bohol - day 2

Nov 9. kahit na medyo pagod kami kahapon, we still woke up early (6am) dahil today is our country side tour.

we had breakfast at around 7am. bread with butter and marmalade, scrambled eggs, longganisa, water melon, pineapple, garlic rice, daing na bangus, sotanghon, coffee and iced tea. after that, we briefly strolled along the shoreline.

by 8am, we got ready cause we will be fetched by our tour guide by 9am. at exactly 9am, andiyan na nga si gwen at kuya p. nakalabas kami ng room namin ng mga 920.

first stop was the blood compact shrine. bronze statues of conquistador legaspi and sikatuna. the other one is the priest and the 2 others are soldiers. si aquim natakot naman sa mga statue. pag naman namamasyal kami panay hanap sa statues. ayan pilit kinukuha ang sword ni sikatuna, ang dialog: di makuha ang sword. ang tigas.

next on the list: chocolate hills. according to gwen, dati raw, carmen hills ang tawag dito. because, they were mainly located on the town of carmen. mainly, kasi there are 2 other towns na me choco hills, madami lang talaga sa carmen. but when an american tourist first saw the hills, he called them chocolate hills because they resemble the kisses, and it stuck since then.

since rainy season, hinde sila kulay chocolate, mint covered sila, kasi maraming grass. nagiging chocolate colored sila tuwing summer kasi tuyo ang mga grass or walang grass at all. ang choco hills ay di talaga soil or lupa. they were a mixture of limestones and sea bed. apparently, submerged daw dati ang buong isla ng panglaw as in seabed sila. kaso since may mga earthquakes na nangyari, ayan umusbong sila. siguro ganon nga kasi i noticed na halos buong land area puro parang mga corals ang bato.

here are some of the folk stories about the chocolate hills:
- teardrops of a giant who were not loved back by his beloved mortal.
- pupu of giant carabaos.
- stones thrown by a giant from cebu to a giant from bohol.

next stop: butterfly sanctuary. we revisit our 5th grade lessons. ipinakita ang life cycle ng butterfly. inexplain ang difference ng mariposa (which is actually a moth) at butterfly. pati na rin difference ng caterpillars nila. ayan ang caterpillar ng butterfly. hinde sila makati, di mabalahibo, parang rubber pero nakakakiliti pa rin sa kamay. obviously, ako ang pinakatakot na hawakan sila.

and then, the actual butterfly. this butterfly only lasts 21 days. the other colorful ones , around 3 months, if i remember it right. kuya let us smell this male butterfly's pheromones. at ang bango, amoy vanilla! btw, inulan din kami dito.

magaling ang tour guide namin, pleasant. magalang. hinde masiyadong madaldal, hinde rin tahimik. informative rin ang mga sinasabi at may sense. sayang we didnt have a picture with her.

next: man made forest. these are mahogany trees planted more than 50 years ago. ang dami noh? they didnt grow wide because magkakatabi sila masiyado, instead they grew tall. ito daw ang ginagamit sa poste ng meralco. pero not the trees from here kasi bawal magputol.

we had our buffet lunch at the loboc river, a top the banca. there were grilled tuna, pork bbq, hilabos na hipon, langkang gulay, sea grass (?), pansit, rice, fried chicken, pinakbet, watermelon, pineapple, puto, suman. si aquim buti na lang nagustuhan ang suman. of course, umulan rin dito.

ang sarap mag cruise. malamig. and anglinis ng tubig nila. we even saw a couple of blue birds. flying freely. sa cage lang ako nakakita ng mga colorful birds. dito naglilipad talaga.

highlight was this singing and dancing group. we stopped by at them and puwede daw bumaba para magpapicture and to sing and dance with them. hahah, ang anak ko (at ang stagedad), ayan. galing kaya ni aquim parang marunong talaga mag guitar. we ended up buying the ukelele (php350). sinulit ang guitar, sumama pa sa 2-man band. hehehe

these are 5-10 yr. old tarsiers. oo matanda na sila, muka lang bata. ang baby tarsiers, newborn, is about the size of the thumb lang daw. and may-july ang birth season. cute nila kaya. gustong gustong hawakan ni aquim at ni lolo. buti na lang pag medyo hahawakan na ni aquim nakikita namin at napipigilan hahaha

biggest philippine python in captivity,si prony. grabe, ang laki nya talaga. 32in ang biggest circumference ng body? 26 ft long. 60kgs pig ang meal once a month. or 2 goats. taba. takot na takot ako ng magpapicture. sa taba nito, jusko, pag nilingkis ako, patay talaga ako agad.

baclayon church, oldest church in the region. 2nd oldest in the philippines. marami pa silang old church kaso di namin napicture kasi di kami nakababa ng car :(

we bought pasalubongs along the way na rin.

namiss namin ang beach so pagdating namin, naglakad kami agad sa shoreline. hehehe... me nakita pa kami seacucumber. since padilim na, hinde na napicture.

had dinner at 630 again. chopsuey again, fried lapulapu, adobong pusit, halohalo, iced tea, mango shke, pineapple shake, spag bolognese with garlic bread. tiring but fun, awesome, exciting day.

tomorrow, island hopping, dolphin watching and snorkleing. hopes the weather (and the dolphin) cooperate with us. if not, panglao tour na lang kami.

for more of our pics, please go to our shutterfly account and view the bohol 2009 page.

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