Chester was very excited to be staying in a hotel for the first time!
Chester on the beach at Sabang
Imagine you are a puppy Labrador, and you are just over 5 months old when the Vet gives you all clear after all your vaccinations to go on the beach for a walk and swim. Your kind Tatay (Daddy) takes you to a luxury four-star resort- Daluyon Beach and Mountain resort in Sabang for a week and pays for a room right on the beach! You can see the hotel here:
Of course, the Puppy is Chester and Tatay is The
British Kabayan, and our cameras were there to film it all for you, our dear
readers and viewers:
Part four will follow soon so make sure you like and subscribe to our YouTube channel and click the notification bell.
I read a while back on Agnes’s Facebook:
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a
storyteller.”
That is certainly the case when you visit Daluyon
Beach and Mountain resort in Sabang. From the minute we arrived they gave us a
very warm welcome and shortly everyone knew Chester’s name.
It being the Philippines and it being the rainy season,
we had to stay inside some of the time, but we had a beautiful room and we
bought lots of goodies with us. For the first time in my life my companion had
more luggage than me!
Special thanks to Ate Jhoanna for buying a new bright green stretchy lead and harness and a green plastic bone that lights up and bags of treats (for the rare occasions he is Mabait). She also got some Top Breed puppy food and Chicken liver (I left you some in the fridge Elay!). Jhoanna’s sister, Elay, loves Chicken liver as much as Chester! Elay delivered everything to the house and packed my small suitcase and looked after Chester while I loaded the car. Gracie dispatched 2 cartons of Yogurt for Chester’s poorly stomach after he ate plastic, paper cups, mussels and other waste strewn across the car park by our lovely neighbours! He was then sick over my nice clean floor (thanks to Frythy and Noel for leaving the house gleaming yesterday)
Chester eating the rubbish left out by my neighbours in Bagon Sikat
Gracie also delivered a series of meals for Jhoanna
with labels on each as to whether it was for lunch or dinner, should be frozen
or refrigerated and which day it was for. So now I know Jhoanna will have
proper meals while I am away, and she is looking after my house. It was a good
job she was there as just after I left the window guys came to refit the fly
screens that fell out (supposed to have been done in the morning) and fix the
lock on the back door. She also has to chase the electrician, promised two
weeks ago, to replace the light in the office so we can see. Also, on her list
of people to call from our helpful landlady Maggie is the guy to fix the water
pump so we can use the upstairs toilet and shower again after it has been out
of action for 2 weeks. Our lovely neighbour promised to schedule someone to fix it, but they never turned up. It’s a big culture shock from Awali in Bahrain
where you made one call to corporate services and the appropriate contractor
was there in an hour at no charge to the tenant!
Chester's mobile kennel at our pit stop on the way to Sabang- I now take a flask of coffee with me!
With Jhoanna, Jullymar and Elay in place at the Blue
House and the car packed Chester and I set off 5 minutes ahead of schedule at
11.55 am and got most of the way to Sabang before I felt the need to stop for
coffee and Chester had a much-needed walk and bowl of yogurt.
Puerto Princesa is on the east coast and Sabang is on the West coast and there is a Mountain range in between
As you can see from the map it’s a long and winding
road to Sabang over the mountains, crossing from the East Coast to the west
coast of Palawan. It rained for the last hour and the road got progressively
worse. The last straw was when I missed the Daluyon turn off and ended up on
Sabang Wharf!
Walking to the Sabang wharf from Daluyon on 1.1.20 at 7 am
The place bought back happy memories as I first came
to the Underground River with Drew in a van in 2013 and then to
the hotel on New Year’s Eve 2019 with Sir Ran.
Ran and I then did the Underground River trip for a second time at 7 am on New
Year’s Day 2020 (bad move!). If you missed them, you could read my earlier blogs about the Underground River by clicking the links below:
https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2019/12/my-first-visit-to-underground-river.html
https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-amazing-subteranean-river-at-sabang.html
Chester on the beach at Sabang
So, on this, my third trip to Sabang, my plan was,
with Chester in tow, to discover as many new places as possible, to do 5000
steps a day and reduce my weight from 108 to 105 kg!
We checked in effortlessly and they welcomed me back
to the hotel, descried the facilities and opening times and handed me a sheet
with the weather and hotel facilities on. I have always suggested hotels do
this as after a long drive and the receptionist rattling off a list of
information by the time you get to your room you have forgotten everything. I
was taken to the room which was wonderful and perfect for Chester to access the
beach, and then they helped us bring all Chester’s luggage from the car!
Chester relaxes in his room at Daluyon
We spent the first afternoon exploring the beach and
then unpacking before ordering room service dinner. The room has a balcony
outside with table and chairs and the windows open from floor to ceiling, so
Chester laid on his towels inside while I sat outside and had Prawn
Bouillabaisse, Tuna in ginger and banana fritters. We had an early night and I
drifted off to sleep to the sound of the sea washing on the shore outside our
room (and Chester snoring on the floor). He usually wakes at 3 am at home to be
let out to do poo and pee but in Sabang he slept soundly until 5 am. After he
had a run down to the beach (the hotel is at the end of the bay so there are no
cars etc.) I made his chicken liver and dried food, and he went back to sleep
until 6 am while I had a shower and got dressed. As soon as the sun came up his
lead was on, and we had our first walk of the day.
Chester with his smart new lead and harness
When I first visited Palawan, I experienced quiet beaches but then as the island got more popular, so the beaches became more crowded. Tourism in Sabang, like much of the rest of the Island, was badly affected by COV19 (the Island was closed to Foreigners for a year) and then hit by the devastating Typhoon Odette on 17.12.21. As we walked down the beach we saw the roofless Sheridan hotel, now closed for refurbishment and at Daluyon Beach there were only about 20 guests staying. The beach was deserted apart from some boys helping their dads bail out the water from the nights rain and get their boats out to sea. Chester made friends with some stray dogs, and they ran up and down the beach, but he avoided the sea (my Old Labrador, Trixie, and Adams retriever, Bailey, loved swimming). By the time we got to the wharf it had started raining and Chester laid down and put in his sad mistreated look which got many comments when I posted it on Facebook!
Chester sheltering from the rain at the Wharf
After the rain finally stopped and Joel failed in
his attempt to sell me Pasalubong we walked back to the hotel for my favourite
breakfast, Eggs Benedict. After the lengthy one hour wait for dinner to be
served last night (to many apologies and tales of “problems in the kitchen, now
sorted!”) the matalino (smart) waiter bought my coffee first and played with
Chester (“Hello Chester, did you have a nice walk on the beach?”). When the
Eggs Benedict did arrive with the usual apologies for the delay it was amazing (I have tried so many times to make it, but it never turns out like this!). The runny egg yolk oozed out as I cut into the egg mixing with the hollandaise
sauce and ham and being soaked up by the brioche.
My amazing Eggs Bennedict and coffee served outside my room by the sea
After Chester had a rest and I worked on this blog in
draft (there is currently no Wi-Fi in the rooms as they took it out to save
costs during the pandemic) we headed off for Cacaoyan
nature park. While the receptionists were gushing in praise for its exotic food,
they admitted they had never been there and hence their directions were not
very clear and I drove past it! It is actually quite close to the hotel and
when I got to the Buenavista View deck I realised I had gone too far.
However, as I read about the View Deck in Palawan news, I decided to give it a visit:
According to the web:
"The View deck offers a spectacular and relaxing view of Ulugan Bay, a deep channel in the midwestern coast of the city. Prominently seen inside the Bay are Isla Rita and Manyukos Island and the striking Tres Marias rock outcrop guarding at the entrance of the residents of Bgy. Buenavista, organized into a community-based tourism cooperative named Magayen et Buenavista, run and manage the view deck enterprise where souvenir items and food delicacies are sold to visitors."
The View deck is an encouraging sign of community backed tourism returning after the pandemic and the typhoon and I was given a warm welcome, offered fresh Coconut juice and hot coffee (I opted for the latter) together with Tortilla chips, before buying some Pasalubong (gifts) for my Anak’s and some more fridge magnets for my fridge door.
Chester slept as
I drank my coffee and we just managed to get some photos before the rain
started again. The guy there gave me some very precise directions to the nature park, and we headed back through the rain. The place was packed with van loads
of tourists and staff from the Underground River having lunch and Chester and I
were given a warm welcome (he is getting used to being petted wherever we go, and everyone being told by the dog owning staff “Oh that’s Chester, he is a
Labrador puppy”.
Spookily the man on the next table said, “We meet again, Neil”. He was a van driver who we first met on our trip to Brookes Point, then he was at Honda Bay when I took the Lola's Island hopping, and finally at the nature park. As I said before, Palawan is a small island and everyone knows everyone, He introduced me to some of the other guide taking van loads of tourists to the Underground River!
If you missed our Island-hopping trips, you could find the blogs them by clicking the links below:
https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2022/04/tbk-gives-bagets-on-board.html
https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2022/05/tbk-gives-lolas-on-board-3rd-honda-bay.html
The Vlogs are here:
Bagets on Board, Sibaltan Island Hopping
and
Lolas on board - Honda Bay Island Hopping
Thanks to you all at Cacaoyan nature park restaurant for your kindness and the pineapple, which Chester loved (I gave out my TBK business cards so hopefully you are all reading this.) We found a pair of XXL shorts and an XXL Tee shirt in the adjoining shop before heading back through even heavier rain to the hotel where we had a quiet night.
You can find out more about Cacaoyan nature park by going to their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CacaoyanForestParkRestaurant?ref=py_c
Dinner was a little faster and just as tasty and well presented with Tortillas and salsa and then half a Chicken spit roasted. While I ate Chester ran off to play on the beach under cover of darkness with his new friends and when he asked to be let out to pee at 1 am one hopeful suitor was asleep on the Verandah outside! Chester has a Palawan fan club of 2 legged and 4 legged friends! He then slept until 5 am when I wrote this watching the sun rise and drinking coffee before we went for another hour long walk on the beach at 6 am. Correction, I walked for an hour, and he ran back to the hotel to sleep!
Chester was so excited when I finally got back from my walk!
This is our 350th Blog, and the Vlog will be our 110th.
Chester just called me from our TBK office in Marikina to give me the latest viewing and reading figures:
Hello from our HQ up here!
This just in! The partial numbers for September and everything look sleek!
I think we are off to a great start for BER 2022
For the BLOG - we have just breached the 27K mark of readership. At this rate, we are expecting to close off 2022 with 30K plus readers
For the SOCIAL MEDIA - the considerable growth in reach translates to views and reads in TBK's blog and vlog!
For the VLOG - your debut in vlogging must have been a great hit! 420 views in just half the month as compared to 670 views for the whole August! If the number will continue until month end, we are expecting 6K views in YouTube as we welcome October.
...and as an early treat (or two! or three?) to our dear patrons!
Beep! Beep! Another inaanak is on the way this end of September!
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Let your voice be heard! The 2023 Recipe Book will be written not by us, but by you! Opening the polls this October!
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Sniff! Sniff! Do you smell a furry 'twenty-three?
That's all for now! Signing off from here - Chester the Hooooooooooooooman!
Thank you to each and every one of you!
"What's that Mr G?"
" Tell them the other news!"
" Oh, yes, sorry, I nearly forgot:"
I turn 62 years old on Sunday and Chester was 5 months old on September 9th. September the 15th is the first day he was allowed to walk and swim outside after all his vaccinations. I am also going to be Ninong to another Inanak any day now- as Sheila and Jeffrey are expecting their first child.
"Sounds like an excuse to have a party, Mr P!"
" Great idea Mr G!"
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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