HUNDRED ISLANDS PART 1

It was June 9, Saturday and I woke up at 2:15am to get ready for the trip. My sister rang my phone just to make sure I was up and about. By 3am the boys were all awake and ready (a miracle!) and soon, we were heading to the Victory Liner bus terminal at Cubao. My mother-in-law came along to see us off. At the terminal, we purchased our tickets (priced at P340 per person) and I decided to get seats for the boys as well because I wanted everyone to be comfy during the 5-hour trip to Pangasinan. Departure time was at 4:30am so we had a few minutes to buy some hot chocolate at a nearby convenience store, although I did buy a P10 cup of taho to warm my tummy. Yummy! Nikki was very responsible in taking care of his red stroller bag and I was so proud of him. He pulled his bag everywhere he went and even avoided wet spots and dirty areas. He is such a big boy now. By 4:30 we were on our way with the boys wide-eyed and excited and the sky still dark and starless.

Sometime during the trip we fell asleep and when I woke up we were in Pangasinan already. It reminded me a lot of Zamboanga because of the rural feel and small roads. Surprisingly, the bus ride did not give me motion-sickness which was a good thing because I forgot to take my medicine before leaving the bus terminal. We made our way through the many barrios and baranggays past ricefields, shanties and small shops until we we reached our destination and final stop: Alaminos. It was a little past 10 in the morning when we got off the bus, collected our bags and hired 2 tricycles to take us to Seaside Haven. My mom made reservations days before and a friend recommended the place to her. My mom and brother took the first tricycle and my sis, Nikki, Ethan and I rode on the second. The resort was around 15 minutes away from the bus terminal and the ride cost us P60 (per tricycle). Not bad although my mom complained that the tricycle drivers were too fast and my siblings and I had a good laugh at that. Seaside Haven was not as plush and grand as a typical "resort" but it was cozy, clean and cheap (perfect 3 C's) and it suited us just fine. The woman managing the resort was also very nice which was a big plus.

When we got there, we had cottage number 3. I believe an overnight stay in that cottage costs P1500 (my mom paid for the room =D). It had a twin bed with a pull-out bed underneath, cable tv, airconditioning and a toilet/bathroom with hot water. We could already see the many islands scattered in the horizon from the resort. They looked a lot like the tops of many trees peeking over the water. After settling down for a bit, we readied our things for island-hopping. We decided to have brunch so that we could make the most of our day since we found out that boat rentals there were only from 8am-5pm. So, we ordered some food and ate at the dining area of the resort. We were the only ones there and it was nice to eat quietly without noisy diners and hectic travellers. I got the tapsilog, my brother got boneless bangus (milkfish), my mom and sis shared the chopsuey and the boys got the corned beef with sinagnag (fried rice with garlic).

After brunch, we changed into our swim wear and prepared our snacks and whatever was necessary for when we go island-hopping. I brought snacks for the boys too, their beach toys, their floaties and water. Upon asking the resort owner which boat we could hire, she advised us to take the bigger bancas because it was getting quite windy and the smaller boats might rock too much in the choppy water. So, she called a boatman and my mom asked him if he could take us. He said that the price for island-hopping was P1,200 for 6 people. My mom asked if it was okay to pay him P1000 instead since we were only 4 adults and 2 kids. The man agreed and with that, we hopped into the banca and made our way to the many islands some distance away.




to be continued...