although family bonding every once in a while is really nice, i can't help but wish tan and tif were with us. after all, they're part of our family already. :D
for our first day, we had a basic city tour going by pasalubong stations (yes, we did this on the first day, haha), crocodile farm, the mitra residence, baker's hill, and binuatan creations. after that we had firefly watching. somewhere among those, we also passed by a church i can't remember, and would have totally forgotten if we hadn't taken a picture.
pasalubongs comprised of cashews, the typical souvenir shirts, rain makers, and pearls.
i'm somehow sawa of the croc farm already since we've been to lots. nothing special really, except that palawan's facility is more of a reserve, where they treat and rescue almost-smuggled crocs, than a zoo.
the mitra residence was nice. the view was similar to tagaytay, but definitely without the cool atmosphere.
after that, we went to baker's hill for their famous hopia. we did not get to buy hopias since they were all out of their best sellers, but we did get to buy bread and some pastries. yes, we took pictures. the owner's residence was really elegant, except for the thousands of people visiting everyday.
the binuatan creations featured weaving local grasses and making them into bags, placemats, and more. there was one bag i liked but didn't get coz i realized 1. i still have a lot of almost-new bags and 2. i probably won't get to use it often. hooray for EQ.. or just plain ol' common sense.
we then went on home (and by home i meant the apartment we were staying in) and took showers and had naps to get ready for that night's firefly watching.
that night was a far cry from the city tour we just had. while the tour was a so-so thing, the firefly watching left me speechless. wait, i'm getting ahead of myself... after freshening up at the apartment, we had a quiet dinner at asturias hotel. the food was ok, but not really omg-great. we then traveled 15 minutes to the iwahig river where we will be sightseeing that night.
ok, let me do this justice.
1. the sky was all clear and i've never seen that much stars up there ever-ever-ever in my whole life! if i had basic knowledge of astronomy, i'd bet i could do a roll call on the zodiac and they'd all be there, including constellations and falling stars! (my brother saw one, btw)
2. i've never seen that much fireflies before. sure there were some at the ateneo grounds the time i was doing my thesis, but that was one or two at a time. those at palawan could literally light up a giant christmas tree! it took my breath away.
3. if those weren't enough, looking down at the water, our boatman's paddle was glistening! it lit up and glowed as though it was a magic wand. the river had glowing plankton!
the sights left me with mixed emotions of wonder, amazement, and a lot more. since capturing this on cam was virtually impossible with our low-tech noob cams, i was left wishing i could bottle up that moment and remember it forever. sigh.
to be continued...
