BA-X (BAtangas eXperience)

My long overdue vacation finally happened last week. Karen's college friends originally planned for a beach summer getaway and it almost did not happen because of several snags while finalizing the trip. And since Nhel and Jhen already gave their share as deposit to reserve the cottage, those who are still available decided to still continue with it and just invited other people to come along to not only share the expenses but more importantly to share the fun we would have!Ü Karen and Nhel were able to invite Lucky (one of Karen's best friend), Whella (and old friend of Karen and a schoolmate of mine back in high school), and Leny (Nhel's twin sister). I was also fortunate enough to be allowed to borrow my parent's Innova so we can fit. I was supposed to bring my CRV but since Whella joined us, I was forced to borrow the Innova to accomodate more people.

Karen and I met Jhen, Nhel and Leny at around 645AM at Tahanan then we picked up Lucky and Whella at McDonald's Alabang. We left Manila around 730AM and as with all long trip, we had several stopovers, not to mention stopping to ask for directions. We still needed to buy some things on the way to Laiya, San Juan Batangas. One of our stopovers was at the San Juan Pasalubong Center and General Merchandise. It was there that most of the missing groceries we lacked were bought plus the liquor that they wanted to drink for the two nights that we'll be staying at Sigayan Bay Beach Resort. It was a simple and yet big store. Its not the typical store found in Manila with airconditioning and stuff but the place contained everything that we needed plus the cashier was very hospitable. I would probably stop by there again if we go back to Laiya.Ü We also stopped at the wet market of San Juan town proper. I was not able to go out of the minivan because we were only parked along the road. I was afraid that we might get towed if I leave it there or somebody by might hit/scratch it just like what happened to my parents when they went to the market at Los Baños, Laguna.


Outside San Juan Pasalubong Center and General Merchandise
Since it was my second time to go to Laiya, the first time was when my co-TLs with shift Claire and Shift Alvs went to Kabayan Beach Resort way back 2004, I still remember some places that we passed. I wanted to see how far the place was from Manila and guess how close it is! 284.9 FRIGGIN' kilometers away from Manila and the trip took about 4 hours! Of course that's counting the stopovers but still, I never knew I drove that far before! Once we got to the place, I guess the scenery that I saw was well worth it that I forgot about how far it was and how tired I was. Check out Sigayan's website here.


Cottage A of Sigayan Bay Beach Resort


View of the beach from Sigayan Bay Beach Resort


Sigayan Bay Beach Resort


Sigayan Bay Beach Resort Shore
After Lucky and I brought our stuff inside our cottage, the ladies started preparing our lunch. It was a very good ideo of Jhen to bring chicken and pork adobo she cooked the night before. The adobo was so delicious that I think it was the only meal that we had during our stay there that was wiped out! Everybody was so full and I think some actually wanted some more of the adobo, I know I did!Ü Two thumbs up for the adobo Jhen!Ü We then took a short nap before going snorkeling, except for Karen and Jhen who were trying to wake us up because the boat ride was scheduled at 4PM and we were still asleep. The boat ride, a small local fishing boat that can hold up to a total of 10 people, costs Php70/head for 10 people for one hour and the time would only start upon getting to the snorkeling and fish feeding spot. For Karen and those who already went snorkeling in other beaches such as Palawan, Boracay, Galera, etc., the site was not as spectacular and according to the manong who manned the boat, the corals there were dead because those were the corals that show up during low tide. Lucky was having fun feeding the fish so I think the experience was still worth it. The snorkeling gear cost for Php100 each. That time I only wanted to take pictures of them and the place. Maybe next time, I'll go snorkeling.Ü



Sarap ng adobo ni Jhen!Ü


Picnic Tables in the Middle of the Sea


Kha, Nhel, Whella and Leny


Love checking out the corals


Leny, Lucky, Whella, Nhel and Kha


On the boat ride to the snorkeling spot


Lucky snorkeling in the open sea


Sigayan Sunset
Upon reaching the cottage, we immediately started preparing for dinner. It was time for seafood! Lucky and I prepared the grill while the ladies were preparing the fish. We had tilapia and bangus that night. We forgot to bring tin foil to wrap the fish! Good thing the very kind people in Sigayan were gracious enough to lend us their remaining tin foil. And did I mention that we also forgot to buy paper plates? It was also Sigayan who lent us their plates. Good customer service, right?Ü Anyway, we were so rushing the cooking of the fish that we did not bother to thaw the food so Lucky had some problems getting the fish off the tin foil because the scales of the fish were sticking onto the foil. I think that really did not matter to anyone since we were all tired and hungry. In fact I was so tired that I was not able to eat right and only ate a small portion of the bangus. After giving ourselves some time to digest what we ate and for the dishes to be cleaned, the rest began their drinking session and had a few serious and hilarious conversations until midnight.


The Buds


Kha cooking dinner


Karen, Larger Than Life
In the morning, those who woke up early, the ladies in short, began making breakfast. I think the smell of fried rice in the morning woke me up, not to mention Whella who was non-stop in talking even at the start of the day! I envied Lucky for having an extra pillow that morning because I saw him covering his ears.Ü Karen and I also had a short stroll along the shore where she was also able to buy some freshly caught squid being sold along the beach. There a several people enjoying the sand and the water early in the morning from the other resorts nearby.


Fresh catch for the day!


Karen at Kabayan's shorelineÜ


Our Sigayan breakfast


Yummy Fried Rice!
After breakfast Nhel, Leny and Whella proceeded to the beach for a short swim and to sunbath and get tanned. Karen, Jhen, Lucky and I just stayed near the shore under one of the shades provided by Sigayan Bay Beach Resort. It was really hot that day that it was hard to walk on the sand barefoot.


Kha


Kha and Jhen


Kha, Jhen, Lucky and Nhel


Kha, Jhen, Lucky, Leny, Nhel and Whella at Sigayan


Nhel and Whella getting their tan with the aid of a San Miguel Pale Pilsen
At around 10AM, Rhayan showed up while Karen, Jhen and Lucky were preparing our lunch for that day. I was having a rhinitis attack that time so I was just inside the room trying to sleep. Rhayan must not have like the place so he invited everyone to come over to Punta Fuego. Everyone agreed to his suggestion. Another blessing that came our way with Sigayan was them allowing us to just have a half day stay and pay for only half the rate. After lunch and finishing the financial stuff to pay for our stay there, we left Sigayan for Punta Fuego around 5PM. Since neither Rhayan nor I knew how to get to Nasugbu from Laiya, it was a road trip for us since we had several stop overs just to ask for directions from the Batangueños. We even got lost for a short time because Rhayan went ahead when we had another stop over for a "bio-break" (too much call center blood running through me! hehe) and since it was already dark, I was trying to focus more on my driving because the roads were really dark. I had to be extra cautious because of my unfamiliarity with the province. God never really left us and we still got to Punta Fuego at around 9PM. Almost the same amount of time from Manila to Laiya, and it was 163.9KM from Laiya to Nasugbu. When we got there, Rhayan already had some food prepared for us so we just dropped our bags in a room and went straight to their dining room for dinner. Everyone was really impressed with Rhayan because of his hospitality that when he asked me to drink liquor I could not say no.Thinking about it, I guess I should have said no because what he made me drink after not drinking for a long time was a shot of Bacardi 151! I have never felt alcohol go down my throat so DAMN hard like that! If the summer was any hotter that night, my innards would have started to combust! For those of you who do not know, the 151 on Bacardi 151 is the alcoholic proof. For the non-drinkers, that means that Bacardi 151 is made of 75.5% ALCOHOL! 5.5% stronger than your regular disinfectant alcohol, right? It took me a couple glasses of water, beer and softdrinks to take out the itch in my throat because of that drink!


Tears! (este) Cheers!


Check out our reactions after having drank that stuff!
The ladies were drinking Absolut Strawberri and some beer. However, we were able to convince Whella together with Leny to also drink Bacardi 151. I was not able to get Nhel's reaction on Absolut because she was so camera shy that 10 photos were not enough for her to start drinking her shot. Peace Nhel!Ü


HERE THEY GO!Ü


(Left to Right, Top to Bottom)
In the morning, after breakfast, we then packed our stuff and left for Punta Fuego's infinity pool. We were not planning to go back to Rhayan's place since his family will be coming over by lunch time. He just told us that we could stay there as long as we want but since some of us still had to attend the baptism of Lloyd's baby, Brent. However, before going to the infinity pool, Rhayan toured us around Punta Fuego and brought us to the Fuego Yacht Club and to Fuego Point for some photo op for me and Lucky, who seems to can't get enough of taking pictures with his Cybershot.Ü


Fuego Yacht Club


Da Gels at Fuego Yacht Club


Karen at Fuego Yacht Club


Karen and her dream yacht


Shopping for Karen's yacht (Taken by Rhayan)


Fuego Point


TGIS at Fuego Point


Karen at Fuego Point


Kaya pa Nhel?Ü


Fuego Point View


Enjoying the view


A view from the top


By Punta Fuego's Infinity Pool (Taken by Karen)
We left Fuego at around 4PM and we got to Tahanan by 6PM and the baptism was supposed to be at 430PM. Again, I took note of the distance from Punta Fuego to Tahanan and its 113KM. Thinking about it, we travelled a total of 561.8km for the 3 day vacation. This is not counting the travel from my place to the baptism reception at Bahay Kainan, Greenhills.Ü It would approximately be nore less than 600km drive for me. I could have probably joined Petron's challenge and see how far I could go with a full tank of Petron Xtra gas!Ü It was too bad that we didn't have enough time to stay and chat with Lloyd and his family longer since it was obvious in our (Lucky, Whella, Kha and I) that we were already very tired. Jhen, Nhel and Leny went home after we arrived at my place.


Karen with Baby Brent


Karen and Lloyd with Baby Brent


Karen with Brent, Migs (Lloyd's son) and Pepe (Mane's son)


With Lloyd's Family
That's it for me today. I haven't slept yet since I just came from shift and went to the Transport Show with my family and Karen. Plus, we'll be going to Baguio tomorrow.

SMB!
SARAP MAG-BAGUIO!