memories of punta malabrigo

the day before (March 18th)

as planned, gracie, paolo, giovanne and cherry went home with me to prepare for the outing and to pick up the van. i prepared lunch for them, nothing fancy, just some fried chicken and chinese-style pork and green salad.

giovanne and cherry had to go home, so gracie, pao and i went on to do some serious grocery shopping for the trip at SM hypermarket. we got home at around 1pm, then pao and gracie proceeded to cook the adobo for the next day's lunch at the resort. pao took charge of marinating the pork belly, also for the outing.

after a quick snack of homemade banana split (bananas and selecta's 3-in-1 ice cream in chocolate, mango and mocha flavors), pao and gracie went off to sleep while i heard mass.

we woke up at around 8:30pm, had a quick dinner, and went to work, pao driving the van.

*****

day 1 (march 19th)

the whole shift, we were too excited about the outing to even wonder why we didn't have that many calls. near the end of shift (around 8:30am), giovanne called us to a team meeting, which lasted for 30 minutes. after turning off our computers and storing our headsets in our lockers, we went on our way to batangas.

the team was distributed in 2 vans. in our hi ace were me, pao, daddy john, mommy roni, rose, carlo, rex and jason. in the other vehicle (jp's lite ace) were ian, gracie, mayo, sam, jaz, rodel, and of course jp, our newest teammate from wave 17. we agreed to meet up at the magallanes shell station just in case we got stuck in traffic along EDSA, which actually happened, and so that we could load up on gas and stuff to eat.

after about 20 minutes, we hit the road again. we agreed to meet up next at the last gas station along the south luzon expressway to grab a bite for lunch. sam and carlo exchanged places, since we needed one person per vehicle who was familiar with batangas. after a 20-minute stop, where we had burgers, fries and drinks to go, we left for batangas.

the ride was smooth, not much traffic. we exited at the sto. tomas/lucena exit, then turned right heading for the star tollway. it was my first time to traverse the road, and i saw how different it was from the south luzon expressway. it seemed…boring, and i would have fallen asleep had rex not been regaling us with his usual brand of humor, and daddy john telling us about the big bat/creature that he and mommy roni saw when they were driving along the tollway at night.

our next stop was carlo's hacienda in batangas city. he had asked his mother to make some kilawin for us, but the gracious lady also made some pancit and ordered puto for us to take to the resort.

next stop was SM city batangas, where some of us did some last minute shopping for forgotten supplies like salted eggs, bottled water, tube ice and ponstan for jason. daddy john also took over the wheel from paolo, for the last leg of the trip to lobo.

after another 1 1/2 hours of riding over rough roads and going through curves as we went up and down mountains, we finally reached the town of lobo. based on the trip meter which pao reset while we were at shell magallanes, we had driven some 140 kilometers, not counting the short detour to batangas city and carlo's house.

the road to malabrigo, just on the outskirts of lobo's poblacion

a view of the waters of verde island passage, on the way to malabrigo

we arrived at the punta malabrigo resort, owned by daddy john's parents, at 3:30pm. we were assigned one duplex cottage, consisting of 2 rooms and two bathrooms, and a spacious veranda. the cottages faced the beach, and we had tables set up under the trees for our meals.

my teammates, upon arrival at the resort

the beach, as seen from the tables under the trees

our cottage, taken as we were having lunch

after freshening up, we had a very late lunch consisting of the adobo which gracie cooked the previous day and some rice. then it was off to the waters.

that's me with mayo, gracie and ian, testing the waters of the beach

daddy john then invited us to walk up the lighthouse, which was built during spanish times. it was a longish walk along the beach (about 1.5km), then a steep climb up the cliff (another half a kilometer, which would have been easy if only it wasn't going up). i was on the point of giving up because i was so tired and my heart was pounding in my ears; in fact, i was the last to reach the top.

the lighthouse tower itself was not accessible at that time, so we only walked around the lighthouse keeper's area, and took in the spectacular views of the waters and, in the distance, the view of mindoro and verde islands.

the view from the lighthouse cliff

we went down because the sun was setting and we didn't want to be caught in the dark in that area. daddy john told us about mysterious stuff happening in that area, which i probably felt on the way up (so much negative energy, can't breathe well), as well as the alleged ghosts of the lighthouse (which i felt, although they were merely guardians of the lighthouse and therefore harmless).

the road we took going down was shorter and therefore less tiring. when we got back to the resort we all decided to sit on the beach and watch the sun set and the stars come out.

the sunset, seen from punta malabrigo

as the stars came out, we were lying on the beach already, naming the constellations and making wishes as shooting stars appeared. the lights went out for a bit, enhancing the view of the stars in the dark sky, and then we walked back to our tables for dinner.

the lights came on as we were feasting on sinangag na tulingan, sinigang na dalagan bukid and roasted pork belly. after dinner, some of us went to the pavilion for videoke, billiards and drinks.

jaz brought 3 bottles of tequila, and we had a blast doing the rounds while singing or playing billiards. when all 3 bottles were consumed, it was already past midnight and most of us, sleepless from the night before, decided to turn in.

i was taking a shower when jaz knocked at the bathroom door and told me that they were going to sit on the shore and i was to follow. so i did. there were 6 of us: jaz, gracie, ian, rodel, jp and me. we sat on the shore, talking about a lot of things, disagreeing, arguing, and finally deciding to turn in, the first 4 at around 2am, and jp and i at 2:30am.

*****

day 2 (march 20th)

woke up at 6:30am, after a sound sleep, without feeling any hang over from the tequila we drank the night before. rose was already awake and was inviting me to take a swim, so i changed into last night's swimwear (pair of shorts and a tshirt) and walked to the beach.

the waters of verde island passage are cool and the current is strong. we just sat on the shallow part of the waters and had fun. the sun wasn't shining too strongly so it was nice just to sit there and relax. pretty soon we had breakfast, hotdogs and fish patties (from the fish last night). after breakfast we hit the beach again, till around 11:30am, when the sun was getting a little bit too bright already.

we decided to go up the lighthouse again, and we took the shortcut we took the day before on our way down. this time, daddy john asked his cousin who was lighthouse keeper to allow us to climb the tower. it was scary to go up the spiral staircase, but it was all worth it because of the view from the top.

the lighthouse

a view of verde island passage from the top

another view of the sea, with mindoro somewhere in the background

this time, though, it was creepier because when we left the lighthouse, pao asked rose to take a picture of him at the entrance, and when we looked at the picture on his cellphone, all sorts of mysterious things showed up. even pao didn't look the same in the picture.

that's pao at the entrance to the lighthouse. check out the cloud formation. and look closely to his right and left. you'll see shadows. everywhere.

after our ghostly encounter, we went back to the resort for a late lunch of pancit, corned beef, and roast squid. at around 3pm we packed up and got ready to go home.

we reached the south luzon expressway at around 7pm, and as agreed we met up at the total gas station to freshen up and get stuff to eat or drink. that was when pao showed everyone the picture rose took of him at the lighthouse, and everyone was freaked.

we arrived at cybergate tower 2, our designated drop off point at around 8:15pm. pao then drove the van up until the entrance to our village, where i told him that he could take a cab going home while i drove the van home, to avoid further inconvenience on his part.

*****

all in all, it was a fun adventure and experience for all of us, despite the long travel and the roads which could be better. but i'm just glad i came on this trip. it brought me closer to my teammates, we formed a bond to share, and it gave us a chance to relax after 5 or 6 months of non stop work and stress.

i wish we could go back there soon.