summer's last hoorah, galera

Backloooog, yikes! It's almost rainy season and I'm still blogging about summer's awesomeness.

I was in Galera mid-May with my teammates. 'Twas originally tagged as a teambuilding activity but being tagged as one made it next to impossible due to security policies so we said it's going to be personal and there's nothing they can do about it. Bleeh. >:p

Moving on, we chose Tamaraw Beach Resort over White Beach Resort. Definitely the wisest idea for a bunch of people who wish nothing else but to unwind. The latter is rather crowded with party people. I should know, I was there two years ago.

back in 2009, kaputian days :((

To get there, we took Jam transit from Taft. It only took us around two hours to reach Batangas Port. Depending on the traffic {and your fortune}, this bus ride can be as long as three hours. From there, we had to ride a ferry to Tamaraw Beach. The ferry ride felt longer than the bus ride. It took as roughly three hours I guess. Unless, I was just that bored to have felt like that.

As we arrive in Galera, those who chose to stay in White Beach were dropped off first. Only our group was left in the ferry by then. No wonder White Beach is that crowded.

special trip to Tamaraw Beach :D

After we had lunch, we waited for 2pm to be accommodated. We really planned to get there ahead of our reservations because we were informed that as soon as our rooms get vacant {and cleaned, of course} we can use them already. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. We had quite a long idle time.

Then finally we were able to freshen up and get dressed for the beach. As usual, photo-ops first before anything else. Again, I owe my OOTD shots to ate Pholet. :*

left: goin' there, right: beach get-up

ku-yu-ey gels, doing what they do best

I wasn't able to join them go swimming instantly because it was my time of the month. Malas lang diba? I only got to swim during the night so for me the trip was kind of bitin. I was hoping that we'd still get the chance to swim the next morning but turned out we had to get ready early to catch our ferry ride back to Batangas.

Morning came and we were ready to leave the beach life behind. While waiting for our ride, we had our obligatory group picture. Our official photog, Jabey, was finally in action again but we only had few shots since it was hot already. We opted to stay in the cottage.

our obligatory group shot

It took around an hour before our ferry came. But I am most thankful for that waiting time because that was when I felt like a real beach bum. I just lied in the massage bed, watched the sea and felt the breeze.

beach buummiiinnggg ♥

...and then the ferry came. and then my Galera story ends. Teehee. Biglang inantok. Phhbtt!

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come rain or shine

Please welcome me back as I continue my series of summer-ish posts. xD Last May 8, we had our project summer outing at Virgin Beach Resort, Laiya, San Juan Batangas. It's exactly the week storm 'Bebeng' was here so it was raining almost non-stop that day. I was honestly pissed off because 1) I am a part of the organizing team and I was worried all our efforts to make it happen would go to waste. 2) Who would ever want a rainy summer outing, after all {member or not of the organizing team}?

As planned, the participants will be given 30 minutes to rest or freshen up and then we will proceed with the games. Obviously, what was intended to happen never did. We opted to let them stay in the dining parasols as we waited for our lunch. Some still chose to brave the rain, which by the way isn't so hard at that time, and went swimming. Personally, I chose to stay in our shelter.

me and my sister having the time of our lives in the cottage

and please don't mention our matching outfits

We requested for our lunch to be served early since most of us had nothing else to do but try to get ourselves out of boredom in the parasols.

On the brighter side, what was supposed to be just 'packed lunch' became a buffet. They didn't bother to explain why. But yeah, Virgin Beach, thanks a lot!

buuurrppp! :P

Heavens must have felt pity on us and soon the heavy rain turned into drizzle. In a moment, we found ourselves enjoying Laiya's big waves. What made the whole trip fun were those waves, actually. Everyone was acting silly playing with them.

While most of the time we'd ride the waves and let them bring us back to the shore, I experimented a bit and tried jumping over them. One time I made a mistake of jumping too early and I landed the water the exact moment the wave has come. Nagpagulong-gulong ako literally. And I have paparazzi shots to support my story. 

'twas a lot of work washing off the sand from my hair :|

Of course, there's no way we'd miss the 'pictorial' part of every trip. The credit goes to teh Pholet and her Bebe Glam {camera with a name, yet again}.

with my sis and teh Pholet's sis, Donna

Day trips btw is from 8am to 5pm only. So at around 5pm, we were ready to leave the place. Our official photographer, Jabey was finally in action to take our obligatory group shots.

my immediate team, ku-yu-ey
Jam.Apple.Pholet.Jabey.Jem.Ochie

the entire project

I'd say the summer outing wasn't an epic success, but it's not a total mess either. Some efforts may have been wasted {planning for games and all} but still we had fun and I guess that matters the most.

Now who's looking forward to next year's summer outing?

Virgin Beach Resort

http://www.virginbeachresort.com/

Day Tour Package, Inclusive of Lunch

Adults .................. P 850.00/day

Kids (2-10 years old). .. P 525.00/day
Dining Parasol .......... P 1350.00/day (capacity of 12, max 15, extra person, P130.00)

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day 3: capones island - short side trip before we hurry home

day 2: anawangin - lazeh beach bumming day

Third day. I can almost hear Manila calling us back but we had to ignore it for a while to make way for a short Capones Island side trip.

We were up so early hence the chinky eyes in the photo below. We only had quick breakfast - bread and instant noodles. We didn't want to spend too much time preparing breakfast 'cos we need to get back to Manila as Lex still had to report for work at night. Boo! Work has always been, and will always be, a party pooper!

singkit-singkitan sa umaga

It took time before we were able to break our camp. It's no easy to pack up - tents, groundsheets, cooksets, utensils plus personal stuff. Most importantly, never leave the place with traces. We may have left garbage and other recyclables but they were neatly kept. The caretakers would simply pick them up for disposal or re-use.

Just as were ready, we asked our boatman to take our 'real' group picture. We no longer had the luxury of time so we were off.

credits to kuyang bangkero

In Capones, our main activity was to climb up the lighthouse. It's as if we didn't get enough from climbing a mountain. :| Again, it was soooooo hot. Number of o's equate to how hot it was. Hahaha! Jef and I were joking of 'ang greasy mo lines'. Kasi naman, ang init talaga!

the lighthouse

When we reached the lighthouse, I realized that the view is worth all the whining and the sweat. The lighthouse showcases the beautiful island of Capones and it is way more breathtaking than Anawangin. I have never seen the sky and the sea so blue. I can stand there and stare for hours {On second thought, mainit pala. So 'wag na lang. =p}

Ok, I concede. mas maganda ang view

The entire time we were in the lighthouse, we were just taking pictures. I wonder why we never get tired of posing and smiling for the camera. Care to guess?

Even when we were about to leave the lighthouse already, we managed to sneak with some pictures on our way down to the shore.

with Jigs, the official Capones photographer

just before leaving this side of the island

From how I understand, the side of the island where we stopped for the lighthouse trip is not suitable for swimming so we transferred to another spot for a short swim. Ma-feel man lang ang tubig ng Capones.

But the ever maarte spirit in me decided to just make use of whatever time remaining for photo-ops. Aside from that, I also didn't want to feel all icky with salt water on our way to the boatman's house where we'd take our bath. So there, another good excuse. =p

And that's the last installment of my Holy Week get-away. Whheew! More summer escapades and one silly videoke night, upnext. Let's all waste time here, kk? :D

day 1: mt.pundaquit trek - the hard way to get to anawangin

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day 2: anawangin - lazeh beach bumming day

day 1: mt.pundaquit trek - the hard way to get to anawangin

Second day of our Holy Week get-away was solely spent in Anawangin. I loved that it was a lazeh beach bumming day 'cos strict itineraries tend to be tiring and stressful. Aren't trips supposed to make you feel relaxed and carefree?

Tin and I started the day with photo-ops, next to morning rituals of course. She brought me to a place where a 'lake' used to reside. Yeah, she calls it a lake but I'm doubting what body of water it really was.  Probably it is, after all. =p

outfit of the day much?
tube top by Forever 21 ♥

When we return, they were just bumming around our picnic table. Maybe I was in the most-bum-mode so I flopped myself to the hammock. Believe me when I say I really didn't intend to sleep, but yeah, admittedly the hammock sent me to a quick nap. Sandal-tulog eh.

good morning, Anawangin

And then for breakfast we had hotdogs and nothing else I can remember. It's getting obvious I didn't help preparing. Teehee. Lazy girl. But at least, I helped cleaning the dishes. No sink, no faucet. What can you expect?

and then it's time for breakfast

maghugas ay di biro, maghapong nakayukoo ♪♫ ♪

We also didn't miss to take group pictures before finally exploring Anawangin's pristine beach. It was 'the guys' and 'the gals' group picture because we had no one to take our real group picture and we were that poor to not have a tripod.

buff like that

damn all these beautiful girls ♪♫ ♪

Of course we spent hours by the beach. Good excuse for being negra these days. Haha! We also had Naphy and Mikmik to take our most precious beach moments. By the way they are cameras.. with names.. what's going on with the world people? Anyway, look at how goofy our boys are. As we try to look all sweet and sexy(?), there they go, goofing around. Ang goofy nyoooo. Haha!

beach shots of the sweet girls and goofy guys

AND THEN.. drum roll please!! My obligatory swimsuit shot. Hahaha! Goal #24. Pull off a two piece swimsuit. - CHECK!

And oh, I'm getting addicted to swimsuits. I bought three new pairs just for this season. You'd have to wait for my Laiya and Galera posts to see the other two {like you want to see them, duh}. Pangalanan ko din kaya sila? Hahaha! :)))

ang arte lang? may smiley paa phhbbt!

After we were tired from swimming {in my case, pictorial}, we went back to our campsite and then bullied Jun to buy us halo-halo. It was actually Jef that we were teasing at first but he had no heart for us. Buti na lang may pasikat na bumili ng mahal na halo-halo para sa lahat. {peace, kada. >:p}

For lunch, we had corned beef and bangus while for dinner, we had adobo. Nah, we didn't cook adobo there. It was prepared by Nad back in Manila. And then there's the famous soup, cream of mushroom and crab and corn? I am guessing. Can't exactly remember, again. Bleeh!

took this shot, don't expect much =P

And yes, I am skipping the most difficult part of this whole camping experience, taking a bath! Again, it was camping. No one should expect decent comfort rooms, right? The very reason I was half-hearted to join this trip. Enough said. I am skipping.

This very night, I also learned how to slice tomatoes and play poker. Why, thank you teacher Honey and teacher Jigs. ;)

konting arte pa before bed tent time

And then it was time to call it a day. Lights out please!! :))

day 3: capones island - short side trip before we hurry home

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