Puerto Princesa 3 - Dos Palmas, Tamilok & Ka Lui

At past 7:00 am on our 3^rd day, the tour bus of Dos Palmas picked us from the hotel and dropped us at Honda Bay pier. The resort’s ferry boat took us on a 2-hour boat trip to the resort with views of islands we passed by. We were given a nice welcome with drinks and live "kulintangan" music before a brief orientation of what the resort offers. 

Wife and I decided to try snorkeling, with speedboat, gears, and dive instructors provided by the resort as part of P 1,800/pax day tour package. Its my first time to snorkel, and its really a different new world under the sea with the corals and fishes. Now I understand the fascination of divers, and how hard it is to take good quality photos underwater, with sea currents hampering the stability of the underwater camera.

Before 12:00 noon, we decided to shower and take our lunch. Lunch buffet was simple, has less choices than what de luxe hotels offer, but prepared very well. I can’t forget the shrimp dish and grilled blue marlin which almost melts in the mouth. After lunch, we dozed off in one of the beachside huts, then strolled on the beach, tree house, and poolside, while waiting for the 3:00 pm trip of the ferry boat back to Honda Bay pier. The same tour bus dropped us off to our hotel.

After leaving our beach bag in the hotel, we went to the tiangge market to buy shirts and other pasalubongs. Then, we went to Kinabuch for a couple of my fave Super Dry beer, while trying the tamilok to conquer my fear factor. Tamilok is an edible worm, a parasite inside the trunks of mangrove trees which grow in the seaside. The taste is somehow similar to oysters, but the texture is like eating slimy fresh intestine in your mouth, made worse as the tamilok becomes longer and thicker.

Done with pre-dinner cocktail of beer and tamilok, we walked to the nearby Ka Lui’s Filipino-themed restaurant for our dinner. Prior reservation is recommended as the place really gets full. We removed our sandals/shoes as required by the place, and waited for a few minutes before we were given a tatami-style table for 2. Dinner set menu is above average which changes daily based on what is freshly available. It is quite pricey among Puerto Princesa restaurants, but reasonable if compared with Manila prices.

At 6:00 am on our last day, we bought dried danggit and live mudcrabs at the market, arranged for their packaging which would pass the airline’s luggage standards. Then, after breakfast and checkout at the hotel, the hotel’s van took us to the airport for a trip going to the real world of daily work, stress, etc.