My BDJ box arrived just after my Bohol trip. Just when I needed a beauty loot the most. My skin needs to be refreshed and renewed. I wonder what's inside.

I cannot wait to open it. 



My eyes were all glowing when I opened it. Wah, BDJ Box just keeps getting better and better. Shiseido and Loccitane = LOVE!



I love every single one of them. 



The arrival of these goodies came very timely. I need intensive care for my sunburned skin. And glad to say that after a few days, skin got lighter and lighter.



 
I also got another set of inspirational stickers. Yup, we make things beautiful. So let go of all the worries, feel and make life as beautiful as it should be! ^_^

When I first visited Bohol, my tarsier encounter was one of my trip highlights. It was a close encounter, so close that I even touched it amidst the big sign telling tourist not to. I was so ecstatic to see the cute nocturnal furry little creature with a big spaced out eyes. They also look like little gremlins to me.



But because of the threat of stress to these creatures (touching and camera flashing), the government moved them to what is called a Tarsier Conservation Area. It's a 6 hectare woodland area where all private tarsier display owners share this space to showcase tarsiers in a more protective and adaptive environment to tourists. 



Aren't they cute?



Kazie enjoyed the whole tarsier tour even she can't really see them upclose. I think there were 15 or more tarsiers in the new sanctuary. Most of them are all asleep though, since they are nocturnal. So no big spaced out eyes the second time.

I think it was a 20 minute ride from the Python sanctuary going to Loay Bridge, where the river cruise will start. 

We were ushered by our driver to Riverwatch. They said Riverwatch Floating Resto has the best food, though only serves 1 round drink.

For Php400, you have a buffet of local delicacies from grilled fish, meat, seafood, fruits and desserts with a singer serenading guests throughout the cruise. 

The "cruise" is up the river, then down again after it reaches the Busay Falls, with a stop on a local choir group which does a song & dance number. 

I must say it was a pleasant experience. Though, I would appreciate more smiles from the rondalla group. They seemed so tired and bored already entertaining the tourists when we were there. 

Good thing, there was tatay who danced so gracefully that my disappointment  went away. He really entertained us all. Good job tatay!

After much appreciating architectural history, we proceeded to our next destination. I wasn't really planning on meeting Prony the Python face to face but can't help to scare my lil niece so off we went.

Just a little background, according to what I read in the internet, Prony is a female python caught in 1996. She was approximately 5 meters and 5 kilograms then but has grown to about 23 feet (7 meters) long and 300 kilograms with 30 inches body circumference and still growing. 

Prony captured the media's attention when it was known that the owner fed her stray cats and dogs and only done during full moon. GMA 7 was able to document and film the feeding. It was a clear violation of the Animal Welfare Act. After such media hiatus, the caretakers stopped feeding cats and dogs. Prony is now being fed with pigs and goats once every month.

We missed Marimar's (Tour Guide at Prony's) introduction about Prony but we did catch her doing a little extravagant performance.

Fake smiles. Lols.

We're a little surprised that my niece was more scared of the eagle than the giant snake. Good thing, she enjoyed seeing other creatures like monkeys and owls in the area. 

Last Nov 29-Dec 1, 2012, I set my foot again in Bohol. It was a business mixed with leisure trip (or the other way around). My goal is to check the service of my tour operator and find budget hotel & resorts in the area.





















Kudos to Zest Air for an on time flight. It didn't ruin our first day itinerary.


After arrival, we head out to start our 8 hour - 7 stops - bohol countryside tour. Our first stop was the Blood Compact Shrine. It is a main landmark of Bohol, aside from the Chocolate Hills. This is where the first treaty of friendship between Spaniards and Filipinos took place. It was a political event.



We didn't stay long. After 4-5 pictures, we head out to our next destination. The Baclayon Church.



I am not a catholic but I do appreciate old churches. So we went inside to take a peek. Good thing, there was no ongoing mass. So we had the church to ourselves that day. My niece carried a puzzled look when we came inside. Catholicism is unknown to her.



Proper dress code is expected when going inside the church. My sister and I had to wear sarongs to cover our arms and legs. No worries, cover ups are being provided at the church.

 

The old church was an interesting sight to see. I was imagining scenes from Rizal's Noli Me Tangere. 



We also explored the church grounds. Kazie was so thrilled to pose for the camera. I appreciate how the surroundings are so clean.



I would recommend a worthwhile visit to this old church. I am not a history buff, but visiting the Baclayon is like taking a road back in time.



Maya birds and their nests



Goodbye Church! Off to see other interesting attractions in Bohol.

I am a sucker for anything convenient. And I am definitely a fan of online banking. Just recently, I swore not to use my credit card anymore for flight bookings. I decided to pay in cash. Good thing, it's so convenient to pay using BDO's online banking.

So after you're done with the booking details and have reached the payment page, choose "Payment Centers", then you will see that the first option in the drop box is Banco de Oro. Then, just hit "Continue".





You will be taken to the next page, and you must take note of your Confirmation Number.




The booking will be on hold until 11:59 PM of the same day. Next, forward your payment by going to Pay Bills on your BDO Online banking account.



Be sure to click "Show Company/Biller not requiring enrollment", then select "Cebu Pacific Air Inc.". Put all the necessary information and you're good to go after clicking "Submit". You will then be taken to a new page stating that you have successfully forwarded your payment.

Your itinerary will be sent to your email address the following morning. In my case, I received it around 8AM.

Cool, right? Fast and easy. Perfect to those who doesn't have credit cards as well. Check Cebu Pacific's other Payment Option here! 

or check the list of Payment Centers here

I was born in Bacolod but could not remember watching Masskara events. My uncle and my dad used to dance and perform for Lopue's. So when the longing to see grandma couldn't get out of my head, I booked a flight - not to Bacolod but to Iloilo.

As it was just 2 weeks prior to Masskara's highlight, airfare to Bacolod were either sold out or the price skyrocketed already. Good thing Bacolod is a mere 2 hours away from Iloilo Airport. Or so I thought. Gathering up all the delays and wait time, it took me roughly 8 hours to finally get there. I left home 3:30AM, I arrived at my gram's house around 11:30AM. Serious.

1 hour flight plus 1 hour fastcraft

Met up with Couchsurfing friends from Cebu during lunch and we had batchoy at 21. Service was terrible. It took them an hour to bring our orders.

21 Restaurant

I opted to just watch the competition at home via live telecast as it was raining hard. I was also booking flights and packages while on vacation. Business as usual! 

Thankfully the rain finally stopped, so off I went to Lacson St. for the Electric Masskara parade around 8PM. 

Electric Masskara Parade 2012

Electric Masskara Parade 2012

CS Cebu Friends

And partied at L'Fisher's roof deck party until 2AM. Yeah, i went home early. Dead tired super!

L'Fisher Roof Deck Party

L'Fisher Roof Deck Party
Can you spot where I am? Clue - silhouette

I just learned about this agreement when I booked my friend and her family's flight to Boracay recently. They were surprised to board the Airphil Express fleet when they have Philippine Airlines flight tickets.

So what is a codeshare flight? Code sharing or codeshare is an agreement between two carriers where a flight operated by an airline is jointly marketed as a flight for one or more other airlines. 

The term “code” refers to the two-character airline designator code and flight number in flight schedule.

The airline that operates the flight (the one that provides ground handling services, the plane and the crew) is called the operating carrier thus, codeshare flights has this information: “Operated by AirPhil Express”



Philippine Airlines (PR) has codeshare agreement on these routes:

Domestic - with AirPhil Express (2P)
Between Manila and Busuanga
Calbayog
Catarman
Caticlan*
Masbate
Naga
San Jose
Surigao
Tuguegarao

Between Busuanga and
Puerto Princesa
Between Cagayan and
Davao

Between Cebu and
Bacolod
Cagayan de Oro
Caticlan *
Iloilo
Ozamiz
Tacloban
Zamboanga
Between Zamboanga
Cagayan de Oro
Davao
Jolo
Tawi Tawi

*Flights may be rerouted to Kalibo due to runway restrictions.InternationalBetween Manila 
Abu Dhabi – with Etihad Airways (EY)
Bahrain – with GulfAir (GF)
Doha – with Qatar Airways (QR)
Dubai – with Emirates (EK)
Kuala Lumpur – with Malaysia Airlines (MH)

Between Cebu
Hongkong – with Cathay Pacific (CX)

So okay, we learned about that. But can it also mean that Pal's airfare should also be the same as Airphil Express'? Cos today I tried to book a client to Puerto Princesa, and Pal's airfare amounted to a whopping Php 10,000++ roundtrip. It's a code share flight and operated by Airphil Express. That same flight, same date, same time is just Php 2,900 when booked via Airphil.

I'm not really quite sure why I chose Malapascua Island over Bantayan Island. But nonetheless, I was thrilled that I get to spend 2 days and 1 night in this island. It's the peaceful, uncrowded and serene beauty of the island that's perfect to cap off our Cebu trip.

To know how we got there from Cebu City, take a look at this guide: How to get to Malapascua?

Malapascua has this relaxed aura that's perfect to just beach bum, lay around and just enjoy the picturesque atmosphere. 

After the long trip, we didn't have any other activity other than sleeping, catching sunset and eat. 

We had our lunch here at Ging Ging's Flower Garden.

Bought some food supplies here.

And catch some sleep here. Our humble Casablanca home in Malapascua.

We woke up just in time for sunset. We went to look for a habal habal ride to get us to the lighthouse.

We were already a bit late for the ball of fire. 

So the visit at the lighthouse was so quick. We were already in a hurry before it gets dark.

We asked the drivers to take us to the local community so we can find cheap eats for dinner.

And cheap eats we found. Bravo!

We brought it to our place and we set up al fresco dinner by the beach.

Cheap eats + good company + interesting conversation + beach = PERFECT DAY!