Wow Bicol!

My officemates and I decided to take the “Bicol Express” trip last Holy Week, thanks to Tricia who graciously showcased her province. It was a fun road trip considering that 10 of us were jam packed in one van despite the back and neck pains we all had after the trip. Paul, Egay and Kokoy proved to be comic actors and can pass as movie directors with their stories.

Sayang ang Wakeboarding!
Our first stop was the CWC (Camsur Wakeboarding Center), which was the largest inland wakeboarding center in Asia. Weeks before the trip, we were all excited to try this sport. Several TV features of wakeboarding and the CWC further ignited our enthusiasm.
As we watched those guys and gals fall from their board (nakatayo man sila o nakaluhod), it took us about 30 minutes to muster our guts to finally pay and try it. Since the place was jam packed due to the Easter break, there was a long queue, pang 10th yata yung group naming sa pila. We waited, took pictures, took a nap while waiting for our turn. It was already 4pm when we noticed na hindi kami gumalaw sa pila. We then decided to head off and just forget about wakeboarding during this trip…sa Batangas na lang siguro kami.












Legaspi and the Famous Bigg’s Diner


We booked at Sampaguita Tourist Inn for the night so as to get nearer the next day’s stop which was Donsol. Until now, we are still debating if the inn was previously a hospital (may katabing morgue, chapel and extended clinic hehe).

On our way to Legaspi, we were intrigued by the huge billboards of Bigg’s Diner. Its Bicol’s Jollibee, Mcdo, Kenny Rogers rolled into one. We decided to try Bigg’s It took us how many ikot (which was kind of fun!) to get to Biggs. Thanks to the guys (girls?) who finally gave us the direction. Sa probinsya (even sa Ilocos), “ang malapit lang o dyan lang“ is really malayo (which means medyo matatagalang lakarin). We finally arrived at Biggs Diner and it did not disappoint us with our high expectations. The Extreme burger, Mushroom burger, baked potato and chicken were certified hits.

Close Encounter with the Butandings


The home of the Butandings was almost an hour away from Legaspi. At 7:30am, we were to be served by the 35th and 36th boat. The encounter with the “Gentle Giants” would require us to watch a 15-minute information video before hitting the waters.

After almost two hours of chatting and eating lots of junk foods, we headed the waters. The Butanding Interaction Officer (BIO) was kind enough to take care of me and those who were not swimmers. We had so much fun putting those flippers on and jumping to the waters upon his signal.

My first encounter with the “Gentle Giant” was awesome. I saw the eyes and the big mouth and swam along with it. Totoo nga, the Butanding is as big as a bus. My other boatmates (Bodie, Olive, Issa) also had their tales of their first encounter. Our group saw 6 Butandings in all.

When we met with the other friends (Boat number #35), they can not help but be amazed with the size and gentleness of the Butanding. We all thought our new snorkeling sets were defective kasi pinapasukan ng water. The sets were not defective pala, dahil pala sa “pagka-awe” namin, napapa-wow kami kaya pinasukan ng water ang snorkeling sets.

We all noticed that some of the Butandings had scars, some of which were brought about by boats which sail at night. One more thing from this experience, it’s kind of hard to take pictures of your friends swimming with the Butandings because you would not want to miss looking at it yourself.

Invisible Mayon


We had the chance to visit Mayon Volcano. However, the skies were hazy after the rain, thus the volcano’s perfect peak were not visible to us. However, the low visibility did not stop us with picture taking!

Aguirrangan Island…Here We Come!

After a restful 2nd night at Sabang, we boarded a boat for a 45-minute trip to Aguirrangan , one of Bicol’s white sand island. We stopped for a few minutes after the boat’s motor overheat. After a few “uno dos tres” pulls by the manongs, we finally headed to the cool beach.

The sand was nearly white. The waters were clear. We had a nice time swimming and most of all, we had fun taking underwater pictures.












****While writing this, I remember one preaching of our pastor. He said God wants us to discover His creation. Well, God must have been saying while watching us board the boats at Donsol, “let’s see how my kids react when they see those huge Butandings”. I’m sure God was not disappointed at all given our reactions and the way we were awed by the size and gentleness of those “Gentle Giants”.**************