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There are some years when I barely get the chance to go to the beach. Either for lack of time or people to go with, I can waste an entire dry season (I refrain from calling it 'summer' since we don't have the other 3 seasons) land-locked and literally dry. Take last year for instance. 2 trips to the beach, one for work and one under grey skies. Not exactly stellar.
Then there are years like this year. A little over the end of the first quarter and I've been in the water on at least 4 different occassions. Ahhhh... bliss. :)
As a child, I wasn't much of a beach person. The sand, the shells, the saltiness... I found it a tad yucky. I guess that was because the beach nearest us growing up were those that had very loose sand. So as the water broke near the shore, it would dredge up grey sand, making the waters murky.
Over the years, I've discovered that I actually love the sea. I enjoy the sand, the shells and even the saltiness. And as a girl from the tropics, there is something deep inside me that will call out for the beach on a warm, sunny day.
The first trip was for our annual start-of-the-year kick off. 4 days in Shangri-la Mactan, Cebu sounds like paradise, doesn't it? It did to us too. Until we ended up spending a greater part of the 4 days inside the conference room, under halogen lighting. Not much of a tan to be gotten there. We were so productive that week (yessss... bibo!) that we only got to go to the beach the morning before our flight. And even then it rained! (somewhere in the distance I hear Joe and Dang snickering...) I suppose I could have opted to wake up earlier on some days to go swimming, but I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am not a morning person.
Because that morning was dedicated to our team building, my swimsuit finally saw some action.
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| action kung action! |
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| the exhausted competition, bwahahaha |
The second beach trip was an impromptu day trip to Batangas. I say impromptu because it took us all of 1 week to plan it. That's probably one of the fastest times I've moved from idea phase to implementation phase for any project.
It helps that the people I was going with were all pro-active and connected: one found us the beach resort; one volunteered to do the groceries for the snacks and 2 of us volunteered our cars for use in the 3hr trip. Everything was discussed and agreed to via email and SMS and we only all saw each other on the day of departure.
Even though road trips can be sometimes rough on the body, there's a lot of fun to be had when you have great company. You learn so much about one another when cooped up in a small space for hours on end. Like how much one knows the lyrics of an obscure Smokey Mountain song. (you know who you are. Oh wait, do you read my blog ba? haha) You also share common experiences that become treasured memories. I'm sure no one will ever forget stopping for the carabao by the road, or the car that coughs up dust. So, here's the lesson kids: if you're going to travel, choose your companions well.
I did. :)
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| me and the girls |
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| men, men, men, men, manly men... |
Despite arriving almost noon, we decided to pile on the sunblock and head out for the water anyway. The water was just way too tempting...
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paradise will have sun, sand and sea
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| ready for the water |
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| medyo in the water |
But while on dry land, this was what kept us company...
It was unfortunate that we couldn't stay the night. I had a trip to take the following day and didn't want to risk missing the flight (I categorically deny that I bullied everyone else to follow my schedule, despite what anyone else may claim...). We stayed as long as we could though, going back into the water as soon as we could peel ourselves away from Monopoly Deal. Which, to be honest, wasn't long since there was limit to how many times we could throw Mark the "Just Say No" card before we worried he'd start taking it personally. :D
We decided to give the pool a try just to maximize our stay. But the sun was setting and we needed to leave, so we couldn't take more than just a short dip. Against the backdrop of dusk giving way to evening, we had that requisite group shot to commemorate the occassion.
Til the next trip guys!
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| what's a beach trip without a little junk food? |
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| ang mga sosyaling drinks ni Joe |
We decided to give the pool a try just to maximize our stay. But the sun was setting and we needed to leave, so we couldn't take more than just a short dip. Against the backdrop of dusk giving way to evening, we had that requisite group shot to commemorate the occassion.
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| the Kota Keluarga group |
Ah, so this is when the car coughed up dust. :P Who did your grocery shopping? Joe? Sosyal ang pagkain!
ReplyDeleteOp kors it was Joe. Yo! Joe! (labo. hahaha)
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