#doublegem

[acompstranger]

out here splatting bitched with @doublegems our fist bump is sick tho

[artinmotionstudio]

GOLDEN HOUR COLLECTION in gemmy sapphire just waiting for tomorrow's shop update to find a home! . Shopartinmotion.com #artinmotionjewelry #bigandbold #sapphirelove #doublegem #sterlingsilverjewelry #opthandmade #moodyimages https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ZQuYTh_Cb/?igshid=1xpvw4pkvh6ip

[shoponin]

316L Stainless Steel Double Gem Cartilage Earring / Nose Hoop Ring #women #jewelry #earrings #annmoreproducts #316L #stainlesssteel #doublegem #cartilageearring #nosering #nosehoopring https://www.annmoreproducts.com/products/316l-stainless-steel-double-gem-cartilage-earring-nose-hoop-ring https://www.instagram.com/p/B19UgTkhnwn/?igshid=1fvimxfj72vxw

[unicahija88]

Early morning dip.. . . . . . . #elnido #doublegem #beach #island #instagood #instamood #vacay #earlysummer #elnido2017 #travel #traveldiaries #traveldiaries2017 #pool #infinitypool #vacay2017 #island #lovers #goals #beau #love #cyescape #cytravels (at Doublegem Beach Resort & Hotel)

[imperim-blog]

TIME        SETS        FRUSTRATION        AT       NOUGHT     ,               though     a     vague     thrum     in     thine     gut     dost      draw     the     following     statement.                     ❛    ...       i     believe     i     know     you.   ❜          // @doublegems     ❤︎ ‘d    for    a     starter.  

[thejeannejournal]

What long weekends should look like. 💙 #clozette 📷: @nirdandy :) #ElNido #DoubleGem #ElNidoIt #PeroIngatBakaMapaHammock #BeachBeHumbleSitDownBeHumble

[electriiiclove]

@doublegems || starter call (accepting!)

        It had only been a few weeks since she had reformed on Earth, since the Crystal Gems had found her. She was luckier than the stars that Steven’s Room could hide her for the time being; Homeworld was still looking for the Quartz child. She couldn’t risk being found by her sisters. Not here. Not now.

        If she really concentrated, Pink could shapeshift to shrink herself so she didn’t have to stay cooped up all the time. It was a lovely room---more than the Diamond could ever ask for---but she still enjoyed a stroll outside from time to time. This was her Earth, after all, and she loved it just as much as she did six thousand years ago. 

         The Diamond smiled warmly at the fusion, “ It’s still as beautiful as I remember. So much has changed.... Yet, it’s still beautiful. ”

[travelghost-blog]

2018 Palawan, Philippines Adventure

Son Casey, niece Maia, and Travel Ghost yours truly spent four days in the Palawan region of the Visayas Islands of the Philippines. Our guide was Kristine Corpuz of De Tour Philippines and she was amazing. She made everything so easy and fun.

We took a short flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa early in the morning. We were met by a local van, which is one of two possible transports in Palawan.

Descending to the tarmac, thank goodness the weather was nice!

I’d never been to this part of the Philippines myself, so it was a first for the three of us.

Kristine had arranged for a van to pick us up.

Here she is waiting patiently as they bring the van around.

So clean and pretty here.

At a rest stop on the way. 

It’s a 6 hour drive from Peurto Princesa to El Nido in the north. It took us 7 though because we got a flat tire!

We visited beautiful Nacpan beach and swam in the surf. 

And had beers and food in the stands by the palm trees.

There are millions of stray dogs in the philippines, almost all the same size and very well behaved. Because people drive very fast on the roads in Palawan, I saw many dogs with broken legs. This guy seems to have suffered from some accident and is begging for some food.

If you don’t take a van, the other option is by “tricycle”. It’s basically a motorcycle with a covered third wheel chamber, in which you can easily fit 5 Filipinos or two Americans. Many are colorfully decorated and have the name of the driver on the front.

Here we are stopping at the local gas station.

Those bottles contain the petrol.

The driver fills up with three bottles today.

Our hotel, the Doublegem in El Nido, was great. Very clean. Helpful staff. 

I enjoyed the hammock out front. The reflection in those glasses!

Here’s the pool behind the hotel.

This is the beach beyond that.

The next day, Kristine took us to the Kuyawyaw Falls.

It’s a ten minute walk to the first falls.

The Old Travel Ghost crosses last.

The first falls.

The kids couldn’t wait to get into the water.

They both jumped.

The third falls were the most impressive. The scraggly roots of the trees above stretch dozens of meters down to the water like the hair of a hippy woman.

Father and Son dive together into shallow water.

On the way home we stopped at a beach in El Nido, by the famous Sunset cafe, and drank Banana Coladas and swam in the surf again. 

It was beautiful. We all love it here.

Back at the hotel its time for drinks at the hotel bar. I totally should have used sunscreen on that hammock!

Put some rum in these please!

Back in town, Kristine selected our dinner from the local seafood restaurant.  

Prawns, Crab and Lapu Lapu. So yum!

Maia got ever single bit of meat out of that crab.

The next day, Kristine arranged for an island hopping afternoon out of Port Barton.

here’s our catamaran.

Snorkeling was so cool - we saw many fish, even those needle nose fish that swim in circles around you.

Captain Puti made us the best lunch! Tilapia, chicken and garlic rice and veggies.

I even caught a fish. It’s either a grouper or a lion fish.

Back on the boat, we went to the “Turtle Spot” where the kids and I snorkled with a couple of sea-turtles. Super cool! Wish we had a go-pro or other waterproof camera. Next time!

My shorts are crept up, I can’t remember why. But now we’re headed back from the islands.

Look at these snorkeling pros, Casey and Maia.

That night Kristine took us to a cool restaurant, Kinabuchs Bar and Grill, next to our hotel. Again, great food and drink, and we even got some pool in.

One our final day, Kristine arranged for us to visit the famous Underground River.

Here we are on the beach getting ready to transfer to the underground river boats.

There were monkeys and monitor lizards crawling around. Kristine instructed us to be very careful about our belongings around the macaque monkeys.

Getting ready to go into the cave!

Here is the entrance to the cave. We turned on our audio guides and listened to the history of this amazing cave. Unfortunately our iPhones were unable to get good pictures inside the very dark tunnel, so you’ll have to go there to get your own experience.

Either way it was beautiful outside, and I recommend the trip!

On our way out, we stopped at a zipline and spelunking village, where the profits go to a local school.

I just chilled there while the kids did the zip line. I could get used to Island life.

We’ll always remember our beautiful trip to the Palawan region, with its beautiful beaches, islands, sea turtles, restaurants and bars.

If you are thinking of taking a similar trip, you will be surprised at how economical, easy and fun Kristine Corpuz from De Tour Philippines can make it. I link to their Facebook site here. Tell them that the Travel Ghost sent you.

[jhaiken90]

Doublegem beach resort

[anicajanine]

Good Morning El Nido 🌴 (at Doublegem Beach Resort & Hotel)

[khalziebella]

I finally get these babies some attention and i fixed them successfully. I was so happy i get them back in shape. #NavelRings #DoubleGem #TopMount #Butterfly #GirlsWithPiercings 🐢

[unicahija88]

. . . . . . #elnido #doublegem #beach #island #instagood #instamood #vacay #earlysummer #elnido2017 #travel #traveldiaries #traveldiaries2017 #vacay2017 #island #sea #beachplease #cyescape #cytravels #philippines (at Doublegem Beach Resort & Hotel)

[unicahija88]

Rampa! 😂 . . . . . . #elnido #doublegem #beach #island #instagood #instamood #vacay #earlysummer #elnido2017 #travel #traveldiaries #traveldiaries2017 #vacay2017 #island #sea #beachplease #cyescape #cytravels #rampa (at Doublegem Beach Resort & Hotel)

[unicahija88]

White clouds. Blue skies. Palm trees. . . . . . . #elnido #doublegem #beach #palm #instagood #instamood #vacay #earlysummer #elnido2017 #travel #traveldiaries #traveldiaries2017 #vacay2017 #skies #clouds (at Doublegem Beach Resort & Hotel)

[jhaiken90]

Palawan

About an hour flight from Manila is the island of Palawan, which is famous for island hopping off of either El Nido or Coron.  A common route is to either fly directly to Coron, or to fly into Puerto Princesa and then drive to El Nido.  For this weekend trip we chose to take the second route in order to meet up with one of the partner’s family friends who owned a bed and breakfast in Puerto Princesa and a hotel in El Nido.  As was becoming the norm for all weekend travel, we got up super early on Saturday morning for a 6am flight out of Manila. From the airport, we went straight to the B&B in Puerto Princesa for an incredible breakfast which they called “Fish 5 Ways” (dried, smoked, baked, grilled, and in a soup). It was another kamayan style meal where we ate with our hands, which always makes everything taste better.

We were only there for about half an hour before a van picked us up to take us to Sabang to visit the Underground River, which is one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of the World. To get there we took a windy road through the Marble Mountains which are sheer cliffs rising hundreds of feet up from the forest floor. We arrived at a port where we waited for about 2 hours before we could board our boat out into the bay which took us to another beach where, after a short walk into the forest (making sure not to step on the komodo dragons that were wandering around) we arrived at the Underground River. It is an incredible cave system which you enter from a lagoon that sits a few hundred feet back from the beach, and spans for many miles deep into a mountain. Millions (not exaggerating) of bats live in the cave and as soon as we entered we could hear them chirping and fluttering a few feet above our heads. The entrance is quite narrow and within a few minutes of entering it becomes pitch black, but each canoe had a large battery powered spotlight to help point out interesting rock formations and help guide us back out. At one point the river opens up into what they call “The Cathedral” because it’s a massive cavern and there are rock and sediment formations that resemble the Virgin Mary and The Last Supper. There’s a “vegetable garden” section where the formations look like giant veggies and a bunch of other amazing formations. It was impossible to grab a good picture with the poor lighting but Nat Geo has it fully documented if you want to see pictures. After The Cathedral we got to a point where the river continued on down a long straight tunnel for another 5 kilometers, but we booked the short tour so that’s where we turned around to head back to the lagoon.

From there we made our way to Ugong Rock, which is also called “The Climb and Zip Line” because to get up to the top of this mountain you have to boulder through narrow pathways that have been carved out of the middle of the mountain. Kind of hard to describe but there were many ladders and steps built into the mountain that we had to climb to reach the summit. From the top, there were two zip line options, the shorter, slower one and the faster, longer, steeper one. So…we obviously took the longer, faster, steeper one and supermanned the whole way down. It was a ton of fun and we got some really great videos. After finishing up we headed back towards Puerto Princesa, pulled off on the side of the road and waited for another van to come meet us and take us north to El Nido.

After a four hour drive we ended up at the Doublegem Beach Resort around 10:30pm, and they had a huge meal waiting for us setup on the deck overlooking Bacuit Bay. It was extremely charming and a perfect way to end our first day. After dinner, the owner gave us a tour of the grounds and showed us the expansion they were building which was going to add another 30 rooms. A quick night swim and then we headed to bed to get up early the next day for island hopping. I will mention that we saw the largest gecko I’d ever seen in my life. No lie, it was over a foot long, and although they are harmless, it’s not everyday you see something that big crawling towards you while clinging upside down on the ceiling!

Woke up at 5:45 on Sunday for a morning swim and breakfast before heading to the dock to start our island hopping adventure. It basically consists of taking a small boat from one island to another and jumping off to snorkel for about 30 minutes to an hour at each. This specific tour took us to Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Commando Beach, and Shimizu Island (we were supposed to also see Secret Lagoon but the tide wasn’t in our favor). The water was crystal clear and the weather couldn’t have been better. In the days leading up to the trip we were worried we might have to cancel because a storm had been hitting Palawan but we got incredibly lucky and had perfect weather (up in the north at least, but back towards Puerto Princesa wasn’t so lucky, keep reading).  One of the highlights of the trip was the lunch. At one of the beaches, the guides set up a charcoal and wood fire on the sand and grilled fish they had just caught while we were travelling from one island to the next. I don’t know if it was because we were famished after swimming all day or the fish was just so fresh but I can’t really remember a better grilled fish in my life. And of course, we ate everything by hand.  It really was a perfect day until on our way back the tide had come out about 300 yards so we had to jump off and walk through thick seaweed to get back to the shore. Unfortunately, Junel fell victim to a sea anemone and we spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get the barb out of his foot. He was fine and it turned out to be a good story but getting stabbed by a poisonous barb is never fun.

That night we had another incredible dinner of fresh fish prepared every different way on the deck of the Doublegem. The host and hostess were so hospitable and kept bringing out dish after dish until we really couldn’t eat any more, and then they brought out halo halo.  We went to bed early because our flight from Puerto Princesa back to Manila was at 7am Monday morning so we were catching a 2am van from El Nido. This is where things got interesting. While we were enjoying the perfect weather in the north there were massive floods further south that washed out a bridge that we had crossed on our way. We all awoke around 4am when our van came to a stop and we looked outside to see 30 or 40 other vans parked with drivers scratching their heads. We walked up to where the bridge used to be and there was literally a pile of rubble with the river flowing around pieces that were sticking up out of the water. Either emergency workers of just industrious tour bus drivers had fashioned a makeshift bridge further down the river which people were using to cross. Meanwhile, our driver somehow negotiated for another driver on the other side to take us the rest of the way so we grabbed our bags, traversed the makeshift bridge to the other side and didn’t ask any further questions. We arrived safely at the airport around 6:30, with time to spare for a quick breakfast. We landed back in Manila around 8:30 and went straight to the office. Once again, it was an exhausting weekend trip but was one of the most memorable experiences of the whole three month rotation.

[unicahija88]

She acts like summer and walks like rain.. 😂🕶👙 (at Doublegem Beach Resort & Hotel)