Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
They say opposite attracts. During this season of love, it is a quote that is timely and for a reason, I don't really care and the reason is I am not in a relationship, but I don't want to sound bitter so I hope you have a wonderful day with your lover. There are times when we feel and appear different both at the same time, just like the White Rock appeared and felt different to me. It looks cold yet heat overwhelms a total opposite, but it is undeniably beautiful. I hope you have a wonderful and beautiful relationship despite your differences and imperfections just like the White Rock.
A few meters from Mt. Secret is a massive rock formation covered with snow-white sand called White Rock. It gives the winter vibes in the desert-like land as we look at the humongous formation. We rested for a few minutes under the shade while waiting for the sun to hide from us and went behind the scarce sea clouds. It took us longer than we expected for Mr. Sun to hold its shine even just a little moment.
The magnificent massive rock formation reminded us of the movies and television shows. The place is actually a good location for shootings action or tribal-themed production. We could imagine actors, directors, and production staff making their way to the place or doing their stuff in the seemingly remote area. One of the tour guides shared with us the information about Ding-dong Dantes shot some scenes for his show Amazing Stories and also Maymay Entrata's movie Princess Dayaries made the place as one of its locations.
When we thought as well as the tour guide that the sunshine began to be gentle, we continued our journey and started conquering the White Rock. We were only in the middle of the climb when the sun radiantly smiled on us again. It was already sizzling hot during the climb, and upon reaching the summit, we were met by the scorching sun on the top of the White Rock. The heat was too much to bear and it pricked my skin like needles. Our clothes and my shawl were not enough to protect us from the sun's energy. It did not take long enough for us to decide that it was time to go down. Some sightseeing and picture taking had sufficed our curiosity to the massive rock formation. It was only nine in the morning yet the sun stood too proud on us.
Humbled by the blazing sun, our group went down while the others sacrificed their skin and allowed the activation of some more melanin for skin protection as they took on the challenge of photoshoots against the proud sun. We sat down on stones under the shade as we waited for the culmination of others' self-imposed photo shoots.
White Rock stands firm amongst the other rock formations. It appears like a fortress all ready to protect anyone who seeks safety and security. It reminded me of our Mighty Rock, Jesus.
To be continued...
Some photos credit to Arra A.
No secret remains hidden forever, even the unknown Mt. Secret reveals itself to us. And now that I conquered the heights of Mt. Secret, I believe it will strike its popularity among tourists around the world anytime soon.
The first question that came into mind after hearing the name of our next target mountain to climb is why it was named like that and the same question also came out from my friends when we were already having a conversation with the organizer of the joined tour. As far as I could remember we did not receive a satisfactory answer. The organizer just mentioned that it was named by the locals or by the proprietor of the land where the mountain was situated.
Mt. Secret barely stands at San Rafael, Bulacan. It is not the usual mountain we draw on a piece of paper with a perfect cone shape. It is rocky and even has sharp surfaces. I can compare its shape to the Nagpatong Rock in Quezon. They both have the same texture and somewhat similar shape, but Mt. Secret is smaller than Nagpatong Rock.
It is also coined as The Hidden Mountain of Bulacan, and I still wonder why oh why. I failed to ask the locals as I was busy tending myself from the heat and enjoying the journey with my sister, friends, and other joiners of the tour. I thought it was named like that because it is private property or it was only discovered recently and unconsciously kept hidden from the locals and tourists coming from the different parts of the world.
It was a short hike and the easiest mountain climbing ever since I experienced the thrill and joy of hiking in the year 2018. In the darkness and cold air of the dawn, the organizer told everyone during the orientation that the mountain's height was 300 MSL something and perfect for beginners. It was a relief on my part since it was my sister's first time climbing a mountain.
There were boulders and small rocks of Marmol on our way to the mountain itself. Most of the self-imposed photoshoot began in that area. It appeared that mining occurred somewhere near the mountain and we were not wrong. We could hear explosions when we were already on the other top of Mt. Secret where we climbed through via rappelling, and one of the coordinators and other guides of the tour did not keep it a secret to us that quarrying and mining were actually transpiring at that very moment.
The place appeared to be dry and on the verge of drought, but there was still a remnant of beauty in spite of the dryness. I was able to capture a picture of a flower I usually encounter from the other mountains I had been and the only tinge of color on the vast space of greens, browns, grey, and white. It is only my observation and maybe already a hush-hush among the tourists and the locals. It is like an open secret to everyone who arrived and captured the remnant beauty of Mt. Secret.
Mt. Secret, the Hidden Mountain of Bulacan, will bare it all to you, the good and its bad sides, the danger and the protection it can provide. All of it, nothing is hidden in the Mt. Secret.
to be continued...
Photos credit to Arra A.
Where to travel this 2020?
I know that you are also wondering about an answer to this question. Where can we go for our travel goals this 2020? During this time of the pandemic, many of us have already cancelled plans, be it related to our study, career, business, family, and a lot more things. We may feel disappointed by all these, maybe now is not the right time, maybe there is more perfect timing for our plans to happen. We may not understand why, but when it is time all will make sense.
Every year before the year ends, I travel with a friend and as years go by, a friend turned to friends. We are growing and continue recruiting (that sounds so business-like haha). We like to travel for experience and 'feels'. Our experiences may not be always pleasant, but there are always the fun and happy parts of our journey. Seeing and feeling in the breathtaking view of God's wonderful creation is the best experience we can all share together. Meeting and observing people from different places is also a joy for us. We learn from them and from the places we set our foot on. It is a privilege, and we are thankful to God making these opportunities.
This year-end travel has been a ritual going on for five years which started in 2015. Travelling to beautiful places was wishful thinking for us until we decided that 2015 should begin the journey and it went on until 2019. Maybe similar to your circumstance, we also silently decided all together (using our telepathic ability haha) that this year 2020 would make the difference. Not pushing through with our travel plans is for the best, and that is also silently agreed upon by everyone. During this pandemic, a lot of people struggle and we are not excused to those challenges. We can only pray and try our best to help others the best we can. We are limited, but we know God is limitless. He is sovereign and still in control.
This year 2020, we were supposed to go to Romblon, since one of our travel buddies slash colleagues slash friend is from this beautiful place. We are aware of its wonders and beauty through our social media accounts. Photos are posted on the different travel-themed group page on Facebook. We are in awe just by looking at the pictures and we still look forward to seeing Romblon in person, certainly not this year, but we are hopeful this coming 2021.
So our travel goal in 2020 is at the gym (haha), but we will see you soon Romblon!
December 28-30, 2016
Kuya Elmar guided us throughout all the activities (thankies Kuya!), though my power bank, connector, and headset experienced tragedy at the beginning, still fighting! (Hoping they would still work 🙏🏼)
We visited a cave at one of the islands in PG.
Island/Beach Hopping
Fish Feeding and Snorkeling
Chillin' at the beach and some photo opportunities before the day ended
Time to buy some souvenirs...
Typhoon Nina hit the Philippines on Christmas day until the 26th of December. There was a storm signal #1 on the 25th in Mindoro and it escalated to signal #3 the next day. We were supposed to visit Masasa beach in Batangas and planned to board on the 27th going to Puerto Galera, but that did not happen.
We felt hesitant to push through with the plan for Puerto Galera before the year ended because of the effect of Bagyong Nina. A lot of pictures flashed on Facebook taken during and after the surge of the typhoon. I suggested that the plan should be moved instead of canceling it. We were supposed to be four, but I guess plans sometimes never really happen. Probably, next time there would four of us or more, for this trip, I was with Arra and it's also our second beach getaway. It was 3 days and 2 nights trip.
1st Day
From Laguna, a van took us to Batangas port. We bought tickets from Puerto Galerians Shipping Lines. Tamaraw express was the name of the boat of PGSL. It was bigger and not too crowded compare to the one from Cagbalete Island. The boat ride felt light this time. The dizziness I experienced last time in Cagbalete Island was gone. I enjoyed the ride this time. The sea seemed endless again and the water looked green, not the blue color I yearned to see.
We arrived at Muelle Port at 11 something, the boat ride took more or less 1 and 1/2 hours. Kuya Boying from Sandra Taylor Lodge fetched us at the Muelle Port. A ride on a tryk took us to the lodge we rented ahead of time at Batangas Port care of Miss Angelic, she was kind enough to give us a discount. We paid 1,000 pesos each for a 3D2N stay at Sandra Taylor's lodge with free transport from Port to White Beach.
We had a look at the White Beach first before deciding what kind of activities should we do during our stay. There were lots of restaurants and carinderia enough to feed a bunch of tourists, souvenir shops for pasalubong and also they had water sports like jetski, banana boat, parasailing and more.
In the afternoon, Ate Baby one of the masseuses roaming around at the beach braided our hair for 125 each. We loved the finished product. And at night, we tried henna tattoo at the Intensity Henna Tattoo. Kuya (I forgot to ask his name) did not give us a discount though we're persistent. Haha.
Close encounter with nature. My favorite part...2nd Day
Kuya Boying, the caretaker of the lodge we checked in, prepared water activities and Island hopping activities. Having a close encounter with sea creatures during fish feeding and snorkeling was the best. The beauty underwater was undeniably just one of the magnificent pictures of nature, though some corals were damaged due to the typhoon surge.
We visited a cave at one of the islands in PG.
Island/Beach Hopping
Fish Feeding and Snorkeling
Chillin' at the beach and some photo opportunities before the day ended
... and also the last, it was time to take our final walk at White Beach. Surely, we experienced one of the best times in our life from the days and nights spent at Puerto Galera.3rd Day
Time to buy some souvenirs...
Waiting at the terminal...
10:14 am to 11:30 am - Batangas Port to Puerto Galera via Galerians shipping lines
4:00 pm to 7:00 pm - Braiding and Henna
4:00 pm to 6:00pm - Chillin' at the beach like reading, eating snacks
1:20 pm to 2:50 pm - White Beach to Batangas Port
2:50 pm to 3:10 pm - Batangas Port to Stoplight
3:10 pm to 3:30 pm - Stoplight to Batangas Grand Terminal
7:25 pm - Finally home...
1st day
130 - Van from City of Sta.Rosa, Laguna to Batangas Port
500 - A round trip ticket from Port to White Beach
30 - Terminal fee
1000 - Sandra Talyor Lodge
125 - Braids by Ate Baby
150 - Henna tattoo by Intensity Henna Tattoo
2nd day
119 - Morning breakfast
600 - Water activities c/o Kuya Boying and Kuya Elmar
50 - lunch
100 - Snacks from passing by vendors at the beach (e.g. fish crackers, chicharon, kropeck, pastillas, banana chips)
15 - a cup of rice for dinner because we have San Marino corned tuna
3rd day
260 - Souvenir and pasalubong (1 sleeveless shirt and 8 pcs. of coin purse + 1)
50 - 9 pieces of macapunong bigas
7 - Batangas port to Stoplight
10 - Stoplight to Batangas Grand Terminal
80 - BGT to SM Calamba
23 - SM Calamba to City of Santa Rosa
Lastly, I thank God for His wonderful creations and for guiding us throughout the trip, praying for more places to visit the soonest. Ciao!
Some reminders...
- Confirm your departure date a day before at the White Beach's terminal shipping lines.
- Morning is the best time to board a boat (current are stronger in the afternoon).
- During water-activities avoid bringing electronic gadgets or accessories.
Itinerary
Hello Puerto Galera! (1st day)
7:45 am to 9:45 am - From City of Santa Rosa, Laguna to Batangas Pier10:14 am to 11:30 am - Batangas Port to Puerto Galera via Galerians shipping lines
4:00 pm to 7:00 pm - Braiding and Henna
DIY Travel (2nd day)
8:00 am to 11:30 am - Water activities4:00 pm to 6:00pm - Chillin' at the beach like reading, eating snacks
'Til next time Puerto Galera! (3rd day)
8:00 am to 9:30 am - Buying souvenirs and pasalubong1:20 pm to 2:50 pm - White Beach to Batangas Port
2:50 pm to 3:10 pm - Batangas Port to Stoplight
3:10 pm to 3:30 pm - Stoplight to Batangas Grand Terminal
Afternoon lunch :)
4:10 pm to 6:00 pm - Batangas Grand Terminal SM Calamba7:25 pm - Finally home...
Fare and Activities (in Peso)Expenses
1st day
130 - Van from City of Sta.Rosa, Laguna to Batangas Port
500 - A round trip ticket from Port to White Beach
30 - Terminal fee
1000 - Sandra Talyor Lodge
125 - Braids by Ate Baby
150 - Henna tattoo by Intensity Henna Tattoo
2nd day
119 - Morning breakfast
600 - Water activities c/o Kuya Boying and Kuya Elmar
50 - lunch
100 - Snacks from passing by vendors at the beach (e.g. fish crackers, chicharon, kropeck, pastillas, banana chips)
15 - a cup of rice for dinner because we have San Marino corned tuna
3rd day
260 - Souvenir and pasalubong (1 sleeveless shirt and 8 pcs. of coin purse + 1)
50 - 9 pieces of macapunong bigas
7 - Batangas port to Stoplight
10 - Stoplight to Batangas Grand Terminal
80 - BGT to SM Calamba
23 - SM Calamba to City of Santa Rosa
I spent almost 3,300 pesos for the 3 days and 2 nights trip.
Shout out to all the people who were kind enough to tolerate our 'tawad' and inquiries! 😂
Bangon Puerto Galera!
Lastly, I thank God for His wonderful creations and for guiding us throughout the trip, praying for more places to visit the soonest. Ciao!
Lots of things happened during the recent #romanceclass event #FeelsFest last October 22, at Glorietta 5 Atrium in partnership with Ayala Malls.
Reunited with them... ❤️
#FeelsFest is my second Feels Day. Swooned again by the live readings, still in awe with the performances of Rachel Coates, Gab Pangilinan, Herv Alvarez and Gio Gahol.
Scenes read during live readings were from the following books:
The Hometown Hazard by Dawn Lanuza
Sweeter by the Second by C.P. Santi
Tempting Victoria by Mina V. Esguerra
What You Wanted by Mina V. Esguerra
Save the Cake by Stella Torres
Keep the Faith by Ana Tejano
When Sparks Fly by Ines Bautista-Yao
'Holy kamote! He has abs now.' is a personal fave read by Gab Pangilinan with Gio Gahol from the book, Sweeter by the second of Ms. C. P. Santi, one of the stories in Maybe This Time short story anthology. This part of the live readings was hilarious and kakilig.
New Releases!!!
Me, given a chance to say something my book, fighting!
(Photo taken by Kim Derla, thanks!)
20 books were released and launched during #FeelsFest. How about that! Haha. One of my books, Once Summer Days, was fortunate to be one of those new books. Yay! 💕
Meet and greet, yey! Signing books made me blushed.
(Photo taken by Kim Derla, thanks!)
20 books were released and launched during #FeelsFest. How about that! Haha. One of my books, Once Summer Days, was fortunate to be one of those new books. Yay! 💕
Meet and greet, yey! Signing books made me blushed.
A cup of coffee before the day ended. Cheers! ☕️ Hehe.
Buy some feels & listen to a little love at the #romanceclass
FeelsFest on Saturday, October 22, at Glorietta 5
Ghosts, skeletons, and cobwebs might be
decorating the windows of shops these days, but why give in to fear when you
can celebrate love in October? And why drown your sorrows and stress in beer at
Oktoberfest when you can go on a rollercoaster of emotions at #FeelsFest? At
least that’s what the folks from the #romanceclass community of authors and
readers figure!
Mark your calendars: The #romanceclass
#FeelsFest will be on October 22, 2016,
at Glorietta 5 in Makati. Authors will be on hand to meet readers and sign
books. They’ll be selling indie romance books—many of which you won’t find in
your typical bookstore. There will also be games, giveaways, the launching of over
15 new titles published by indie authors just this month, a book donation drive
for Ayala Malls’ Little Free Library, and the much-anticipated live readings!
In fact, #romanceclass live readings are
show-stealers, thanks to the feels delivered by actors invited to read excerpts
from romance novels. Previous live readings have been punctuated with shrieks
and sighs. #FeelsFest will mark the fifth official live reading event, the last
one held just last month at the Manila International Book Fair. #FeelsFest will
feature new live readings from #romanceclass books. (Visit http://romancepodcast.com/ to get the
audio versions.)
The #FeelsFest live readings will feature
performances by Gio Gahol, Rachel Coates, Hervin Alvarez, and Gabriela
Pangilinan. Expect to hear scenes from books by Mina V. Esguerra, Ines
Bautista-Yao, and more.
“The #romanceclass community is all about
encouraging each other to read, write, and publish books we love,” says author Mina
V. Esguerra, whose books include Tempting
Victoria, What You Wanted, and Iris
After the Incident, all of which and more will be available for sale at the
event. “#FeelsFest is our chance to give back to the community of readers and
friends who’ve supported us. We get to have a little fun, and maybe meet some
new people who love a good love story as much as we do.”
So if you like to hug your hugot close and are addicted to happy
endings, drop by Glorietta 5 on October 22. Selling will begin when the mall
opens, and the official program is scheduled for 2PM to 6PM.
For more information about #romanceclass,
visit http://romanceclassbooks.com,
where you’ll see a catalog of the authors’ books along with other information
about the community. #FeelsFest is brought to you by Ayala Malls.
CONTACT: Mina V. Esguerra
minavesguerra@gmail.com
Twitter, Facebook: minavesguerra
minavesguerra@gmail.com
Twitter, Facebook: minavesguerra
Manila International Book Fair happens every year on the month of September. Ever since I learned about this event back in 2013 (I think), I have always wanted to come to the event and be drowned by tons of books. The said event happened from September 14-18, and this year, I was there, though it was only the last day of 5 days still I was able to attend the fair. Another special thing about this event was having my latest self-published book, Chasing an Elusive Dream, available at the fair (Yay!). It was only 7 copies and I was glad they were sold out. I knew some who bought a copy or two through social media, thank you, thank you! ^ - ^
#AllTheFeels was held also on the last day of the event (another reason why I chose the 18th to attend the fair). Live readings happened and swooned all the readers and writers who filled in the entire room. Gio Gahol as always never failed to deliver kilig. Hehe. Migs, Gab and Gracielle were awesome.
Also the announcement of winners in Precious Pages Movie Making Contest was held at the stage event. Congrats to all!
Wait! There's more! Another event to look forward to this coming October is the #FeelsFest, which is set to swoon all of the humans with feelings.
And as planned, I will launch a new book, Once Summer Days, hopefully. ^o^
Aren't you excited? Well, I am nervous, really nervous! (sigh, hehe)
Before 2015
ends, I started to fulfill one of my dreams--to travel and visit the variety of
beaches the earth has to offer. Cagbalete Island is my first stop and it's
a journey with my friend, Arra.
Here's
how we got there.
We
availed the travel package of 2-Days & 1-Night at Joven's Resort in
Cagbalete Island with Tour for P699 instead of P1299 - Summer's Not Over Yet
offered by Tipid Lakbay (check out metrodeal.com for more details). It's an
affordable deal, so we easily grabbed the chance. I made a reservation for two
on December 28-29, once my friend, Arra, settled the payment through SM
payment. The e-mail was sent on December 25 that was Christmas Day, Friday. It
was a holiday, no office, no transaction, obviously. It was nerve-wracking
waiting for a response, since they didn't have office hours on Saturday and
Sunday. Even though that's the case, we were persistent, I called them more
than 11th times, but no answer. Bogus! Scammed! Those were the negative
thoughts we had on that Saturday. Then, I just got tired of calling them and
decided to trust them blindly. That was faith. We just prayed to God that we
were not scammed. Gladly, we weren't. It was already six in the evening when I
read the response e-mail, sent at three in the afternoon, it was so sudden, we
didn't expect that the Cagbalete Island experience would be pushed through, but
it did. It happened.
Two in
the morning was the sample time from the itinerary, and it's too damn early, but
Arra insisted that we should definitely be there, on time. I packed my things
somewhere 8 to 9 pm and wasn't able to sleep right away--must be due to
the excitement. It's my first, who wouldn't be? I probably slept at 10 or 10:30 pm,
not sure, and woke up at 1:30 am for my prep. We met at Balibago Complex
Terminal, at 2:30 am, still super early on my case, I wasn't able to get enough
sleep. Unfortunately, there was no trip bound to Lucena during that time.
Drivers and bystanders told us that the trips start on 5am. Dang! We had to
wait for more than two hours, instead of sleeping, our eyes are out wide open
waiting for the trip. There were a lot of tricycle drivers who offered a trip to
Turbina, they said we could get to Lucena on time if we used that alternative
route, but I was doubtful as well as my mom. She dropped me off due to safety
issues and Arra was sent by his brother. We tried stayed on a bus believing
that we won't be left behind by the public boat transfers. The bus driver said
that the bus will take on its journey bound to LRT Buendia any minute, from
there we could take the ride to Lucena, but it didn't happen we waited for
almost an hour. Liar! Uneasy, I left the bus and check on the public van
transfer bound to Lucena and gladly, a man informed me that there was a direct
trip to Lucena that would leave once the van had enough passengers. I was
relieved for a bit, but irritation took over a bit as we waited for the arrival
of other passengers. It was already 5:00 am when we left the town of Santa
Rosa. It was a long and tiring waiting game. Gya!
It was 3
to 4 hours long to reach Lucena via Van. At the Lucena Grand Terminal, we took
NCR-rienton bus bound to Mauban, Quezon, it's a 1 1/2 hours ride. I bought piyaya, meringue, shingaling and bottled water while waiting for the departure time. Arra bought pinagong while I was gone from the bus.
A lot of vendors were coming in and out of the bus: watches, shades and
a necklace. Arra even bought a necklace for 50 pesos. It's an affordable deal for
an item made out stainless, so why not. A not attachable magnet on the jewelry
was proof that it was stainless. The vendor said it himself. Reaching the town
of Mauban we were quite in a hurry since the public boat transfer would leave
at exactly 10:30 am and we didn't want to be left behind. From there, we rode a
tricycle to reach the Tourism Office for registration and tickets for the
environmental fee, then another ride bound to the port. We were actually late
for the last trip, but thank God for Miss Lani Fortunado, she was able to inform
the boat for additional passengers, namely us, via phone. And there, we were
able to catch M/B Neneng, a public boat transfer. It was a 45 minutes ride from
Mauban port to Cagbalete Island. When I first stepped on the boat, dizziness
fell upon me, I almost puke on the first boat ride of my life. Praise God, I
didn't. It's hard to battle with my stomach. A vest refrained me from my negative
thoughts during the boat ride. I was practically nervous. The sea looked
dangerous. It's endless. I felt like a sea monster would appear anytime soon. I
could not confidently say that clarity and pureness of the sea since there
were floating unidentified materials on the middle of it and there was smell an
of gasoline. I was a bit disappointed, even in province pollution existed. A
small boat took us to the seashore with white sand and blue water. The water
was expectedly clear on this part of the sea.
First Day
on the Cagbalete Island
Cagbalete
Island is part of the Quezon Province with a number of residents and a few
resorts that cater the tourists. We were welcomed by a few numbers of residence
from Barangay Cagbalete, mostly were kids. They were offering a tour from the
shore to our desired resort. We were hesitant at first because we thought
Joven's Blue Beach Resort was easy to find, but on the second thought, surely,
we needed a guide. He was a young boy. Wasn't able to ask his name, but he felt
kind. He was polite and very accommodating. We asked how much, and he just said
'bahala na po kayo’. One thing that
we both notice, Arra and I, people in this province were quite kind, they
didn't talk loud and even offered help. They felt so calm, unlike the ones from
the city. The young boy even carried one of Arra's bag which was full outfits
for this beach getaway, she brought a lot. He answered all our questions, also
the stupid ones. There was an elementary and high school in the area which took
me by surprise, according to him--I might consider transferring my teaching
career in this area if an opportunity popped out. And he even told us that
there was a flood recently that reached his chest, the thought was disturbing.
Flood near the sea. Scary! He was nice enough to laugh with us. It was a long
walkathon. Ups and downs. Wet and dry. It took us 45 minutes to reach Joven's.
At the
Joven's Blue Beach Resort, Miss Clarissa took care of the tent that was
included in the travel package. It was unthinkable for us to prepare the
package I hadn't done one in my entire life, even Arra. The sight of the
endless sea was breathtaking surprisingly. I wasn't anticipating a sea monster since I was standing safely on the ground. That's what I thought. It was low
tide, so the sea didn't reach the seashore. The white sand was unbelievably
white, though there were a lot of dead plants and few logs--probably due to the
flood. As we rest our tired mind and body bamboo chairs, a ring from a bell
caught my attention, like the ones from the ice cream vendors and it was so
ignorant to be surprised again. Of course, ice cream existed on that place.
Cagbalete wasn't so far from civilization, though I got easily scared
because of boat rides. They must be used to it, unlike me. I almost retracted
from buying pinipig flavored ice
cream because of its unbelievably high price. It actually was 25 pesos ̶ too
expensive for me. The frugal in me must take over. But I didn't know if it's
pity or what, we thought or Arra thought of it first what if we were in their
shoes, that we had to ride boat every day just to get items to sell and earn
something for a living. 'Okay.' My inner self at that time. I gave in and asked
the vendor to lower the price, and he did with just a 5 pesos discount. We tried
to persuade a little more, but there was no hope. That's it, we bought the ice
cream for 20 pesos ̶ I still regretted it though for quite some time, but I had
to move on and I did. During that time, Miss Clarissa finished the tent
prepping with the help of another woman. Though, we had this thought if it was
okay that we didn't help in preparing the tent. She sure looked like she had a
hard time, but it's too late to offer help that tent was ready for us to
indulge in it and rest. After cleansing our feet from muddy walkathon, we
decided to get back the lack of sleep we had due to the incorrect perception of
trips. Surely, Arra was able to sleep during the van ride, and I wasn't. My
head began to ache. I tried to eat it away with the food we bought from the
terminal and with the Stik-O brought
by Arra. They tasted divine for some reason but had no effect on me. Due to my
poor eyesight, I had to wear contact lenses during the whole trip. Arra
suggested to remove my lenses, so I could sleep nicely. I tried to sleep in a
tent, but it was hopeless. I set the alarm at 3 pm as told by my companion.
I woke up before 3 pm, I hadn't got any sleep. The pain was still there caused by lack of sleep and contact lenses. It's my eyes. Gya! It started to get on me and worst I felt bloated like I want to make a bowel movement, but there's none. Changing into our bathing outfit, averted my thoughts from the pain. We're on the beach and I didn't want to spoil this getaway for me, more so for Arra. I drastically buried the pain in the deepest part of my brain, somewhere that could make me feel numb even just for a while.
I woke up before 3 pm, I hadn't got any sleep. The pain was still there caused by lack of sleep and contact lenses. It's my eyes. Gya! It started to get on me and worst I felt bloated like I want to make a bowel movement, but there's none. Changing into our bathing outfit, averted my thoughts from the pain. We're on the beach and I didn't want to spoil this getaway for me, more so for Arra. I drastically buried the pain in the deepest part of my brain, somewhere that could make me feel numb even just for a while.
Photo shoots and video recording, then bathing in the sea. It's the fun and exciting part. Same thoughts of sea monsters rumbled my mind, but I couldn't care less. Bring it on, sea monsters! If there were any, thankfully, there wasn't even a single one. The sea was tastefully salty.
The night
fell. We're done fixing ourselves for a good night sleep I was looking forward
to. The water from the bathroom was pampering my skin with its cold
temperature, it felt refreshing. It was past 6 in the evening when the
excruciating pain from the headache returned. I couldn't sleep even if I wanted
to. Gya! Gya! Banging my head on a hard entity was already an option when my
mom called. That was a relief, talking to her made me fall to sleep. I was
thinking of going home that night, but it's not possible, no boat trips. We planned
to stay until the 30th since it was mentioned that we could stay there as long
as we want, but I was feeling so sick. I wanted to drink medicine, but there
was none and I was feeling lazy to ask someone. But as I talked to my mom, I've
mentioned that we would be home tomorrow. Arra was surprised when she heard
me--the situation could benefit her boyfriend also since he was complaining about on
the phone about the extension of our stay. Naturally, I fell asleep with the
freezing temp, thanks to my thick sweater jacket and Arra's blanket, I survived
the night.
Second
Day on the Cagbalete Island
I woke up
past 5 in the morning. I heard the snoozing alarm, but I was too lazy to get
up, not until Arra turned off the alarm and informed about the time. There was
a boat trip at 7:30 from Cagbalete to Mauban port and that was our target
departure, but time flew by so fast while enjoying the great sceneries in front
of us. My headache was gone, Arra was right, it because of the lack of sleep
and my eyes. I could have fun without feeling any pain. That was great! We ate
breakfast with what little food we had. Powdered milk courtesy of Arra, yes!
Thanks to her, a hundred times. I borrowed 2 mugs and asked for hot water from
Miss Clarissa, I was grateful she let me. Piyaya,
Stick-O, shingaling for our breakfast. Eating in a bar like felt we were
eating sumptuous food. Nothing beats the beauty of nature! We were full, though
we had eaten less. That's what it takes to be a traveler!
Change outfit for Arra, wearing the same bathing garments for me, photoshoots, slo-mo recording, sand play, sea dipping, too cold, so we just took a bath in the bathroom.
I asked Miss Clarissa beforehand
if there was a 1 pm trip, thankfully there was. I told her also that we wanted
to take the carabao ride since the muddy walkathon wouldn't be a practical
option to take. We were all glammed up and didn't want to spoil that. It was
already 11:30 am I was afraid we might miss the public transfer. 'Kuya', the driver of the caretela waited for fetching us the
second time around, the first was we weren't ready still prepping, especially
Arra. A family who left before and fixed their tent was actually waiting for
us--such a shame, but I reserved the carabao ride and I heard the parents
talking about walking to the other side of the island. They thought of making their
journey easier, I guess. The ride was a bit bumpy, caused by the unconstructed
road, but Nini or Minnie, not sure what his/her name was a gentle and obedient
carabao. I just didn't like how 'Kuya'
patted Nini's behind using a stick, it wasn't that hard though.
The boat
ride bound to Mauban Port was a free ride thanks to Miss Lani Fortunado, and
also the first boat should also be free since it was included in the tour
package, I think. There were only a few passengers in M/V Anthony, that's a
relief. We even spotted foreigners, so they were entranced by the beauty of
Cagbalete Island. The other foreigner was young as described by Arra. He was
with a girlfriend, a gorgeous one. The guy was quite handsome according to
Arra. So sad that he already had a girlfriend. Gya! High breed, that's what I
call them. The sailing was smooth, calm and getting a glimpse of a handsome was
beneficial and a feast to my eyes, though I couldn't clearly see his features,
his silhouette was enough to get my attention. The color and texture of his
skin, his body built, muscles construction, I guess those details were enough
evidence to prove his awesomeness. We returned safely at Mauban Port, rode a
tricycle, dropped off to a terminal, Van bound to Lucena Grand Terminal and
bought some 'pasalubong' like yema cake, cassava cake, and pinagong. Van bound
to Santa Rosa, Laguna. We took the Batangas route due to traffic in Laguna
route. It took us 4 hours before we arrived at Balibago Complex. That was a
long ride and it almost got the worst out of me. Inside the van was a jump pack
of passengers. I couldn't even stretch my legs, they felt numb. Music was the
perfect companion in a long ride. Thanks to Arra's iPod.
Ideal
transpo schedule...
From Laguna to Mauban, Quezon: VIA COMMUTE5:00 - 8:00 am - take any van bound to Lucena (3-4 hours; 150) then get off at Lucena Grand Terminal.
8:00 - 9:30 am - take an Ncr-rienton bus going to Mauban (1.5 hours; P54) and tell the driver to drop you off at the town of Mauban.
9:30 - 10:30 am - ride a tricycle (P10/head) and tell the driver to drop you off at Mauban Port for registration & boat transfers. This is where you have to pay the environmental fee which costs 50 pesos per person.
10:30 - 11:30 am - Public boat transfer costs 50 pesos. Only has two trips from Mauban Port to Cagbalete Island: 10:30 am and 4:30 pm. Be punctual or else you have to take a private boat transfer which costs much or wait long for the next public boat transfer.
11:30 am - 12:00 pm - Upon arrival at Cagbalete Island, you can walk going to Joven’s beach resort (30 minutes).
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