life's a beach

Last weekend, I was at the beach! Hooray! Well, that sounds kind of weird since I don't really like beaches. Wait, let me correct myself. I used to not like beaches. I've always told people that when it's hot, I'd rather go somewhere cold like Baguio, Alaska, or inside the fridge. And I also do not see the point of wanting to get your body fried under the sun when you've been complaining about the heat non-stop. Also, I don't understand why people wear bikinis. People are practically in their undies when wearing those bikinis, and yet, when they ARE actually just wearing undies, they wouldn't even dare go out of the room---let alone walk around the beach in them. Even though I have such issues regarding the beach (and the scantily clad people walking around the beach), I must say, I like beaches now. 

Taken from the floating cottage

 I was invited to go by my sister since her husband's side of the family planned to go on an outing, and they're kind of low in the people department. What I meant was, they could use some more people to go with them since they're such a small family. So there, my niece and I tagged along. My boyfriend was supposed to come with us too, but due to a prior engagement, he couldn't. Sad. I could have had more fun if he was there, too. :( Moving on, early morning last Saturday, we made our way to Batangas with a guide to Laiya, Batangas my sister had procured from the internet. The travel was quick. I remember just putting my earphones on and drowning to the sound of my current LSS, Disenchanted by My Chemical Romance (my current background music for this blog), and then dozing off. The next thing I knew, we were in Brgy. Puting Buhangin in Batangas.

I had prepared for that outing! Well, not really. I planned to reduce my food intake just so I wouldn't look like a big fat slob while wearing the bikini top and shorts combo that my sister and my niece prepared for me. But of course, I couldn't do that. I ate normally, even more. But at least I bought some sunblock lotion for my body and for my face. I can't really risk roasting my skin because my skin burns easily. And based on experience, a sunburn is probably the last thing I want to have as a souvenir from the beach--next to a shark bite. 

Upon reaching Laiya, we looked for a nice and affordable resort that can house all 15 of us. Of course, it wasn't easy. We had to go through different resorts with incredibly ugly names like "Mr. Bean" and "Mura Lang". Just imagine the agony if we had decided to stay in one of those stupidly named resorts.

Friend: Wow, Joyce, you went to Laiya? Saang resort kayo?

Joyce: Umm...sa Mura Lang.

Friend: Aah ok, Saan nga?

Joyce: Sa Mura Lang nga.

Friend: Oo nga, pero anong pangalan?

Joyce: Die, friend, die.

Fortunately, the scenario above never happened because we were able to find a nice and affordable resort with a respectable name--The Mangrove Farm Resort. (Nice name, huh) The Mr.Bean resort turned out to be really ugly and it was a freakin' 200 METERS AWAY FROM THE BEACH! That meant we had to walk through the wilderness from our cabin to the beach. And that was a major turn-off. What if there were bandits or lions or rapists or leprechauns in those woods? NEVER. We didn't even consider checking out Mura Lang beach resort. 

So there, having settled down and all, we ate lunch and headed to the beach. It was still too hot by that time so I just sat on a comfy chair, taking pictures of everything--even my legs. My niece, my sister, and most of the other people there were already having the time of their lives in the water. Negro, please.

Lounging at the shore, staying away from the sun

Olyn, my niece, swimming

The picture I took of my legs

The boobs with inverted nipples

After a few hours of watching other people swim, making sand boobies, and taking pictures, they decided to go back to the cabin for lunch--again. And so, after that, I took a nap. Upon waking up, it wasn't as hot anymore so I decided that it was time for me to get in the water and feel like a ridiculously hot mermaid.

A true stolen shot (taken by my sister)

The water was really shallow because of the low tide at that time. I had no problem with that. I can't swim to save my life. And knowing that I'm too smart (and tall) to drown in waist-high water made the beach more comfortable for me. We took pictures while in the water. My sister had an idea of kneeling so that the water would hide her, ahem, stomach, allowing her to look skinnier in pictures. Though I can proudly say that I didn't have to. HAHA. And even if I knelt, the water would still be too shallow to hide my waist. More HAHA. 

Stef (my niece), Me, Olyn, Ate Meanne (my sister), Ninang Ifey

Upon sundown, we went back to the cabin, ate dinner, and rested.

In the morning, we rode the floating cottage as the guy with the nail art brought us farther off the shore. We had life vests on so we were able to get into the water and float around the cottage. Being the wimpy hydrophobic that I am, I never strayed too far from the cottage. 

At the floating cottage before being pulled farther off the shore

Into the deep water 

It was fun. Really. I kind of enjoyed being in the water until the waves of the ocean made me really dizzy that I had to get out of the water before I started vomiting. 

We stayed afloat for two hours until it was time for us to go back to the cabin to eat lunch, and pack our stuff because we were only allowed to be there until 12:00 noon. But before that, we walked along the shore and took pictures of ourselves near the gigantic rocks. 

With the large rock

At exactly 12:00, we left the resort. On our way home, we listened to this sappy Maalaala Mo Kaya-like program on the radio telling a story of a girl whose first love ended miserably. This guy on the radio kept repeating, "Hindi pangit ang first love mo. Mali lang." We got home at around 3:00 in the afternoon. 

Inside the car

I had fun at the beach! I got to conquer my fear of water AND somehow, my fear of the sun. I didn't get sunburned or anything, but my feet are two shades darker than they originally were. I loved the experience. I no longer fear the water that much , and I don't hate the beach anymore. I'm even looking forward to more beach trips in the future. Actually, we're brewing another one as we speak. ;)

I hope you, my beloved readers, are having fun this summertime, too. 

Until the next post. :-*