Summer 2006 Escapades (Part 1 of 5)

Rainy days have come. What better time to let the summer sun shine once again, at least in our minds.

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Earning their own salary enables people to splurge in their personal luxuries. The most common of these financial black holes would be clothes, shoes and accessories. Others reward themselves to a massage, as spa or perhaps a beauty treatment. The techies would gobble up the latest gadgets, while others still go for their comfort food, or any delicious food for that matter.

I don't know if I can consider myself lucky to not have the above types of luxuries that demand a regular share of the monthly income. My luxury is seasonal and highly dependent on my leaves and work schedule. There is also the high possibility that it can get cancelled, one reason being the other participants' inability to raise funds due to the demands of their regular indulgence. These factors allow me to save more money for my future stability and my future of more lavish luxuries (I wish!). Talk about delayed gratification! On the other hand, when all the factors like time, weather, logistics and funds are in cosmic balance, I then indulge in my personal luxury: the vacation trip.

The summer season from March to May (expanded to February-June) is the perfect opportunity for these trips. With newly available vacation leaves and last year’s savings at my disposal, I was all set to grab that opportunity last Summer 206 and lavish myself with a trip to the beach or any swim-able body of water for that matter...

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"Private Seaside House" in Batangas

My brother's in-laws were invited to their friend's "seaside house" somewhere in Batangas. To go there, one passes through the same route as one would go to Nasugbu. The extended family, as well as family friends, answered the invitation. Nothing beats the lure of a "private seaside house"; we were imagining the freedom and the perks this house would provide to us. What surprises could be in store for us?

We started the excursion one February morning. In the South Expressway, we took the Sta. Rosa exit, allowing us to pass by Tagaytay. The morning air in this city is pleasantly aircon-cool. Going down from the Taal Caldera, the next part of the trip was a long uneventful drive.

In a Batangas highway, our host drove up with his pickup to meet us and to guide us to his place (we were starting to get lost). Along the way, we dropped by his friend's resort, which was more famous in the past as the location for a kenkoy movie. Sadly, the resort had lost whatever glory it had, for it now appeared as a mere run-of-the-mill resort. The owner conceded that a power plant nearby had affected beachgoers perceptions. Fortunately, we're not staying in a resort, but in a "private seaside house."

After the resort, we approached the colossal structures of the coal power plant the resort owner mentioned earlier. To our great surprise, our host turned to the entrance of that plant. We beheld up close how giant shovels would haul coal from a docked cargo ship, place it in giant conveyor belts, which in turn would dump their load beside the plant, creating mountains of coal. From these mountains, the coal would then be placed in another giant conveyor belt that would feed them into the plant itself, fuelling the giant generator that creates electricity. Man, everything was huge in here!

Our vehicle convoy stopped at a bungalow located just outside the plant complex. It turned out that our host is the contractor for the coal-mining and delivery to this power plant. Yup, his company owns the cargo ship docked nearby. The bungalow was the rest house for the crew while the coal was still being unloaded. Okay, so we would be staying here, fine, I guess the aircon would filter out the coal dust that was now sticking to my skin. If we'd still have to drive to the swimming area, that's fine by me, as long as it would be away from this place.

Unfortunately, this was actually the "seaside house," meaning, we'd be swimming nearby, right beside this coal power plant. Indeed, after a couple of minutes' walk, we encountered what appeared to be a miniscule "beach" with black sand and a floating hut. They said the sand was black not because of the coal, but because of volcanic deposits from a nearby river. I still took issue with the sand though; because, under water, it turned into something like coarse mud. The sanded area of the "beach" was a puny 20-meter stretch from side to side and a pathetic three-meter skip-and-hop towards the water. The water by the "beach" was enclosed like a tiny "bay". The water, though, was clear since I could still see the little fishes swimming below. It was actually a good sign that fauna thrives here, like the small crabs and snails crawling up the hut and the school of flying fish doing their aerial leaps a few meters away. The water itself wasn't too salty and didn't give me an itch.

The floating hut became our dining area. The seniors share their stories after some drinks. One couple had to take care of their toddler. The young couples, on the other hand, wandered away on a banca, sharing romantic moments while rowing around the enclosure. As for the singles like me, we contented ourselves with some swimming as well as with partaking of the abundant food.


Other parts of the series:
1 2 3 4 5