OK. Ito na po yung entry na pinramis ko tungkol sa aking "great sembreak adventures".

As if naman great.

Nagmukha lang "great", kasi normally, I would have spent my sembreak rotting at home in front of the TV, in front of the laptop, or sleeping.

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First off was the "great 100 islands adventure".

Obvious naman na hindi ito yung salad dressing.

Anyhow, a few of my Olatutu tribemates + other classmates + me rode a bus to Alaminos, Pangasinan one early Monday morning. The ride was indecently early. According to my vacation standards, anyway :p

We reached Alaminos around noon and we then proceeded to Lucab by trikes. We checked in at an inn (sa Philippine Tourism Authority ata yon), had lunch, and then went on a boat ride to view the islands.

Aba, hindi pala joke na 100 islands yon. Mukha nga talagang 100 islands. Andami. Lahat pa maganda at merong mga trees and shrubs. Pwede ka nga ata mag-bird watching eh, andami ko kasing napansin na birds, though you should have the patience, the determination (you have to wake up before sunrise for proper birdwatching), the know-how (or a very handy guide book) and the equipment (a good pair of binoculars would have been handy).

Contrary to popular belief, hindi lahat ng 100 islands may beach at magandang swimming spot. The few that are good swimming spots are guaranteed with white sand, kaya lang hindi rin all the time pwedeng puntahan kasi maalon.

And, I learned that summer is NOT the best time to visit. Madami daw tao at nakakaloka. Hindi mo na maappreciate yung ganda.

We stayed at Lopez Island the whole afternoon. It sported a white beach, some kind of a rock formation, trees, shrubs and the like. Being the intelligent person that I am, I forgot my snorkeling mask at home (snorkel daw oh. Ni-hindi nga ako marunong magswimming), so I had to be content in, well, "frolicking" at the beach. And being the bright minded person that I am, I also neglected to bring home my swimsuit from Winder for the Pangasinan trip, thinking that I could pass by Winder on the way to the meeting place. At, isa pa, dahil nga napakagaling kong tao, naiwan ko rin ang aking denim shorts sa Winder. Sun and surf nga dapat diba, so dapat ang porma, "beachy" or "summer" man lang. Nainis talaga ako sa sarili ko.

OK, I'm rambling.

Back to the island.

Maraming Sargassum sp. Think Bio 12 and Dr. Roderos, Bio and Psych peeps! The waves were noticeably strong, dahil siguro kalilipas lang nung bagyo nung pumunta kami dun. Syempre, photo-ops galore, and ano pa ba ang gagawin ng med students kung magkakasama? Aba, pagchismisan ang ibang classmates at professors! Ibang klase. Nakatayo kami dun, nagbababad sa dagat at nagtsitsimisan, parang nasa medstones lang kami. So what does that say about us?

We went back to our inn, pumunta sa bayan, at nag-dinner sa... (gasp!) Jollibee! Shet, Jollibee in Manila, Jollibee in Pangasinan! But remember, we are but students; poverty po dapat ang theme.

Syempre, nang pagbalik namin sa aming tinutuluyan, we "had a few" drinks, with matching chismisan ulit. We even had a Class 2008 chismis alphabet going, the goal of which was to go through every name in the class and unearth their "inner chismis". I learned quite a few things here, which of course, I cannot reveal. More on why, later.

I was kind of tipsy, and as usual, I was talkative and inquisitive, which was conducive to the chismisan business. But it ended there. I was just tipsy. Did not throw up this time, either.

Next day, we went to another island with facilities where we had our "ihaw-ihaw" seafood, liempo, eggplant lunch, more picture taking and the continuation of our 2008 alphabet. Off we went to another island, which had a cave, photo-op again. Going up the dang cave involved using my hands to steady myself, which I learned, also involved having to touch the "by-products" of whatever animal that lived/passed by there. Buti na lang tuyo na. At dahil magaling kami, na-discover namin na meron palang steps duns sa other side ng entrance ng cave that did not involve using your hands to steady yourself. Grabe na itech.

We then made our way to Children's Island. Children's kasi malayo ka na, mababaw pa rin yung tubig. The scenery was ok and everything, but the dang spot was full of irritating seaweed. Hindi ka pwedeng magbabad at peace. So nag-explore na lang kami at photo-op again.

We headed back to the mainland, had dinner again at Jollibee (poverty nga eh) at isa na namang all-night chismisan session, wherein we finished our alphabet. We are all bound by the Pangasinan code, as symbolized by the burning of the papers, and so I cannot reveal nor anyone of my co-conspirators can reveal what was said during by the proceedings. Kung may umimik jan, I swear, I'll strangle their necks! Bwahahaha!

And so the next day we went back to Manila. And that was the end of the great 100 island adventure.

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Meron pa kong 2 eh: the Corregidor experience and the exhausting stopover at Camarines Sur. Pero inaantok na ko. At mahaba-haba na rin ang nasulat ko. So next time na ulit.

Sa classmates ko, see y'all on Tuesday!