DAY2: POLILLO-BORDEOS ISLAND HOPPING

DAY2: POLILLO-BORDEOS ISLAND HOPPING

The next day, had breakfast before we Island Hop. The rainbow was enough to tell us of the weather for that day. It was an amazing sight to be traveling on the boat seeing the islands around. The water was getting clearer as we arrive near our island destination, we could see the corals, it was an awesome sight. The small island is a paradise, we took pictures, ate a bit, swam and enjoyed the whole island. The crustaceans, corals, mangroves and sea urchins were a real eye candy. Click on the pictures to view the whole photo:

Start of the day, Island Hopping!

Coral reefs, bare naked.

Flowers/plants that grows on the sea bed.

Snake-like pathway, lowtide.

Clear, cold and refreshing sea water.

LSS: Pearly shells. From the ocean lolz

April and Allan (our gracious host).

Aquatic blue.

Island Paradise.

Our original plan was to stay there for 2 days and 1 night. Fortunately (or unfortunately for Gary haha), the boat which was suppose to take us back to the Real port this morning had some sort of trouble, which was what I (or most of us) exactly wanted! With this we can visit more islands today! Whooo!

Beach Bum Marlon

Malvin, wasted, restless sleep and major hang over haha

Blue eyed sea urchin.

Flowers on the mangroves.

Flower boy Marlon, bitch haha!

Big Corals seen during lowtide:

The 2nd island we visited is as amazing as the 1st, this time it had some locals, animals and houses. It was also were we had lunch. We even saw some tiger sharks, sad to say they were dead. We were very disappointed with the locals, because these creatures are tourists magnets and for them the poor animals are just food for the table. Maybe they need to be educated about more about marine mammals? Some of us (including me) took a nap for a while. An hour here felt like 3-4 hours, time seems slow and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Tiger sharks up-close.

Tiger sharks being held by Jon.

By lunch time, we were all starving, and boy did we love what we had. Lotsa fish, fried and with sabaw (soup). After that we tried visiting another island which had caves, but due to time constraints we just sailed close to it. Its really beautiful, the corals on the side of the island cave was the size of a boulder or even bigger. 

We then went to this final island we went at, which had a nipa hut where we again had rest (yeah beach bum life man!). The corals, mangroves, crustaceans, and the aqua blue sea was really amazing and awesome! If only I had brought enough battery for my digicam, I could take pictures every minute.

Crusty the crustacean

Roses among the thorns

Dried fish, one of the best food in the Philippines!

More corals beside the mangroves.

The rest house where we took a nap.

Group shot.

More beautiful islands we couldn't get enough of.

Gary looking for more souvenirs.

There was this white house which had a third floor, and on the roof top you could see a bird's eyeview of the surrounding islands. Man, we couldn't get enough of the beauty surrounding us. Thank God for places like this, for the beach, the trees, islands and the beautiful sunny skies.

Lastly, we went to this floating hut, but one wrong move/fall your dead. Why? Sea urchins lurk the aquatic blue beneath. After that my camera went dead, I had no more charged batteries.

Wallpaper anyone?

Bird's eye-view on one of the island's highest point:

Last stop, floating beach house:

One wrong move, you're dead meat.

Sea urchins lurk beneath.

We went home, rested and left the island around 2am. Upon seeing my bike being placed on top of the jeep with the stanchion hitting one bar of the roofrack, I asked the conductor to remove my bike. Me, Gary and Malvin decided to bike back going to the Anawan port. It was raining, dark, cold and muddy, hell what's new? we've ridden in these conditions before haha its just another adventure for us. The rest of the gang rode the jeep with their bikes on top. We were just 15 mins. behind them. Another 3 hour trip back to Real port and 3 hours more for the road trip back to our homes. Its one of the cheapest rides and beach trips I've ever had. We just spend more than 1,500 pesos.

Thanks to Allan for organizing this. Thanks to Gary for the hitch. To the rest of the gang, thanks for the great company, the fart moments and the unending laughter, sober or not. ;)

DAY1: POLILLO-BORDEOS ISLAND BIKE RIDE

This ride/trip was set last May 8-10, 2009. Due to unpredictable weather changes, forced us to reschedule. Typhoon Emong visited the Philippines a day before our scheduled departure. Knowing the Pacific Ocean and its treacherous waves, we conceded to nature's wrath.

Then we had it resched to May 22-23. It was perfect. The weather forecast for the week for Real, Quezon was a clear sunny weather. 

Itinerary:

Meet up - 

Place: Tiendesitas, Pasig, Philippines

Time: 3:30 AM

ETA in Real, Quezon port: 8-9AM

Those who attended: Allan, April, Erwin, Drey, Malvin, Jon, Marlon, Gary and me (Drew).

We arrived in Real port before a quarter 08:00. We have 3 friends who biked all the way from Burger King Marcos Hi-way is still on the way and so we have to wait for the 9AM trip. Unfortunately the 9AM trip is already full so we have no choice but to wait for the 10AM trip. We then ate our breakfast then placed the bikes on top of the boat. We can leave the cars on the part to be looked after by the port caretakers.

First group shot/class picture for the day.

Erwin, goofing it out, power rangers style. Gary's foot, kick his boner! lolz

Yeap that's an anchor.

Real, Watch/Light tower

Real, Quezon port.

When the 3 bikers arrived (spearheaded by Jon, along with Malvin and Marlon), food and cold drinks was the first thing they looked for after loading their bikes onto the boat. I salute these 3 crazy bikers coz they had more than 5 hours worth of bike miles, traversing many mountains before reaching the port. I'm not surprised since when I first started mountain biking these guys were already known to be monster speeders in and out of the trails, and up & down the mountains. 

It was a 3-hour long boat ride. I slept while the others were bumming out on top of the boat. Drey was fixing a flat. I decided to sleep since I only had 2 hours worth of rest, maybe due to excitement. What's new? Most of my whole day bike rides I had no sleep at all haha.

And after 3 hours, there we were, Polillo Island, Quezon Province. There were lots of old wooden houses and nipa huts (bahay kubo) which was an eye candy for us urban fireflies. Before we bike, our stomachs were again grumbling and had to get lunch at the nearby eatery after the big Welcome Arch. The place was beautiful!

Polillo Island, welcome arch.

Polillo school.

Erwin, taking a shot of the welcome arch.

Worth the trip, the terrain was mostly dirt road, it was hot, fun and exciting!

The road on the way to the summit was very hard (makunat!) and to add to our burden was the hot humid weather. Thank God we were able to bump into the Barangay Captain (Chieftain) of the area and pointed us to have Buko (coconut) near the summit. For only 20 Pesos I had 3 Buko, which was all filled with coconut juice! The natural spring also was refreshing and I poured some onto my head and nape and face as well. That was very energizing!

Beautiful scenery along the seaside:

We love huts!

 

Yeah its sad, illegal logging is still rampant there.

Before we reached the summit going to Bordeos, there were muddy portions along the trail. The muddy portions of the road was really-really muddy. Soft mud where you your foot will sink if you step on it. I lost my momentum and had to step my spankin' brand new Shimano shoes on the mud :(. I was so pissed off, there were still very muddy conditions downhill and if you ain't careful your ass will french kiss the mud. A friend lost balance and was bruised on the right knee on the muddy part of the downhill.

Mudfest!

My brand spankin' new Shimano shoes, all muddied up :( *sigh

At the end of the downhill we stopped at this dam to clean our bikes, it was a few minutes away from where we will be staying. It even rained before we reached the house. When we reached the house, We were introduced to Allan's older brother and also a family friend who will serve as our Island guide during our whole stay in Polillo Island.

A very refreshing Coconut break, drink/eat all you can, promise ;)

Natural water source near the coconuts.

Cleaned/freshened ourselves up, unpacked some stuff, ate a bit then we went to this house where we had dinner. Afterwards the booze! We were introduced to Polillo's vice mayor and Doctor as well. I can't count how many Red Horse Beer we've had, as far as I can remember I was the first casualty of the night. I was drunk and couldn't take no more haha. Twas an awesome, fun day and a nice ride!

Our rented house, very cheap not as comfy as a 3 star hotel but enough to keep our bikes secure and have a good night's sleep. Mosquito repellant lotion/sprays are a must.Ü

The next day we will be Island Hopping! Wuhoooo!