Hi Amiciness readers! Since I won a GoPro, thanks to Sponge Cola, (read full story here), from now on, I’ll be documenting my travels in videos and under the “segment,” Amiciness Goes on a VL. For those who are not in the corporate world, VL means “Vacation Leave.” For my first stop, I didn’t technically file and use a single VL. I had only spent a short weekend in Oriental Mindoro (not the side of Puerto Galera). Thanks to my friend/officemate, KC! We traveled to her hometown in Gloria. Gloria was celebrating the Feast of Sacred Heart of Jesus that coming Monday (Feb 15). It’s my first time to experience a piyesta (or as I call it, pista) in the province so I was very excited.
Watch the video of my Oriental Mindoro trip after the jump.
Friday
After work, we went to Cubao to take a bus going to Batangas port. IT WAS FRIDAY so we rode an Uber. We arrived at Cubao around 8PM and at Batangas Port around 11PM. Batangas Port is the last stop so you can sleep all you want considering the traffic in EDSA.
Bus: Cubao to Batangas Port – PHP 275
The next RORO (Roll On Roll Off—I remember this because of PGMA’s commercial repeatedly shown on local morning TV when I was watching Maynila back in the day. HAHA!) trip to Calapan Port is at 12:30AM. Note: Most passengers occupy seats that are for two or more persons for them to be able to lie down especially at late hours so, as much as possible, be the first in line when boarding.
RORO: Batangas Port to Calapan Port – PHP 192
Saturday
We arrived in Calapan at 3:30AM. We took the RORO bus headed to San Jose, which would pass Gloria (2 hours away). We didn’t really do a lot in the morning. I overslept. 😐 After lunch, we made a short trip to the nearby bayan of Bansud, which had a GIANT ripe banana as its landmark. We explored Plaza De Bansud, the town’s own version of Luneta Park, and visited Queen Elsa (from Frozen).
That night, we went to the perya (fair) to play some games but, mainly, I just wanted to try the flying Jollibee ride.
For only less than 200 pesos, I got to enjoy all the rides and two of the games. I even gained money, gambling in the colored dice game. I’m so lucky! HAHA! It’s so addicting. #NeverAgain
🎲 How to Play the Colored Dice Game
- Place your bets on one to six colors. Any amount will do.
- The dice master rolls 3 dice simultaneously.
- If your colors are drawn, you can win as much as thrice the value of your bet per color.
Sunday
The next morning, we drove to Balete River and made tampisaw in the water. Kris Aquino featured Mindoro in her show Kris TV, explaining the “Kris impressions” if you watched the video. 😀 The river current was very strong giving us a hard time crossing it so we had to settle where the current was manageable. It’s nice to see a river that’s not polluted. I wish we still had this in Manila. All the rivers I know of are dead or dying. (Revive Pasig River please!)
Going home, we drove to Pinamalayan and bought pasalubongs. Banana chips in Oriental Mindoro are the best and cheap too! Then, we rode a van to Calapan and took a faster ferry called FastCat to Batangas.
Van: Pinamalayan to Calapan Port – PHP 100
FastCat: Calapan Port to Batangas – PHP 162
My stay in Mindoro Oriental was super short but nevertheless, I did enjoy my first travel for the year. I can’t wait to go back and discover the unexplored riches and beauty of Mindoro. Wait for Part 2!
P.S. I have a giveaway on my Facebook page. Watch the video and answer the question at the end via Facebook and get a chance to win an exciting prize! Giveaway over!
https://www.facebook.com/amiciness/posts/1529634407340008
P.P.S. Special thanks to the Matining family for taking care of me during my Oriental Mindoro stay. 🙂
Have you been to Oriental Mindoro, Philippines? What other places in the Philippines have you visited? Sound off in the comments below.
