entalula island. On its shores, we build a sand turtle. I think ours was really better. It really looked like a huge turtle ready to walk towards the water. Sir Jing even made eggs nearby. Now that’s creativity! Hehe! After that, rock climbing! Ugh, okay, aside from having not done that ever (not even wall climbing!), I think I’m heavy for the task. Hehe! So from our team, it was Sean, Ms. Alma, Joey and Riza (later on) who did that challenge. After rock climbing, the boat took us again to Miniloc where we kayaked to the shore. Unfortunately, we lost (for so many reasons and one). Nevertheless, it was a fun activity. Haha!

At 2 in the afternoon, we went to the big and small lagoons. A sepped boat took us inside the big lagoon and toured us around. The area is so serene. Our guide pointed a kind of bird to us perched high on a tree but I couldn’t see it. Anyway, he also pointed the “statues” of Mama Mary and Batman (yes, batman!) to us. They’re up on the rock cliffs.

We kayaked to the small lagoon. Riza and I were on one kayak. I was sitting behind her. I’m afraid I would fall over the kayak! Well, it;s just me. I’m actually afraid of the sea because I don’t know how to swim dammit! Hahahaha!

We went around the calm lagoon. When we reached the mouth and shallow part of the lagoons, some of our companions went for a dip. I stayed on the lagoon coz I wouldn’t know how to get on it again. Hahaha! After a few more minutes, we decided to go back.

After our kayak adventure, we went back to Miniloc. We went snorkelling after. The fishes are so colorful. There were even some huge and long ones. I thought they were sharks! Wahaha! Pathetic me. I enjoyed swimming with the fishes. (Er, heller Ja, you don’t know how to swim!) Okay, if I haven’t swam, er, I just lurked on the waters. Hehe! I took this shot of me underwater. Teehee!

The farewell dinner was held at the Entalula island. The setting was nice. We have to squat on the floor and sit on cushions. The food was superb. I love the rice cake dessert. I began missing the rural life.

The farewell dinner was dubbed as the “Digital DJ Night.” There was an iPod game played. Two teams with three members each played the game. Each team will pick a theme from the bowl (ex. variety show theme song, 80s pop, etc.) and whatever theme they pick, they have to find a song in their ipods or mp3 players that matches the theme. Hahaha! It was fun, especially the jukebox theme. Sean had a Claire dela Fuente song on his ipod! Why?! Beats me! Haha! At least they won. Good one!

I won two Timex watches! Yehey! One for the Amazing Race challenge we had that morning and another from a raffle draw. Too bad I didn’t win in the videoke challenge! Darn! I didn’t know that kiddie song about rain! Hahahaha! I drank two glasses of Bailey’s.

We left Entalula around 11pm. Bitin. So, we went back to Miniloc. I wouldn’t want to miss the night life in El Nido so I stayed outside during the night. But I lounged at the sunbathing chairs on the seashore looking at the vast sky and numerous stars. I’ve never seen so many stars in my whole life. Not even in La Union. I spent an hour there and I nearly fell asleep. Haha!

I went to the bar and chatted with Alex and Riza. Alex was taking vid of everything and everyone. Some were playing billiards. I sat at the bar and ordered a, er, I forgot the cocktail’s name. One thing I remember though is that it had Bailey’s (again). Haha! I’m so corny. I didn’t even drink hardcore liquor! Hahaha!

Since our flight is still 5 in the afternoon, we signed up for another round of island hopping trip. Yihee!

But before that, I bathe in the sun’s glorious rays. Yep, the second one since summer. But I didn’t have any plans of burning myself and suffering from sunburn so I just enjoyed the view from the lounge chair, took some pics and went back to the shade a few minutes later.

But before island hopping, Myk and I went snorkelling first. I used up the roll of film in the disposable waterproof camera Intel gave us. See those fishes swimming around me?! Beautiful!

On to our island hopping! We went inside this cave but I didn’t take my camera with me coz we have to pass through water and we have to crawl. Having been to Sagada two weeks ago, I knew a little about caving already but we didn’t go inside the cave as you would in Sumaguing. We just had a little crash course on the island’s history courtesy of our manong guide. We saw bones of a Chinese trader inside. Creepy?! Not at all.

I am in the middle of two seas. Hehe! Two shores on Snake Island!

We went up the viewing deck on Snake Island. It was a great view. I can see islands from afar. And of course, the great sandbar of Snake Island. That’s our boat over there.

Such beautiful views. Er, not us. Haha! The view behind us is gorgeous! I love, love the blue sky and the blue water. El Nido, my friends, is paradise! Swear!

After Snake Island, it’s time to head back to Miniloc. So before I even miss it, I already savored the feeling of El Nido’s waters splashing around the boat (and into our faces and clothes) and the El Nido wind touching my hair (naks! madrama!)…

Time to pack all our stuff and bid goodbye to the lovely islands of El Nido. Aww… I really wish I can go back. Haha! Some other lifetime I guess.

These are the last few shots I took of El Nido.

We waited on this lounge area. And since my rubber shoes (and part of my pants) became wet on the way, I had to wait for the luggage cart to get my slippers and change into them before boarding the plane.

Goodbye El Nido! I’ll be back! Promise! Hahahaha!

More El Nido pics I took: