Maldives of the Philippines: Turning Our Anxieties to Happiness

“Piliin mo ang Pilipinas

Kapuluang kwintas ng perlas

Piliin mo yakapin mo

Kayamanan nyang likas

Piliin mo ang Pilipinas”

I was singing this song all day when I laid my eyes on this beautiful creation–Manjuyod White Sands Bar.

Our scheduled flight for Cebu is 11:45 PM via Cebu Pacific Air. Yes, it was that late. My friends and I met around 9 PM at the airport. We had lots of loaded stories to tell because we’ve never seen each other for a long time–we are college buddies.

We finally landed around 1:30 am at Mactan Cebu International Airport. Our journey starts here.

We headed to South Bus Terminal via a grab taxi that turns out to have a fixed rate of 350 pesos. We didn’t argue about how high the fare is, because we really need more time to sleep. LONG TRAVEL awaits us going to Dumaguete.

After three and half hour travel from South Bus Terminal, we finally reached the port of Liloan where we will ride a boat going to Dumaguete City.

We finally reached Sibulan Airport after 30 minutes ride. We were so damn hungry and really need more rest. We headed around the port to find a nice place to eat but ended up going to Dumaguete town. Finally, a place to eat.

The food was really not so good, but we had no choice, we are so hungry!

We were so weary, exhausted about the travel and need to freshen up ourselves. We are travelling for so many hours now. Finally, we jump off the bus terminal going to Manjuyod. The driver says it will take us 3 hours going there, but we took over 3 hours to reached Manjuyod registration office. We paid 3ooo pesos for our tour package that includes boat transfer. We rented a tricycle going to the island which costs 200 pesos one way. We didn’t mind the offer because. But, all our anxieties turned into happiness as we reached Manjuyod White Sandbar.

This Manjuyod white sandbar amazed us with its pristine water and vast of beautiful blue waters compared to the Maldives.

Taking a good photo post during a sunset in the centre of this big island.

We may have felt anxieties along the way but they covered it with happiness upon reaching this God’s creation. I’m proud of my homeland, Philippines.

The best way to travel is with people who love not only you but who is there in every adventure that life gives you.