Like the years before, my dad always makes sure we’re all together, face to face, elbow to elbow every holy week (well we really have no choice because we’re still living in his house hehe!)

Day 1: Kneeboarding at CWC

I like the idea of doing sports – I’ve tried tennis (ugh, my arms aren’t that strong to hit the tennis ball), I’ve tried swimming (the water’s freezing at 6 am!!), I’ve tried volleyball (let’s just say my hands are not made to hit any kind of ball), and I’ve tried track and field (this one I liked but wasn’t able to pursue), but I’m not really successful so imagine my surprise when I was able to do a couple of rounds of kneeboarding at CWC’s AMAZING cable wake park oh-so-easily!

The day after, I was sore from the kneeboarding (it can give quite a pull on your arms), and well, I was….. dark as night.

Wakeboarding/kneeboarding/ski etc costs around Php600+ for the whole day(830 am till 5 pm), around Php120 per hour (if you just want to try it out) and they already provide all the equipment you need + a 5 minute talk from the instructor.

TIPS

• when going there during the peak season (holy week, long weekends), make sure to reserve as early as possible. Last Good friday, they ran out of equipment to rent out as early as 8:30 am (and that’s the time the park opens!!)

• bring a mirror scope camera so you can check out the HOTTIES on their boards.PROMISE. ang gwagwapo. at ang gaganda. pangromansang katawan pa!
• wifi is available, so you can bring your laptop, if you have to. but c’mon, who needs it when you have all the hot guys/girls running half naked? ehehe.

Day 2: Cagsawa Ruins

That’s Mayon Volcano for you at around 9-10 am on a Maundy Thursday (apparently, you have to be there waaay early to see the whole mountain.. but it’s okay, at least we got to see the peak)

Mi familia!!

My father. Everyday kaming magkasama so everyday din kaming nagbabangayan haha. Our day ain’t complete without a bickering session.

The kids at Cagsawa Ruins are pretty good at taking photos, you don’t have to pay for their services but it would be gracious of you to buy a printed photo of Mayon from them. They also act as guides to most tourists.

Day 3 & 4: Butanding Watching/Firefly Watching at Donsol!

This is probably the most-awaited day of alllllllll!!! I’ve been bugging my dad to take us to Donsol since last last year and go whale-watching and after a lot of cajoling, he finally relented (helps too that he bought an alterra to fit all our luggage!)

But first – just a few sunset shots? I like the colors of donsol

Photo above was taken at almost 6 pm. We were waiting for our ride to the river for the firefly watching. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures of the fireflies – it was just too dark. If you’re going to donsol, don’t miss it. It costs around P1250 a group, have it scheduled at your resort or drop off by the Tourism Center near Vuiton (err not sure about the spelling) resort. May I just say that the gentlemen and ladies at the Tourism Center were very accommodating! We had ours scheduled at Woodland Resort. Around 6 pm, you’ll be riding a motor boat to the river (around 30 minutes) along with a guide who’ll be watching out along the looong river for the “firefly hives”. The water’s not choppy except when you reach the part where the river meets the sea.

Couldn’t resist

What can I say about the firefly watching experience? I wish I could have stayed longer staring at them.. those insects were just amazing…wish we had those in Manila (it was a bit painful on the neck though).

The next day, we woke up early to meet our guide and start with our whale watching experience. While having breakfast, a family who was staying at the same resort told us they only had 2 sightings the other day. THAT’s SAD. You have 3 hours to scour the seas of donsol for a whale shark so that means for every 1 hour and half, they only saw 1.

We felt a bit apprehensive, but I guess luck was on our side (not just luck, but the almighty GOD) because we had around 10+ sightings that day

I was editing it and it turned purple. That’s the head.

Gills, left side of the body.

Right side of the body, with his friends hehe.

It was pretty difficult to take photos of the whale shark, I didn’t take any really (it was more of my brothers).

Why?

Because the whole time I was screaming underwater. I think I was crying too.

It was incredible. I could use up all the synonyms of the words incredible, amazing, wonderful and it would still not be able to describe the feeling of swimming with the whale sharks. It was humbling – imagine a creature so enormous – who could potentially suck up my head in its huge mouth – and yet was very gentle, a bit friendly actually, and to think, I was in its territory. We are very blessed to have experienced this, and what can I say? God is GREAT.

Our tour guide (whose name I’m still trying to recall), told us there are already 160 whale sharks (and hopefully growing). They are very protective of these gentle giants and there had been only 1 reported case of whale shark killing (he’s still in jail). I guess when your town isn’t as developed as the other towns in Bicol, you’d really protect your livelihood (season starts November – May, after that the butandings disappear and according to the brochure I got from the tourism department, they still have yet to find out where they actually disappear TO).

• If you’re going there, make sure to bring your fins, snorkeling gear, sunblock etc (unless you want to rent the whole set for P300).

• When your guide says dive.. bygolly DIVE! or else you won’t be seeing the whale shark. You have to be able to swim fast too, but if you have a guide like ours who pulled me all throughout my 3 dives (it was tiring, promise), you won’t have any problems
• Follow your guide. You aren’t allowed to touch the whale shark by the way.
• According to the waitress at shoreline where we had lunch, a couple of guides have a trick up their sleeves to make the whale shark rise to the surface (sometimes they can go really deep, all you see are polka dots) -> by rubbing their tummies. Something you’d do to your dog. I find it cute!

Next year I plan to go back to Donsol and stay there a bit longer. Hopefully they have Wifi in the area by that time so I can actually go diving in the morning and work in the afternoon.

and that’s how I spent my holy week