Wonderful Anawangin

Anawangin Cove

Camping time! All gears ready for another outdoor adventure. Again among the many firsts, time to rough it out in the wild this time. First time I'd go on a trip without the luxury and convenience of a hotel. Rey and I chose to spend his birthday at Anawangin Cove in Zambales by camping out together with his colleagues from Lufthansa Technik Phils, who hosted the trip.  I have always been interested in meeting new people and this group was very accommodating. 

Matanglawing Rey

Quite the anxious one, since I had no experience on camping, I had no idea what to bring. I tried asking around about what things to get. My boyfriend, a seasonal hiker, helped me on my essentials. Below is the IT we followed for the trip , breakdown of fees and what-to-bring list (c/o Bibing)

ANAWANGIN COVE
San Antonio, Zambales

DAY 1, MAY 1, 2009

Pundakit shore

7:30AM – Assembly at Victory Liner Terminal, Pasay City
8:00AM – Depart for Olongapo
12:00NN– Arrive in Olongapo, (Lunch at stopovers), Last minute shopping at Gapo Market
1:00PM – Depart for San Antonio
2:00PM – Arrive in San Antonio town proper, Buy drinking water, coal
2:30PM – Boat ride to Anawangin
3:00PM – Arrive at Anawangin, Pitch tents

Tricycle ride going to Pundakit

4:00PM onwards – Leisure time

DAY 2, MAY 2
Do whatever you want

DAY 3, MAY 3
6:00AM – Wake up call
6:30AM – Breakcamp
7:00AM – Depart for Capones Island
8:00AM – Arrive at Capones, Visit the lighthouse
9:30AM – Depart for Pundakit
10:00AM – Arrive at Pundakit, Breakfast, Wash up at Manong Alfring’s house
11:30AM – Depart for Olongapo
12:30PM – ETA Olongapo, Lunch at Chowking
2:00PM – ETD Manila via Victory Liner
6:00PM – ETA Manila

BUDGET
More or less P250 (not so sure) – Bus Fare from Pasay to San Antonio and vice versa
More or less P1000 – one boat rental to and from Pundakit (Round trip); Optional: sidetrip to Capones Island  P1,200 per boat, 3 to 4 pax per boat)
P20 – trike fare from San Antonio to Pundakit

Setting tents at the camp site

More or less P1,500 with Chowking! :)

WHAT TO BRING
1. Food for 3 days and 2 nights – chip-in P200/pax
2. Tent, Burner/Stove at Lamp
3. Snorkeling stuff
4. Swimwear
5. BOOZE!

It was that simple. At P1,500, you get to have fun in the wild. At the cove, we stayed at the campsite on the left (facing Anawangin). Much cooler here than on the left side because of the pine trees. For those who are worried about bathroom facilities, the campsites have restrooms. But the one on our side is better. They have motor pumps and provide large drums that are always filled with water. 

Pine trees: a good shade from the scorching sunlight at midday.

Wet campers

Dry river bed found in the woods

Lighthouse at Capones Island

Unfortunately, I was not able to buy cake for my dearest (for fear that the icing will just melt), an earnest request. Sorry about that sweetie.

Galera Revisited

      It has been a long time since I last traveled and just when I though about doing it again,voila, it fell on my birth date. :) And so 'Galera revisited' materialized.

       I really looked forward to this trip, excited is more like it, because it was my first time to go on a trip to the beach with my boyfriend.. :-). One more thing different about this trip is that I'm with the 'girls' (Jana and Mae) and this time we did not acquire the services of any travel agencies because of bad experience. It's cheaper if you'll plan the trip and save up to the last centavo. We brought our own utensils, stove, canned goods, drinks etc. just to stick to our budget. Mismo!

   Upon returning to Galera, I noticed some changes. Part of the shoreline near the commercial establishments have been cemented and elevated. The beachfront is much shorter than before, more crowded. Same ol' activities like banana boat ride, snorkeling, diving, henna tattooing are still available.

      And so we went on to the usual IT in Galera (bumming at the beach, drinking spree, food trip...). At night time, a sponsored event was being held at the events area. It was party-to-the-max. There was a group of gay flirts who harassed my boyfriend when I went to the washroom (poor Rey), saw John "Sweet" Lapus, had a picture with him/her and got wasted. The night was already in a blur at that point so I had no idea how I got into our room. 

       Morning came and most gather their 'pasalubong' early on. Time to say "goodbye Galera" for now. :)