The Galera Diaries 2

Sunday, Nov. 14

When I woke up there was light outside. The guy beside me was still very much asleep, very much naked. I had a chance to take a good look at him: twinkish, early 20s, nice line of hair from the navel traveling down to his pubic area. I could easily get my phone and take a picture of him. Heck, I have my digital camera—I can get a clearer picture! But I stopped myself. The kid was helplessly asleep. I tried to wake him up. He just turned away, still asleep. Oh well, it’s his problem if his friends wonder where he slept. It was till early so I decided to lie down in bed.

A few minutes later he woke up. “Ay, nakatulog ako,” he said. Obvious ba? He put on his pants and t-shirt, and went straight to the bathroom to pee. Afterwards he went to the door and said, “I’ll go na.” He then slowly opened the door and peered out slowly. Without looking back, he quickly stepped out and closed the door.

*****

Because it was Sunday, the Lord’s day, I decided to behave and just bond with my officemates. Riiight.

First we went swimming then we moved on to the rocky area on the left side of the beach. Because of the cliff, there was lots of shade plus it was very windy there. Perfect for relaxation and a pictorial session!


*****

Lunch was the worst experience ever. We had to clean up the table ourselves because the waitress was so busy with the other customers (mind you, there were only three other tables occupied.) After ordering, our waitress came back to us after more than 5 minutes to tell us that certain items we ordered were not available. Then we waited for more than an hour for our food.

In their menu they had chicken adobo and pork adobo. We asked if we can order chicken/pork adobo; the waitress said that wasn’t possible. “Baket?!” one of us asked but the rest were so hungry we let it go and just ordered one of each. Another ordered beef steak. When the food arrived, we found out that all three dishes tasted the same! “Ano ba ‘to?” someone exclaimed, “Pare-pareho lang ang lasa!”

Settling the bill: we gave our money to the waitress. We had 200 pesos change. After a long wait, she comes back with a handful of bills. “Meron ba kayong sampung piso?” she asked. Since I wanted to leave immediately, I gave her two 5-peso coins. One of us counted the bills and asked the waitress, “Teka, bakit ka pa humihingi ng sampung piso? Eh two hundred na itong ibinigay mong sukli!” The waitress look flustered, then gave me back my coins. Someone else asked, “Miss, may change ba kayo sa five hundred?” waving a bill at her. The waitress answered, “Wala ngang barya kaya nga humingi ako ng sampung piso” sabay talikod and walk out.

WHAAAT?!

That did it. We’re never eating in that place again. Ever!

*****

Afternoon rolled by, and so did the rain. It kept showering up until sunset. The others played patintero in the sand under the rain. I decided to just relax and take a nap.

By afternoon the rains stopped, and soon I was back to being Mr. Photographer. Miss O wanted to pose for her Danish boyfriend. I made her channel Kyle Minogue in her poses.


*****

Evening we wanted to get wasted again. This time we had tequila. By the time we finished the whole bottle the others were tumbling on the sand and had giggling fits. And then we headed for the bars.

We were trying to decide which bar to go to when we heard this shrill voice cutting through the noise and clutter: “Kanino itong mango shake, taas-suso lang?!” It belonged to this bartender named Erica, who wore red, had smallish fake boobs and always spoke as if every sentence ended with a question mark. “Kanino itong mango shake, taas-suso lang?!” he asked again. We had to stay at his bar. Good thing too; that night they had imported a DJ from Bath Bar in Malate, so the music there was far better than the rest.

Erica turned out to be not just an entertaining bartender; he could whip up a great Mindoro Slide and an even better Mudslide. Pretty soon we were all tipsy when we hit the dance floor. Eventually there were others, mostly boys (since I was with four girls) who were circling our group and wanted to meet the girls.

After another round of drinks (offered by the boys to the girls), we were all dirty dancing. It was like we were in a bar in Malate on a Saturday night. So much for behaving on a Sunday.

To be fair, none of us ended up with take-homes, although one female officemate of mine had three guys asking for her cellphone number. She gave one hers; by next morning there were seven missed calls and five text messages.

We didn’t stay up very late because some of us were taking the 5am boat trip the next day. So Sunday ended with me being celibate. Relatively.

*****

Monday, Nov. 15

We rode the RORO (roll-on, roll-off) on the way back because all the Brians were fully booked. Good thing we took the RORO; we found out when we got to Batangas pier that the afternoon trips were cancelled because of an incoming storm. Strange, considering that the day was quite bright and no cloud was in sight.


*****

The drive on the way back was much more pleasant, traffic being very light. We stopped over at the new Caltex station along South Superhighway, where we immediately re-acquainted ourselves with fastfood. Ahhh! I had Filet-O-Fish and Twister Fries. Shet, meron yata akong bulate, hindi pa ako busog! So I got me a Zinger sandwich at KFC.

Aaahhh! Instant gratification!