Calamba, Laguna Summer Escapade

After a few weeks of planning for a summer escapade, me and my colleagues at work finally invaded Calamba, Laguna (the birth place of Jose Rizal, our National Hero) which is about two hour trip via public transportation bus from Metro Manila. We rented a private place with four rooms and a pool with a karaoke machine which was just good enough for 11 of us for just Php 3,500.00 which was really affordable for a place like that. We spent time swimming and karaoke all-day-and-night-long. Most of my colleagues had a couple of drinks, don't know if it was wine or rum, couldn't really tell, what I do know is that some of them got so wasted that couldn't almost drive their bikes to go home.

What I always appreciate whenever I go out with non-Muslim friends is that they always respect what we really believe (as Muslims). They are aware that I don't take any alcohol drinks or eat anything that has pork or any food contaminated with it (even for the spoon that was used to serve pork, I couldn't use it without washing it thoroughly). From the time we bought food for the trip, everyone wanted to buy Purefoods Hotdogs but had to switch it with Swift Hotdogs because it got Halal seal on it. I informed them however that they can buy anything they want as long as I'll prepare the hotdog myself which everyone agreed.

Everyone enjoyed, especially me, though I slept around 10 PM 'coz I woke up around 4 AM to resume the singing and I realized that I'd sung too much that I lost my voice for two days. I even had to inform my boss at work that I couldn't report because I had problem with it. Which means that I'll get some write-up when I report to work later. I'm so guilty that everyone was able to go to work but me.

It was my first time to be away from the Metro Manila again since last October when my friends invited me to join them for a Pampanga trip and my second summer outing since I moved here to Metro Manila (last year was the first when I joined my co-workers for Baguio and Pampanga escapade) and I can't wait for more to come. Great day everyone!

Additional photos below

4-ft private pool with four rooms on the second floor

On our way back to Manila

Baguio and Pangasinan Getaway

Its summer time again, one of the most important seasons here in the country. I remember the same time last year where I spent my summer with my sisters in Jolo, Sulu. One of the most scary places (at least for non-Muslim people in the country) in Mindanao but I can really say it has the most beautiful beaches and it is open to public, it got white sands that Boracay or Dakak has…this year, I spent my summer getaway in San Fabian Beach Resort, Pangasinan and a Baguio Trip with my office mates.

Originally, it was just a Baguio trip that we planned for since December when our team earned a pot money of 7,500.00. We kept the money ‘til it finally came to a realization last Sunday, March 28th. However, since the schedule didn’t much permit us to go to Baguio ‘coz it was just for a day supposedly (and we thought we won’t enjoy the trip for just a day) and our coach’s daughter is celebrating her birthday on the same day, we just decided to passed by one of the beaches in Pangasinan and planned to stay overnight and go back to Manila upon checking out by 12 noon. Everyone had fun with night swimming, boat riding, karaoke and all but still kept talking about the Baguio trip, and for the last minutes everyone decided to escape work on Monday (which was the stupidest thing we did) and headed to Baguio, ‘coz it was everyone’s first time to go the coolest city (literally cool as in “cold”) in the country. Personally, it was really my wish to visit the place as part of my frustration before when we had our educational tour last 2005 back in college.

It was just a two-hour trip from Pangasinan and as we headed near Baguio we started to feel the chill thinking we just took the non-aircon bus. We really felt like we were outside the country and that we visited the United States during winter. When we arrived there, everyone was wearing long sleeves, jacket, pretty much our attire in the office (‘coz it’s too cold). It seems like they have a wide centralized air-condition that the whole city is so cold, no aircon or a fan needed for malls, hotels, or even for bus or van. And during the morning, if you are outside you really want to see yourself breathing as it makes small cold smog in the air and you don’t want to take a bath without the heater on. And of course, Baguio is known for strawberries and I finally tasted real strawberries there (‘coz I only used to have strawberry jams or candies hehe).

We almost didn’t sleep as we just shared some thoughts about work and some personal experiences with our coach, we slept around 4:00 am and woke up around 8:00 am to buy some pasalubong (I only got a shirt and strawberry jam for myself) and by 11:00 am we p acked our stuff and headed back to Manila, it was a seven-hour trip and arrived around 6:30 pm (which only gave us almost 2 hours before our shift). It was really tiring but we really enjoyed it. I couldn’t almost believe that I have been to Baguio at last. Hope I could visit the place once again, and hope by that time (Inshallah),I could bring my younger sister with me.

So Cool Summer!

My summer has never been this cool. After 10 years, I had once again visited the place of our parents, where Tausug tribe came from, the Jolo, Sulu. I still remember before, where cell sites or even TV stations were not available in the place, with not so good roads, no department stores or even food chains. I even tasted salty water for drinking. I started to recall of these things when I left the city to see the place once again. As my sister and I stepped down the vessel together with my three nieces, I started to look around and tried to remember familiar views, I didn’t recognize any of the things I saw,I don’t even know where to take a ride, a tricycle or anything to reach out sister’s place. But my older sister just guided us and we rode on a ‘motor’ (we used to call it a ‘tricycle’ in zambo, the term ‘tricycle’ to Tausug refers to the ‘pedicab’), after couple of minutes, we started walking along the shore, It was really a long walk, with all the baggage from the trip, it took me several stops before finally reaching the place. For the first time I have seen where my sister and her family live. Her husband works as a policeman and my sister has a small sari-sari store. Together with their four children, they live in a very simple home between the sea and the woods. The place now has electricity, with TV station, cell signals and they even have water supply for free.

We had a small picnic with my sisters, nephews and nieces just outside their house and it felt like we were in a place somewhere else. We also attended a wedding, it was my first time to witness a very traditional Muslim wedding, although I attended some Muslim weddings in the city, it was really different, from the preparation, down to their clothing, the rituals and other stuff. The celebration lasted for three days.

In spite of the trouble caused by the ‘Abu Sayyaf Group’ in the province, people there managed to live their lives normally, somehow it’s just a matter of getting used to. Spending you summer doesn’t always have to be in Bora-like beaches or going on an expensive trip, a simple family get-together will do, as long as everyone is there and enjoying the simple things you do as one big happy family, that’s what matters most.

These are some of the photos our Summer Vacation in one of the Beaches in Jolo Sulu