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Puerto Galera 2008

Apr 28, 2008 Daily Blurbs

Our trip to Puerto Galera was a blast. Ryan and I met up at Jollibee along Paseo de Roxas in Makati and had breakfast, and then we had a ride to the bus station. The bus to Batangas Pier left at 7:30AM and I slept for most of the trip. I was actually feeling nauseas because I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. After 3 hours, we arrived at the pier and bought tickets for the Commandos boat. The boat was already boarding when we got inside the boarding station. We were lucky to leave as soon as we arrived at the pier. Last year, we had to wait for 2 hours.

The ride to White Beach Puerto Galera was a bit bumpy than usual. The waves are bigger and it rocked the boat pretty hard. There were times when the driver had to turn off the engine so that we don’t go against the current. At 12nn, we were already unloading at White Beach. An employee from La Solana Suites and Resort welcomed us and ushered us to their vehicle and brought us to the resort.

Our room was located by the pool and we only had one room beside ours, which was great, because that means less noise. That afternoon though, there was a group singing karaoke by the pool. We didn’t really mind since we went out to lunch by the beach and took pictures of the place. Coincidentally, my classmate from high school was also having lunch there with his girlfriend. Ryan’s colleagues were also at the beach when we arrived. My friends from my old job were there to join us, Ian, Kat and Jen. They arrived at 4pm and after they got settled in on another resort, we headed to the sea to swim.

Warning: Pictures ahead!

The waves were so high that it reached more than it should by the shore. There was an instance when I was saying something to my friend when the wave just hit the shore over us and I had to spit loads of sand from my mouth! It was a good laugh. After getting wet by the shore, we went for a swim in the pool.

We had dinner at Fernando’s and ate a sumptuous ihaw-ihaw¹ meal. We had Pork and Chicken kebab, Pork Sisig and Inihaw na Squid. After dinner, Ian, Jen and Kat decided to have a full body massage by the locals for Php200 (roughly $5). Ryan and I had the same massage the next night. We headed to Summer Connection to a much quieter evening. The White Beach strip was filled with so many party goers, while we prefer a chill environment. We ordered Mindoro Sling, a quite popular cocktail drink offered by all of the bars in White Beach Puerto Galera.

We paid Php300 (about $7) for a pitcher. It is served with slices of apple, with a concoction of rhum, orange juice, grenadine syrup, mango juice and Sprite. I didn’t drink much since I’m not much of a drinker. After a few shots, I became quite dizzy. We had to turn in by 1am. Ryan and I had to walk towards the resort we’re staying at. I think it took us 20 minutes to get there because we were walking really slow.

The next morning, we had breakfast at Cafe Amara. My friends went to buy some souvenirs to give to their family and friends, while Ryan and I had a morning swim in the pool. We still have the whole day to spend, while my friends was scheduled to go home that afternoon. My friends joined us for lunch at Cafe Amara by 1:30pm, and we sent them off to their boat by 2:30pm. Their boat left at three.

Ryan and I were bitten by the sleeping dusts and had fallen asleep the whole afternoon. We were able to catch the sunset, though.

We walked along the beach and decided to buy our souvenirs for our loved ones that night. After our mini shopping, we decided to have dinner at Fernando’s again.

We spent the next hour for our full body massage and headed to the bar for some drinks. A beach dog even sat beside me while having the massage. You have to click on the link to see how cute the beach dog is

I asked for the bartender to give me something sweet but won’t give me a headache the next day. My drink is called “Love Birds”, and Ryan settled for a trusty San Mig Light. After an hour, we headed to bed. We were both exhausted, but we were able to muster some energy for a bath. After my bath, I found Ryan snoozing in bed, but I woke him up to make him wash up because we were slithered with coconut oil from our massage.

I awoke at 5am the next day because it was raining really hard and it scared me because we’re scheduled to go home that day. Rain means dangerous. A boat ride is the only way back to Batangas Pier. After an hour, the rain stopped and I peeked outside and saw a clear sky. I was so relieved!

At 6:15am, we were out the door for breakfast and some waddling by the shore. We rescheduled our boat ride to an earlier time. We were supposed to go at 10am, but decided to leave at 8am because Ryan had to go to work that night.

We boarded the boat at 8:05am and the boat left at 8:20am. By 9:45am, the boat was unloading at the pier. We were lucky to catch the bus outside the pier. We were seated at the back of the bus and Ryan slept half of the ride. Ryan got off at Magallanes and I got off at Ortigas. He arrived home at 12:30am and I got home at 1:30am. I was so exhausted and took a long shower because it was super hot. I climbed in bed and slept until dinner time.

I would say that our trip to Puerto Galera was short. I wanted to be a beach bum. I really do. I wanted to stay for a week! Next year, our target location is Boracay or a country in Asia.

I am going to miss the beach. My mom and siblings are going swimming on Wednesday at Club Manila East. Summer is still hot, so a dip in the pool is a well-deserved reward.

More pictures!

1. grilled or cooked over charcoal ↩

Tags: mindoro, philippines, puerto galera, trip