I’ve been neglecting my poor little blog! And starving my loyal readers in the process. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

My trip to Puerto Galera has been 2 nights of well-deserved fun. I’ve partied for two nights, snorkled among the fishes and the corals, ate enough sisig to last me the rest of the year (and probably half of next year), and had my first ever paid massage!

So my trip started with a slow commute to Alabang where Rhenz and I planned to meet up following some company activity of his in the morning. Rhenz was late because of some transpo problems and we left Alabang for Batangas sometime at 2:30. We arrived at the terminal and my companion rushed like hell to catch the last boat. We boarded the boat with fifteen minutes to spare. The boat ride was quite uneventful, quite unlike the ones our tripmates took that morning. Interestingly, I’ve never ever experienced the nausea-inducing boat trips my friends tell me when going to or from Puerto Galera. I must be lucky.

We docked at White Beach at around 6:30pm in the night. We checked in at our lodging (PHP1,500 per night—it’s quite a deal!) and there I got to meet Rhenz’ friends. Chris and Kat, I’ve met before, and then there were Tine, her boyfriend Jonas, and Ms. Party Girl Lani.

We all went out to have dinner (with sisig) at Fernando’s (Note: don’t eat there! The service is very slow.) freshened up a bit then went to a beachside bar to have a try of the infamous Mindoro Sling. I was a bit disappointed to find out that it was some sort of punch. Anyway, we did several rounds of tagay and danced some at the stage. Chris, Rhenz, Lani, and I were the ones mostly dancing while the rest were contented to sit at the table.

The music is good enough, if a bit jarring for the weird transitions from house to trance and then to hip-hop and R&B. Rhenz and I did some exploring about before I hit the sack at around midnight.

We woke up early the next day to do a bit of snorkeling. Chris contracted a boatman the night before and we took a boat ride to Long Beach on the northwestern coast of San Antonio Island. Joining us were four female friends of Chris the prettiest of which was Millie (didn’t catch the names of the others). Hehehe.

The last time I went snorkeling in Galera, we went to the coral garden west of Sabang Beach near the tip of the peninsula. I didn’t get to enjoy that time much because I was a bit afraid since I don’t know how to swim. I don’t know what I drank this time because I was a bit more adventurous. I ventured out to some of the farther reefs, banged my knee on some corals, and rescued Jonas from a water-gulping-induced panic attack. Snorkeling is amazing! It’s fun to see all the pretty little fishes and marveling at the depths of the spots between the corals. The experience was a little bit tiring though because of the current that flowed away from the beach. Nevertheless, I was able to prevent myself from having my own panic attack and got to shore.

I spent the rest of the morning digging a hole and building a sand hill looking like some autistic person.

After a lunch of kebab and sisig, I had my siesta then a beach massage with Rhenz courtesy of the reflexologist manangs. Rhenz then I then jumped into the ocean to enjoy a salt bath (and to try to wash off the sticky massage oil).

After leaving the beach and taking a shower, all of us went out to dinner of kebab and sisig once more, before proceeding to the same beachside bar to have another round of Mindoro Sling.

The music was better that night! Good thing there was this guest DJ from some club in Malate to provide non-repetitive house music all night long! Again, Chris, Rhenz, Lani, and I danced for quite some time and generally having the time of our lives.

Afterwards, Rhenz and I spent the rest of the night in the company of some friends he was with during one of the times he was in Galera. I went to bed at around 4 am.

The next day, we had lunch of kebab and sisig one last time before hustling down the beach to catch the boat that would be leaving 30 minutes earlier than its normal schedule. Apparently, people were preparing for the coming of typhoon Unding so most boat rides departed earlier.

The trip home was one long anticlimactic ordeal. While the boat ride was as calm as before, we had to land on a beach a few kilometers south of the the pier, that was closed due to the coming typhoon. If you asked me, they shouldn’t have closed it since Unding was still so far away and the weather was very calm.

We took a jeepney ride and slogged through the traffic of downtown Batangas City. Jonas and I boarded a bus for Alabang while the rest opted for the bus bound for Cubao. I arrived home at 8:30pm.

So there. That’s how my long weekend went. Very interesting, I should say. And excuse my writing, if it sounds a bit unpolished.