My friend Leslie and I were talking about bucket lists one day at work, because we only have 1 year left before turning 30 in 2014. We agreed to seize the moments and not waste any time, go to places we've never been to and during our talk, she mentioned about going to the beach before the year ends. I was up for anything that can be done on a weekend, because I was reserving my vacation leaves for a week in Bohol to do some volunteer work in January. We agreed on going on a no-fuss, semi-impromptu beach getaway to Nagsasa Cove in Zambales.
We managed to come up with an itinerary in less than a week thanks to Leslie's friend who gave us a contact person in Pundaquit. The plan was to take a bus from Manila to Iba and then a tricycle to Pundaquit, Zambales. From there, we would be taking a boat ride to Nagsasa Cove which would be our campsite for the weekend.
The group consisting of 3 girls (Leslie, Daday and I) and 3 boys (Ronnie, Lloyd and Jim) met up at around 2:00 AM at the Victory Liner station in Cubao. There weren't any buses going directly to Iba at that hour so we decided to wait for the Olongapo bus which leaves at 3:00 AM. The ticket to Olongapo costs around 200 pesos and it took us around 3.5 hours to get there. From Olongapo, we boarded another bus going to Iba, Zambales which cost us around 56 pesos. The whole trip from Manila to Iba was a long ride (total of 4.5 hours), but I didn't mind because I am exceptionally good at dozing off in moving vehicles. Haha. Finally arriving at San Antonio in Iba, we headed to the market to buy food, drinks and other essentials that we would be needing in our camp site then headed to Pundaquit island via a 20 minute tricycle ride.
The happy campers ready for island hopping!
We met up with Ate Fe, our contact in Pundaquit and she let us rent some cooking utensils and a tent then we bought ice and beer before heading out to our island hopping adventure. We went to Camara and Capones to take photos and goof around.
Camara and its awesome tides
Girls striking a pose before doing the requisite "on the rocks" photo.
Boys on the rocks
Our awesome bankeros
The failed pero medyo success jump shot! Haha
The tropa shot with the Jimboyps
Initially, the group was thinking of going to Anawangin, but a few friends mentioned that Anawangin Cove can be too crowded. We chose Nagsasa Cove despite the fact that it's almost twice the distance from Pundaquit because there were less people. When we got there, a few tents were already set up, but we still had a sense of personal space because we were provided with our own nipa hut where we could leave our stuff, eat our meals and cook our food.
My friend Ronnie who is a seasoned backpacker took care of the food. He brought his own cutting tools and seasoning! We had grilled pork, sinigang and the most perfect kinilaw ever. In his huge ass backpack, he managed to take out a couple of tequila bottles that we ended up consuming in evening during discussions over the state of our country, Janet Lim Napoles and pork barrel and rants about work. We also reminisced good times with our teammates from our old Project and even settled arguments about coffee versus yosi.
Our campsite for the weekend!
Simple things in life. Boy bawang and Clover chips!
We woke up early the next day and thanks to the good effect of tequila on me, I didn't have the slightest hangover. The weather wasn't as sunny and bright the next day, and I was actually worried that we might not be able to leave the island by 9:00 AM because around 3:00 that morning, it started raining really hard and we had only our sturdy tents to thank for the shelter. Thankfully the rain stopped, so I prayed that the sea would be kind to us during our boat ride back to Pundaquit.
What I loved about this trip is its spontaneity. We didn't really have a plan except to get away. Well, we planned when to leave and how to get to our destination, but when we got there, we simply let things happen. We had our tents, our overnight backpacks, and all the basic needs. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy getting pampered, room service and fancy staycations, but nothing really beats the outdoors. Being on the island and getting away from the city was already an achieved goal in itself that what was left for us to do was enjoy each other's company. My friends and I embraced these precious hours before plunging back into the fast paced, high pressure yet sometimes mundane office environment that we work in. I am always thrilled at the fact hat even though it's already December, I can still enjoy a lovely weekend at the beach and pretend it's summertime. :)
Ah, Pilipinas. Mahal talaga kita!
