Gala: I’m in Cagbalete, beach!

Saturday – Sunday
April 11-12, 2015

If it’s not obvious yet, I like escaping from the hustle and bustle of city life. I was pretty bummed seeing all my Facebook friends post beach pictures and so I vowed to get myself to the beach ASAP!

As luck would have it, a friend invited me to go with her and her friends to Cagbalete beach. It’s my first time hearing of the place, but after googling it, I agreed immediately. I had a fun run during that weekend, but thankfully, I was able to convince my younger brother to run for me instead!

So things got smoothed out and I was excited the whole week. This is the first (and hopefully not last) of my summer 2015 getaways!

Day 1 (Saturday)

Saturday morning, I caught the first train to Gil Puyat station and waited for my friend. As I was the only new one in the group, introductions were made and after a few minutes, we were on the bus bound for Lucena, Quezon!

It was a very long bus ride (3-4 hours) and I spent most of it sleeping and just staring out into the city, watching the buildings get smaller and more scarce as the lush trees swallowed the landscape.

Upon arriving at Lucena Grand Terminal, we had a quick bite at Jollibee and then rode another bus to Mauban, the port baranggay of Quezon. Mauban was about 1.5 hours away from Lucena and upon arriving, we registered for a boat to take us to Cagbalete island. We also shopped for food that we would cook later on.

After a while of buying pork, vegetables, and other ingredients, we were on the boat. An hour of rough sailing and getting wet later (because we were riding against the waves), we arrived at the beautiful beach of Cagbalete!

If I recall correctly, there are 10 resorts on the island. When we arrived most of them were fully booked! Because we didn’t have reservations or anything, we spent most of the afternoon just looking for a place to stay. Fortunately, we were able to score a room at an excellent resort that was more secluded than all the others that were bunched up together along the beach.

The room we got was good for 2, but we managed to talk to the kind manager to let the 8 of us stay in it. We just added a price per extra head. Because it was already late in the evening when we finished packing down our things, we just prepared our food for the next day and had a few drinks. After that, it was sleepy time.

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Day 2 (Sunday)

We were supposed to wake up early and watch the sunrise, but reality happened and we woke up with the sun already peeking through the trees and into our room. We got up and strolled the beach and also did a quick jog along the sands. The view was breathtaking. Take note that we didn’t really get to appreciate the view the day before because the sun was already setting when we arrived.

The rest of the morning was spent grilling the pork for lunch. We had a hard time getting the coals to get heated up but once we got into the groove, the pork was cooked deliciously. Yum!

After lunching, it was time to swim! Yay! This was the part I looked forward to the most: Open water! The water was very clear and I was able to open my eyes while submerged without much irritation. I loved spending time in the water even if I’m a terrible swimmer. We swam for a lengthy time and just floated with the waves. Truly, this is one of the best ways to relax.

I didn’t want to go out of the water, but we got hungry so we decided eat one last time before packing up. The boat that took us to the island was scheduled to pick us up in a few, so we fixed ourselves and had some more photo ops while waiting.

The boat ride back to Mauban took more than an hour for some reason despite us riding with the current. Maybe subconsciously, Cagbalete didn’t want to let us go as well. But finally, we were back in Mauban. It was already late but we were able to find a shuttle to take us to Lucena Grand Terminal. I didn’t notice how much time the ride took because by then it was already in the evening.

Upon arriving at Lucena Grand Terminal, we had a quick dinner and waited patiently for a bus bound for Gil Puyat. I slept most of the ride back to Manila because beaches are tiring. But I had a really great time and I was also able to figure out how to commute home from Gil Puyat. I arrived home at around 00:30 in the morning of Monday, tired and still having work in a few hours.

But it was fine, because I was finally able to go to the beach! I had a lot of fun, made new friends, and able to take a break from city life and see the beauty out there. Plus I didn’t spend too much as well! My entire budget was around Php2,000 only and it was all worth it.

I’d like to thank my friend KC, and the Bullies, who welcomed me with open arms. And also to God for the safe trip and for creating the wonderful sights to behold in nature. To more awesome and amazing escapades!

-jgzn

p.s. Remember when I said that I got my brother to do the fun run for me? Congratulations to him for being able to get a Sub-1 time for the 10k! Wow! To finish less than an hour in the 10k is one of my goals and my brother finished it easily. I need to catch up!