It’s 5 in the morning and here I am, heading north.
Again.
Driving along the North Luzon expressway, watching the sun rises from the wide rice plains at my east and that suddenly cures all my troubles. Amazing, isn’t it?
Anyway, today is Valentine’s Day.
And I’m going away outside of Manila to get rid of all the silly jokes about being in a relationship or not. Which, I never really mind. But today feels like a perfect day to get away from it all. You know, some me time but with friends.
So after almost 4 hours of driving and buying stuff that we will be needing, we finally reached our destination at around 11 in the morning. And the boat ride to Nagsasa Cove was almost an hour. It was very funny though because it was super windy and the waves were strong and high! We were all soaking wet! By that, I mean I can literally saw and feel the salt drying on my skin. And I must say that it was probably one of the best and most memorable boat rides I had so far. Trust me not.
The island was beautiful. Not the kind of sand that everybody wants and not the kind of waves that I want, but it was beautiful. I loved it because there was no cellular signal. A real deal to tell you’re far away from it all. And you know your place when you felt you belong, right?
We got there to set up our tents at around 12 in the afternoon. I brought my own tent and to be honest it was my first time to set it up after I accidentally bought it at Lazada a year ago while I was drunk. I am dead serious! Year after that, turns out I had a good buy. Looking at it, with a glass of water on my right hand, because I was not decided to get drunk yet, I was happy. Remembering how I regret after I saw the order’s confirmation the morning after I drunk-buy things online, that was probably one of the best spent P600 of last year.
Moving forward to the grandest moment of all, I didn’t know if I was just super hungry or tired, but the lunch was extremely satisfying. We had Chicken Adobo, Ensaladang Mangga, and Fried Chicken. You can have these dishes any time and any day at home, but it was different when you have it on the island.
It was quarter to 3 in the afternoon when we decided to start drinking shembot (a mix of gin, melon juice, and coffee) sitting under the coolest nipa hut on the island. I told my friends we could have had it at night but they told me there was nothing else to do but have fun. Which is true, I think. So we sat there and started drinking while listening to music, to the birds chirping and to the sound of the waves kissing the shore. I couldn’t help but thank the universe for being alive. For giving me a moment to be away from everything that was making me sane back in Manila.
After 2 hours of worthy talks, we were a little bit drunk already. And one friend said it would be nice to walk on the beach and so we did. Next thing we know we ended up on top of a nearby hill (or mountain) and there, we did the most fascinating thing to do to perfectly end our day: watch the sunset. The view on top was incredible. It was telling me to shout it all out; all the words I never would have said. But I did not. Because I felt peace inside my heart. And it was one of those days when I could just sit and breathe freely, savoring every second before the sun sets.
I remember laughing and swimming and running and still was a little bit drunk! There were 7 of us and I was the only single in the group. Which was fun, though! I have so much freedom. Just what I always tell my friends whenever they ask me about why I don’t like to be in a relationship, I mean I’m not saying that I don’t want it, but maybe it’s not for me just yet. And maybe this journey that I am in is all about creating and discovering myself.
Oh yes yes yes the joys of being free!
Being alone and away from the city. I can go north or south, sit in the veranda or go for a long walk on the beach, ride a boat or a plane. There are no rules and no one-hour lunch breaks.
So just like usual, we ended up really drunk around the bonfire. Woke up shivering the next morning because it was hell chilly. Moreover, as much as I want to write everything that happened on the island right after that, I’ll just finish this blog post by telling myself that I should do it more often.
