Wow Philippines 2006: Cebu (Part 2)

Gak. Been so busy the past week that I've barely had time to even check my mail, much less blog. But all that's for another entry.

So anyway, there we were on the boat on the way to Sumilon, and the first thing that struck me was the color of the water; it was a thousand different shades of blue and it was just sparkling. Ten minutes later, we set foot on the island. An attendant rushed to give us umbrellas to shield us from the midday sun--just one of the things that told me that this was a rather considerate resort, something I truly appreciate. (Later, I would discover that we had free insect repellant in the bathroom to protect us from sand flies, and that we would be given walking sticks as we went on a hike around the island.)

We had five rooms in all (two people to a room), each one with two queen-size beds, a TV with no cable (coming soon), a DVD player, and a spacious bathroom. I shared room 5 with Tin from SP.

Unlike the group that came before us (one of our competitors), our days on the island weren't filled with work-related shoots. It was just three days of R&R. The highlights:

The glass-bottom boat ride
Saturday morning, five of us hopped into the glass-bottom boat. Being terrified of deep water, I was perfectly content looking at the pretty marine life from there. Then Jeryc had a bright idea--he asked if anyone was willing to jump into the water and swim under the boat, so that he could take a pic of whoever through the glass. I had the even brighter idea of volunteering (word vomit!)--as long as we were in a shallow part.

So I did my thing, he got his pic, and I was ready to board the boat again. It was then that I discovered that the boat didn't have a ladder; I thus had to hoist myself up using nothing but pure muscle. It suddenly hit me that if I were dangling off the edge of a cliff, I would die. I have no upper body strength to speak of! The manong offered to help me, and using my foot as leverage, I was finally able to get back on the boat.

*Pant, pant.*

A few minutes later, standing on the bow, I felt a stinging sensation on my foot. Thinking it was a little scrape from the barnacles on the boat, I looked down and was shocked to find that my foot was spewing blood. Ok, not in a Quentin Tarantino way (as Gladys would say, I'm such a DQ!), but it was bleeding enough for me to leave a bit of a stain on manong's boat. Soaking my foot in seawater (yowch), I cleaned it up and found I had a two-inch gash and a few small cuts, all quite shallow, but enough to cause some discomfort while I walked. Oh well.

Hey, at least it was a nice picture.

Kayaking
After getting off the glass-bottom boat, went kayaking with Jeryc. It was all windy so I didn't even realize that it was noon, and that the sun was scorching. Ended up with a bit of a burn, but still, it was a relaxing ride--since I was with Mr. Men's Health himself, I didn't have to do much paddling. (Sorry dude. I did try to help, if only to burn off some of the calories from pigging out on torta...*shudder*)

The hike
After lunch, went on a hike around the island with the same four people I went on the boat with that morning. Not wanting to get a nasty tanline on my legs, I just put a tank over my swimsuit. (Days later, I showed H some photos and he said, "Nag-hiking kang naka-panty?!") It was a slightly difficult hike--the path was made of loose rocks and my foot still hurt from the morning adventure. Glen, art director that he is, would stop every now and then, telling us, "Picture kayo dyan, maganda ang ilaw."

We hiked to the baluarte, the ruins of an old fort (loved it! Loved it! Loved it!)--a very small enclosure with a tiny entrance (aahh, the advantages of being small), and trees growing inside. *Sigh* Beside it was a lighthouse, about 50 or 60 feet high. Jeryc attempted to climb it at first, but the higher rungs had been baking in the hot afternoon sun. When a few clouds rolled in, Angel attempted to climb, and made it all the way up. I decided to climb as well, and with each step I got a bit more nervous--there was no harness or railing whatsoever, just rungs stuck to the side of the lighthouse. It felt great once I made it to the top. Not only did I get a great view of the entire island (all 24 hectares of it), but I also felt like I accomplished something. Yay!

The massage
The others left to go snorkeling and diving. I just settled in one of the payag-payags to read. Towards dusk, I got me a massage. All I can say is, "Aahhhh."

The luau
We had a luau by the lagoon that night. We sat on big floor pillows on the sand, while a bonfire burned merrily nearby. Afterwards, it was videoke time. For some strange reason, "YMCA" got stuck in my head, and I only realized it when I had the strangest dream the other night--Chris, our tech dude (I know! HUH?), had a mic and was gamely singing--nay, performing--that song, backed up by Carlo and Gwyn, who were doing the steps! Really, don't ask. I won't be able to explain.

P.S. Em sounded exactly like Karen Carpenter!

Night swimming
It started drizzling so that ended the outdoor videoke session. So what was there to do but go swimming? I have no idea who thought of this; it was around 11 in the evening, and I had already taken a nice hot shower, but I decided to go along with it since I was a bit of an anti-social the night before (roomie and I turned in ahead of everyone else). Didn't regret it though-- after the first few minutes of shivering, had a blast. Perhaps because of Mimi's "ball of fun"!

Was a bit sad to leave the next day. I was a bit tamad to go a few days before we left, but I'm so glad that I did.

Gotta love this job.

Top photo by Angel. Group photo courtesy of Heidi.