I applaud the creativity of one of our drivers!

It has been so, so long...

I admit, I am too lazy to post an entry.

Well, it's about time I have to post something. Hehehe. And I figured out it's going to be our office summer outing. So here it is.

April 29, 2006
Mmm-hmmm... Let me see... I woke up 4:30am in the morning, even if I had slept late that night. Ahem, take note, I was excited about the trip, but my dad was even more excited, apparently, since he started knocking on my bedroom door before the scheduled 4:30am wake up call. So since I can't fall asleep for a few minutes more I decided to just start getting prepared. I sent a wake up call to Jetski (who I think didn't even have time to fall asleep in the first place, hehehe), and started to freshen-up. I was quite sure that the 5:30-6:30am assembly time was not going to be followed (based on last year's experience), so I didn't bother to rush. I'd get there a bit late, but I believe somebody else would even be later, so I wasn't worried. There wasn't heavy traffic, so everything's fine as I walked through Ayala Avenue to get to the office-- our assembly venue. I missed somebody as I passed by Starbucks of 6750-- sorry about that, you were wearing shades, so I safely assumed you were a tenant from a hotel nearby or something, hehehe (frankly, you should be flattered). Going back, I was surprised at the number of people gathered at the assembly venue. Congratulations, people! Seems like they arrived earlier than I am. I went upstairs to my workspace and did some last-minute tinkering with the programs (sorry, I know it's a sin to work on that day!), grabbed a slice of bread (which I nibbled on the way to the elevator and made other people think I'm crazy), and met everyone in the assembly area. I finished a cup of taho (thanks!), and waited to be assigned to one of the three rented vans. I got assigned together with the newbies in our project. Anyhow, Jhude and Jetski were there to keep me company. Then we're off!

It was a fine trip North, no traffic, nice view of rice fields and empty land, which was a fine change from all the skyscrapers I see in Makati. I fell asleep once we went off the highway, since we encountered some horrible traffic that even prompted other drivers to counterflow. It was a challenge to sleep in the passenger seat up front, but with a little Piglet pillow I finally managed to generate some Z's. I had no idea how long I was asleep (I believe the newbies at the back also did fell asleep), but I woke up with the mountainside at my face. From there we took another stopover, since everyone had to pee. It was already lunchtime, and we're still quite far from our destination. We were all hot and sticky when we arrived at the resort.

From there, we had lunch first, then I had to wait (together with my roommates) for our rooms to get cleaned up. When we finally got access to the room I quickly took a bath and changed to my swimming outfit. I fell asleep waiting for my other roommates to get done, and when I woke up, there's still a queue to the bathroom. So I rubbed on some sunblock and decided to get out. I played some weird volleyball-- weird, since it was just too sandy to run around decently, and it's too hot to run barefoot. Imagine how hilarious the game was. Our slippers incessantly got stuck in the sand. I had a cup of halo-halo c/o Jhude (thanks! thanks!), and we had some kind of relay game and basically just went wild around the beach till dusk.

Some of the people just disappeared as the sun started to set, but some of us decided to take a dip at the nearby shore. There were quite a number of people swimming there, but we found a spot to ourselves and just had a fun chat. When the waves started to get stronger, we lay down by the shore, waves lapping around us, and did some early stargazing until it was time for dinner.

Night time was bonfire time. I had a few rounds of videoke, which I apologize if it may have disturbed anyone with all my caterwauling-- I'm not drunk, I assure you. I'm inherently crazy, so that's normal. Speaking of drunk, a couple of people were quite "drunk" (quoted, since they both denied being drunk) and started swimming so we had to run to the shore to keep watch over them. Once things got under control, I left the crowd to go stargazing and a long chat with a good friend till dawn. The sky was clear and full of stars, and it was so beautiful, I wished I had a tent and set it up by the shore and stayed there till sunrise. Lovely.

April 30, 2006
This was the day for some island-hopping. The first two islands were pretty, but unfortunately even if the sand was creamy-white, it was quite hot, basically stony, and there were quite a lot of people. Basically we just took some nice pictures and did not waste a lot of time there.

The third (and last) island was pretty, since the shore stretched into rows of trees that went on till the mountainside. I, Jhude, and Erwin, ventured to go off and explore the depths of the mini-forest, and found a stream, which turned out to be a beautiful river upstream. We did not waste the opportunity and took a dip in the shallow, warm, fresh water. It was very refreshing, and we just somehow forgot the time. So when we returned to the sea shore everyone was waiting and was quite worried we got mauled by wild carabaos that natives say reside in the area. It was a secret paradise, nevertheless, and the three of us did not regret having spent our time there.

The ride home was fun, especially with the fact that the newbies that were with me (Jhude and Jetski dropped off to take another trip-- hindi kayo nang-imbita o, hehehe) and were singing nonstop probably just to alleviate the heat-- apparently it was hot at the back of the van, and everyone had a heatstroke. I dropped off at SM North with sun-kissed cheeks and a smile on my face.

I didn't get sunburnt, mind you. Either the sunblock was way too effective or I've got dinosaur skin.