bohol by the numbers

For a Mass Communication graduate with an intense aversion to numbers, I couldn't help but become fascinated by the numerous offerings of Panglao and Bohol. I was a first-timer on a two-night, three-day trip to the land of tarsiers, Chocolate Hills and luxurious island life. Seize the day had become a mantra, and off I went to explore.

With Governor Erico Aumentado

Eight hours with Vicky, a mountain-load of trivia

Bohol can be toured in day, provided one has a means of transportation and a delightful tour guide. Mine was in the form of a van and a province-certified guide (one of the very first tour guides in Bohol!) in the name of Vicky.

“Here in Bohol, we pronounce ‘y’ as ‘j’. But mind you, my name is pronounced Vicky and not Vickj,” she said to my fits of laughter, right before she told me the story of why root crops taste better in Bohol, and why the place I’m staying in is called Alona Beach. (It’s named after Alona Alegre, a then-famous starlet who shot a movie in that Panglao Beach with FPJ, just in case someone’s wondering.)

Then the numbers came: Bohol is the 10^th largest island in the Philippines; there are 30 resorts in Panglao and counting; tarsiers have a lifespan of 15-20 years and suicidal tendencies; there are 18 bishops in the Philippines that are Boholnons; there are 1,776 Chocolate Hills; there are 27 members in the internationally renowned Loboc’s Children Choir (incidentally the same one that serenaded the Cesar Montano-Sunshine Cruz wedding, according to Vicky); and, on and on.

The trivia stumbled happily from her mouth to my giddy brain as we zoomed and zoomed from the Blood Compact Monument that National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon Abueva made to the Hanging Bridge over the Loboc River.

I fulfilled a long-forgotten wish of having my picture taken with a tarsier—whose eyes are bigger than their brains (they’re the smallest primates in the world named after their long tarsal bones) and are just about the cutest thing I ever saw.

Then, I climbed a hundred or so steps to get the breathtaking view of the Chocolate Hills, currently ranked fourth in the “New Seven Wonders of Nature” poll. And I smiled, my mind whirling from the Bohol tour, my heart beating fast from those steps. I needed a massage, and some food, but at that time, I felt like I was on top of the world.

The only one Amorita

Now, nothing else can make anyone feel like royalty than the best service from a first-rate resort with an elegance so unassuming it simply becomes charming, classy, serene. And how I needed this after Vicky and my non-stop laughing and note-taking.

I now move on to life after the whirlwind, to the cool villas of Amorita Resort in Alona Beach.

With a cold towel and welcome drink, I took in the sun bright on Amorita’s infinity pool, maximizing the cliff-top view of the resort, the Saffron Restaurant (named after the color of the sunsets in Panglao), and the Filipino-ness of its world-class facilities (from the seashell chandeliers to wooden statuettes and a touching Pinoy ‘thank you for staying at Amorita’ handwritten on a leaf in my villa).

Sprawling over 1.8 hectares slightly elevated on a cliff are 20 deluxe rooms, two sky suites, eight garden villas and six ocean view villas. The ocean view villas are total masterpieces, right from its gates to its private plunge pool overlooking the waves, from its wide-screen television and comforters made for burrowing, to its outdoor bathroom shower and L’Occitane toiletries.

And the food, oh my goodness, the food. There’s that light-as-air Ube Mousse to the stroke-of-brilliance Peanut Kiss Sans Rival, pasta of my choice upon arrival, and the sought-after French Toast during breakfast.

There’s diving and diving lessons (the intro diving instructor assigned to me hovered in amusement as I inspected jaw-dropping coral reefs up to 40 feet!). And just recently finished is the Phase 2 of Amorita’s expansion: its own wellness spa operated by the internationally acclaimed Mandala Spa brand!

Fast becoming noticed as a premier Panglao resort, it is owned and managed by a most unlikely personality: Ms Ria Hernandez Cauton, granddaughter of Jose Hernandez Sr who founded Victory Liner, one of the country’s largest bus companies, 61 years ago.

If I deemed transportation training and resort know-how as different as oil and water before, I don’t doubt that it can work now, as experienced personally in the wonderful service at Amorita.

She said she based the conceptualization of the resort on everything she would want in a place where she could spend her honeymoon. “We let our imaginations run wild,” she said, and to great results.

The best thing about the resort (as if I haven’t waxed poetic enough about its superiority from other resorts in the area) is that its facilities and offerings can truly back up any word-of-mouth recommendations given around the world.

Life is, indeed, beautiful here.

How to get there: Cebu Pacific flies to Tagbilaran (Bohol) daily from Manila.