2010, Manila girl goes to Zambales

Marked May 07, 2010, A day when finally my girl friends and I went out of town, to relax, to bond and to enjoy the beach. Actually my girlkada, the eight of us planned this out of town escapade, for a change, unfortunately, not all of them were allowed by their parents and ended up that only four of us continued the overnight trip.

Candelaria Municipal Hall

Fast forward to the 7^th of May, we left Manila for Zambales, 7:30 am. I am not familiar on the place we went to, how long the trip will be, how far the destination is and what to expect on the place. It was my friend, Gia who was able to look for a resort in Candelaria, Zambales that offers cheap room rates. Little did I know that after “48 years”—almost 7 hours trip we will arrive to the place. Take note naligaw pa kami, we got off the bus a town before our endpoint. Halatang di ni-research ang pupuntahan. Good thing the locals are really helpful. Actually that time I thought that we will ride a tricycle, but no, we have to ride a bus again to get in Candelaria. Ganun kalayo! 

Candelaria Public Market



“May Starbucks ba dito?” (kidding and exaggerating) When we reached Candelaria, the second to the last town of Zambales I was surprised because the place is not yet commercially developed, there is no fastfood chains or other establishments. You can feel the province vibe. It is a quite town.  We went to the public market to buy rice, eggs and water and since we arrived there at the afternoon some of the stores are closed already. We also ate our lunch in a kalenderia, tipid mode. 

Look at the beach front. No tourist, just us and we took it as an advantage because we have privacy, not crowded and free from noise and we can do whatever we want. 

The resort has 3 aircon and 3 non aircon rooms, "Kubo".

The room we stayed and that's Majo.

The room has tv, mini kitchen, electric fan, one bathroom, one double size bed, inside the room is another room with two single size bed and aircon. It is a simple room, nothing special.

two other rooms

Enjoyed half of the day swimming, picture picture mode and watched the sun sets.
  

Dinner time. Since we were on tipid mode we brought canned goods, some were even sneaked out on their homes. For four girl scouts, spam and egg for dinner. The house owner allowed us to cook and use some of their kitchen wares, see the pot? They own it.

(L-R) Chingky. Majo. Me Gia

Thanks to Chingky's Tripod we have group pictures.

Spent the rest of the night, picture picture, play cards, chitchat and have some junkfoods.

8th of May

My other two friends woke up earlier than me, they wanted to capture the sunrise. I woke up 5: 30 in the morning because we were scheduled for an island hopping at 6:00 am. Unfortunately, the Potipot Island was closed so the resort owner asked us if we wanted to visit the White Island. They even told us that island is just an island, no trees, no cabanas, no nothing. And we said yes. Sayang naman kung di din pupuntahan yun.

At pag hindi ka nga naman masyadong swerte, pag kasakay namin ng bangka bigla pang hindi umandar dahil nagloloko ang baterya at ang gas...and due to some "technical problems" haha, we have to go back to the shore.

first attempt

...and have some picture picture again

The sun is up.

"Ang mga sawi" naglakad na lang sa pangpang.
(L-R) Majo, Chingky, Gia, Dys

second attempt. WE DID IT! :D

...and as we headed the island, we took some picture picture again. hobby? :)

solo pic. Lakas maka music video. hahaha



Potipot Island

The island was closed because the owner of it is running for a position and the election will soon be held. But we still saw some tourist snorkling there. Plus you also have to pay for an entrance fee on the island.

say hi to the other tourists

At dahil napansin namin na parang wala kaming nakikitang isla, picture picture uli at tingin tingin sa corals sa ilalim, linaw ng dagat e.

There you go, we saw the White Island! See NO NOTHING. The best na yan at walang entrance fee. hehe :)

White Island

Fishermen's meal that day

When we arrived on the white sand, hehe, there were fishermen taking a rest and cooking their meal. Some were even snorkling. They even offered us to join them with their meal.

Guess what we did on the island? Oh yes, we took pictures again and again and one after the other and swim.

upon our arrival

Since the resort have other group guest, they fetch it to the resort so they can see the island. Unlike us, they didnt enjoy much the island, so they decided to go back to the resort.

Chingky at ang Bangkero

Ended up we have to wait for the boat to fetch us back to the resort. We got a little bored but thanks to the picture picture and we enjoyed our being stranded on the island.

Honestly, I got a bit nervous because the water gets high and the island starts to shrink. hehe. I dont even swim well. haha. And we kept on asking our guide where is the boat and he keeps on saying, "pabalik na yun", medyo patext text na nga si Manong nun e, baka kinakabahan din. The feeling is mutual. hahaha.

The who?

And after the long sun bathing, we cooked lunch, corned beef, daming gutom at uhaw.

Ang mga sunog na survivor ng isla, uuwi na :)

Around 3:00 in the afternoon we left the resort, waited for the bus and arrived at Manila, around 11:00 in the evening. It was traffic because candidates were campaigning. A long journey.

My Real Emotions:

It  was just an overnight stay but it felt like almost 3 days 
because of the long road trip. I also realized that 
I should plan well and know more 
on my next summer escapade or other trips. 
Make every trip remarkable. 
It might be short but 
the whole experience was worth it, 
especially, when you're with your friends.

"Road trips aren't measured by 
miles markers, but by moments."

Photo credit to Majo and Chingky 

Related post:

Chingky's I Heart Zambales