SHOWDOWN IN GALERA

Funny that in spite of the proximity of Puerto Galera to Manila, this will be the only time that I had been to it yet.

We planned to go to Galera four years ago but it did not materialize.  This was the appointed time for that visit.

From Monumento, we took the LRT and got off to Buendia Station.  We boarded a bus going to Batangas Pier.  Around P160 was the fare for each person.  The bus boast of having a free wifi connection.  You just have to ask for the password.

What I enjoyed during our bus trip was my second time viewing of the movie, Dekada 70.

My wife who was preoccupied looking outside the window suddenly became estatic when she had the sight of the Laguna Lake  to her left.  It was her latest discovery out of her innumerable trips to Batangas.   Later, she entertained herself by watching the cloud formations.

The travel was fairly smooth.  Before we knew it, we were already in Batangas Pier.  We proceeded immediately to the ticket booths.   Many people were already lining up to buy tickets.  This was where we got our tickets:

We decided to go to White Beach since it the destination that has the earliest time of departure.  Dispatcher or fixers abound in the ticket booths area.  Don't believe in their advertisement that there is a trip direct to White Beach since we have other stop over before we finally reached White Beach.

We paid P270 each  for the boat ride  and another  P 80 each for the terminal fee and environmental use fee.  They are offering discount if you are buying round trip tickets worth P500.

Don't expect that the boat will leave on time.  We left at 11:30 am when we suppose to leave at 10 am.  

I forgot the name of our first stop were some passengers got off.  Then we headed to Muelle were another group of passengers unboarded the boat.  This was were we saw these kids, who, upon seeing that we were watching them, gave us a water acrobats show. 

The kid who was standing always have his shorts pulled down after his dive on the water.  I was too slow to catch it with my camera phone.

Past 1 pm when we finally reached White Beach.  A lady approached us and appointed herself as our agent for our room stay.  Since it was weekend when we went there, accommodations were mostly occupied.  It took us long before we settle to a not so ideal room.  Airconditioned room with TV.  Ok na rin pero hindi talaga maganda ang paligid.  We resigned in looking for a better place because we were already tired and hungry.  That was the reason why we didn't bother to take a picture of the facade of our place.  We paid  P1,500 for an overnight stay.  I think, it is much better, to book in advance for the place where you will stay  to avoid wasting  time looking for the right place. 

We laid on the bed until 3 pm then went out to eat our late lunch or early dinner.

My wife's order

My order

Each order cost P100.  There is no potable water in White Beach except  bottled ones.  At dahil alanganin na ang oras ng kain namin, we had two servings of rice.  Unli rice naman kasi ang order namin.

After eating, we walked by the sea and reached the end of the coastline where we had picture taking.

After a number of shots, we headed back. The sea was making a show through its waves.  And another show was provided by people who play with the waves.

It was almost evening and the sun was setting.  I decided to remove my shirt and headed to the sea to meet the waves.  My wife was sitting on the sand and watching me.  

Another enjoyable sight in Galera is the liberty that people enjoy in donning their swimwear no matter what their shapes are.  Lakasan lang talaga ng loob yan.  Hahahahahaha!  My wife warned me not to take pictures of them unless I would like to follow the fate of Mon Tulfo.  Hahahahaha!

One fat guy was just wearing a Bench underwear.  Feeling Diether Ocampo. Hahahahahahaha!

Evening came and lights were on.  So were the shows.  We watched gay impersonators performed at one bar.   Another group of impersonators were doing their acts.  It was indeed a showdown of gay impersonators that we went left and right to catch both shows.

A gay impersonator in white gown

At first, I was entertained to see foreigners got entertained by our entertainers. I took pride of the rich talents that we Filipinos have.  Later on, I, myself was the one entertained by the performers.

As if the impersonators were not enough to watch, came the firedancers.  One can have his or her picture taken beside the dancer.  

Before we went to Galera, my friend warned me that there are people who are going there to experience a private and forbidden show between or among trippers.  Such acts  are done in the dark and in the corners of the seashore.

That night we have not seen one and didn't bother to see one.

It was enough for our eyes to see all the sights and shows that are filling our eyes.

My wife invited me for a dinner but since I already felt full, we just settled with one bottle of Tanduay Ice each.  

Another show was put that night sponsored by My Phone.  We watched for a while but when we sensed that the performers had no connection with their audience, we just finished our Tanduay Ice.

It took only a bottle of Tanduay Ice to make us feel tipsy.

Thus, we went back to our room and called it a day.

Indeed, there were lots of performers and shows that day and night. There was even a showdown.

But I guess, the greatest show would always be this:

Nothing beats the beauty of nature