Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Viva Bohol!

Viva Bohol

Do & Dee's Honeymoon? Not likely because I was with the in-laws the whole time. This is the first time Garandee's family has ever been to the Philippines, so we had to make a good impression to encourage them to visit more often. She thought Bohol will definitely make a good first impression, and boy was she right!

Garandee's Mom and brother have never experienced a beach in their whole lives so you can just imagine how amazed they were when we arrived at the Bohol Beach Club in Panglao Island. Read on for the photos!


Garandee family beach
Not wasting precious time, Garandee and the in-laws hit the beach pronto!

okasan starfish
Garandee's Mom was overjoyed upon finding so many starfish. They were all over the place! Those hairy legs aren't Garandee's by the way... that's her brother.

otosan beach
Garandee's Papa hastily rolled up his cargo shorts eager to join the fun...

starfish
...only to be attacked by a raving, rabid starfish soon as he got to the water!

otosan coconuts
So he just went back to the resort and played with his coconuts... literally.


Bohol Tour!
Besides the beach, the infamous Bohol day tour is perfect for newlywed couples with senior tourists. Too bad it was raining all day...

choco hills
First stop, Chocolate Hills of course! Garandee's Papa wasn't that interested since he said he had been to the Himalayas during his prime years... asus!

river cruise
The Loboc River cruise. The buffet was awful, but at least the floating cultural show made up for it. Garandee got to dance "Ocho-ocho" and the "Tinikling" while her Mom got to play Bohol's version of the ukelele. Garandee's brother just got his sneakers wet on the balsa (raft)

Old Church
The Baclayon Church. Erected in the 1590's, it's likely one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. I'm terrible with history so when her brother asked me what the church was all about, I just said "Ano hito wa okama desu, kyokai..."

blood compact
Blood Compact Monument. This probably started the whole idea of "dinugu-an" (Philippines' famous pork blood stew delicacy) ...at least that's what I told her brother. We were'nt really that interested, we just went there to use the restrooms.

Wet Tarsier
And finally, a Bohol tour wouldn't be complete without experiencing the adorable Tarsiers! Since it rained cats & dogs the whole time we were on the tour, the tarsiers were all wet & soggy. We didn't mind, it kinda made them look funky! Gone was the "emo" image, as you can see, "punk" is in!

Tarsier: "PUNK IS NOT DEAD!"
Garando: "Rock on!"

Our last night at the beach...

evening
I love spending evenings at the beach! The sound of waves are so relaxing, so serene... besides the fact that Garandee's Mom got trapped in the toilet because of a faulty doorknob and me getting bitten by huge beach ants hiding under our toilet seat, it was a relatively peaceful night.


Our last day in Bohol...
Garando: "Okay, in-laws! This is your last day in Bohol, go and make the most of it!!"
...and they sure did!

hammock mitsu
Garandee's brother spent the final moments relaxing on a hammock, I guess he can't imagine leaving this paradise for the dense concrete jungle called "Tokyo".

okasan starfishagain
Garandee's Mom hunted for more starfish.

otosan coconuts
Garandee's Papa played with his coconuts... literally.

garandee
and Garandee hit the beach again!


going home
Finally it's time to bid Bohol farewell... thank you for the coconuts.
Her Papa proudly brought a piece back to Japan, that explains that huge bulge on his bag. Her brother also has a better understanding of Bohol history, thanks to moi.



Garandee mode:
I miss Bohol!!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rock on! Haha.

Mai da Paypay said...

i love the first photo, garando! it looks as if you ripped it off a travel mag. and garandee is sexaaay! :-)

Garando said...

@Mai da Paypay

Thank you! Naku, Garandee will be so flattered when she sees your comment. lol! Nice of you to drop by! :D

Anonymous said...

Grabe! Nice pics! Like mai, I like the first one. Parang pang magazine.

I found the beach in Bohol yto be the best here in the Philippines (yes, even better than that of Boracay). Super fine ng sand.

Glad to hear that a Japanese family appreciated our natural blessings. :) You did a great job!

Thanks for dropping by!

Anonymous said...

omg! bohol is so nice, good thing you brought them there. your parents-in-law are so cute (they're still playful at their age, hahaha). i love your photos by the way (they're so candid and beautiful).

Anonymous said...

Cool the tarsier! I love the punk look! ^_^

Garando said...

@Jonie,
LOL! Yeah, that tarsier always cracks me up! He looks so EEEEVILLL!!! :D

Garando said...

@kg
Thank you!! Yes, they had such a wonderful time the Philippines!

Garandee's Papa must have noticed by now that his coconut has turned brown. I should have given him a pangkayod with matching stool. He probably doesn't know what to do with his coconut anymore. :D

@glenville
WOW, thank you! I enjoyed taking photos of them kase they were full of character. I guess there's never a dull moment with the Garandee's! :)

Anonymous said...

Awesome pics! Glad to know your in-laws enjoyed Bohol.. you make Pinoys proud! :D

Garando said...

Thank you, Sheryl! Garandee regularly posts about interesting Filipino food, things, places in her blog. So far she's sparked a lot of interest in her Japanese blog community. Enough to even turn some of them into tourists! :)

Alice said...

Great pics and I enjoyed reading this one. Your in-laws are really nice people :D

Garando said...

@Alice Teh
Thanks for dropping by! I'm glad you enjoyed my posts. As for the in-laws, yeah, they're a happy, interesting bunch! :) Hope they had a great time so they'll come more often.

Chyng said...

Viva Bohol! Ver nice choice to impress you in-law. They have never been to a beach in their lives?! Well, talbog sila sa beach na maooffer ng Pinas!

BBC's shoreline is really one of the best in Panglao! Nice pics!

Garando said...

Chyng:
Thanks! Yes, at least for her Mom and brother. They absolutely loved the experience! BBC's beach front was awesome, but unfortunately the food and facilities there were nothing to write home about.

Anonymous said...

Those are really go0d shots!
Thank u for visiting, I live in bohol btw :D

Garando said...

redDelicious:
Thank you! Wow, you live there? We absolutely love Bohol! It's at the top of the list of the places I recommend to my friends. :)

ms firefly said...

yay, would you believe kj and i had our supposed-to-be honeymoon in bohol too? supposed, because we were with the dutch family too. ^-^ bohol is perfect, it's quiet and peaceful and very clean! lovely pictures of garandee i agree! and i just had to giggle with the punk tarsier. :D

Pasyalera said...

Wow, great shots! Garandee is so sexy! Glad you enjoyed your Bohol trip too.

Thanks also for dropping by our blog.