A Little Island Get-Away

El Rio y Resort, Palawan, Philippines
Thursday, September 12th to Tuesday, September 17th, 2013

My long hot summer is finally over and it was time for me to head out on vacation. I hadn't had a single day off (without being at work or on call) since my dive trip in July so as you could imagine I was really ready to turn my work phone off and ignore my emails for a few days.

I had been hashing around ideas in my head for months where I was going to spend my birthday but mostly decided that it wouldn't be here in Riyadh. I went through a lot of scenarios from Spain, to South France to Egypt to Jordan but after some conversations with Debi it was decided I would head to the Philippines and meet up with her there. It is a relatively quick and easier trip for her (a little less so for me but that's ok) and since it's been more than 2 years since we've seen each other we thought we better take the chance while we could. Scott unfortunately couldn't make it but that's ok...we turned it into a girls holiday.

While Deb and I have slightly different traveling styles, we agreed that we would hit a resort somewhere. We also agreed that we would avoid the high commercial areas (Boracay is where most tourists go, but we wanted some peace and quiet) so we looked at some places on Palawan Island. I work with a lot of Filipinos here in Riyadh and when I told them I was heading to Palawan they always went "oooh, it's so nice there". I guess that's where they go to relax. I found a nice little resort that was not too pricey and looked pretty and most importantly served cocktails at anytime of the day.

My trip to Manila was long. I had a 6 hour lay over in Dubai. At first I thought about heading to the mall for a bit but decided against it as I just couldn't put in the effort. Instead I killed about 5 hours at the champagne bar and then made my way to my gate. The flight to Manila was very long but I was happy we arrived a few minutes early. Once on the ground in Manila the real fun began. I had a very short amount of time between when I landed and when I needed to be checked-in for the short domestic flight to Palawan....about 45 minutes and in that time I needed to get off the plane, get through immigration, collect my luggage, get through customs and change terminals. Everything at first seemed to go well. I worked my way to the front of the plane and got off quickly, walked right up to immigration and was through in about 45 seconds and then got to the baggage carousel and I waited....and waited......and waited. Debi had arrived a few hours before me and was already at the check-in counter for the other flight. We were talking by cell phone through the whole thing. I was freaking out because there was only one flight to Palawan that day and I really didn't want to miss it. Finally at about 0735 my bag arrive. I now had 10 minutes to get to the next terminal and make the 0745 check-in cut off. Debi of course during all this had been talking to people at the check in desk and I was running to catch a taxi. Yes a taxi, because you actually have to leave the airport to get to the the other terminal......it is about a 10 minute drive with minimal traffic....so of course there was all kinds of traffic. The taxi driver knew I was in a hurry and did all he could.

Debi in the meantime had sweet talked one of the ladies at the check-in counter and they actually checked me into the flight without me being there. So when I arrived at the airport, I quickly went through security and ran to the check-in counter to drop of my bag. I had to move some things around (I bought some duty free stuff that could not go carry on to my next flight), paid for my overweight luggage (you only get 10kg on domestic flights with Philippine airlines), and we then rushed our way to the boarding gate.....where our flight was slightly delayed. We took the extra moments to actually hug and take a few deep breaths after the little transfer adventure.

Looking out the window on our flight. The Philippines is actually made up of a few hundred little islands. It was a very pretty little flight.

Eventually we got on the little plane and headed off. Once we arrived in Palawan, we quickly gathered our luggage and then found our ride.

The little Palawan airport.

Debi sitting on the baggage carousel as we waited for our luggage. Everything had to be hand carried off the plane.

It was a 30 minute van ride, followed by a 30 minute boat ride to the resort. We were very happy to be greeted with snacks on the boat....we were a bit hungry. On arrival we were greeted with tropical drinks and a song. After a quick briefing about the resort we were escorted to our room.

The water taxi after a very bumpy ride from the airport to the dock.

It was a nice and relaxing 30 minute ride through some mangroves and going past coastal villages. So much fun.

Nothing like a welcome song......

......and some welcome drinks. A great start to our vacation.

A sample of that welcome song.

A quick unpacking and change into our suits and it was off to enjoy the resort.

Our little cabana for the days we were here. They gave us an upgrade due to some construction at the resort and the low vacancy (our entire time at the resort there were never more than 4 or 5 other guests).

The view from our cabana. On the right of the screen is the little floating barg where you can get a massage. On the left is where we landed and where they have a very nice bar.

Our room. It was really nice.

The pool area. Also very nice. 

The beach.

US!

This is out by that water bar. Lots of places to relax and since the resort was empty we never had to worry about having too many people around.

Looking back at the beach and the cabanas from the bar.

We got to watch lots of little boats go by. Very nice and relaxing I assure you.

The bar.....well stocked.

In case you are wondering, September isn't really high tourist season in the Philippines (still a bit wet and rainy), which is why it was so empty. We managed to have a real mix of weather while we were here. Lots of sun, a little rain, clear nights. It was perfect. I mentioned the bar was open all day long. It only closed from about 4pm to 5pm when the power was shut down.......no fruity drinks then. The rest of the time we enjoyed some great mango drinks (imagine mango in a blnder thinned with a little rum....so good.)

Great view of the sunset.

Enjoyed more than a few of these.

Hmmm....so relaxing.

Our second day at the resort Debi and I decided we would just stick to the resort, change up vantage points and enjoy some good food. We got sun pretty much the entire day so it was great.

Debi ventured out on the paddle board.

I opted for the kayak.

Relaxing by the pool. So nice to never have to fight for a place to sit.

We enjoyed more than a few of these. Great little beer. Best part was the price. Being at a isolated resort we paid slightly higher prices than other places but they we still like 2 CAD a bottle.

Steamed crab anyone? All meals were included in the resort cost and I must say we never went hungry. When the resort is a little bit fuller they have a buffet but with so few of us we had an Al-a-carte menu to order from. But even within that they were pretty flexible. This crab was really good.

The next couple days we got a real mix of weather, and a little bit more rain than we would have liked. However the rain let up long enough for us to do a little island excursion. We hopped aboard a little boat and went to visit a couple more little islands for some snorkeling and relaxation.

Our little boat out. Not a dry ride at all but totally ok.

The first little island we stopped at.

Nice soft sandy beach for us to hang out on.

Yes, I had my underwater camera so got a few pictures.

This is the second island we were at. We had to swim to it as it was too rocky and shallow for the boat but nice and soft sand when we got there.

A little climbing success.

Even with the rain, it was a nice warm day.

Oh no.....watch out for that star fish.

Good thing they don't bite.

It was a little cold on the ride back but we managed to get there before the rain moved back in.

A very nice couple we met at the resort going for a little sail. They unfortunately headed out when the worst rain hit but that didn't stop them.

We did some kayaking again before the rain hit too.

Of course we were in the Philippines to celebrate my birthday and celebrate we did on our final night.

Opening my presents from Debi and Scott. I'm told Scott picked out my new purse, decorated with some beautiful Aboriginal Art from Australia. While not my actual birthday (this was the 16th) we celebrated like it was.

Wouldn't be a party without some champagne. I carried this bottle from duty free in Dubai so we could enjoy it at the resort. 

This is Ian and Rebecca, that great couple I spoke of earlier. We met them the first night at the resort and tended to spend our evening together. They are currently livinging my neck of the woods (Dubai) and were also here for a nice vacation. We had a lot of fun together.

Debi and I after some champagne and a few appetizers.

Ian eventually got behind the bar (actually on several occasions in the evening).

Debi and Rebecca.

After the pre-dinner drinks we headed to eat (another great meal) before moving on to the night's highlight.......

Karokee!!!!!! Now we were only supposed to have about 45 minutes of singing, but they let us go well into the night before finally shutting us down (other people were sleeping plus all the batteries in the microphones died). So then we moved back to the bar.

Of course there were some shots.

It really was a fun night!!!

The morning of the 17th arrived and although it was my birthday and we were still celebrating, we were leaving the resort so it was a bit sad too.

My special birthday breakfast...pre-arranged by Debi....and with a cake. I probably have not mentioned yet how nice everyone at the resort was. Just so amazing and happy and just so very nice. Waffles and cake were the perfect breakfast for me.

But eventually we had to leave. Saying goodbye to everyone was a bit sad. We took the short flight back to Manila where we had one more night before Debi had to head home.

I took care of the hotel booking in Manila because I was going to be there a night on my own. I went with the Fairmont Makati, partially because of it's proximity to shopping and partially because all the pictures were so nice. I think it was a good choice. Once checked in Debi and I made some arrangements for a bottle of wine and some in room massages.

The wine came with some free cake. Pretty much everyone who worked for the hotel knew it was my birthday and I was greeted with a "Happy Birthday Mam" everywhere we went.

Enjoying the wine and cake waiting for the massages.

Now those in room hour long massages cost us about 500 Philippine peso.....which is around 12 CAD. So cheap and so nice. We then went out for dinner before checking out the hotel spa.

Dressed up to go out.

Ok so we also made a stop at the lobby bar for a couple drinks.

The mineral spa in the hotel......it's ok as guests we're allowed to use it whenever we want.

The next morning Debi had to fly home. I spent the day getting lost in the giant mall across the street. It was a really nice trip and a great place to meet up with Debi. 

Anyone thinking about heading the to Philippines I would totally recommend it. I certainly will be back.

Julie