Sights: The Amazing Wonders of Nature in El Nido, Palawan

When going on trips, we always booked our airplane tickets first before everything else. But this time around, our El Nido trip came by when I was offered a sponsored accommodations in Corong Corong Beach, El Nido, Palawan.

El Nido, Palawan

(I would like to thank Ms. EMC for sponsoring our accommodation at The Beach Shack, a beachfront property in Corong Corong beach.)

The Beach Shack, Corong Corong, El Nido

Since it was kind of expensive to fly directly to El Nido from Manila, we opted for the longer route. We flew to Puerto Prinsesa then rode a van  to El Nido. As soon as you stepped out of the airport, you'll be crowded with people asking where you're going. They will proceed to point you to the right van to ride on. Since it was a pretty long 5 to 6 hour trip to El Nido, we opted to go via Daytripper. It was a little bit more expensive but we had the whole back of the van to ourselves thus making the travel more comfortable.

Daytripper Van

The shore at Corong Corong beach was pretty short and was filled with lawn chairs with mostly foreign tourist sunbathing. Tough if felt crowded, the shore was really clean and the water felt so refreshing. In spite of being sleepless, we spent the whole afternoon  swimming and lounging around. We also felt lucky that we got to stay at a beachfront property. Most accommodations in El Nido can be found at the town proper, though there was a shore, no one swims in the waters since there are a lot of boats parked near it.

The shore at Corong Corong Beach

Since we only had 2 full days in El Nido, we picked out two island tours from the four choices. We started our first morning with Tour A, which consists of going to Secret Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon, Shimizu Island and 7 Commandos Beach.

Island Hopping

The site of the huge limestone cliffs in El Nido made me really excited, this is what El Nido is famous for. It was majestically beautiful and little did I know that there more to it than just a facade.

The Limestone Cliffs of  El Nido

Our first stop was Secret Lagoon, a small open area with knee deep high waters that is surrounded by limestone cliffs.

Arriving at the Shore of  Secret Lagoon

Inside the Secret Lagoon.

As we were approaching Shimizu Island, the engine of the boat we were riding suddenly conked out. Luckily we were already nearby so we just jumped out and swam our way to the island. We had to wait for another boat to continue our day tour so we had the liberty of time of snorkeling around. We also ended up having an early lunch here.

Shimizu Island

Snorkeling around Shimizu Island.

Lunch was part of all the tours, the menu usually consists of grilled seafood, grilled meat, fresh veggies, rice and fruits. Simple and so satisfying. The boatman or the guide does the grilling on the boat while going from one island to another. Please clean up as you go!!!

Simple and Delicious Lunch

After lunch we were off  and were greeted by emerald crystal clear waters as we made our way in the Big Lagoon. Boat goes in between the cliffs  and exits on the same opening.

Big Lagoon

Getting inside the Small Lagoon was more of a challenge, you either go inside via swimming or a kayak. Since we were dying to hit the waters, we chose the first option. Just a word of advice, it was a pretty long swim so make sure you are good swimmer if you chose to swim in and out of the lagoon.

To Kayak?

To Swim? ....inside the Small Lagoon

Our last stop for the day was 7 Commandos Beach. It was just perfect for us as we were all exhausted from swimming in and out of the small lagoon. The beach felt so laid back, we found ourselves laying down on the fine white sand and on the hammocks installed in one area. There was also a small store selling snacks and refreshments.

Seven Commandos Beach

Lounging Around on a Hammock

The next day we were off to Tour C which consists of going to Secret  Beach, Hidden Beach, Matinloc Shrine, Star Beach and Helicopter Island.

As we were getting near a limestone cliff, I was wondering why there were some boats anchored in front of the cliffs. There were was no visible shore around and I thought this might be a snorkeling area. But when the boatman told us that this is Secret Beach, I wondered and was puzzled where the beach could be.

Secret Beach....where?

We jumped out of the boat and the guide pointed us to a small opening in the cliffs.  At the entrance of the hole, there was  a person stationed who served  as sort of the gate keeper. He would hold and  pull in those who are entering in perfect time to the splash of the waves.

Entering above...

For good swimmers, one can just go underwater and swim in to avoid the forceful splash of the waves on the rocks.

Entering below...

As soon as I got up from underwater,  a patch of shore with sand welcomed us. I was so baffled and amazed on what I saw. Right on the middle of the ocean, inside the limestone cliffs was a beach, Amazing!

Welcome to Secret Beach

The small Beach Area at Secret Beach

It also needs perfect timing to go out of the hidden beach. As soon as the waves hits the rocks, you quickly have to get out before another waves crashes.

Wating for our turn to go out

Hidden Beach is somewhat similar to Secret Beach, going here takes a little longer as you need to swim and trek a little.

On our way to Hidden Beach

Hidden Beach

Hidden Beach has a wider shore thus there were more people lounging around the cove. Both Secret and Hidden Beach gave me a sense of astonishment, didn't even know that such beautiful places existed.

The shore at Hidden Beach

There weren't any shore lines or beach area in Matinloc Shrine, what's memorable about this place is it gives you another perspective of El Nido. Climbing and looking from the top, you can see the stunning emerald waters with its surrounding limestone cliffs. What a beauty!

View from Above

After visiting the two mysterious beaches, Hidden and Secret Beach, I was still speechless on what we've experienced. It was an experience that was hard to top. But if I would pick which beach/island is my most memorable, it would be this small beach area near Matinloc. I don't remember what the place is called, I just remember that Matinloc was crowded and the guide suggested to go here. The main reason I fell in love with this small patch of island is that we were so lucky that we got the whole place to ourselves.

Super fine white sand, crystal clear refreshing waters and a few steps away from the shore are the colorful lively corals. I couldn't ask for anything more, everything that I want was here. Paradise.

We got the whole beach all to ourselves

As an extra treat, we also had lunch here. Nothing beats the feeling of sitting on the sand with a plate on hand eating while looking at the gorgeous view from shore.

Lunch time

I was saddened when our guide told us that we had to leave the island, we spent a good number of hours on it. He told us that if we don't leave at that moment, we might not be able to visit the other islands anymore. Thus we a heavy heart, I bid farewell to our little paradise.

Our own little Paradise for a couple of hours

We made a quick pass by Helicopter Island, its basically an island with limestone cliffs shaped like a helicopter.

Helicopter Island

The sun was starting to call it a day when we reached Star Beach. But this didn't stop us to check the place out even for a couple of minutes. Powdery white sands grazed our feet, crystal clear waters touched our skins  and colorful corals greeted us under water.

Star Beach

The sun started to set when we got back to Corong Corong. Not satisfied with our point of view at the Beach Shack, we  went on a short trek around the island to find a better spot to watch the sunset. It was our last sunset on the island.Aas we sat on the rocks, I was contemplating about our whole El Nido experience. Having been to different beaches in Asia and locally, this is so far the most memorable. El Nido left me feeling at awe on how amazingly beautiful nature can be.

Spices: The Wine Club

Located in one of the quieter streets in Legaspi Village, The Wine Club is one of the most underrated restos that you can find in Makati. The place looks nice and quaint, wine shelves fill the whole area and upon looking around, they carry mostly new world wines. You wont feel lost as the knowledgeable owner or server would give their recommendations on what type of wine you would want to have.

I've dine here a couple of times and here are some of the food staples that we order. Depending on what's available, ordering The Cheese and Charcuterie Board is a surprise. From the times we I ate here, we never had a bad experience with the freshness of the cheese and cold cuts. I liked how they place a small bowl of honey for the cheese. For the quality of the ingredients, this was such a steal.

The resto offers different kind and types of premium beef. Beef from Australia, USDA beef and even Wagyu. I've tried their USDA and Australian Ribeye and all I can say is they know how to cook beef. On both occasions I got what I wanted, steak with a pinkish juicy center, cooked to medium rare perfection.

The resto also serves some pasta dishes and one dish that we tried is their House Made Italian Sausage, Fussili, Oregano and Tomatoes. We were pretty surprised how good it was, very basic, well made and tasty.

The Wine Club is a simple homey no-frills restaurant that serves good simple food. I'd preferably have a quiet dinner here rather than dining at one of the noisy restos across the block.

The Wine Club
Address: Cacho Gonzales Building, 101 Aguirre Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City
Operating Hours: 12pm to 12am
Webpage: http://wineclub.com.ph/

Spices: Scrumptious Eats of PENANG, MALAYSIA

Being known as Malaysia's food capital, I was extremely excited on trying out what Penang has to offer. Having been to southeast Asia countries before, I expected to taste familiar dishes but at the same time look for something unique and new.

Penang's Iconic Char Kway Teow

We arrived late in the afternoon so after checking in our hotel, we quickly wandered off the streets to look for dinner. As the night creeps in, we saw food carts being set up as tables and chairs occupy the side streets and walk ways.

Food Carts Pop Up at Night

As we settled in one of the small alleyways, we quickly looked around and ordered food.
The very first dish we ordered was Char Kway Teow. A noodle dish that I've eaten countless number of times before but this was the best one by far. What set this apart from the other Char Kway Teow that I had was the smokey aroma and flavor that was instilled on the stir fried rice noodles. I assumed that it has to be the wok that was used again and again, its an aroma and flavor that can't easily be replicated

The Best Char Kway Teow I've ever had

Upon finishing the noodles, I immediately went back to the food stall to give my compliments and to take a picture of the maestro behind the dish. The maestro was an elder who I think was in his  late 70s, he shyly smiled at me when I told him that it was delicious. As I was taking his picture, a man smilingly approached me and mentioned that the maestro has been cooking Char Kway Teow for more than 60 years. No wonder that it was this good. I apologize for not knowing who he is and where the small alleyway is. I hope someone who sees this can tell me where the actual place is and tell me who the maestro is.

The Maestro

The Alleyway where I had the Best Char Kway Teow

We also had  Poh Piah, a Chinese fresh spring roll that's vegetarian. Stuffed with a variety of vegetables, tofu and peanuts. And Cheung Fan, a Chinese Rice Roll with shrimps inside and topped with hoisin sauce. Washing everything down with Tiger Beer.

Poh Piah

Cheung Fan

Tiger Beer

***Important note when dining in alleyways and streets. As soon as you sit down on the plastic chairs and tables, someone will approach to ask what do you want to drink. ALWAYS order something, you might get booted out the table if you don't. Also NEVER EVER order drinks from another stall and bring it over to your table, always order from the person who asks you and let them bring the drinks yo you. From what I know, the tables and chairs belongs to the stall who sells drinks and each area corresponds to a specific drinks stall.***


While walking back to our hotel, we saw Lok Lok and decided to try it out. It's sort of a DIY shabu-shabu/hotpot right on the street. You pick out from the different seafood, meat and vegetable skewers then dip it in the communal pot of boiling broth. Topping everything off with your choice of sauce.

Lok Lok Stall

Shabu Shabu on the street

Various Hotpot Skewers topped with Chili and Peanut Sauce

There was a highly recommended Char Kway Teow stall mentioned in blogs, this was Tiger Kway Teow. We got to try this for breakfast as well as a bowl of Hokkien Mee. Tiger's  Char Kway Teow was flavorful and delicious but it lacked the smokey aroma and flavor like the previous one we had.

Tiger Kway Teow stall on the left

Tiger's Char Kway Teow

The Hokkien Mee that I'm familiar with is stir fried, I was surprised to see broth in this noodle dish. I later found out that Penang's version is unlike the stir fried version found in other parts of Southeast Asia, they share the same name but different. The soup was a mixture of a salty, a tad sweet and spicy broth, topped with prawns, pork, bean sprouts and hard boiled egg.

Hokkien Mee

It was a hot day in Georgetown, we saw a small kiosk that was selling coconut ice cream. There was a long line of people waiting for their turn and this made us decide to try it out as well. The ice cream tasted of real coconut, served with fresh coconut flesh and topped with whole corn kernels served on a half  coconut shell, delicious.

Cold and Sweet Coconut Treat

Mugshot is a well known cafe in Penang, we tried out their cold brew coffee and homemade yogurt. Coffee tasted ok. The yogurt was really good, it tasted fresh, creamy and sour.

Cold Brew Coffee and Homemade Yoghurt

Mugshot
Add: 302 Chulia Street, Georgetown
Operating Hours: 8am to 12am


Being wine lovers, I got so excited to see a restaurant aptly called That Little Wine Bar. It was a nice and small cozy restaurant. Owned by a local expat celebrity chef,  Chef Tommes. Upon reading about him, I searched and watched a couple of videos of him cooking on the internet. He looked passionate and knowledgeable about food thus I had nothing but high expectations.

We were automatically drawn to the resto's impressive wine cellar.

All of the dishes were of excellent quality, it wasn't anything fancy. Simple and tasty comfort food. My favorite dish would be the duck breast with cherry sauce, the meat was super tender, it had that bold strong flavor which was balanced out by the  sweet tangy cherry sauce. The dish complimented the wine we had.

Salmon Tartare

Salmon with Risoto

Mushroom Quiche

Duck Breast with Cherry Sauce

Cheese Platter

We had two bottles of wine, one of which came highly recommended by Chef Tommes himself when we got to chat with him.

*Sadly, I think the restaurant has closed but still they are operating once a week for Wine Soiree Thursdays*

That Little Wine Bar
Add: 54 Jalan Chow Thye, Georgetown



We didn't get to have dessert in the resto so when we saw a food cart selling cendol, we decided to give it a try. Made with rice flour jelly, coconut milk, palm sugar syrup and shaved ice. It was a cold sweet treat, too sweet to my liking. But for those who have a sweet tooth, this is a must try.

Cendol

The next morning, being still full from the previous night. We opted to have a light breakfast, we ended having bread from Yin' Sourdough Bakery and Cafe. We got to try a few of Yin's bread which was all sourdough based, all of which are moist and dense inside. Being a bread lover, I enjoyed the bread I tasted here. Sadly on the day of early departure from Penang, the bakery was still closed, I would have brought home some.

Cranberries Apple Wholewheat Sourdough Scone

Walnut Cranberries Sourdough Bun

Yin's Sourdough Bakery and Cafe
Add: 11 Pesara Claimant, Georgetown
Operating Hours: Monday to Saturday 7am to 5pm


I had asam laksa before and I have to admit that I'm more of a curry laksa fan than of asam laksa. When I saw Anthony Bourdain (rest in peace) slurping Air Itams's laksa with uhmms and ahhhs and claiming that it was astonishingly delicious in his previous tv sereies, I wanted to give it a try.

It was love at first sip, it was tangy, spicy and filled with so much seafood flavor. I cant pin point on what made it so good, the broth was filled with so much umami goodness that it made me take one spoonful after spoonful of  the rich broth. This was totally different from the asam laksas I had before, I'm so thankful and glad that we got to try this place out.

Asam Laksa

Air Itam Laksa
Add: 1 Jalan Pasar, Pekan Ayer Itam
Operating Hours: Sunday to Tuesday, 1030am to 7pm


One place that Bourdain also ate at that got my attention was Nasi Kandar Line Clear, open 24 hours, the famous food stall can be found in an alleyway. The thing that got me so curious was how the combination of sauces of the Indian rice topping meal would taste like.
.

Nasi Kandar Line Clear

A heap full of rice is place on a plate and you pick which among the numerous dishes you want.
They would topped the rice with all the food choices you picked and what made this unique is they would get different sauces from each dish and pour it on top of your rice topping.

In our case, we picked out the Fried Chicken, Squid in Sauce and Stir Fried Vegetables. After piling it up on our plates, I counted 5 spoonfuls more of sauces added to our heap. I don't know from what dishes that sauces are from but the end product looked like the picture below. The chicken, squid and veggies has its own distinct flavor, mixing and eating everything together brings about a very intense burst of different pleasant flavors in the mouth.

Nasi Kandar with Fried Chicken, Squid and Vegetables

Line Clear Nasi Kandar
Add: Beside 161 and 177 Penang Road, Georgetown
Operating Hours: 24 Hours


One of the fascinating cuisines I got to try when I went to Malacca was Nyonya.  When we saw that Penang also serves Nyonya cuisine, we made an effort to go and eat at Ivy's Nyonya Cuisine.

We were welcomed warmly by owner and chef, Mr. Dragon Tan. He suggested to try out the set menus which we happily obliged. The set consists of Baby Stingray, Joo Hoo Char and Assam Prawn, Kiam Chai Ark, Kapitan Curry Chicken and Dessert.

Everything were of excellent quality, even if I had Nyonya cuisine in Malacca before, most that tasted new and unique. While eating, I was already wondering why the flavors were so different. Luckily I was able to ask Chef Dragon why it tasted different as he chatted with us after cooking in the kitchen. The answer was simple, he said that it was geography, Penang is nearer to Thailand, thus the flavors  were more of  of the herbs and on the sour side while Malacca is nearer to India thus the flavors are more about the spices.

Joo Hoo Char

I would have love to try out all the unique Nyonya cuisine in Penang that Chef Dragon was telling us about, maybe in another trip to Penang, I'd definitely go back to eat here.

Asam Prawn

Ivy's Nyonya Cuisine
Add: 58 Jalan Chow Thye, Georgetown
Operating Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 12pm to 3pm and 6pm to 9pm
                             Tuesdays 6pm to 9pm, closed on Mondays


One of the most common food stalls that can be seen around Penang are the Yong Tau Foo stalls. It is also similar to the Lok Lok stall where you can pick from a variety of noodles, toppings and broth you like to make up your bowl of noodle soup. You can also have the noodles stir fried. It's simple, fast, relatively cheap and most importantly tasty meal you can find around Penang.

Yong Tau Foo Stall

When I saw Macalister Mansion's picture on the internet, I was awe struck on how beautiful the placed looked like. Upon checking, the majestic mansion was a hotel, a restaurant, a tea salon, a whiskey/cigar bar, a wine lounge and it even has a pool bar.

Macalister Mansion

Wanting to see the mansion, it was either a choice of dining at the restaurant or having wine at the lounge. We ended up doing the latter. The mansion looked really luxurious from the outside and inside. We had a bottle of Rioja Reserva and some finger foods to go with it.  We were not planning to try out any wines from the enoteca machine until we saw a bottle from Lebanon. I've never seen or even heard of Lebanese wine before. Out of curiosity w to my surprise the wine was really good.

Rioja Reserva

Lebanese Wine

There were quite a number of wine bars/lounges around Penang and we were so glad that we were able to check this out.

Macalister Mansion

Macalister Mansion
Add: 228 Jalan Macalister, Georgetown


We thoroughly enjoyed pigging out Penang, some flavors were already familiar and there were quite a few nice surprises as well. One thing that I'd remember Penang by are the master chefs behind each food stall. Whether its grilling, stir frying or scooping a ladle of broth, one taste taste of their masterpieces screams their love and passion for  food.