Well I have the free time to write about stuff other than anime for a while since I am waiting for most of the shows to reach episode 6 or more to finally start making my mid season list but boy is it too dry, this season is shaping up to be a let down making me think if I would be able to make a long list this time around.
Anyway, last week (April 13-14) me and my colleagues went to an island in the province of Camarines Norte, Philippines. I am not really the outdoor type of guy but I do enjoy going out every once in a while (and my crush was there, so yeah lol). When I was little, our family used to go out a lot during summer vacation but as I grew up, the amount of trips we get decreased little by little, not that I can feel it that much since I also became more and more of a shut in kind of a guy that rarely goes outside unless there are occasions that I am obliged to attend (and I still manage to wiggle my way out of those at times lol). However, as I am currently working away from home, I think I have started to get out of my shell more often since I no longer enjoy the same comfort that I used to have back in my hometown.
Well I almost turned that to my biography but to cut the long story short, I have been getting more exposure to travelling nowadays and I am really enjoying it, guess me watching Yuru Camp and Encouragement of Climb also did a little effect on me.
I won't go into details but from Metro Manila to the place where we took a boat ride cost us roughly 9-10 hours and after that was another 2 hours of boat ride till we finally reached our destination. Though the journey was long, it was not that boring because our driver got some nice set of songs to play during the travel, varying in genre, like the songs of Creed, Linkin Park, Nickelback, The Goo Goo Dolls to those from Westlife, Backstreet Boys, N-Sync and of course there are also our country's original music. Yeah, I do know songs that are not from anime and I consider myself more knowledgeable than your average Juan when it comes to music ( I know a lot of old songs, songs from late 90's to early 2000, OPM band songs and whole lot of Anisong lol) but that is not really what this post is about so I will keep my boasting to a minimum.
Hmm ... guess I would talk about the food since we eat the moment we landed there (not that we could swim when the sun is sizzling like a grill) but they offer local delicacies and some that I am already familiar with. They have a whole lot of sea foods to choose from like Mussels, Crabs, Shrimps, Mantis Shrimps and fishes. They also served Bicol Express, Laing and what caught my interest was their Ginataang Santol because it was something I haven't tasted in my life but boy was it fantastic, never knew Santol (Cotton fruit) could be used that away aside from being eaten as is or being used to give fruity sourness flavor to soup.
As for the actual island itself I guess the picture I snapped in the gallery section would more or less speak for themselves but I guess a little narrative would not hurt too. It has sand as white as the color white itself (what am I even saying?) and so refined they feel like sliding to the touch that walking on them barefoot is the best course of action to take. When facing the sea all you could see would be a never ending blue that is a combination of the sea and the sky with little to no clouds, the waves doesn't build up to something huge so swimming is a must try and even someone who couldn't swim could still manage to reach somewhere far from the shore without worrying about getting washed away by the ebb and flow of the sea. It was also worth taking note of the breath taking scenery of the sky during the sunset and sunrise and for even better view, one could go for a little trek (10 -30 minutes of hike) and see the view on a higher vantage point which amps up the experience a hundred folds. There were also some activities during the night, first was an acoustic jam session which was followed by the performance of a guy called Dragonito who did some fire dance stuff but as I was too tired I tucked in a bit early so I have no idea what happened after.
A little heads up, there is no electricity in the island but they do have a generator set that only operates from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM of the following day. They have air conditioned rest house and non air conditioned ones, but honestly it is not that hot at night, it was a bit chilly to be exact so I think that poses little to no problem at all. One last thing, there's no reception there so you will be forced to go and enjoy nature to its fullest.
Guess that's it, as for how much I've spent I think it would ranging from 3,800 - 4,000 pesos (around 76 - 80 dollars). Well I will be ending thi one now and see you again next week!
Ciao~
