Monday, May 09, 2005
El Nido
El Nido trip's come and gone. Long weekend's over for me, and my class for this day is over. How was the weekend? Well...it was pretty nice, though I can't say I've become a more avid swimmer or a bigger beach fan than I've ever been. Still, it was nice for a once-in-a-lifetime deal.
First Day:
I woke up at four that morning, and still, my sister beat me to the bathroom -- my bathroom, mind you. Mamang and Tita Letty had been camping out in my sis' bedroom that night, so she was using my bathroom. But even though her room's empty, she always seems to prefer to camp out in mine. Don't really know why, since my parents are always complaining about the status of my room.
Anyway, we left the house at about 5 am and headed for the Park-and-Fly/gas station near the airport. Breakfasted on instant noodles at the StarMart as we watched cops dealing with a minor three-car accident beside the gas station. Then, we rode the shuttle with two muscle-packed guys to the Island Transvoyager, Inc. runway. One of the muscle guys apparently left his ticket -- which turned out to be free from Globe -- at the StarMart and had to go back. I had a little problem at the small baggage check desk. I had forgotten to take out the little pepper spray my parents had given me a month ago, and the guy said we would have to leave it behind. But the girl at the check-in desk said we could since the plane wasn't even a pressurized one.
My sister found out that a bunch of her professors in med school were going to El Nido, too. Two doctors who are best friends, along with their families. They teased my sister for taking her med school books with her to study during the weekend, joked around with my family, but they went to the other, more expensive island when we got to El Nido. But we met two more of PGH's finest on the way to the Miniloc Island. A thirty-eight year-old urologist -- apparently, a really good one, the first lepto-something in the Philippines -- and his much younger wife, Sandy, who is taking her fellowship in some sub-specialty in Internal medicine. We spent most of the weekend with the Docs actually.
We arrived at Miniloc Island around 11:00. We were greeted by the island crew with a song, all of them standing on the dock, waving and singing. We had a little talk with the activity coordinator, had lunch and settled in our cottages. I shared one with my sis, and we enjoyed the fact that we had one separate from our parents.
At 2:30, the four of us, and the Docs, were shipped off the the Big Lagoon for some kayaking and swimming. Never swam in a lagoon before. I discovered an affinity for it that day. It was great swimming in that cool lagoon, with the trees and rocks enclosing you and all. Plus, I discovered I liked kayakking after all. It's better than rowing, because you get to row on both sides of the boat, instead of on just one side. Rowing's more tiring.
We were taken to the Panggalusian Island after that. This time, we were with the Docs, this Japanese guy whom we call Fujimori, and the two Chinese barbies, Anna and Geraldine. Hiked up the mountain, or hill, or whatever you call it. We were with this guide who barely spoke during the entire hike, and who moved too fast for the rest of us. We were all cursing our way up the mountain, our muscles screaming, sweat pouring down our backs, but he looked as if he was taking a walk in the park. Before we even made it midway, the others were already lagging far behind, and my sister and I were left with Fujimori and the guide, who would occasionally stop and point and say, "Ibon." Wow. What a guide. I don't know if the viewing deck at the top was worth it actually. After all, it wasn't exactly the best view, and we were a bit too exhausted to appreciate it much. I liked the hike down though. Fujimori had gone ahead of us, and about twenty minutes later, my sister and I followed. We caught up with Fujimori near the end, probably coz we raced our way through the steep trail.
It rained midway through dinner on that island. Actually, it was a thunderstorm, with zero visibility out in the water. When we made our way back to Miniloc, we had to go slowly, because we couldn't see a thing. There was this Korean woman there who whimpered and moaned all the way back to the island. Probably terrified that we would smash right into one of the huge rocks rising out of the darkness in front of us. I didn't even think we were moving at all. WHen I saw the lights of Miniloc Island, I thought at first it was still the Panggalusian Island.
Second Day:
Saturday. I made my parents promise they wouldn't wake me up early that day. I still got up at about seven though. We went snorkelling soon after breakfast in front of the island. The waters in front of the island are full of different kinds of fish...including these huge jackfish. I have to say though that it's a different thing looking at those schools of fish from the dock and swimming right beside them. I kept waiting for my arms to hit one of those fish and be bitten right back. I did get stung a few times, but for the most part, they kept away from me. Except for these black fish that kept swarming around me, poking at me like a bunch of curious and eager puppies. My sister and I looked for the jackfish, but when we actually found ourselves staring at the fish through the goggles, we quickly swam away to the sound of the theme music of Jaws playing in my head. The jackfish looked too much like a baby shark when it's right in front of you.
We went to the other island, Lagen, for lunch with the Docs, the Chinese barbies and the Beach Boys (muscle guys). Lagen wasn't really all that special. More like an island-hotel to sleep in. Nothing about the waters surrounding it to rave about. You have to go to other islands to look for excitement. Though, they do have a pool. And a library.
We went island hopping, including one that had a bat cave. Mom said she saw the bats, but by the time I rolled in (literally) through the mouth of the cave, they were gone. We went back to Panggalusian, where we swam a bit beside the the boat, away from the shore, because it was low tide, and the boat couldn't get near. Beach Boys amused me to no end because, I don't know, because they were so vain? Especially one of them. I heard he spends an hour each day for each part of his body. I thought he was gay at first, but they said he has a wife and a kid. They had run out of dry clothes by then, so they were trying not to get their shorts wet. When we waded our way to the boat to get back into it, they were holding the hems of their shorts up like dresses. They wanted to get to shore in Panggalusian but they would have to swim to do that. One of the Chinese Barbies, Geraldine, I think, offered to lend them her tiny pink shorts. Others suggested they strip down, but they were, uh, shy, though the Chinese barbies promised not to look.
There must be something about Panggalusian, though, because it started raining hard again while we were in the middle of the sea. Mom hadn't gone swimming because she hadn't wanted to get her clothes wet. In the end, though, she not only got wet, she got drenched to the skin like the rest of us because of the rain. Beach Boys had to cover their shorts with towels, but I doubt they got back to their cottages dry anyway.
Third Day:
I didn't do much yesterday. Just took advantage of being alone in the cottage while my sister was with my parents somewhere. Lazed around and all that. The Docs and the Beach Boys went back home on the one o'clock flight. My family, the Chinese barbies and Fujimori, along with this lesbian couple and their friends went on the five o'clock flight.
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Ok, that wasn't much of an account of the trip. Not even one worthy of a creative writing major. But I'm not in the mood to be careful of how I write. Think of it as a first draft. A shitty first draft. Heh.
So, I'm home now. Back to school, back to routine, back to the heat of Manila. Tomorrow, my parents and sis are going off to China. Yep, I'll be left behind, but I don't really mind. After all, I'm not much on tour groups. Plus, I prefer trips to places where I would understand the natives' language.
# Lyn found a missing piece @ 1:47 PM 
