Saturday, March 28, 2009

Munting Buhangin Adventure

It was supposed to be a summer outing. However, there was no hint that it was because it was raining cats and dogs on our way to Batangas. Nature provided complete light and sound effects when lightning and thunder accompanied us to Silang, Tagaytay, and Alfonso. We only hoped that the sun had Wawa for it's address today because it cannot be found in Cavite.
We reached the outing place and it was still raining; hard enough that we were stuck in the car for a few minutes. Much later, even though it was still drizzling, we got off the car because we were losing our "swimming time!"
The best thing to do after a two-hour drive is to take a refreshing dip. We did just that a soon as we got to Munting Buhangin Beach Resort in Wawa, Batangas. The sea water is clean and shallow. Anyone can swim with the school of fish underneath. It was already 4pm when the sun peeped through the skyline so its scorching heat was not an issue. There were lots of people on this Friday afternoon. It's officially summer!
Conservative as most Filipinos are, the official swimming attire was a pair of shorts (Filipinos call it "tokong" not short- shorts) and round neck shirts. Only the children wore swimsuits and trunks. A senior citizen placed her mono block chair on the beach, knee-deep and just sat there as she babysits her four year old granddaughter. A group of men were belting out classics in the big karaoke player; either they were drunk or the karaoke was drunk - now I realized why it rained tremendously.
The duplex cabins in this resort were clean and spacious. The bathrooms have brand new fixtures and heaters to boot. Most of all, it's a perfect place to doze off after 3 hours of swimming. We were cabin mates with officemates Jasmin Virtudazo, Mark Roque, George Ferrer, Ludy Ala, and Mark Siangco. We spent Friday night there and headed back to General Trias, Cavite at 9am the next day. However, we got delayed by an hour because we missed to turn left in the Shell Central gas station in Nasugbu where Azucarera Don Pedro was. We went straight ahead to Lian, then to Calatagan which was another 30 kilometers! Talk about getting lost big time! The funny thing I found about this is that many people who visit Batangas for the first time missed this turn too! Hence, we were able to see the breath-taking Enrique Zobel Farm and Polo Country Club in Bigaa, Calatagan. It had these trees along the highway that had beige colored trunks that I haven't seen before. I started noticing we were lost when we got here because we did not pass this way before. I became more suspicious when I saw Matabungkay Beach Resort...and finally CONFIRMED that WE WERE "sooo lost" when we reached Golden Sunset Village Resort and Spa. When we reached the town proper, we asked some townsfolk who were by the church where the road to Tagaytay leads; true enough, missed a turn and got way too lost. It was a good thing that the people were friendly and generous in giving directions. Another good thing was the scenic view of the province, it was a pleasant joyride to the countryside, we thought.
Overall, I enjoyed the whole adventure. It was a family bonding time, office mates team building activity and a creative calorie burning feat at the same time!
Special thanks to Rhodora "Dhoy" Amaya for taking charge of coordinating the place and the food. You're an angel! :-)

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