Like a thief in the night, I crawled in darkness and woke the girls up to catch the sun rise and have Puka Beach to ourselves. Puka Beach delivered despite the rather big waves with its spotless (sans algae) beach and water. It was quite different from how it looked from five years ago, notably the absence of puka shells from which it was named and the presence of souvenir stalls just outside the entrance. The key to enjoyment is, be there first and enjoy the beauty and serenity of the place.
After an hour, it began to rain and we left to join the group at the resort's shoreline which we had to ourselves, exclusively. The funny thing is the fact that I have clearly encroached a private party (read: swimming in underthings) that led to its early conclusion.
No sooner noon arrived and we checked in to our new home, St. Vincent's at Station 2 near La Carmela. The rooms were clean, air-conditioned with television and fridge.
Lunch, like last night's dinner, was a tough decision to make. Rockets was an option but it was too expensive for a burger. Reyes caught our eyes. I had fish while Kz ordered chicken. I wasn't too happy about it that I promised to make things right by having coffee after the meal. So, off we went to Real Coffee (P 120, which is now located at the beach front) for some caffeine and their most-talked-about "kalamansi" muffin (P60).
While everybody explored, I relished my alone time in the room either sleeping or watching NatGeo until it was time for dinner. As planned, we ate together at Villa Oro, not far away from the inn which probably had the cheapest buffet (P250, with bottomless iced tea) in the island. The key is to get there the earliest possible as I was not able to get seconds on the "bakareta". Dessert was a massive failure though (pink gelatin).
For a night cap, we had cheesy pizza with a few buckets at Paraw (my first ever night out) That was after a very long walk to Station 1 following a rather futile search for Astoria and endless photo shoot along the beach. Glen left with the alibi of grabbing a frap instead which left me in the company of Kz, JM, Marc and Peter until well way after midnight.
After an hour, it began to rain and we left to join the group at the resort's shoreline which we had to ourselves, exclusively. The funny thing is the fact that I have clearly encroached a private party (read: swimming in underthings) that led to its early conclusion.
No sooner noon arrived and we checked in to our new home, St. Vincent's at Station 2 near La Carmela. The rooms were clean, air-conditioned with television and fridge.
Lunch, like last night's dinner, was a tough decision to make. Rockets was an option but it was too expensive for a burger. Reyes caught our eyes. I had fish while Kz ordered chicken. I wasn't too happy about it that I promised to make things right by having coffee after the meal. So, off we went to Real Coffee (P 120, which is now located at the beach front) for some caffeine and their most-talked-about "kalamansi" muffin (P60).
While everybody explored, I relished my alone time in the room either sleeping or watching NatGeo until it was time for dinner. As planned, we ate together at Villa Oro, not far away from the inn which probably had the cheapest buffet (P250, with bottomless iced tea) in the island. The key is to get there the earliest possible as I was not able to get seconds on the "bakareta". Dessert was a massive failure though (pink gelatin).
For a night cap, we had cheesy pizza with a few buckets at Paraw (my first ever night out) That was after a very long walk to Station 1 following a rather futile search for Astoria and endless photo shoot along the beach. Glen left with the alibi of grabbing a frap instead which left me in the company of Kz, JM, Marc and Peter until well way after midnight.
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