Ivy's Itchy Feet

It started as a 'spur of the moment' thing. Hubby wanted to go somewhere where we can celebrate our fourth-year anniversary and enjoy snorkelling (both our favorite!) at the same time. He wanted to surprise me, but eventually he accepted the fact that he needs my help in planning so he informed me that he wanted to go to Anawangin Cove.

This is Anawangin cove. Beautiful, isn't it?

When we got home from the airport (brother-in-law has to return to reality already), we started researching about how to get to Anawangin Cove. It was fairly easy and relatively cheap.

ADVENTURE, HERE WE COME!

Fares shown at the Victory Liner
Terminal in Caloocan.

On the morning of January 28, 2015, we left home at 3 in the morning to catch the 4:30 am Victory Liner bus trip to Iba, Zambales. Anawangin cove is in Pundaquit, San Antonio. Thus, we will alight at San Antonio, Zambales and from there, buy our food and get a tricycle ride. Bus fare was Php260.00 per person.

We arrived at San Antonio at about 8-something in the morning, probably because there was no traffic jam and we only had one stopover, which is at Subic, Olongapo, to drop-off some passengers and let on new ones. Victory Liner's terminal at Subic is quite nice. The toilet was clean though it had some lighting problems. Food stalls were abundant as well, though I only remember Dunkin' Donuts because I didn't get to explore as the driver reminded us we only had ten minutes for toilet break. Talk about time pressure!

ONTO THE NEXT STEP.

We decided to have a little breakfast at San Antonio, Zambales since we only managed to grab two hotdogs and one order of pancit canton at the Victory Liner Caloocan terminal. In short, we were already hungry. Good news is, locals at San Antonio were nice to point us where we can grab some decent meals (Yep, rice or noodles, please!) because bad news is, it was too early and the nearby carinderias were still not ready to serve breakfast.

Palabok at Php 22.00

Batchoy at Php 30.00

We also bought our cooked food and water from San Antonio since we don't have time to cook and we only want to swim and enjoy the waters of Anawangin. But for those who want to stay overnight, there are plenty of shops to buy supplies from in San Antonio; there is a wet market, a 7-eleven store, and mini-grocery store nearby where we alighted from the bus.

We were lucky to meet Manang Beth Lonzanida at the wet market while looking for cooked food. She offered us a good deal for a big bangka, which was new, (Can seat up to 35 persons) and a ride to Pundaquit as well. You can contact her at 0918-6375 853 or 0939-4949779 and ask her for quotations and boat reservations. She also has accommodations for overnighters but I didn't get to see the house as I couldn't contact her while at Anawangin cove because there is no network signal there.

Ate Beth's boat, "the Little Mermaid" from afar.

THIS IS IT..

Yep, geared up and ready for the sun!

According to my research, the usual package for a small group of 4 is Php 1,500 and the itinerary comprises of three islands: Camara island - Capones island - Anawangin Cove. But aside from the fact that the sand in Camara is white and Marimar (Marian Rivera) shot her burning hut scenes there, there is nothing much in Camara so we skipped that island to have more time to snorkel in the waters at Capones island.

I guess it was low tide when we came to Capones island and it surely made snorkelling enjoyable. The corals aren't that far from the shore and there are plenty of fish to see.

The lighthouse in Capones island. Our boatman, kuya Junior, said this lighthouse used to be open to the public.
But a recent accident forced the Navy to close it, perhaps temporarily.

The clear waters surrounding Capones island.

The picturesque beach of Capones island.

The rocky beach on the other side of Capones island. Fish often live under rocks.
I saw some mudskippers but they won't stay put and pose for me!

The calm waters make it safe to swim in the rocky beach.

Underwater shot of the corals in Capones island.

The sea looked more like a rocky pool here. :)

We had a great time snorkelling at Capones island. But is almost noon and the sun is becoming too hot to bear. So we had to say goodbye to this paradise and head for another one, Anawangin cove - a camper's Elysium.

THAT PARADISE CALLED ANAWANGIN COVE.

Anawangin cove has resorts which offer huts for a price. Tables are for free but guests mostly set up their own tent!

Anawangin cove, according to kuya Junior, came to be after Mt. Pinatubo erupted and showered the area with ash, thus, the grayish-white sand. The boatmen and guides were mostly former fishermen who saw the promise of tourism as camper and hiker learn of the area.

Kuya Junior is also very protective of the islands and the cove. He warned us against bringing home sand as souvenir and he would offer to take our trash for fear we would throw them in the water. Kudos to you, kuya Junior! Keep it up!

Picture taken with kuya Junior. You may contact him at 0920-2259412. This was taken at Capones island, though.

Anawangin cove, view fronting the sea.

After the snorkelling and posing for photos at Capones island, hubby and I felt the pangs of hunger. Just go a little bit deeper into Anawangin cove shade from the scorching sun will be provided by the tall trees. By the way, the resort-keepers charge fifty pesos per person for day tours and 150 pesos for overnighters.

A reminder to throw trash in the bins and keep the area clean.

We have too much stuff - tripod, snorkels and what-have-yous;we barely had space for food.

Our simple lunch: adobo and dinuguan with boiled egg. Yum! It was genius of hubby to bring a container, it helped prevent our food staining our stuff. And then we used the lid as an alternative plate!

A water pump! Saw this after eating when I was looking for water to wash our utensils. I admit I was excited to try it once again!

After lunch, we decided to explore the cove further and saw this almost dried up river.

It was fun walking on the almost dry river bed.

We were only able to swim for a short while in Anawangin cove and there isn't much to see underwater compared to Capones island. And since we only prepared for a day tour, we decided to go back to the main island by 3 pm. It was rather early but aside from the fact that we wanted to shower and change at Pundaquit since the sea breeze feels a bit sticky and there are plenty of resorts by the beach to rent; we also wanted to be able to catch the 5 pm bus at San Antonio.

Our fourth wedding anniversary celebration was surely memorable!

We will surely return to Anawangin cove, or perhaps venture next to Nagsasa cove, which is further away.

Photo credits go to my hubby :) A photographer at heart, you can see more of his works here.

Ok, I will be honest with you. I like to look at my passport and see different stamps of different countries I've been too. Sadly, there's not so many to look at. So I convinced my hubby dear to go to a place where we can travel without slicing our pockets. And where's that? Of course, Batam, Indonesia! Indonesia is quite near to Singapore, it is just a 45-minutes ferry ride away. And the plus points, massages and food are cheap so we can enjoy and relax on our travel as well :)

We were on a tight budget so I bought a deal from Groupon. For S$59.00 per person, ferry ticket, shuttle, tour, buffet breakfast, Indonesian lunch buffet and 60-minute massage are included with accommodations at Harmoni One hotel. Not bad, eh?

The ferry to Batam is at Harbourfront. Of course I forgot to ask my husband-photographer to snap a photo of the terminal from Singapore (ha-ha, forgetful me). But our ferry went to one of the ports in Batam, which is Sekupang ferry terminal. By the way, there is one-hour time difference between Indonesia and Singapore so it was confusing at first.

We started our adventure at Batam with a tour of the city.

We are lucky to have a shuttle bus. Others had to squeeze into a van :)

We didn't go here. Hubby just snapped a photo of this shop haha!

Two locals performed bravely for us. Bravo!

We went to a layers cake shop and a chocolate shop. But I find the prices are a bit expensive so I just bought a pack of chocolate to nibble on during the tour. Then, we watched locals perform and it was simply scary to watch them do stunts like eat glass (what? they eat glass for snacks?) and chew on burning coals.

Of all the places we visited, I appreciated this Buddhist temple the most (Was it Buddhist? Okay, it was a temple) as hubby and I got to explore it and see how other places of worship look like.

This statue of Buddha confirms the temple is Buddhist :)

We were about to set off to a Factory Outlet of Ralph Lauren clothes but the other passengers were already hungry so the tour guide asked the driver to bring us to the restaurant where we can fill our stomachs with Indonesian food. *burp*

This restaurant serves authentic Indonesian food.

Next stop is the factory outlet of Ralph Lauren clothes but opposite this boutique is a shop of local products. Hubby enjoyed the figures but did not want to buy any as they were fragile.

Some novelty items for sale.

Some souvenir items for tourists.

We also went to a market where I got to buy Sumatran coffee, but again, I forgot to ask hubby to take a photo of the place. Silly me.

Anyways, the last on our list is the massage. I am sooo looking forward to this as massage in Singapore is quite pricey. I just added 12 dollars each for me and hubby to get a massage oil of our choice. While waiting for our turn, we were served ginger tea.

Hot ginger tea for waiting customers.

Finally, the tour is coming to its end and we were headed to our hotel. The tour guide invited us to a seafood dinner for 18 dollars per person but my cousin (who has been here in the same hotel) advised me that food in the hotel is cheap so we did not sign up.