Back to D’Mall, Rode to Balabag & Puka Beach for More Photo Opportunities

Aloha Everyone,

Two main stops were Balabag Beach locally known as the windsurfing spot and Puka Shell Beach which locals claim you can find Puka shells. In tourism, stories are modified and enhanced as we’ve seen this happening all over the world. There are only two known locations for this shell, one of which is Niihau in Hawaii.

Met Rudy, a Licensed Boracay tour guide. Very enterprising and whatever J.J. said, he countered with his own proposals. Rather than repeating what the two of us did on Wednesday, we took on Rudy’s offers. We told him I don’t like TukTuk, he said that he and his wife own a type that are better designed with suspensions whereas most only have rudimentary springs.

It seemed true. Better ride although J.J. had to squeeze his body and brush his head on the roof when getting in and out of the TukTuk.

Rudy kept on introducing Puka shells and t-shirts stores owned by his “cousins”. I purchased one T-shirt. 

Lunch was at a small seafood restaurant. J.J. ordered 8 pcs of large size live shrimps, fresh Pampano, a cup of rice, plus 2 cans of Sprite for the two of us. Rudy and the proprietor as well as the cook kept on asking, “Are you sure that’s enough for you?” I ate 3 shrimps which J.J. peeled for me, a bit of fish and some rice. That left me sufficient space for us to enjoy “Ube Mama” dessert.

Last night we made dinner reservations. We wanted to have Seafood Paella for the two of us to share. Table we asked by the pool was reserved. Then things didn’t go quite so well. The seating hostess said it would take at least 40 minutes to prepare the dish.

We had to climb 3 sets of stairs last night due to the one and only elevator was stuck. The way engineers and housekeeping staff were running around was, I commented, you think there’s some person stuck inside. No one said anything further but yes there was one or more passengers stuck inside the elevator.

Today we received a message that due to ongoing repairs, we’re prohibited from using the elevator. Instead, after 7:00 pm, we have to use the stairs.

The Seafood Paella was okay. 4 out of 10. What they charge here is MÖVENPICK price. Amount of ingredients doesn’t seem to justify the quality. J.J. and I both feel having Rudy pushing his services onto us work out well. 

Tomorrow our departure time to take the hotel shuttle is at 9:20 am. Thereafter, we will be boarding a speed boat and another van to Caticlan Airport and then fly back to Manila.

Aloha -- Cathi