chapter one:  friday – "are we there yet?"

i met up with edon and nikki at the office at around noon.  i have to admit, for some reason i didn't feel at all excited about my first beach trip in two years.  i was looking forward to it, yes, but not as giddy as an eight-year-old getting his or her dream toy for christmas.  we then proceeded to jollibee near the bus station to meet up with chris.  chuchay was already in galera earlier in the morning to take care of the room reservations.  we had lunch and proceeded to the bus station.  the ride to the port was as uneventful as it was a pain in the ass–literally.  we just put on our ipod headsets and minded our own music business while the bus traversed through traffic, smooth and bumpy roads, dropping off and picking up passengers along the way.  since the three of them all came from shifts the night before, they would doze off to sleep and wake up occasionally to say, "are we there yet?"

after around two hours, we finally reached the batangas city port.  we hurried off and checked the next available ferry to white beach and found one about to leave at 3:30pm.  we had around 10 minutes to buy tickets, pass through security and proceed to the docks so we quickened our pace.  sure enough, we made it to the ferry and after about five minutes, we were off.  this time, the ride was more interesting.  rough waves hit us towards the middle part of the journey and the driver (i'm not sure what they call him, but i'm sure he wasn't designated as the captain) would at times cut off the engine just to ride out the incoming wave in order not to force it and end up toppling off (scary thought).  i'm not seasick, thank goodness, so for me, the ride was pretty interesting to say the least.  after an hour or so, we finally reached the island and, like the first man on the moon, i was able to set my first shoeprint on the sands of puerto galera as i stepped off the ferry.

chapter two:  friday – "the infamous 'mindoro sling'"

chuchay met us up as we stepped off the ferry and we headed off to our rooms to get settled in.  edon, chris and i had one room, while nikki and chuchay had the one next to ours.  most of the other colleagues will be arriving tomorrow afternoon so we didn't think of the room-sharing part, at least not yet.  we unpacked our stuff, changed into more comfy clothing and headed back out to get something to eat.  my first impression of the place was it was like one big beach mall.  all the bars, places to dine, lodging and stores were all there.  there was quite a number of people already on the beach and in the water from where we sat and i could just imagine how many more will be arriving by saturday.  after an early dinner, nikki, chuchay and i decided to go back to our rooms to rest a bit, leaving edon and chris, little did we know, started the drinking session.  nikki wanted to sleep, so she and chuchay asked me to be their wake up call at 9pm, to which i obliged.  edon and chris arrived at around 8pm, obviously already tipsy after having a couple of beers and asked also to rest and to wake them up also at 9pm.  both were lights out immediately after lying down and i continued to watch tv.

around a couple of minutes before 9pm, nikki and chuchay knocked on the door.  they apparently couldn't sleep and just watched tv as well.  they saw edon and chris asleep and asked me what happened to them.  "they already started," i said, and taking advantage of the situation, they asked me to take a few pictures of them in their wasted state.  after having some fun at their expense, we woke them up and we hit the bar.  chuchay ordered a pitcher of mindoro sling, apparently the local specialty.  i'm not sure what was mixed in there, but i do know from the taste that it has either gin or rhum laced with juices and topped with apple slices.  we consumed one pitcher until we realized that the bar we went to was not that ok, so we transferred.  upon arriving at our second bar, edon and chris were obvuiously wasted, for their sleep was interrupted, hence the alcohol was still in their system.  we ordered another round of mindoro sling and a couple of beers to boot.  a pair of colleagues who were there the day before, spotted us and joined in.  chris and edon were the ones talking and joking around and the rest of us were just laughing.  a couple of minutes later, edon stood up and went to the beach, apparently, wanting to throw up, but can't.  chris then followed suit, went straight to the water to wash off the effects of the alcohol.  nikki and chuchay caught up with them, leaving just myself, markee and cris on the table.  i was getting quite hammered too, but continued on.  nikki and chuchay ultimately brought edon and chris back to the room for they were wasted as hell and couldn't continue.  i on the other hand, apparently taking advantage of the getaway, bought myself a half-pack of smokes (menthol) and started puffing away.  'twas three years (i think) since i last touched a cigarette so i thought, "why the hell not?"  obviously, the mindoro sling turned on the knack in me to smoke, so there i was.  after a couple of more hours and shots of the concoction and bottles of beer, we decided to call it a night and went back to our rooms.  i was still smoking while walking back to the room and i remember faintly walking not in a straight line.  i slumped on the bed and quickly fell asleep.