It's CamSur, Baby! Day 2

This is the second part of my post about my recent trip to CamSur with friends. If you haven't read the first part, click THIS.

Chapter 3: Butanding!

So it is day 2 of our Getaway and we woke up really early so that we can catch the 7 AM boat ride back to Sabang. Thank Gawd the waters were calm that morning. No waves at all. We arrived at Sabang as scheduled and from there we took a van taxi that would take us to SM Naga. Few people were short on cash and needed replenishment and the mall is the best place to get it. Triccia and Celso told us about a resto, well actually they brought this travelogue about CamSur and in it are "must visit" places in the Bicol Region. One section there is dedicated to a resto called "Chef Doy's" and they insisted we check it out. Good timing because we are yet to eat lunch. So we made our way to Magsaysay Ave and found the restaurant.

For some reason, the gang wanted to meet Chef Doy! Which I was hesitant of well because, first of all, I dunno he maybe busy and second we were just a group of young tourists so why would a Chef want to meet us. But fortunately, Chef Doy was very friendly and he welcomed us warmly. He even chit chatted for a little while and introduced us to his nephew Gelo Linaw, I think, who was supposed to be the World Junior Wakeboarding Champ. We even had Chef Doy sign the travelogue Celso bought. It was crazy!!! But let's talk about the food. WOW! Wow wow wow!!! It was amazing. If I had a choice I wouldn't really eat at Pinoy Restos but Chef Doy changed that. The food was really really good. Justifies the feature in the travelogue. We ordered , of course Bicol's pride, Bicol express, Kinalas, Grilled Liempo and Lechon Kawali in Kare-kare. Yum! If only Chef Doy would open up a branch here in Manila...

After we got our stomachs full, we then headed to the PASALUBONG shop for a quick shopping because it is past 1 Pm and he haven't arrived at CWC where we had a reservation. So after barely 20 minutes, we were walking towards our taxi with plastics of pasalubong in hand. I bought sweets because a Filipino pasalubong is never complete without them. Honey coated Pili, Pili Chocolate, Pili cake... heck everything could be made with Pili when you're in Bicol! From pulvoron and yema to cookies and pastillas... Pili can mibe mixed into it. So after the shopping we then went to CWC where we would be spending the whole afternoon and the night.

Man, CWC is BIG! I've been to Lago de Oro in Batangas and it does not compare to CWC. This is so much bigger and better. And the moment I stepped out of the taxi, Europeans are everywhere. They are all over the place. Kudos to the Governor of the region for pushing this project for tourism because it seems to be working. So yeah, the place still needs some work but what is there right now is enough to satisfy people who travelled miles just to wakeboard in the Philippines. We reserved 4 Cabanas for 1300+ pesos each so wow that's cheap plus the Cabanas were really nice so I thought it was a steal for that amount. We checked in and soon enough we were ready to hit the waters once again.

Okay, so we didn't get to wakeboard or kneeboard for that matter. Because we were exhausted. Why? Because of an hour playing at LAGO DEL REY. It looks innocent enough with its big, colorful, floating courses that we've mistaken for kids' play pool. I was even embarrassed at first because we were 20 something tourists, we're not supposed to be there. But I guess for the spirit of fun, I tagged along. But whoah, LAGO DEL REY wasn't designed for kids at all! If you guys are familiar with the show WIPEOUT, it is kind of like it. It looks easy but it is so not. We were on the first course and we were already panting like dogs! Mainly because of helping each other to get through the course. BUTANDING! Lol. So yeah this chapter is titled "Butanding" because for countless times we were dragging, pulling or pushing are not so sexy friends to be able to finish the course. We went on the giant slide, the floating trampoline, the iceberg, the giant seesaw, we tried it all!!! And it was a lot of fun even though we were really tired when all of it's done. We were supposed to try wakebaording but it didn't happen because we had no energy at all. BUTANDING! ROFL.

To wrap up the day, Chasty gave in to our *cough* request *cough* to treat us dinner (Thanks Chasty!) even though her birthday is not until next month! Yeay! And just like classic group dinners we had before, there has to be the What-Can-You-Say-About-This-And-That Chikahan after. We talked about what were our wishes for the barkada... so cheesy. Some talked not changing as individulas, some talked about having the same energy and ties even when we are on our forties, but what I liked the most is when we talked about the future Getaways we would be making! Next year, the target of the group is to go ABROAD! Woot! Woot! I'm all up for it! So where do we go? Hong Kong? Macau? Bangkok? Bali? Singapore? I'm excited!!!

Phrase of the Day:

"Daan ko kayong Cagsawa?"

Event of the Day:

Rescuing the Butanding

Picture of the day:

This is how you pose for the camera! Woohoo!

Chapter 4: Cagsawa? Casagwa? Cawagsa?

And the day to come home to Manila arrives. It was Monday morning and our flight to Manila was at 8 AM so we had to wake up at 5 AM. But since we still had the luxury for some last minute sightseeing, we went to the famous Cagsawa Ruins just minutes away from the airport. I only usually see it at postcards but the sight of the Mayon's perfect cone from Cagsawa was really cool. It was so majestic. And the Cagsawa Church was great too. And again we had to take pictures, but wait, we have a photographer this time!!! Kuya, that's how we decided to call the little guy, came up to us and gave us a brief history of what happened ala tour guide and insisted to take our pictures. Nice guy, right? There is a catch! He would be deciding what our poses would be. LOL. He was so insistent on doing camera tricks that would result to pictures of you touching the tip of the volcano or holding one of your friends like a toy. It was hilarious! But the guy certainly has talent! He should be a photographer/tour guide.

So after the sightseeing. We headed onto the airport and it was kinda sad to end such a great trip! Sure we will be broke until the next pay day but who cares? We had fun! That's all that matters. And I am really looking forward to the next trip me and this gang would soon be doing. Shoti! I think our next destination is Virgin Beach, right? That's this summer and I had my calendar marked, okay? LOL. Flickr Photos parts 3 & 4 HERE and HERE.

So that was it. A trip that I don't think one of us would forget. Thank you CamSur for that wonderful weekend...

By Joe with 1 comment

It's CamSur, Baby! Day 1

This post should have been published weeks ago but better late than never... so here goes...

And so the first ever OUT-OF-TOWN trip me and my college friends dared to go to is one that would take us to Camarines Sur. This trip is BIG for all of us mainly because yeah it is our first trip as friends and it requires us to use all three means of transportation: by land, air and sea!

So we met up at NAIA Terminal 2 at, if my memory serves me right, 6:oo in the morning coz our flight is at 7. Everyone was psyched and ready to board the plane to Lepazpi. One particular person who was excited more than all of us, i assume, is Diane because it would be her first time to board a plane! I had to interview her before and after the plane ride and all she could talk about was the "cute" steward who according to Celso and Triccia is a "becky". LOLZ.

Chapter 1: Malapit na...

From Legazpi Airport, we rented a van and made a two hour drive to Sabang Port where we are supposed to catch the last boat ride (11:00 AM) that would take us to Guijalo port in Caramoan. The boat was not what I was expecting. It was too small for a two hour boat ride IMO. But that didn't matter back then because we were so pumped for this trip nothing would ruin this day! Or so we thought...

The first hour of the boat ride was ok, it was even great in my opinion because even though it was long I get to see the ocean, mountains, and what have you. It was such a breath of fresh air from the manila traffic and steel buildings I see everyday. Of course that was before the waves came crushing in... LITERALLY! The waves weren't that big but considering the boat wasn't that big either, we could feel its ups and lows! It was fun at first but when we started to get wet, and the waves got too big for the boat to handle... it got terrible. It was then when I started hearing people asking "Malapit na ba tayo?" which the boat guys would reply "Malapit na...", and of course you'd believe them, right? They've been going to these ports back and forth their whole life so they know exactly where we are and it is just rational to assume that their calculation of the distance is pretty accurate. HOW WRONG WERE WE!!! An hour after and we are still in the middle of Gawd knows where!?! We were starting to feel sick and to my horror Mr. Boat Guy enclosed the boat with a tarpaulin so as to prevent as form getting soaked with sea water which proved to be a bad idea because not only did we felt sicker, it also drained us of , I can't believe I'm saying this, HOPE. We felt desperation like we've never felt before. It was that bad. I started to fear for our lives!!! And my friends felt the same way too. I had my eyes closed and would only open it to check how far we are from shore. I've never felt desperate to walk on land until that day. It was so relieving when the tarp was pulled up and we saw that we are just meters away form the port. Phew! A trip I would never ever froget. We couldn't stop talking about it. "Malapit na..." my ass.

So from Guijalo Port, we were picked up by the shuttle AKA Silver Strada to take us to the hotel. We stayed at CMC Villa Caramoan which was actually owned by the Mayor of Caramoan. Tired, hungry and shaken kids that we were back then, we were thankful that our lunch and rooms were ready. CMC is a good place to stay at Caramoan. It was disappointing though that it isn't located near the beach and we actually had to make a 15 minute drive to get to there. But the place is okay, still new. But the best thing about CMC is their service. Lunch was delicious and we needed that to take our minds off the boat ride from hell. The people at CMC are really really nice too. Since it was almost 3:00 PM, we had to make a quick wardrobe change and freshen up so that we could start with our island tour.

Chapter 2: Wow Caramoan!

We rode a small boat that would take us to the many islands comprising the Caramoan group of Islands. Even from the beach where we started the tour, I could see how beautiful Caramoan is... it was really lovely.

The islands, more like the big rocks, are a beauty to look at it made me forget about the ordeal we had going to Guijalo. The scenery was breath taking I just couldn't stop clicking on the camera so as not to miss anything. I especially love that the ocean is so blue! The charm of Caramoan was growing on me and by the time we arrived at our first island, I think I fell in love with the place. First stop: Matukad Island. They say that this Island has one of the best beach here and for really good reasons. The sand was so fine we had to take home handfuls to show people back home. The beach was great! The water was so clear and the view form the beach was fantastic. It was paradise! The island was home to a famous "big fish" that is living in a pond but we didn't get to see it because in order to get to the pond, we had to climb a steep wall of rocks and after what we've been through earlier, we didn't think risking our lives for the second time would be such a smart idea so we took pictures of ourselves instead and man were we cam whores!!!

We took so much pictures that it is safe to say that we spent more timing smiling for the camera than to actually swim! Which was weird because we are at one of the most gorgeous beach I've been to. Parts 1 & 2 of Photos from our CamSur Getaway HERE and HERE. But we didn't just took photos at Matukad Beach, the island also became the venue of our Sand Castle Making contest... if it were really castles that we've made because the photos suggests something else... haha.

After, some more picture taking, we headed onto the next island: Lajos. Lajos Island isn't really good for swimming because the shore is lined with really sharp rocks so what did we do there? More picture taking of course!!! The island, just like Matukad, is really lovely but this one is much better for picture taking. The rock formations in this island is really nice and the sand, though not as fine as that over at Matukad, is good too. It would have been nice to eat here but we were running out of time so we had go back to the boat.

The last island we visited was... shoot, I forgot the name. But that was the island in front of Hunongan beach. Of the three islands, I think this was my least favorite but it is still a nice island though, we ate snacks there and soon enough we were heading back to our boat to wrap up the day.

And what a crazy day it was! From being pumped, to being desperate, to being calm... it was crazy! And what better way to finish off the tour but with a cinematic sunset? The sunset was one that can rival those of Manila Bay and Boracay! Sure enough the shuttle was there to take us back to the hotel but not before we visit the historical San Miguel Church. After setttling down, we attacked our buffet dinner. Food was good!!! They would usually serve seafood and my were they fresh!

Even at the end of that day, we still couldn't get over the boat ride. It already made a mark on all of us! LOL. We were all hoping that because our boat ride back to Sabang Port the next day is in the morning, the waters would be calmer. We had little chats about our college life, classmates and career before heading to our respective rooms to call it a day. So far so good. This trip was meant to be remembered.

Phrase of the Day:

"Malapit na..."

Event of the Day:

BoatRide form Hell

Picture of the day:

"Naks naman! Woot! Woot!"

Part two HERE

By Joe with No comments