Coco Beach, Puerto Galera

One of best reasons why people choose Puerto Galera as their summer getaway destination is because

of its close proximity to Manila.

When you talk about Puerto Galera, the first place that pops into your mind is White Beach. Similar to Boracay, it is filled with sprawling nightlife and lots of people. However, we decided to stray away from that and take the scenic route.

We stayed at the Coco Beach, and it’s quite secluded from the rest of Puerto Galera. When you get to the resort the only way to the pier is by boat, or you can swim. Just kidding. If you long for nightlife and music, Coco Beach is not the place for you. Head over to White Beach instead.

Coco Beach is best for people who want a little rest and relaxation and to detach themselves from the hustle and bustle of chaotic urban living. It’s actually one of the best resorts I’ve been to and definitely defines a “relaxing getaway”

Transfers

Coco Beach offers transfers to and from the resort. The pick up will be at the Diamond Hotel; a van or in some cases a coaster will come to pick you up. Wait for your guide at the hotel lobby and don’t ever be late! The ride will take around 2 hours to the Batangas port in which you’ll have to ride the boat transfer to Coco Beach. You’re guide will be there all throughout which helps especially for first timers like me. The only downside about going to Puerto Galera is that there will be a lot of transferring. We rode a van and two separate boats to get to Coco Beach.

Rooms

The resort is 10 hectares, so expect a LOT of walking. Most rooms are elevated which provides guests with a spectacular view of the island and the sea. The view in the rooms is fantastic, however getting there can be a problem especially if you are not keen to walking 50 steps up to get to your room. You can avoid this by requesting lower rooms.

Also, take note that the resort has a very nature-y feel, which is why almost all room types are non airconditioned. Well, you won’t really need it since most rooms are elevated and it’s cool in the area. Non aircon doesn’t mean that the rooms are bad, they’re actually really good! Imagine sleeping in an oversized nipa hut!

The only air-conditioned room type are their Heritage Rooms which is the biggest and most expensive.

The rest rooms are nothing to rave about. I guess that they used treated salt water, which made it quite hard to use the soap. Other than that, it’s all okay.

Service fit for a king!

Coco Beach is unique because of their service families. A service family is assigned to each room in the resort. You just pull the string and your service family will come to help you, with anything that you need.

Food

There is only one word to describe the food here = AWESOME. They serve authentic Filipino dishes in huge servings, good for 2-3. But they only open the Filipino themed restaurant most of the time. 

They have other restaurants in the resort including a revolving restaurant, and is probably the only revolving restaurant in the Philippines. Too bad it was closed.

The other restaurants will only be opened for reservations of a minimum of 6 guests.

The Beach

Keep in mind that Puerto Galera is also a diving site. When we went there, the beach was rocky and was filled with stones/rocks and crushed shells. It was getting too hard to walk in the water that you would probably need to wear aqua shoes just to swim. It was also typhoon season when we went, so maybe that’s why the beach wasn’t in good shape. I wonder what it’s like during the summer months?

There are also two pools in the area, just in case you’d want to skip swimming in the beach.

Activities

Basically it’s lights out by 9 or 10, typical of any province in the Philippines. Some may find this boring, but I disagree. There isn't much to see at night, but make sure to wake up early since every day at the Coco Beach is packed with heaps of activities.

There is something to do every 30 minutes, literally. There was even this bungee jump thing that catapults you into the ocean, but we missed it since we had to go banana boating.

The banana boat lasts 15-20 minutes. And it was so much FUN!

After banana boating we tried snorkeling too and even ate a sea urchin. RAW. You should try it

Over all experience, was pretty good and I’d give it a 4 out of 5. It’s a really good place to relax and free yourself from the stress of Metro Manila.

This is good to know :)

PHILIPPINE BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS 

FROM WIKIPILIPINAS

Death

• A lingering black butterfly is a sign that one of your relatives just died.
• A falling spider that lands on you is an omen that someone close to you will die.
• Do not form groups of three or thirteen, or one of you will die.
• If a person dreams of having his teeth pulled out, this mean that family member will die.
• Sometimes the soul temporarily leaves the body while in a deep sleep. Rousing a person at this time might kill him.
• When a tree that was planted upon the birth of a child dies, the child will also die.
• It is said that the soul of the deceased returns on the third, the fifth, and the seventh days after death.
• A coffin should be built to fit the corpse; otherwise, a family member of the deceased will soon die.
• Tears must not fall on the dead or on the coffin; this will make the dead person’s journey to the next world a difficult one.
• If someone sneezes at a wake, pinch him lest he join the dead.
• During a wake, never see your visitors off at the door of the chapel or funeral parlor.
• A widow who caresses her dead husband’s face will surely remarry.
• Do not sweep the house until after the burial.
• Always carry the coffin out of the house, church or funeral parlor head first. This prevents the soul of the dead from coming back.
• During the funeral march, a man whose wife is pregnant should not carry the casket. Before going home, he should light up a cigarette from a fire at the cemetery gate in order to shake off the spirits of the dead.
• Digging a hole larger than the coffin will cause an immediate relative to join the deceased in the grave.
• After the coffin has been lowered to the grave, all family members should take a handful of soil, spit on it and throw it in the grave. Doing so will not only bury any evil let behind by the deceased, but also lessen the burden of grief on the family as well.
• After the funeral service, do not go home directly so that the spirit of the dead person will not follow you to your house.
• Never let a child step over an open grave lest the spirit of the dead visit that child.
• Give away your black dresses after one year of mourning to prevent another death in the family.

What to know more about Pinoy or Filipino Lifestyle?

Check out our Facebookpage http://www.facebook.com/forexworldaustralia
and our website http://www.forexworld.com.au. We serve Filipinos in Australia. (Remittance, Balikbayan Box and Travel)

PHILIPPINE BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS FROM WIKIPILIPINAS

Wedding

• Brides shouldn’t try on their wedding dress before the wedding day or the wedding will not push through.
• Knives and other sharp and pointed objects are said to be a bad choice for wedding gifts for this will lead to a broken marriage.
• Giving an arinola (chamberpot) as wedding gift is believed to bring good luck to newlyweds.
• Altar-bound couples are accident-prone and therefore must avoid long drives or traveling before their wedding day for safety.
• The groom who sits ahead of his bride during the wedding ceremony will be a hen-pecked husband.
• Rains during the wedding means prosperity and happiness for the newlyweds.
• A flame extinguished on one of the wedding candles means the one whose candle was extinguished will die ahead of the other.
• Throwing rice confetti at the newlyweds will bring them prosperity all their life.
• The groom must arrive before the bride at the church to avoid bad luck.
• Breaking something during the reception brings good luck to the newlyweds.
• The bride should step on the groom’s foot while walking towards the altar if she wants him to agree to her every whim.
• A bride who wears pearls on her wedding will be an unhappy wife experiencing many heartaches and tears.
• Dropping the wedding ring, the veil, or the arrhae during the ceremony spells unhappiness for the couple.
• The member of the couple stands first after the ceremony, will die ahead of the other.
• A bride who cries during the wedding will bring bad luck to the marriage.
• It is bad omen for the newlywed couple if their parents cry during the wedding.
• Upon entering their new home, the couple should go up the stairs alongside each other so that neither one will dominate the other.
• An unwed girl who follows the footprints of a newlywed couple will marry soon.
• If a woman is widowed during the new moon, she will marry again.
• A person who habitually sits at the head of the table during meals will never marry.

What to know more about Pinoy or Filipino Lifestyle?

Check out our Facebookpage http://www.facebook.com/forexworldaustralia
and our website http://www.forexworld.com.au. We serve Filipinos in Australia. (Remittance, Balikbayan Box and Travel)

We know how these are important to you! you might want to check this link out. Good to know that we are not :)

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Philippine Beliefs and Superstitions From WikiPilipinas

General Health

• • All windows and doors should be wide open for the laboring mother’s easy delivery.
  • Pregnant women should avoid witnessing an eclipse, so that when born their babies would not have the habit of winking the eyes abnormally.
  • An expectant mother should not act as sponsor in a baptismal ceremony to avoid difficulty in delivering her baby or to avoid the death of the fetus or of the newly baptized child.
  • Sitting on the threshold of the house by a pregnant woman will result in a difficult delivery.
  • Taking pictures of a pregnant woman will cause an abortion or a difficult delivery.
  • An expectant mother should have her house neither constructed nor remodeled to avoid difficulty in delivering her baby.
  • Do not partake of the food being eaten by an expecting mother. If you do, you will either become sleepy or will feel drowsy or sick.
  • The new mother should avoid itchy or scratchy foods like gabi, and round fruits or root crops such as citrus, ube, tugui, and coconut for three weeks so her inner organs can return to normal.
  • Do not leave the ladle on top or inside of the rice kettle, but set it aside until more rice is needed. This is done so that childbirth will not be difficult.
  • A visitor must not sit or stand on the ladder or at the door, but come inside so that delivery will not be hard.
  • The mother should not eat shellfish. These are slippery and if they are taken from the brook, the baby may be expelled from the womb.
  • An expectant mother should not eat fish from pointed shells lest the baby have too much mucus or drool too much.
  • A pregnant woman is not allowed to cut her hair, she will give birth to a bald baby.
  • Pregnant women should not cry because they will suffer a difficult birth, and the baby will become sensitive and a crybaby.
  • Miscarriages only occur during the odd-numbered months of pregnancy.
  • Taking a bath before delivery will hasten the birth of the baby, as well as of the placenta.
  • An expectant mother should not participate in funeral activities. Doing so would endanger the mother and the baby during delivery. If a pregnant woman wears clothes which were hung overnight, the fetus will be affected.
  • It is believed that when denied the food a pregnant mother likes, her child will salivate profusely and will be prone to vomiting.
  • A pregnant woman should eat all the food on her plate, so that when she delivers, everything will come out, leaving her womb clean.
  • A comb is submerged in coconut milk with sugar to make the mother's breast full of milk.

What to know more about Pinoy or Filipino Lifestyle?

Check out our Facebookpage http://www.facebook.com/forexworldaustralia
and our website http://www.forexworld.com.au. We serve Filipinos in Australia. (Remittance, Balikbayan Box and Travel)

Philippine Airlines upgrades all Aussie 

flights to Boeing 777

Philippine Airlines will roll out its flagship Boeing 777-300ER on all Australian services from June 30, 2012.

The Boeing 777 will replace the Airbus A330 and A340 currently used on PAL flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Manila.

Philippine Airlines previously used a Boeing 777 on the Sydney-Manila route from 2010, before the aircraft was swapped onto PAL's Vancouver and Tokyo services.

The aircraft sports 42 seats in Mabuhay Class (business class) in a largely 2-3-2 layout.

Designed by Recaro, each is 20 inches wide with a 78 inch seat pitch. The lie-flat seats recline up to 150 degrees.

In economy or Fiesta Class there are 328 seats of 18.5 inch width and a pitch of 33-34 inches.

A Panasonic inflight entertainment system offers audio and video on demand in every seat, with USB ports for keeping your smartphone or tablet powered up during the flight. 

How PAL's split schedule works

Philippine Airlines will adopt a split schedule for flights between Sydney, Melbourne and Manila, with morning and evening departures and the ability to fly non-stop from both Sydney and Melbourne depending on the day of the week.

Flight PR210 will operate Melbourne-Sydney-Manila on the mornings of Tuesday, Friday and Saturday (departing Melbourne at 8.10am, with a stop-over at Sydney which departs 11.15am, arriving into Manila at 5.40pm the same day).

Flight PR212 will operate Sydney-Melbourne-Manila on Wednesday and Sunday evenings – departing Sydney 8.20pm, then down to Melbourne for an 11.35pm departure, with wheels-down at Manila slated for 5.35am the next day.
next day).

So, for a direct flight out of Sydney you'll want to book PR210 on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Direct flights form Melbourne call for PR212 on Wednesday or Sunday.

The return legs are

• PR209: Manila-Melbourne-Sydney on the evenings of Monday, Thursdays and Fridays – departing Manila at 8.40pm, arriving Melbourne at 6.40am next day, then into Sydney at 9.45am.
• PR211: Manila-Sydney-Melbourne on Wednesday and Sunday mornings – departing Manila at 8.50am, landing in Sydney at 6.50pm the same day, and Melbourne at 9.50pm.

For full details and bookings contact Forex Travel Australia on Phone: 02 8777 0000

TOLL FREE: 1300 136 739 or visit http://www.forextravel.com.au/.