OBJECTIVE : Travel Journey Plan/Cost

FROM -  A) Kuala Lumpur to

DESTINATION B) El-Nido, Palawan Islands

View Larger Map

Zoom to El-Nido, palawan islands, Philippines, GPS Coordinates: 11°12’33″N 119°23’57″E

View Larger Map

INTRO – EL-Nido. Anyone ever heard bout this place, please raise your hands! Nope? No hands? Actually I’ve fancying going there for a long time ago ever since a Philippine colleague name Jetty at IBM introduced me  during a chat.

I’ve always had this dream list of places to go before I die. The two top luxurious places that i wanna go would either be A) EL-Nido or B) Komodo Island (obviously for diving activities! )  I knew it would be on the 7wonders of nature although i didn’t vote for it, it won! C) Bali , D) …………so many islands! haha. All all 3, I’m finally going to Bali for diving this coming March! but for this entry, I’ll elaborate more on El-Nido.

For those who might not know, I’ve a similar topic at the famous travel forum lonelyplanet regarding the above topic.  I might be the 1st malaysian using this route :p at least that i know off…(travel target sometime in 2013) Just a simple estimation. (sorry im using RM as im familiar with this currency :p )

DAY 1
1) 0500 My house to airport – RM50 *2

2) 0755 KL LCCT Clark via airAsia *2 adults = RM950
AK flights are flying from 0755 since early 2012..above price for dates july2012

• just put a date since 2013 has yet to be released.hope 2get cheaper from above

3) 1140++ Clark Local bus station, Dau = RM3 * 2(return) = RM6

4) 1300 Dau 90kms Manila Passay near Naia airport = RM8 *2(return) =RM16

5) 1500 Manila Passay Manila Naia airport =RM1 2(return) =RM2

6) 1530 Manila Naia airport Puerto Princesa, Palawan. = RM200 for two persons? *2(return) = RM400

7) 1700 Puerto Princesa, Palawan , check in somewhere in Puerto Princesa, underwater cave trip possible? hmm -RM100

DAY 2
8 ) San Jose minivan/bus terminal road transport to El Nido, 5hours = RM 25*2 = RM50

9) Safely arrive in paradise

TOTAL transport = 100 + 950 + 6 + 16 + 2 + 400 + 100 + 50 = RM1624 +/-

Total distance? -> (exact journey- to be calculated)

DAY 3- ?
-how many days can i afford to say in El-Nido? hmm .

pH – Still a lot of planning to do. Date of travel might be sometime in 2013 or even 2014 depending on my bank :p Help from any Philippines peeps around here are highly appreciated! DISCLAIMER – all above figures are just estimates. Pictures thanks to google map, flight-calculator and zartacross . coordinates from wikimapia . for more beautiful pictures visit el-Nido.

Why is at stake with shark finning campaign? or Anti Shark Soup campaign if you ever heard about it!

For more than 400 million years Sharks have swam the world’s oceans and play a vital role in maintaining the health of marine ecosystems.  As for today,  shark populations around the world have been decimated tremendously, with some populations having declined as much as 99 percent. In a couple years from now, some will even face extinction. Even those in the Malaysian waters. Hey, one would encounter that Mabul (world famous dive spot) has these activities.  Ironic? People need to be educated that they are other sources of income besides finning ( I solely blame the government/authorities for not doing their best) If Rhino and Elephant tusk can be illegal in this beautiful country , why not Shark FINs? Saying those finned are not endangered are just bull.

What’s the greatest treat that Sharks are facing? 

The greatest threat to sharks is shark finning is the practice of cutting off a shark’s fins and discarding the carcass at sea.  (done by us humans, see the above picture how unhuman some can be and how unhuman some can even eat Shark Fin Soup without feeling any guilt, YES YOU!) ,This is done because shark meat is of much lower value than fins and takes up space that could otherwise be used for storing fins.  You can imagine (current market price during the video below USD2/kilo for the shark meat and USD28/kilo for the FINs. ) It makes more business sense to just bring in the FINs. In some countries there are small regulations that states sharks without fins are NOT allowed to be landed, hence we see this kind of barbaric behavior when the fisherman just brings the FINS. where are the sharks? have u ever heard a friend of you actually eating a shark meat instead of the FINS? NO? Having stayed in malaysia for past nearly 30years, the write yohan ibrahim has never encounter someone into shark meat…its always about the FINS…during CNY (shortform for Chinese new year) ye sang/dinner, what are they favorite soup? 

a Video by Chef Gordon Ramsay about Shark Fin Soup.

Good video. If you love to eat shark fin soup. Especially during these Chinese New Year celebration, i beg you guys, please watch this video…then think about again…is it really worth it? (thanks to my friend zaff1982 from MalaysianUnderwater for introcuding the video. Also thanks Chef Gordon Ramsay (guys watching MasterCheff would be familiar with him) who make me have a valid and solid video to share on WHY ONE should support Anti-Shark Finning.

And here the full version of above video.

The important notes that we can extract from this video are:

1- The soup is mixed with chicken and pork stock to flavor the shark fin soup.
2- The shark fin is actually has no flavor. Taste like a Glass Noodle – Bihun or Laksa.
3 -So the fin is not the main ingredient that make the soup great.
4- It is the expensive soup in the world and indirectly represent the symbol of wealth status.
5- Fins are 5% of the shark body part that “valuable”. Other 95% is worthless, they throw it away back to sea.
6- Some some shark fin consumers are not aware of this endangered species.
7- 60% reduction of shark population within 9 years !! Just in 9 years we lose 60% of shark population !!
8- They don’t care what about the species, as long it is a shark.
9- Hammerhead shark only giving birth once a year and took many years to be matured. Been killed before they can be reproduce.
10 – USD2/kilo for the shark meat and USD28/kilo for the shark fins directly from fisherman before middleman.
11- thresher shark meat is sometimes used as a bait.
12- It’s estimated that each year 100 million sharks are killed worldwide1

13 – and the Lists goes on…………(And did you guys know malaysia is among top 10 shark fin activities in the world!) geezzz.

So the questions is, what can YOU DO?

1) Stop consuming Shark Fin Soup

2) Stop Selling Shark Fin Soup – If you have the power – share your stories here

3) contact/email your local anti shark fin support/group to have more support/info

4) share anti shark fin youtube videos on you FB wall/blog/reddit/whatever

5) educate your friends & family

6) compile a list of restaurants serving shark fin soup and share with other anti shark fin groups/ to boycott them

7) report shark finning activities to the authorities if possible..share on the net if nothing is done

8 ) Have an anti shark fin banner as you fb profile once in a while especially during the Chinese Lunar new year calendar celebrations

9) support movements like the one from MIDE 2011, projectaware

10)………………………….

pH – still wanna eat shark fin soup?  REMEMBER, FOR EVERY BOWL YOU EAT, THERE is a SHARK LAYING DOWN somewhere IN THE SEA JUST LIKE THE PICTURE ABOVE. Left to die and extinct all due to human decisions…  

other articles | what-is-shark-finning |how-to-help-endangered-sharks | malaysians-dont-care-about-wildlife-and-marine-conservation

As I stayed for the night for the camp, after going to bed at around 1230am thanks to the torch light galore + so long chats down to memory lane, we woke up at around 830am! actually I did wake up at 6.45pm, after a short toilet visit, continued with my sleeping bed. Aida n Cuki’s wife stayed at the tent below. Whereas me, ajan, zahir and cuki slept under the open tent.

Was indeed a great experience. Looking forward to camp again in the future!

View Larger Map

That day, we woke up at around 6.15am. By 7.15am we were already on the road on our way to Sungai Chiling, Kuala Kubu Baru.(refer the map above) The day looked clear and I was happy that I did a good decision to wash my car the night before. Like previous outings/travel trips, we always feel this excitement and eagerness to enjoy our day ahead. It’s a really good feeling that I use to enjoy since before.

We used the trunk road to Rawang,  and headed for Bkt Beruntung to pickup our cousin Dilla there. Meet some friends in another car on our way there but split since we were heading to bkt beruntung first.

Around 9am, we arrived at the entry. 12 people showed up for the day picnic/waterfall hike. Here are some pictures that I took during the weekend nature getaway! Sorry for the delay peeps.

After a 300meters hike, we arrived at the “Fish Sanctuary ” /camping site. We had to register our name/full add/ICs/rm1 per person + RM10 deposit per person that camp/stayed for the night.

Honestly, I’ve not much camping experience. Last was during school times which dated more then 10years ago! So I just followed the flow (+ besides taking pictures) One of our friend who was a regular camper shook/cuki lead the way by cleaning up the camp area. 1st time i saw someone clean up with sticks/branches but hey it worked.

above : shook/cuki leading the way at the camp site preparation

Removing some stones from next camp site to our camp site cum picnic spot.

Time to implement some scouts skills….

okay, this rope needs to be “tegang” :p

Another regular camper, Fahzan/snipe doing his thing…

camp fire..

Utan doing something…

tadaaa…..its more like a utility camp..

some sandwiched for breakfast that rapunzel made for the guys. hope everyone liked it :p

the bags..

some other bags..

the camps being setup…..(below – Utan and Shazlan admiring Azam’s camping skills…)

okay, one camp up..

okay, nearly done…3 small camps + 1 big tent/flier.

Since no one brought coal (my mistake for assuming that i didn’t need to bring them), I went out to KKB(Kuala Kubu Baru) cowboy town to buy some coal as below picture. Went with Zahir’s ride, where he drifted down the hill besides the dam. Lucky im still alive.LOL. At the town, we end up buying 3 coal box(cost rm9 each), some Thai chili sauce, kunyit powder,curry powder, 4bags of ice and some mayonnaise .

the BBQ pit that i brought from home..

our first camera pose :p , everyone looked exited, but a bit hungry yet eager to jump into the nearby Chiling River located just next to our camp.

and finally here’s the Chiling River just a few steps from our camp …..breath taking isn’t it? ^_^

Skip to “Gambar Kelas” ->

More pictures will be uploaded tonight at this same entry / or at least at my photobucket.

To be continued …. ( i got a dayjob at ibm ,remember? :p)

may 2012 bring us joy and happiness.

BYE2 2011, may the memories remain, as i always say,

Life isn’t measured in minutes, but in moments ^_^