First
Day
I have not been to
Guimaras Island for like 5 years. Guess I’ve been too busy with my life, working
to survive. During my college years, I used to go to
Alubihod together with my friends after our major exams. We would usually arrived at the beach around
7pm. There are times when we have to walk from the “crossing”, down to the
beach, because there’s no transportation at all. Young as we are, we have not
thought of the danger that awaits us, since we are strangers. As we walk, we
can hear everything in the surroundings. The howling of the wind, the sound of
the crickets, the barking of dogs, everything. We would also try to scare each
other of ghosts’ stories as we walk down the hill and together laugh about it.
Goodness, it was so dark! Today, I will never do such thing, especially at
night time, hehehe. Lain na ang panahon subong…
I took a 3-day
vacation leave from office (the longest so far). I had the privilege to come to
Guimaras Island once again. Many thanks to my good friend Ethel Rizon and her
family for tagging me along on their trip. I brought with me my nephew, John
Brent, an 8 year old kid who thinks and reason out like a man. Budlay sige
sabat sang mga palamangkutanon niya.
John Brent and I
arrived at Ortiz Wharf. I immediately paid for our ticket for the pumpboat
ride, it costs P14.00 each. We crossed Guimaras Strait for about 10mins (or less
I think). And since summer is on the way, the sea was calm which was good to
travel. And so we arrived at Jordan Guimaras Wharf. A lot of tricycle drivers
tried to offer me their services, wherever I want to go. But I decided to ride
a public utility jeep (PUJ) for our safety. I have this thought in mind that
tricycle drivers drive fasts which I extremely hate. I was also glad we took
the PUJ because the road going to San Miguel is under repair. Sakam guid tani
namon yab-ok! On the jeep, I told the “konduktor”, to drop me off at Philhealth
Office, Alibjon. There, I met my college friend, also a social worker who lives
in San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras. She works at Stimulation and Therapeutic
Activity Center, a non-government organization whose clientele are those
differently able children. A little after arriving at her office, I decided to
have an early lunch since I have not eaten my breakfast and I am famished. She
brought us to their canteen which serves “lutong bahay” foods. In fairness, the
food tastes better than I thought, hehehe. I ordered “laswa” and stewed chicken
liver. While John Brent had chorizo for himself. My friend had a pancit
partnered it with a softdrink, she wasn’t that hungry but I forced her to eat, hehehe.
After we ate, we immediately proceed to
TRAPPIST, a home to some monks. My friend was kind enough to accompany us going
to Trappist. Maybe she was just paying respect to her old friend, which was me.
Awwww!
I actually had
been to this place many years ago and looking around, I can say that it has not
changed much. It’s exactly the same as before. The pine trees are there, the
signage that says was there and a lot more. Even the pews inside the church are arrange
exactly the same. Huwat! Kag syempre, madula bala ang piktsuran? After spending
about 30minutes looking around, taking picture, chatting with a friend whom I
have not seen for a long time, we came back at her office. There we waited for
12:00 noon for her husband to come. I also knew him when we were still in
college, a robust man in stature.
Since my time is
up and time for me to meet Ethel and the rest of the group at her Uncle’s house
in Ravina, Jordan, Guimaras. I was just lucky enough that my friend and her
husband offered to accompany me. It’s good that they have a car of their own
since I am not familiar of the place and of where exactly the house was.
Gosh….we’ve been roaming around Ravina a little less 30mins looking for the
house. But to no avail, we did not find it. Our last resort, John asks a group
of not so old women for direction. I gave the name of Ethel’s uncle and Alas!
After a very long coming back and forth, we found the house. And then I bid
goodbye to two of my friend in college. To Mr. and Mrs. John & Meralyn
Lagunday, thank you for your kindness.
On the afternoon,
the group transferred to Nueva Valencia, Jordan. Guimaras. To Ethel’s another
uncle. We went to Villa Igang to see for ourselves what’s in store the day
after. Near the entrance, there was a Butterfly Garden. However, a little
disappointed. I expected to see butterflies of different colors, but there was
none. All that was in the garden were pictures of butterflies, flowers and
plants. Not to forget, the landscape useful for taking pictures. We explore
Villa Igang on that afternoon and went back to the house around 6pm. Our first
day ended with a nice dinner with family Rizon. Thank you for your hospitality.
At the entrance...
This is the butterfly garden I've been talking about, minus the butterflies, hehehe!
In the absence of real Butterflies, you can just take a moment and read about them.
Both of us are thirsty already after a long walk, we might as well sit.
Villa Igang's former name was Puerto Del Mar, owned by the Lacsons'.
Second
Day:
I am an early
riser, so I woke up early. While the others are still under the deep spell of a
Red Horse, and after a late night “inuman”, I was already preparing to take a
bath. However, when everybody was up, we decided to go to Villa Igang to take a
dip on the beach. Together, we walked the hilly streets going to the beach.
Others rode the tricycle.
I like Villa Igang in the mornings because of its scenery. I always wanted to be in a place like
this, so quiet, calm and serene. Or maybe it's what I badly needed considering my present state of sanity. It's a perfect getaway for couples who wanted to escape the hurly-burly of city life, or even like me who thirst for calmness of the soul. There's a lot that you can do, swimming, either in the beach or pool, take note: Villa Igang has 2 big pools and 1 kiddie pool. You can also hire the service of a boatman to take you island hopping. Thirdly, if you like to hike, you can do it as well.
Early Morning Scene...love it!
This is our boat with our boatman, silent type guy. But we made an extra effort to start a conversation with him. He might drowned us, hahaha!
We situated ourselves at the back portion of the pumpboat, together with the boatman. He took this shot...:-) Thanks man.
The front rows...
As you can see, the pumpboat was fully-packed. We exceeded the allowable passenger which was 7 only. But since some of us are quite small, the excess of 1 is still ok. And so we began the journey.
Guimaras Island is one place that everyone should see and explore. I was amazed by the beauty of it. The sea was calm and the weather was just suited for the island hopping thing. First stop was the turtle island. Funny though, we only saw 2 turtles (pawikan).
He just enjoyed playing with the turtle. Hay buhay, kung bata ka nga naman...:-) Simple joys in life.
Turtle number 2...
This is me. I like the feeling, as if I don't care at all. Just this once, let me be care-less. Walang lang, kibir!
Picture taking mode...
To be continued....
