Our Bohol Trip: Wonders of Nature by Geof

Geof writes about Bohol's wonders of nature: The Chocolate Hills and the Hinagdanan Cave.


Bohol's Chocolate Hills - one of the world's wonders of nature. One legend tells "the story of two feuding giants who hurled rocks, boulders, and sand at each other. The fighting lasted for days, and exhausted the two giants. In their exhaustion, they forgot about their feud and became friends, but when they left they forgot to clean up the mess they had made during their battle, hence the Chocolate Hills." - Wikipedia

The plaque says that "the unique land form known as the Chocolate Hills of Bohol was formed ages ago by the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain water and erosion."



To get a good view of the chocolate hills, we had to climb up a very high observation deck. Even though it was tiring, the view was worth it.

Hinagdanan cave is at Panglao island. Geof says "This is my first time being inside a cave. We saw stalactites, stalagmites, and a lot of swallow birds."

Inside the Hinagdanan cave, you will find a painting of snake-like image.

Hinagdanan came from the root word "hagdan" or stairs.

Inside the cave, you will find a lake where you can dip to cool yourself

Our Bohol Trip: Loboc River Cruise

A Floating Restaurant at Loboc River

One of the highlights of our Bohol summer trip 2012 was the Loboc river cruise. Here you get on a boat which is also a floating restaurant. The buffet food - fried chicken, shrimp, pancit, adobong pusit, crabs, grilled fish, fruit and kakanin for dessert.  Geof says "This was one of my favorite part of the tour. We were able to eat delicious food and view the scenery of the river while cruising."

Buffet

Enjoying the food and the cruise

Aside from enjoying the food, your trip becomes memorable as you are seranaded by a live band which plays the music of the Beatles, Bee Gees, Peter, Paul and Mary and popular 60's and 70's singers. The band reminds me of the so called "Galvezton" band at Floridablanca, Pampanga.

The band plays 60s and 70s music

The peacefuland calm river and the forest was a view to behold during the cruise. One of the passengers commented that "sana ganito kalinis and Pasig river." Indeed, the Loboc river was well preserved and I hope this cool and clean condition of the river will be sustained by the local government and the community including the tourists.

Loboc River Cruise: filling and relaxing ....

The Loboc River cruise is for me the climax of our trip - it was a filling and relaxing experience ...

Our Bohol Trip: The Tarsier, Prony and the Butterflies by Geof

Our Bohol summer trip last April 26-29, 2012 was filled with memories of Bohol's fauna. We booked a one day tour where we saw, touch and interact with Bohol's lovable fauna. Geof and I describe below our experience with these wonderful treasures of Bohol.

Sleepy Tarsier

The Tarsier. It's small but terrible - according to our guide, the Tarsier is a territorial animal. When it is removed from its territory it becomes suicidal and it kills itself by not eating, by not breathing or by banging a soft part of its head. The Tarsier is one of the most popular animals in the Philippines and unique in the world. It's a primate that is as small as your fist. With his big bulging eyes, you will be reminded by Yoda of Star Wars. Its hands are like that of ET.  At the Tarier Conservation Area, we walked through the forest and and your objective is to spot a Tarsier. A guide usually stands beside a Tarsier. Here, we took many pictures of the Tarsier, learned about it’s nature and habitat, and bought souvenirs.



"May the force be with you" 



The Python. Prony is the name of the largest python in the Philippines.  Prony's waistline is 30 inches - and can eat a whole pig weighing 65 kg (pig-in-tummy after just an hr!) or 2 goats. Digestion takes 1 month, after which Prony eats again.  Julia and I were able to touch it’s body, and take pictures of it.

Butterflies.  Our next destination was the butterfly farm. Our tour guide took a picture of Julia and my parents with wings. It was awesome - my Mom was transformed into a butterfly. We  saw many colorful and beautiful butterfly species. A butterfly even landed on Julia's hair and hand.

 

Butterfly on Julia's hand



LOL! A Butterfly lands on Julia's hair

Julia Butterfly

I can fly!

Butterflies in love

For information about affordable Bohol tours, contact Randy Amores at http://affordableboholislatour.com/

Mind Museum

Moon watching

The Mind Museum at Taguig is a science museum located at the Fort.  It has displays and exhibits under five themes: 1.The Story of the Universe: Its Beginning and Majesty, 2.The Story of the Earth: Its Story Across the Breadth of Time, 3.The Story of Life: The Exuberant Varieties of Life, 4.The Story of the Atom: The Strange World of the Very Small and 5.The Story of Technology: The Showcase of Human Ingenuity.

Dinosaur!

The admission fee is very generous to teachers (P150.00) compared to private students (P450.00). The regular fee is P600.00. So when we visited the place, Apple and I payed only P300.00 while Geof and Julia paid P900.00.

There are interesting exhibits and attractions. Julia like the digging for the fossils and the star chairs. Geof played video games and love to cross the "rotating" tunnel. Apple and I were puzzled by the challenge to arrange 11 cubes in a given space. We missed the movie screening bacause there were very limited slots per screening - the management should organize the queue for the screening.



Melty chocolate



Pharaoh

It is a new museum which just opened last March 2012 but it has already many exhibits which are "under repair." Maybe it is still in the soft opening phase. We hope the museum will be properly maintained and more interactive exhibits will be installed.



Geof inside the rotating tunnel

Here is a write-up by Geof about his experience at the museum.

The Mind Museum has 5 sections: Atoms, The Earth, The Galaxy, The Prehistoric History of our World, and Inventions of Mankind. First, we went to the atom section. There, we saw the nature of physics and atoms. Then, we went to the earth and prehistoric history of our world. We learned about dinosaurs, cavemen, and much more. We also marvelled at the power and size of our planet. After that, we went to the galaxy section. We “oohed” and “aahed” at the stars, planets, and comets. Finally, we went to the inventions made by mankind.  We tried out an old printing press, arcade games and much more. Finally, we went to the Science-in-a- park where  I had fun making dams, waterwheels, and saw through the eyes of many animals. I and Julia went home with new knowledge about science.



Embracing the moon



Julia and Apple solve a 3D puzzle

Mind Museum is new - but you will see these messages in a number of exhibits.

Splash!

Splash Island is a theme park resort at Southwoods Ecocentrum in Binan, Laguna. The park consists of  slides, rides and attractions designed to provide guests with a day filled with aqua thrills and adventure. This summer, Splash Island entrance fees were reduced to almost 50%. So we took advantage of the special offer and brought the kids to a day of water adventure. The attractions we enjoyed were the wave simulation, kayak and the slides using a floater.

Kayaking

Dining at Black Soup Cafe

Bold posters at Black Soup Cafe.
Not shown in this photo is a poster of a boy showing his privates.

The blackboard displays the menu

February 27, 2012. It was our 13th wedding anniversary. Black Soup Cafe + Artspace at Maginhawa St., Sikatuna Village, QC was an appropriate venue for dinner. It's a cozy place which is difficult to find since it is inside a compound. A good dating place if you want privacy. The cafe's walls are emblazoned with colorful and bold posters of the 70's to 80's. You would think that it's a meeting place of activitists circa Martial law years.

We had the place for ourselves

Cheers!

Apple and I ordered pasta, lamb chop, mongo soup, grilled salmon and turon for dessert. We were the only customers then - it appears that we reserved the place for the special occasion. The food is good but not outstanding. The ambience though was relaxing. We enjoyed the night reminiscing our colorful thirteen years as a couple and as parents. Cheers!

Lamb Chop - quite bare, isn't it?

Pasta

Grilled Fish





Turon and Ice Cream



A very creative clock decoration at the cafe.
The pop culture art decor is nice.



The kids love Cafe Mary Grace's pasta

Cafe Mary Grace is popular for its ensaymada. But in our case we eat at Mary Grace because of their salad and pasta. The kids, Geof and Julia, love their pasta. In our last visit at Mary Grace (Trinoma), Geof ordered the Leek Saffron Cream with Fillet of Cream Dory which is described by the menu as "a fillet of cream dory, fish that simply melts in the mouth atop linguini noodles covered with a light creamy sauce flavored with leeks and a hint of saffron" while Julia and I ordered the Seafood Pasta, "a medley of fresh clams, shrimp, squid, mussels, and cream dory lend their flavors to a tomato-based sauce enhanced with herbs, olives, and mushrooms." 

Leek Saffron Cream with Fillet of Cream Dory

Seafood Pasta

Messages on the table

The decorations and tables at Mary Grace are elegant - traditional wooden tables with a touch of antiquity but blended with modern decorations like messages written by the customers displayed on the tables. The service at Mary Grace is superb. The waiters are properly trained in arranging the plates and utensils and serving the food. The waiters are alert and ready to serve your needs. The price range is P100 - P300.

Geof: Hmmm. Tasty. Julia: My pasta is yummy.