Pulo Island, Nasugbu, Batangas and the Perspective of a Clueless Summer Journey

 By Raymond Dimayuga on May 14, 2013

When in Manila and you can’t bear the heat, the obvious solution is to go to beach. Or at least somewhere colder than the Metro.

 Then you’ll ask where.

It’s not the destination but the journey.

 That’s what happened to us. We were chatting on FB and we were contemplating where to go. Then I suggested that we just decide when and where to meet and from there let the cosmos resolve the issue. 

 It was some sort of reunion. They were my film classmates some years back in a workshop. Jeff is now a college professor. Noel [we call him Boy Bakat] is a stage manager. Phillip, i think, is doing some marketing projects. Marie, ahdunno what she’s up to these days. And this writer.. I’m writing some corny scripts for mainstream television.

 11pm, Alabang. As usual, Boy Bakat was the earliest. Phillip, having the most important element to our journey, was the last to arrive. It’s his car that we will be using for that journey. We traveled south and in every crossroads, we decided where to go by just flipping coin and some other elements of chance.

Where do we go from here?

 It was indeed a bumpy road, figuratively speaking, for it took some beautiful misdirections and dead-ends or clueless streets before we saw the civilization and potential destination. But we were not complaining. Save from some LBM discomforts without a CR nearby, we were cool all the way. So yes, it’s nice to bring some basic meds next time. 

The road less traveled is a dark street.

 Deep in the province, we figured out that cellphone GPS is more reliable than maps provided by the net. It recognized even the smallest streets, with or without internet signal. Our journey led us to Nasugbu, Batangas and we passed by the most beautiful beaches. Club Punta Fuego, Kawayan Cove, Pico de Loro, etc. While it is true that we didn’t enter those popular and lovely beaches because we want something new and undiscovered, there was even a bigger reason. We were traveling on a shoestring. Insert smiley here to lessen the melodramatic tone.

the road to Nasugbu

Outside of Kawayan Cove, but we didn’t enter because of some melodramatic reasons haha :)

Ahdunno if it was childish or child-like :)

 We finally stumbled upon an unpopular resort and our budget agreed. It was a boat away from Brgy. Calayo, Nasugbu, Batangas. It’s the Pulo Island and we found out later that it is Senator Legarda’s island. It is, per se, free to set foot in and swim or whatever. Only the boat ride costs some penny. But not much. And not bad. Only one thousand pesos, two-way, so that made us share two hundred each. 

Brgy. Calayo, Nasugbu with this friend feeling like a weird halo- halo endorser haha :)

on the way to Pulo Island

Don’t bring that umbrella again Phillip, sunburn is the point :)

 Pulo Island’s sand is not Boracay white but white just the same. It does not boast of long shoreline and there are rocks on some parts. But it doesn’t mean one can’t swim there. In fact, we were swimming our hearts out only to end it because we had to go back to Manila before sunset. We have work the next day, Monday.

 Generally speaking, the true beauty of Pulo Island is it’s virginal appeal. The mainland of Brgy. Calayo can show each visitor a sense of community and countryside rawness.   Halo-halo, street basketball, simple life and of course, hospitality. It might not be for everyone thou. Those that want first class amenities will opt out. But for a probinsyano like me whose now living each day in a crowded and busy city life, it is a pleasure having a vacation albeit a short one in a place just like my breezy hometown.

street basketball, Jeff having fun

But then of course, you will contest.. There are many resorts with fresh allure too, and might be nearer or more stunning. But my answer is: Perspective. It might not be the cheapest and the freshest, but that’s where our shoes brought us. Or for this certain travel, our slippers. 

Girls wanna have fun! haha :)

Boy Bakat enjoying it

Jeff’s coming at yoh! :)

And the first thing that Phillip did? Oh well.. haha :)

I’m not an introvert, promise. I just want to insta it :) hehe

There you go! :)

Say “bleh!”

One of the stop-overs on the way back to Manila: an uncoordinated jump shot.

One of the stop-overs on our way back to Manila: Let me levitate first.

On our way back to Manila, happily fatigued.

 Night time, we were traveling back to Manila. Happily fatigued because of the long drive, figuring road maps, swimming without a complete sleep, and some other factors. And this is the part of an essay when we are supposed to read the summary and lesson. But of course, you’ll read nothing about it here. For traveling is like the matrix. It’s an experience. Not an essay. And the closest thing to it are the pictures. But armed with only point and shoot cam plus phone cameras, there’s none the depth of field present in all DSLR lenses. Only perspective.

 And life’s a beach, so go figure. Insert smiley here. 

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