Day One: High Tides upon arrival

Happy Easter!

My back still hurts from repeated exposure to the fierce sun, and i have yet to recover from a minor cold, but i couldn't feel better. Just spent four glorious days at the beach in Matabungkay. For those of you who know me well, that's saying a lot. I'm not exactly a beach person, and i would almost always choose the cooler climates over surf and sky.

Turned out that i needed little convincing to be a beach bum. A simple episode of snorkeling and sand castling was enough for me to plan our next trip: to Palawan no less.

Day 1:
Arrived after wrestling with a map provided by the travel agency -- a harbinger of things to come. The map itself was unlike any map i've seen, with directions that look like they used bent wire and traced it over paper. Landmarks were curiously chosen: a 7-11, a sugar mill, and guess-where junctions that offer little chance of redemption if you chose wrongly.

In between the 3-hour drive, we treated ourselves with a Bulalo lunch at Tagaytay's public market. We took our first picture there, and sadly, our tradition of taking pictures after we've demolished the fare (as opposed to taking pictures with heaps of steaming food before us) continued and will continue throughout the trip.

Jellybeans and jumper changes (our lone kiddie companion, Alvin and Bel's 2-year old daughter Amaya, took the winding passages badly. Her stomach defied the laws of gravity and chucked back her food) later, we arrived at a road that lacked a warning sign: Tourist Trap ahead. Everytime you stop due to a road hump, guides will offer their services so you can get away from it all. Ironic.

I guess this must be it then.

At the counter, we realized the difference between a superior room and an executive room: for 500 bucks, you can watch helplessly as they take away the TV set and the mini bar. We had no choice at this point though. The stupid agency not only booked us in a room smaller than what we need, but also failed to inform us of the difference in amenities.

Surely, a TV set wouldn't be that much of a loss, would it? Bel of course looked forward to the last episode of Princess Lulu while we were anxious to see how Lady Choi gets arrested in Jewel in the Palace. To top it off, it was Kings vs. Suns (Alvin's team) at ESPN.

The reception was sympathetic though, and offered to room us at the Executive room for the day on the condition we would transfer to our real rooms the next. I wish she didn't, as we were torn from what we're supposed to watch later.

After a 3-hour mandatory rest period. We headed off to the beach. At 5 pm, the beach didn't exactly invite you for a swim as numerous kelp beached themselves at the shore. I did however, spot a number of starfishes and brittle stars and immediately my excitement took off. I like stars for some weird reason, and here are hundreds of them, living breathing ones with tiny feet. i picked couple to look closely, and after satisfying my curiosity, returned them to the sea.

All five of us took a leisurely stroll and tried to identify points of interest for tomorrow. After a lackadaisal yet costly dinner,we vowed to dine outside during the remainder of our stay. I noticed that people get stressed even during vacations because of three things: the travel, the lack of something needed for the vacation, and the prices. I think it never bothered me, for the simple reason i agreed to this trip because i know we can afford it. I try to consider the fact that we're staying in a hotel hence the prohibitive costs, but my companions wouldn't have none of it. It didn't help that the resort is bit chintzy, and doesn't even have phones installed in its individual rooms. So i let the matter pass...nothing will stress me.

after the inevitable channel switching between Kapuso and Kapamilya (the cable TV doesn't have solar, so NBA is out), we realized we didn't understand either show.

I hope tomorrow comes with the real tour package.

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