Girl Bonding Weekend in Anawangin Cove

The Perfect Recipe for a Great Weekend : Two single, happy, old pals. Me and Bitchay were classmates in high school. We used to get into a lot of trouble because we laugh so loudly in class. Even though I've known her for over 10 years, I still continue to learn new things about her like...hahahaa...I can't tell you, it's a girl thing.

January 19, 2008

We left Manila on the 3:30 AM trip of Victory Liner bound for Olongapo.

8:30 AM - We boarded a boat in Pudaquit Beach and that's when the real adventure started.

First Stop : Camera Island - Iba, Zambales

I learned about this island by browsing You Tube. After watching 3 guys explore this uninhabited island, I felt an intense urge to see the place for myself. As our boat approached the shoreline, violent waves greeted us and our boatman broke the bad news - we cannot dock on the shore. The best he could was to slow down the boat and give us a few minutes to take pictures.

As happy as I was to see Camera Island, not being able to walk on its almost white sand kills me. I salivated as I glanced at the ocean floor beneath me. It was crystal clear and corals abundantly surrounded the water. We stayed for a couple of minutes and headedoff to our primary destination - Anawangin Cove.

We were going to stay there for the night. I have been telling Bitchay about this place for several months already and it was only last weekend that our schedules allowed us to get together for another escapade. Bitchay was also my buddy the first time I scaled Gulugod Baboy in Batangas.

We arrived in Anawangin Cove around 9:30 AM. Fortunately, there were only a few campers in the island and I knew some of them. They were people from work but from a different account.

After pitching the tent, eating lunch and talking, we took a nap and when I woke up, only an hour has passed. Time sure runs slowly when you're in a remote island with no cellphone signal.

We were hoping to scale the other side of the island but as we approached the rocks where we normally trek , we saw that it was deep in the water. Water was too high and the waves were so strong for us to walk over it. Damn, we had to settle by the shore and catch the sunset from that angle. But was there a good view of the sunset? Nada...as the afternoon drew closer, dark clouds hover the whole island with the threat of heavy rains. We tried to make the most of it and took advantage of the great lighting provided by the sunset.

Us and The Moonlight

Me and Bitchay settled by the shore and chatted the night away. I brought gin to mix with green tea, apple and orange but Bitchay had colds so we decided to skip the drinking session. We turned in early and continued giggling on stuff inside the tent. We were pretty much acting drunk as we settled in our "bed" for the night. We sang medleys which you would most probably here in videokes. What the heck. Nobody knew us. The group from work had left that afternoon and we were free to embarass ourselves.

January 20, 2008

I woke up to a cold, quiet morning. It was great. I had plenty of sleep. Poor Bitchay woke up early to clean our trash which was scattered by a stray dog. The boatman arrived at 10 AM and I had to say goodbye to one of my favorite getaways the third time.

Next Stop : Barangay Barretto, Olongapo. Please refer to my blogpost - http://soccerprincess.multiply.com/journal/item/242/Half_A_Day_in_Barrio_Barretto_Olongapo