Once on this Island

My good friend K, a single mom, had her first out-of-town trip (involving a plane ride) with her daughter earlier this year. But during one of our lunches, she confided that she hoped to go on a "girlfriend trip" with no kid in tow--just good, plain girlish fun with friends. So of course, being the wanderlust that I am, I volunteered to accompany her.

She wanted to go to Cebu but since the city proper reminded me so much of Manila with the speeding vehicles, pollution and grimy buildings, I struck a bargain: aside from the city tour, we'd go to Bantayan Island, dubbed as the country's next Boracay. My best bud M (do check out her wonderful blog) went there last year, and we could just copy her itinerary, including the best-value-for-money resort and which public transport to take to get there.

But 3 days before our trip, K backed out. And that got me down because I had already made arrangements for the trip (saying no to a project, hiring my substitute for my weekly writing gig, etc.). Thankfully, someone came to the rescue--my hubby Spanky. There was a teeny conflict with his work sched though, which K volunteered to resolve.

The trip became our pre-anniversary date.




I already knew beforehand that getting to Bantayan would involve a half-day of travel, but it didn't actually occur to me that this computation was based on Cebu City as the starting point. From Manila, it meant leaving at 4 am for that 45-minute cab ride to the airport. Then the hour-long plane ride to Cebu. Immediately after landing, we shoved our still-drowsy selves and backpacks into a cab to get to the North Terminal Bus Station (40 minutes). Then for 3 and a half hours, while Spanky dozed off beside me (he hadn't had any sleep because of work), I had my fill of zigzags and spectacular views in our cramped, non-aircon bus.

When we got to the Hagnaya port, we had a 30-minute lunch before boarding the ferry that will finally take us to the Island. But typhoon Chedeng was displaying her windy self, and the ferry rocked like a cradle during the entire trip. What was supposed to be a 1-hour trip became 2 hours because of the choppy waves.

When our feet finally touched solid ground, droves of pedicab drivers started harassing us. There was one in particular who kept hounding us, and I just pleaded, "Kuya, napre-pressure kami sa inyo!" And that shut him up for a while. In the end, we rode his pedicab (after a bit of haggling) while drinking in the fresh island air and greens, and those cozy roadside restos and pubs put up by foreigners.

We stayed in the island for 2 nights before heading back to Cebu City via the same route. But the return trip was more bearable, probably because we were well-rested, and we knew what to expect.

Here are our top Bantayan memories:
1) Dead Dog Floating
When we got to our resort, we dropped off our backpacks, and immediately explored the beachfront. Too bad we couldn't see the sunset; it was too cloudy, thanks to Chedeng. And it was extremely windy so the waves were rolling in gusto, much to the delight of surfers.

But we chanced upon one particular surfer who was shouting and pushing away the water (kinda like splashing someone, but in reverse)...trying to push this...thing away from him. Spanky and I were squinting our eyes, trying to make out the cause of his horror--was it a tree branch? But then, we realized it was a DEAD DOG.

Poor bloated DD was floating on its back, stiff legs up in the air! Before we could observe it more closely, the strong current swept it away into the horizon (it would have looked more dramatic if there were a sunset). Surfer boy got out of the water, and any attempt to strike up a conversation (Agay: "Dead Dog, huh?" Spanky: Maybe it fell off a boat, huh?") was met with his furrowed brows. Clearly, he was too "bad trip" to respond.

2) Motorbike Exploration


Methinks this was THE highlight of the Bantayan adventure. I was thinking of hiring 2 motorbikes and drivers--one for each of us but it turned out that Spanky knew how to drive a motorbike! It was fun touring the island on mean, motor wheels--the wind on your face, balancing your butt on the teeny seat, the exhilarating immediacy of the surroundings--I felt like I was in the setting,way better than just observing it from a window.

We visited a 17th century church, bought danggit and dried pusit in the market, passed by emerald ricefields and had lunch at an uppity resort, whose owner toured us in one of the honeymoon villas, equipped with a to-die-for bathroom. ( I do love a good-sized bathroom.)

3) Beach Bumming

My fave beach activity is swimming. So while I treaded water, Spanky practiced on his rented skimboard. We built a sandcastle, exchanged smiles with fellow tourists, and thankfully, we were spared from another DD sighting.

4) Cheap Eats
Aside from being the danggit capital of Cebu, it turned out that Bantayan was also its "Egg Basket." With poultry as one of its main livelihoods, chicken was in abundance here. So everyday, we visited the carinderia to eat our ulam of choice--chicken barbecue dipped in suka't toyo--very tasty... and cheap, too!

5) The Journey is the Destination
I guess the point to any travel adventure is not only the destination, but also the in-between journeys. I was thankful that Spanky was my travel buddy, and as usual, we learned a little more about being married, about our selves, and life in general.

On our second night on the island, we learned, too, that our apartment was broken into--the intruder having gone off with Spanky's laptop. It was a definite blow to our paradise days, but we managed to enjoy the rest of the trip, and learned our lesson on the advantages of double-locking.

2 weeks after the trip, I still have my bikini tan. We're planning to buy a replacement desktop, install more locks, and basically just look forward to other adventures the universe has in store for us.