Travel: Bicol Region, Philippines

      Despite the many bad reviews about tourism in the Philippines, you can never deny how beautiful resources this country has. Sans the corruption issues, the crazy politicians, and the government mishaps, the Philippines has so much to offer to this world, I'm not even kidding. It just takes a little bit more love from its people. I'm not even kidding again.

     Take Camarines Sur and Sorsogon. I seriously have never heard of these places except from my Philippine geography class back in elementary school. Located in the Bicol Region, it's about a 45-minute plane ride from Manila. So I was so happy when my friend who's from Bicol offered to show us around (my friends and I have this traditional annual trip we started 2 years ago). It was such a wonderful experience; first of all, because the place was amazing. And second, I was travelling with great people. The weather wasn't that bad either. The whole time we were there, the sun was smiling with us. The food, was unsurprisingly delish. That's a given for this country. Wherever you go, there's always great, sometimes-questionably-exotic-yet-still-amazing hunger busters. I wanna let the photos (i mean caption) do all the talking because I might bore you with my blabber mouth. So here are some of what we took!

Legaspi City

Hello there! At my friends house. 

This is the tip of the Cagsawa church, now popularly known as the Cagsawa Ruins.
It was brutally destroyed by the eruption of the Mayon Volcano in the 1800s and covered the whole church with "lahar".  It was pretty cloudy that day so the usual perfectly cone shaped volcano that comes with this view wasn't too clear. I guess you just have to see it for yourself, huh? Kidding.
Oh and that's our giant friend, Mary. I'm serious.

To believe is to see ;)

Filipinos are very artistic. A lot of really good artists are Filipino.
I guess it comes with the colorful culture that we have and the natural joy that runs in our blood.
You see art in the highways of this country. Literally.. 

My friend said that this place was really popular in Bicol. This is their local version of fastfood.
 The food was actually good though. 

So as what any group of teenagers on a trip without their parents would do, we went out to try the nightlife in Legaspi.
But because we didn't wanna end up being irresponsibly happy kids, we decided to just check out the local stores and hung around a local coffee shop. Pluuus, it was a weeknight..  But then again, you gotta try it.

 Camarines Sur

     After we were picked up at the airport, we went straight to my friend's house to freshen up and headed to CamSur Watersports Complex where we stayed for our first night. It's popular for its wakeboarding facility but it also offers a lot of other water sports. It has spa services located beside the pool and the ambience itself is already relaxing. Good for those who are not really up for the extreme wakeboarding experience. What I love about the place, next to wakeboarding, is the rooms. You can rent  either the bungalow houses or the cute little trailer-like rooms. I really went all giggly because of how smart the rooms were made. I'm so proud of what the local government has done to develop this fast growing tourist spot.

Those are little "bahay kubos" where they hold the spa services.
They look so beautiful at night with all the candles!
Quite romantic and relaxing for some couples out there who wants some private time. 

Heya!

Walking back. Because the heat was really getting hotter! 

    

EXTREME! Seriously, that is what we were saying here.
Haha. We were just too proud to be doing wakeboarding! 

A must try! Bring out the fearless in you.

Little tents by the pool. And what's summer without Palm trees?

The wakeboarding facility and the restaurant. There are bars here too! 

That's me with my dry hair and my dry lips.
Don't forget to condition your hair and protect your lips from the sun too!

Did you know that you can really catch the sunlight?

Sorsogon

     Going here was the most incredible, unexplainable experience I have ever had. I never thought I would be able to do this. I never thought I'd be able to swim with a whale (locally called "butanding")!!! A real one, not a Shamu stuffed toy my sister and I got ourselves from Hong Kong Ocean Park when we were younger.

Boat ride to paradise

Need I say more?

Us looking like a fish, ready to dive into the water. You gotta stay in character you know!! Haha

Too bad we didn't have a picture with Mr. Butanding himself. I guess you gotta see it for yourself again! Haha. Kidding! But really. Trust me, it was unbelievable. Nature at its finest, at its 3-inch closest!
(BTW! You are not allowed to touch the whale! One of the reasons why they are called "the gentle giants" is because they are so peaceful, and a little disturbance scares them away. One tourist didn't listen to the instruction video and
actually touched the whale. So poor little butanding swam as fast as he could.)

The whales had spots!

From underwater with love

We asked our boat driver to stop at one of the islands so we can do a little snorkling. These two kids are
one of the locals around the area.

I still have so many pictures from my camera and my friends' cameras but it might bore you
if I posted them all here. So to end this photo diary, here's the beautifully captured coastline
of the Bicol Region, Philippines. Come visit!

Here's a my Travel essentials:

Sunblock. For your face, body, lips, and hair. It's good to soak yourself in the sun and get that little tan, but better do it wihout harming yourself. Just a little healthy sunkissed glow :">

Extra Protection. Hat, for an extra shade. And sunglasses, because it's a mortal sin to squint.

Cute bathing suit / bikini. Just because! :)

Good company. Unless you're on a soul searching trip, it's best to take with you some good friends. It's one of the best highlights of the whole thing, trust me.

Go local. My mom always said that the best way to travel is to travel local. Which means, do what the locals do, eat what the locals usually eat. Going to New York? Skip the limo and take the subway or walk and grabe a bagel! Just like any ordinary New Yorker would do. Manila? Try the famous jeepney. Just don't forget to take extra care of yourself. Hong Kong? Don't miss out on the Cantonese food. For Bicol? Try the bicol express, laing, lechon kawali, and all those good stuff. You get my point? 

Now go, wanderlust. Be Dora.

<3 Roni