the holy week report

Working today on a Black Saturday, but am extremely happy to report that the beaches were fine in Batangas these past few days. Ah, the joys of living in a tropical country.

(Cut for photos)



I. Went to Stilts in Calatagan, Batangas on Thursday with the girlfriend, my best friend Julie and my Research brethren (plus Jaykie). Left Makati at 4:30 a.m., reached Calatagan by 8 a.m. Spent most of the day (predictably) eating and taking photos of ourselves, rolling around a balsa (LOL) and jumping on the sand (of course).

Here be photos taken via GalaxyTab:

Lazy days are made of this

Houses on Stilts! (See what I did thar!)

Sweep

Taken from the other side

Grabbing this precious jump shot from Julie's cam. Thanks for posting so early Ate! :)

Jump for your love!
The cast, L-R: Me, Andrea, Almi, Marielle, Schatzi, Julie, Eliza, Jaykie.
Photographer: Lawrence. (NUKS.) Thank you!

Photos from our camera coming REALLY SOON. (And believe me when I say they are PLENTY.) 4.26 EDIT: Photos from our camera are now up: here.

Technical notes re this trip: Entrance to Stilts was at P350/head (daytour). Since we brought in our own food and drinks, we also had to pay corkage of P100/head. (Food at the resort was around P300/meal). We also rented an open hut good for max of 15pax for P850. How to get there:View map here. Rented a van for P3,500, excluding gas and toll fees.

II. Friday, went to the newly opened Balai in San Juan with the family. Newly relocated resort now sits on a whopping 7-ha space, complete with a pool and some mean fishponds (which, predictably, Dad loved.) We lounged in the sand, rented a kayak, caught waves, got some quality sunburns and watched the family in the next cottage fly some really sosyal kites. Haha.

Here be photos taken via GalaxyTab:

Sand, sea, sun, a lonely tree, a kayak. The life.

Endless stretch

Dining area. Sweet.

Shade.

Bridge

Could get used to this quiet

GPOY.

Technical notes re this trip: This set us back P750/head (daytour), inclusive of buffet lunch and snacks, cottage rental and use of facilities. Rented a kayak for P200/hour. Pwede na. Use of newly opened tollways really shortened trip time with relatively smooth traffic. (Or it could also be that it was Good Friday to begin with. Haha.)

Thanks Universe for the stunning weather, as always.

*

In other news: Have been sick these past few days; was nursing some horrible colds on the eve of the Calatagan trip, and then, halfway through the really fantastic conversation we were having post-lunch by the beach on Thursday (haha walang laglagan o guys, wala akong detalye dito! :)) I think I sort of lost my voice. I missed the Alabang exit on the way home (LOL JESUS CHRIST WTF) then got off at Sucat, walked to Mercury to buy myself some Alerta and Fisherman's Friend feeling mighty horrible and promptly cured myself while on the beach Friday. YAY. Though right now I'm still hoarse and I don't really trust myself to conduct a reasonable conversation over the phone just yet. Heh. Hopefully I'll be really well by mid-week; I'll kind of need it for next weekend, and the weekend after that. Hee. This year is turning out to be pretty amazing on the travel front; thanks Universe! :)