May 25 — I managed to wake up at 5AM, a first for the past month or so. I squeezed in three hours of sleep since I had to make some last minute preparations the night before.
Today is the day my high school friends and I have been planning for for weeks – our very own beach getaway to Bantayan Island, Cebu! We have all been very excited, and even counted down the days to this day. Planning was all done through our Facebook group chat. Thanks to technology, friends from outside Cebu City were still able to participate in the planning process.
My call time was 7:30AM at a mall in Cebu City. I live about 30 minutes away, so I decided to leave at 7AM. Unfortunately, 20 minutes later, I still have not been able to get a cab. I decided to finally just take the shuttle service. So yes, I was 30 minutes late as I arrived at 8AM. Our friend Makoy, who was going to drive us to the island, already picked up four of my friends. After me, we were still going to pick up Abbie before finally heading north to Hagnaya. From there we will take the ferry to Bantayan Island.
We were already 30 minutes behind schedule (no thanks to yours truly), so we advised Makoy to just take it easy. We decided to just take the next ferry at 12 noon. However, as soon as we reached the town of San Remigio, we saw a board with the departure schedule of the ferry to Sta. Fe – the port of Bantayan Island. We saw that there was an 11:30AM trip, and we were just 15 minutes early! So we quickly filed out to purchase our tickets and went up to board the ferry.
The ferry ride took almost two hours. I listened to some of my K-Pop songs to pass time, while most of us slept through the whole trip. A few minutes before 1PM, we have finally reached Sta. Fe.
We have reservations at the Sugar Beach Resort. There were just 7 of us then, but 3 more will be arriving the next day. Tania had already reserved one room to fit 10 people. The room rate was at P1800 per night for a non-airconditioned room. The room was said to have two electric fans. The group first headed to the nearest public market to purchase some essentials including charcoal for grilling, drinking water and some condiments. When we got to the resort, a man in a motorcycle greeted us and confirmed the name the reservation was under. He then led us to the middle of the resort, lined with coconut trees. After we all got out to finally get to the room, he announced that the toilet in that room was broken and suggested an airconditioned room a few meters away. He then led us to a row of 4 rooms that each had a small porch. He took us to check the Blue room. He declared that the toilet had the same problem, and checked the one next door – the Yellow room. This time, the toilet was working fine. The staff told us that the rate was the same at P1800 per night (I guess this was much smaller compared to the fan room we had reserved for the same price), plus P150 per night for each extra bed/foam.
We were quite hungry by then, so Harvey and Tania started a fire so they can grill the pork belly Tania marinated the night before. I brought enough cooked rice for the first day, too. There wasn’t much people around when we got there since it was still Friday. We couldn’t wait to explore the island and head to the water.
Part of our plan for the next three days, apart from swimming to our heart’s content, is to make our version of the music video for Carly Rae Jepsen‘s Call Me Maybe. Yes, we planned to do that. And we made not just one video, but 4 versions!
Jump shots are more fun when you do it with friends. It took several tries before we finally got the hang of it, but even the failed attempts were a lot of fun to do. What made the three days of beach outing and outstanding and memorable event for all of us, is the company of each good friends, who are not afraid or embarrassed to goof off sometimes.
The trip back tested just that. Since going to the island there were only 7 of us, including Makoy who was driving, going back, 3 more people were added. Thus, the arrangement in Makoy’s truck was one in the passenger seat, four in the back seat of the cab, and 4 at the truck bed, which was uncovered.
At first, the drive went smoothly, with a few bumps in the road that brought the riders at the back on edge. However, as soon as we reached the town of Compostela, it started to rain. We, the people in the cab, noticed that it was raining right away. However, the people at the back were fast asleep with a towel over their faces and did not seek cover until they were a bit drenched.
We sought cover at the first gas station we found till the rain stopped. However, as soon as we left the shelter of the gas station, the rain started again. When we stopped at the next gas station, we decided to all cram inside the cab. Yes, all 9 passengers fit inside the tiny cab of a Mitsubishi Strada pickup truck. And we didn’t complain! In fact, we made the fourth Call Me Maybe music video while inside the cramped cab!
Truly a very memorable experience. I think I still have a hangover from all the fun we had in the island of Bantayan.
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One Step At A Time 