Puerto Princesa / Boracay Island / Manila, Philippines (Days 58-60)

ce95003
Mar 8, 2019
2 min read

Miles sailed 16,353; 60 days & 28 ports of call.

The Philippines were three days of fun.

First stop was the province of Palawan's largest city, Puerto Princesa. Mostly known as a stopping point on the way to pretty beaches, it has a growing food scene and lunch was the plan for the day. I took my first trike ride and met up with some friends at Hen House American BBQ. Its rating was off the chart, we were ready for a break from ship food and it looked funky. The "menu" is a box of comment cards left by past visitors, cute. The local beer was cold and the food was delicious. We had fun chatting with the owner, an ex pat from the US.

Next up was Boracay Island and all I can say is WOW!! It's a combination of Bora Bora's stunning waters and Bali's beach bar scene. So desirable, that the island growth got out of hand and all tourism was stopped in mid 2018 to reset (i.e. cleanup & add new rules/regulations). It's only about 40% reopened and our Navigator was the first cruise ship to dock since its closure. I can see how growth could get out of hand as 40% of tourism is still a lot of people. Again, met some friends for lunch and a walk through the open air shops... and maybe a bar or two. We were the last seven on the last shuttle / tender and I was officially the last one back to the ship! Missing the ship would not have been a hardship. Boracay is definitely going on the list of places for a return visit.

Third stop was Manila, very different from the first two. It is a big, bustling city. The air is fuggy and traffic is insane. The people are absolutely lovely; polite, helpful, smiling, beautiful. I took a quick tour of the city, then onto the main goal of the day... local food.... pancit, lumpia, lichon. Drool. John, your Mom's pancit is still the best I've ever tried. However the lumpia at Gerry's was mind blowing.