Pandan Island

Pandan Island- According to Jens Peters (former author of Lonely Planet Philippines) Pandan is in his top 10 of the most beautiful islands in the Philippines. This statement was the reason why we travelled 13 hours from Manila to reach Pandan. The trip was long but very interesting. After about 4 hours into the travel somewhere between Abra de Ilog and Sablayan, we saw some tribesmen wearing g-strings and carrying arrows! That was really cool! After finally arriving in Sablayan, I was a bit disheartened when I saw that the river we have to pass to get to Pandan Island was a little bit polluted. After that in my mind it was not possible that Pandan could be the paradise that I imagined it to be. When we finally arrived, I was pleasantly surprised that it was really paradise. It has a nice white sand beach in the south and a forest inland (we got lost in it with a German couple for 2 hours). The cottages were well designed with balconies and sliding bamboo doors (from P 600 for dorm rooms to P2700 for family cottages that can accomodate 6 people). The dinner buffet was cheap and excellent (about P360). The resort is powered using solar power so the lighting is a bit minimal but that gives the island a very nice, laid back atmosphere. Pandan is a good base if you want to go to Apo Reef for diving. http://www.pandan.com/


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Pan de Sal

It is with great pleasure that I share with you my pan de sal recipe. I worked very hard to get this one right. The first ones I made were like rocks and then after 10 more attempts I could shout-- SUCCESS! I was really obssessed in doing this correctly (read: I made it everyday until I got it just right), it didn't help that my standards are quite high. I want it to taste exactly like how they made it in the bakeshop in my hometown in the Philippines. My ultimate success was when I made it for my mother and she said that it is the best pan de sal she ever tried! Honestly, having the luxury of having pan de sal anytime I want here in Switzerland changed my life.

Pan de sal

Ingredients: 2 cups water, 6 cups flour, 14 grams yeast, 1 cup of plain bread crumbs, 1 cup of dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Procedure
1. Dissolve yeast into 1/2 cup of warm water and 1 tbsp sugar. Wait until frothy. While proofing the yeast, mix & dissolve 1 cup dark brown sugar & salt into 1/2 cups warm water . Sift 6 cups of flour into large mixing bowl.
2. Fold 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil evenly into sifted flour add sugar & water and yeast & water mixtures to flour then add remaining 1 cup of water. Stir dough mixture with the hook of your mixer for about 5-10 minutes . The dough should be sticky. Take the dough out, clean the bowl then put oil in bowl. Place the dough back in the bowl then coat it with oil. Cover with saran wrap. Let rise until doubled in size probably about 1 hr in a warm place. Punch it down when it rises over the bowl. Let it rise one more time until double.
3. Knead the dough on a board then flatten it to about 3/4 inch thick. Reshape it into a ball then again place dough in bowl, cover and let rise again until doubles in size.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. After dough has doubled in size place dough on a board then flatten dough to about 3/4 inch thick.
6. Spread dough across board. Cut dough into four columns & eight rows to yield 32 pandesal rolls . Shape each piece into a roll then roll it onto breadcrumbs and then place on a baking paper lined baking pan. Arrange all 32 pandesal evenly on baking pan.
7. Let rise until doubled.
8. Place pan de sals into 350-degree fahrenheit oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until brown.

This recipe was modified from Manong Ken's Recipe of the Month (http://www.carinderia.net)

Please check out my food blog Bubut's House for more recipes!

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Bohol

What I like about Bohol is, it is a complete package. One could enjoy not only the beach and the sea but there are a lot of other interesting things to see and do in-land.

Alona Beach has a coarse, creamy sand. Although it is not as fine as the sand in Boracay, Alona beach has all the elements required of a tropical paradise. The best part of the beach is in front of Alona Tropical Beach Resort. Along the beach there are a variety of restaurants to choose from so you'll not go hungry. It is also possible to go island hopping, whale and dolphin watching but we passed out on that because we didn't want to wake up soo early (lazy, lazy, lazy, what a shame!) . We stayed at the immaculately clean Isis Bungalows .
If you had enough of the beach, one can also stay at Nuts Huts which is a row of basic cottages on the bank of the Loboc River. When in Bohol one must definitely go to the Chocolate Hills, Tarsier place in Corella (I am in-love with them), and have a good lunch while cruising along the Loboc River. Upon arriving at the airport in Tagbilaran, there would be drivers waiting to shuttle you to Alona Beach (about 4o minutes) or any resort in Panglao. I cannot remember exactly how much we paid but I can recommend our driver, Bobot. Unfortunately, after arriving in Alona Beach even before finding a place to stay, my daughter got bitten by a monkey (pet of the Korean resort owner). Knowing the dangers of rabies, I immediately asked our driver to take us back to Tagbilaran to consult with a doctor. It took us almost 5 hours to find one (There was no doctor either in the provincial hospital nor in the private hospital). With Bobot, we ran around the whole city trying to find a doctor. Anyway, to make a long story short, finally after 5 hours we found a doctor then went back to Alona beach. I was a little worried about of how much our driver would charge since we basically hired him for the day plus all the effort he put in helping us. Surprise, surprise he didn't charge us a lot more. He said that we should just hire him for an inland tour of Bohol. We did and so the next day we went to the chocolate hills, tarsier place and the Loboc River with him in his Toyota Corolla.
I like bohol because aside from the nature being quite well preserved, the people are very kind. Even the doctor in Tagbiliran (I think he owns the private hospital) didn't make us pay a consultation fee. In a lot of the touristic places I had been to sometimes I felt that people are not kind, that for them you are just a tourist with money, in Bohol I didn't feel like this at all!

The biggest phyton in the world in captivity can be found in Bohol.
This is the owner of the biggest phyton in the world. When you visit, he includes a free dance show complete with pole dancing.

Getting there:
Philippine Airlines- to Tagbilaran then you have to hire a car to Panglao
Cebu Pacific- to Tagbilaran then you have to hire a car to Panglao
Accomodations:
Isis Bungalows
Nuts Huts
Alona Tropical Beach Resort Tel. +63 38 502 9024, Fax: +63 38 411 2244
Balicasag Island Dive Resort Tel. (Manila) +63 2 812 1984 Fax. +63 2 812 1164
Ananyana Beach Resort this is where we wanted to stay but it was too expensive for me=(
Alona Palm Beach Resort

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Malapascua Island, Cebu

Malapascua Island, Cebu- Just an hour and a half by boat from Bantayan you will find Malapascua Island. Of course it has the necessary powdery white sand beach. Added to this is the good diving where one could see thresher sharks. For snorkelers, there is a Japanese wreck very near the shore.

What I didn't like about Malapascua was that when we went snorkeling the boatmen didn't care at all where they dropped their anchor. Just imagine, if 100 boats go out for a snorkeling tour, can you imagine how much coral they would destroy? We mentioned this to the resort owner and she didn't really care. I also didn't like that the resort owners along Bounty Beach are constructing cottages very near the beach. The beach are so narrow at some points already. The resorts then build cement dams to prevent the cottage from being eroded by the tide. The beaches on the other side of the island are wider and less developed.

There are more food choices in Malapascua than in Bantayan. You can get everything from Filipino to Italian food. Ging gings restaurant is the cheapest choice but I have to admit that I didn't like it very much because the tables were too sticky for my tastes.

Map
Accomodations:
Los Bamboos Beach Resort
Blue Water Resort
Sunsplash
Malapascua Exotic Island Dive and Beach Resort

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Bantayan Island, Cebu

Because we didn't want to go to Boracay every year, we decided to go to Sta Fe, Bantayan Island because we heard that it could be the next Boracay. We found that this island indeed has that beautiful wide powdery white sand beach like Boracay without the tourist. Bantayan island is about 4 hours away from Cebu City by bus but it is well worth the trip. Upon landing at Cebu Airport, we took a taxi to the Cebu North Bus Terminal. There you find buses going to Hagnaya Port where we took the ferry to Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island.
We stayed at the Budyong Beach Resort which is on a beautiful section of Sugar beach. The cottages were basic but clean. Anyway, the most important thing for me is the perfect beach and we had it just in front of our cottage to admire and enjoy. The only downside to Bantayan, in my opinion, was that there was nothing much to do except to admire the beautiful ocean. There was also a very limited choice of restaurants. So, if you plan to go to Bantayan don't forget to bring a very thick book. Snorkeling at the nearby Virgin Island is particularly good so once you finished your book, I suggest to try island hopping. If your goal is to relax and not see anybody and not do much then this is the place for you. After 2 days of peace, we hired a boat to go Malapascua Island which promised more action.
Accomodations:
Budyong Beach Resort, Sta Fe, Bantayan Island
Kota Beach Resort, Sta Fe, Bantayan Island +633275101
Marlin's Beach Resort
Moby Dick Resort
St. Bernard Beach Resort

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For fun and affordable family vacations, it is important to prepare in advance. Skip the cheap hotels, go for a travel lodge. Get tickets for cheap flights and prepare for a car rental at the airport well beforehand.
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Boracay Island

My husband and I were first hesitant to go to Boracay because we thought that it would be too touristic. Fortunately, we went anyway and saw the best beach we have ever seen. The sand is really powdery white and sooo fine. There are so many things to do,
so much to see and lots of restaurants to choose from. Well, for the "too touristic" part, we concluded that it was not so bad. At least we have all the comforts we could ever want. Somehow the island managed to preserve its "island feel" despite of the all the development. I just hope that they would know when to stop "developing".
Both times we went to Boracay we stayed at the Cottage Queen (P1500 per room per night) in station 1. Located right next to Fridays, it is good for budget minded travellers who wants to stay at the best part of white beach. Next time we go however, I think we will stay at the Boracay Terraces at the end of station 1 because it is more quiet and not as expensive as the other resorts in the area. If you are thinking of going to Boracay make sure that your resort is in station 1 because there the beach is wider and the sand is whiter and finer than in station 2 and 3. There are also less people in this part of white beach because it is where all the expensive hotels are. Another place I am considering is Blue Waves Beach House which is right next to Cottage Queen and Fridays. Their rooms are directly facing the beach.
The best month to see Boracay in its most pristine condition is probably December (before the Christmas holidays) because there are no algae on the beach which comes February to June. After June then it's the rainy season so it won't be so much fun either.
Whatever other people may say about Boracay, it is still the most beautiful beach I had ever seen. It is one of my favorite places on earth.


Getting there:
Philippine Airlines - to Aklan and Iloilo then you have to take an L300 van to Caticlan
Cebu Pacific - goes directly to Caticlan
Asian Spirit - goes directly to Caticlan
Sea Air- goes directly to Caticlan
Accomodations:
Cottage Queen
Boracay Terraces
Fridays



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