Last week, in what has become an annual pilgrimage, I went to Putipot again. Criso mentioned that she and some of her officemates are planning a trip to Putipot. She invited Michelle and I. Coincidentally, I’ve promised Michelle to take her there and I figured it would be a good time since I prefer to go there in a group. We decided to go and I invited a bunch of people. But eventually only Ralph and his girlfriend Tiff committed.
Early Saturday, Michelle and I met up with them at a Shell gas station on the the northbound side of NLEX. After a quick breakfast and Chow King and purchasing some supplies at Shell select, we went on our way.
Our route took us all the way to the tip of NLEX, SCTEX all the way to Subic, then through the various towns of Zambales. We made a quick stop at San Antonio for a visit to the pamilihang bayan or town market. It was a pretty long trip, almost 7 hours and at one point I got a bit lost and had to rely on Google Maps on my phone to make sure we’re on the right track.
But eventually we got to Uacon, Candelaria, Zambales. For a change, I decided to park at Dawal Beach Resort instead of my usual Isla Vista Beach Resort. I was irritated by the unfriendly staff of the latter when Michelle called them up for directions. It turned out that Dawal is actually much better, not just in facilities but also in friendliness. Everything was a snap and in no time at all, we’re put-putting on a boat to Putipot.
The island was almost as great as it was as before though the crowd seems to be thicker . But there were some welcome changes. Gone are the fugly Globe tents of the previous year and the island seems to be cleaner with some trash bags and cans in strategic locations. In their place are huts which, fortunately, are made of native material so it wasn’t so bad.
Of course we were prepared with tents so we foregoed the huts and set up our tents. After swimming, we cooked then ate dinner of grilled liempo and tuna. This was followed by tequila. I was tired so the tequila got to me pretty quick and I was off to an early sleep. I didn’t even get to see the stars at midnight and the sunrise at dawn :(
The next day, we went swimming again, packed most of the stuff up then cooked and ate grilled chicken for lunch. We then completed our packing, called for our boat, put-putted back to Dawal, washed up, and soon we were on our way back. It was much faster going, 5 hours, and we got home in time for dinner.
Not a bad start to the summer!