Apo Island D.I.Y. Tour

Apo Island is located at Dauin, Negros Oriental, Philippines. It has 691 hectares of protected area. As such the marine sanctuary area was closed off to the public for rehabilitation since 2012 if I remember correctly. No worries because you can still visit the turtle zone where you can swim and get up-close with the turtles.

Meet my friend Green here. He loves swimming and munching on some seaweeds.

How to get to Apo Island?
1. From Dumaguete, ride a Ceres bus with a 'Bayawan' sign-board and tell the conductor to drop you off at Malatapay Market. Fare is 50PHP and travel time is around 1 hour.
2. After getting off the bus, you can walk to the port.
3. Take a 15 minute boat ride to Apo Island. We did not make any reservations. We just went to the port and asked for a private boat. Fare depends on the boat you're renting. Refer to published rates below.

We arrived at the port around 9am. On a normal day you can already see Apo Island from the port, but it was pouring and you can hardly see anything. Some tourist even backed-out and preferred to go back the next day. It was our last day so we waited until it was safer to set sail. Luckily, the weather got better and we arrived safely.

10 seater boat 4000PHP 

This picture was taken when we arrived back at Dauin port. See the weather difference?

Can't remember how much entrance fee we paid for snorkeling I think it was 100-150PHP per person. A tour guide is required, 1 for every 4 persons and it costs 300PHP. The tour guide will help you locate the turtles and take pictures for you, they also ensure your safety and the safety of the marine animals you encounter. STRICTLY NO TOUCHING THE TURTLES!!!

We rented snorkels, booties and life jacket for 100PHP per gear. It's not required but highly recommended as there are sea urchins in the area. You can also bring your own gear if you want. We also rented a table where we can leave our things 300PHP per table. You can also have lunch here for 150PHP. They have chicken adobo, fried or grilled fish.

We were so blessed to arrive at the island safe and the sun was already up.

Most islands only have doggos but there were a lot of kitties in Apo Island too. I wonder if they know how to swim?

Mr. Turtle: Yo guys! This' my friend Ly!

Me: Hi! (wave..wave..)

There are turtles roaming around at knee deep waters so watch your feet!

These turtles aren't exactly shy. They know they're gorgeous so they let you take lots of awesome pictures. And they know it's their turf so if they come close (REMEMBER: NO TOUCHING!!!) you have to adjust for them. 

These pictures are unedited and shot using gopro hero 4. Right out of the box. That's how beautiful this place is. ^_^

Time to say goodbye to Mr. Turtle. Till next Time!!!

Swimming with the turtles is such an amazing experience. I'm really thankful the weather cooperated and we got to see them. It would have been such a great loss if we missed them. But please remember that it is their sanctuary. So please respect them and the rules set by your guide. ^_^

DIY Brush Cleaning Board and Drying Rack

I hate cleaning brushes! XD Every weekend I take my brushes home and my little sister would clean it for me. I don't even know how to clean them properly before she told me.

But then I started getting into brushes and when you try to search for brushes online a "how to take care of your brushes" page always pops up.

When to clean your brushes?

You should clean your brushes at least once a weak. But if you're using liquid make up you might want to clean it after use so bacteria won't build up in the brush and cause you to break out the next time you use it.

What should you use to clean your brushes?

You can use a shampoo and conditioner or you can buy a brush cleaner. I recently just learned you can also use a mix of antibacterial dish washing liquid and cooking oil so the brush doesn't dry out.

How to clean them?

Soak the brush in water, and then in the cleaning agent of your choice.

Then swirl the brush in your hands or use a brush egg/mat until the dirt comes of then rinse.

The brush bristles should always be facing down the entire process so the water doesn't go up and losen the glue that keeps the bristles together. So you also have to hang them upside down.

Now that that's out of the way, we go to the DIY Cleaning Board and Dry Rack.

You can buy them online or at some stores but if you're stingy like me try making the DIY. :P

 Brush Egg @ Beauty Cosmetics PHP100 + shipping fee

Brush Tree @ Beauty Cosmetics PHP950 + shipping fee

Brush Rack @ Miss Bella PH PHP180 + Shipping fee

Or you can make a DIY. For the brush cleaning board, all you need is a glue gun with glue sticks of course and any plastic board of some sort.

Here I used the cover on a box of crackers.

Then I drew dots and lines and curve patterns on the cover with the glue gun. And there you have a brush cleaning board.

It doesn't look as pretty as a brush egg but it does it's job pretty well.

For the rack I used some rubber bands and an old oval template.

 Then I used the cracker box to hold it up.

You can adjust the rubber bands so that the brushes fit.

Again it doesn't look pretty but it works. You can probably make them more presentable. Creativity is your limit. 

I didn't spend anything for these since I just used materials I found at home. It pays to be creative. XD I hope this helps. :)

Credits: I found these amazing DIYs on youtube and pinterest. :)

Cagbalete DIY Tour

My sister was looking for a budget weekend getaway so we tagged along with my Ingress peeps Cagbalete adventure with a budget of around PHP2000.

How to go to Cagbalete Island?
1. Ride a bus to Lucena. 3-4 hours
2. Ride a bus from Lucena to Mauban. 1-2 hours
3. Ride a boat from Mauban to Cagbalete Island. 1-2 hours

We met at JAC Liner Kamias Terminal at around 1am and boarded a bus going to Lucena at 2am. Bus fare to Lucena was PHP218.  JAC Liner Kamias Terminal has 24hour trips to Lucena with a 30 minute interval. They also have direct trips to Mauban twice a day at 5am and 12pm for PHP270.

We arrived at Lucena Grand Terminal at 5am. There's a BPI ATM and food joints in case you're wondering. Then we boarded the NCR-Rienton Lines bus bound to Mauban for PHP55.

The local bus is old and cramped so don't expect too much.

 

  We arrived at Mauban around 6am and we were met with a beautiful sunrise.

The back view of the statue looks handsome

 Is it just me or he looks like Usopp from One Piece?? XD

 Anyway we asked directions to the market and the officer told us to turn right while pointing on the left so what's a tourist got to do? XD

 The market is just a short walking distance from the bus stop. You can also walk from the market to Pantalan/Daungan but if you want to take a tricycle it will only cost you PHP10 per person or PHP40 per tricycle if you don't want to wait for other passengers.

We didn't avail any food packages so we have to buy food and stuff from the market. Some resorts offer food package for PHP1000 which includes breakfast  lunch, dinner and a snack.

We finished our grocery around 7am and went to buy boat tickets. We wanted to take the commuter boat but it was already fully booked. Imagine? The commuter boat is scheduled to leave at 10am but it's already fully booked at 7am XD So we took the private boat instead. It costs PHP2500 2-way for 6 persons. So PHP417 for a 2 way trip per person. Not bad considering we don't need to wait for the next commuter boat which still doesn't have a definite schedule plus we can opt to leave Cagbalete any time we want. Our boat ride back to Mauban is just a text away. And we don't have to walk because the private boat will drop us off directly at our resort.

 Pantalan

 Relaxing boat trip to Cagbalete

 We rented 2 medium tents good for 3 persons each for PHP600 each at Villa Noe resort. The nipa huts were already fully booked and we can't contact any resort. We were just lucky a friend was in Cagbalete the week before so he made our tent reservations on our behalf. You can also bring your own tent but you still have to pay a fee PHP250.

Boat Packages they offer

 Settling our bags after arrival

Lunch: Pork Chop by Pepper and Salt with Tuna by Hana XD

 After that we just pretty much slept on the grass the entire afternoon XD

 "would you lie with me and just forget the world?" - ultraman

"pigilan mo ko!" - storm trooper

 We were woken up by the scorching heat of the sun 

 

after that we ate burgers and halo halo sold from a store nearby and took pictures

 beach bum

 beach bum

 beach bum

 picture

 picture

 picture

salagubang?

 "migratory birds" XD

 micro mini star trail shows a lot about my patience XD

Bonfire! PHP100 per set

Marshmallows!!

The next day we waited for the sunrise which unfortunately was covered by the clouds

but the view was still breathtaking nonetheless

Then we rented a boat to take us to another part of the island so we can swim. Boat rental costs PHP1000 for 6 persons. When the tide is low, all you can see is a long stretch of sand bar. Luckily it was high tide so we were able to swim. The sand was white and pure, no rocks and icky plants to grace your feet so we enjoyed swimming.

 comfort rooms and showers were decent and clean if you're curious

 Then just like that it was already time to go home :(

So let's see

Kamias - Lucena : PHP218 x 2 = PHP436

Lucena - Mauban : PHP55 x 2 = PHP110

Mauban - Cagbalete : PHP417

Enviromental Fee: PHP50

Tricycle: PHP10 x 2 = PHP20

Island Hopping: PHP167

Tent: PHP200

Total: PHP1400

 So you still have PHP600 for the food :)

UPDATE: 11/14/2016

We went here again last weekend and this time with a more chillax trip in mind.

Transportation:
We booked a bus via Biyaheroes website for the Kamias to Mauban Route via JAC Liner. It was nice because I didn't know you could book a bus trip online. We also got a free tshirt from Biyaheroes. With a bus booking, you have to arrive 1 hour earlier to secure your reservation. I still prefer the Kamias-Lucena-Mauban Route because the Kamias-Mauban route only has 2 trips which is at 4:00AM and 11:00AM and you don't have to reserve if you're just Lucena bound because there are plenty of trips available every hour or so. We left Kamias at 4:00am, had a stop over at McDocnalds/7/11 around 6:30am and arrived Mauban at around 9:00am.

We then paid the environmental fee at the tourism office and booked a private boat for 8persons to take us to Nilandingan Cove which costs PHP3000 for a two way trip for 8persons. We left the port around 9:30am and arrived 11:00am. I don't recommend going to Cagbalete off-peak season because the waves were too strong. It was like an hour and a half roller coaster ride. I can't count how many times my soul left my body but that's how I felt as the boat rises and fall through the waves.

Accommodation:
This time we rented a cottage at Nilandingan Cove for PHP2800 which is good for 8persons but I personally think it was only good for 6persons to fit comfortably. Although it has it's own detached comfort room and since we had the resort to ourselves we can pretty much use any other comfort rooms. They were also very accommodating.

They also offer Island Hoping but with those waves, we weren't too eager on riding a boat anytime soon.

Food:
We were all ladies who can't be bothered with cooking so we just opted to buy our food from the resort. The food package costs PHP850 with lunch, merienda, dinner, breakfast the next day and merienda. I didn't expect much from it but boy was I surprised that it was actually delicious. It was sooo sulit and hassle free. They also offer single servings of food depending on the menu for that day. Water and juice was provided when food was served but we also bought a 6L water bottle from them for PHP60. They also sell coffee and milo for PHP20 each and block of ice for PHP20 - PHP60 pesos.

Welcome Drinks

Lunch

Merienda

Dinner (forgot to take a pic before hehe)

Beach:
For the second time I wasn't able to swim. (^_^)V I was too sleepy to do anything when we arrived (which happened to be the perfect time to swim). The waves were too strong come afternoon and there were to many seaweeds. Then the tide was too low in the morning that you have to walk far away. (Excuses)

(Bus) Kamias - Mauban = PHP304.7

(Tricycle) JAC Liner Terminal - Tourism Office = PHP10

(Tricycle) Tourism Office - Port = PHP10

Enviromental Fee: PHP50

(Boat) Mauban - Cagbalete: PHP3000/8= PHP375

Accommodation: PHP2800/8 = PHP350

Food (lunch,merienda,dinner,breakfast,merienda) = PHP850

(Tricycle) Port - JAC Liner Terminal = PHP15

(Bus) Mauban - Lucena = PHP59

(Bus) Lucena - Kamias = PHP218

Total: 2241.7

Yup so it's still within budget and renting an accommodation and food package was a good choice. I think the shore looks better at Villa Noe though. Nilandingan Cove was the farthest resort on the Island I think based on the tourism board.