Boyish in Coron, Palawan: divinity. virginity. under the fading sun.

i wonder if how many people from that trip knew that my name is rhyan and that it has an H after the R and before the Y. or at least, must have considered calling me rhye, as what was stated in my name tag. well, there's one person who was able to spell it out. never missing the H. and i was ok with that.

wet even before blown. -ayla
on the last day, karen and i knew how sacred every stick was.
we were on our barely a pack of yosi.
as much as i was protecting it, i didn't anticipate the strong current and the shifting of tides.
i held 'em high, but to no use.
some remained dry. some were stained. some were on 50-50 chances.
in the pursuit of salvaging, i dried 'em in between bamboo poles.
and, at the end, they served their purpose to be blown.
not shown was my red lighter that miraculously worked after getting soaked.

i am actually thinking, if it wasn't for that one-word description i made of myself during the introduction, maybe, i would have turned out to be another nameless face. my record with the straight-shots was only secondary. if it wasn't because of that one-word description, they wouldn't even have considered cheering for me to have 6(7) shots straight of that concoction.

boat 3. -ver
this was taken while leaving the Kayangan Lake.
and it made me realize how stuffed the boat was.
it reminds me of our Vietnamese brethren on their pursuits for refuge in Palawan.
though, i really find it amusingly beautiful.
with the sun about to set. making everyone gloriously tan.
for some reasons, this still appears glamorous to me.

up to this time, this whole introduce yourself part still gets me. in whatever circumstance. which part of me do i have to tell. which part would they need to know. would interest them. would make me successful in getting into their consciousness. for me, introductions should not take more than a name, just the first in most cases, and a handshake. and, as an additive, your job if it is on any relevance to the occasion. in a friendly setting, a description which is supposed to be striking, say cool, is required. that time, i had to come up with something that is me. and there was no better link i can think of but my blog. this blog. BOYISH. it created a mark. more than what i intended to.

for the love of beautiful pictures. -ayla
this banca was left in the middle of the low-tides.
under the setting sun.
karen and i heard it calling us, "pichur! pichur!"
right there and then, we knew we can't just let this call for a beautiful photograph pass.




we are against the sunset, and we adore it. - ver
this is how it looked like when viewed from the other side.
against the golden blanket and shimmer of the setting sun.
a cheapshot that is totally not cheap, but, a real money shot.
a cheapshot is a stolen shot. candid.
and we are so thankful to those who did cheapshot us.




it's just so painful to leave you behind. -brian
it was hard walking away from such a perfect set.
another cheapshot we are thankful of.
those who did cheapshot must be more thankful for having been given
such beautiful subjects and photo turn-outs. *nagfi-feeling :p
silhouettes can still convey emotions.

now, it is a definition, more than just redefining. for me. and for a lot of other things. boyish, now, is anything that is poetic. dramatic. emotional. sweet. and yeah, gay.

yoga. yogis. -ayla
we left the banca for these stones.
not seen here were the sea urchins.
oh, in the name of beautiful pictures.
if only this picture captured the shrieks.




sunset is not all about lonliness. -ver
it is also about divinity. and glamour.
it is not just any other cheapshots.
i just don't know which of these ver's cheapshots will be appearing in a magazine.
next time, operation topple these shots.
pressure. pressure. oh! it'd be really hard.

sunset is, oh, so boyish.

Coron, Palawan: under the canopy of stars. the real fun. and just some parental guidance.

we set our camps in the Tapachelen island. for having settlers, we thought that we'd be having our taste of fresh water for rinsing. so, off we went to the deep-well the bangkero suggested to us. everyone was itching to get some cleaning. neverminding the mosquito bites that once had caused panic to the world with the threat of malaria. and considering every drop sacred as if it had just rained after a long drought during the biblical era. only to find out that the water was murky. instead of bathing with mud, we opted to hit the beach! wohooo! but, soaps were of no use for being basic with the salinity of the salt water. so, we resorted to shampooing from tip to toe and rinsed with mineral waters we brought along.

but, it wasn't all mess. we had a sumptuous dinner. the bonfire was set to flame. most of us stretched out lazing under the most spectacular canopy of stars on the dark canvass of the night. like a child, some ran after fireflies, others remained fixated on the sky and gave out a sigh of happiness for every shooting star they saw. maybe, it was just so beautiful that people seemed to be oblivion of leia's call for tagay's. it wasn't easy pulling the socials together. people were scattered around the area doing their personal stuff. some hit the tents as if it was some white comfy bed they can't resist. with 6 shotglasses and a few people gathered in a semi-cicle, it just became a 4-step cycle. the only break we had was when the tanggero's had to concoct more gin-orange or gin-strawberry. it wasn't long after deneb's firedancing, which was a total entertainment, that they started calling out for people to do straight shots. until it was my turn. how did i know? their calls were so undeniable. boyish! boyish! boyish! until, i realized that there was no turning back for me. 5 straight shots for me! not a split of a second in an interval. getting drunk the night before the trip, i had a practice. 5 lang?! yun lang?! at dahil madali silang kausap, they gave me another shot!! was that just one? or i had a total of 7 shots straight? now, i can't really remember. and everyone went wild! boyish! boyish! it was crazy! and no one was up for the challenge of having more. until, we were all rolling in the sand. sea urchin!!!

everything was just diverted when someone uhm, should i be dropping names here?! hmmm...nah! and since i can't give out such details, then there'll be no point of pushing through with this blog. let's just say "whatever happens in coron, stays in the multiply." and this is no multiply.

ok, again, let's just say, i passed out. well, for some time i did. and again and again, let's just say that when i woke up, it was already peaceful and i ended up counting shooting stars, as the early morning sea breeze blew as i listen to some beach bumming music. and my second day in coron started long before the day's break of dawn.

sea urchin!!!!



surely no one would forget how fun and crazy that night was.
it would be long til another socials could topple this.

and the stars, dude! the shooting stars! the fireflies! those were the best parts really. very poetic. so boyish.

(photos by deneb)

Coron, Palawan: its broad daylight. the fun. anything wholesome.

after the Anawangin-Capones trip i had with liss, raech and her highschool friends: seph, abby, mel and jere; i suddenly felt the Coron, Palawan trip dragging me. a little with the preparations and more with meeting its dues. to the information of everyone, only my mom knows about it. though she didn't fully agree to it, at least, i was having that assurance that she'd still give me the money to pay for it. and i decided that i won't be asking for an extra allowance days prior the trip for a good-shot when the time comes that i'd be bringing up the budget for my Palawan getaway. i was able to pay for the package as she gave me a sum too much for my basic allowance. though i still had to squeeze with what was left since the Zambales trip was illegal, thus, giving me no right to ask money for it. ok. so, i was surviving. with minimal starbucks visit which was really hard, to the deprivation of the taste of Jolibee and sticking with homecooked meals. the idea of steak was dropped, it was a luxury then!

the day before the trip, karen and i were on a panic with the absence of preparations. but, hell yeah, i still managed to meet with a friend for my pre-palawan. lotsa booze, boyz and smoke in our now-favorite hang-out Tomato Kick in UP Village. pizza and marinara that cost TK two bottles of hot sauce! wohhooo! maybe that's what got me inquiring for a tarpaulin printing from a cute attendant at 12 midnight. it was just after a couple of hours of sleep that i packed my stuff with a hangover. and going back to my trip allowance, i was able to save enough. but, i already told my friend to get some extra cash ready in case i ran out. as, it turned out that my mom totally forgot about it and left for the farm without a penny in my bank. the farm is a tiring 4-hour drive from our city address. cellphone signals in the house only range from a single bar to 'out of coverage area.' so she most likely didn't get my text messages. and with both my parents in there, all the money made from the deliveries were sent back and not deposited directly to the bank. ok mom, u have forgotten. but, that's not gonna stop me.

i met up with jim in Trinoma. and while we were there, papa called and i had no choice but to tell him that i was leaving for palawan later that day. so little questions asked. who i was going with. the whereabouts. no scolding for not asking permission. and he said that i should take good care of myself. after a while, he called me again, and asked me where would i get my allowance. they were worried that my mom forgot to send me money. and if they send someone to the bank, it won't make it by the time the bank closes. so, it was my fault that i didn't have money. my consequence for not telling papa about it. arghhh! after buying dry bags and other necessary stuff, we met up with karen and ayla in Pier 15. the whole boarding process was tiring, and a coca-cola vendo was a bliss. the Superferry departed around 4:15pm and we finally had our breakfast. rested and roamed a little. then, dinner before the orientation. the trip was arranged by the Travel Factor. and being newbies among the regulars and kaladkarins, we were still gauging characters. we hanged-out in the viewing deck after, until it's time to freshen-up and hit the bunks. me, having so little of sleep from last night, with a hangover, should have been snoring at the mere sight of the bed. but, no. after twisting and turning. and some more twisting and turning. and a lot more of twisting and turning, i was fully awake. so was the guy in the next bunk. it took some yosi breaks to lessen the torture of not doing anything. i was only wishing that it'd be sunrise too soon so that everyone would be awake for the group picture in the deck.

TF UBBE Coron, Palawan. group picture before docking in Coron pier. by gerrick.

our group was assigned to boat 3. together with the couples; mitor and kabbie, brian and jaycelle, another set of barkadas; jolly, lira, kat and abby, and the solo's jerome and cae. our boat leader was mhe(f)p. and because of some mixed-ups, we boarded the what-was-supposed-to-be boat 1. lucky for us!

inside boat 3. by ayla.



CYC Beach.
after breakfast.
while waiting for the lunch to be cooked. we had to, since ours was the master boat.
boat 3 bonding.
by ayla.



group picture in CYC Beach. by ayla.



CYC Beach.
boyish with the girls of boat 3. by ayla.



Snorkeling in Coral Garden. by jolly.



Lusong Wreck. by jolly.



Calambuyan Island.
after lunch.
strong current.
by ayla.



North Cay.
boat 3 in deep blue.
with the sun up and high, it was a dragging hop.
by ayla.



that kind of a Guess pose. by ayla.



Kayangan Lake. by jolly.




Twin Lagoon.
an identity crisis.
salt or fresh water?
hot or cold?
by jolly.



boat seatmates.
having the taste of sunset before going home.
by ayla.

boat three was the best. and of course, people from other boats would refute it. but then, it's subjective. i would not know what it was like to be in boats 1 and 2, nor would they be able to have that taste of the perky, fun, active and great people of boat three!

brian. jaycelle. ayla. karen. jim. me. mitor. kabbie. jerome. cae. jolly. lira. abi. kat.

and TF's leia who joined us from time to time.

by jerome.

Anawangin. Capones.

day 0, May 23. this trip was something we talked about. partially planned. the day before the trip, i had to check with the PAG-ASA for possible LPA's. raech and i talked about its details and just imposed them to everyone else. the catch of it all, up to the last minute, raech didn't get any confirmation with her permission from her dad. and to get his approval, i had to show-up. with the possibility that i might go back from Laguna alone and canceling the getaway, we still gave it a shot. it turned out irresistible with the backing-up of raech's mom and brothers. the mood was set and i was tagged along their family dinner in North Park - Alabang Town Center. the post-dinner was supposed to be moviewatching. apparently, tickets ran out for that screening time. who could still be watching Ironman on its third week?! oh, jinx! we ended up roaming around, buying some havs and playing with the elevator. boohoo!

day 1, May 24. At 2:30 in the morning, raech woke me up and by four, we were already sneaking out of their house trying not to make some noise which was hard as i bumped into some shelf with my big fully packed The North Face and coolerbag. we opted to just walk out of their village as waking up his brother to bring us to the bus terminal or calling for a tricycle would possible attract attention. we arrived after mel, abby and liss. seph showed up shortly. and where is jere?! he overslept, but luckily we were on board the Victory Liner bus going to Zambales at 6am. after more than four hours of traveling and enduring the winding road, we arrived at some town and made our way to Apo Baket.

(the view from Apo Baket Resort, the Carmelita overlooking Capones island on the right,
while waiting for Gino)

we had our brunch and purchased drinking water and booze! we boarded the Carmelita as soon as Gino arrived. just imagine how the boat in the photo above could fit 10 people. the roughly 40-minute boat ride was full of anticipation and excitement. upon setting foot on the shore, we surveyed the area. camps were already up. and since "kame ay nakakaangat sa buhay" we set-up our tents on the other half of the area where there were comfort rooms, running fresh water source and caretakers to attend to us. this part was something i'm still proud of and without hesitations, taking cedits for. it took for a gay-guy to put up all four tents! boys, it wasn't at all hard! well, i just felt the need to be able to make a tent stand erect after watching Brokeback Mountain. seph, mel, gino and jere who were itching to get their Anawangin-water dip, hit the beach; as me, liss, abby and raech looked for the infamous lake or lagoon or whatever body of water was that and had our photo-op.

the ashed shores of Anawangin.
the other side is blocked by a stretch of mountain that, much to my dismay, concealed the sunrise.
'tis where we played the cardio-intensive improvised frisbee
where gino and seph ran-after and massacred the poor hermit crabs
where raech and seph held hands while walking.



my taste of sunset.

(pine trees outnumbered the coconut trees)

whatever-body-of-water.
with the craziest thoughts,
scared us the way Lake Placid did
its mossy bed might have been hiding snakes
a log from a distant transformed into an Anaconda
which made us all lucky to hear Abby let out her first-ever swear.

infamous. boat. the famous boat.
where the bed is of powdery white sand
where the hot and cold portions of water doesn't blend into a lukewarm.

day 2, May 25. thinking we'd be running out of food to last til 4 in the afternoon, we asked for our bangkeros to fetch us after lunch. and thinking that it was still too early to go home and with the feeling that we hadn't had enough of the beach yet, we opted to do a side trip to Capones Island. after some negotiations to get it for a lower price, we boarded and went on a 30-minute ride to the island.

Capones. Capones! Capones!!
better swimming spot
powdery white sand
clearer water
found Nemo!




we're thankful that we pushed-through with this side trip!

boarding back the boat, i couldn't locate my Havaianas Surf until we reached the Apo Baket, where i was already planning to turn Carmelita upside-down just to find it. i found it hidden somewhere where am sure the bangkeros hid it intentionally. not funny!

we boarded a minibus which was not at all comfortable going to the Olongapo bus terminal. we were all asleep on our way to Cubao.

it was a thrift trip. i made sure of that as i was saving for my Coron, Palawan trip two-weeks after. i won't be able to account for the expenses, but, i am sure it didn't cost each of us Php1500 bucks for everything.

running after the summer.

i haven't been to any summer getaway. yet. but i have two trips lined-up.

anawangin, zambales. this is still a bit shaky. the plans. as i am saving for a more a more grand trip to palawan. so, if ever this pushes through, it has to be a thrift trip.

coron, palawan. and who needs planning? we don't. we booked the trip a minute of excitement. the next day, we got our tickets. impulsive, unplanned. totally. now, i should be really serious with the saving thing. and this regular visit to starbucks is not helping. not at all!

oh yeah! going to pahiyas, again, this year seems to be something i can't escape.