August 21, 2014

Scootering the Magnificent Bohol - Day 1


Scootering Bohol
throwback around Bohol in 3 minutes... #scooteringbohol #throwback
Posted by Marjun Tacder on Friday, June 19, 2015
We have long wanted to visit Bohol and tour around the island using our very own Mesha, our Honda Scoopy. A week before, once we learned that August 21 was a holiday (a Thursday), I immediately filed for a leave for August 22 (Friday) so that we can have Bohol from August 21 to 24 (Sunday). I also informed my daughter's teacher that she won't be coming to class on August 22. Hehe. August 25 was another holiday but we opted to make it a rest day. So that would give us 4 days and 3 nights in  the magnificent island of Bohol. Let's proceed with the details and read on. :)

August 21, 2014. This was the day that we planned to fulfill our long-planned Bohol vacation. Not a peak season so we were confident that there would be not much impediments that would come our way. I have prepared our tickets, my wife prepared the things we needed, everything was planned and we were all ready to go. But we woke up on a drizzling (or okay it's like a rain shower already) morning. The schedule for our boat (Lite Shipping Vessel) was 7:00AM. We woke up at around 5:30 AM but because we have prepared everything, we still pushed through with our plan. A little rain, won't stop us. :)

So, we have  no pictures upon take off because of the unwelcoming weather. We went straight to Pier 1 in Cebu City from Mandaue City giving Mesha a full tank of gas (3.5 liters). We asked the guard on-duty on what we would do while we showed him our tickets. I went inside the terminal to process the needed papers and terminal fees. My wife and daughter waited for me at the entrance of the terminal. Afterwards, I placed Mesha in the cargo area of the ship. I then went back to the terminal so I could join my wife and daughter. The process was pretty smooth, thankfully.

Once we were in the ship, there were only a few people and even though we took the economy tickets, we were able to use the beds :). About 7:15AM, the boat started it's way to Bohol. :) My daughter could not hide her excitement because this was her first time to ride a ship. You should check out our video to see her reactions. Hehehe.


When we arrived at the port of Tubigon, Bohol, the weather was still the same or a little worse. It was like a rain shower already. We thought our vacation would be ruined because we couldn't see the sun. :( We proceeded with our plan to find a place to stay in Tagbilaran City, a cheap pension house or a lodging house. Somewhere in Loon, however, our tummies were screaming, lolz! So we found ourselves having our early lunch near the Loon Public Market, named Kandingan sa Manga. We were wet yet we were hungry so we didn't care. The foods were great and somewhat aided by the fact that we were wet and cold so it was a great lunch. :)


After filling up our tummies, we continued with our ride to Tagbilaran City. It was drizzling or showering but we still managed to enjoy the trip. We were used to the city streets and now we were transported into "another dimension" of native sceneries. :) Approaching Cortes, the rain shower stopped but the sky was still cloudy and appeared to bring some more rain. But when we reached Tagbilaran City, unbelievably, there was no sign of rain there. The sun was scorching hot because we arrived around noon. Well, well, well! That was a good sign. :)

We immediately looked for a pension house. We don't know actually which way to go because we assumed that pension houses shouldn't be really hard to find there. We found ourselves in Casa Rey Francis but unfortunately, they were already fully booked. I would have liked to proceed and stroll around the city to look for another one which should be cheap (at Casa Rey, they have Php750 with aircon and cable TV), but my daughter was already complaining. She appeared like she wanted to take a shower and rest. We were wet from Tubigon yet we dried ourselves already under the heat of Tagbilaran City. So, we decided to take the slightly posh Matig-a Seaside Pensione (yeah, it was spelled that way, hehe).


It was a fine pension house although a bit pricey for us (Php900) but who cares, this is a vacation so we should make the most of it. :) It also had a nice parking area where we felt Mesha would be safe and secured. And after the drizzly ride, this was how Mesha looked after:


After resting a little bit, there was still much time to consume (around 2PM), we then proceeded with our first activity in the island of Bohol:

Panglao Island Loop with a side trip to Bohol Bee Farm


We thought Panglao Island was just a small island. We were wrong. Yeah, it was small but it was larger than we expected. So looped using the main road in the middle of the island and then make a left turn towards the Alona Beach area. We skipped Alona Beach at that point but we planned to come back, just not on that day.

Next up was the Bohol Bee Farm but unfortunately, they have no more bees there. Reportedly, they all died already. Oh well, they should change their name to Bohol Bee Farm, hehe. Anyways, we still liked the place. There were no more bees, yet they still have their hand craft production, rooms with facilities and our favorite part, their ice creams although a bit pricey (Php40/scoop). We tried guyabano, mango and the not so good spicy ginger (my wife selected this, hahaha). They also have these healthy breads and they were fine to taste.



After tasting their yummy ice creams and breads coupled with a relaxing environment, we headed back to Tagbilaran City, thereby completing our Panglao Island Loop. Our next activity, well, it was almost night time so have our reliable Mesha take a bath in Tagbilaran City. We asked a couple of locals where to have our Mesha washed and they all pointed us near the airport. But before Mesha's bath, I gave her a full tank of gas first.


After that, the sky was dimmer already so we went back to our pension house and rested a little bit. And then I remembered Biyahe ni Drews visit to Gerarda's Restaurant where I saw good food being served. Hmmm, I hope Gerarda is not a posh restaurant because I couldn't remember if the foods were pricey or not. But who cares, hahaha! So, off we went and found Gerarda. We had a hard time locating it because it was actually located almost at the end of Torralba Street plus the night didn't help either. The place and ambience looked cozy and traditional. It was more like a house than a restaurant even the furniture.

The staffs were really friendly and hospitable. I learned in Biyahe ni Drew that their Dinakdakan was their bestseller. We ordered that plus Buttered Chicken (my daughter's favorite is anything chicken, lolz) and my wife ordered Chicharon Bulaklak. While waiting for our orders, we were offered peanuts which was unexpectedly a nice appetizer. Hehehe. Then after a couple of minutes, every order was served including 2 glasses of ripe mango shakes. Believe me, their dishes were all tasty! A must try, 2, no make it 6 thumbs up from US. :) Their prices weren't that high as well, playing between Php120 to Php200 and each dish is good for 2-3 people. We took out what remained, of course.


A closer look at their dishes: Dinakdakan (left), Buttered Chicken (middle) and Chicharon Bulaklak.
All dishes were tasty, promise! :)
After that, we ended our first day having ourselves our well deserved foot massage (reflexology) at the Tagbilaran City Park in front of the Cathedral. And I would mention, this was our first time to have reflexology. Our daughter opted to play in the park together with some other kids. Their park actually has mini chocolate hills. Hahaha! Speaking of Chocolate Hills, that would be our target for the next day so please keep posted! :)


 Ride Safe! Ride Scoopy! Godspeed!
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