The Boracay Diaries: Day 1 and 2
Monday, October 18, 2004
Day 1: 13 October 2004, Wednesday
Because of horrendous traffic along C5, I was scared we wouldn't get to the airport on time. I had to pass by the office to pick up Tito Henry, our VP for food and beverage, and all the liquors from Jose Cuervo and Johnnie Walker, and I wanted to pass by McDonald's to grab some breakfast.
After we checked in the liquors in the cargo area, Tito Henry asked that we pass by an ATM. Minutes later, he rode the car laughing so hard. Apparently, before entering our car, he mistakenly rode another car, a cab to be exact, which was also white, parked right behind us. When he entered the cab, he was surprised to find a fat, bearded driver instead of a tall, thin driver. The driver was, likewise, surprised to see him! The driver even looked as if he was wondering if Tito Henry was going to hold him up! Tito Henry just said, "Nyeh!!! Sorry po! Nagkamali! (Sorry, I made a mistake!)
But that wasn't the end of it. When we entered the airport, we met up with Bruce Suarez, one of the billiards masters who my uncle/ our company is sponsoring. We, headed by Tito Henry, marched to the check in counter and placed our baggages immediately on the weighing scale. Tito Henry hands the lady his ticket. The lady says, "Sir! Sa Asian Spirit po kayo. Seair po ito. (Sir, you're taking Asian Spirit. This is Seair.)" We laughed again because while we marched to the counter, we looked so confident as if we knew the whole routine. It was Tito Henry's 2nd blooper within 30 minutes. I swear, bloopers like that always happen to him.
Since we got to the airport an hour before boarding, the lady, from Asian Spirit this time, I asked if we wanted to take the 10:30am flight. Sure, why not, right? But the flight was delayed and we left at around 11am, the same time our original flight was scheduled. The plane was not even full. I had the whole side of my row to myself. (Later that afternoon, we found out that the plane we were originally gonna take went back to Manila midflight because of engine trouble! Wow, we're so lucky!!!)
Tito Henry was famished by the time we landed in the island. Since we, our bar, was closed for lunch, we decided to eat at the carinderia right beside us but not without dropping my bags in my room. On my way, I was surprised to discover that there is now a branch of Andok's right behind our bar (later on, their liempo and chicken became a staple viand in our lunches and dinners for 2 days-- we're so sick of it!). My other titos would later call it Select, after the convenience store found in Shell gas stations because it resembled the said store. A lot of the establishments were under construction. There was the Mexican restaurant in the corner, Manana, and the bar next door to us, Club Paraw. After lunch, we all took naps and came out of our rooms at around 4:30 PM.
My Uncle Francis, the Company President and CEO, arrived unexpectedly at the Island at 5PM. Everyone knew he was coming the next day except for me and Tito Henry. I guess he wanted to make a surprise inspection and it was a good thing he did. He was so disappointed at the state of the bar. Everything looked so shabby, even our signage outfront was dull. Within 5 minutes, he called for a meeting that lasted for what seemed like an hour and a half. We had dinner shortly. And after, I settled in one of the cabanas, lying on a beanbag, reading a book. I was surprised to see one of our regular guests in the Island. He and his friends came just to celebrate our anniversary with us. See, that's what I love about our regular guests. They'd go as far as Subic and Boracay just to celebrate an anniversary or grand opening. Some of them even hang out in the bar for each day in a week. (I'm digressing...)
Anyhow, I was feeling anti- social that night. There wasn't much going on in the restaurant. Most of our guests were Korean couples. I decided to retire at 10:30PM. In my room, I finished my book and watched "The Notebook" on my laptop and bawled again. I texted A that Iwas so bored and lonely. He finally said, "Sige na nga, you can go out and meet boys!" Hahaha! I was all settled in my bed already. Eventually, I went to sleep. So much for a first night, huh?
Day 2: 14 October 2004, Thursday
I spent the afternoon working on my laptop. More people arrived that day. There was Tito Junjing, one of my dad and uncle's closest friends and a regular guest in our branches. With him was Tito PV, another close friend of my dad and uncle, also an investor in three of our branches. Lito, our VP for Logistics and one of the founders of Pier One (he used to be my uncle's driver when my uncle decided to make him a stockholder and VP for working for him for years), who spent most of his afternoons too on his laptop making purchase orders. With him, he brought Liza, the former accountant of our branch in Subic, and her friends, Ricci and Lani, who all lived in Subic, and were on their first trip to Boracay. The girls were the ones I ended up hanging with.
At around 530 PM, my uncles and titos all went for a swim. We, girls, followed after. Upon entering the water, I wrapped my arms around my midsection because it was soooo cold. Uncle immediately called us and said, "Dito kayo! Mainit dito! (Come here! It's warm here!)" and he proceeds, "Umihi kasi kami rito eh! (We pee-d here!) To which, I replied, "Ah talaga? Sige, punta ako diyan kelangan ko rin mag- weewee (Really? Okay, I'll go there. I need to pee too!)" We started talking and sharing funny stories. Lani started swimming freestyle and Tito Henry shouted at her, "Saang ilog ka ba lumaki? Pang- ilog yang swimming mo eh! (What river did you grow up in? Your swimming is meant for rivers only!)" He adds, "Halika! Turuan kita mag swimming Boracay! (Come here! I'll teach you how to swim Boracay style!)" Whenever the other three girls talked to my uncle and titos (oh, by the way, you might get confused. When I call someone by uncle/ auntie, that means he/she is related to me), they would say "po" and "opo." My uncle and titos would point at each other and say, "Huy! Ikaw yung kausap niya. "Po" daw eh. (Hey, she's talking to you! She said "po.")" To them, "Po" or "Opo" was an indication that they are old. By the time we got out of the water, it was so dark. We all went to our rooms to change in time for dinner.
After dinner, we proceeded straight to the drinking session. There was just so many of us, we were around 15 people seated in one long table. There was my Uncle, Titos Henry, Junjing and PV, Lito, Me, Liza, Ricci, Lani, the gay regular guest and his boyfriend, 2 other friends, Cacay, from Cuervo, and her boyfriend, Joey and Marby, from San Miguel Corporation. Other people came and went too as the night progressed. Beer and tequila just kept flowing in as all of it were paid by the company (or taken from my uncle's and titos' salaries). How many buckets of San Mig Light did we consume? I lost count. Bottles of tequila? Around 6. I, myself, had 5 shots of Tequila and 3 Hidden Springs bottled water in between those shots. Yes, the girl who declared that she doesn't drink alcohol has finally begun drinking. And yes, I still don't like the taste of beer.
Cacay of Cuervo and Marby of San Miguel had a drinking contest. The stakes: whoever loses cannot merchandise the next day during the event. Cacay, being from Cuervo, can hold her liquor. She wasn't a beer drinker but a hard liquor drinker. Marby, unfortunately, had bottles of San Mig Light and Strong Ice before the contest began. Coupled with the shots of tequila, he definitely went on the losing end fast. But still, though he was drunk, he never passed out. Cacay, on the other hand, retired earlier without so much as a stumble. When we told her not to leave yet, she gamely said that she and her boyfriend were going to have sex and that's why she had to leave. Everybody thought it was a good excuse. The end result of the drinking showdown: Tied!
The night wasn't over. Once the DJ started playing R&B music, we all started dancing. My Uncle, Titos Henry, Junjing and Lito were tipsy already and so they decided to go for a swim. After 5 minutes, they came back to the table wearing each other's swimming trunks! The clincher was Lito wearing Tito PV's black swimming trunks. Lito was a big guy who had a huge pot belly and he looked so funny especially since he wrapped his 'Good Morning' towel into a headband around his head. He looked like a sumo wrestler. I think Tito PV never wore the trunks again because it stretched and it was now too loose on him.
Snippets of Drunken Conversations:
Me: Marby! Lasing ka na! Halika, hawak ka rito sa poste! (Marby, you're drunk! Come here! Hold on to the post!)
Marby stayed holding, once even hugging, the post, for a long time.
Ricci: (While holding up nine fingers tipsily) Naka- nine shots of Tequila na ako! (I've had nine shots of tequila already!)
Me: Nine?!
Ricci: Oo. Ikaw? (Yes. You?)
Me: (Holding up three fingers) Tatlo!
Ricci: Huh?! (Holding up six fingers, three on each hand) Naka- tatlo ka pa lang?!
After drinking shot after shot of Tequila and complaining why there wasn't any San Mig Strong Ice because San Mig Light won't get you drunk, showing us her alcohol tolerance capacity, hours later, Lani orders a Mango shake.
Me: What is that?! What is that?! Tagay ka ng tagay tapos iinom ka ng mango shake?! Loser! I may be drinking bottled water and that makes me a loser... but that (pointing to the mango shake) That is total loser! Hindi lang mango juice eh, mango shake talaga!
Lito, wearing the tiny black swimming trunks, sits on Ricci's lap. Drunken Ricci was so embarrassed that she covered her face with her hands. Finally, Lito gets up and leaves. A few minutes later, Ricci turns to us.
Ricci: Sino yun? (Who was that?)
Me: Hindi mo alam kung sino yun?! (You don't know who that was?!)
Ricci: (Shakes her head)
Me: Hindi mo alam kung sino yun?!
Ricci: (Shakes her head) Si Sir Lito ba yun?! (Was that Sir Lito?)
Me: Ano ka ba?! Si Jericho Rosales yun!!!
While we were dancing on the dance floor by ourselves, Lito suddenly stops and looks at his feet.
Lito: Kaninong tsinelas tong suot ko? (Whose slippers am I wearing?)
Ricci: (Looks down at his feet) Wala ka namang suot eh! (You're not even wearing anything!)
Lito: Ah okay! (And he proceeds to dance swing with an old, thin local man seated at the bar)
Because of horrendous traffic along C5, I was scared we wouldn't get to the airport on time. I had to pass by the office to pick up Tito Henry, our VP for food and beverage, and all the liquors from Jose Cuervo and Johnnie Walker, and I wanted to pass by McDonald's to grab some breakfast.
After we checked in the liquors in the cargo area, Tito Henry asked that we pass by an ATM. Minutes later, he rode the car laughing so hard. Apparently, before entering our car, he mistakenly rode another car, a cab to be exact, which was also white, parked right behind us. When he entered the cab, he was surprised to find a fat, bearded driver instead of a tall, thin driver. The driver was, likewise, surprised to see him! The driver even looked as if he was wondering if Tito Henry was going to hold him up! Tito Henry just said, "Nyeh!!! Sorry po! Nagkamali! (Sorry, I made a mistake!)
But that wasn't the end of it. When we entered the airport, we met up with Bruce Suarez, one of the billiards masters who my uncle/ our company is sponsoring. We, headed by Tito Henry, marched to the check in counter and placed our baggages immediately on the weighing scale. Tito Henry hands the lady his ticket. The lady says, "Sir! Sa Asian Spirit po kayo. Seair po ito. (Sir, you're taking Asian Spirit. This is Seair.)" We laughed again because while we marched to the counter, we looked so confident as if we knew the whole routine. It was Tito Henry's 2nd blooper within 30 minutes. I swear, bloopers like that always happen to him.
Since we got to the airport an hour before boarding, the lady, from Asian Spirit this time, I asked if we wanted to take the 10:30am flight. Sure, why not, right? But the flight was delayed and we left at around 11am, the same time our original flight was scheduled. The plane was not even full. I had the whole side of my row to myself. (Later that afternoon, we found out that the plane we were originally gonna take went back to Manila midflight because of engine trouble! Wow, we're so lucky!!!)
Tito Henry was famished by the time we landed in the island. Since we, our bar, was closed for lunch, we decided to eat at the carinderia right beside us but not without dropping my bags in my room. On my way, I was surprised to discover that there is now a branch of Andok's right behind our bar (later on, their liempo and chicken became a staple viand in our lunches and dinners for 2 days-- we're so sick of it!). My other titos would later call it Select, after the convenience store found in Shell gas stations because it resembled the said store. A lot of the establishments were under construction. There was the Mexican restaurant in the corner, Manana, and the bar next door to us, Club Paraw. After lunch, we all took naps and came out of our rooms at around 4:30 PM.
My Uncle Francis, the Company President and CEO, arrived unexpectedly at the Island at 5PM. Everyone knew he was coming the next day except for me and Tito Henry. I guess he wanted to make a surprise inspection and it was a good thing he did. He was so disappointed at the state of the bar. Everything looked so shabby, even our signage outfront was dull. Within 5 minutes, he called for a meeting that lasted for what seemed like an hour and a half. We had dinner shortly. And after, I settled in one of the cabanas, lying on a beanbag, reading a book. I was surprised to see one of our regular guests in the Island. He and his friends came just to celebrate our anniversary with us. See, that's what I love about our regular guests. They'd go as far as Subic and Boracay just to celebrate an anniversary or grand opening. Some of them even hang out in the bar for each day in a week. (I'm digressing...)
Anyhow, I was feeling anti- social that night. There wasn't much going on in the restaurant. Most of our guests were Korean couples. I decided to retire at 10:30PM. In my room, I finished my book and watched "The Notebook" on my laptop and bawled again. I texted A that Iwas so bored and lonely. He finally said, "Sige na nga, you can go out and meet boys!" Hahaha! I was all settled in my bed already. Eventually, I went to sleep. So much for a first night, huh?
Day 2: 14 October 2004, Thursday
I spent the afternoon working on my laptop. More people arrived that day. There was Tito Junjing, one of my dad and uncle's closest friends and a regular guest in our branches. With him was Tito PV, another close friend of my dad and uncle, also an investor in three of our branches. Lito, our VP for Logistics and one of the founders of Pier One (he used to be my uncle's driver when my uncle decided to make him a stockholder and VP for working for him for years), who spent most of his afternoons too on his laptop making purchase orders. With him, he brought Liza, the former accountant of our branch in Subic, and her friends, Ricci and Lani, who all lived in Subic, and were on their first trip to Boracay. The girls were the ones I ended up hanging with.
Me, on the second day, loved the hat, loved the sun, loved the water, loved the view.
At around 530 PM, my uncles and titos all went for a swim. We, girls, followed after. Upon entering the water, I wrapped my arms around my midsection because it was soooo cold. Uncle immediately called us and said, "Dito kayo! Mainit dito! (Come here! It's warm here!)" and he proceeds, "Umihi kasi kami rito eh! (We pee-d here!) To which, I replied, "Ah talaga? Sige, punta ako diyan kelangan ko rin mag- weewee (Really? Okay, I'll go there. I need to pee too!)" We started talking and sharing funny stories. Lani started swimming freestyle and Tito Henry shouted at her, "Saang ilog ka ba lumaki? Pang- ilog yang swimming mo eh! (What river did you grow up in? Your swimming is meant for rivers only!)" He adds, "Halika! Turuan kita mag swimming Boracay! (Come here! I'll teach you how to swim Boracay style!)" Whenever the other three girls talked to my uncle and titos (oh, by the way, you might get confused. When I call someone by uncle/ auntie, that means he/she is related to me), they would say "po" and "opo." My uncle and titos would point at each other and say, "Huy! Ikaw yung kausap niya. "Po" daw eh. (Hey, she's talking to you! She said "po.")" To them, "Po" or "Opo" was an indication that they are old. By the time we got out of the water, it was so dark. We all went to our rooms to change in time for dinner.
After dinner, we proceeded straight to the drinking session. There was just so many of us, we were around 15 people seated in one long table. There was my Uncle, Titos Henry, Junjing and PV, Lito, Me, Liza, Ricci, Lani, the gay regular guest and his boyfriend, 2 other friends, Cacay, from Cuervo, and her boyfriend, Joey and Marby, from San Miguel Corporation. Other people came and went too as the night progressed. Beer and tequila just kept flowing in as all of it were paid by the company (or taken from my uncle's and titos' salaries). How many buckets of San Mig Light did we consume? I lost count. Bottles of tequila? Around 6. I, myself, had 5 shots of Tequila and 3 Hidden Springs bottled water in between those shots. Yes, the girl who declared that she doesn't drink alcohol has finally begun drinking. And yes, I still don't like the taste of beer.
Cacay of Cuervo and Marby of San Miguel had a drinking contest. The stakes: whoever loses cannot merchandise the next day during the event. Cacay, being from Cuervo, can hold her liquor. She wasn't a beer drinker but a hard liquor drinker. Marby, unfortunately, had bottles of San Mig Light and Strong Ice before the contest began. Coupled with the shots of tequila, he definitely went on the losing end fast. But still, though he was drunk, he never passed out. Cacay, on the other hand, retired earlier without so much as a stumble. When we told her not to leave yet, she gamely said that she and her boyfriend were going to have sex and that's why she had to leave. Everybody thought it was a good excuse. The end result of the drinking showdown: Tied!
The night wasn't over. Once the DJ started playing R&B music, we all started dancing. My Uncle, Titos Henry, Junjing and Lito were tipsy already and so they decided to go for a swim. After 5 minutes, they came back to the table wearing each other's swimming trunks! The clincher was Lito wearing Tito PV's black swimming trunks. Lito was a big guy who had a huge pot belly and he looked so funny especially since he wrapped his 'Good Morning' towel into a headband around his head. He looked like a sumo wrestler. I think Tito PV never wore the trunks again because it stretched and it was now too loose on him.
Snippets of Drunken Conversations:
Me: Marby! Lasing ka na! Halika, hawak ka rito sa poste! (Marby, you're drunk! Come here! Hold on to the post!)
Marby stayed holding, once even hugging, the post, for a long time.
Ricci: (While holding up nine fingers tipsily) Naka- nine shots of Tequila na ako! (I've had nine shots of tequila already!)
Me: Nine?!
Ricci: Oo. Ikaw? (Yes. You?)
Me: (Holding up three fingers) Tatlo!
Ricci: Huh?! (Holding up six fingers, three on each hand) Naka- tatlo ka pa lang?!
After drinking shot after shot of Tequila and complaining why there wasn't any San Mig Strong Ice because San Mig Light won't get you drunk, showing us her alcohol tolerance capacity, hours later, Lani orders a Mango shake.
Me: What is that?! What is that?! Tagay ka ng tagay tapos iinom ka ng mango shake?! Loser! I may be drinking bottled water and that makes me a loser... but that (pointing to the mango shake) That is total loser! Hindi lang mango juice eh, mango shake talaga!
Lito, wearing the tiny black swimming trunks, sits on Ricci's lap. Drunken Ricci was so embarrassed that she covered her face with her hands. Finally, Lito gets up and leaves. A few minutes later, Ricci turns to us.
Ricci: Sino yun? (Who was that?)
Me: Hindi mo alam kung sino yun?! (You don't know who that was?!)
Ricci: (Shakes her head)
Me: Hindi mo alam kung sino yun?!
Ricci: (Shakes her head) Si Sir Lito ba yun?! (Was that Sir Lito?)
Me: Ano ka ba?! Si Jericho Rosales yun!!!
While we were dancing on the dance floor by ourselves, Lito suddenly stops and looks at his feet.
Lito: Kaninong tsinelas tong suot ko? (Whose slippers am I wearing?)
Ricci: (Looks down at his feet) Wala ka namang suot eh! (You're not even wearing anything!)
Lito: Ah okay! (And he proceeds to dance swing with an old, thin local man seated at the bar)
1 Comments:
i LOOOVE your getup! :) i need a pair of shades before i head to camiguin this weekend! i am inspired by your pic to buy some vintage shades! :)
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