26 Mar 2013
in Life in El Nido, Palawan Tags: Caalan Beach, El Nido, friends, home, Lia, Makulay Lodge, Palawan, travel
January 2013 was a very eventful month. And truly, it defined how the rest of the year is going to be for me. I know this year’s only been three months but it was the most difficult time of the year. So far, at least. And when things are difficult for me, I run to my refuge, back to where my heart is, to the place I call home.
View of Cadlao Island from Makulay Lodge
Lia’s put a hairpiece on me. Clever girl.
Good morning. Of Monsters and Men.
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25 Mar 2013
in Life in El Nido, Palawan Tags: Corong-corong, El Nido, Palawan, photography, Stunning Vistas Beach Resort, sunset, travel
I love riding my bike in El Nido. On one January afternoon, I concluded my ride by having a glass of shake and some food at Stunning Vistas Beach Resort in Corong-Corong and happened to have caught this. <3
Stunning Vistas Beach Resort
Lugadia, Corong-Corong, 5313 El Nido, Palawan
http://www.elnidostunningvistas.com
Contact numbers: +639217515783 or +639995660888
Email: reservation_stunningvistas@yahoo.com
If you are looking for more accommodations in El Nido, here is the link to the most updated list of accommodations, with contact numbers, links and a map. Click HERE.
21 Dec 2012
in Life in El Nido, Palawan Tags: Aplaya Bar, Aplaya Restobar, bar, El Nido, Palawan, restaurants, travel
Located at the very end of Rizal Street, on the right corner, across from Casa San Buenavista, and facing the beach directly, is Aplaya Bar and Restaurant. It was one of the “new” places I came across coming back in El Nido after a year’s absence. What once was a pretty garden with gumamelas and bougainvillea, stood a bar and restaurant. I had liked going to the beach after work, to have a glass of Shirley Temple, and this was one of the few bars that a Shirley Temple was available (the others being Sea Slugs and El Nido Corner Restaurant). They had a Buy1-Take 1 promo during Happy Hours, and Lia loved playing on the beach in front, so we were here a few times.
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20 Dec 2012
in Life in El Nido, Palawan Tags: accommodations, El Nido, La Salangane, La Salangane Hotel, La Salangane Restaurant, Palawan, restaurant
La Salangane has rooms and a bar and restaurant in the heart of town, as well as an apartment/villa in Caalan. I have not been to La Salangane II in Caalan and the photos here are mostly of the bar and resto.
I have been in El Nido two months when I first walked into this restaurant. It was a bright and sunny afternoon and I was completing a photo walk around town. It was one of the last accommodations located on Serena St. that I was supposedly documenting, and it was nearly four in the afternoon. I walked in there, and met two very amiable men, a French and a Spaniard, and forgot to leave.
Amidst bottles of San Miguel Pale Pilsen and my cocktails, we talked about music, movies, cuisine, and travel all over the world.
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16 Nov 2012
in Life in El Nido, Palawan Tags: Corong-corong, El Nido, El Nido Art Cafe and Boutique, El Nido Boutique and Art Cafe, Palawan
Our last few days in El Nido last September were spent hanging out at the beach in the afternoons….
A friend of ours has a cottage in Corong-corong and we would swing by sometimes to hang out.
The beach in this part of Corong-corong is not known for being clean because there are a lot of trees and leaves fall on the beach.
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22 Oct 2012
in Life in El Nido, Palawan, Photography Tags: Aplaya Bar, Blue Karrot Bar and Restaurant, El Nido, Marber's Restaurant, Marina Garden Beachfront Inn, Og's Pension, Palawan, photography, Sea Slugs Bar and Restuarant, The Before-and-After Project
Of all the places in El Nido, the beachfront has the most noticeable changes. There are so many more establishments as more homes were converted to businesses – either a restobar or lodge/pension.
The photos on this blog were taken on many different days over a period of two and a half months. The photos at the end of Rizal Street were taken one beautiful, sunny August afternoon; the photos of Pukka Bar and El Nido Corner were taken as early as July, as well as some photos of Sea Slugs were taken in August; and the rest of the photos were taken one windy September morning when the sun played hide-and-seek with me.
I took a walk starting off from where Rizal Street ends, with Aplaya Bar and Casa Buenavista on either sides, and ending in the small, narrow alley right after Tandikan Beach Cottages that emerges where Lonesome Carabao Lounge is.
CASA BUENAVISTA
APLAYA BAR
And as more buildings and businesses were established, the more the sand turned brown. I used to swim on the beach nearly everyday, I would not want to do that now.
The beach still looks beautiful on sunny days like this…
…but nothing compared to how it used to be.
Next to Casa Buenavista is Marber’s Restaurant.
MARBER’S RESTAURANT
Back when Marber’s Restaurant was on the ground floor of the building where Og’s Pension is, this was Blue Karrot Beach Bar and Restaurant.
Blue Karrot has a long history, being originally owned by Rudy and Rose, and then sold off to a friend of theirs. Rose’s family now owns Makulay Lodge and Villas in Caalan, and Blue Karrot does not exist anymore, neither in this spot nor any other spot in town.
Casa El Nido has been there ever since I can remember too. It used to have a little garden on the side where there were trees, and loungers under the shade.
CASA EL NIDO
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21 Oct 2012
in Life in El Nido, Palawan, Photography Tags: Asylum Bar, Baracalan, Bom Disco, Calle Hama, Dara Fernandez Beach Cottages, Devayn's Inn, El Nido, El Nido Beach Hotel, El Nido Marine Club, El Nido Waterfront Hotel, Entalula Beach Cottages, Garnet Hotel, Gloria's Beach Cottages, Habibi Bar, Hama Street, Hard Rocks, Inngo Tourist Inn, Kape Pukka, Lally & Abet Beach Cottages, Lonesome Carabao Lounge, Marina Garden Beach Cottages, Palawan, Rico's Beach Cottages, Rossanas Cottages, Rovic's Pension, Squidos Restaurant, Tandikan Beach Cottages, The Before-and-After Project, Trattoria Altrov'e, Zaniya's Pension
Calle Hama begins where Balinsasayaw Road, a road that starts off at Rizal Street, meets the road that goes to the northernmost baranggays of the town of El Nido, at the corner where Lally & Abet Beach Cottages is found. This is the street that we take all the time because we lived a kilometer or so north of town but the entire time I was there, I kept thinking I was going to devote just one day to taking photos of the town, that in the end, I did not manage to. In my last two weeks in El Nido, it kept raining and some of the establishments were in the process of renovating and/or building more cottages.
Most of the originals of my old El Nido photos are lost. The ones I repost are mostly from a folder that I found that has a title “El Nido Town Reduced”, so the files have been reduced. But recently, I found a folder that says “El Nido Town 3″ with photos taken from April 2006 and these were original files and have not been reduced. I found these two photos:
LALLY & ABET BEACH COTTAGES, 2006
ROSANNA’S COTTAGES, 2006
My photos of Calle Hama begin at Lonesome Carabao Lounge and end right before Marina Garden Beach Cottages. Calle Hama is the busiest street in El Nido town and has the most number of establishments, accommodations and restaurants. In order, from the intersection, one can find the following accommodations: Lally & Abet Beach Cottages, El Nido Beach Hotel, Inngo Tourist Inn, Devayn’s Inn, and Rosanna’s Cottages.
LONESOME CARABAO LOUNGE
Lonesome Carabao Lounge sits at a location that I remember used to be a rice store… if not a poultry supply store. The building right next to it used to be where the El Nido Public Market was “supposed” to be. The local government has tried to move the public market many times. The public market now has been successfully moved and operating at a big complex in Corong-Corong, where the bus stations are also found. This has done wonders in the vehicle and foot traffic in the narrow streets of the little town and El Nido – something that I truly appreciate.
When I was living in El Nido in 2006, my favorite store was Kuya Loy’s store in front of the waiting shed. We hung out a lot there with Kuya Loy and his wife, Ate Mavic. We borrowed his paddle boat a lot too. Kuya Loy, a musician, played at Balay Tubay and Ricson’s Bar and Restaurant. One of my co-teachers and also my best buddy at that time, Eric, played bass guitar for his band every now and then. (Photo below: Top, 2006; bottom, 2012)
In the photo below, on the leftmost end is Lonesome Carabao Lounge, and on the rightmost end is where El Nido Plaza Inn is.
In between Kuya Loy’s store and Baracalan is a parking lot and El Nido Plaza Inn. El Nido Plaza Inn has been there ever since, one of the oldest and cheapest accommodations in El Nido, but I have never seen it. I don’t know what it looks like inside or where exactly is the building. I just know it’s there.
EL NIDO PLAZA INN
Across the street is a row of beachfront cottages, also with entrances through Hama Street.
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15 Oct 2012
in Life in El Nido, Palawan, Photography Tags: Anang Balay Turista, El Nido, El Nido Art Cafe and Boutique, El Nido Sands Inn, La Salangane, Palawan, Palawan Pawnshop, Pura Vida, Relucio Travellers Pension, Shore Pass Lodge, Sirena Street, Tao Expedition, The Alternative Inn, travel, Willa's Pension
Where Rizal Street ends is where Sirena Street begins. Sirena Street runs parallel to the beach, as well as a part of Calle Real, both terminating at the port.
Sirena Street, a very narrow, one-way street, can easily be missed. At the corner, on the left side is a clothing store, painted in green, and a sari-sari store on the white building on the right side.
On Sirena Street, construction was in full swing on the lot right next to the clothing store when I was documenting during the month of September. It used to be a cozy little restaurant called Vicenta’s, that we loved to eat at back in 2006 because they had the most delicious seafood dishes.
We used to feel uncomfortable walking on this street because it was crowded and a bit scary. It’s looking a bit better now, but it is still the street I like least in El Nido.
On this street, one will also find the Tao Philippines booking office.
TAO EXPEDITION
And the Palawan Pawnshop, one of two in this town. I used to ignore this shop until I realized how important it was in a town that had no banks or ATMs. It is the only way to send or receive money from outside of El Nido.
PALAWAN PAWNSHOP AND EL NIDO SANDS INN
I’ve never even noticed it before, but a photo from 2006 tells me it’s been there ever since.
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15 Oct 2012
in Life in El Nido, Music, Palawan, Restaurants Tags: bar, El Nido, live music, night life, Palawan, Rej Duka, restaurants, Sea Slugs, Sea Slugs Bar and Restuarant, travel
My favorite at Sea Slugs would always be their Tanigue in lemon butter sauce and their Shirley Temple. That’s what I always order there. My friends who work for the El Nido Resorts always order pizza when they are in town from the resort.
We were there a lot that I took a lot of photos at different times. This is one of the places in El Nido that we could be seen just hanging out and about.
The restaurant is open the entire day and is a good place to have breakfast. If you’re going to have breakfast with a view like this, why not?
I have photos of Sea Slugs taken in 2006 when they were just starting out. It used to look like this:
Here is the photo from my Before-and-After Photo-documentation Project.
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09 Oct 2012
in Life in El Nido, Palawan, Photography Tags: Aplaya Bar, Blessed Inn, Bunakidz Lodge, Calle Hama, Calle Real, Casa Buenavista, Cliffside Cottages, documentation, El Nido, El Nido 2006, El Nido 2012, FU Gen Merchandise, Hama Street, Lolo Oyong Pension, Lualhati Cottages, Midtown Bakery, Nikon D90, Palawan, Pentax Optio WP, photography, photowalk, Sei Nazion Cottages, Sirena Street, Skyline Grill, The Before-and-After Project, The Coffee Shop, Villa Cecilia, Villa del Vincejos
Many of the photos of Rizal Street that I have now are taken in 2012. In 2006, there wasn’t anything interesting much about this street that I did not take a lot of photos of it. Rizal Street is what visitors coming in from Puerto Princesa will take and see first when going into El Nido town.
Now, as development moves from the poblacion towards Corong-Corong, more and more lodging and pension houses are being built along this street.
I have this grand plan of blogging about ALL the accommodations in El Nido town, including the ones in Brgy. Caalan and Brgy. Corong-corong, but this will not materialize, I suppose. There are now so many of them, from low to high budget, that I just did not get the time to cover them all.
I did try to start with the ones on Rizal Street, beginning with Viewdeck Cottages, but that blog will have to wait.
On Rizal Street, coming in from Corong-corong, these are what you will see:
LUALHATI COTTAGES
CLIFFSIDE COTTAGES
SEI NAZION COTTAGES
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