Mindoro Escapade

I woke up early last Friday (June 6, 2008) to catch the bus for Batangas Port by 6am. While preparing my things, I can’t find my traveling bags. So I went to my Kuya’s house to borrow his bag. It was already 7:30am when I reached Guadalupe. I’ve waited for the bus for almost an hour but there was no bus passing by. So I decided to go to Jams’ Terminal in Buendia. The bus departed at 9am and I was in Batangas Port area at 11:30am. I took SuperCat to reach Mindoro Island fast and early. I don’t know the exact address of my Aunt but she told me to ask the jeepney driver to drop me off in front of OZ Mini Mart. Actually it was my second to go to Mindoro but I can’t remember anymore the place since there are new establishments in Aunt’s area.

It was 3pm when I reached the house. Everyone was waiting for me. My Aunt prepared food for me while Rodel took my things inside the room. Maybe because of stress and long trip, I had a terrible headache. They said “baka nabati or nausog ka”. After Kuya Rommel put his hand over my head, I felt some relief from headache. Maybe it’s true that Kuya Rommel had flatulence. The rest of the day was spent with eating, watching TV, telling stories and fishing at the pond.

Kuya Rommel fishing the pond

On the next day, everybody was excited because we will go swimming. When Ayzel woke up, she immediately wore her bathing suit and prepared her life buoy. It was 8:00am when Gervacio Family, Ate Arlene and her family came to pick us up. Sonny, the Indian national who is a close family friend, was also present. We went to Villa Bautista Resort which is located in Poblacion IV, a nearby barangay. It was like a fiesta. There was a lot of food. Kuya Rommel roasted his 2 ducks. Rodel and Uncle Dan broiled the fishes that we caught last Friday. There were lots of pineapples, dalandan, and guyabano. There was also a videoke which sometimes have technical problems on its sound. The kids swam on the pool from 10am to 4pm. We can’t hardly recognized Ayzel and Jaijai because of sun burn.

Enjoying the vacation together

Uncle Dan facing the challenge of videoke

Rodel and Uncle Dan broiling the fish

Group picture before we left Villa Bautista Resort

On the following day, instead of attending mass as agreed before, Rodel and my cousins went to Pola, the town of Vice-President Noli De Castro, to get some ingredients (I really don’t know its name!) being used for cooking a certain soup. Though I really wanted to go with them, I was left behind since they will just ride motorcycles. Instead of making myself bored at home, Ate May, Ayzel, Mira and other neighboring kids went to Fajardo’s backyard for a swim. Fajardo Family has a small swimming pool which being maintained by their maid since the family already moved to Manila.

Swimming at Fajardo's backyard with the kids

Before evening, Rodel and I was accompanied by Kuya Arnold to Ate Arlene’s house. She asked us to sleep over their new big house. It was 4 kilometers away from Aunt Aida’s house and located in the middle of their farm. There were lots of fruit bearing trees around it. The surrounding was so quiet that you could only hear the chirping of birds and insects. Ate Arlene cooked a delicious dinner. Kuya Rommel’s family, the Gervacio, dinned with us.

The next morning, Monday (June 9), we went to the Wesleyan Church to visit Kuya Rommel’s brother Ronald, who is a pastor. Pastor Ronald’s church was 4 kilometers away. Using motorcycles, we passed 5 barangays before we could get there. In some barangays, we could still see the mark left by previous typhoons wherein houses were washed away by floods. We also saw houses of Mangyan, native of Mindoro.

The beautiful sunrise to wake up with at Ate Arlene's house

It was already 10am, when we went back to Aunt Aida’s house; mom and Uncle Dan were waiting for us. Before we left for Manila, they prepared lots of “pasalubong” and “pabaon”. When we were at Calapan Port, we decided to take the Roro, the big boat, instead of the SuperCat. The Roro voyage took 2 hours but it was not a boring voyage because there was band singing during the trip. By 7:30pm, we were already at home. Back to where we belong. Back to reality. But it was a nice experience and happy weekend to be with relatives. We plan to go back on September in Victoria, Mindoro for the season of fruit-bearing trees.

Last picture with my relatives

It was an exciting experience riding the Roro