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CROSS COUTNRY, CROSS BORDERS

CROSS COUNTRY, CROSS BORDERS part 1

Nope, I did not go on a cross country tour of the Strong Republic, we just went on a weekend get-away to the southern portions of Luzon.

Thanks to the graciousness of the Great Punx, members of the former Firm went to the highlands of Tagaytay for an overnight celebration of his having passed the board exam. We then proceeded on a last-minute decision to go swimming in Batangas. The result was a strong comparison of what it was to live inside the metro and in the far reaches of the mainland. The adventure took place in the highways of Metro Manila to the stretches of Southern Luzon.

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Due to obligations to my high school batch, I went ahead and attended a meeting for our highschool reunion in our home city of Parañaque. I was to meet the group at the Jollibee branch near the Sucat Toll Exit. I preferred to meet them at the ubiquitous insect franchise since it is very easy to spot from the tollway, and very quick to access from the expressway.

But alas, the “expressway” has its limits, as our transport made a wrong turn to the “service” road, resulting in the appreciation of south Luzon traffic. It took the group 3 hours to meet up with me at Alabang, the new meeting place, since they did not dare go on using the service road to Sucat. All familiarity of the beloved South Luzon Expressway faded, and I was filled with wonder as to why there was such a build up in the SLEX. It was almost 10 years when I suffered the same fate at the same traffic artery, with the absence of the then built Skyway. But then it took me 5 hours of traffic hell.

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Moving on, after I met up with the now weary group, I hopped on to the back of the pick up with Jeck and Robert apparently enjoying the wind (pollution) of Metro Manila. But upon exiting Alabang and entering Laguna, the pollution lightened up and we all knew that we were going to enjoy a few minutes of fresh wind on our faces. And it did take us only minutes! We were in Tagaytay in less than one hour.

The group then went on a dinner treat of bulalo and rice at a roadside eatery. Large bowls of bulalo was served, and we had our fill of hot soup and tasty beef. The only bother we encountered was the large cat begging for a bite of our meal. And I do mean large. They don’t breed cats like those in Manila. It must be the fresh air.

Then came the espasol girls, selling the group espasol minus the e, with their goods labeled “spasol”. With nothing else to do but relax, I guess our observation skills must be in full force. Jeck tried his bola skills to get rid of the girls, but the girls must have been trained better in the art of counter-bola:

Jeck: Ay sorry hindi puede yan sa akin kasi me allergic ako jan e….”

Girl: E ser mas gagaling nga kayo pag kumain kayo nito e…

Jeck: E bawal din sa relihiyon ko yan e…”

Girl: E ser wala naman pong kinalaman ang relihiyon nyo sa pagkain nito e…”

This is not verbatim, but I guess it was hilarious enough for us to remember it later.

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The only leg of the trip left was the travel to the Punx’ residence in Tagaytay. After a short drive along the cliffs of Tagaytay we finally found the complex. After entering the compound’s gate, I called the Punx and he asked us to turn left down to the lower parts of the cliff. The problem was there was no left, only a right to a dark roadway. With all of us noisily climbing down the back of the pickup and having entered the WRONG compound, we all expected shotguns pointed at us. Good thing we haven’t pitched camp first before calling, or else we might have been accused of trespassing.

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At last we have arrived at the Focolare compound with no bullet holes or axe cuts. It has been almost three years since I first entered the compound, and with some degree of familiarity to the place and the Punx’ family, we happily entered the house.

We met the Punx’ other friends and colleagues at the Focolare movement. And what a group indeed! There were a variety of nationalities present in the event, with Malaysians, Germans, Spanish, Portuguese present.

After a few minutes of drinking beer and eating barbecue, we proceeded to give a toast for the Punx, with pure lambanog being the drink! The group then proceeded with short impromptu performances from each nationality with the aid of the guitar. Robert was up first, and due to the lack of knowledge of any kundiman, we ended up singing Pare Ko by the Eraserheads. The guitar was eventually passed on to me, and with no other guitar piece memorized, I ended up playing a few Beatles songs. The highlight of the performance was the Spanish (or was it Portuguese?) singing a Spanish song along with some Spanish style guitar playing. The Malaysian also tried to play a few songs, with his demeanor reminding me of the F4 people.

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The group then pitched camp along the side of the house, and since I don’t plan to get drunk or stay up late since I have to study tomorrow for an exam for my masters, I decided to sneak in the tent and sleep early. Good thing I didn’t join in the lambanog consumption session, I heard Mr. Malaysian got very drunk and ended up puking later on.

Ah, cross borders, cross nationalities…there’s more…




WE NEED SWIMMING SHORTS….
Cross Country Cross Borders part 2

After a few photo ops at the mountains of Tagaytay, we then proceeded to the beaches of Batangas for some last minute swimming.

We decided to but some cheapo swimming shorts at the market in Tagaytay, and we easily got three shorts for a hundred pesos. All that was left was to eat lunch and then it’s the beach for us!

I suggested we eat at the Mushroom Burger joint, since I haven’t tried the burgers yet. It was good, for a fungus.

After leaving the joint, we had a little stopover at the side of the road, since one of us forgot her packed fungus spaghetti at the Mushroom Burger. It was later on to be called the Spaghetti Incident and became a small joke for us at the back of the pickup, whenever we try to remember things we forgot to do before leaving for Batangas.
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And so it was the beach for all of us! We ended up in Jigs’ Auntie’s resort, which has a very nice view, and very nice waves. There were the mountains near the shoreline, and large waves splashing along the waters. Since it was the middle of July, there was nobody but us at the beach. We hooked up with a bunch of local boys swimming at the beach, which we suspect tried to hit on our comrade who we would later call Elementary Levels.

After swimming we decided to go to the less frequented places in the beach. We tried to walk along the shallow areas of the beach full of sea urchins and small sharp stones, without footwear! Reminiscent of the bogs where Frodo and Gollum walked minus the ghosts, we successfully walked around the area, and back to the swimmable areas.

It was were we found out that our precious cheapo shorts were all ripped open, exposing more sensitive areas of skin. At least we got pictures wearing the shorts before and after ripping. So much for supporting the local industry.

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The rest of the trip was spent taking pictures of ourselves windswept at the back of the pickup, trying to capture a nice sunset and taking pictures of the countryside. But all things must come to an end, as we returned to the urban jungles of Manila.

Now we’re back in our polluted-concrete covered havens. Hope the next out of town gimmick happens soon. It was fun escaping from it all. I heard Bulacan is up next. Ilocos anyone? Baguio? Boracay?

posted by nap @ 10:17 PM