After a week of stress from work, I decided to go on a trip.
There’s always something uplifting about going to another place. Whether it’s
on another country or somewhere along the Philippines, it’s the same feeling
that you get – a sense of satisfaction by exposing yourself to other cultures
while making small discoveries for yourself along the way.
During my rest days last week, I went to Puerto Galera. Immediately after our shift at 5:00am, we
rode the first bus going to Batangas Pier (150 peso fare for a Wifi bus). By
7:00am we were already at the pier where we bought tickets for the boat ride
(500 pesos Batangas-Puerto Galera roundtrip ticket) going to Mindoro
Occidental.
Actually, it was my first time to ride a boat. When my officemates told me that we’re going
to ride a boat going there, I was ecstatic. I expected to ride like the “super
ferry types” that Sharon Cuneta, literally and figuratively endorsed. It turns
out that it looks like a big banca that we ride in Pampanga during the flood
season.
My hope of riding the super ferry type was rather turned
down. But again, it was still a pleasant boat ride, seeing the stunning islands
covered with greens contrast with the eye-catching blue color of the water,
while my hair is being caressed by the wind, my face hit by a gentle ray of
sunlight. Da peeling, aylabet.
Puerto Galera is a good three-hour trip from Manila. Once we
arrived, I can’t believe that I’m actually in Mindoro stepping on its sand and
breathing its fresh air. Of course, after arriving the next sensible thing to
do is find a good place to stay in for the night. We checked in at VM Beach Resort,
which has the nearest access to the beach and a pocket friendly accommodation
rate of 1000 pesos per day. The room is spacey for its price, it has two queen
size beds, a CR, a small cable TV and an aircon unit. We changed our clothes ass
soon a we fixed our things and afterwards, we looked around for somewhere to
eat.
Food isn’t too cheap in the restaurants along the beach. A
good meal with a fruit shake might cost you around 200 pesos. Although pricey,
I must say that the taste didn’t disappoint. Galera has some great tasting
fruit shakes too – smooth, refreshing, and flavorful. I personally liked the
Choco-Peanut as well as the Banana-Mango shake.
That night we went out for a drink. My officemate
recommended that we try out the “Mindoro Sling”, a rather sour concoction of citrus
fruit juices and tequila (I think). The pink one is called “Southern Comfort”
which truly lived up to its name since it hardly tasted of alcohol since it’s
made of Bailey’s and strawberry flavorings. It looked more like a milkshake to
me than a cocktail drink.
The next day, we had breakfast in one of the restaurants
along the beach. Everything looked so calm until some people started to offer
us different activities. Boss,
snorkeling? Boss, tara, island hopping? Boss, pasalubong? Boss, anklet? Boss, t-shirt?
It’s really quite annoying since some people would just like to go and
visit the place to find peace only to be faced with this subtle form of
harassment. I really do hope that the management would do something about this.
It’s rather simple, if we were up to some activities, we would be more than
happy to approach them and ask about it if not, edi kebs lang.
After breakfast that day, we went off to explore the rest of
the place, taking pictures and buying souvenirs at every opportunity we get.
We went home to Manila the next day. As soon as the bus
arrived in Pasay, scenes of the beach and all the food came flashing back. I
guess we’re back to reality now. The workweek will once again start tomorrow
but one thing’s for sure: It was a rest day well spent for me. 
