Summer
Escapade at Puerto Galera: A Travelogue
White Beach
Puerto Galera, Orriental Mindoro,
Philippines
May 14-16, 2011
Am not
excited! I know that I was supposed to
be. But I cannot feel even a single most special heartbeat within me… It seems
that I was just waiting for a bus and eventually ride on it when it stops in
front of me. That was Friday the 13th. I hate to believe that the
stars have something to do with my mood that day... Am I being Lunatic? Or
should I blame the conjunction of four planets that occur that very same day.
Ah!! The feeling was so pathetic!
Few hours left.
5:00 in the afternoon. After office hours, I decided to visit the Euprasia
Parish for there was the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, visiting the Batanguñoes. I
will be ashamed if I will let the opportunity pass without even having a sight
of the famous Nazarene. To make the story short, I went there with my two
officemates. And I was really overwhelmed by how people from all walks of life
tried to pay respect to the Nazarene. The pathetic feeling then became a joyous
one.
Am I now ready for tomorrow?
Half way maybe. I went to SM Hypermart to buy some stuff…snacks and toiletries
complete my grocery. It was past 8:00 in the evening when I got home. Traveling
home was quite tiring. I have to ride on a jeepney till Ibaan; From Ibaan rode
on another jeep till Rosario and then from Rosario to our place…What
a day… I immediately packed my things... All was doing well but to my dismay, I
learned that Ate Elly, Ate Ailene, Ate Ody and Ninang cannot really make it the
following day. That made me feel uneasy again....But all was set. To cancel the
trip is not a wise decision after all. I ended that day with a mind exercise I
have learned in one of my Psychology class. Good thing it worked... I went to
bed 101 % decided that I am gonna enjoy tomorrow’s trip and I certainly will!
May 14, 2011. Saturday.
I started my day with a prayer, hoping that HE
will keep us safe in our entire trip. I waited for Ate Mia, Sandy and Yhana and
at around 5:30 in the moring we rode on Supreme 4017 heading to Batangas City. We fetched Gp at Rosario. We arrived at Batangas City Pier at
around 7:30 in the morning. Yhana assisted us in securing a ticket… Our then little Yhana was well applauded for
she was the one who secured our ticket.. we got PHP 70.00 discount because we
availed the Student fare…hahaha,, we paid for The terminal and Environmental
fee. We rode on the Golden Vulture headed to Mulien, a town before White beach.
It was a motor banca of 150 capacity. We enjoyed the scenery. Sandy enjoyed watching the sea waves. Half of
the trip she was just looking on the glass window. Ate Mia and Yhana were
sleeping while Gp and I were happily having our conversation. Topic??? If the
two passengers aboard with us are gay or not!!!Hahaha. The trip lasted for
almost 1 hour. We took pictures and have a look on magnificent scenery. Golden
Vulture had its first stop over at Mulien. The Crew keep asking us if we are
really heading to Mulien since most of the passengers are bound to White Beach…
But with Yhana in the group, we decided to listen to her. I was 7 years old
since I last went to Puerto Galera and seeing the little town of Mulien, it
came too me the old memories I have here. I was with Ninang Epang then... those
memories…. We rode on a tricycle bound to white beach. These
time..nakipagtawaran pa kami.. 120 kasi ang singil..buti na lang mataas ang
competition among the tricycle drivers kaya 100 lang binayaran namin… it took
us almost half an hour to reach white Beach… Seeing the Holiwood hotel we burst
into laughter.. napakalapit naman pala ng bababaan ig dumeretso kami ng white
beach.. ayaw lang talaga kaming paglakadin ni yhana… well , good experience na
din.. the ways from Mulien to white Beach can be likened to the sought after
route to Tagaytay.. no doubt, people come and go to place like these.
We finally
reached Nanay Monang’s house at around 9:30 in the morning. We saw Nanay Monang
again together with Tita Ema, Tta Totie, Tita Abu, Tita Eden And Lolo Cardo.We
were treated as visitors. There were all
nice and hospitable. We rest for a while. All of us were excited to see the
white sand of Puerto Galera. The sun was shining so dazzling but it never
stopped us walking barefooted on the shore.., Sandy was very excited to wear her bathing
suit. But we decided first to have our breakfast. We went to Park way, this
time with Louie and Piolo. We bought 1.2 kilos of chicken, 1 kl of pork, ½ kl.
Of hotdog, eggs, and other condiments. We were happily exploring the simple
place of Puerto Galera. We enjoyed the
Nilagang Baboy of tiya eden.
We ate until we are all full.. nagutom kami sa byahe.. napuyat sa maagang
gising. That’s why, after eating our lunch, we all fell into a nap.. maikli
lang pero ang sarap ng tulog ko…At around 2:30 in the afternoon, we headed to the beach.. walang pakialam
kahit masunog ang balat…basta ng enjoy talaga kami… Photo shoot anywhere basta
pwedeng pang face book… :) … I can say si Gp at si Sandy talaga ng pinaka nag
enjoy kasi di talaga sila umaalis sa tubig… andun nang-huli pa sila ng isada
dun sa part na maraming bato.. Oh! I almost forgot, kasama naman si nene… who,
according to Sandy ay ayaw nyang maging friend
kasi daw nahawak sa salbabida nya,..hahaha..it was almost dusk when we decided
to go home.. pero ang paahunin sa dagat ang mga kasama ko ay napakahirap
gawin…umiiyak pa si Sandy…
sinabi na lang naming na kakain kami. Fortunately, pumayag naman sya.. Adobong
manok was set for Dinner.
After fulfilling
the crave of our stomachs, we headed again to beach. We watched the live shows
for tourists and explored the night life at Puerto Galera. We enjoyed watching
the fire dancers. It was my first time. We took a video of it. At a glance, one
can say that it was just a normal dance/ entertainment with a simple twist of
fire glazing at the end of two rope straps. Heavy music around make the entire
shore seemingly alive at night. All people were having fun. Numerous foreigners
are around. Some are with their “co- aliens” and some were with Filipinas. At
ang mga Pilipinang ito ay binigyan naming ng tagline na “nahango”… From the
word itself, meaning nahango sa
kahirapan ng mga amerikano… Out of a sudden naging socially aware na naman
ako,.. It’s quite disturbing to see our minors having an intimate relationship
with them... tsk,,tsk…tsk… well enough of those sentiments.. I am here to have
fun and not to put some extra burden on my shoulders :). The night get deeper and deeper so we went
home and decided to have our night’s sleep... the first sleep at the land of
the Mindorenians…
May 15, 2011, Second day
I was awaken by
the tickling sound of raindrops…I took a glance with ate Yhana lying at the
left side of the bed and Sandy,
lying next to me. There were still both sleeping. Same as ate Mia and Gp. It
was 6:30 in the morning when we headed to the beach. We really enjoyed playing
with the waves. The sea breeze touching our faces has a hypnotic effect. We
were like kids playing endlessly as if we never had the spare time to play and
enjoy. We stayed at the beach for almost
4 hours. Long enough to feel the intense heat from the sun but too short to satisfy
the childish pleasures with in us. We went back home and have our breakfast.
Hotdogs and Sabaw na kape were set for breakfast.. Si ate yhana ang nagluto..at
masarap pala ang luto ni Yhana.,,after having our breakfast, nakatulog si S0andy..
napagod sa pag swiswimming, si Yhana naman at si ate Mia nagbabasa ng
pocketbook.. super init ng araw kaya medyo di nila feel ang mamasyal.. we were
supposed to have some hiking but unfortunately medyo tinatamad silang maglakad.
It ended up that me and GP alone went to Lagadgad. A perfect place to take some time together.
Medyo malayo ang lakarin.. nakakapagod kasi super init ng araw… Pero sulit
naman ang paglalakad cause the place is so majestic.. nakakaenganyo… may mga
groups of tourist kaming nadatnan dun.. all were busy taking photos.. iba ang
bato sa Lagadlad.. di sya sand that White
Beach used to have…
Maganda din ang scenery sa may taas ng bundok… In short perfect talaga ang
place for Photo session… Nag picnic kami ni Gp dun.. with LALA fish Crackers
and Green tea.. Ang lamig ng simoy ng hangin.. nakakantok.,.. at natulog talag
ako for a while.. may dala kasi kaming towel at yon ang ginawa kong higaan… di
nakatulog si GP kasi may dala kaming CP at camera that time. He was afraid na
baka masalisihan kami… So, it ended up na ako lang ang nakatulog.. Before going
home, namulot kami ng mga bato para iuwi.. The experience was wonderful… ang sarap
magpahinga.. parang ayaw ko na nga umalis dun… at around 12 noon, naglakad na kami pauwi..
habang naglalakad di na namin masyado feel ang init ng araw kasi habang nasa
daan ay nanghuhuli kami ng alimango..hahaha.. ang babaw ng kaligayan ko pero ang
sarap sarap ng feeling…
Paguwi naming,
we had our lunch.. pork bbq ang ulam namin… and after that we were all excited
sa highlight ng aming trip.. ang Snorkeling…. We waited for the boat… Stephanie
Jane ang panaglan ng bangka na sasakyan namin.. Si kuya Dido ang may ari nun…Pinsan
sya nina tita tots... we went to the beach… medyo matagal din kami ngintay… and
then, we headed to Aroma Place..
andun kasi yong banca.. All were excited.. I took pictures.. lahat ng
pangyayari .. lahat ng sites, gusto ko kuhanan… we wore our life vest… first
Destination_ San Antonio- the snorkeling site. It took the motor banca at most half
hour to reach the place… all were excited and fascinated to see how coral reefs
really looks like.. ang saya namin nung makarating kami dun. We were hesitant
to go down the banca,.. natatakot.. pero nung napaglaban ng takot, ahh!! Super
nag enjoy na kami sa snorkeling… ang ganda ng mga fishes at mga corals.. kahit
si sandy tuwang tuwa sya… words are not enough to describe how beautiful the
place is! Ang sarap talaga ng feeling… we stayed there until mapagod na kami…
then nag sight seeing kami,.., coco beach, sabang and other beaches.. we even
stopped over at the Bayanan beach… hay.. ang ganda ganda talaga… it was almost
6pm when we headed home.. 5 hours din kaming ng trip.. ang saya saya,..
nakakapagod pero super sulit ang aming lakad.. After reaching the shore of White beach, naligo pa ulit sila… di
talaga sila nananawa sa tubig. At ako naman… sa wakas maalam na akong mg
floating.. thanks to GP…they were having fun habang nag swiswimming.. may mga
games kasi.. like unahang makasisid ng bato na ihahagis.. at padamihan ng
bounce sa mga batong ihahagis sa tubig…it was 8: 00 in the evening when we
decided to go home.. Kumain lang kami dun, then nagpahinga then bumalik na ulit
kami sa beach.. this time, namili kami ng souvenir items.. di naman ako bumili
kasi ang dami kong bibigyan,, magkakahilian lang… we headed home again.. and
have our second sleep at Puerto Galera… hanngang sa aking pagtulogn,
nararamdaman ko na ng flofloating pa din ako:)
May
16, 2011, 3rd day
We woke up at
around 6:30 in the morning.. Sandy still wanted to
have her last swimming. Di nga lang pde kasi malalate kami sa First trip. After fixing our things, we bid goodbye to
people who treated us so well. We rode on a tricycle going to Mulien. At
exactly 7:30 am the Motor Banca started its engine. The trip took for almost 1
and half hour.. nung una, nagkwekwentuhan pa pero at the middle of the trip,
nakatulog na kasi mga pagod.. malakas ang alon nung pauwi kami,.. buti na lang
di sumakit ang ulo ko. It was 9: 00 in the morning when we reached Batangas City, Kumain kami sa bagong bukas na
KFC… then naghiwawalay na kami…
Goodbye, White Beach,
Till we see each other again! Hasta Pronto!
