heart and soul: Day 1 at Romblon

As a mom, I thought I needed a break too.

I haven't had any out-of-towns in years until April 16th 2011 came. My super friends and I planned a getaway in one of our friends' hometown -- Romblon.

It had been an overdue plan, actually. We had been think thinking of going there since were were all single but there was never a chance for that plan to push through. So when the perfect time came, we were all set and ready to go!

It was an 11-hour voyage. The ocean trip to Romblon was really a not-so-good experience. We arrived at the port at 1pm. We thought it was better to be there early since many people might be going home for the holyweek. We were right. There were so many people. We were just glad that our friend (the host), asked somebody to help us get the tickets. Still, we had the economy ones which meant we'd be in the crowded area with just hundreds of bunk beds. We didn't have any choice though. (--.--)

Montenegro Lines was not so organized. There were no spare beds for us as the spaces we were assigned to were already occupied. So we stayed at the ship's cafeteria (turned place-for-unlucky-people-like-us). We stayed there until one of our friends finally found some extra bunk beds. They found just 4 beds so we had to squeeze in ourselves to those. Good thing, we were just 8, so there were 2 people in one bed. :) Nevertheless, the unoccupied beds were just next to the restrooms. Well, that explained why those beds were empty. Nobody wanted to stay there. Then again, did we have any choice? None. The trip was for 11 agonizing hours so we had to rest our backs to prepare for the next day's activities. From time to time, we spritzed some cologne and alcohol just to get rid of the foul spell coming from the public toilet. Gawd!

We also spent most of time in the front deck of the ship. It was fantastic, and scary at the same time. The voyage was at night so we saw nothing but the vast sea. We found comfort and relief whenever we saw islands or lighthouses. Aside from that, there was nothing. Oh, but of course the dolphins were amazing.. and the stars.. and the moon...

We arrived at Odiongan at 4am. It was 2 hours later than our expected time of arrival. Well they said that the ship we were on was really slow. At the port, our friends (a couple) were there waiting for us. As we got off, Lerni (my friend) took pictures of us. Haha. We felt like celebrities. Tortured, smelly celebrities. :P

We went straight to their house which was just 10 minutes away from the port. The house was spectacular. It used to be a marble factory so it was really huge. They had 3 living rooms, and there was an indoor pool (which was still under renovation at that time). Though tired, we felt rejuvenated and took pictures at the different parts of the house. After resting, we went out to have breakfast at the town's tapsilogan and we visited Lerni's mom's house. :)

After breakfast, we went back to the house and rested for a couple of hours. I, for one, took some power nap because I knew that it would be a long day. Indeed, it was.

Lerni and Jon took us to this secluded resort 1 hour from Odiongan. We first took a motor boat for 20 minutes then voila! PAKSI RESORT COVE. Very virgin. Very beautiful. We took many photos as the place was really breathtaking. The resort was owned by a family and they have just started running the business so it was not yet fully-furnished. It didn't matter though, the surrounding was serene.

We then cooked food for lunch. We had sinigang and inihaw na pusit -- Just perfect for the getaway. In between cooking, we took pictures all over the place again. We had lunch at around 2pm, took some rest, changed to our swimming outfits and went out to swim. There was a low-tide in the afternoon so we waited until the water went back to the shore. Since I'm not crazy about swimming in the beach, two of my friends and I stayed on the shore and sang our hearts out with the videoke and started drinking too. ^^

At around 5pm, we decided to go swimming. My friend brought her snorkel with her so I borrowed it. I had a great time snorkeling and thought how wonderful it was to be a marine biologist. ^^

At night, we continued singing, dancing and drinking. We had dinner at maybe 8pm or so. We had smoked longanisa which was really superb! After dinner, we went back to singing and drinking. The night was really good. Since we were the only people in the resort, we partied like we didn't care. Until now, I don't know what time I went to bed that night. But one thing's for sure, I went to bed with a smile. :)