Libot Pinas: Hundred reasons to visit Pangasinan

It was September when I received this special opportunity to visit Pangasinan. This rare chance was brought by an invitation to attend the Leader's Training Conference of Ang Lingkod ng Panginoon. A Catholic Movement of single young professionals which aims to bring Christ to the workplace. Lingkod has many branches in the Philippines as well as abroad and I'm currently serving in Makati which is the closest to where I'm working. I was very blessed to attend this training and through the generosity of the members, I was able to go to Pangasinan almost for free!

The first and second day of our Pangasinan adventure was full of inspiring talks and bonding time with all the participants. I really had fun learning more about my Faith and learning more from the different places where the other participants came from. And on the third day, it was the most awaited part of our stay in Pangasinan: Hundred Islands tour!

Hundred Island National Park is composed of 124 islands during low tide and 123 on high tide (from www.wikipedia.org). During our way to Alaminos City, a tour guide told us a folklore about the Island. Unfortunately, I can't understand it because of the poor sound system of the bus. All I can remember is there's a love story. That's all.

My boatmates

As we ride the boat that will carry us to the islands, we were starstruck by the bangkero that accompanied us. "Apl de Ap!", we shouted to the bangkero. "Sample, sample!", as we continued cheering for him to give us some piece of Black Eyed Peas. Our bangkero, who is popularly known as "Buko de ap" is a Buko juice vendor at the island who really looks like the real Apl de Ap of the Black Eyed Peas. You may check out his facebook profile. He's really popular but his buko is really expensive compared to the buko juice sold here in the streets of Metro Manila.

Buko De Ap

With Buko De Ap

The first island that we visited is the Quezon Island. The blue water and white sand of the island are the first thing that welcomed us. It was really nice seeing it up close. You'll be amazed how the Creator did it. We never wasted any time and we hopped into the blue waters and enjoyed the heat. We also checked the Governor's Island where the Pinoy Big Brother House is located. The island has a nice spot to see the rest of the islands.

Here's some of the images from our Hundred Islands adventure! Enjoy!