Welcome to our 2nd day at Bantayan Island 🌴. And just like as always, we’re going to bring you again to an adventure of a lifetime. 😊

My family and I enjoyed our stay so far on the island. We woke up excited as to where we’ll go next this day. It’s not everyday that we get to have a vacation as a complete family so we need to make it as memorable as ever.

My parents and I drove around looking for someone selling some fresh fish early in the morning. We thought that it would save us more money if we’ll just cook our own food. We bought 1.35kg of it at P280 or 5.6 USD per kilogram. We also bought another batch of scallops because we just can’t get enough no mater how many times we already ate it in just two days 😅.

• my mom made tinola and fried some fish which we bought while my dad cooked the scallops again with sprite. 👌

• mind you that we did really saved a lot by cooking our own food. We bought 15pcs cooked scallops yesterday in a resto for our lunch at P135 or 2.7 USD while if you buy them raw at a local market there, it’s only P30 per kg.

𝘽𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧

WELCOME TO THE MUNICIPALITY OF BANTAYAN 😁.

After eating our delicious breakfast, we went to the town proper of Bantayan to buy some dried fish for our relatives back in Talisay. We also bought there some fruits and styrofoam in preparation for our island hopping early on.

Their fruit and dried fish stands are so organized and pleasing to the eyes as compared to other alike in Cebu.

We sure made the most out of it by taking our “obligatory” pic with their plaza and church hahaha 😂.

We went back to our place just before lunch to eat together then later go to Virgin Island. But before that, we first went to a store to buy some sunblock and other beach stuff. We also bought some medicine for my dad. Finally, we went to the friend of my brother, which is just a few blocks away from the place we stayed, and invited him to join us on our trip. 😊 And so he did came with us, the more the merrier.

𝙑𝙞𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝙄𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙

We weren’t even supposed to go here. Cave is our first choice but we asked the locals and they really recommended Virgin Island. So we listened to them and it led us to our best place we’ve visited in Bantayan Island ❤️. We were first offered by a random guy a boat going there back and forth for P1500 but knowing that we are on a tight budget, we didn’t said yes right away, we first canvassed for other offers. We asked a local if that really was the regular price, and they said no, it’s only P1000or 20 USD in the tourism office. So we of course went there and it’s true. The entrance fee in Virgin Island is 200 pesos per person and the boat is P800 good for 4-5 persons.

The funny part is... we almost rode the boat for free because we were confused about the payment method. We even gave our boat operator a tip of P300 but to our surprise, he looked so unhappy with it. Turned out that we still need to give him P800 and that the P1000 that we gave when we arrived at the island was all just for our entrance fee hahahaha 😂. We’re very sorry Kuya 🙏. As a sign of our peace offering, we tried to give him the beer that we had with us but he politely refused because they said they can’t drink while at work. Kudos to you Kuya 👏.

Anyway back to the tourist destination, as the name suggests, the place is still a virgin. Meaning that it still is not that touched by many. The view is so mesmerizing. The sea is breathtaking and the wind is so refreshing. This is the very reason why we’re here. To enjoy such things. The pinnacle of nature. The best of the best. The cherry on top of our vacation.

In here, you can do a lot of recreational activities like swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, cliff jumping, etc.

I took a pose right away with this too good to be true view with my two piece swimsuit. I’m not afraid to show my body. I already learned so long ago to embrace my flaws and to just be happy with it. Keep on slayin’ kween 👸 👑.

𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨

CLIFF JUMPING- Only my brother and his friend did this activity haha. But we went there with them to the cliff. There were still cactus on the way with written names on them. Still weird and sad.

Well, we tried doing the kayaking but as we said earlier, we’re on a tight budget hahaha. So we decided to just feed the fish along the sandbar with the food that we have. It’s really a nice moment cause a lot of fish flocked while we’re feeding them and we can see them swimming because of the crystal clear water of the Island. And it was more fun because we did it while we played some music. 😄

To end our Virgin Island adventure, here is a pic of my Flavored Beer (feat. my Kim Seon-ho bracelet). back in the days when I feel sad, I always have this or Smirnoff, even using a straw to drink it hahaha. Now that I'm already happy, I only drink such during special occasions like this.😊

We really don’t wanna go back yet but our rented boat is only for 4hours, so even if we still wanted to cherish this moment more, we can’t. It’s finally time to say goodbye.

Back to Bantayan Island, we returned the friend of my brother back to his home. Then my brother suddenly started driving the motor of his friend believing that it was ours. At first we thought that he was just playing with it, but he suddenly went far away with it and we were all shocked. He really thought it was ours. 😂

𝘽𝘽𝙌 𝘿𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧

We finally decided to just eat dinner outside and not cook anymore because we’re all drained from the previous activity that we did. We ate a local barbecue stall. Some offered pork bbq for P35 each but it looked so pale and dry. So we tried to look for other place and we finally ate at a bbq stall that offers bigger pork bbq for only P15 per stick, a big difference. Yuuuuum!

𝘾𝙤𝙪 𝘾𝙤𝙪 𝘽𝙖𝙧 𝙃𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙡 & 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩

We went to this restau to try their best-seller halo-halo which is good for a family for P245 or 4.9 USD.

Honestly, we didn't like the halo-halo that much, compared to our expectation. But the place is really nice and the ambiance is superb! You can really relax here.

If you want to try other stalls, there's a lot to choose from. There's even an ukay-ukay beside to buy thrift goods. 😊

𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚

We already packed our things after eating dinner. It's always this part where people always regret not enjoying the place so much. But not for us, we cherished every single bit of our stay here.

On to our last day, we went to the local souvenir shops (MJ Square) nearby to buy something to bring back for my workmates, especially Hive account@thegoodbi team. On our way going back to Cebu City already, we bought "Pintos" again at San Remigio because we really like it and we want our relatives to try it too.

We spent all in all a total of not more than P15,000 or 300 USD for our 3D and 2N adventure in Bantayan Island.

I can remember a song from One Direction:

We’re only getting older, baby and I’ve been thinkin' about it lately. Does it ever drive you crazy, just how fast the night changes?

Now this song hits me hard more than ever.

I had a lot of realization from this trip, that we are not getting younger. This trip made my family's bond much stronger. We need to treasure these kind of moments and appreciate life everyday. I really like seeing my parents being still so in love with each other.

This trip is all about my family, especially parents. I really appreciate all of the efforts my parents are doing to me & my brother, and to the family; for providing our needs & wants and making us feel loved. Time is not on our side especially during this pandemic. That's why we need to be thankful for the things you have now and do the things you've been wanting to do since then to avoid having regrets later on. Make the people you care feel your love. ❤️

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