Day Trip to Kamakura - Hasedera Temple

Kamakura is outside Tokyo and can be reached in about 1.5 hours by train.

Located in the coastal town of Kanagawa Prefecture, Kamakura has become a tourist destination. It offers several sights such as  temples, shrines and sand beaches.

The most visited places are  Hasedera Temple, Great Buddha, Hachimangu Shrine, Komachi Street.

Hasedera Temple is 5 minute walk from Hase Station. The temple gound is wide and has lots of trees, sakura, small bamboo garden and a viewing deck overlooking Kamakura beach.

It has a small food store which sells dango ( sweet sticky rice balls) and dumpling.

Spend an hour in this relaxing garden temple.

How to get to Hasedera Temple

take Yamanote line towards Ueno and stop at Shimbashi sta; transfer to Yokosuka line (JO) towards Kurihama , 11 stops to Kamakura Station then  take Enoshima Electric Railway (Enoden for short) bound for Fujisawa;  3 stops to Hase Station; temple is 10 minute walk from Hase station

Entrance: Y300 / adult 

After Hasedera, you can go to Great Buddha; link Great Buddha

Cagbalete Island Sept 2018

Located off the coast of the town of Mauban, Quezon Province,  Cagbalete Island is another island paradise in the province surrounded with cream sand and crystal clear water.

The island can be reached via boat from Mauban port. The boat ride is about 40-50 minutes. You need to register at the tourist port and pay Php50 environmental fee. The public boat ride is Php100 per head as of this writing.Also, you need to have a room reservation before they allow you to take the boat. If you did not make an online booking, several representatives of resorts in the island are in the tourist port area and you can choose a resort.

The boat I was in left at 1030am and reached the island at around 1120am. A representative from Dona Choleng fetched me and we rode a motorbike to the resort.

The resort was nice, clean and the room I got came in with a toilet. Other rooms do not have a toilet inside but rather outside which was walking distance.

There is a small restaurant where you can order food in case you did not bring. Prices are reasonable at Php150 for grilled liempo with rice and Php187 for grilled squid with rice.

Heading to the beach, pine trees abound and sea grass littered the shore. But it's ok. Sand is cream white and the waters are clear.

The best thing about off season is you get to have the beach all to yourself. There are no noisy bars here and you can really relax and enjoy the beach.

Tips

• Electricity on the island and resort is from 6PM to 6AM.
• Boat ride from Mauban to Cagbalete Island can be rough at times and generally rough during the ‘ber’ months up to February; waterproof your belongings especially your gadgets
• Mobile signal is available in the island especially on the beach front but wifi is weak
• Estimated overnight room accommodation in Cagbalete P1,500 – P2,000

How to get to Cagbalete Island

Jac Liner is the only bus line that offers daily direct trips bound for Mauban.
Bus fare from Buendia terminal is PHP 269 as of Sept 2018
Travel time: Approx. 5 hours
Or you take Lucena bound bus, alight at SM Lucena, ride the van/shuttle to Mauban.

Upon arrival at Mauban terminal, flag a tricycle to take you to Cagbalete Island Tourist Port.
Tricycle fare: PHP 10/ pax
Upon registration, pay for the environmental fee Php50
If you did not make online reservation for your accommodation, you need to get one from the representatives of the resorts before they allow you to  take the boat.

There are 2 ways to reach Cagbalete Island, either you charter a private boat or ride a passenger boat.  Public boat transfers from Mauban Port to Cagbalete Port and vice versa at P100 one way
Check out their website to for the daily trip schedules.
Travel time: Approx. 45 minutes

Private boat at Php1500 one way will take you directly to the resort.
Note that during low tide, the private boat will dock 600meters away from the shore and you have to walk and carry your stuff all the way to the beach. Water is shallow though.

Next
Island Hopping in Cagbalete

Isla Bonita Beach Resort

 Isla Bonita beach resort is located in San Juan, La Union.

 The resort has a nice reception area and the staff are friendly. The parking at the resort is limited and we have to park at another private parking lot. While I am not comfortable leaving our car there, we have no choice. The staff assured us that it's safe. The courtyard is clean but there are lots of mosquitoes. Staff has this electric gadget to trap and kill those mosquitoes. Our room is big but the layout is weird.

 There is an electric fan at the living room and aircon at the sleeping area. Our 2 queen size beds are comfortable as well as the pillows. Linens and towels are clean. The weird part is that the sink and mini ref are in the bedroom instead of the small kitchen.

The toilet has no wash basin.

We have to use the sink at the bedroom to brush our teeth and wash our hands. The toilet floorings are not level and you can trip if you are not careful. The front and toilet doors are a bit worn out. The front door lacks security feature. Blackish molds can be seen in the bathroom tiles. Water pressure in the shower is not strong and the shower handle is not fastened well. A pail and dipper is provided most likely because of the weak water pressure.

The resort is not PWD /senior citizen friendly. Resort owner could have provided a ramp to the beach and dining area and to some of the beachfront rooms. The room rate includes breakfast and the food is average. The restaurant offers filipino dishes but we didnt find the dishes we ordered delicious. The tripe in the kare kare was not tender and we didnt finish it. The sizzling salmon was dry. There is no fresh fruit available.

breakfast

The beach is wide and clean, free from rocks,seaweeds and trash.

 
Sand is fine gray and waves are suited for surfing.

There are two small swimming pools.

Adult pool

 The pool for adult is cloud and murky when we arrived. They drained the water at night and in the morning there's no water and we cant use it.

Our sleep was not pleasant. We can hear the heavy steps of guests right above our room. The second floor is evidently made of wood and we can feel the heavy walkings and hear the squeaking of the floor.

Sunset is nice though.

Overall, the resort is average and needs improvement . We can give it a second chance but will get the beachfront room, bring our food and some cooking gadgets.

Bondi Beach, Sydney

A visit to Sydney is not complete without seeing Bondi Beach. On our third day in Sydney, we hopped on a train from Town Hall and alighted at Bondi Junction after more or less10 minutes. From the junction, we boarded Bus # 380 and reached the drop off in 15 minutes. The driver would announce where visitors can alight.

We crossed the street and walk to the viewing area. Once can see the wide stretch of beach 1 km long. The waves at the time of our visit were strong, crashing to the rocks on one side of the beach. On the right side of the viewing deck is the famous Bondi Iceberg swimming club and restaurant. On the left , there's a stairway to the boardwalk as well as to the beach.

Bondi Beach has many popular cafes, restaurants, and hotels, with views of the beach. There is also a changing area/ washroom.

We strolled on the boardwalk, had some coffee and cookies , watched the Chinese tour group and took photos.

As in Manly, I had to walk on Bondi beach. Since it's early winter, the waters were cold but I had a nice walk on the wet sands and even took home a handful of sand as souvenir.

There were few surfers braving the cold waters. I guessed they are already used to it.

We spent about an hour at Bondi and it was nice to have visited again one of Sydney's famous beaches.

Hope to visit in summer so we can swim.

Return to Manly Beach

It has been 9 years since I last visited Manly Beach. It was a business trip back in 2007 and now in 2016 the trip was for a short vacation.

We took the Manly ferry from Circular Quay using our Opal cards. It was early winter and it was quite windy and chilly. We opted to seat inside the ferry where it was warmer. I went out on the open area from time to time to take photo of the harbour and other interesting sights.

 I wanted to feel the cool breeze on my face but it was too cold so I went inside and chat with my partner. The cabin was clean and comfortable. There's a monitor which showed how many more minutes til we arrive at Manly wharf. The trip was about 30 minutes.

Arriving at Manly wharf, we took the mandatory photo before crossing the street going to the Corso.

 The Corso is a pedestrian plaza with shopping stores and food outlets. You will pass this area before reaching the beach.

We stopped at a dining area and ordered our fish and chips at Manly Ocean Foods. This food outlet serves several combination of seafood and chips. You know it's good when there's a long queue outside.

Many seagulls flock to this area waiting for visitors to throw chips at them. Be watchful as the birds can sneak and steal your  food.

The beach was at the end of the walkway . It still the same wide, clean beach with powdery off white sands as it was nine years ago.

 It has a long boardwalk where one can stroll end to end. There's a public restroom nearby. Most visitors occupied the benches just passing off the time. Though there were some brave surfers doing their stuff.

We found a bench and rested and enjoyed the view.

I wanted to walk on the beach so I removed my shoes and walked barefooted on the beach.

I felt the cold sands under my feet. It was a relaxing moment. I walked near the shore to feel the how cold the water was. It was refreshing.  I took several photos of the beach and the surroundings.

We stayed for over an hour and we had fun though short.