Maribago

I felt like Jay Z lacking my pimp cup on that little piece of paradise we call Maribago. The sandbar was awesome. Bootleg booze and wind that would blow your hat off. You all know I gotta go back.

Off to Bora, next Gensan, next Manila.

I guess me and my wife have been deprived of travel for a good 2 years now. Now its payback. Milk that cash cow of an airline to the bone.

February 18-21 Boracay – Sun, Sand and Cervesa! 

February 27- March 2 Gensan – Seafood, Steaks, More of the above and Reflexology. Nothing like a supposedly highly acclaimed medical foot rub.

March something Manila – City life and Cheap stuff. Yes. We are in it to win it.

 

Stop hating, start participating.

The Dumaguete Experience – Day 3

Day 3
 
Yawn. First thing out of my mouth as I wake up from my 3 hour snooze. “Duka’a oi”. 2nd thing out of my mouth.
I am not ready to leave this paradise. I am not ready to get on the uncomfortable bus ride and leave this land
of easy living and shorelines. Reality check – I have to eat – I have to work to eat – my work is in Cebu – I have to go.
S**t.
 
Woke up prepared coffee for me and my love. Coffee and Cigs wake us up, without it Id be a zombie. The dead that walk
the earth. Coffee in my veins, the next step is a bath. Haaaaaaaaaaahhhhh. But you know we need to take a bath – “Para Ah”.
An expression you will soon understand as soon as I post our list of expression on this blog. So we were packed up, fired up and
ready to go. I always wonder why when you pack up to go home your stuff never fits like it did when you left. My bag is a tad
heavier now. Half asleep, half awake, hung over, with a heavy bag and an empty stomach I await along with my love, my 2
best friends our great white mighty chariot – the Avanza. The only one in the land. Our chariot which will take us to the seaport.
 
But before anything – pictures were taken.
 
We boarded the Avanza at around 6:30am. We were fetched by Maiden the future wife of Epoy with her brother our driver who they say
looked like Piolo Pascual only cooler, so you could just imagine Bianca’s smile. Fidgeting in the car the whole time, wearing
a smile which I thought would tear her face up since with no exaggeration was ear to ear. To make her day even better,
Maiden pops a Tupperware out which was full of guess what? Jelly Roll!!! It actually made me feel better about the travel back home.
Looking forward to that prize jelly roll in the bus we arrive the port.
 
The port was hidden behind the public market which makes perfect sense since it was the center of trade of the island. Paid the fare
and the terminal fee and made our way to the ferry. It was the exact same ferry we rode going to dumaguete. Though this time
we had to ride the general public area. Imagine how much of a pain it was for us demigods. So we settled in. A group of drunk
guys who clearly came from drinking before they boarded were making so much noise. Not really too hot of a combo when
your exhausted and in the middle of the sea. My love’s face was scrunched up and I could tell that she was an inch away from
making a remark. So we bore with the noise and the ocean travel with growling stomachs now.
 
We made it. Whoohoo! We have officially left the Island and are now officially in the land of Cebu. We got there and there was
a bus already ready to go. Epoy not wanting to stress, decided that we ate first while we wait for the next bus so we could get
firsties on the better seats. We ate at the terminal and wow the food was gourmet! Or I guess we were just all already delirious
due to hunger pangs. Hearty a breakfast nonetheless. After the food, come the ritualistic cigarette. While smoking we talked
about the beauty of living in the islands in a beach front house. Truly a dream. So we freshen up and took turns in the john,
perfect timing since the bus arrived. Bianca was the first one at the bus door. They weren’t even ready to have the thing boarded
yet. Bianca’s persuasive powers worked like a charm. The man “The Bus Attendant” as we would like to call him let us in
with a sulk. To my pleasant surprise this bus was actually clean and more comfortable. It was even playing 50 cent. Pimpin’ ride
home.
 
Shades on. Earphones plugged in. Ready to go. (Gots to look good in anything that you do)
 
The bus got filled up really fast and sooner than we expected we were in motion. And sooner than we expected Bianca already started
to snore which she adamantly denies that she does. Headed back to Cebu, Snow Patrol in my ears – time to snooze. Every time
you believe everything is smooth like silk, something happens. This Joe -foreigner was buggingly instructing the Bus Attendant
who was so ignorantly trying to make the bus tv work which of course woke me up from my somewhat peaceful slumber. Thank
you Mr.Man. This was going to be ok with me if in consolation they played a worthwhile video but nooooooo, they were set on
making my day great. Fast and the Furious. If they played this video 5 years ago I would be blown away. Why oh great bus
and travel gods have you spited me on this day!
 
After 3 hours on the death truck we arrive the land of Cebu. Back to Smog and work. Great. I miss Dumaguete. It may have been
a short span of time that we spent there but I’m sure that the experience will be forever imprinted in our memory banks. Plus
we have pictures.
 
Thank you Epoy. For the weekend full of rest, food and awesome new memories! Cheers!
 
Please wait for the “Dumaguete Outtakes”

The Dumaguete Experience – Day 2

Day 2
 
Groggy. Hung over. 7am. Took a leak. Im awake. Nope. False alarm. Going back to bed.
 
7:40 am. Coffee with my love Aang..No creamer. Thats fine. Epoy asks, black? Yeah. Goes
out to buy creamer. Great.
 
Breakfast time was coming. Maiden the future wife of Epoy was preparing. I love Maiden prepared
meals. They are usually rich and abundant in nature. Gives me the feeling similar to when you walk
in an all-you-can-eat restaurant..The house was starting to fill with the aroma of breakfast for champions, or
in our case, breakfast for the groggy hung over hungry vacationers.
 
Bacon and mushroom omelette, pancakes, chicken cheese hotdogs and rice. Orange juice on the side. Im getting hungry
now writing about it. Together with the great breakfast was of course a good convo. During this time Epoy told us about
his plans for the day which I think was for us to get ready and to not plan what to do for the day. The Breakfast ended of
course with Bianca’s question - is there any jelly roll left?
 
Get ready before 2pm. Epoy so strict with the timeline.
 
So off we went ..Back to sleep..After 30 minutes we needed to get ready. Biang you go first – and take your time..
Sexy time for me and my love. Just kidding. We just talked. So we all were ready to leave at 1:55. Call Center people. Maintain
Schedule adherance even on a vacation. So we boarded the mighty Avanza. The only Avanza I saw in the Island. Remember
we were in motorcycle flip flop land. We were set for a number of stops.
 
Went around the city to check out the local mall, the boulevard, the sans rival bakeshop and the bank. Now ready for the first stop.
 
Stop 1 – Sta. Monica Beach. A beach and pool resort. This was were Candice had her wedding reception. A really fine place.
We chilled right by the beach with our drinks. Laguna Beach style. Of course pictures had to be taken. This was a good
20 minute ride from the town proper. Chilled out for a few minutes. Talked about future plans.
 
Stop 2 – Neva’s. It was a restaurant. An extension of the house of the owner. The food there was A – okay. The bomb!
Pizza went for 75 – 90 php. They called it Kuripot Pizza. Makes sense. We each ordered some sort of Italian style rice meal.
Pork Parmigiana which was one of the many choices this tiny air cooled place had.
 
Thats right this day was full of sleeping and eating. Oh happy day!
 
Stop 3 – South Sea Beach Resort. I personally like this better than the first stop. It was very Japanese – y..Zen garden and all
that jazz..The pool had a bar which was one of the coolest features of the place and right by the pool was the restaurant which
looked like a really nice place to get drunk at..
 
Off we went. The next destination was back to the house since we all felt sleepy..As we rolled out of South Sea Bianca so the
“Iba” tree, remarking, “It would really be good to have some of that right now..”..I swear if weren’t sleepy we were hungry.
Sleepy half the time. Hence the creation of the expression “Duka’a oi” came about. Said with groggiest look you can make and
to be used anytime of the day..As I am writing this I say – “Duka’a oi”.
 
Back to the house – Back to sleep. Like I said this was full of sleeping and eating. We slept actually in preparation for dinner.
If we stayed here for a month we would all end up looking like tea pots. God bless us. As we were sleeping Bianca was playing
poker on her N95 8 gig phone. Since she couldnt sleep because she was afraid of the dark. Before we all slept she actually insisted
to keep the light on. Another argument that she lost. At around 7:30 when it really got kinda dark, Biang couldnt stand it and
asked me as I was asleep if she could turn the light on. I didnt really understand it so I replied with a grunt “Uhhhh”. She took
it as a yes and turned the darn lights on. Great! It felt like a flash from a really big camera. Now Im awake. I had to get her back.
So I told her, Biang get ready. Take a bath. With a sulk she did.
 
As we were waiting for Epoy and Future Wife to get ready Biang narrated why she couldnt sleep. 1 was because it was dark. 2 was
because she was hearing stuff in the house like the faucet or the flush or something. Paranoid girl.
 
We were set for some food at restaurant by the beach. There are a lot of good places and even homes by the beach since Dumaguete
was a coastal town.
 
Stop 4 -Tita Jo’s Inasal was the place. It was a good 20 minutes away from the
house. When we got there at around 9:25pm the first thing I see is the signage that says “open from 9am – 9:30pm”. Im like, shit.
Looks like were gonna have to go look for another place to eat. Good thing they still allowed us to order some roasted chicken.
Good stuff. Not enough though. At this point I was at my 2nd beer. After dinner, we then took pictures. This is when we saw the
statue of The Virgin Mary right by the side of the hill across the road from the restaurant. It looked magnificent.
 
Stop 5 – Boulevard, Tempura area. To eat. Again. But we were going to eat to immerse ourselves in the culture of this place.
The tempura used to be sold by people on bikes but now they had their own area and tourists, foreigners and vacationers like
us make it a point to take part in this local cultural flavor that the Island had to offer. We ordered 15 pieces with softdrinks on the
side. Awesome. Righ across the Tempura area was a bar called “Coco Amgigo’s”. Hmmm. I could already feel the beer.
 
Sidebar – the Boulevard is adorned with lights and brick like pavement. One of the highlights of Dumaguete which has been
development by the municipality to encourage tourism.
 
Stop 6 – Coco Amigo’s. Mexican inspired resto bar. I loved the paint job and the interior of the spot. “Super dry” for the boys and
watermelon shakes for the ladies..The watermelon shake had Ice cream in it, a slice of the fruit with a cherry and those little umbrella
thingies on top. Really interesting shake. As I finished my 3rd beer of the night, I asked “Epoy are you going to have another?” He says
“Yea dude, Miss! One more”. Bianca motions toward her now empty glass and says, “Me too, one more”. As we had to have an early
night in, in preparation for the next days travel we decided to finish up at home. It was already 11pm.
 
Drove to “Tram Rats”(Starmart) to buy ice and stuff. Bianca discombobulated the car along with me and Epoy to buy chocolates.
Made our way home and cracked open a Johnny Walker Black Label bottle of whisky. Really good stuff. It feels good to drink
with a little class.. Its as if the buzz that you get out of it is better than usual. We kept talking about work, the island experience,
people we loathe, people we semi-loathe, people we love, people we loathe again. Life. It was a good way to end the touring part.
I could really have had more of that kuripot pizza though. Ended up around 2am, had to get to sleep since we had to wake up at 5am.
 
Enjoying the current buzz we were all ready to crash. Again.
 
Lights on or off argument again. Biang lost again. Lights out. Good night. Tomorow we depart.

The Dumaguete Experience – Day 1

Think of being in a place trapped between being a city and an island. Think of a life thats laid back and like the feel of the future that brings ease.

Dumaguete. Where foreigners go to retire and where vacationers never want to leave.

Day 1 – The Sojourn

1st Leg – The unpeaceful busride. I am seated right next to the love of my life engulfed in a soundtrack endless chatter of a supposed to be pleasant movie. Yes my friend who’s motto in life is “to die than to be boring” is talking to my other more “mature” friend besider her. When we embarked on the bus our minds were set on resting or at least attempting to rest on our way to the second leg of the trip but no. Factors and events were somewhat against that mindset. The woes of a pilgrim. We all came from shift in zombie superior life form mode caught between to chairs on a moving hunk of tin and crude oil with Bianca’s chatter as soundtrack.

Though this may seem like a “hellish” time for all of us, there were smiles of excitement and awe due to the anticipation for our arrival and the splendor of the view surrounding our moving death truck. The horizon, the ocean and the mountain ranges made this 1st part of the trip worthwhile.

(Bianca Claps)

The bus pulls over and the drivers looks down the aisle asking “anyone getting off?”(of course said in the vernacular)

Great. Not only was it painful, the bus ride became painfully embarassing.
Good times, good times – cheers to one of my best friends Biang.

2nd Leg – After 3 hours and a lot of position changes in the effort of avoiding a butt cramp we arrive the dock. Looking forward to Leg stretches, a short sidetrip to the “john” and a cold drink we disembark the the bus. Buying tickets for the ferry called “fastcraft”, I run to unload fluids then I run to buy something to drink, then when I was ready to sit and relax and enjoy an uncramped space, we had to run to the ferry which was already boarding. Yes, a whole lot of running was involved. I felt like I was in the amazing race. If I had to run to do leg stretches, I really would start to choke bianca for all her noise in the bus. Just to have an outlet. Peace Bianca.

So we get to the ferry with my love in hand. We board this water vehicle called a “fastcraft”. This leg of the trip was indeed a pleasant one. At this point sleep was no longer a worry. The part of the trip wherein everyone was in what we would call a “f*** it mode”. It is a mode in your daily routine wherein you just surrender all worries and care, flap both hands in the air downwards, say “f*** it” , cross your arms and pucker your lips like a rockstar.(necessary for gangster effect). The best part of this leg was we stayed at the captains cockpit(I know, I know. That sounds like a male stripjoint) which was supposed to be airconditioned,cool nonetheless and was the highest part of the ferry. We were allowed to go out to a small deck and enjoy the view and seabreeze. I lit my first cig coming from the bus there. Put my shades on and revelled in the beauty of the ocean. Held my love and tried my best to contain my excitment to a weekend of rest, ignorance and anonimity.

The “Fastcraft” speeded its way across the ocean to the island and after a good 30 minutes, we docked the island. Awesome.

3rd Leg – We arrive welcomed by sweaty greasy looking men with hairy armpits, yelling “pedicab? pedicab?” I shudder. We now get off the sea vessel and took on our next peasant life challenge, the tricycle ride. I could not imagine how we survived this trip, truly. Not only did we survive, we took pictures. Feeling like a tourist we rode the thingy. On our way to my other bestfriend’s crib. The ride was short and dirty. If it was a donut, it would be called – “Dustfilled”. Applause for my coliloquy. We were able to see a good handsome lot of the Island as we made our way to the house which would feel like heaven after being cramped, salted and dusted. I know that sounds like the instruction for cooking breaded porkchops.

After 20 minutes. The house. I heard trumpets from the heavens and angels singing. A bed, a cold shower and some grade A homecooked goodness.
We were in dumaguete. Amen.

Home at last. We enter the red primer painted gate where the first thing that you see is the bug – volkswagen beetle.

Dude old school. The first 3 words I utter as I marvelled at the classic automobile. So we all walk up the terrace, took a look around at our temporary home for 3 days. I looked around.. Took a whiff of the Islands fresh air..Took a deep breath..aahhh…

**Fart**

That felt good.

Carried on with surveying the area and familiarizing the territory.. Taking time as I look at the flaura and fauna of the place. Then we go in at this well maintained structure. The house was mostly made of Narra hardwood – the floors, the stairs, the banisters and the railings. Beautiful. Clearly the house had a soul. A very vivid vintage feel – just like one of my bestfriends who owned it (Peace Epoy.). Who by the way was the one who planned everything out to the letter. From the Itinerary, Menu and Logistics. Potentially a very good travel agent that friend of mine.

The house was adorned by pieces of history such as the brass handles and furniture that could tell stories. One more thing that adorned it was pictures. Oh how I loved looking at the pictures. Of course outspoken(another word for tactless) as I am, I had to make a comment. Epoy Im sure was ready for it. I wasnt alone in this effort. Bianca go along with her motto, of course also had to make a comment. So as we perused the pictures on the walls we also had almost the same number of words for them. “Epoy you do look older now.”. “Epoy you look so slim here.”. Epoy, nice guy as he is just laughed along and shrugged our comments off. Im sure he was secretly hating us and planning “freak” accidents that he could orchestrate while we were there.

Settled in. Took our showers. Time to chill.

Loving the bath and the fact that Biang just really had to sleep in me and my loves bedroom. Great. Good Job and Kudos Biang. “Im scared..” was her invalid reason. But then the good and the kindness in me softened my heart allowed me to bare with this fact.

I go out the room and looked for Epoy to check and see if I could help out in preparing for dinner which was going to be “grilled pork belly”. Yum yum. Yeahah, wrong move. I offered my help without realizing, my friend really wasnt too good at roasting. Itold him this. At that point I realized and thought to myself – “looks like ill be roasting.” So I asked him as I started to grab the hand fan, “hey man where is the light switch?” as this was an outdoor kitchen. He then hands me a flashlight. Awesome. Why did I offer? Epoy being really big in the whole roasting situation gave me a bigger flashlight and grabbed me an ice cold can of beer. Noice. I took my first swig and I felt the brew spread out my dried up, sleepless and exhausted body. Let the roasting continue. As I put the 7th piece of pork on the grill at the bottom of my first can of beer I felt the heat of the charcoal and the buzz in my head. Epoy got back and brought another can. Cigarettes, beer, porksmelling smoke and a good chat. I am in paradise.

I finished cooking the pork that was for dinner smelling like what I cooked. I decided to take another bath. I love taking a baths. Though I bathe fast, I do it several times. Sorry bout the water bill dude. So I took a shower and went back to the room, seeing my love and biang all conked out in the climate that was more than mildly pleasing. Thank God for who ever created the a.c. What do you think I did next. I lied down of course. Slept.

7:30 – Dinner.

Pork Belly delight. Bakareta. Jelly Roll for dessert. Yummy. Dinner was felt going through my esophagus and I am going through the motions. Half awake. You wouldnt believe how hard it is to chew. Everything was awesome. Now back to being sleepy. It was as if our bodies hand minds of their own. They smoked cigarettes after eating, walked to the bedroom and they all slept. Forgetting that we had an itinerary which Epoy had prepared and had wanted to follow. Ok so we all dozed off into outterspace or dreamland or foodland for Biang. We heard knocking. Faint to loud. After a few repetitions I think I heard the door opening. Then I think I felt someone moving inside the room. I later then figured that it was Epoy in his relentless efforts to wake us up since it was Biang anyway who forced him to plan a night out. Good Job Biang.

A night out.

So after all the drudgery we made it happen and we got all dressed up.

Remember the past events that have transpired has all happened in Day 1.

We were off to a night of fun and frolick. One observation, no stars in the sky. Uh oh. Well thats fine, onward we go!

Little rain. Little drizzle. Really wont be much of anything. Tonight is our night. As Bianca said it, “lets not act like old people.” She always says, “You and Epoy are a couple of old farts, always wanting to drink at home.” Ok Biang, we are going out tonight no matter what. So we arrive at a place called “Hayahay”, in english it means — Relaxing. Awesome, so we have come to dumaguete where its really laid back to relax and tonight we go to a bar called “Relaxing”. Perfect. The little rain now a mild pour. It doesnt matter this was going to be a great night out, there is a band playing. Lots of people and cold beer. After a song from the band, It was now a full out down pour. We were feeling the rain. Then Epoy’s fiance, you know what, one of my friends said she doesnt like coming here because it kinda floods when it rains hard. Grrreeeeaaaatt. The water then starts to trickle down to the bar floor. Its not too bad, considering were wearing flip flops in flip flop country which is half an inch thick. Ok flip flops now wet. Toes a little wet. We can still stay and drink. This is our night. Right Biang? So we drank while we wait for the flood which by the way is almost ankle deep. I could just imagine all the spit, grime, piss in that flood water. And just when we all thought the situation couldn’t get any worse The lights die. And so did the night. So it was quiet and dark. People were whooing and booing. The drummer decides to do his recital, which by the way was awesome. Kudos to you skinny drummer boy, whoever you are. This was the turning point of the night. We go home. We drink like old people at home.

So we bought Ice and Peanuts. Perfect combo with the wine we had left over from dinner at home. Cheers. The night as with the day was an awesome yet peculiar adventure. Nothing feels better than being with your love, your true friends and the thrill of a new place. Here’s to this night and here’s to day one in this Island Paradise called Dumaguete.