Summer!

Blame it on the fun!

I wasn’t really able to take photos when my friends and I went to the beach. Or, maybe I was but they’re in my camera and not my phone and I’m too lazy to transfer and edit and blah blah blah. Maybe I will later on when I find lots of free time, oh wait, I’m sorry, I mean, when I make lots of free time . But for now, this collage (and the story) will have to do:

My friends and I went to Alabat, Quezon on account of that’s where my friend’s Aunt A is from. And so, even though it was sooo difficult to get to, it cost us way way lesser than if we’d gone anywhere else. I.e. It cost us less than P1800 each—that’s for food, transpo and accommodations, for three days and two nights! Of course, they weren’t fancy accommodations, but the air conditioner worked and there was running water, which makes it all OK by me!

Our travel time was 6 hours from Alabang. We took a bus to Lucena, another bus to Atimonan and the boat ride from Atimonan to Alabat island was for around 45 minutes. From the port of Alabat, we took a tricycle and it was another 45 minutes to Essay Resort. As I said, it’s not the most convenient of places to go to, but I think it was worth it.

I liked the place because it was clean and quiet. Considering it was the holy weekend, beaches should’ve been crawling with vacationists, right? But I guess this is too out of the way of the normal local tourist circuit. So, it was very relaxing and we stayed there the whole time. We didn’t hassle ourselves with touring the island or going wherever else because we were on vacation! And I really should stop confusing “vacation” with “exhausting trip”.

I guess we saved some money because my friend B, cooked all our food. Note: Buy everything you need once you get to the port. There aren’t really stores around the resort where you can buy cooking oil and rice and bottled water and whatever else you’ll probably need.

We really had lots of fun. Just hanging out at the beach or in the air conditioned room, listening to music (thanks to K for bringing her awesome speakers), drinking, answering trivia questions, telling stories, sharing feelings and embarrassing ourselves.

I do love summer, not just because it’s the best time to go to the beach but because it all gives us a reason to go bonding with our friends at the beach! Imagine asking people you want to bond with (I’m not calling them your friends yet because you’re still not that close) to go to the beach with you sometime in July or August. They’d think you were crazy and they’d ask why. And if it’s not your birthday or you’re not sick with cancer, what good reason can you give? But if it’s March or April or May and they ask why you want to go to the beach with them, you can actually say, “Because it’s summer! What’s wrong with you?”

Beach Weekend!

So last weekend, I went to the beach for the first time. This year. I don’t know why it took me so long, but I’m glad that I got to go because I was dangerously close to not going to the beach at all this summer. And wouldn’t that be very tragic? I mean, if you live here in the Philippines where the beach is only two and a half hours away (or 3 if you take the wrong exit at SLEX and end up in the Calamba town proper instead) from Metro Manila, it’s almost a crime not to go to the beach at least once during the summer time.

So my officemates and I, went to Aguila Beach Resort in Anilao, Batangas. The resort was, okay. And by okay, I mean it was one of those “you get what you pay for” places. There were 8 of us and we paid around P750 each for an overnight stay with breakfast. Anyway, here’s the verdict:

The food wasn’t very good, but at least it wasn’t that expensive (P130 per meal).

The swimming pool closed at 9P.M. (so early!) but at least it was clean-ish (I mean, what swimming pool is clean, really).

The room was small, the pillows were flat and they only gave 2 blankets even though there were 8 of us, but at least the aircon and fan worked, the bathroom’s drain didn’t clog, the water didn’t run out, the electricity didn’t go out and once you close the door, you couldn’t hear the noise from outside.

As for the beach, it was quite small, it was near the pier, the sand was brown, and there was a lot of people, but it was cleaner than the beaches I’ve been to in Bataan and Zambales, and Sampaguita Beach, which is cleaner and has less people is only a 15-minute boat ride away (with additional fee, of course). Also, the sand isn’t so rocky that you wouldn’t be able to walk barefoot (like in La Luz in Laiya). I took off my slippers as soon as I saw the sand and my feet didn’t have any problems.

Of course, the best part was that I went there with my friends so I knew that even if the resort had sucked, I’d probably still enjoy the weekend because you have fun with your friends wherever you are anyway. It was really fun, and I actually still can’t believe it a little bit. Because, you know how there are people whose lives are like those of people on TV? I mean, that they go on beach outings or Tagaytay weekends and they don’t have any problems related to scheduling and logistics and budget and asking permission from their parents? Well, I’ve never been one of those people. My friends from high school and I have been wanting to go on a beach outing for ages, but we’ve never managed to do it. Because there’s always someone who will complain about something — the cost, the location, parents didn’t allow him/her to go, and whatever other reason. So it was very strange, but very nice, that things sort of just fell into place for this event. It’s almost worth not having gone to the beach any other date this year.

And now, pictures!

In the car, during the fun fun fun road trip Don’t you just love road trips?

We buried V in the sand!

Last picture before boarding the boat to leave Sampaguita beach

Hope you had a happy summer everyone!

Summer Announcement:

Summer has officially started!

How do I know?

Because they’re now selling inflatable swimming pools in SM. Is there any clearer indication?

Oh yeah– I’m going to the beach tomorrow! Wahoooooo!!! See you after the weekend!

Back from the Beach

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Summer fun! I just got back from our company outing, and it was great! We stayed overnight at the La Luz Resort in Batangas, and although it didn’t have the best beach in the world (mabato! masakit sa paa maglakad sa dagat!), the resort was pretty nice, and the food was delicious, so it was all good. Plus, the Management had finally come to their senses and scrapped the “games” (and other group activities, besides eating) part. I mean, having to do stupid things (like running barefoot on really really hot sand, whilst holding a spoon with calamansi on it) with people you hardly know (like people from the other departments) just sucks the fun out of the whole thing, right?

Anyway, we didn’t do much, which is just the way I like it. We got there, ate lunch, stayed at the room for a while doing nothing, swam for a bit in the beach (some of us went kayaking (is this a real verb?)), ate dinner, and then just hung out at one of the cabanas drinking, er, was it vodka and sprite? There were a bunch of other drinks, too (gin, i remember, and something else i’ve completely forgotten — not because i was drunk, i just wasn’t paying attention. wait, it was arctic!) and lots and lots of snacks (this, I was happy about ). But since I’m not really a drinker, I had more fun enjoying the conversation. It’s so fun being one of the few sober people in a group, isn’t it? Because you get to see everyone make fools of themselves, but you don’t have to share the embarrassment. Hehehe. Although it does get a bit messier on your end, because you’re the one who still cares if you get vomit all over your clothes. -_- Luckily, my officemates had enough sense not to drink that much, and even when some of them did eventually throw up, they always reached the bathroom in time.

I kind of get the whole “social relevance” (haha! what a term!) of drinking now. I mean, I now get why it’s a social event–because some people become more honest with themselves (and to other people as well) when they’re drunk, so it’s a way to get to know who the people around you are, really. This doesn’t mean that I like it now, though. I’m afraid my tastebuds just don’t find any kind of alcohol delicious, whether it’s mixed with sprite or juice or whatever. Mapait siya. At ayoko ng mapait. Period.

Anyway, I guess now’s as good a time as any to tell you that I didn’t really like summer all that much until last year. I just didn’t (or don’t, because I still don’t like it) like socializing too much, and getting wet sand between your toes. Plus, I’m not that great a swimmer (I can hardly be called a “swimmer” even), nor do I look good in a swimsuit (and I’m not too keen on seeing other people in swimsuits either). But, probably from reading so many travel blogs, I began to appreciate the beauty of the beaches (and the Philippines in general, actually, but beaches are mostly our main feature, so…), and local tourism. And seafood and other local delicacies (I mean, those local to the province that the beach is in) aren’t bad either. I’ve even stopped caring about what the sun will do to my complexion. As long as I don’t get skin cancer or anything, I don’t care anymore if I’m fair-skinned or whatever. Well, I’ll never be fair-skinned anyway, even if I hide from the the sun for a year–some people are just born with this natural tan (especially in the Philippines), so it’s fine with me. So, I’m thankful that I’ve grown to like beaches, and summer (even if it’s irritatingly hot in this tropical country!), because since I already like rainy season, then now, I pretty much like all the days of the year!