Puerto Princesa 2: Biking, Barbecue and Beer at the Baywalk

Four o'clock in the afternoon isn't exactly the best time to visit the Puerto Princesa City Baywalk. First off, the sun is still high in the sky; not ideal for a leisurely walk. Secondly, there aren't many food stalls open yet. Most of the baywalk sari-sari stores, barbecue stands and street food joints start cooking and setting up tables at 5pm, in preparation for the night crowd.

In front of the famous giant fishes (didn't see the peacock, though)

Nevertheless, we were ready to pump up our appetites for adventure, so, at the advice of our tricycle driver-cum-tour guide Dave, we went straight to the bike rental area and chose our two-wheelers. You can rent a single bike for P25/hour, and a sidecar for P75/hour. My mother, who, as usual, was hiding from the sun, decided to stay in the shade of a tree and watch our bags. My husband Mel, who's not in the mood for biking that day either, on the pretense that he will act as our photographer, also stayed under the same tree. I bet he just didn't want to get tanned that early in the trip.

My son Jules is just starting to learn how to ride a bike. We've taken him out to ride on a few occasions, but his comfort level in bikes remains low. He chose a sidecar so he can drive his two sisters and still keep the balance. Meanwhile, the girls' nanny Olive and I rode around the plaza with gusto. It isn't everyday you get to ride a bike without a car beside you to worry about, you know. Carpe diem!

Sharpening my biking skills

Apparently, the Baywalk had quite an intriguing history, but that will be the topic of another blog. In a more recent history, the Baywalk used to be a stretch of squatter homes that got burned in a fire. The fire trucks had difficulty entering the area as the streets were very narrow and the houses were too close to each other. More than 1,700 families were affected by the fire. The local government decided to have rent-to-own tenement buildings constructed for the families. Each family has to pay P1,000 per month for the unit. After 25 years, the units will belong to them.

When you look at the tenement houses, they're nothing like the ones along South Super Highway in Manila, which were built for similar purposes during the administration of former president Fidel V. Ramos. The ones in Baywalk are a lot cleaner and appeared well-maintained by the tenants themselves. It really takes the right attitude to groom a city like Puerto Princesa; when can that attitude ever rub on the residents of Manila?

Baywalk buddies

There were a few boats in the wharf. According to Dave, when you book a tour for dolphin watching, this is where you board the boat that will take you to the site, which is about 2hrs away. I'm not sure if it's also the takeoff point for the firefly watching tour, but one thing is definite. We won't be taking this tour because it's too expensive. P900/person! We did firefly watching in Bicol last year and it cost us only P1,250/boat of five people. Normally, they don't allow beyond five in the boat, but the boatman allowed my youngest daughter to be the 6th person since she's small anyway. So that means we spent about P208/person. Are the fireflies in Palawan made of gold? I think the tour operators should rethink their prices. They'll be losing clients in the long run.

By 5:30, we've had enough of biking and watching the abundance of sea urchins near the water. Imagine, these sea urchins are being sold for P400+ apiece in Farmer's Market in Cubao. Here, they don't even merit a second glance. If only we could get down there and pick them.... We started drifting toward a barbecue stand that had just brought its grille out -- but not before we caught sight of an ice cream cart and purchased five cones.

Beer and soda to fight the heat

A stick of barbecue cost P10 each, but a stick of regular hotdog cost (what the....?) P25 each! That's what you get for ordering processed meat in a predominantly-fishing community. Both the barbecue and hotdog servings were small. A bottle of San Mig Light was at P50. Not bad. I don't remember how much the 1.5 liter of Coke cost, but I think it was a little more expensive than usual. If you want to enjoy the street food in Baywalk, I suggest you come in the evening when all the food stalls would be open and there would be more options.

Before 6:00, we were on our way back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. We had a reservation at Ka Lui Restaurant at 6:15pm. Read about our excellent first night dinner at Ka Lui..