Boracay Newbie!

White sand

Yes, folks. It was my first time in Boracay! Although our first day in the island was almost non-existent because of the bedlam happening in Japan, we managed to let go of our worries the next day and bask in the sunny (sometimes cloudy) sky.

Boracay, baby! (photo by Kenneth Gaerlan)

Three days and two nights in Boracay is not enough, I tell you. Next time I go there, it’ll be at least a four-day affair. On our first night, we walked around the beach. We actually walked from Station 2 to Station 1, which was pretty exhausting. That’s why some of us decided to ride a tricycle back to D’Mall. From there, Babe and I bought a couple of beers and chips for the night. We had a fridge in the room so we were only maximizing the opportunity. LOL.

With Babe

As much as I’d like to post my photos, I can’t yet because I’m waiting for Babe to edit the pictures. Some of the photos you see here, the pretty ones, are taken by Kenneth Gaerlan. You can see which pictures he took because they’re the ones who look so, erm, flawless. As much as I’d love to go reef walking, we didn’t get to do it. We went island hopping and snorkeling though.

Lucky for us, there weren’t as many people yet in the island. We’re guessing school’s not over yet so most of them are stuck in classrooms. LOL. Foreigners abound though. Another added bonus to this trip is the fact that I was with Babe! Need I say more?

By the beach

More details about our Boracay trip will be posted in Finding Manila!

An Awesome Three Days in Puerto Galera

Babe picked me up at 4:30AM and off we went to Alabang to meet up with Jeff and Nini who had to wait an hour for us. Hihi. The bus ride to the pier was fast and the ferry was virtually empty. We could play tag in the ferry, as a matter of fact. Haha! When we arrived at White Beach, we all said that Puerto Galera felt like a ghost town because there were no crowd at all. During summer, people are drinking as early as 11AM.

Thankfully, the weather cooperated with us when we were at Puerto Galera. It rained at night but it didn’t rain long enough to ruin our vacation.  We were a group of five–Jeff and his girlfriend Nini, me and Babe, and Jay. The room we got was so nice. It was spacious, it had a dining table, a fridge, a kitchen area, and we even had our own patio. We only paid Php2,600! Total bargain!

Our first day was mostly spent on sleeping in. Although we started drinking right after we had lunch–can you believe it?? We had a bottle of brandy and three pitchers of Mindoro Sling. We went out and got ourselves a henna tattoo. Babe and I got matching henna tattoo–an ambigram of our names  that Kuya Jheerick had drawn for me before.

We both paid Php250 for our henna, by the way. If it were summer, I’m sure the price would be steeper. After I got my henna, I realized that having it on my lower back was such a bad idea because I wasn’t able to sit down for an hour or so. I’m such a klutz so Babe just had me tie my shirt around my waist and stand beside him the whole time we were drinking.

When we went back to our room, we drank some more! Haha. The next day, we decided to rent a boat and go snorkeling and probably island hopping. For Php1,000 , we had the boat for the whole afternoon. We went snorkeling and boy was it fun! When we arrived at the coral spot, we transferred to a smaller boat that brought us closer to where the corals were. From the smaller boat, we jumped into the water and held on to the rope beside the boat. The boat pulled us to where the corals where and it was so much cool. Babe and I fed fishes, got scared of how close the corals were to our bellies, and laughed at Nini who was so terrified of fishes that she was hugging the side of the boat the whole time.

After snorkeling, they took us to this underwater cave at some island. We had to crawl our way into this little opening outside cave but it was fun anyway. The rocks were a little sharp though and thankfully I didn’t hurt myself or my ass. The cave is small and during high tide, water gushes inside the cave so you can’t really get in unless you want to drown yourself. The base of the pool basin was really slippery even though we were wearing our slippers. I scraped my knee despite my extra effort.

To exit the cave, you have to climb up the cave then go down this really steep rock. While we were walking out the cave, Babe told me to be careful because I get easily bruised or “pasain” in the words of my baby. Jeff chimed and told Nini, “Beh, ingat ka. Tatanga-tanga ka pa naman!” Jeff’s comment resonated until the evening, by the way. There’s a makeshift staircase (that looks like its ready to give up anytime) that makes climbing out the cave a tad bit easier.

Emerging from the cave, you’ll be greeted by this sweeping view of the ocean. The rocks are doubly sharp here, by the way. From here, we had to climb down on our own. I’m not that scared of heights but I was terrified of tripping, landing on my butt, and peeing blood. Haha. Kidding!

After this underwater cave, we went to a nearby island and snorkeled some more. The beach was secluded but there was another boat when we arrived. The shoreline was cleaner than that of White Beach. That night, we drank some more. I was smashed! Haha. Babe understands why I got so drunk–I didn’t turn any drink down. That afternoon, we had some more brandy, a whole bottle of Vodka that only four of us drank, and Mindoro Sling. We even had tequila that night so… well… I got drunk. Babe walked me back to our room and let me sleep while he went back to the bar with the others.

The next day, we all woke up late–understandable. We had to check out at 1PM but we all wanted to swim some more so off we went to the beach. Babe didn’t want to swim anymore but he did anyway. After we swam, Babe realized that someone stole one of his Havaianas. Poor baby. Babe was really pissed because he just bought that last March. It hasn’t been a year and he can’t use it anymore. By 3PM, we were in the ferry on our way back to Batangas Pier. We saw one of the coolest things ever–a tornado! It was a little eerie at first because we saw it start as a little streak of nothing into this long twister.

Thankfully, the twister did not get any closer to our boat and we arrived at the pier safely.

A Quick Weekend in Puerto Galera

So I’m back from a quick weekend getaway to Puerto Galera with Babe, Ken, and Jeck. We were originally 10 in this trip but the others backed out. We were a little disappointed that everybody didn’t get to go but the four of us really wanted this trip to push through so we went ahead. So what if we were only four in this trip and I’m the only girl? I’m one of the boys anyway.

I’m not ashamed to say that it was my first time in Puerto  Galera and I love my first experience there.

March 19, 2010 (Friday)

We weren’t allowed to take a leave so we had to go to the office first. After a grueling day at the office, Babe, Jeck, Joey, and I went drinking at Krocodile Grille with Sir Ron. It was hell of a night! Sir Ron got drunk and kept reminding Pao to take care of me because he’s lucky to have me daw.

He also told me this: “Wag mong i-baby si Pao, Hanna.” Sir Ron gives the best advice when he’s drunk. Haha! Ken arrived too after attending a friend’s wedding. We left Shang at around 3am and went to Ken’s house. He packed, while Pao and I “tried” to get some sleep but ended up watching a movie instead.

March 20, 2010 (Saturday)

We left Ken’s house at 5AM and caught a bus to Batangas City Pier  from Buendia. From Buendia, the fare costs 170 pesos. By 8:30-9:00am, we arrived at the pier.

We bought two-way tickets for 450 per person.  It took a while before the ferry left and the ride was bumpy but not enough to get me seasick. The ride was long and exhausting because the ferry went to the Calapan port (I think) first before dropping us off at White Beach.

When we got to the beach, Babe took care of where we’re gonna stay and all. The room is right in front of the beach, sparing us from long walks and all. It was 1,500 per night and the landlady was really nice to us. The room didn’t have TV at first but after Babe convinced the lady that he really wanted a TV, the lady managed to give us a TV. Well, she couldn’t help gushing at the sight of Paolo kasi. Haha!

After having lunch (which consisted of Sisig topped with cheese, Caldereta topped with cheese, Carbonara, and fresh Calamansi Juice), Jeck bought some board shorts while I bought a white sun dress.

We slept the whole afternoon away after that because we were all dead tired and still badly hung over. Babe hates swimming at beaches because he gets reaaaally red so even though he looked so ready for a swim, he never once took a dip or waded in the beach. Ken and I woke up at around 5pm and went to the beach. We left the two boys in the room still sleeping like babies.

When Babe and Jeck finally woke up, we all sat by the beach and waited for the sun to set.

Dinner time was so funny because I couldn’t help but notice that most of the servers in restaurants are gay. I have to admit that the gay waiters add “color” to Puerto Galera nights. Dinner was heavy because the restaurant served unlimited garlic rice.

We all took a quick shower and headed back to the beach. Then disaster happened to me. You see, the restaurants are elevated by a foot and a half from the beach. I didn’t notice that I was already at the edge and that there were no stairs in front of me but rather a small ramp. I stepped forward then slid like a moron onto the beach. I fell butt first, scraped my ass (I was wearing a dress) and caught the attention of the people quietly dining in front of me. I stood up, laughed it off, walked towards the beach and sat down. I hurt my ankle and couldn’t walk. What a way to start a night of partying, right? I walked limply while Babe tried to massage my ankle. The boys think this is karma catching up on me because I kept making fun of Ken and Jeck’s photos earlier in the afternoon.

We found a table by the beach and drank the night away. The much-raved-about Mindoro Sling didn’t taste that good. It tastes just like Weng-Weng.

Babe and I had a huge fight in the middle of the drinking spree, by the way. It was a real intense fight. When two Scorpios clash, expect some brutal shouting. Our fight proved too intense for Jeck and Ken who left Babe and I to talk. We managed to patch things up eventually because we didn’t want to ruin the night. But my eyes were already swollen from all the crying and I became the clown of the night.

When we started walking back to our room, we encountered a guy in the beach who offered us  a shot. I gladly obliged and asked for another shot. Nothing beats free alcohol from a complete stranger. I was utterly dizzy by the time we got to our room. I wanted to sleep but Babe forced me to take a shower and take out my contacts. I vomited twice in the bathroom, by the way. I tried asking for a kiss from Paolo and he refused to give me one. “Yucccck! Sumuka ka ehhh!” Hahaha! I managed to steal one though after I made him believe that I did brush my teeth when in fact, I didn’t.  I will forever remember the look in his face that night.

March 21, 2010 (Sunday)

Our last day in Puerto Galera. We woke up at 9am and contemplated if we’re gonna stay another night. Babe and I wanted to stay for another night but Ken and Jeck already wanted to go home. Ken and I went swimming again and tried skipping stones. Ken’s a master at this! Haha!

We went back to the room and Babe was already watching TV. As in he never went swimming talaga. Anyway, our ferry’s scheduled to leave at 3:30pm so we ate lunch and looked for items to bring home. Babe and I scoured the stalls for a black necklace for him but we couldn’t find one. We just bought shades and several shirts.

We paid the lady an additional 450 pesos because we had to extend our stay in the room for three more hours. When we left the room, we were shocked to see that our ferry literally just hoisted its anchor up and left. We missed the ferry by seconds! Babe sweet-talked someone if they could let us in on another ferry and we were able to board the next one. The trip was much shorter because from White Beach, the ferry didn’t go to Calapan anymore.

When we arrived at the Pier, we ate a little and went our separate ways. Ken and Jeck boarded a Cubao-bound bus while Babe and I contemplated if we’re gonna board an Alabang-bound bus or a Pala-Pala-bound van. I opted for the Alabang bus, where I boarded another van to Cavite.

I was home by 9pm. But not after I earned for myself another wound on the back of my right thigh. I brought home nine bruises and one wound. Sweeet.

* * *

This April, Babe and I will return to Puerto Galera with Siz and Chris. On June, an office mate will get married in Bicol. We plan to go to Caramoan too after the wedding. I can’t wait for this trip.

Note: Photos are from the uber awesome Ken Gaerlan!