YES!!!

Thank you, Lord, for answering my prayers. :-D

After more than a year, I finally went to the beach this weekend! A month ago when I met up with my Fine Arts barkada, Paolo invited us over to their new house in Punta Fuego. We set the date and waited for May 28.

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Actually I thought I was going to be left behind. The rendezvous was set at 8 a.m. As soon as I got home from the gig I tried to finish some last minute stuff for work and packed my things. I was too excited for sleep-- I was having the dreaded night-before-the-field-trip syndrome. (Alam ninyo 'yun? 'Yung pakiramdam na di ka matulog pero kailangan mong matulog pero takot kang maiwan ng bus kapag napahaba ang tulog mo?)

By 5:30 a.m. I told myself I shouldn't be hitting the sack anymore. But no. As soon as my head hit the pillow I passed out. That must have been sometime after 6 a.m.

I woke up with a start, and checked my watch: 7:45. Shit. And I was supposed to give Nico the wake up call, too.

In a panic I immediately sent a message to my friend that I was running late. She replied that she was running late, too. *whew* Hindi lang kami 'yung maiiwan if ever. Hehehe...

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A little after 9 a.m. Nico and I were able to meet up with my batchmates along with some of their siblings/significant others: Paolo, Chin, Jan, Warren, Raph, Aya & 3p, Fen & Venna, Gogoy & Christie, Dadan and Jordan. Some of my kabarkadas couldn't go, though: Carl had a shoot in Thailand; Rachell had a shoot, too; Nickee is in LA and won't be coming home anytime soon. And the rest-- well, I don't know what's up with them.

We stopped over at a convenience store in Tagaytay to shop for supplies. We bought mostly chips and booze (heh heh), so after lunch (at Leslie's-- ang mahal kumain dun! Inabot ng P3,500++!) we made another stop at the market where the others bought real food for dinner and breakfast the next day. (At habang namamalengke sila, kami nila Jan ay nagbibilyar sa kanto-- P7/game! hehe.)

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After an hour and a half of travelling through Tagaytay and Nasugbu, we finally reached Punta Fuego. Ang ganda ng bahay nila Pao! It was well-designed, with well-chosen furniture and accessories. May jacuzzi pa sa likod ng bahay.

We took to our rooms, unpacked and dressed down for the beach. Yay! Yay! YAY!

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Home-cooked dinner was mixed vegetables and grilled tilapia, with bulalo soup from Leslie's. Mmm... Buti na lang magagaling magluto ang mga kasama ko. Hehehe... Kaya naghugas na lang kami ng pinggan pagkatapos. ;-P

Kanya-kanyang gimik na itu! May nag-videoke, may natulog, may naglalaro ng poker (complete with chips) at shempre pa, may umiinom (kasali ako sa last two categories). After a few games Nico took over my hand, and I went upstairs to join the videoke group.

I don't remember much at this point, save for a few things: Jan singing a Bryan Adams song (hahaha), female angst-sharing, and me getting drunk. Really drunk. Yay.

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I woke up at 10 a.m. with a severe hang over. Made friends with porcelain and stainless steel, then sobered up enough to make omelete du fromage. (Yay! Exempted na ako sa paghugas ng pinggan! Hehe...) The others made chicken adobo. Nico opened three cans of sardines.

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We went to the clubhouse to check out the infinity pool. Ganda ng view! :-) We hung out at the pools until we got tired of the chlorine, then we went back to the beach to get some more sun. (Gogoy, Christie, Dadan and Jordan didn't stay for the swim, umuwi na sila.)

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It was getting dark and we knew it was time to go home. Bitin, pero sabi ni Pao, may next time pa raw. :-)

Happiness is a beach weekend. :-)

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If we weren't too tired and if we left Nasugbu early Nico and I would have gone to see the last run of Actors Actors' Once On This Island (even if I've seen it thrice already, performed by two other theater groups). Jett offered me a spot on the guest list, but I had to decline because I didn't want to cramp the weekend vacation. Oh well, sana ma-extend ulit ang show.

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I feel recharged. But now it's back to the real world. And there's so much work to do. *sigh*