Summer Escapade at Puerto Galera: A Travelogue

Summer Escapade at Puerto Galera: A Travelogue

White Beach Puerto Galera, Orriental Mindoro, Philippines

May 14-16, 2011

I

 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 13^th. 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, 3^rd 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!