Escaping the Storm – South Bound Style!

[Entry from May 2009 trip] Our annual family trip for MAY 2009 wasn’t supposed to push through because a storm hit Manila so bad, it hit the North area even more. Ironically, we were supposed to be North bound for this post-summer trip. We already had plans to stay at a family friend’s beach house in Zambales. But the news that night confirmed the frantic situation in the whole province. 

There was no plan B. But we made one when the storm was really getting worse. And since the north area was a place that no one should set foot on at that time, we suddenly thought of going south bound instead. So we decided on a whim to try our luck going there, hoping that the storm wouldn’t follow us in that direction. As soon as the place Batangas popped into our destination suggestions, we just started calling up resorts in that area for a potential place to stay in. Since it was a last minute thing, and still a summer vacation month, almost all the resorts we contacted were booked. Mind you, it wasn't that easy to book 14 people just like that.


A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

My Kuya could not help but look at our sad faces, as hopes of a beach vacation were washed away along with the rain. And since Batangas was giving us bad responses as well, he finally decided to just leave it to God, and just hoped for the best. We left on a very gloomy morning, and got to Batangas around 10 am. And much to our luck, we found a place to stay in for the first two nights. And what was more of a blessing was the sun was shining brightly. It was when we set foot on Maryland Beach Resort that we thanked God for a safe and sunny trip.


Ok, so this was my first time in this part of Batangas. My family has been here twice already, back when I was still in college, and had no summer vacations to spend. Anyway, since this was our last option to ever experience a beach outing, we just had to take our minds off of the dirty premises. Yes, you read it right. The gray sand beach had pieces of garbage (usually plastic materials) everywhere, floating even. So most of our time was spent swimming in the resort pool. But we were just thankful that both the resorts (we stayed in Medina's Garden Villa on the latter part of our Nasugbu trip) that we stayed in had pools, as a lot of our goofy and happy times were spent hanging out by this area of the resort.


WHITE BEACH YO!

We did something different on our third day in Nasugbu, as we rode a pump boat to another island. My family called this the ‘White Beach’. Also, half of the area was private-owned. There were quite a few people hanging out on the other half. But the crowd was still tolerable in number. Plus, we had to rent a boat to get over to this place.


Now, this beach was beautiful. And it was a lot cleaner than the one we left back in Nasugbu. But my Kuya instantly noticed the rise in the water level. Global warming perhaps. He said that when they last visited this beach, there were rocks everywhere that were still quite visible. Well, the rocks were still there. But these have already been submerged under the water.

You’ll have to actually take careful steps to get to the other side of the beach; or choose to swim farther away to avoid the rocks. It was a beauty on this beach edge, but it was also tasking to get there. I probably had a few scratches and cuts on both my hands and feet after making my way to the rocks. But the water was crystal clear, so it was worth it going to this side of the beach. It was even more picture perfect since I had the whole family swimming around in the same area.

We probably stayed here for half the day (we swam and ate and swam again), until our boat ride back to Nasugbu came to pick us up. This island-hop to the white beach was the highlight of my stay in Nasugbu . But other than that, I enjoyed what Batangas as a whole, offered me and my family. I really enjoyed the beach vacation with them, despite experiencing the storm that almost ruined it.


And as always, I have a Travel Expense Sheet here that you might find interesting. But I just had to base it on estimates (for the 14 people who came with us on this vacation) since my cousin had a hard time recalling the exacts. I wasn’t part of the costing on this trip yet, so she just gave me what she could remember.

Anyway, hope it helps with one of your future trips in the area. Until then..

Explore & Be Free!
Mai

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