Joei & Me

This is the last installment of our Coron Trip. If you haven't read the other posts, I suggest you start from the beginning. The links are at the end of this post. Just click "Read More" :)

Day 2
(continued)

From Malcapuya Island, we traveled back towards the Coron mainland to see the other tourist spots in the area -- Atwayan Beach and Coral Garden, the Twin Lagoon, and Kayangan Lake.

If you haven't read my first 3 blog entries about Coron, scroll to the end. The links are all there so you can start from Day 1 :)


Day 2
23 July 2012

T and I had a whole journey ahead of us so even if I'm not a breakfast person, I knew I had to eat before leaving the resort (read my blog entry on Sunz En Coron Resort). I ordered the American Breakfast (P230/$6) consisting of toasted bread, eggs, bacon or ham, fruit, and coffee.

After eating, T and I did the Coron Town Tour. Our itinerary: Mount Tapyas, Nanay Lita's Cashew Place, and Maquinit Hot Springs.

Mount Tapyas

I must have been crazy to climb Mount Tapyas with a healing ankle (and in a dress!) but I really wanted T to see the view of the whole island from up there. But to reach the top, we had to climb 800+ steps!

Tip: Buy water from the vendors at the entrance before climbing. You'll need it, believe me. I'm not a water drinker but I felt the need to drink every so often.

There's a marker every 100 steps up Mt Tapyas. T took a photo of me at each one. You'll see my energy dropping as we reach 800.

100 - Super energized and hyper to reach the top!

They say love is better the second time around. And it's true! I fell in love with Coron during my first visit, and 6 years later, I fell in love with it all over again.

I had a feeling everyone will be super hungry after the DLSU vs UP game, and since I'm usually the one who they ask when it comes to food, I racked my mind for eat-all-you can-places in the area. I first thought of Vikings (read my blog entry on Vikings: A Feast By The Sea) then I remembered this new buffet place my colleague Karen told me about -- Buffet 101.

After uploading a few photos on Facebook, I received a few questions about the new Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

At first, I was a bit hesitant to write about it because I don't want my non-Filipino readers to think that the Philippines is outdated. Aside from being my personal outlet, I use my blog to promote Philippine tourism as much as I can! But I realized that in terms of venues, it's true. Before, there was only the Smart-Araneta coliseum for big events, already decades old and very worn out. But now, we have the MOA Arena, the first venue in Southeast Asia to have private deluxe rooms called the corporate suites (similar to the luxury boxes in the United States). Rumor has it that the rent for these suites is P12M/$300,000 a year!

And since everyone's curious about the place, might as well post an entry about it. I've been there only twice -- during the Lady Gaga concert last May and the UAAP game last weekend.

If I'm not mistaken, Lady Gaga was the first to hold a concert at the MOA Arena. This event created quite a stir here because of the highly-conservative groups that were of the opinion that Lady Gaga was promoting devil worship through her song "Judas".

Another new establishment opens in Alabang Town Center's new wing.. Hapadog! (Read my post on Alabang Town Center's expansion)

After my shoot for Meg Magazine, T took me out for dinner to a place where we were supposed to have our Valentines dinner date last year (but for some reason we ended up in Aubergine) --- L'Entrecôte.