Coron, Palawan

To start my year right, I took a HOLIDAY. Distancing myself from the many things I needed to do, I flew to Busuanga with my dear friend Elise and spent four days unwinding in Coron. We decided to entrust our ultimate relaxation to Majika Tours and was not disappointed.

We were shuttled to the Balai Majika situated in town from the Airport. It was small and simple but the warm smile and welcome of Met, Baby and the other girls in the Balai immediately made us feel at home. We were served Tinolang manok and fried fish for lunch before we were ferried down to the Majika island resort by our boatman, Edwin.

The resort has a rustic appeal to it. Our cottage had two huge beds, a spacious toilet and bath, airy balcony and the whole cottage was elevated for us to have a better view of the

beach and the majestic mountain right in front of the island resort.

The hall for the guests was welcoming and homey... significantly so because of the friendly staffs and owner of the resort, Maji (Margaret). It was easy to realize how important people's names were in Majika not only because their names were printed on their company t-shirts but mostly because, everyone called each other by name. In fact, if you happen to be in the hall at the same time with other guests, the staffs would go out of their way to introduce you to each other.

Being the usual "aligaga" girls, we were looking out for

things to do as soon as we unpacked our bags. But the staffs knew better. Vangie visited our cottage and sternly told me "Ma'am diba relax naman kayo? Pahinga lang muna kayo

...pag ok na kayo pwede ko naman kayo ipa bangka papunta sa boat house o kaya pasamahan pa akyat ng hill." This made me realize soon enough that this is going to be a "petiks" vacation. No bruhaha and what not. Just lazing around, no rush, no worries. Embarassed, I sat down

and took time to savour the fresh warm air and the quiet surroundings. Thanks to that visit, the mood of the trip was set.

With no activity planned out for us on this first day, we ventured out to explore the activities in the resort first. We started with a quick snorkeling trip just off the coast of the island. The waters below the boat house just meters away from the coast was teeming with marine life. It did not take me long to concluded that we made the right choice.

After our snorkeling trip, we had a short chat with Margaret at the hall while

helping ourselves to the best merienda of the trip...their home made turon. Charged and ready for a walk, we caught the sunset atop the Majika hill with Aris, Vangie's child. I was panting and short of breath but the view on top was worth it. Elise and I eased ourselves unto the swings that hang by the trees atop the hill...a perfect spot for our tête à tête.

Hungry and tired, we headed down the hill at about 6:00p.m. and dressed up for dinner. After which we cancelled our firefly and plankton (both glow in the dark creatures) viewing and sneaked into bed. We could not figure out how to lock our door from the inside but this surely did not deter us from having a sound sleep.

The next day, we met our comrades for the day... Marlon, our dive master, Jay and Ken (both from the U.S. Jay was Phil-Am and Ken was an American with Japanese descent) our companions in the trip, Angga and Avon our boatmen. Our group went to Siete Picados (known for

the big tropical fishes that makes the spot famous for snorkeling), Twin Lagoon (I love the water here, as it is a merging of salt and lake water, the swim is an interesting mix of warm and cold water....mostly cold and refreshing!), lunch by the beach (we had chicken adobo, fried fish and pineapple chunks) , and Cayangan lake ( lake water is so000 much better to swim in! No distractions and kinder to the skin...I felt much safer!). The day ended with cold drinks with Jay, Ken, Marlon and two new friends for the evening, AB and Rommel - two savagely experienced local travelers who seemed to have plowed the archipelago bit by bit with their prowess in finding unspoiled beaches and reliable bus and tricyle drivers :).

On the second day of our island tour, we were joined by Ram and Joy (newly wed young Filipino couple living in Dubai) , Grace and Aris (also a couple, Grace is a Filipina with a Canadian Citizenship and Aris from Morong, Bataan) and of course Marlon, Avon and Angga.

This time, we started the trip with an intro dive! Our first dive was on a shipwreck 10 meters deep (thank goodness there's beauty in that depth or my ears would have surely exploded given that I could not seem to equalize quite easily). Our beautifully decorated shipwreck was endowed with hard and soft corals and lotsa lotsa' fishes.

The second dive was closer to home... Majika's own coral garden. I found this dive much more picturesque because of the huge corals! I enjoyed diving and I hope I'd be able to do it

again. It did help that Marlon, who guided me throughout the whole experience was kind enough to take care of the technicalities of diving and just let me enjoy the view with ease.

We were famished after the second dive and since the reefs were only minutes from the shore, we rushed to the hall to catch some lunch. As we were getting accustomed to each other's company, we had a delightful lunch filled with travelers' stories and adventures that surely made my own travels fall below mediocre compared to our companions. But their reliving of their travels and activities made me even more convinced that although travelling may dent your pockets, it surely enriches you as a person. You simply could not underestimate the education that travelling and engaging in fun activities could give. At the very least, its memories serve as a refuge in dull and even sad moments. After that lunch, my bucket list was full to the brim.

We continued our day's trip at 2:00p.m. after a short nap (see how relaxed?). We then proceeded to another shipwreck site. This time it did not even require diving... just by snorkeling above water, you can see the treasure that this shipwreck could offer. Unabated by our whole day underwater, our next stop was the coral garden. We missed swimming with a sea turtle by a few seconds when we spotted it just when we were boarding the boat. Lastly, we headed to a hidden hot spring that required us to walk through an opening surrounded by mangroves. It was quite a treat. By this time, our group has gelled together (in the name of pictures and good company) and that certainly spiced up our day even more. At 5:00p.m. we returned to the island resort beckoned by our longing for Turon once again. :)

We capped our day with a visit to the mangroves to view the fireflies and planktons. In complete darkness, we traversed the sea right in front of Majika island and under the star filled skies, we "quietly" sneaked into the night creatures haven. Albeit our gregarious nature, the stillness of the night and the darkness that surrounded the evening caused us to be still and mellowed. What I enjoyed the most was the boat ride going to and from the mangroves. As Elise puts it, it was like riding to Hogwarts. It was by all means a pleasant ride and quite an experience.

Needless to say, I quickly dozed off as soon as I got back in the room... tired and content.

After breakfast the next day, we sent off our new found friends hoping that we may travel together again. To you... all the best!

Many times during the trip did I find myself praying, thanking God for the chance to travel yet again and to such a serene, friendly place. I was again reminded of my state of health, the events that preceded this year and I just could not help but fall silent and be filled with gratefulness for His providence and love.

Not long ago... I was singing this song... filled with hope and comforted by God's love.

"Holy darkness, blessed night. Heaven's answer hidden from our sight. As we await you oh God of silence, we embrace your Holy night."

Indeed your Love saves and is beautiful! Happy New Year!!!!!