Misadventures

[maesieb-blog]

We are like the sky and sea - separated by the expanse. Yet inseparable, one always the reflection of the other. Parts of ourselves brimming over the skyline of your shoulders and the horizon of my fingertips. We are like the sky and sea - unbroken, unabating, ceaseless. #isometimeswrite #thirstdaythought (at Laiya, San Juan, Batangas)

[maesieb-blog]

"I'm waiting for the stars to pop through the black above, waiting for the future to wash over me like so many salty waves - some as turbulent as my thoughts and some as velvety as a good kiss."

[maesieb-blog]

May August be as idyllically happy and peaceful like you to make up for a heart and mind that is anything but. (at Anilao, Batangas, Philippines)

[maesieb-blog]

Capones Island, San Antonio, Zambales

September 2015

We hopped on a boat small enough to fit three plus two bangkeros. They were to take us to Camara island, then Capones, before we head to Anawangin where we’d be setting up camp for the day. The first island - a stone’s throw away from Pundaquit beach - we didn’t get to see up close because it was high tide and according to our bangkero it’d be difficult for our tiny (read: if I stretch out my arms, that’d be double the width of the boat) outrigger to reach the shore. After 10 minutes or so of riding big waves, Capones came into view. The lighthouse was at the other end of the island and can only be accessed by boat in low tide so we explored the island on foot. Capones, at first glance, looked the part of any island in the country. Follow the trail barely seen among the tall grass, trek up the hill, catch your breath at the top, revel at everything you see before you, and down you go again. On the other side reveals a beach partly shaded by the limestone cliff. Boulders looked like they were left at random by giants for little people like me. It was my favorite island, how it reminded me that I was a tiny speck in this vast universe.

[maesieb-blog]

Noir series

Portulano Resort (A TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice) in Bauan, Batangas is a 14-room boutique resort sitting on the foot of a hill and facing Balayan Bay. Catering to divers and non-divers alike, Portulano offers diving packages, diving equipment/boat rentals, has a house reef for snorkeling and a seawater pool. The owners - both divers and underwater photographers, I overheard as much - have made this place their hideout. Accommodations come with full board meals (L, D, and B on the next day).

It’s in the details: As per the resort's description on TripAdvisor, "Design and architecture is inspired by mediterranean colors accented by local materials and artistry.”

Mediterranean-style patterns and capiz windows and I was done for. The rooms have french doors that open all the way out, giving an unadulterated view of the ocean. We left it that way at night.

At dawn, I woke up to voices of fishermen out at sea, the sound floating up to our room. From where I laid I could see the soft glow from the lights of the fishing boats.

That weekend, we spent hours swimming hard against waves, drank too much sea water and coffee, reveled at the pink sky, and forgot what day it was.

[maesieb-blog]

“There we were, sitting quietly on the edge of the world, and no one could see us.” - Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart

(at Ogtong Cave Beach Resort)

[maesieb-blog]

Bantayan Island, Cebu

September 2015

On our second day, also our last (we were leaving in the morning), we took a dip in clear waters of an underground cave, waded in low tide, swam in warm pool water, waited under a big tree for the sun to set.

On our second day, also our last (I didn't feel like leaving yet), we sat on the edge of the world.

[maesieb-blog]

My lolo's backyard has a stream running through it. A wide, flowing river dotted with boulders that probably flowed out to sea. But it always seemed to me that it was running away from it. We'd spend our summers there. At the back of the house was a stone quarry. Everything looked a lot bigger then - the mountains of rocks my cousins and I would stubbornly climb, the vast barren land covered in gray sand that clung to our clothes, our hair and faces, the heavy machinery that clanged and banged away for most of the day taking their refuge. This old dirt path which takes the loaded trucks from the stone quarry to the front of the property, passing by my lolo's house, is now taken over by trees and foliage, the only remnant of my favorite playground.

[maesieb-blog]

Anilao, Batangas

March 2016

I remember it all too sharply - the pleasant lightheadedness one only gets from breathing in the ocean and lapping up as much of the sun. You feel your lungs might burst, your skin raw to the touch. Like standing up too fast, blood rushing to your head. You feel dizzy. But happily so. (at Portulano Resort, Batangas)

[maesieb-blog]

Me and my penchant for charming little places: I make it a point whenever I travel that I stay in less conspicuous places. Not necessarily off-the-grid - I need my luxuries too - but the fewer the rooms the better. I shun tourist traps for character, room service for common kitchenettes, glass doors for painted wooden fences. I have come to remember a place by where I choose to spend two, three nights in. I can’t thank the travel gods (and good old research skills) enough for helping me seek out the nooks and crannies. It’s my pursuit. #misadventures