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!

The Last 10 Days

A month ago, my mom sent this e-mail to our family e-groups (Yes, we have one. Don’t all families do? ) :

Hindi naman siya masyadong excited?! Hehe. My mom writes the craziest e-mails sometimes. Though, I can’t blame her for this one because I share the same sentiments. And true enough, the past 10 days have been lots and lots of fun.

Day 1
April 8, 2011

Every member of my family rode an airplane on this day. But not the same plane, and not to the same destinations.

My sister planned on visiting our cousin and 1-year-old niece (whom she’d never seen) in Hong Kong and I guess the dates that she could take a leave from work was around this time, so she booked a flight to Hong Kong for April 8. Coincidentally, my brother had to attend an April 9 wedding in Boracay. So he booked a flight to Boracay for April 8. As for me, my mom and my dad, we were supposed to go to Coron, Palawan in March, but due to scheduling conflicts and a travel expo, we had to reschedule our trip. And my mom figured, why not go on April 8, too?

Days 2 – 4
April  9-11, 2011

So we spent the next days in Coron, Palawan, enjoying El Rio Y Mar Resort, and other really interesting places, i.e. Twin Lagoons, Barracuda Lake, Kayangan Lake, Siete Picados and Maquinit Hot Spring.

I think we went to the best places to see in Coron, but I want to go back because there are still tons of places that I read about but we no longer had the time or money to go to, like Malcapuya Island or Banol Beach. 4 days and 3 nights sounds okay when I think about people who go there for 3 days and 2 nights, but really, I want to spend a week there or longer.

We met a German couple who owned a yacht that they had parked near the resort and we asked them how long they were going to stay there for. They said they didn’t know and from the looks of it, they didn’t have to care that much about time. They had their own boat, a resort/town nearby to buy supplies from, funds from their retirement (I’m assuming) and each other for company. Talk about living the life! If I liked boats, maybe their life would the kind that I would aim for. Hehe.

Days 5 – 8
April 12-15, 2011

So after about 4 days in Hong Kong, my sister finally came home! She arrived with her boyfriend E on April 12 and the next days were spent shopping and meeting some of my sister’s friends. And of course, we had to go sightseeing, too. So last Friday, my mom took a day off from work and we all went to Tagaytay! The ultimate day trip place*!

(L-R) My brother J, my mom, me, Ate and her boyfriend E at Bag of Beans for breakfast. Photo was taken by my dad.

Quick stop at Cliff House to see the view of the Taal Volcano and Lake

Lounging around at Tagaytay Highlands

Day 9
April 16, 2011

Saturday! Big party day! And you can tell that it’s a big party, too, based on the food:

Well, we had a lot to celebrate anyway. As my mother said in her e-mail, it’s hers and my brother’s birthday, and my sister is home!(She lives in New Zealand now so it’s always an event when she’s here in the Philippines.)

Lots of aunts and uncles and cousins came, which meant lots of noisy kids. My cousins have all been getting married and having kids the past 10 years that I now have 7 nieces and nephews, all under the age of 8. I know that doesn’t sound all that many when you use the actual number (it’s less than 10!), but when they’re all together, the noise they make is equivalent to the noise of 20 kids. Seriously.

Here’s a rare moment of silence from them. Thank you, Disney Channel!

And I don’t know where the tradition of taking family pictures after events started, but we seem to do it every time we have a big party, especially during Christmas and New Year. I don’t have a copy of the photo though because it was taken with my photographer cousin’s hi-tech expensive DSLR, but after everybody left, we also took a photo using our point-and-shoot camera of the ones who were left in the house, specifically:

(L-R) Me, Dad, Mom, my brothers girlfriend M, my brother J, ates boyfriend E, our dog B, and my sister Z

Day 10
April 17, 2011

Now it’s today and my sister and E went to Palawan for their summer trip. The house is somewhat quiet again for the first time since they got here last week, which is why I have time to blog about all this. After a few days, though, they’ll be back and the days will be busy again, but if it’s anything like the busyness of the last 10 days then you’ll hear no complaints from me.

*This is just my opinion and I’m most probably biased since I’m a Southern girl, but really, Tagaytay kicks Antipolo’s a** as a day trip / garden restaurant destination. Hehehe!

About Header Image

It seems a bit late to tell you about the header image, since it’s been that way for the past month or so, but I wanted to update today, and it’s just as good as any other topic.

Header image is a picture of the Sta. Fe Beach Club in Bantayan Island, Cebu. It’s the place I went to with my friends last February, for an early summer vacation. We didn’t actually stay at that resort, because I was afraid that since it was near the pier, then the water on its beach would be oily. But I have to admit, that it really exceeded my expectations, and look at all that sand!

Not that I’m regretting the decision to stay at where we did, because Kota Beach Resort was pretty great, too. It’s on the other side of the island and sort of more private, despite being closer to town and having the local high school just behind it. Anyway, it really is a great place. Much like most of the beaches we have here in the Philippines.

We’re really lucky to be one of the best places in the world to spend the summer in.

Sunrise at Bantayan Island (taken at Kota Beach Resort)