Country > Philippines > Bohol > Tagbilaran
Date > 2024 > December
Activity > Slice of Life

Monthly Chronicles

Dec Chronicles: asin tibuok, brake cables, dengue pool, motorbike, cake

Dec

Oct Chronicles: CPG Park, Bantawan Vendors

Oct

January Chronicles: Bandilaan Meditation

Jan '24

Dec

Nov Chronicles: Daily Learning, Consciousness, Social Commerce, Yoga Rut, Content Creation

Nov

Sep Chronicles: Google Bard, Wok, Basket, Drunk

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May '23

Apr

Mar

Feb '22

December 2024

Dec Chronicles: asin tibuok, brake cables, dengue pool, motorbike, cake

Location : Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines

Counting to 2025
Last month of the year, festivity is all around and it's time to tie up loose ends and make room for the new.

the labor-intensive process of creating Asin Tibuok

Asin Tibuok

(December 13, 2024 Alburquerque, Bohol, Philippines) Asin Tibuok is a regional specialty craft salt made in Albur, Bohol. It goes through an arduous processing and the product comes out of a broken clay pot. The salt has an intense smokey flavor. At PHP 800 for a fist-sized salt, it's not cheap. But if you're passing through Bohol as a tourist, it's one of those things you need to have.

Replacing Bicycle Cables

(December 10, 2024 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) My gear shifter cable snapped and it had to be replaced. I should have done that long before as it was difficult to shift. But while having it replaced, I realized that my 2 brake cables have also seized - so that's why I hardly had brakes. I had all 3 cables and the cable housing replaced with the best they had - Shimano. I paid PHP 550 for all, but given how pleasant and easy the ride feels now, it was all worth it. Furthermore, this gave me increased peace of mind that my bike is now road-worthy.

Dengue Pool

(December 15, 2024 Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines) After a downpour, a pool of water collects at the CPG Park. The park maintenance people pick up the garbage and sweep yard waste. But they don't sweep-dry this water pool. It stays there for days until the next downpour fills it up again. It now becomes a Dengue Pool - a health hazard no one was minding. I wrote to the provincial government - crossing my fingers if someone acts on it.

Motorbike Adjustments

For the first time since I bought my motorbike, I had to get some repairs done - minor ones though; seat lock, front brake, foot brake and side mirrors. Quirino, the shop owner, only charged me PHP 100 - it should have cost more. New Year's Eve, I stopped by to give him a cake. He was pleasantly surprised. It's good to have a good mechanic who'll care for your bike.

Quirino and his helper looking after my motorbike

Gigit Cake

New Year's Eve and I wanted to eat cake...a whole cake. I went to Jojie's Bakeshop. When asked what should be written on it, I simply wrote my name and a smiley face - it's enough to greet the new year.

my name with a smiley face - that's enough to herald the coming year

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

2024: A Year in Review

(Dec 31, 2024) 2024 started out with me wanting to leave Siquijor for interaction and stimulation in a small city (Cebu? Dumaguete? Bacolod? Iloilo?) - one year in an isolated island living a monk's life was enough.....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.

Blogs

Bohol blogs