Country > Philippines > Bohol > Tagbilaran
Date > 2024 > August
Activity > Snapshot

SNAPSHOTS

Sep

August Snapshots: Contol Tower, Archway, Blood Compact, Bridge, Laundry, Kape Huan, Drag Race, Boulevard

Aug

Jul

June Snapshots: Cake delivery, Free hanging

Mar

May

Mar Snapshots: heavy payload, butt-cheek shorts

Mar

Feb Snapshots: Butter, Typewriter, Carrot, Egg, Ginger

Feb

Jan Snapshots: New Year, Fresh Catch, Sunrise, Earthing

Jan '24

December Snapshots: Bolo Bolo Dip, Christmas Lunch, Tuba Denizens, Friends Forever, Men Working, Cow / Crow

Dec

Nov Snapshots: Bread Improver, Shoe Repair, Unsung Hero

Nov

Oct Snapshots: Garbage, Fresh Fish, Road Kill, Screen

Oct

Sep Snapshots: Fisherman, Granny, Pedicure, Big Fish, Garbage

Sep

Aug Snapshots: Pan de Sal, Palpitate, Taho, Tuna, Pineapple

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

Apr

Mar

Feb

Jan '23

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

Mar

Jan '22

Sep '21

August 1-31, 2024

August Snapshots: Contol Tower, Archway, Blood Compact, Bridge, Laundry, Kape Huan, Drag Race, Boulevard

Location : Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines

August
August is the durian season in Davao and some make it all the way here. The rains make an occasional downpour. The Sandugo annual festival is extended. The weather is milder and electricity is cheaper. Life isn't so bad in Tagbilaran.

Old Airport Contol Tower

(August 12, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) The old airport is being gutted down to make room for new infrastructure. I was just wondering about this control tower. Why gut it down? Why not sell it as a residential unit with a 360-degree view? How cool is that?

Asin Tibuok

(August 11, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) At the museum, I chanced on seeing the many layered, tedious and backbreaking processes that take place to make this artisan salt - Asin Tibuok. Price? P600/piece. Sure, that's a lot of money for salt, but when you see the process, it'll make you feel it's worth it.

The Archway

(August 11, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) An archway serving as a metaphor for a portal leading to another reality complete with its own history, culture and customs - Tagbilaran City.

Sandugo Blood Compact: Whose Side are we On?

(August 11, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) Bohol takes pride in being the place where the historic Blood Compact took place. We should take pride in our Chieftain Sikatuna for representing the Filipino nation. But this painting glorifies the oppressive colonizers - Legazpi takes center stage and all the Spaniards occupy the painting. Where is Sikatuna? His back is shown...and only half of it. Are we still glorifying our colonizers?

Rim-Without-Tire Bike

(August 11, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) The proud boy stands by his crusty hardcore bike. He redefines "when the rubber hits the road". Where's the rubber?

Unfinished Bridge

(August 10, 2024 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines)
Politician: a corrupt public official who steals the budget from a bridge construction, leaving the bridge unfinished and abandoned...

Laundry Day

(August 9, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) Sometimes, capturing the essence of the mundane becomes poetry. Take laundry day for instance. How many ways can you express this narrative?

Kape Huan

(August 9, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) Kape Huan is a non-descript coffee house catering to its equally non-descript neighborhood. Despite its modest size, it manages to create art for its logo.

Motorbike Drag Race

Motorbike Drag Race

(August 8, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) A small-displacement motorbike drag race was conducted on the airstrip of the old airport. Teams came from different regions across the country. Their bikes were lean, light and fast. I was hoping they would do the "superman" like they do in Thailand, but it's not legal in the Philippines. Oh well...

Sandugo Live Music at the Old Airport

Sandugo Nightly Live Music at the Old Airport

(August 4, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) With the extension of the annual Sandugo Festival, nightly live music is still happening at the Old Airport - best deal in town. For P65/beer and meals for just over a hundred, you get open-air ambiance and live music.

The Taho Vendor

(August 3, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) It's rare that roaming foot vendors still carry their heavy load on their backs. They can use a motorcycle or bicycle. Curious, I asked this vendor why he's still doing it the hard way. He said that on a motorbike or bicycle, the jarring 'crumbles' the one-piece texture of the taho. If it looks like shattered glass, people won't buy it. Additionally, on foot, he can go inside tight alleyways into secluded neighborhoods.

Where's the Boulevard?

(August 1, 2023 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) Tagbilaran has a wide coastline but there's no boulevard where the public can promenade by the seaside. It only has dilapidated jetty-like extensions with hardly any maintenance. But somehow, the city's politicians have money to destroy good roads instead of developing a boulevard.

Ending Thoughts
The 'ber' months are fast approaching and Christmas creeps in the air. The weather becomes cooler and festivities are just around the corner.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

M: End of Days (2023)

(September 4, 2024) This is a zombie film but unlike the typical B-movie cheap horror jump-scares, this is a serious film drawing deep down into the human condition of loss, separation, loneliness and survival...more »»

September Snapshot:

September Snapshots: Hair

(September 1-31, 2024) With September, the 'ber' months are upon us. Department stores started displaying Christmas decors and the weather is a little cooler. This month also ended the 2-month Sandugo Festival....more »»

Bohol, Philippines

tourist attractions

Danao Adventure Park - zip lining, cable car ride, caving, river rides/trekking, off-road buggy ride, root climbing, rappelling and ultra-glide rides
Alona Beach - hub for tourists with hotels, resorts, restos, bars and dive shops
Chocolate Hills - hills side-by-side shaped like giant Kisses chocolate
Tarsier - pocket-sized marsupia looking like a monkey
Balicasag Island - one of the best dive spots in the Philippines
Loboc River - river cruise on a boat
Anda Beach - fine white sand beach with resorts, restos and cottages, 3 hours by bus from Tagbilaran
Cabagnow Cave Pool - brackish water pool about 5ft deep inside a limestone opening on the ground, 8 feet deep, P50
Lamanok Island - walk on a 100m bamboo bridge on stilts to a resto area to take a boat tour to caves and nearly attractions, P300
Combento Cave Pool - cave pool with underwater cave system, P20
Can-umantad Falls - long narrow drop until it hits a bulbous mound spreading it into a a curtain-like water canopy and down into a splash pool
Canawa Cold Spring - deep refreshing cold spring with developed pool area
Firefly Tour - evening boat ride into the river to watch fireflies

hotel

Fox & The Firefly Cottages - SUP paddle boarding, luxury riverside native cottages, mountain bike tours, SUP yoga
Baranggay Valladolid, Loboc, Bohol
Bohol Tropics Resort - seafront location, manicured surroundings, swimming pool, resto/bar
0133 Graham Avenue, Brgy. Cogon, Tagbilaran, Bohol 6300
Oasis Resort - Alona Beach location, dive center, resto / bar
Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol

yoga

Jing Yoga - health & well being through yoga
The Courtyard - Airport Road fronting the church
Bohol Meditation and Yoga Center - 2nd Floor Lim Magtajas Bldg. CPG Avenue

Bohol Travel Info/Tips

Bohol FYI / Tips

the tourist area where most of the hotels, restaurants, ticket offices, tour operators are, is located within the Alona Beach area
the tourist attractions in Bohol are far apart and spread-out. It would be difficult to visit them all using public mass transit. Better hire a van (P3500/day) if in a big group, or rent a motorcycle (P400/day + gas)
Bohol relies on its tourism for revenue. As expected, everything they can capitalize on from tourism is extensively used and developed

Tagbilaran Port to Panglao

You can charter any tricycle from the port all the way to Panglao (~P300), but if you want to do it on the cheap,

don't take the tricycles lined-up inside the port. Walk past the port gate and immediately outside, you'll see many tricycles. Take one to the bus terminal in Dao (~P15)
in Dao, take the jeep that plies the Panglao route (~P20)

Tagbilaran (Bohol) to Cebu City by boat

** schedules and rates keep changing, call for latest schedule

Weesam Express - departs 6:15 AM, 11:30 AM, 4:00 PM
one way: Economy (aircon) P500.00, Economy (non-aircon) P400.00, First Class P600.00
round trip promo (at least 2 days advance booking): Economy (aircon) P600, Economy(non-aircon) P500, First Class P1200
round trip promo (1 day or on the day booking): Economy (aircon) P800, Economy (non-aircon) P700, First Class P1200
Ocean Jet - departs 6-7:05-8:20-9:20-10:40-11:40AM, 1-2-3:30-4:20-5:30-6:30PM, 2 hours, arrives Pier 1 in Cebu
Open Air / Tourist Class P800, Business Class P1000
+63(32)255 7560 / +63 (32) 255 0115 / 0917 638 0000
SuperCat (2GO) - departs 5:50-11AM, 3:45-5:25-8:15PM, arrives Pier 1 in Cebu
P 500.00
+63 32 233 7000

Things to do, Places to go in Bohol

Chocolate Hills - this is a clustering of more than 1200 hills within a 50km² area. They range in height from 30-50 meters. What's unusual is their near-perfect conical shape resembling an individual chocolate chip. No one knows how they were formed. Entrance is P50/pax.
Tarsier Conservation Area - located Upper Bonbon, Loboc. The tarsiers are no longer being played at by tourists as circus props, but instead, visitors now view them in cordoned-off areas in their natural 6ha habitat. As they are territorial and nocturnal, they are predictable on where they can be viewed. P50/pax.
Alona Beach (Panglao) - Alona Beach is the tourist hub of Bohol. It has 1.5 kms of white sand beach lined-up by bars, hotels and restos. Alona is also the jump-off point for Balicasag Island, a world class dive destination.
Danao Adventure Park - located in Barangay Magtangtang, 72 kms (2 hours ride) from Tagbilaran. Adventure activities include river trekking, tyrolean traverse, rappelling, bouldering, rock climbing and ziplining.

Bohol Blogs

Bohol blogs