Vacation... Coffee... Sun... White Sand... And All...

Palaboy sa Tabing-Dagat…
I headed to the beaches of Boracay after surviving the long hikes, storm, and the landslides in Batad. I planned to go steady in the beach before going to Iloilo to visit a friend whom I had plans with to go to Guimaras.

I’ve always loved going to Sagada (and now Batad), as these are places where I can really escape... I especially love doing nothing in these places… And this trip to Boracay is a new experience for me as this is my first time to go to the beach alone (and I feel that I am more of a mountain person than a beach person). Oh well, I can just stay in the beach doing nothing… (given that I also have a very limited budget…)

I arrived when there were still people who spent their All Saint’s Day in the island. These were the same people I could see here in Manila. And the irony was I initially felt isolated in the island even when there were a lot of familiar people, there was no such feeling I had during when I went to Sagada. I guess, that is the paradox with familiarity… there is always isolation…

Beach Bumming…
I shared the white beach with a very few people when the tourists left.

A typical day for me is to wake up just before the sun is up… see the sunrise then a little stroll in the beach then sip a cup of coffee from Café del Sol… swim a bit… nap on the beach… perhaps read something… then walk in the white beach… then swim… nap on the white beach again… ahhh… then eat when hungry… drink when thirsty… nap some more (on the beach again)… and coffee at sunset… hung out in the cottage…. perhaps dinner as well…Ang sarap maging batugan! (Lazy, doing nothing...)

The only time for me was....

sunrise... or

Sunset...

This Is The Life… blissfully unaware of what day it is… my only orientation of time is just sunrise and sunset… I’ve never been this relaxed in a very long time. No tranquilizer can ever give me this serenity. Why do I have to take those pills anyway when it can be just like this - I’m thinking I need not to go somewhere to be calm though going some place can make it easier to escape . I guess the beach has become to one of my favorite places and I even extended my stay, perching my trip Guimaras some other time. I was missing the point! I never needed to go to Guimaras to see my friend and I just wanted to see her, wherever… period!

Walk around.... then

Read a book... then take a nap...

Drink..... when thirsty...

Lounging in the cottage....

One of the things that I learned from being a palaboy and kaladkarin from Northern Luzon to Visayas these past few weeks is to embrace solitude. It is bliss… a great delight… And when you travel alone, everything seems to be a new situation… seeing the importance of things… seeing beauty in things…I was accessible to other people… I guess I was just happy to be alive and I look forward to things.

I have come across a lot of people when I was in the island. I had coffee with the French people from Batad (we had the same inn in Batad and I happen to see them in the island)… I went island-hopping with an American couple and a German… talked to some locals from an eatery owner, policeman, security personnel, bartenders, resort owners… met a physician and some long-staying foreigners in the island… and so on… These are just disposable friendships, but these are as valuable as my “true” friends as I learned other ways to see things in the very short time that I’ve known them.

a local... Beth, Jorven and Gerry....


Physician, named Nace (left) Tony and Flo (right) Mr. Shooli, bar tender (above)

I ended my last day by a Swedana treatment at Mandala Spa… what a treat…

Oh well, after six days I had to leave for Iloilo to see my friend… as I was in the bus I started missing being in the island (Nini, my friend told me that it was the so-called “fever”) but upon seeing my friend, Kenneth… anong fever, fever?! I truly miss spending time with her; I had the same good time I had in the island just by talking to her.

We drove around the city and it was such a treat seeing the old houses and some churches. The Cathedral of Candelaria in Jaro is one of the oldest churches… then the “bingka” – yummy!!!

Being with Kenneth was a perfect closure to life in the island… one of the things I realized is to also embrace the concept of constant departure… Hay…

Ruins, in Iloilo City

Then back in Manila, I went to SEX (Sinangag Express) with my friends here in Manila… what a way to wrap this whole trip!!!!