Palawan Trip 9: Fine Dining @ KaLui Garden/Gallery Restaurant

KaLui restaurant is located at 369 Rizal Ave. Puerto Princesa City with phone # (048) 433-2580.  Vicki from PIA-Palawan booked us ahead because this is one restaurant that is always full. You need to have reservations for you to experience the quaint taste and peaceful ambiance of the place. KaLui is like a sanctuary--garden/restaurant/gallery and very fine dining.

Once you enter the restaurant, friendly staff/waiters greet you with a smile and you are asked to remove your shoes so you can walk barefoot on shiny wooden floors. Foot wares are tucked in small basket lockers.  Easy, meditative and or smooth jazz music, candle scents and "hush" conversations from diners get into your psyche.

Vicki reminded us to bring our cameras because the place is just a beautiful fit with nature, food, music and subdued conversation. KaLui is owned and managed by Lui Oliva, who once worked as a UN volunteer, retired and decided to put up this place that has become a tourist's "must see, must feel, must experience" in Puerto Princesa.

We ordered for two sets of "KaLui Special of the Day" that consists of fish steak, prawns, veggies of the day, chilli crabs, rice and starters set (a' la family) @ P400+/set. KaLui menu is well- chosen and its drinks are as cool as its ambiance.

Lindy, Jessie, Soring and the guys ordered for "wheatgrass in coco juice and Palawan honey"; Hazel and Elvie had "Green mango with Ginger;" while I had "Guyabano shake."

It was such a fitting fine dinner with some of my staff.  Our cameras clicked and flashed as we posed and made pictures in almost all bends, nooks and corner gardens of the restaurant.  That was one unique evening experience in Puerto Princesa --@ KaLui,  the most famous and best value restaurant in Palawan.

 

Palawan Trip 8: A little of Puerto Princesa

Some of my colleagues went back to their respective provinces but the more curious of us decided to roam the streets of Puerto Princesa City and here are some of my impressions:

1. The city is green and really clean. Waste management is down to the household level and environmental laws are strictly enforced anywhere in the city.

According to mayor Edward Hagedorn, Puerto Princesa is called the "City in a forest." Palawan is the first province in the country to enact its own environmental ordinance.

2. The ordinary public transport drivers (tricycle & jeepney) are courteous and will take you to your destinations without charging horrendously high fares. They tell you how much it will cost if you tour the City, or if you want to visit the other tourists spots in the province. They also know the various tourists attractions of Palawan (which will be part of my own itinerary someday).

3.Puerto Princesa City is economically growing with still a touch of the "Provençal" lifestyle. It has a little of everything. It has expensive and moderately priced hotels, restaurants, shopping complexes as well as night life.

4. It is very peaceful. We were told that barangay Tanods are all organized at the barangay levels and they help maintain local peace and order and security of tourists. There is a very strong sense of bayanihan and ownership of local governance in Puerto Princesa City.

5. The most important I think is the hands-on style of the local officials to govern and direct the growth, tourism and development of Palawan.

People respect their leaders and they know that tourism makes the province and the people showcases the character and culture of Palawan.

They speak both Tagalog and Cebuano. Many of the people in Puerto Princesa we were told hail from the Visayas and Mindanao areas.

Nong Doming, a tricycle driver who said he is from Dumaguete City volunteered to take us around the City (with an affordable fare, of course!) and patiently waited for us as we took some photos.  He was glad to know we come from Cebu, Dumaguete and  Bohol.

This is the dome-shaped Palawan provincial Capitol building with an art installation at the center lobby. The art work has lighting effect that changes it's color shades from yellow to blue to red, green, pink.  

   

                               


 
According to PIA-Palawan, the art installation at the lobby of the Palawan Provincial Capitol is the work of national Artist Ed Castillo in1991 and its called "Natural Splendor and Forms Blend with Nature."  The art installation is splendid for picture taking!

Nong Doming was very patient with us. From the dome-shaped provincial capitol, he took the group (Lindy, Jessie, Elvie, Hazel, Soring and Mine) to a downtown quick tour telling us stories  on how he got to Palawan and how strict local government is in solid waste management and how drivers are trained as tourists' guides.  

The entrance to the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) 

Palawan Trip 7: Where tourists go!

One of the tourists' stop in Palawan is the Mitra ranch owned by the former senator Ramon Mitra and his family.  It is located some one hour drive from Puerto Princesa City. 
It has a zipline, horseback riding and great outdoors, rolling hills for photo ops with the city at the horizon as the backdrop.  We did not waste time as we posed for mementos. 

The next 'pee-stop' is the Baker's Hill where tourists buy all kinds of assorted delicacies from the noted Palawan hopia to cakes, pastries, candies, bread and what have you.  

Tourists come here to see the well-landscaped grounds with colorful statues of various movie and Disney characters posted all over the compound.

This is the house of the owner of Baker's Hill. Tourists enjoy meandering the area, taking/making photos at every turn.  Baker's Hill has also a Pizza stand, a small restaurant and  a children's playground. 

 From Baker's Hill, let's ride back to Palawan City and visit its 'Tiangge' (market center) where all kinds of souvenir items including slippers, t-shirts, shorts, pearls, costume jewelry, wood carvings are bought.  

Pearls of various sizes--earrings, bracelets, necklaces, raw pearls, south-sea pearls are cheaper to buy in Puerto Princesa.  You can also get them in bulk.  Pearl earrings at P10, 20, 50/pc; bracelets and necklaces at 3 for P100; and many many more at very affordable prices! 

I bought quite a number of items as "pasalubongs" for friends.

My next entry will be the Palawan Capitol and KaLui restaurant. Until then...

Palawan Trip 6: The Inputs and Workshops

Day 3 in Palawan was full of presentations and workshops; review of programs vis-a-vis accomplishments; inputs on the Power of our Amazing Brain, One-Minute Manager concept, Blogging 101 and New PIA regional website.

This input was needed to situate the participants on how they can improve/boost the power of their brains and how "thoughts cause biological and physiological effect, that our body responds to mental input as if it were physically real."  

The Game Plan is 'One Minute Goal Setting' as well as reviewing these goals...  For those goals that have not been achieved ask why and set new goals, redirect and review those goals.
Another input was on the "Way of the Shepherd" --7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People by Dr. Kevin Leman and William Pentak.
The Way of the Shepherd teaches managers how to lead people around them so they will view their work 
> as a CALLING rather than just merely a JOB;  
> a place to BELONG rather than just a place to WORK.
It also shows managers how to infuse work with MEANING and how to engage and energize the workforce.
It illustrates an approach to management that is TIMELESS, CHALLENGING and UNCOMMON. 

1. Know the condition of your flock
2. Discover the shape of your sheep
3. Help your sheep identify with you      
4. Make your pasture a safe place          
5.The Staff of direction          6. The Rod of Correction             7.The Heart of the Shepherd

Vicky of MIMAROPA/Palawan

Fayette of PIA-7/Cebu

Louie of MIMAROPA/Romblon

Palawan Trip 5: Where we stayed

After the breathtaking but wet underground river glide at the now famous Puerto Princesa Underground River or better known as PPUR on day-2, we were back to the Legend Palawan Hotel at Malvar St., Puerto Princesa City, Palawan for the day-3 of our activity--MidYear Program review and Joint Staff Dev't Training workshop (PIA-7 & MIMAROPA) on Maximum Use of Social Media for Development Information, Communication and Advocacy.

The activity was held at the Busuanga Hall, located at the ground floor very close to the entrance of the hotel. The Legend Palawan Hotel is one of the best hotels in Puerto Princesa City with very affordable rates. 

It is clean, it has free wiFi and its customer services are excellent. If you plan to visit Palawan someday, surf this link ,http://www.legendpalawan-puertoprincesa.com/ppc/location.php.

Its Tanglaw restaurant serves wonderfully cooked meals. I personally preferred its breakfast, a choice of "American" and "Filipino" serving.  American breakfast consisted of wheat bread, sausage,butter, potato fries and bacon while the Filipino breakfast had garlic fried rice, dried fish, salted egg.  There is also a coffee station, overflowing juices, and egg station where you can choose omelet, sunny side-up, or all in one mix.

The front desk staff and the waiters at the restaurant/banquet halls are equally very polite that cater to all our requests.  Our rooms are clean with sheets, towels, pillows and shampoo, soap, mineral water are changed daily. 

The hotel has a pool, several lobbies where clients can lounge, surf the net and update their social media accounts.   

It also has a 'Legendary Tour' service where you can book all tours within Palawan at very negotiable rates, (we were told).  Our tour to the PPUR was included in the hotel package rate as well as airport-hotel-airport transfers.

We had to changed room accommodations on day 4 and the front desk officers were again courteous and polite to shuffle us to our new rooms.

As we waited for the hotel van for our airport transfer home on August 1, we  had a 'send-off' drink similar to the 'welcome' drink we got upon our arrival on July 27.  The Legend Palawan was truly a part of our Palawan experience. 

I

Palawan Trip 4: PPUR

As we got closer to the underground river, the huge craggy boulders were like obedient sentinels that seem to watch every move of everyone. 

The eerie reverent atmosphere had a wet and cold feel about it but we were just excited and awed at the opening scenes!  

We had to pose to say "we've been here!"

As I stepped out of the banca, I literally savored  and filled my lungs with the sandy-briny taste of the wind.

It is advisable to wear rubber slippers or sandals, shorts or swim wear because you will really be tempted to swim.  Wrap your cellphones and cameras in plastic bags or better still (if you can afford them) bring "water-proof" cellphones/cameras for convenient shooting.

It was still raining when we arrived at the gates of the underground river.  That actually hindered our beach combing and swimming. Nevertheless, we still enjoyed taking photos, hopeless models, I supposed.        

The entry to the underground river is limited to only 900-1000 visitors daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. We were number 51. We had to wait for almost an hour for our turn to journey to the "ends of the  earth."

As I looked around, the area is still pristine with tall, straight, stately trees and old but sturdy mangroves at the shorelines. Under those forests, sheds, bathrooms were put up for waiting tourists and a wooden walkway  to the shores of the underground river.

There were groups of friends, families, couples donned in colorful plastic raincoats and orange life vests that waited patiently.  That could have been the time for the organizers or tourists guides to show audio-visual presentations about Palawan and its scenic attractions as well as a briefing on the #PPUR.

There were three stops--at the Sabang Port, at the registration area and near the PPUR, that people listlessly roam around while waiting for their numbers. For our group, we spent those blank, unproductive time spaces by joking, clowning and making pictures.

"51" the tour guide called and that was about 3:30 p.m. We immediately wore life jackets and helmets.  

Wooden bancas with 8 passengers including the boatman, carried us down the stream to the opening of the underground river. Two bancas at a time. I was with Louie, Volt, Mayda, Elvie, Benny and Dinnes with Volt as the light man.

The water was murky because of constant rain. As we entered the opening of the huge craggy rock to the underground river, I imagined I was in "middle earth" with Gollum lurking underwater.    As we glided downstream, pungent amonia smell greeted us with flying bats above.  Our boatman, Romnick kept reminding us (in jest) to close our mouths when we looked up because "there are rains and birds' shits."

According to Romnick, the underground river is 8.5 km and only 4.5 km is allowed to travel.  It was huge and wide experience! Stalactites formed billions of years created a variety of shapes, sizes, forms and imaginary menu of statues, vegetables, animals, religious images.

Our boatman cum tour guide is well-versed with what to say and how to describe the images on the walls, at the ceiling and in every turn.  They are paid by the local government unit of Puerto Princesa as regular employees.

Here are some of the magnificent and awesome images at the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) and I was here on July 28, 2012.