Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Hidden Paradise in Batangas - Burot Beach April 2015

I was here last April 11 to camp with my friends and I have a lot of things to say about the place.

First things first, Here's the breakdown of my expenses:




The total figure was the amount my Hubby and I spent for an overnight stay.

Now, How did we travel to Burot Beach? There are different ways to get there. You can either travel directly to Calatagan by bus or van or travel to Tagaytay then Calatagan which is what we did and for me, it's the most exhausting way to get there. From Cubao, we rode a San Agustin bus bound to Tagaytay. The bus took off at 8:15AM and for two hours, we're stuck in Cavite due to the heavy traffic. We arrived at Tagaytay Crossing at around 11:05AM and we waited for a few minutes before we're able to catch an ordinary Celyrose bus bound for Calatagan. Our travel from Tagaytay to Calatagan Market took another two hours. Riding an ordinary bus for that long is very inconvenient especially that the bus is full.

Finally, when we arrived at the Calatagan Market, Dominic, a young tricycle driver, approached us to ask if we need a ride to Burot as he can assist us in getting there. We bought charcoals, rice, and beers from the market first and went on to our final destination. When we reached the guardhouse, we paid P20 and were given a trash bag and a reminder sheet. And when we finally reached the beach, the caretaker approached us and we paid him for the entrance fee and tent pitching. The first thing I thought when I saw the place was that it was so overrated. Or maybe because it's already 2015 and so many people have already read about it on the internet that's why it's already crowded. There's not much to see but a lot of people swimming, grilling and eating with their tents pitched all over the small beach.






We found a spot under the tree to pitch our tent and after preparing our food for late lunch, One of my friends bought refilled water from a nearby store. He paid P260 for it (P200 as deposit for the container and P60 for the refilled water). I went to the comfort room to pee but it's clogged and so filthy.

By 3PM, we all decided to swim until past 5PM. After that we waited in line for hours just to take a shower and we've not even lasted for ten minutes inside the shower room because it's really, really dirty. I've read blogs about Burot Beach so I was aware that the facilities there are basic but I didn't know that when they say basic, they mean disgusting.

After we had our dinner, we went inside our tents to rest but the group just beside us is so loud that we're not able to sleep well.

The following morning, I woke up early and saw that there are vendors roaming around selling Puto, Pan de Sal, and even freshly caught Tilapias. We took our breakfast quickly and texted Dominic to pick us up at 9:30AM since he said that the next van to head off to Pasay is scheduled at 10AM. While on our way to the terminal, Dominic was asking us about how the place was and if we have plans of visiting again. We mentioned about the comfort room and he advised us to take a shower in the public rest room of Calatagan Market instead. There is a fee of P5 but the place is clean. Maybe next time that's what we'll do, or maybe, there;s no more next time for Burot Beach.

Over all, I was not impressed with the place and I don't have plans of going back. For an entrance fee of P130 and fare of P500+, I could have gone somewhere better.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Cebu Pacific Air's Easter Sale

I was not able to book last time when Air Asia had their Piso Fare last March 23-29. I tried to book a couple of times but I get issues paying online. Three roundtrip tickets to Bohol should've only costed me P650 plus the Processing Fee of P350 so a total of P1000 (yep! it's true!) Oh well I think it's not for me.

So anyway, while browsing through my FB feeds, I saw an ad for Cebu Pac's Easter Sale. The base fare only costs P100 and so, I was not able to stop myself from checking it out. I told my friends at the office about the sale and they immediately searched for flights to Tagbilaran and Puerto Princesa. They were able to find good dates for the five of us. I was a bit hesitant at first to book with Cebu Pac since I already experienced some flight delays in the past and on their website, their performance is just at 69.1% but I really can't resist the super cheap airfare.





We were able to book five round trip tickets to Puerto Princesa for just P3539. So it's just P707.80 per head for the tickets. I think the sale just went on from April 5-6, 2015 because when my office mate checked it out the following day, it ddin't reflect on the website anymore. It may not be as cheap as that of Air Asia's but still, it's cheaper than taking the dreaded bus ride to Baguio.

I still have to count four months before our out-of-town trip but I'm already excited and I have already came up with plans when we get there. I'll be updating this after our actual trip and while I'm waiting, I might be checking out seat sales for next year. (LOL!)