TRAVEL – Wanders of Kim

Coron, Palawan 3D2N Itinerary

Coron, Palawan is such a magnificent location where you can spend your weekend. With its pristine beaches, lakes, and delectable food , Coron should be one of your dream destinations.

In this post, I’ll share a practical and affordable itinerary in Coron, Palawan.

Please note that this itinerary is slow-paced with productive rest in between. My goal in this trip is to rest because our school had a term break. I think I deserve this trip. You deserve this trip, too, so keep reading!

How much is the plane ticket to Coron, Palawan?

I was able to book an affordable ticket going to Coron because of Cebu Pacific‘s promo, CebPass. This ticket only cost us 2,000, round trip.

If there is no seat sale available, Cebu Pacific usually offers flight going to Coron, Palawan for 4,000php-9,000php. You can also book a flight via Philippine Airlines.

What to do in Coron, Palawan?

Our main reason for this trip is to rest, and spend some valuable time outdoors. Secondarily, my goal for this trip is to visit the lakes, trysnorkelling, and eat seafood. You may try a lot of water-related activities in this place. From scuba diving, to kayak riding, there are lots of activities you may choose from.

Here’s my Coron Itinerary for 3 Days and 2 Nights.

Day 1

8:35am-9:30am: Arrival. Our flight was 1 hour and 15 minutes. I included here our waiting time and some delays in the airport.

9:30am-10:20am: Travel to Busuanga City. We were fetched by a representative from our accommodation in Coron. We stayed in Ahra’s Place. This accommodation was only 1,000php per night. They have complete amenities, accommodating staff, and free breakfast. Aircon and wifi are also available. Very affordable and practical choice, indeed. Highly recommended.

10:20am-4:00pm: After we dropped our bags in Ahra’s Place, we headed to our first destination. Our accommodation scheduled a boat trip for us, too. This trip started at 10:20am and ended at 4:00pm.

Package B included the following attractions:

Barracuda Lake – This was one of the best lakes I’ve seen in my life so far. The water is so clean and clear. It’s really deep. We enjoyed this place.

Snorkeling – We enjoyed this part, too. However, winds and waves were quite challenging to endure. We had to go back to the boat after five minutes of looking at the corals, and fish.

Smith Beach – We had our lunch our. Before we leave the main island, we bought fresh fish, and shrimps in the wet market. One of our tour guides prepared our meal while we were relaxing at the Barracuda Lake.

Our lunch was sumptuous. It was cooked with love. I admired how our tour guide added final toppings to the fish he grilled.

After eating our lunch, we headed to Twin Lakes. I must say our kayak rental was worth the penny. We enjoyed paddling the boat, though that was a tough activity. It was difficult to maneuver. There were boats, and people that we needed to deal with. Luckily, we survived this kayak experience.

We loved the view, the scenery, and everything we saw there.

Our Day 1 ended with a quick dinner at Mcdonald’s near Ahra’s. We laso had coffee at Sharky’s newly-opened coffee shop. This coffee shop was new yet the taste of their mocha latte wasn’t disappointing. I love how they served their guests, too.

Here’s our Day 2 itinerary in Coron.

8:30am-5:00pm We were fetched at Ahra’s at 8:00am. This was Package A of the usual Coron Island Hopping Trip. This is 1,000php per head. You’d like this trip if you love lakes, and snorkelling. This was one of the best trips I had so far.

Kayangan Lake. After our usual swimming and snorkelling, the best part of this trip was our Kayangan Lake swimming. We had to do some hiking. That was about 700 steps before we reach this destination.

I was so speechless seeing Kayangan Lake’s beauty. This lake reminded me how God loves us so much that he created nature to embrace us. I’d like to bring Kayangan Lake home. Haha.

Package A ended at 5:00pm. We just rested after this trip. Our dinner was in Calle Real, which can be found in Real Street. We had chicken and rice for dinner. Then, we headed to Epic Cafe. According to Google, this is a must-visit cafe in Coron. We tried their coffee and cake. It was good.

We walked going to St. Augustine Church, before we rode a tricycle going home. Our day ended well. We rested after dinner.

Day 3 Coron, Palawan

For our third day, we didn’t do that much. We had our free breakfast from Ahra’s at 7:00am. We looked how sky was so clear and blue that time. Then, at 10:00am, we went out again for early lunch and quick coffee hunting.

We ate at a local carinderia. This was the cheapest meal we ever had. 180php for sinigang, ginataang kalabasa, rice, and two bottled waters.

After this, we headed to Le Voyage Cafe. We ate crepe and drank coffee in this newly-built coffee shop. The ate in this store talked a little bit about Coron. She said that she’s a native and she’s been working in Coron for twelve years. She even served BTS in La Serenatta. She’s new in this cafe, too. Unfortunately, ate told us that she got laid off when that restaurant closed during the pandemic.

At 1:00pm, we were fetched by the van going to the airport. Our flight was 3:35pm, and we arrived in NAIA 4 at around 6:00pm.

How much should be your budget for your Coron trip?

This is our budget for this trip. I hope this helps.

Plane Ticket – 4,000php (2pax, roundtrip, Cebu Pacific)

Accommodation – 2,000php (2 nights, free breakfast, WIFI, 5/5 stars)

Package A Tour – 1,000php

Package B Tour – 1,700php

Dinner – 300php – 400php It depends on your appetite. Usual range is 350php/meal.

Cafe – 150php – 200php per cup. It depends.

Transportation – We usually ride in tricycle to go from one place to another. If you love walking, you may do that, too.

Pasalubong – We bought dried fish for 150php per pack.

Conclusion:

Since I’ve been to Puerto Princesa before, I must say that Palawan is a must-see destination for all. This island welcomes all tourists and guests. It gives warmth, comfort, and relaxation without the need to spend that much.

Maybe, this will be my last out-of-town trip for the year. I need to save bucks for my big event next year.

I hope this blog helps. Enjoy and keep safe always.

A weekend in Bohol

The last time I had a long vacation was in La Union. It was in December 2021. After that, I didn’t have enough time to go out of town again. This year started with a lot of deadlines for work, graduate school, personal life, and other hustles. No complaints. It was a ‘happy pagod.’

I intentionally did not book any long weekend trip because it wasn’t in my priority (source: my 2022 Planner). Hence, this Bohol trip was actually a graduation gift and birthday celebration at the same time. It was a reward for all the struggles, adjustments, and other trials I’ve overcome for the past months this year.

Day 1 – Chocolate hills and everything in between

We left Manila at 7:00am. It was one of the earliest flight. We arrived in Bohol after one hour. Then, upon arriving in Panglao International Airport, we were greeted with buses, and private cars offering their services. What we chose was the bus ride instead. We decided that for the first day, we’ll do mostly tourist-y things.

The travel time from Panglao International Airport to Tagbilaran City was about thirty minutes. We reached the bus station. In front of that was the Island City Mall. We ate our breakfast there. I didn’t have any booked tours yet so I looked on Facebook and sent a message to a Facebook page. We hired a driver/tourist guide for 2,900php.

We went first to Chocolate Hills. It was a bit rainy but it was a fun experience. We took the usual photos like what the usual tourists would do.

Your usual touristy post at Chocolate Hills

After Chocolate Hills, we headed to Bohol Tarsier Conservation Area. Another tourist spot in Bohol. We saw some tarsiers which reminded us of our shih tzu, Tyni.

Then, we went to man-made forest.

Our tour guide said that the trees here were planted by some boy scouts who were assigned here.

After some time in this forest, we ate lunch at Loboc River. There were lots of foreigners here. This was one of my dream destinations. Now it finally happened. Thank You, Lord.

Day 2 – Our Lady of Light Church in Loon, Bohol

We woke up a bit late. We took our time because we both agreed that this trip would be a slow travel. Slow yet relaxed. If you’ve been reading my blog, you’d remember how enthusiastic I was before when it comes to ticking places to certain destinations. But now, I promised myself not to rush and take my time whenever traveling. So that’s what I did!

We took the van ride going to Loon. That was about 90 pesos fare. It was more than an hour trip going to Our Lady of Light Church in Loon, Bohol. The travel was worth it. We were able to see this church near the sea.

Front view of Our Lady of Light Church in Loon, Bohol

The church was said to be built by corals. It was destroyed during the war, it was reconstructed by the National Museum later on. Luckily, we saw the sacristan mayor. We talked to him, and he toured us around the church. We even went up to the kampanaryo–which was so amusing. We were able to see century old bells. Bells that survived a war. Wow.

The altar of Our Lady of Light Church in Loon, Bohol

We were able to see (close up!) some bells owned by the church.

One of the bells in Our Lady of Light Church in Loon, Bohol

Aside from Miagao church in Iloilo, this was one of my favorite churches I’ve seen so far and I thank God to finally visit here.

Day 3 – Panglao, Bohol

After roaming around Loon and Tagbilaran City, we headed to our next destination which was Samadhi Resort Panglao. My friend recommended this place to us. Her recommendation is superb. This resort is so relaxing and great.

It was so relaxing that we didn’t spend time taking photos. We were mesmerized. Period.

It’s me trying to be instagrammable.

After leaving our places in Samadhi, we headed to Alona Beach. We stayed there for a while. Look at the view. Eat kwek-kwek and barbecue. We also had our dinner there. The view was so nice. However, we didn’t try the island hopping. Budget constraints!

We instead had a tour in Panglao. This cost 1,000php. Basically, we went to another church, a cave, and Bohol Bee Farm. Everything was so nice and worth-trying. Pictures were uploaded in Instagram instead. Hehe.

This is my favorite photo from this trip. Our third day in Bohol was the steadiest among my trips. We spent our time at the beach. We looked at the beautiful views. We had our dinner here. We get to listen to kids singing using their natural voice.

We basically just look at the horizons and wonder if God will allow us to travel more.

Our trip ended on a Sunday. We were happy. We were recharged.

I hope you, who’s reading this, will also find the rest and happiness you deserve.

Coffee Rush Binangonan Review

If you need a place for good coffee and stunning view away from the city, you should visit Coffee Rush in Binangonan. It is situated on top of a hill in Rizal. You should visit this coffee shop in Rizal if you’re craving for coffee, pastries, and fresh air.

I assume you have read my post about the best coffee shops in Rizal. I have to update this list because Coffee Rush is not yet included there.

I’ve first encountered Coffee Rush in their small kiosk in Eastwood, Quezon City. Ever since, I’ve been a fan of their Spanish Latte, whether it’s hot or iced. In QC, they also offer the popular strawberry cake from Baguio. As of this writing, that branch is already closed.

Maybe, they’ve closed that branch because of the bigger and wider branch in Rizal. It is near ArtSector Gallery and Chimney Cafe which is the first overlooking café in Eastridge. So, if you’ve been there, you already know how to go to Coffee Rush.

It is my second time to visit the place in Rizal before convincing myself to actually write a lengthy review about it. Here are the reasons why you should really go here.

1. I love their coffee. Love is an understatement to be honest. They offer unforgettable coffee lattes. I’ve tried their Mocha and Spanish Latte. Both are great.

2. You would love their pastries, too. It is mouth-watering. You would also great find lots of pastries that are not usually offered in other shops.

3. Their all-day breakfast are all yummy. From their sisig to bangus meals, their silog-like meals are something to try here.

4. They have invested on a spacious area. If you need to have your alone time, go here. If you need time to spend quality kwentuhan with your friends, bring them here, too.

5. I seldom write about coffee shops because I make sure that I have tried them before recommending. So, if you are still reading up to this part, please, try their coffee.

Aside from their food, you would also love the view. You would see Laguna Lake and the refreshing view of the countryside. The air is really fresh despite the number of private cars going. There is enough parking, by the way. You just need to keep your receipt and show it to the guard upon exit.

You can easily search their location on Waze. If you want to avoid lines and crowd, go there in the morning. If you want to enjoy the city lights, maybe spend more time lining up outside the shop before entering.

Here are some of my photos from the coffee shop. I am not a good photographer so I think my writing will suffice. Hehe. Also, it is my tenth year of somehow writing blogs. Happy to be consistently writing and updating here. I still have a lot of pending blogs about my recent coffee shop reviews.

Do you have other recommendations? Let me know in the chat box.