It’s one of the more fun things I “have” to do in HP — make sure that everyone’s distracted from their work. 🙂
The Out-Of-Office Fun! initiative had a climb+beach getaway last Sunday, thanks to our great TL Kian, who put it all together. The day started as early as 4:30 am at the Victory Liner terminal at Caloocan; Jan made herself the trip’s target by arriving last several hours later. 🙂
At around 10:30, we were dropped off at San Antonio, Zambales and took tricycles to the jump-off point. After putting on sunblock and a round of stretching, we started the trek. The mountain’s relatively a Level 0.5, so it took us just around 4 hours for the whole climb (that’s going up + rest stops + singing + lunch + photo ops at peak + alaskahan + going down).
What we found on the other side of the mountain was a beach paradise waiting for us. We couldn’t wait to take our fill of this isolated strip of heaven, which we practically had all for ourselves. My words would probably not do justice to the moments of utter bliss we had, so I’d let the pictures do the talking instead. More pics from the great Paul and Kian. Thanks to Paul, Kian & Ronnel for posting the pics!
1.) The best vacations are when you throw all caution to the air.
During a very vulnerable (i.e. stress galore) moment in December, a friend asked me if I’d like to come along to their trip to see the Sinulog in Cebu and to frolic in Bohol. Of course I said yes; I couldn’t have said it any quicker. Never mind that it might come right smack in the middle of one of the heaviest months I’ve ever had at work; I drastically needed my life back. So off we go to Cebu!
Haaaave you met Wes?
2.) You don’t find the festival; Sinulog finds you.
Our first day was mostly spent in malls: lechon at CNT by SM Cebu, Timezone at Ayala & dinner at Dessert Factory. Sinulog was all over — billboards greeting you Pit Senor!, ubiquitous festive banderitas, all-out performers going around the malls. At the afternoon, we did go off to downtown Cebu to see Magellan’s cross by the Basilica. And lo and behold, the rest of Cebu was there. There we were, right in the middle of the ocean of people at the Plaza, looking at fireworks during the rainy daytime and at hundreds of balloons going up in the air. Minutes later, the Sto Nino and his entourage went by and everyone started waving! Made me want to wave too, if only we had an idea of what was going on. We braved the rain and the Binondo-like streets, got a little lost, then finally made it to the cross. Siyempre, photo-op. 🙂
Pit Senor!
3.) Get up early at Sinulog. Really.
Rhea and I got up early to see the parade right outside where we were staying, heeding Alex’s advice. What we didn’t know was the guys weren’t planning to do the same, so we went ahead and looked for breakfast. The Sinulog parade was already going by; good thing we found a VERY good spot in front of Manila Bulletin’s judging station and had an awesome view of all the contingents, decked with elaborate costumes, props and their best Sinulog smiles. Rhea got good shots of the performers, right next to the pros from travel channels & magazines, armed with SLRs. Camarines Sur was the most entertaining one we got to see (right guys? *wink*) I even got to see the contingent from my province, Tangub City, which was a huge treat. Experiencing the festival rather than just admiring it from your tv screen was definitely a rush. Definitely something every Filipino must see.
Wedding crashers at Shangri-la Mactan
4.) Tidoy is the best!
But of course, I didn’t have to go to Mactan to know that. 🙂 Tidoy’s eldest sister, Ate Abby, was having her wedding at Shangri-la Mactan at the same day, so my officemates and I were officially invited gatecrashers to her wedding. They had their own Sinulog show, yummy food (lobsters! prawns! blue marlin! seafood heaven!), awesome AVPs, and fireworks to boot! It actually drizzled and rained towards the end, but that didn’t stop the party from going on.
5.) Speaking of parties — Cebuanos know how to party.
Alex took us out to Vudu at Crossroads to meet his college buddies. And again, lo and behold, the rest of the Cebu night-owls were there, partying to the last second of Sinulog and beyond. The dance floor was full, the tracks were hot, and the vodka shots kept coming in — need I say more? Got to see Ethel Booba party too. Haha.
At the charming Bohol Bee Farm
6.) Bohol holds many surprises.
The next morning, we were off to Bohol. I already got my fill of the Bohol tour during our family trip last year, so I wasn’t expecting anything new. I was proven wrong, however, when we were taken to dine at Bohol Bee Farm for dinner. It was like Sonya’s garden — only better. Overhanging vines and trees loomed over almost each step, fireflies danced before the view of the sea, sungka sets waited for you at the low wooden tables, bee-shaped lanterns adorned the ceilings and passageways. The elves at LOTR would have taken a liking here. And definitely, the food was heavenly. A must-go stop at Bohol. We also got to go to Alona Beach afterwards; it was getting late so it looked like no swimming was going to get done today. But the water was so nice, I couldn’t resist taking a dive! Haha. :p
The next day, we went for the Bohol tour — Chocolate Hills, Tarsier Sanctuary, Loboc River Tour, Man-made Forest, souvenir shops galore. What can I say but photo op, photo op, photo op. Got to meet Joseph and the Muro-Ami gang (that’s another story). The rain graced us again, but that didn’t stop us from taking another dip at Alona Beach.
7.) Ben + Booze = ankulit!
For our final night, we just hung out at our rooms Olman’s view, where we were staying. We had to finish off the booze we had + Ben’s pasalubong from Singapore + Ian’s mango chips. And of course, the night would not be complete without the rounds of bridge, which turned out to be this trip’s official card game. It was face-off time — Philippines (Alex & me) vs. China (Ben & Wes). Losers had to down shots, and also resign from HP (or in Ben’s case, go back to HP. haha. siraan ng buhay, anyone? :p) After 2 shots of gin, while Ben was itching for more, he was also literally itching!
But it wasn’t a little anti-histamine and a lot of nonsense from your drunk friends won’t fix. 🙂 (And oh, if you want to know more about Ben — He’s Ben. He lives in Singapore. He uses Clear. And he has no friends… kidding. :p)
Before this trip, I was looking for God to save me from going out of my mind, and boy, God does deliver. After the hard work, playing hard grows even sweeter. Thanks to Rhea & Ian for the pictures! Let’s end this post with some Wes quotes:
i actually had some important tasks & meetings to attend, but the centennial celeb only came once a century, right? so naturally, whisking off our butts to UP came first. 🙂
and it was worth the hurrying, waiting, and eventually missing my meeting. it’s just something about UP — there were no fancy floats, over-the-top decor, or other gimmicks. it was just one huge melee of iskos and iskas, gathering to celebrate, watch and cheer as we experience what can only come once in your lifetime. it was fun to bump into familiar faces in the vast ocean of people. classic Republic of UP – so big and so small at the same time. damn, i miss UP.
and the fireworks were definitely the icing on the cake. i was already expecting something exceptional by UP standards, but this was definitely the best fireworks display i’ve ever seen, surpassing what i’ve seen from fireworks competitions. well, i guess even UP deserves a little extravagance once in a while. once in every 100 years, in fact. 🙂
i’ve been known to corrupt the sanity of my peers; i guess i just have that effect. i highly doubt i was put on this earth for humanity’s enlightenment. in fact, i highly doubt that anyone was put on this earth for anything. once you get rid of the notion that we’re here for some higher reason other than our species just refuses to die out, then it liberates you to actually just live. just exist. and just die out like any normal being. none of that messianic gibberish.
i just hooked up the new router, so i’ve pretty much spent the last few days surfing at every comfy nook in the house. =)
i was in the mood to watch some dance vids, when i came across some videos of our HS batch’s cheering routines. man, i forgot how the rush felt when you and 100+ of your batchmates get your game on out on the floor. here’s to batch 2002. =)
a friend from work told me that you could only master a maximum of 5 versions of you. meaning, you had only 5 aspects of yourself that you could expect to do well, and anything beyond that will be stretching yourself too thin.
at first, i was a real cynic; being the brat that i was, i didn’t appreciate anyone wagging a ‘general rule’ to my face and telling me what i can or cannot do. why stop at 5, right? who was i supposed to be?
but then now, i stopped to think — what’s so wrong with being flat? maybe i should just reset, start with one thing — just ONE thing — and then be satisfied. if ever later on i should feel that i’m stable enough to add something else on, then it’ll be time to reassess. yep, that’s the safe approach; God knows that some focus would do some good for my heart. Or my sanity for that matter.
in my head, i’m always dancing. whether i’m typing, commuting, sitting, standing, zoning out — when the beat picks up, i dance. i don’t know if others see it too, but i just do.
one night last week, while waiting for the UP-Katipunan jeep to get filled, the guy to my right starts drumming, using his hand, his leg, and the seats. the guy to my left does the same. i wonder if we all hear each other when we’re wrapped into our own little worlds.
.: ishcapades 