Check This Out

This is yet another lazy day for me. Long weekend, actually and still don't know what to do. There's not much to see here in Manila during the day. Well,that's just for me since I've already seen the places I have to see here. Nightlife is getting boring as well.I think I'm getting old for drinking and partying. I gotta think of ways to use my time. Aside from learning a different language,that sometimes ruins my English and going to the gym. Hmn,now thinking if I should continue boxing or sign up for a taekwondo lesson.
I'm not very young anymore but I like doing physical activities. I can't sit in one place for a very long time, unless it's in front of my laptop. And I can't be stuck in one place for a very long time too without the occasional trip out of town. Oh yes!i remember, I told myself I was gonna write something about my last trip.

For Holy Week I went to Puerto Galera. Was planning to go to Baguio but since I was alone I knew it wouldn't be much fun than going to the beach. It's not that I hate being alone, I like being alone a lot of times. But out of town??? If I am to be alone on a trip it has to be on the beach. So anyway, I looked for places to stay in Puerto Galera last minute and was getting really disappointed coz most of the resorts were either fully booked or the prices are just way too expensive for me.

Planned to stay from Monday to Sunday. Then when i woke up on Sunday morning I tried to call one last number and good good good! They have one fan room left. So I told the lady i was gonna be there the next day. Her name's Juvie,nice lady. But she told me too that if I don't make it by Monday they will give the room to someone else so I had no choice. I slept late.
It was dawn and i thought my cousin (sharing the condo with him but comes here like once a week or so, haven't seen him in more than two weeks now) came in and I thought he was frying something. An hour or so later I heard that noise again and wondered what it was he was cooking that took him that long.
So i got up from bed and realized there was no one there.Turned out my unit was flooded by a faucet from the kitchen that i forgot to close (there was no water late that night so i kept it on coz i was planning to wash the dishes i used for dinner). So....... ON the day of my trip I was supposed to be at the bus terminal early but I had to clean up the mess.
And guess what? The bag i packed for my trip was wet!!!! and some of the clothes inside too. So I thought "What am I going to do now?" If I don't go there on that day, I will loose the only place I found and that will ruin the whole week for me. So, i took the clothes off my bag and just brought whatever was left dry. I used a towel to get rid of the water on my floor, washed the laundry in the laundry bag that got wet!
WHAT A HASSLE!!!! And I was thinking, "Is this a way to warn me not to go?" But I really wanted to go so I brushed it off. When i was able to fix everything,off I go to the bus station. Now on the bus I was thinking the resort I'll be staying in is about 4 kilometers away from the White Beach where the gigs and concerts and all. I was not so thrilled about the thought.

The trip on the bus was a bit boring. And I was the last one to board the boat, lucky me, didn't have to wait for so long.. BIG GRIN!! So off we went. The boat ride was fine. And then when we were nearing Puerto Galera they told us they're gonna drop the passengers bound for White Beach, then to Tamaraw Beach, then Talipanan (where I'll be staying).When the boat docked at the White Beach I made sure I get a good look at the area since I was hoping to find a place there or around. I felt relieved!!!

The place was so crowded and boats were all over! I can't go swimming in that area with all the boats and people. And the smoke coming from the restaurants and eateries! Gosh! Then when all the passengers to White Beach got off the boat I moved closer to the front of the boat. Then when the boat docked on Tamaraw Beach I thought I was gonna get off too coz I thought Talipanan is closer to Tamaraw than the White Beach. It turned out Tamaraw Beach is closer to the White Beach and Talipanan was almost 3 kilometers away.

By the way Tamaraw Beach and Tamaraw Beach Resort looked nice. Not so crowded and the beach looked nice and there's another resort beside Tamaraw Beach Resort. Then a few minutes later we were on our way to Talipanan. The place was quiet. It seemed like hundreds of miles away from the buzz of White Beach. Not so many people, the resorts were quite small. I met two nice young ladies before I got off and they told me they were staying at Talipanan Beach Resort, something like that. So when I got off I told them I'll see them around and wished they'd have fun while there.

So I looked for my resort, Bamboo House. I found the place. The moment I saw the place I knew I was gonna like it. It was quiet, clean and there were bouginvillas around the place. It looked nice.
And there were hammocks! Great!

I went inside and found Tita Juvie there, the manager. She was very nice and accommodating and I soon realized that everyone in the resort was very friendly and nice as well. And since I got there until the day I left they called me by my name. Which is very good, it gives you the feeling that they are aware you're there and that makes all of you comfortable with each other. It's very important to feel comfortable and at home when you are staying in a new place especially when you're alone. I had my lunch before I went to my room.

It was okay, not too big not too small considering the price I paid for it. The most important thing is it was comfortable. I unpacked what little stuff I had with me and rested for a while. By late afternoon I was out taking photos of the place and myself on the hammock. Once i got tired of it, I walked on the beach of Talipanan. I found two unfinished projects there. They were quite big. It's a shame they were not able to finish the resorts, they would have looked good and the beachfront was so nice.
I heard of stories why they weren't finished. Not so good ones and it's a shame coz I know they would have looked good. The next day, I took a dip had some food, had a few beers and walked a bit further than I did the day before. There I saw a private beach resort which they say is owned by one of the richest families here in the Philippines. It looked really great. The place was made with native materials and they have a yacht in front. That made me green with envy, LOL!!!!
And then i went back to my habit of daydreaming about having a small house near the beach with the mountains behind a falls somewhere nearby.

A few minutes later I was in Tamaraw Beach. What I saw from the boat the day before was the same with what I saw that day. Nice place..... Wednesday comes and was told that my friend was coming over to join me.. So while I was still alone, I went to the Tattoo shop and asked one of the artists (had a small talk about tattoos with him the day before while i was walking) and decided to get a henna tattoo. Before we were done my friend arrived. While we were having snacks, he said we should check out what was happening on the White Beach.
So before sunset I found myself and my friend sitting and drinking and talking just in front of a stage where a gig was gonna happen that night.

We met an Austrian guy with his wife and her sister. We had a small talk. They asked us if they can sit in our table. Of course they can! There was enough room for them. They stayed about an hour. Just then the party started. It so happened too that the people sitting behind our table were the same people who organized the event and they started to us. A few hours later there came the bikini contest and this thing they call wet and wild, where the girls go on stage and compete with each other while dancing and showering.
They pick the girls from the crowd. I was having fun when all of a sudden the DJ came towards me and said I am joining!

I didn't realize what was happening at first, and before I did, I was already in front of the stage and was being asked which competition I was going to join. And then it hit me. I CAN'T DO IT! So I told them I'm not joining and started my way out of the gated area but they wouldn't let me go. But there's no way I was going up that stage and compete with the ladies who were only about 18-24 years old. I was telling them I was too old for the shit..
Soon I'm gonna cover up all the numbers on the calendar. If I was younger I would have had. They tried to convince me it was okay. But they have no idea how stubborn I am. So i forced them to open the gate and let me out. Finally they did. I went back to my table and my friend was laughing at me. And everyone around me asked why I went back.
I said I can't do it and still they kept convincing me I should go back.... Hmn, over my dead body... So we just looked at what's happening onstage and seemed like everyone was enjoying the show. Especially my friend.. Seeing the girls strutt their stuff while showering.. LOL!!!!
I can do that too but not on stage and certainly not in front of those people I didn't know. Soon it was time to go home. I didn't even notice what time it was.

The next day I woke up with a headache and a stomach that needed breakfast. My friend was already awake and was just waiting for me to go down. So I had a shower and then we had breakfast. For most of the day we stayed on the resort, swimming, talking, sleeping on the hammocks, eating, swimming, swimming, swimming and taking pictures.
By late afternoon were were on the White Beach again. He thought he was gonna get lucky this time and probably get a chick to give him her number.. We stayed on the bar where we can see the action happening, there was a band playing.
Aside from the few celebrities we saw, nothing really exciting happened. But anyway, I had fun listening to music and just looking at people going around. The next day was quiet. No music, since it was Holy Friday.
So my friend decided to Sabang Beach to check out the area. By the way, if you're planning to go around Puerto Galera, bring your car or bring a lot of money for fares coz they cost a lot. The drivers here look at all passengers like they're bags of money. These people are gonna get rich pretty soon. Not all of them though, but a lot of them. There were quite a few who were a little bit considerate.
It took us a while to get to Sabang Beach and I was getting bored n the trip. Then just before we got there we were told that there's no beach there. And we were like,"WHAT????" That's why we wanted to go there. And the driver said it's just mostly resorts and foreigners and diveshops and nightlife.
And I was like,"What are you talking about?". The pictures on the internet didn't look like it. But when we got off I immediately realized that. The beach didn't look good at all.
I mean you can never get me to take a dip there. And while we were walking I saw that a lot of the restaurants in front of the beach actually had their pipes and their wastes going to the beach!!!! That's awful.
You can see the water, and the waste coming out of those pipes or the holes from their concrete walls. I was thinking, "how can they do this? And how can the government let them do this?" The place is a destination area and I see a Filipinos and foreigners there. The place is making heaps of money for them and they are not taking care of it. It was disgusting. I'm pretty sure there are lots of nice resorts there (they're cramped like sardines), I mean with good accommodations and services but what i saw from the beach wasn't really good.
My advice? Unless you are going to dive or unless you plan on hitting on foreign guys or girls, or unless you have enough money to go to another beach anytime you feel like having a dip, don't stay in Sabang Beach.
I'm pretty sure the nightlife there is very much alive. But the beach is not a pretty good sight. So before it was dark we headed back to our resort. What a waste of money for the fare. But well now I know what the place looks like. I'm not saying I will never stay there. I'm a diver and would one day like to dive in Puerto Galera and I'm sure if I do there's gonna be a place worth staying in but for the beach life? at a rate of 1-10? I'll give it a 0..
Call me mean, I'm just telling the truth... After dinner and few beers I was fast asleep that night but still couldn't get over the disappointment I felt about the beach in Sabang.

I woke up Saturday morning and realized it was gonna be my last whole day there. I was planning to snorkel and have a good massage. Mt trip was almost over and haven't had any of that. So again most of the day was spent with eating, swimming, taking pictures, swimming, walking on the beach, taking pictures, eating, swimming, LOL!!!! Then we saw what they call "regatta". There were boats racing and they turn just right in front of our resort. I enjoyed watching especially since there were boats that got stuck in the area. Engine problems I guess. They say these boats came from the different parts of the world. NICE! I was planning to snorkel nearby but fell asleep on the hammock, again..
I should stay away from it if I plan to do something later. By night time we were off again to White Beach, it was our last night and we heard that there was gonna be a big party. So once again we found a nice spot on a bar where we can see the stage... And from there we can see the girls modelling on the stage and again..... dancing and showering. People don't get enough of this stuff. And too many people were watching. Mostly guys. I'm a woman but occasionally got up from where I was sitting to look at what the people were cheering on, I like looking at pretty girls too..
Later there was a band and we just drank the night away.. We didn't stay that long. And just as soon as I hit the bed I was asleep while my friend stayed on one of the kiosk outside the resort and kept calling our friends greeting the "happy easter"... The next day, I woke up hungry and a bit sad. I knew that we were going back to Manila in the afternoon. So what I did after eating was swim, swim, swim..
And then when I had enough of the swimming and realized I'm gonna get sunburned unless I got out of the water fast, we had our last lunch there. Had a shower and then we were ready to go.

Waited for the boat to pick us up while I was on one of the hammocks. And there came our ride, sad, sad, sad! I told the people at the Bamboo House that I'm gonna go back there. Really the accommodation was cheap and the place was clean and relaxed and the people were very nice. It just felt like you're staying with relatives, only they cook for you, they clean your room and all that stuff... While we were going further away from the beach and I was taking photos of it, my friend got my attention and pointed to a chopper. Landing on, guess where???
Remember I wrote something a nice private beach resort with a yacht? That chopper was landing there. So if I was green with envy before, I didn't know what color of envy I had anymore when I saw it. And my friend too. Coz during our stay there we usually have these funny conversations of what we will do or buy when we get rich. And now we have a new addition to our daydreaming stuff, hahahaha!!!
Anyway, I was back in Manila by night and was really exhausted. All in all my stay in Puerto Galera was good. Good beer, good friend, good place to stay, good shows, good people, good talks, good food (once in a while) and a lot of good laughs.... Hmn, one more thing.. If you want good food try to ask people who usually go there where you can find them. They don't come cheap but unless you're satisfied with unmarinated tasteless barbecues, make a little effort in asking where to get good food.
I guess I already wrote too much and anyone reading this will probably be crossed-eyed by now. But once i start writing, I can't get myself to stop unless my butt is already sore or unless I'm already hungry. I'm feeling both right now.... So off I go and until next time...

And one last thing.. Thank you again baby for throwing me out of Manila and sending me there.. MUWAH!!!!
'till next time folks!