ultimate summer getaway

last weekend, all bio majors taking up ecology went to borromeo resort, calatagan, batangas. we did our last two experiments along the beach. i really had a good time even though the activites were somewhat tiring. i'll try to make this narration detailed but some of the events are somewhat hard to put into words....

Saturday
2:30 AM - i left my house. my father went with me to make sure that i get to school safely
3:30 AM - my father and i arrived at gate 2.5, street lights along the university road were turned off so we had no choice but to walk carefully along the dark road.
3:40 AM - i arrived at the SEC benches. i bid my father goodbye and went to look for my blockmates.
4:00 AM - the scheduled departure time. there were still a lot of students who were not yet there. one of my blockmates predicted that we'll be leaving at 6AM
4:00 - 6:00 AM - bonding time with my blockmates. we took some block pictures and played some games.
5:30 AM - the vans that will take us to batangas arrived. the three blocks gathered to receive final instructions from our professors. we then proceeded to the parking lot
5:45 AM - my friend and i still haven't found a vacant van. my professor jokingly said that we'll just commute to batangas
6:00 AM - i finally get to ride a van. the group left the campus and started our 4-hour trip to batangas
6:00 - 10:00 AM - we traveled to batangas. there was a stopover at the caltex station, south super high way. we ate french fries from McDonalds. when we arrived at tagaytay, i felt sleepy so i slept until we got to calatagan. there were a lot of fine sceneries along the road we took. i hoped i had a digicam with me.
10:00AM - we arrived at the resort after a long, exciting trip. we went down the steep stairs and fixed our things inside our cottage.
10:00 - 1:00 - we rested for some time while the others prepared our lunch. we picked an area in the dining room and set up. the whole block ate sinigang and mangga with bagoong. i had a feeling that the other blocks were looking at us because my block was the only one who was eating together on one table. after eating, i changed into my working clothes and put some sun block
1:30 - 6:00 PM - the whole group gathered near the beach and received instructions from our professors. we then started to work on the intertidal and subtidal area. we went 30 meters off the beach coast. it was already high tide so the waves grew big and it was really hard to conduct the experiment. i did not go too far since i don't know how to swim. i even had a sudden fear of the unknown sea creatures. i was afraid of accidentally stepping on a sea urchin or other dangerous sea creatures. it took a long time to finish the experiment since there were limited materials and the waves were really big strong. while working, my former blockmate , who was living in batangas arrived. we were so happy to see him. he went into the water and joined us. it was like a reunion. my whole block was happy to see him.
6:00 PM - the groups already finished the experiment so we were allowed to do whatever we want. i took a bat and changed into new clothes. i sat on my bed that was facing the sea. the wind was blowing hard so it was really cold up there. it was the perfect time to lay back and reflect. however, i wasn't able to do that for a reason i couldn't remember. i still felt eally light while the cool breeze blew on my face. it was the best feeling i had in years. it was as if all my worries flew with the wind. i forgot all about the things, all the work i left in manila. i was happy. i think i even felt bliss. a feeling that i haven't felt in more than i think ten years.
6:00 - 12:00 PM - we ate adobo for dinner. we rested for a while then my professor suddenly announced that there will be a contest. it was between BI.162 blocks A1 and A2. the block that could make the biggest bonfire that will last for 10 minutes will win 5 bonus points in the next long exam. i belonged to block A2. at first our fire was blazing and then it went down. the other block suddenly had a big fire burning so we got depressed or some time. however, this became a challenge to some o my blockmates. we looked for more fuel adn everyone was trying really hard to make the fire bigger. suddenly, our fire went up ang burned really big while the other block's fire went down. my group won the 5 points but the fire went too big that it was hard to controlit so my professor told us to put it out to prevent any accident from happening (the fire was burning near our cottages made from wood hehehe). we then rested for some time. then my block decided to play some games. we played Dr. Quack2x. it was the 1st time i played that game for more than 13 years. after playing we ate marshmallows that were heated in the bonfire. we shared it with other blocks since we brought plenty of marshmallows. after eating, we lay on the beach and watched the stars. the sky was so clear that many of us were able to see falling stars. i really had fun staring at the night sky. it could have been better if there was a full moon. the water went down since it was already low tide.
12:00 -1:00 - i accidentally slept on the beach. i woke up when my friend decided to call it a night. some of my blockmates drank some beer and they were already making a lot of noise inside our cottage. good thing don't like beer or i could've joined them. i fixed my bed adn went to sleep.

Sunday
6:00 AM - i woke up for no particular reason. i was still feeling a bit sleepy but my friend was already awake so decided not to leep anymore. we were scheduled to leave at 6:30 so i went up and quickly took a bath.
6:30 AM - most of us were still sleepign so our professors decided to start working at 8:00. my blockmates prepared breakfast while the others took a bath.
7:30 AM - we a hotdogs (regular adn cheese) and egg (sunny-side-up and scrambled w/ cheese)for breakfast. after eating we fixed our things and prepared for our trip to the mangroves.
8:00-9:00 AM - we gathered near the shore and received final instructions from our professors. we then started to walk to the mangroves. we crossed knee-deep water to get there. it was a hard walk since we couldn't see the small rocks blocking our way. the sand and washed sea grasses were always getting into my slippers. there were also weird bugs jumping around. i was one of the first few who arrived in the mangrove site. i was a bit proud of myself because i was one of the few who enjoyed the walk. when everyone was there, we started doing our experiment
9:00 -10:30 AM - we performed our experiment on the mangroves. while we were doing this, the tide started rising and the wind blew a bit harder. the sun also shone brighter. good thing i applied sun block before leaving. my groupmates were already feeling lazy but i was happy when i got to convince them to continue working. after performing our experiment, we started walking back to our area.
10:30 -11:00 - it was already high tide so the trip back was harder. we already had to cross a waist-deep water. during our return trip, i got my first injury. i accidentally stepped on tree thorns that were buried in the sea grasses. i got scratched a bit but for some reason, it hurt a lot. i felt really dirty so i was encouraged to walk faster so that i could gt some nice bath.
11:00 - 2:00 - i took a bath and got into dry clothes. my other blockmates prepared our lunch. we ate adobo (leftovers from our dinner) and teriyaki. after eating we stayed inside our cottages and relaxed. we played pusoy dos and other card games.
2:00 - 4:00 PM - we were scheduled to leave at 2:00 but other blocks were still swimming at 1:30 so we got delayed. at about 2:30, i decided to wear my jeans. i went down my bed. i think i jumped a bit so my foot accidentally went through the bamboo slits. my blockmates saw me and they immediately asked if i was ok. they asked me if got injured. i got shy so i told them that i didn't get any bruise. good thing they didn't force me to show my knee. i immediately went to the bathroom and washed the small wound and scratches with soap and water. i laughed at myself because i looked stupid. i felt a bit bad about me lying to my friends but i didn't want them to worry anout me.
3:00 PM - the vans arrived and we quickly fixed our things inside it. i looked back on the blue sea before riding on the van. we were going back to manila. goodbye to the sweet paradise.
4:00 - 9:30 PM - we traveled back to manila. my back was sweaty when i got in the van so i wasn' t feeling very well during the trip. i felt dizzy so i tried really hard to sleep. i woke up when i learned that one of the vans got bumped by a tricycle. it was left behind to file a police report. good thing the van had an insurance. we stopped over at starbucks tagaytay to eat dinner. i just bought sopao from hen lin and drank cold water from starbucks. i didn't want to eat a lot since it usually makes me more dizzy. i was asleep during most of the trip. i just woke up when we were already in C5 road.
9:30 PM - we arrived in the campus. my van was surprisingly the first one to arrive. we waited for the others so that my friends could get their bag from the other van. Then, i rode on my friend's car. She dropped me off at the jeepney station. i was going home. i was tired. the wind was thick and dirty. i suddenly missed the cool, sweet adn clean sea breeze. everything suddeny went back to me. i still had a lot of deadlines to meet. at least i had sort of a 2-day vacation before summer ends.