calaguas getaway

14 March 2009

0540- left naga city, rode an ordinary bus going to daet. Php 94.00.

0800-arrived at daet diversion road, trike to jeepney terminal. Php 7.00

0810- rode jeepney to vinzons.Php 8.00

0820-vinzons.trike going to 'pier'. met the team.Php 7.00

0830-sabang.picked-up ice box for seafood bought earlier at vinzons pier.this is where james 23 (ramon's the real name) joined, along with edwin. they were our 'guides'.

0900-trip to calaguas. 2 hours. big waves. blue water.they started the motor/engine, not knowing that it would be one wild ride.i only realized the trouble i was in when our puny banca fought with the big waves. it wasn't an easy ride. Php 375.00/person

1100-arrived at mahabang buhangin (long beach), calaguas group of islands. it was pure awe for me while the banca was approaching the island. pristine is the right word to describe the place. there is still such a place, i've read they're planning to develop the place to another boracay. after the wild ride...there was paradise...waiting...it was just the sound of the engine, the waves, and the island's silence. 'the grandeur of God's works' as my aunt said in her comment when she saw the photos.

1100-1430- prepared lunch. ate lunch.grilled pork chops. grilled tuna. tomato soup. played twister. conversations. siesta. six of us went there. a bunch of first-timers in the place.to spend some quality time even for a finite period.it was my best friend (pompo) who invited me as he was fond of such activities, he was with his team, a mountaineering group. i saw how organized they were. it was like a team building event, one is given a role, participate and be effective at it. i was more of spectator,come supper i was a cook.i brought a can of cranberry and a can of mushrooms just to add to what they bought. cranberry's a bit weird. they made fun of it. i also found it a bit unusual, but we made a good dessert out of it during supper.renz opened a bottle of cuatro cantos (gin) and mixed half of it with powdered juice, added some water and we started to drink it using a shot glass, joyce and summer joined as well. while j and pompo didn't.

1430-went to the source of spring water. about one kilometer or more away from the camping site. the water tasted clean. it was refreshing after a long walk.

1500-conversations.merienda. the other half of cuatro cantos was consumed as well.

1600-went to the coastal community (james 23, pompo, renz and i), barrio mangkawayan to look for some fish and alcohol. it's a 3 kilometer walk from the shore. met mang renato, an official(one of the councilors) along the way and he served as our guide. he showed us the place and discussed briefly the livelihood of the community. they mainly get their livelihood from fishing and selling other seafood like octopus, abalone, and sea cucumber.we bought a 4-kilo tanigue (narrow barred spanish mackerel).about a quarter was used to make kilawin (similar to ceviche). the the other quarter was grilled. half of the fish (head

part) was eaten for breakfast, the head was grilled and the rest was used for fish steak.mang renato told us that lambanog (coconut wine/gin) is great in the place. we bought six servings (one serving = a bilog bottle of gin= Php 14.50).

from what i have observed, the people there are living frugal lives. they earn little income but they are happy with it. they are happy when tourists come. i saw the children play.they always smile everytime we'd get photos of them.

1745-2100- we weren't able to see the sunset. i was more excited with the food. fresh fish for only Php 450.00, a good buy. james 23 started preparing the kilawin while i was giving him instructions; renz cooked rice also helped j set-up the tent; j, summer, and joyce set-up their tents; pompo grilled the other tuna, a quarter of the tanigue and marinated liempo (i cooked oyster and mushrooms in soy sauce added some ginger, garlic, and onion.made banana and cranberry (j's idea) for dessert. we ate dinner on the rectangular lid of the ice box, we placed the viand at the sides and rice at the center of the lid. we ate with our hands (kamayan). food was great! it was a feast. we left some kilawin for pulutan (appetizer). after supper, we went to the spring water to get some and for them to bathe.

2100- a little late and tired for our socials. bonfire was lit. we leaned on a big trunk of a weathered tree, the night was cold and windy. we started drinking lambanog, cracked some jokes, light conversations, recollection of past treks. here, i got to know more about my new friends/acquaintances. j's 'tisop', joyce's 'paraisong hubad' (naked paradise), summer's wedding ring apparition in galera; renz's 'puto-makers in calasiao, pag nasa pilipinas sila (when they're in the philippines)'; pompo's 'techniques' and corny jokes; and my flying 'face towel'. a rainshower ended our socials at around 12 midnight. we only consumed half of the lambanog (it didn't taste good, they probably added some adulterants, most possibly water).

15 March 2009

0130- i woke up and heard renz, joyce, and summer talking about a stolen amount of money. i was too sleepy to rise and just went back to sleep.

0600-woke up. talked about the incident. the thief/thieves stole Php 3,000.00 and all the food we brought except tanigue, rice, and the left-over dessert. it was joyce's money.

0630- morning walk.reflection time. a community would always have those kind of people.co-existence of good and evil. later, the chief tanod (barangay police) would tell us that it serves as a lesson for us tourists. i asked them, why us? but he has a point. we were a bit lax with the locals. they told us it was the first time an incident like that happened. i soon found out that it wasn't when we arrived at sabang. one of the women there told me, the thief usually steals food not money.

0700-0900- went to the barrio to report the incident and buy some bread. people listened as i narrated what happened, they all denied that the thief is from their place. told me people from their place wouldn't do such a thing. the councilor we met was there, the chief and assistant chief tanod were there. they joined when we walked back to the site,they talked to james 23, it was him who saw the thief, he said the thief was wearing white shirt and escaped going to the direction of the barrio. james 23 didn't run after the thief, he called edwin instead.

0900-0945- cooked brunch. grilled tanigue head and fish steak.

0945-1000-swam on the beach. strong waves. cold water.

1000-1045-went to the spring water area and took a bath. got some drinking water as well.

1045- because of the strong waves, the banca can't reach the shore so we had to swim against the big waves. the banca was about 50 meters from the shore. had one painful cramps on my left calf, while i swam towards the banca.

1045-1300- trip to vinzons. Php 375.00. it was a dangerous trip as our banca almost collapsed because of the big waves. i doubt if i'd still go back to that place. but i did enjoy the whole trip. it wasn't easy. it was both the voyage and the destination that mattered. the voyage made us more appreciative of the destination. a well-deserved prize in the absence of a race.

1300-1330-trip to daet. trike and jeepney.Php15.00

1330-1430-lunch at a chinese resto. rice toppings, they ordered halo-halo. i had two bottles of cold cerveza. i think it was the best way to end the trip.