Tech and Gear
Sky Ranch is one of the new attractions of Tagaytay. The main attraction, the Sky Eye (yes, not very original), is already running as well as some other rides. But there are no restaurants and the only food available was from food stalls. The entrance fee is at an introductory price of P50.
In addition to the entrance fee, you have to pay for each ride at a another ticket booth inside the complex. The queue can get long so you should already get tickets for all the rides you plan on getting:
Michelle, Jeanne, and I, along with my in-laws headed out of town for the long Holy Weekend. We decided on it rather late so I had a hard time looking for accommodations. I tried the hotels but they were all fully booked. I learned about transient houses and didn’t like them. Nor the idea. I figured, since you’re at the ocean, might as well stay near it.
So I looked around for a beach resort and finally found one that looked promising: Bamboo Paraiso. It has a pretty informative website and I found a good blog review. I called the resort and talked to the manager, Gerry Lacuata. Initially there was no availability but he promised to check and get back to me. After a few hours, he informed me that there’s been an availability. I called and we quickly sealed the deal.
Continue reading “Bamboo Paraiso: Back to Basics at Hundred Islands”
A few weeks ago, Leslie told me about paragliding in Carmona. I was interested so I looked it up which led me to Our Awesome Planet’s paragliding article which in turn led me to Buko, the paragliding instructor. I got in touch with him and yesterday was able to scheduled a tandem flight. For today.
Around lunch time, I drove to Petron NLEX and waited for Buko. I grabbed a quick lunch and coffee. A bit later, Buko arrived along with two others doing the tandem flight. We drove off in a convoy to the site in Carmona.
Jeanne, Michelle, and I joined Leslie, Raine, Joset, Karen, and JB for a quick Baguio getaway. We left home past midnight. We hitched a ride with James who dropped us off where Leslie was waiting. We transferred our bags, picked up JB, and met up with the rest of the group at Shell NLEX.
After buying coffee and some necessities, we started off. Leslie and I took turns driving. During his turn, I was napping at the back when he woke me up and asked me if I know how to open a car. We were at a gas station for a restroom break. And Karen’s car had autolocked with the key inside!
On the way home on the province for the Christmas vacation, we visited Camiguin, an island a few kilometers off the tip of Northern Mindanao and on the Bohol Sea. It much much smaller than Bohol to the north. Less known but just as picturesque.
Upon arriving at the Cagayan De Oro airport, we took a cab and met up with the rest of the family for a quick breakfast before heading off to the port to grab a fast ferry (but longer) from Cagayan De Oro to Camiguin.
We arrived at Camiguin port close to noon. After checking in and unpacking, we had lunch at the hotel before heading off to the beach. Unfortunately, the waves we’re strong and high. We joked that it wasn’t a swimming beach but rather a surfing beach. We gave up and just went back to the hotel and went swimming at the pool.
The next day, we loaded up to the hotel’s van and toured the island:
We left very early the next day due to an incoming low pressure area which threatened to disrupt the ferry schedules. This time, we took the shorter (but slower) ferry to Balingoan. It’s a RORO (roll on, roll off) ferry so we chartered a van that picked us up at the hotel, rolled on to the ferry at Camiguin, and rolled off the ferry at Balingoan. After an hour or two drive, we were already back in Cagayan De Oro and home soon after.