SIARGAO: OCEAN 101, BOARDWALK

I boarded the 32seater plane to Surigao. The boarding was on time but we got held up at the runway for 30 minutes coz of the "traffic". Its Holy Thursday and everyone is on vacation, including me. So my almost one hour flight to Surigao begins. Btw, this is my first time in Mindanao and the longest domestic flight I've had.

We were not able to catch the last commuter boat to Dapa, Siargao. So the option was to hire an entire boat, which will costs us Php 15,000. Luckily a group of 20 people came, also headed to Siargao. Yey! lucky us.

The expected four hour boat travel became almost seven hours, experiencing rough seas at the middle of the trip. It was already dark when we reached Ocean 101, located at Cloud 9, Siargao.

I finally saw the famous boardwalk! which is a 5 minute walk from Ocean 101. There are no accommodations at the Cloud 9 shoreline. One has to take a 5-10 minutes walk to get to the nearest accommodations. And for those luxury or boutique hotels, a few more minutes. Restos are scarce. Or maybe, we came in a bad time. If in Manila, Holy Week means vacation, here, they do observe the Semana Santa. You can hardly see tourists in Siargao and most establishments are closed.

waking up for that famous Cloud 9 sunrise

Expect no nightlife in Siargao. The resorts have their own bar and restos so the nightlife happens in their own backyards. But that's just for the expats. The locals hang at Boulevard. So, we went 'coz there was only a single coffee shop that was open near Boardwalk. Since coming to Mindanao, their choice for food is quite interesting. Wait, you have to hear our burger story.

On our second night, we were really craving for some "real" food (that means fast-food). Anything that tastes familiar and cheap! We see this stall selling burger for only Php35! Let me tell you that that is already a steal coz a basic meal out here costs Php100, minimum! yes, tourist price.. So, we see this cheap burger and we all ordered. The menu says "BURGER WITH EGG". So what do you reckon when it says burger with egg? A burger patty with an egg, right? We waited for a good half an hour. That's fine coz we ordered six. It takes a while for burgers to cook, we understand. Then, our order came. Like kids, we hungrily ate our burgers! with egg! But then, two bites through eating, we noticed there was no patty! DId they just forgot the patty, perhaps? Coz it wouldn't take them that long to cook if it is only eggs!! One of us ask the staff and they confirmed that, yes, that the order was right and no, they didn't make a mistake. We were so pissed offed. Gutom kaya kami!! The menu actually means BURGER BUN WITH EGG with the staff pointing at the bun while explaining to us. At kami pala ang hindi maka-gets, after all. haha.

Now, I wonder what will the rest of this trip has for us.