Day 1 – April 27, Thursday

Asis and I were off to Siargao, our first in-air trip for this year. We met up with our friends who had been on the island for a few days, around 2 pm. After a quick break and settling in, Asis rented a scooter, and we started exploring General Luna. We had a late lunch at Kurvada and couldn’t resist trying every flavor of ice cream at Jorene’s Homemade Ice Cream.

Later, our group gathered at the Catangnan-Cabitoonan bridge to watch the sunset, and I was surprised to see many tourists there, mostly foreigners. We wrapped up the day with dinner at Isla Cusina and returned to our rental for an evening of drinks, card games, and catching up. The first day was a bit tiring due to the long journey so we called it a night around 9 pm.

Day 2 – April 28, Friday

We were all up before 6 am, eager to start our island adventure. Luckily, the weather was on our side that day. We hopped on our scooters and hit the road together. Our first pitstop was this cool vacant lot that led to the beach. Afterward, we searched for a cozy spot to have breakfast. We found Kawayan Gourmand. We arrived pretty early, so we patiently hung out while they prepped and baked their croissants and pastries. Let me tell you, those freshly baked croissants were just *chef’s kiss*.

Following our delightful breakfast, we made our way to Cloud 9, conveniently within walking distance from the breakfast spot. While Asis and Beth decided to hit the waves for a surfing session, the rest of us opted to relax on the sandy shore, watching them ride the waves from a distance.

When they got tired from all the paddling, we decided to head back to our place to grab some stuff for our land trip. But just before that, the guys had secretly helped plan Darren’s surprise proposal to Beth, catching me off guard. It turned out they had been working on this plan for a while. The idea was straightforward: as they walked along the boardwalk, Darren would kneel down and ask for her hand in marriage while the rest of us were far away, taking a video and flying a drone documenting the event. All of this unfolded at only 9 am.

We also visited Coconut Trees View Deck, and we passed by Maasin River and Paghungawan Marsh. By 11 am, we had made it to Magpopongko Rock Pools and Flats, which was about an hour’s ride from General Luna. We decided to have our lunch, pass the time, and wait for the tide to go down, hoping to explore the rock pools. Unfortunately, our plans fell through due to the high tide. The weather had been rather unpredictable, with sporadic rain clouds, which led us to the decision to head back. Around 2 pm, we hit the road again, and to our dismay, the back tire of our scooter went flat. Since we were the last pair on the bike, the two couples in front of us had no idea what had happened. There was no phone signal in the area, so we couldn’t update them and they couldn’t reach us. We were relieved that this happened during the day, and it wasn’t raining. The nearest vulcanizing shop was a kilometer away, so we had to turn back. Asis pushed the scooter while I took lots of photos of our surroundings and cheered him on. Definitely one for the books!

After we got back on the road, we spotted the rest of the group waiting on the roadside. They had already gone quite a distance before realizing that we were no longer following behind them. So yuuuup, we were all beat for the day. At dinner time, we ate and chilled at BARREL: Beachfront Sports Bar, and finally, we called it a night.

Day two was undoubtedly an unforgettable adventure.

Btw, another highlight of the day was spotting a large, red bird with a prominent beak, which I later identified as a Rufous hornbill. As a passenger princess on the back of the scooter, I had the opportunity to see a lot of beautiful things, making it one of my favorite aspects of this trip. ♡