Happy Thoughts

Yes, I know.

I’m supposed to write happy thoughts about our last vacation while my skin voluntarily flakes off from my recent bout with sunburn.

I’m supposed to write about happy thoughts that began with a bus ride from hell crammed with assorted characters, ranging from the Euro lover of Asian-looking women, to the solo scratchy weirdo, to hardcore members of the Brokeback Mountain fans club, who suddenly decided to anoint a wall in Batangas with callings from nature:

















Then, I’m supposed to write happy thoughts about fighting your way into the passenger terminal on Batangas City, where everybody and his mother decided to spend Holy Week. About crawling in the midst of the horde while I lug around 2 huge gym bags which Nel deemed less than enough for a 3 days at the beach.
















Next, I’m supposed to write happy thoughts about the one-hour plus boat ride on something totally made of wood, where we greet choppy waves out to impersonally maim us. On disembarking, we were greeted by establishments that double as tourist traps, and learning that our hotel, which is more of a community for scuba divers (which none of us are) is the farthest from the party place called White Beach.
















And then I’m supposed to write happy thoughts about how we had to pay an arm and a leg every time we venture out, whether by land or by sea. And that the waters between our hotel and the nearest resort town were by far the choppiest.

Given all that, I’m supposed to write happy thoughts about this vacation?

















Did I tell I had the most wonderful vacation yet? Despite all of the above, I do have a lot of happy thoughts - mostly in between arriving and leaving.































(Note: Of course i set the triggerfish free after this photo session)

But the first and foremost happy thought is that I’m coming back there as soon as I can.

Comments

Kitty Litter said…
James. In the group photo, are you actually wearing flowered shorts? Akala ko ba only wimps wear 'em? (mwahaha)

I hope you didn't French the triggerfish. Harassment yun e ;p
7:07 PM
iceman said…
this is the same pair of shorts that gave up on me an hour later, exposing my inner thighs to the angry sea.

now that i thought about it, i was wearing flowery shorts the whole time. even ornery ones.

as for the triggerfish, we decided to remain friends instead.
8:16 PM
Kitty Litter said…
Ouch. Inner thigh sunburn. Ooo-wee, i feel da pain.

nakakatuwa naman na kunyari ornery ka pero this is a part love note for your wife. haay, inggit! :D
8:00 PM
Kai said…
Next time, dude, leave the islands to those who don't know better during peak season (Holy Week, All Saints' Day, Christmas, and all long weekends). Go when nobody else is going, as long as there are no typhoons. It's a lot cheaper, and much more calmer. You'll have more than joyful thoughts.
11:05 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crisis of confidence

Image
prologue: I hedged against writing this entry but i guess transparency won over everything else. If i continued writing about just the good things, it wouldn't make much sense 10 years from now, as any offspring might see this and conclude that was a cheery person my entire life. --- We lost a game we should have won last night by 3 points. Led the entire game except the last 2 minutes. And what's worse, i spent the whole game chained to the bench. I do realize i may not be as good as the rest of the players, but i try to do my share whenever asked. I really felt bad knowing i could have helped one way or the other, but i guess the coach was afraid i'd do more harm than good. So despite being the earliest to arrive for the game, my jersey hardly worked up a sweat, and it was so bad that my water bottle got home untouched. I even forgot to bring home my shoes. A teammate took it home with him and joked later that it was lucky it didnt fit him. If it did, i would have given
Read more

Day Two: Diary of a Starfish

Image
i hate Holy Week. Talk about invasion of privacy. What's so holy about that? One week a year and tourists go ape shit. I wish to God they'd be content to watch you in your natural habitat. But nooo. They pick you up, turn you around, and take stupid videos of you doing what comes naturally. Here i am, minding my own fucking business -- mind you, the harmless business of burying myself halfway in the sand, and feeding on plankton. For God's sake, plankton! microscopic organisms nobody would miss. And i do my part in keeping the ocean clean. Then these bastards come in droves during Holy Week. They crowd the shores, and they have the nerve to pick on wildlife. Harmless fucking wildlife that survived millions of years of evolution, only to be picked up by a 30-year old in an outdated Kings jersey for the sole reason he doesn't know what starfish do when they flip over. The nerve of the retro-loving bastard. I do what i do, what nature taught me to do. Survive. I flip over
Read more

Here's to a thousand hits

Image
i wanted to write a couple of entries, but somehow the spirit is willing but the fingers are fat and tired. must be from doing all that weboggle. it's seriously addicting, and trying to reach the top 10 is somewhat of an unending challenge. try it yourself by visiting here . anyway, the celebration of the 1000th hit to my blog is too good to pass up so here i am at 1 in the morning writing an entry. I know it's not much compared to hits from google or yahoo, but having my blog viewed a thousand times is more than an achievement for me. it's been a crazy week at work with all the activities going on that i surprise myself for not being burned out yet. i do admit i'm having too much fun to derive some sense of fatigue out of it. Muziklaban is over finally, and it was a blast for yours truly to have attended his first concert with a special all-access ID around his neck. That means i can eat all the food i want and go to all the restricted areas without some bouncer handl
Read more