Here goes another attempt of updating you guys that I am indeed, still alive and is still lurking hive, I just haven't had the mental capacity and the physical energy to do the typing and organizing because I have been all over the place again lately.
So for starters, it has been a week since I've returned from Coron, Palawan. And quite frankly, I still haven't gotten over how wonderful that trip was. So first of all, it was a trip provided by my company to train the mine site at the end of Palawan. That town is called Rio Tuba and it's like a 4 hour drive and a boat ride to get to said island from the Busuanga airport.
It was a crazy long trip and my butt certainly wasn't amused with how long I was sitting XD
But to be fair, that was my first airplane ride and I was so fascinated with the entire flight that I didn't sleep for the duration of my flights to and from manila and busuanga
These were my departure shots from the airport. I couldn't take an OOTD shot because i couldn't find a big mirror and becacuse because my supervisor was with me on this trip XD and he is soooo judgy with anybody taking mirror selfies that I think he'd also judge me too and I hate that.
Fast forward to when we arrived at the busuanga airport an hour later and we were already picked up by the company van. It was a crazy trip there to which i basically slept the whole trip to, even on the boat ride, i just slept because I was so dizzy from the flight and the crazy amount of turbulence from the plane ride.
Then when we got htere, I was only given an hour to freshen up, eat, and get ready to teach.
So from 1ppm to 8pm, I had to teach their morning shift and night shift chemist about the method I was developing in the city lab I worked in, and I had to set up their instruments to give the best readouts for the metal content in the ores they found. So far, I haven't heard any complaints from them and with how i changed their lab settings and such. So I hope I won't have to return to that lab again for a while.
Basically, the entire first day of palawan was spent on training and work, just as my supervisor scheduled. I was dead tired but I was happy I got my own room and had a huge ass bed just for myself
On the second day though, it was nothing but fun! I was woken by a general alarm at 6am. Crazy ass alarm, really. Then I was lead into the mess hall for the breakfast buffet they usually had. It was nice that that mine site was self sustaining since they had a farm of their own just a few yards outside the lab. so they had that kind of breakfast every day and I was so jealous. I mostly had fruits and salads for most of my meals because I wanted to enjoy the fresh produce I normally couldn't get in the city.
by 7, I was told I only had 30 minutes to change into comfy hike and swim clothes, pack a towel, a change of clothes and whatever else i needed then we'd be going somewhere. I actually thought we were going to the more submerged part of the mine site but I was wrong XD
We got on this huge ass speed boat and sped towards Coron. I opted to actually bring my entire luggage since I only had a 5kg carry on backpack with me and I didn't want to forget anything there at the site.
From the pier at the town of Coron, we got on another boat then we headed off to a different island to start our little island hopping adventure.
First stop was Kayangan lake. Kayangan, in their native dialect meant entrance and it was the first lake of the 11 other lakes that could be found on that island. The water there was so fresh and cool since it was around 70% freshwater and 30% salt water (but they jokingly said 20% saltwater and 10% fisha nd human pee XD) but the water circulates so it was nothing to be concerned about.
For most of the morning, they have been teaching me how to snorkel first (they leant me their snorkeling gear) then the later half, they taught me how to free dive. And I just realized on that day, that I really should invest in a waterproof camera one day if I want to do that again.
SO yea, basically, we went swimming across 4 of the 11 lakes and they said I could collect oysters and we could eat them after checking for pearls and so I did. I found around 8 freshwater oysters and I had to carry them back to the boat so we could check another location.
The islandd guys really enjoyed taking photos of me for some reason. They said I was a cutie when I smiled but was so scary when I was teaching them that the duality seemed so far and I was just surprised because the city lab never tells this to me.
ANyways, next destination was the twin lagoon which is like a really deep lagoon and you really need to be a great siwmmer to be able to get around there.
This lagoon was actually a curious one because some parts of the water was cold as heck while in the deeper parts of the water, the water was so warm that it was close to hot springs level water. They said there was some geothermal activity going on, but nothing to fear for because there won't be any volcanic eruptions in that area.
Anyways, we had to swim through a really small cave to get to the other side of the lagoon ad it really triggered my claustrophobia so I opted to swim as fast as I could just to get to the other side. There wasn't much to see underwater in that area, just a really scary and deep trench, but the crazy temperature changing was definiely a stimulating experience.
It was around lunch time when we finished swimming around and when they deemed me a good swimmer after all the free diving lessons they gave me.
Oh! I forgot to mention that I borrowed the lab puppy while I was on the palawan trip and she was with us for the entire trip and even went swimming with us. Meet Sierra
She was my walking buddy the whole time and was the best kind of encouragement I had on that trip because she was always kissing me XD
We had lunch at beach 91 and I forgot what the story was behind it, but it was one of those boodle fights and I only ate the fruits and veggies because I did not know how to eat with my hands and nobody packed at least a spoon for me.
I don't eat much so I finished eating pretty fast and opted to stroll around the beach more. Then I found a hermit crab!
That's the ship we used and the weird asss flower I found while waiting for the boys to finish eating.
The last destinations were barraccuda lakes and and a few coral gardens. Unfortunately, none of us had a waterproof camera so I can only relive those moments in my memory, but damn! the fishes, the corals and swiming around those, it was just magical! And I wish I can explore el nido and puerto princessa one day just to see more coral gardens. But that can definitely wait another time when I have more financial freedom.
After all that swimming, we checked into a hotel that was a bit outside of town but was still in walking distance. Again, I still got my own room because I was the only girl on the trip, then we went to town to get dinner.
These were the places we ate at for that night! Follow your taste ice cream was one of the best ice cream I have ever tasted in my life! and i think until before we left busuanga, i still went back for one last scoop because it was just that good.
Then full lotus was a vegetarian place because they assumed i was vegetarian since I haven't been eating that much meat since I got to palawan, but in my defence, I just wanted to enjoy something different so I opted for healthier options.
The following day, we did nothing but swim, play pool and walk around town while waiting for the company van to drive us back to the airport. Yes, the company was informed of our miscellanious trips and that trip was funded from our own pockets so we had no issues. The food, however, was reimburseable and my boss called and questioned me about my questionable ice cream consumption. In the end, she gave up and my ice cream money was reimbursed to me XD
I also got my family and a few friends som souvenirs and the pearls were the ones i dived for, but they guys took the liberty of turning them into bracelets for me. I took 4 bracelets back home with me and I was happy about it UwU
This was the pool I hung around at until the van came, but I also asked them to teach me how to play billiards and they kept standing behind me so I know they were enjoying the view from behind. Now I get why billiards can be such a seductive sport
Oh! and when I got back though, the bracelet part for one of my pearl bracelets broke so I had to make a new one. I actually leveled it up and I love it!
And that basically concluded my entire Palawan trip XD heck that was such a long trip back memory lane!