My trip to Punta Fuego, Batangas

25/07/2013 
Hangover – ‘Filipino Time’ – Punta Fuego – Filipino Party

A photo as we arrived at the Villa at night

After a late night, I woke up at mid-day with a heavy hangover.  Ralph had already departed to continue with some fieldwork for his research project.  When I finally found the strength to clamber out of the bedroom, Ate Sabrina was immediately preparing my breakfast whilst already half way through my ironing.  Even after four full days, I was not accustomed to this level of treatment.  I decided that after my trip to Punta Fuego, I would muster all of my knowledge of Tagalog (with Ralph’s help) and write her a letter to say a heart-warming thank you for the kindness she was giving me.

I spent the remainder of my time in Eastwood packing and preparing for a weekend in Punta Fuego, a beautiful resort situated in West Batangas, on the coast of the South China Sea.  After Ralph had introduced me to some of his friends who would accompany us on this trip, we departed for our two-hour journey south.

The Filipino pace of life is incredibly relaxed.  When someone decides a time to leave, do not expect it to be accurate.  Ralph introduced me to the term ‘Filipino Time’, which usually refers to at least half an hour later than the designated time.  Even when stuck in horrendous traffic, the friends we were travelling with were incredibly relaxed whilst I was anxious and desperate to arrive.  On one occasion, our car was stationary on a train line with an oncoming train and when everyone else was laughing, I was practically hyperventilating.

The view inside from the pool area

The drive to Punta Fuego was an eye-opener.  As we navigated the streets of provincial villages, I noticed that the level of poverty was extensive.  How people live in such a way, but maintain a positive outlook on life totally fascinated me.  At night, the streets were plunged in to darkness with no streetlights lining the road.  Yet as our vehicle headlights illuminated the adjacent verges, children were playing with each other but wearing next to nothing.  I was fearful that one of them might fall or run in to the road.  However, not surprisingly, Starbucks still found a market even here.

The Villa, situated at the tip of Punta Fuego was incredibly grand and majestic.  The Hispanic history of the Philippines (having been a Spanish colony between 1521-1898) is evident here; I almost felt as though I was transported to a Southern Spanish resort.  Once we had unloaded our vehicles and explored our home for the weekend, I was given a gorgeous room with welcoming air-con, stunning sea views (although a little difficult to appreciate in the night) and a king-sized bed laden with luxurious Egyptian-cotton sheets.

A view over looking the pool from my bedroom at night

As more of Ralphs friends arrived, bringing food, alcohol and party-equipment, the evening sprung in to rave-mode.  For anyone who knows me, I do enjoy an occasional night out to party, however nothing quite prepared me for the festivities ahead.  I probably appeared to be quite boring to the Filipinos present, however it seems that a typical night out is different in the Philippines.  A characteristic party would start late (around mid-night / 1am) and end around 5am and beyond.  However, in the UK our parties tend to commence around 8pm and conclude between 2 and 3am.

Having not quite recovered from intense jet lag, it did take me a rather long time to find the party spirit within me (although in hindsight, I’m not really sure that I did).  Although I did not drink and celebrate the weekend as much as them, I joined in with some of the evening dance entertainment (even though I actually desired a warm drink and the comfort of my bed-sheets).  After all, I had been invited to this beautiful resort in hope of building relationships with Ralph’s friends.  However, this was quite hard to do as many forgot that I did not speak their language (not that I would ever expect everyone to speak English simply because I was there).

The bedroom at night

One of the most frustrating aspects of being anywhere abroad is not being able to understand the language… I found it very difficult when people would laugh at a joke in Tagalog (the Filipino language), but I’d be left wondering what was so funny.  It has had one positive though; I have picked up a lot of the language already.

The highlight of the night was swimming in the warm pool between midnight and 3am whilst drinking, singing and chatting.  This was a pleasurable experience and definitely a first – it also involved water-gun fights, snorkelling, water-aerobics and dancing, all whilst listening to the roar of crashing waves against the nearby cliff-edge.  At around 4am, I relented to the over-whelming feeling of exhaustion and retired to my bedroom to sleep.  This wasn’t entirely successful as the party was still going on until 10am! Wow!

 

26/07/2013 
Punta Fuego – Beautiful views – Provincial Village – Friendship

The view from my bed

The stunning view from the pool

Although I awoke at 11am (very late in the morning for me), I felt as though I hadn’t caught up on any sleep at all.  Thankfully, with my restriction on drinks I had managed to avoid a hangover.  I was absolutely awestruck from the moment I opened my eyes – the view as I rose from my bed was beyond amazing.  The window directly faced the South China Sea, and with the Sun beaming in to the room and the glorious blue skies above, I felt so privileged and blessed to be there.  I was further impressed when I escaped the allure of my bedroom and witnessed the panoramic views of the vast sea, spotted with various small and exotic islands.  I was truly in Paradise.

A Rural Village near our Villa

Not surprisingly, I began my day with a morning swim that was both incredibly refreshing and fulfilling.  Although the first few hours were slow and uneventful, we later departed for a stroll along the local beach.  Although the weather began to deteriorate in the late afternoon (it can be quite unpredictable in the Philippines), it did nothing to diminish our spirits and we visited a local village for supplies.  This was my first opportunity to spend time at a rural settlement, and the standard of living shocked me greatly.  However, as usual, the Filipino attitude is positive and people are very happy there.  Some children even started following me, however, when I entertained them with my embarrassing knowledge of Tagalog, they soon left, giggling and running in to their tiny homes.  Ralph encouraged me to taste some of the Filipino ‘street’ foods and for only P10 (£0.15p), I had a haul of delicious local treats.

Before returning to the Villa, we took a slight detour to the tip of Punta Fuego to watch the brewing thunder and lighting storm that was thriving above the sea.  The air was so thick with static from the humidity fuelling its fire that our hair started to stand on end… I never even knew this could happen.

A picture of Adri and I

The night would turn out to be rather disappointing for me as I was even more tired and less in the party spirit than the previous night.  I spent most of my time in the swimming pool, and it was quite an exciting experience to swim during a thunderstorm and heavy rains.  The storm only intensified the party-thrill for everyone else.

The most treasured moment from my time in Punta Fuego was not the Villa and its surrounding beauty, but having the opportunity to build a friendship with one of the Filipino’s present, Adri, who we had met on a night out earlier in the week.  We didn’t have the chance to talk in depth earlier in the week, however the weekend provided us with lots of spare time.  She educated me about transgender people, when I initially thought that I did not need to be educated.  She opened my eyes to the difficulties faced by transgender people, and I felt ashamed for any previous judgements I made.  Aside from this, she was also the most friendly and understandable friend of Ralph’s that I had met there, and she was the only person that refrained from speaking Tagalog in front of me.

 

 

27/07/2013
Province – Tagaytay – Taal Volcano

Morning view of the pool from my bedroom

Ralph and I awoke very early in the morning to take Adri to the bus station as she had a commitment later in the day.  I was less anxious about Ralph’s driving today as we were in his friend AJ’s car and I knew that he wouldn’t want to cause any damage.

This was a real opportunity for me to see how less fortunate Filipinos live – we drove past shanty houses and towns that we had only witnessed in darkness, which in the light showed that their abodes were constructed from any material they can find… wood… corrugated iron… anything!

One of the rural provinces on the drive home

It was even more of a shock to see the restricted size of each building, and knowing that within a space so small, an entire family or more would be living.

Once we had arrived back to the Villa to clean and pack away all of the evidence of such a lively party, we departed for our two hour journey back to Manila.  One thing that amazed me was the beautiful Landscape of the Philippines, especially in Batangas.  The surroundings were incredibly volcanic, providing very fertile lands and excellent crop yield.   I am so used to travelling to countries as hot as the Philippines, but surrounded by dry and desert landscapes.  In the Philippines it is the opposite, everything is so luscious green and attractive.

Our drive home would take us through a small city called Tagaytay, an hour’s drive south of Manila.  Thankfully, we arrived just before dusk, and from the viewing point in a restaurant called ‘Leslie’s’, I saw one of the most incredible sights since I had arrived.  The restaurant and city itself overlooked the ‘Taal Volcano’, a spectacle of magnificence and natural beauty.  I was looking directly at the Caldera of the second most active Volcano in the Philippines.  It was hard to acknowledge that such a beautiful placed had caused so much destruction, misery and death in its 33 historical eruptions.

Me watching the sunset over Taal Volcano

The larger Caldera itself is filled with water, yet in the middle of the lake exists another cone shaped Caldera, which is also filled with water.  I had always had a secret interest in Volcanoes, but this was on a totally different scale all together.

The smaller Caldera within Taal Volcano

We all decided to have dinner at the restaurant (which I was very happy to do), and in a perfect example of Filipino tradition, all of the food arrived at once and marked a free-for-all of buffet-style cuisine.   Filipino families tend not to serve starters and main courses separately, but allow for everything to come together so that there is a variety of dishes and different pallets of taste.

Food at Leslie’s restuarant

The most integral dishes to our order were ‘Bulalo’ (broth with beef and bone marrow), ‘Pinakbet’ (vegetables and pork), ‘Sisig’ (Pork innards and meat) and ‘Krispy pata’ (thigh of a pig).  The food was delicious itself, however the next day I did suffer from mild Diarrhoea as did three others… although in hindsight, it may well have been the tap water that all of us were drinking.

The overall evening was incredibly enjoyable… with laughter and jokes at the table and beautiful food.  We were also entertained by an acoustic band that accompanied every table in the restaurant whilst they are.  Even better, they performed a mix of traditional Filipino and chart songs, including Katy Perry’s Firework and Rihanna’s Diamonds.  They were actually very good!

Once I had said my goodbyes to Taal Volcano, we departed for Manila.  Once I arrived home, I jumped straight in to bed to work on the exhaustion from my weekend.