Saturday, May 3, 2008

Basking in Sigayan

My back and shoulders still hurt from sunburn yesterday but I relish the fun time and bonding I had with my son and my officemates. It was our company outing last May 1-2, 2008 at Sigayan Bay Beach Resort. It's about a 5-hr drive from Quezon City to Laiya, San Juan,Batangas. Our bus left the office at about 9:30 AM and we were in Laiya by 2 PM. As we were checking in our rooms, the bus got stuck in a waterhole so some of us, guys, had to go back to the bus and help the driver pull the bus out of the muck. No chance. We had to leave it to the tow truck to fix the problem (the bus was pulled out early the next morning).

Cedric, my son, can't wait to get wet. Good thing my wife included Cedric's life jacket and "salbabida" in his backpack. If not, I don't know how I will keep my son from nagging me for 2 days. The experience was long-overdue. Most of my officemates needed that break, with all the pressure and stress we face every day at work. As for my son, I wanted to give him this opportunity to breathe in the sea breeze and frolic in the water and the sun (he's never had time to be exposed to the sun for long). My son has Primary Complex (tuberculosis). We got to spend most of the time together. I taught him how to build a sand castle near the shore. I also showed him how to make a flat stone "jump" on the water. I tried to teach him how to paddle his feet but he was more interested doing the water thing on his own. He would prefer riding on my shoulders to get to the deeper side of the water, where most of the kids with life preservers stayed on. On the whole, he kept himself busy – dashing to the sand like in a race, or keeping himself afloat on his "salbabida", or examining the fishing boat moored at the shore. Then, he would show me pieces of coral that he collected along the shore and he would make a pile of them near the rising tide. When it was time to eat or change for dinner, he would remonstrate with me – saying he doesn't want to go yet. After dinner, I hang around with those singing at the karaoke joint. Cedric can't wait for me to sing. He busied himself plowing a plastic chair making an imaginary path on the sand path. After a couple of songs, I took Cedric for a walk and thought of the bus which might still be stuck. It was still stuck that night, and the driver can't turn off the engine because it would damage the tail-end of the bus. I don't know where the driver slept that night – most probably inside the bus. At about ten, Cedric and I went back to our room to sleep.

The next day, I was up early (about 4:30 AM). Actually, I needed to go to the toilet because I was not used to drinking several shots of brandy. But I take pride in not even feeling tipsy or drunk the other night. Cedric slept beside me. I tried not to wake him when I was getting out of bed, but he woke up anyway. So, he said he'd wait for me outside the comfort room. When I told him if he wanted to join me outside to go to the beach, he thought it was still nighttime. Then my boss got out to have breakfast. She saw us and gave me some food to eat which I couldn't refuse (I was too hungry to accept). It pays to be an early riser. Cedric ate the sotanghon by himself, along with puto (boy! Is he hungry too!). I took some coffee and puto and after that, we were off to the beach. By then, several officemates were already awake and headed to the beach.

As Cedric busied himself along the shallow coastline, I ventured toward the bellbuouys farther out. I got so enticed by the sand bottom that, when my feet brushed against some rocks, I didn't know there were sea urchins clinging by. Several spines stuck on my right toe, causing me to limp back to shore. Luckily, many people were around by that time. One of the locals suggested getting calamansi to apply to my toe. Ramcel volunteered fetching calamansi as Paul took photos of my spine-riddled toe. I was to learn later that the calamansi should be heated before applying to the injured organ. Which I did much later after breakfast. Anyhow, I don't feel any pain after that. I even went back to swim after breakfast. As for Cedric, he looked on, asked me how it felt, and went back to the inviting water.

I spent the morning swimming, watching over Cedric, watching schools of fish swim between me and my officemates, watching another fish pecking at a dead fish, acting as umpire for a volleyball match, and playing volleyball much later that morning.

In all, it was a refreshing experience. Next time, I'll be ready for Boracay (I hope).

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