Our Chillax Vacation in Bohol

We picked up where we left off in 2019 and chose Bohol for our first family vacation. We had no intention of doing the usual touristy stuff, so we selected a resort based on our needs. I wanted a resort that had a nice beach front. Sweetie dining places to be more accessible. And Miggy wanted a nice room with a comfortable bed. After doing a lot of research we decided to stay at Modala Beach Resort. 

Modala Beach Resort just opened it's doors last year. From videos we saw it had a nice beach front and it had a mall adjacent to it. We got a beach front room and was pleasantly surprised that we were given a really nice room with two double beds. It was also spacious and perfect for the three of us (we prefer staying in the same room whenever we travel). The room had the perfect view of Doljo Beach from the balcony. 

We always ate breakfast slowly. They had a lot of options for food (mostly Filipino) and the staff were all very friendly. Just a stone's throw away is the beach. We really enjoyed going for a swim. The resort also lent paddle boards and ginormous yoga mats for free (I think they also have kayaks). It really hit our need for some vitamin sea. 

Here's a short travel diary of our fun time in Panglao -

Here's resources on how we organized our vacation:

Modala Beach Resort

Cebu Pacific Air

Happy Tummies in Bohol

Our last family vacation in 2019 was in Bohol. We felt bitin, so we used Sweetie's travel fund to book a flight to Tagbilaran. Our main goal for the vacation was to chill, relax, eat good food and have some vitamin sea.

We chose a hotel with a nice beach front. It was a big plus that it had a mall adjacent to it. That meant we didn't need to head out just to eat. Here's where we ate --

Here's the list:

Mooon Cafe

Bohol Bee Farm

Rojo Grill & Bar Restaurant

La Vara

Gilligan's (we were so hungry we forgot to vlog!)

There are other restaurants in the area, but we chose those that had good reviews by Google Local Guides. You can find those reviews when you use Google Maps. 

Lakwatsera Pa Rin Ako!

I remember the day my friend, Sasha Manuel, took my photo against the beautiful beach front in Bohol. We were with blogger friends and hung out by the beach after our early morning attempt to see dolphins. I was trying to get a tan when Sasha told me she'll take my photo. I indulged since we were just relaxing anyway. 

Photo by: JayDJ

I know I haven't been updating this blog. Got super busy with work and didn't really have the time to blog. I told myself though that I would eventually share about the places I've visited. When I started this blog I thought I'd just be blogging about places I go to locally, but my itchy feet brought me abroad too. Now that I'm retired I've been able to slowly go through my collection of photos and memories. I've started writing about those happy memories in An Apple a Day. I usually post about travel on Thursdays and Fridays.

My family recently visited Bohol again. It's a favorite family vacation place that's why we chose it as our first vacay venue. And since we were in Bohol, the nice beach front reminded me of the Lakwatsera Ako cover photo. I jokingly told Sweetie we should recreate the photo. Well, we did! The second attempt nailed it and this is me now 15 years after Sasha took the original photo. 

Then (2007) and Now (2022)

I'm still the same person, just "well rounded" now and battle scarred from medical issues. But you know, life is meant to be enjoyed and as long as I can I'll continue to make happy memories with family and friends.   

Coming up: Happy tummies in Bohol!

Images of Baclayon Church

Baclayon Church in Bohol is the second oldest Church in the Philippines. The Church of the Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion was built by the Jesuits in 1717 and what is interesting about the structure is the fact that the natives used coral stones from the sea and cemented together with egg whites. Upon closer inspection of the walls you would notice that it is indeed much different from other old Churches in the Philippines.

In the Church is a museum that showcases old relics and artifacts that were used in the olden times. They had the same gigantic music book which I saw at San Agustin Church, lots of statues which they used to bring in processions, ecclesiastical vestments (I couldn't imagine how they wore it). The guide also pointed out a Sto. Nino which got stolen several times already.

I felt that I stepped back in time when I went inside the Church. I was almost sure I would see Padre Damaso and Maria Clara in prayer. I imagined dressed up matrons fanning themselves which furiously praying the rosary. And saw sacristans running around while the friars were busy talking to the gobernadorcillo. It felt that way because women in sleeveless and shorts were requested to don a blouse and skirt to cover their arms and legs. I had to wear my sarong because I was wearing shorts.

What I found most interesting in the Church though were the windows. The windows had colorful stained glass on it which cast interesting lively colors on the pews

The other windows seemed like portals to the past. I wonder if this area looked the same a hundred years ago.  One can just wonder how things were in the past.

Outside the Church one would nice that one of the panels looked like someone drew a photo of Padre Pio on it. Do you see it?

I had a lovely time at the Baclayon Church, most especially since I went there with my boys.

The Yummy Chocolate Hills

My father-in-law thought that the Chocolate Hills were just small hilly mounds, probably because of how the Nayong Pilipino depicted it when it was still open. Anyway, we only managed to go up one hill and thanks to Dolly for telling us to go up via the ramp and not the stairs. She said that it would be much easier to go up that way. We were on top of the hill in no time and started taking photos of the hills.

According to our tour guide there are really about 1,700+ Chocolate Hills but the local government only considers 1,268 as pure Chocolate Hills since the others had trees on them. Some of the hills had some greenery on them and I'd like to dub them as "Minty Chocolate Hills" since they remind me of the yummy "Goya Mint Chocolate".

It's quite unbelievable though how much beautiful sceneries we have in the Philippines. From beautiful white sandy beaches, to awesome diving sites, to the perfect cone shape of the Mayon Volcano, to just about anything and what's great about our country is most (if not all) of our tourist places are natural and not man-made. I always get teary eyed whenever I see one of our beautiful sights. It reminds me that despite everything that's happening we have so much opportunity and resources to get us out of our economic rut.

Anyway, enough about that. Here are some photos of the Chocolate Hills.

Some of the minty Chocolate Hills.

The Bohol Ati Tribe

I was surprised to find out that the river cruise we took in Bohol was a different one. I was expecting to see the Loboc children's choir but our tour guide Dolly said that we were going on the lesser congested route. I was pleasantly surprised with the route we took since it was an all nature route and the food was way much better.

We disembarked down the river to take a look at the Ati Tribe. I dug around the internet and found out that the Ati Tribe is believed to be the first inhabitants of our country. They are part of the Negrito ethnic group in Panay and speak their own dialect. However this dialect is believed to be "endangered" since only about 1,500 of them still speak it. Because of exposure to outsiders things are also changing a lot for the tribe including clothing and how they do things.

Here's some photos I took of the Ati Tribe.

One of the kids show off his pet lizard. 

The were building this huge replica of a crab. Instant death for me since I'm allergic to crabs!

A warrior. 

A juxtaposition of the old vs. new, nature vs. gadgets. 

See the tiny turtle? 

It was a hot day and I couldn't help but feel envious how he jumped into the river. 

The river cruise was part of the countryside tour. We paid PhP6,000 each inclusive of 3 days, 2 nights stay in Dumaluan Beach Resort. The countryside tour includes the Blood Compact, Chocolate Hills, Butterfly House (we skipped that though), the river cruise (yummy food!), tarsiers and some shopping time with a huge van and personal tour guide. It was definitely fun to have my boys see Bohol! 

 

Tubigon

So my ferry ride from Cebu to Tagbilaran got cancelled because the SuperCat ferry broke down on its way to Cebu. We wasted no time and got a ticket to Tubigon since the earliest available ferry to Tagbilaran was at 4:30 in the afternoon. Tubigon is in the Northern side of Bohol and about an hour away to Tagbilaran City.

It took 2 hours to reach Tubigon from Cebu and the most striking feature of the place is its huge port and seaside.

Tubigon is a small town, but I'm sure there are days when it bustles with activity especially during market days.

Here's Tubigon on Google Maps:


View Larger Map

How to get to Tubigon-Tagbilaran:

1. Take a ferry from Cebu (pier #3), takes approximately 2 hours
2. Tickets range from PhP180-200 (aircon)
3. To get to Tagbilaran, take a tricycle to the V-Hire terminal.
4. Hop on a V-Hire to Tagbilaran, it costs PhP90 each.

The 2007 of Lakwatsera Ako

It's been a very busy year for the Lakwatsera! Here's a rundown of all the Lakwatsera's lakwatsa's for the year:

January

Jakarta


Bali


February

Hongkong


Singapore


March

Puerto Galera

Photo by (1) Abe's camera; (2) Abe

Davao

Photo by (1) me; (2 & 3) Abe; (4) Jayvee

Cebu


April

Bataan and Pampanga


Punta Fuego


Bohol


Cebu


May

Laoag, Vigan, La Union

Photo by Sasha Manuel

June

Tagaytay

Photo by Sasha Manuel

Lucban


Cebu

July

Davao

Photo by Migs

Cebu


Iloilo and Capiz


August

Boracay and Kalibo


Singapore


September

Iloilo


California


Washington


October

Singapore


Lipa


November

Baguio

Photo by Sweetie

December

Davao


The Lakwatsera's New Year's Resolution: See more of my country (and increase my Lakbayan rating!)