My Palawan Experience

Stalagmites and Stalactites

2009-05-14T08:38:00.000+08:00

These natural phenomena called stalagmites and stalactites are mostly seen on the grade five textbooks. A minor visualization of these can be found in your freezer’s if they’re not auto defrost. There’s another way to experience the real thing and it’s just right here in the Philippines, in Palawan.

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a gem in the island of Palawan, considered the ‘Islands of the Gods’ and world destination for international tourists. As one travels into the 5 km stretch of underground river, one can experience one on one connection with the centuries old stalagmites and stalactites. These are jewels of the country. Millions of tourists each year are able to experience this natural wonder, right off the science textbooks.

Be sure to ask for this subterranean river cruise experience with The Legend Palawan. They would happy to serve your adventure needs!

Diving in Palawan

2009-05-13T09:38:00.000+08:00

One just has to try diving for once. Human beings are 70% made up of water and going into the deep blue sea, the body will remember of that nine months when the unborn child is surrounded with liquid. Diving into the sea brings a totally different world of wonder for divers. For some divers, diving has become a passion. Endowned with beautiful reefs, marine life and shipwreck sites, diving in Palawan has become a world reknowned destination.

While other deep blues can have more spectacular natural exhibits, only in the Philippines do you have the right mix of warm diving waters, varied coral formations and a kaleidoscope of diving sites with matching friendly smiling boat men to guide you. Try the Palawan diving experience at The Legend Palawan where experiencing Palawan is a walk on the beach.

Dolphin Watching

2009-05-12T08:37:00.000+08:00

These creatures are absolutely magical especially in the wild. They turn into clowns in the zoo but in the ocean, swimming with their groups, the experience of seeing these creatures out in the wild open is definitely memorable and meaningful. They can swim faster than the bancas. They can dive deep into the waters. But for a few minutes, they will swim with the motorboats clad with excited tourists that can turn into a frenzy as well.

Swimming in groups, a spectator can’t set ones eyes on one particular dolphin because there’s just so many to choose one. Everyone’s a favorite until one particular dolphin shoots up above the water and dives back again into the water taking you by surprise because you don’t see that coming.

Safety at sea is a priority with sea tours and following instructions of the banca’s captain is a must. Book your dolphin sea tours with The Legend Palawan where dolphin watching get more magical each time.

Starfishes

2009-05-11T09:36:00.000+08:00

These beautiful sea creatures are vibrant at their most natural homes, the sea. They come in different colors and sizes and almost all the beaches in the Philippines is home to them. Unfortunately, the moment a tourist sees these creatures resting on the sands or just slowly gliding through the water, tourists instantly pick them up and most often than not, covet them and bring them home. Just a few minutes out of the water, these star fishes lose their luster, they get dehydrated and die and eventually, the tourist just drops them dead into the waters again.

What’s amazing with the starfishes is that when they land on their backs for one reason or another, they can maneuver their bodies to be right side up again. View these starfishes during the many seascape adventures brought by the Palawan Experience Tours of The Legend Palawan.

Puerto Princesa is a journey through time

2009-05-08T19:55:00.000+08:00

While most tourists really go for site seeing, shopping and eating pleasures, there is another distinct feature that Puerto Princesa offers via the Legend Palawan tours. It must be remembered that Puerto Princesa was formerly a shipping and trade port even before the Spaniards came. Determined by its perfect geography against the high winds of the China Sea, this port in Palawan offers safe passage to the other nearby islands in the Visayas such as Romblon. For marine life, like the dolphins, whales and fishes, the stretch from Coron Bay, Honda Bay and the Sulu Sea offers less treacherous currents for marine life versus the open water of the China Sea. Taking a tour around Puerto Princesa takes you exactly back to where these old traders traverse the Visayan islands. Imagine you are a Chinese trader from Taiwan, selling china pots for garlic. Lot of tourists get mesmerized by Palawan's unique natural scapes nowhere else to be found in the other Philippine islands.

Palawan “Only in my dreams” no more

2009-05-07T07:54:00.000+08:00

Business men seems like on top of the world at times, only to realize that they don’t have time for themselves. At Legend Palawan, business travelers can take their much needed vacation without sacrificing precious business transactions. The premier business hotel is ready to accommodate business travelers who need reliable communication access. With free wifi 24 hours a day, guests can check on their emails after a day of island hopping in Honda Bay.

Guests have the option to hold their meetings and conferences in the many seminar areas available at Legend Palawan. This way, the meeting members can look forward to lunches at the Catamaran right after the meeting. In a fast paced dog eat dog world of business, there is leisure to be found in Legend Palawan that is most available not only to business people but also to family and friends. It’s hitting two birds with one stone in paradise style.

Kill nothing but time

2009-05-06T07:52:00.000+08:00

Time will slow down when you’re in Palawan. There’s no rush going to the office. There’s no mrt to catch or cab to haggle with. Take a breather and kill nothing but time, as the mountaineers go. So how does one kill time?

1. Do the longest hair hot oil that you have ever done.
2. Take a foot spa at the beach using only the most natural ingredients on earth, sand and sea.
3. Do a paparazzi pictorial complete with costume change and creative make up.
4. Read books and novels you always wanted to devour.
5. Just walk around and explore the sights.
6. Movie marathon. Watch the whole season of your favorite tv series, twice.
7. Chat with friends and family you are with at Palawan.
8. Videoke all night long at PAD’s Concert Rooms.
9. Or simply spend a quiet moment with your hubby, daughter or son, grandma or grandpa, dad or mom.

Take nothing but pictures

2009-05-05T08:00:00.000+08:00

So you have just bought a new Digital SLR to conquer Palawan. Tips on maximizing your SLR.

1. Go out and shoot. It’s nice to shoot photos of your loved ones inside the hotel but try it with light, sun and ambiance.

2. The results of your shoot as seen in your pictures will give you an idea

3. Give yourself assignments.

4. Join a photo group.

5. Study photos of the masters you can search on the net.

“Leave nothing but footprints”

2009-05-04T08:32:00.000+08:00

It is instinct for human beings to travel. Given two legs and feet, just moving forward one foot a time, man has circled the planet a million times. Travel to Palawan won’t ask you to be super mountain climbers clad with all gadgets. But footgear is important so that you can maximize your stay while doing adventures in Palawan. Here are tips of footgear for Palawan:

1. Slippers or Mojos. Basic for leisure walks in cemented streets, beaches and simple mountain trails.

2. Rubbershoes or Hiking Shoes. These will be perfect if the mountain trails become a bit soggy due to a little rain in the afternoons. Protection is also needed when you walk the mountain paths you find because you don’t know what insects lurk in the forest floors.

3. Rubber moccasins if you plan on leisure walking on the beaches. It will protect you from thorns or sharp seashells by the seashore.

Kayak One Two Three

2009-05-01T09:16:00.001+08:00

This is considered a water sport in most resorts. It’s better to kayak on calm and safe waters. Essentially it is small boat – canoe that teaches city boys above how it feels like being a fisherman at sea minus the gameboys, the Play Stations and other gadgets that leave the imagination nothing. It’s best to have the proper gear for Kayak such as the life vests, the googles and paddles that you can handle. For two rowers, coordination is the key. Once you both get the synergy of rowing so that you get to your desired destination faster and smoother, you’d know that you’re partner for life, otherwise just kayak alone. It’s also best to kayak between 6am to 10am. During this time, the sun is healthier and the sea calmer. For a little more adventure, try it when the tides are changing.

Customizing Conventions at The Legend Palawan

2009-04-30T09:13:00.000+08:00

Doing an event like conventions and seminars outside one’s own comfort zone needs thinking twice. Sometimes, it can be a secretariat nightmare when the bosses decide.. ‘Oh let’s make it in Palawan”. Hoever, in Legend Palawan, convention is a breeze because corporate client can customize convention services according to your needs. Legend Palawan goes out of their way to offer more than the usual choices for convention amenities. Scan through the list of convention details that Legend Palawan has thought of specially for the hard working convention secretariat. There is no way the convention cannot be a sure success.

Service Amenities:

Exhibition Facilities for Rent, booth frames, tables, chairs
Stage Platforms
On-site Technician
Service Upon Request
Secretarial services
Messengerial service
Secretariat room
Speakers preview room
Stage backdrop
Sourcing of entertainment requirements
On-site documentation
still photography, video coverage, transcription of minutes

Equipment:
LCD Projector
Overhead Projector
Slide Projector
Portable Screen
Microphones
Podium with Gooseneck Microphone
Laser Pointer
Fellow Spot
Par Lights
Easel
White Board
TV Monitor
Sound System

Seafood and Soup

2009-04-29T08:29:00.000+08:00

Seafood can be grilled and deep fried. But the best way to enjoy the richness of flavors and nutritious elements of fish is to make it into soup. In this case, make it into sinigang soup. Sinigang is a basic boiling of the fish in broth with various condiments of vegetables and most specially ‘sampaloc’. The sampaloc makes the soup taste good. The smell of seawater is neutralized with this ingredient.

Food Tripping in Palawan

2009-04-28T08:00:00.001+08:00

Eating homegrown delicacies is part of the adventure in Palawan. Exotic dishes such as the ginataang pagi (sting ray) are an exciting treat. It’s more exciting seeing a live stingray swimming behind you but testing it’s dish preparation is memorable as well. The main thing about testing food is that you make sure it’s;

1. Prepared well

2. Premises of the restaurant is clean.

3. It’s recommended by the hotel, at the least.

4. Take teaspoonful first so you know if you have allergic reaction to it.

5. Take lots of water after.

Palawan Beaches for Sale

2009-04-27T08:54:00.000+08:00

With the increasing awareness of Palawan as a world destination, properties in Palawan are being sold left and right. That’s one way to bring in investors that will help the island boost its bid to become a world-class heritage center. It’s best for these properties to be bought by Filipinos also. Here’s one that’s a bargain.

Puerto Princesa and LPG

2009-04-24T08:44:00.000+08:00

Advancing Puerto Princesa’s efforts to truly become a eco-friendly tourist destination, Mayor Hagedorn last year, encouraged tricycle operates to use LPG as their fuel option. To date, almost 80% of tricycles are now using LPG decreasing their fuel costs by at least 50%. The Puerto Princesa government helped the owners and operators convert existing motors under easy loan programs. These efforts no matter how small adds up to the total synergy of communities that want a sustainable environmentally healthy surroundings. It really takes a community to support ideas that will help the environment. Effort of the community continue to gain credits due to these small efforts. Puerto Princesa is the “Most Environmental Friendly Port” as chosen by the Philippine Ports Authority. Tourists continue to tag it as the ‘Cleanest and Greenest’ City. The municipality is also bidding it to become the Sports Tourism City in the Philippines.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

2009-04-23T08:43:00.000+08:00

A dear friend was relating her experience in Palawan that fix the impression on her on how cleanliness is sustained in the streets of Puerto Princesa. The tourist group was walking around the city when her brother threw his candy wrapper nonchalantly on the street. A local kid who was standing beside them quickly picked it up and threw the candy wrapper into the nearest trash can. The little boy then went back to her brother and politely told him and pointed to him the trash can. For a person living daily in the Metropolis of Metro Manila, the immediate reaction was shock because throwing trash on the road whenever and wherever, have become a habit of sorts that some people don’t mind it anymore. The little boy in Puerto Princesa opened up a big window of realization for my friend that Palaweños take to heart each one’s role in maintaining cleanliness in the city.

The Legend Palawan takes you to Sabang, Puerto Princesa, Palawan

2009-04-22T08:39:00.000+08:00

Near the mouth of Underground River in Sabang

Rock formations in Sabang.

Photos by Majhalia.

Chao Long at Bona’s

2009-04-21T08:34:00.000+08:00

Another exciting try at Puerto Princesa is the Chao Long at Bona’s! Explore sumptuous finds!

Photo by Colette Dela Cruz, Trekker in Palawan.

Photo by Colette Dela Cruz, Trekker in Palawan.

Flowers Relax

2009-04-20T08:33:00.000+08:00

Puerto Princesa is an experience of flowers that relax the beholder. There is no way that flowers cannot bring a smile. Their colors in Palawan are vibrant. Here is a photo that show how to take a nice photo of a flower. You have focus on one flower but also put into the frame another flower but it’s defocused. Try it! It’s fun! At least these subjects don’t need a one-two-three to smile! And they don’t move.

Shells Galore!

2009-04-17T07:29:00.001+08:00

One thing about traveling to an island is the accessibility to the myriad of sea food one is enticed to grab by the bucket because it is fresh, cheap and tasty. Not to mention easy to prepare!

The Legend Palawan

2009-04-16T07:29:00.000+08:00

“My stay at Legend Palawan was very nice. They let us sit down first and have our welcome drinks before they made us do all registry sign here and sign there. Their rooms are clean, comfortable and rates are affordable. The staff welcomes us each time and it seemed so effortless on their part. You can feel how sincere their smiles are compared to other hotels where their staff is just smiling for the sake of smiling. The Legend Palawan explained to us all the option tours that we can avail. This was important for me because options really puts us in a better position to decide what tour package to choose. Our stay at the hotel was relaxing. There was no tension at all. My only regret with the hotel is that it’s not found along the main road of Puerto Princesa. Though it’s not hard to find the hotel, it would have been perfect if they were more strategically located.”
- Chiqui

Palawan Photographs

2009-04-15T07:25:00.000+08:00

Do you travel to take photos or take photos to travel? Both are fun. But while the tourist is at it, here are some photo tips to help you maximize your exciting tours and travels to Palawan.

How to take an amateur shot with a pro’s digital camera?

When taking photos of nature, try:

1. taking it during 5am or 5pm, also known as the ‘witching hour’. The light during these hours is not too harsh nor too little.

2. capturing the ‘textures’ that nature offers the photographer who could only reproduce the shot in two dimensional form versus the three dimensionality of the actual experience.

3. shoot the experience that the natural habitat offers by putting people on the sidelines projecting emotions through their eyes and smiles.

4. experiment with group shots so that they don’t look like mug shots. Let your subjects spread out all over the natural backdrop and pretend they are part of nature.

5. telling your subjects to smile with teeth. Pearly whites bring a glow to snapshots.

Dolphins bringing out the child in you

2009-04-14T07:25:00.000+08:00

Eco tourism has saved the dolphins from extinction here in the islands of the Philippines. Warm Philippine waters attract a host of animal and plant species that help an ecosystem survive, develop and evolve. Dolphin watching is a truly must do when in Palawan. Just imagine the billions of people who won’t have the chance to see a dolphin up close and personal and in action in the wild at that!

Meeting dolphins in the wild is an experience only your human instincts will remember. You ride a banca, join them on their way or at their feeding grounds. The experience is spectacular because there is this raw excitement you feel at the pit of your stomach. They are such elegant creatures that seem so large but so versatile and strong. They can destroy your boat but they don’t. They have smiling faces and would make a somersault in the air to make you cheer with glee just like how you did when you were in grade one.

The experience promises a different beat of fun. Something most people lose when they decide to ‘Grow Up’.

Underground River Experience

2009-04-13T09:04:00.000+08:00

Going through the Underground River would seem so plain. Shooting the rapids in Pagsanjan may be more exhilarating. The Underground River is not a plain river. The experience of going through the river is the one that puts the destination so much apart from other river treks in the country. One would instantly feel the river’s raw beauty as it takes one’s sense to greater heights. The smell, the temperature, the surrounding sounds of the tunnel puts you instantly in another dimension. There’s even a part in the trek when there’s just pitch black darkness. And suddenly you feel so blind, thereby making your other senses more energized and alert. The underground river experience can be plain for people who are less sensitive. It can be soul searching for people who are spiritually charged. But surely, it’s fun to try with people you love.

Palawan is a different place to be in, let Legend Palawan Hotel be your guide.

Shopping must be wise

2009-04-10T09:01:00.000+08:00

Wise shopping tips for the traveler to Palawan.

1. Dried fish is cheaper from the source.

2. Each time you buy native, you definitely help livelihood development.

3. Always haggle for discount.

4. Mark a shopping budget so you think twice when there’s a big unintended splurge.

5. Make a list of who you plan to bring gifts – pasalubong to upon arriving home from the trip.

6. Be ready to hand carry fragile items unless you can pack them safely.

7. Photos are souvenirs enough. Don’t indulge on key chains that will just be stored in your cabinets for ages.

8. When you buy endangered or exotic items, remember you help support its extinction.