Puerto Princesa, Palawan

It's not everyday we get free airline tickets so when we had the chance, we certainly didn't resist. Our 2010 trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan was our group's rainbow after the rain. All thanks to our delayed Cebu Pacific flight going to Coron in 2009. I've been travelling around the Philippines with the same group of friends since 2006. We call our group, Sumasabog na Kalan or SNK. And for this particular trip, we came prepared with matching shirts.

We did the P600/person city tour on our first day:

1. Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm established during the American occupation and one of the world's open-air jails, which is why it is tagged as the "prison without walls"

2. Crocodile Farm and Nature Park in charge of conserving endangered species of crocodiles found in the country and shelters rare elusive species found in Palawan like the Palawan Bear Cat and Palawan Peacock Pheasant

3. Butterfly Garden housing tropical butterflies from the southern region of the country

4. Baker's Hill that started out as a bakery (known for its must-try hopia) and later turned into a theme park

5. City Baywalk is Puerto Princesa's version of Manila Bay's paved walkway

The Honda Bay island hopping was scheduled for our 2nd day with a package cost of P1,300/person:

1. Pambato Reef's floating platform is home to an amazing marine sanctuary and rightfully called Puerto Princesa's bet or contender for the most beautiful reef in Palawan

2. Pandan Island named after the pandan trees lining its white sandy shoreline

3. Starfish Island's sandbar where you can see varied sizes and colors of starfishes

Our vacay wouldn't be complete without going to one of the New 7 Wonders of the World and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Puerto Princesa Underground River on our last day, for the cost of P1,500/person inclusive of lunch. Its breath-taking cave formations, limestone cliffs and mountain to sea ecosystem makes the wait for the boat trip so worth it. Our friend, Dee-Aye, arranged everything. The tour packages we availed were inclusive of a guide, air-conditioned van and boat transfers. Also spent our last day with a farewell party for our Korean friend, Won. After several months in the country, he was done with his internship in my friend's workplace then. In the time we've known Won, what stuck was the enjoyable small talks we had. Annyeong! Sun-sand-sea plus good company will always spell F-U-N!