Every year as the holiday season comes
in, and both Christmas and New Year celebrations come bearing down, our moods
change drastically, and we somehow turn introspective. As a matter of
practicality, we are also forced to assess how the past twelve months turned
out for us. For me, writing about my past year helps me plan out my coming
months as well. I always revel at my so-called annual “accomplishments”, my new
and exciting trips, and my ever-transforming relationships. And so it goes that
I manage to cross off some more things from my personal bucket-list.
2014 started out slow and boring for me.
I have been awaiting the resolution of an issue at the office, and it had
dragged on for months. This unresolved issue would eventually get settled
against my favor, and I would once again lose faith in the so-called “justice
system” at our office. Things had apparently gone from bad to worst since my
days with the Legal Service. Later in the year, another injustice would be
dealt me. A training scholarship which had originally been intended for me was
offered to another colleague without even giving me the courtesy of being
informed. I had all but given this up to the Lord. I keep faith that one day I
will be vindicated somehow.
But my 2014 was not without its
surprises and exciting adventures. While there weren’t any trips outside the
country I got to enjoy my fair share of local travels. While sometimes the
schedule got too hectic, I never minded this as long as I know I am doing
meaningful work and my time and effort are worth it.
There are still a lot in my bucketlist
of places to visit, and I was fortunate to have crossed off some of them in
2014. Foremost of this was Sta.Ana in Cagayan Valley and Coron in Palawan.
However, I still appreciated some “return” visits to the likes of Cebu, Puerto
Princesa and Oriental Mindoro.
Sta.Ana and Coron proved to be the
highlights of my year. They were prime tourist destinations, but because of
their distance, not many are able to visit these beautiful islands-paradise. Awesome,
majestic limestone cliffs and powder-fine white sands are reasons why the
Philippines is best known for its beaches. Island-hopping via boat-rides,
snorkeling in abundant reefs teeming with life, sunbathing and swimming are
simple pleasures that bring us so close to nature and its beauty. I took the
chance and visited these two places during the second half of the year, known
as the rainy season in the Philippines. Fortunately, my travel companions and I
were blessed with sunny weather on both occasions.
Our Sta. Ana visit was part of a great
Northern Luzon adventure, an inter-region cross-over trip that began because
three out of four buslines to Cagayan Valley were suspended by LTFRB. Since
Victory was jampacked with passengers, I got it into my head to try our luck
with Partas in Cubao to catch a Laoag trip, and from there, we’d catch another
bus for Cagayan. It took all of 9 hours from Manila to Laoag, another 4-5 hours
to Sta.Ana crossing over from Ilocos Norte. From that difficulty came one of my
best travels with my sister, Giselle, eventually leading us to a cross-country
Cagayan Valley adventure and even taking us as far as Palaui island in Sta.
Ana, a place not really frequented by tourists for its great distance. In the
end, the time and the effort was well worth for the rare sites we saw – like the
amazing Crocodile Island, which proved to be a lesson in geology, and the
famous Spanish-period lighthouse, Cape Engano.
The Coron trip was also marred with bad
luck. Our PAL flight was cancelled due to the plane’s technical problems. By
the time it was fixed, it was late in the afternoon and the Busuanga airport in
Palawan didn’t have facilities for nighttime air traffic. Fortunately, PAL
takes care of its clients (unlike that other airline which lets you fend for
yourself) and put us up for the night at no less than Century Park (Sheraton)
Hotel. They provided a shuttle to and from the hotel, assured us of buffet
dinner and breakfast, and even let us get individual rooms depending on
availability/vacancy. We later found out that as we enjoyed the hotel food in spite
of the inconvenience of our delay, the first batch of our colleagues had to
spend personal funds for their initial meals upon their arrival in Coron.
While the trip to Coron was official and
was for an annual year-end evaluation activity, we didn’t mind the work much
because we were assured of some Rest and Relaxation (R&R) as well as some
bonding time with our officemates. The sun, the sand, and the sea air was worth
it…the change of scenery lifted our spirits somewhat after a busy and tiring
few months. The island-hopping allowed us to see the various must-see tourist
spots like Kayangan Lake, a freshwater lake high atop limestone cliffs and the
Twin Lakes which is a unique island with saltwater on one side, and freshwater
on the inner portion which you cross into through an underwater cave. One can
swim through it if low tide, but once high tide and the cave fills up with
water, you must climb the wooden ladder to the other side instead. There are
white sand beaches to be enjoyed as well as old WWII shipwrecks one can see
while snorkeling. I vowed to return to Coron some day with my loved ones.
The culmination of 2014 was the main
event itself. It ended as well as it did, and not so bad as I expected it to
be. Still had lots to be thankful for in spite of some disappointments, but
things always have a way of turning out as they should.
No comments:
Post a Comment