Wednesday, November 17, 2004

The Galera Diaries 1

Saturday, Nov. 13

Six of my officemates left at 6am taking the bus. Taking Orlando, I and two others left at 9am for the Batangas pier. The drive was pleasant, even though it was my first time to drive to Batangas. When we reached Laguna, we took the Star Highway to Lipa.

Have you ever noticed how it seems in every major highway in the Philippines there’s always this huge Aji-No-Moto “bottle” on the side of the road? It’s the most effective and long-running billboard ever, I swear! Where there’s a highway, there must be Aji-No-Moto. And Joyce Kilmer’s “Trees” poem. And the “Crab’s For Sale” signs.

*****

We reached Batangas pier only to find out the boat we planned on taking had already left. We were forced to take one of the MB Brian boats leaving for White Beach at 2:30pm. There are several MB Brians—there’s Brian 1, Brian 2, and so forth. We counted up to Brian 5. The Brians are the motorized boats of differing sizes, all of them with “katig.” They have a lock on the direct route to White Beach. Whoever this Brian is, he must be the Mindoro Boating Magnate.

Two of the Brians on the beach

While waiting for our boat to leave, I saw two guys sitting beside each other, obviously a couple. The cuter of the two was looking at me while the other one had his face buried in a book. I went to the toilet, looking back every now and then. Cuter guy followed me. In the bathroom I fixed myself at the mirror while he stood beside me, eyeing my crotch. Then other people walked in and we had to break off our contact.

*****

MB Brian 3 left Batangas port almost 30 minutes late. Cute Guy with Boyfriend was seated near the front, so I had no chance to make eye contact with him. We arrived at White Beach in Puerto Galera at around 4pm. After settling in the cottages, we hit the beach. My officemates were very considerate—they gave me the only single room! Okay, so it’s the only non-aircon one, but who cares? If I wanted to take home anyone, I had my own rumpus room! We dubbed my room The Sex Den. Memo to me: must find Cute Guy.

*****

If you’re going to order food at any restaurant in Puerto Galera, make sure you aren’t hungry yet. It takes them almost an hour to prepare any and every kind of food. It’s so frustrating especially if you’re used to fastfood-style instant gratification. And you get erratic food quality. The only restaurant that met our taste standards was the Basilica Café. It also took them an hour to prepare the food, but the taste was worth the wait.

*****


I love the nightlife, I’ve got to boogie….

After dinner we hit the bars. We wanted to get drunk and bond. We played Truth Or Dare, with us choosing truth the whole time. We first ordered beer, then a pitcher of Mindoro Sling (their version of the Zombie, I suppose.)

While going to the toilet I spotted Cute Guy with Boyfriend at another bar. He saw me too. I smiled but went back to my officemates.

By the time we finished, we had two pitchers of Mindoro Sling and countless bottle of beer. The others were doing cartwheels on the sand and taking pictures in the water. I slipped out of the group and went back to the bar. The couple wasn’t there anymore. I walked around until I saw them near a row of apartments where they were staying. Cute Guy was whispering to Boyfriend; Boyfriend was sizing me up. Then Boyfriend went into their room. Cute Guy nodded to me and went in, leaving the door slightly open. I walked in after them.

*****

After playing doubles, I went back to my room. By that time the others had retired and were soundly asleep. I was still very much awake at past 2 in the morning. In another cottage a few feet away from mine was a guy who was outside, smoking. He glanced at me as I went up my porch. Maybe he couldn’t sleep? Maybe he just came back from hitting the bars? Maybe he’s interested in putting something else in his mouth aside from a cigarette? So I stared at him; he was staring back. Bingo! No whammies, no whammies! He came over to my porch; without a word, I invited him in. He came several minutes later. Then he fell asleep beside me.

(To be continued. For more pictures, see The Galera Gallery by clicking The McView Point link on the right.)