I remember going to Puerto Galera with Tyrone last December 2009 which served as a birthday trip for him. Since it has been a while, what i'll be doing now is to reminisce how we enjoyed that trip.
We left the city early on a Saturday morning to Batangas. We rode a bus from Cubao Bus Terminal and everything was fine until we slept en route. Upon waking up we realized that we overslept and we missed our stop. I also noticed that we were the only passengers left inside the parked vehicle. At the same time, the driver was about to lock the door of the vehicle. The driver only realized that we were inside his bus when we panicked. He told us that we need to ride a tricycle to the port. (Lesson learned: never sleep when you are travelling especially ifit is your first time to visit the place) Despite paying another eigthy bucks for an 8-10 minute tricycle ride, we had fun. everytime, We remember the experience, we can't stop ourselves fro laughing.
Upon arrival at Batangas Port, it felt like we travelled too far or we landed in another country because the people we met spoke in different language with different accent. Good thing the words they use are mostly similar to Filipino language. We then secured our round trip small boat tickets. In the port, we've seen people who were offering hotel accommodations telling that someone in the island would show the rooms to us; and they got Tyrone's name and digits.
The trip going to Puerto Galera's white beach island was smooth just like our bus ride, but we almost got lost for the second time around as I was about to get off at the banca's stop over. The first stop actually looked like a residential area with not so good view. I was disapointed at first because I already have a set of expectations about the island as I researched it prior to our trip. Good thing there was a girl who just boarded holding up a placard with my husband's name on it. She said that we should not leave the boat because the white beach island is still far. Upon hearing her statement I was about to jump because I felt hope that the beach would be great. It took almost 45 minutes before we arrived at the real Puerto Galera white beach.
Upon arrival, I noticed we were the only people in the island. There are very few tourists, which was actually good. We then checked all the available hotels and got the one right in front of the beach. Right after our lunch, we went snorkeling and island hopping. The boat we used was a bit large for 2 passengers. But it was fine, kuya brought her kid to join. We were dragged by a small boat to explore the underwater. We saw a lot of different kinds of fish in various colors and sizes under the water. Since we didn't bring any underwater camera, I just took
pictures of the wonderful creatures with my mind. After feeling tired, we then visited different islands and took a lot of pictures. Before the sun set we got back to the white beach and enjoyed a meal after a tiring yet exciting adventure.
On the second day in the island, we swam in the beach. We just had a relaxing morning before we head back to the city. We enjoyed the clean and calm blue sea. I was afraid at first because we were the only people swimming. If I get drown, no one would save me (revelation: Tyrone doesn't know how to swim). After swimming the entire morning, we ate lunch and packed all the things since we have to get back to the city.
The boat ride returning to the port was like of a roller coaster. It was totally different from the ride going to the island. The waves were terribly big and the banca was overloaded with foreign passenger such us Asians and Europeans. It felt like United Nations summit gathering. I already knew that Tyrone was feeling scared and nervous because we didn't wear any life vest. I also noticed that he was counting the jackets available against the people inside the boat. I could feel his heart beating, haha. Actually, I was also afraid and thought about different possibilities if in case the boat would shrink. Then I just prayed all by myself and hoped that we'll arrive safe and sound.
And YeS, my prayers were heard and we arrived in the port safe. We then rode another bus back to Quezon City and back home.
As we remember our Puerto Galera trip, we also are reminded of the crazy things that happened. Yet despite all those scary boat rides, it was indeed a very exciting and wonderful adventure I would love to do over and over again.
