Be Cool Weekend

Typing this from my cousin's house in Bagumbayan. Just had toron, and before that 200mg of Midol. Think of it as preemptive medication for what my cousins are telling me about impending muscle soreness after wakeboarding.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

SATURDAY--
Didn't sleep before the 6:45AM flight to Naga (weekend trip w/ the 'Rents and 4-Ku) and instead organized all my recent comics purchases (missing #107 --but inadvertently bought a variant of #54 on sale-- of Ultimate Spider-Man). We left the house a little after 4AM, and at he new Terminal 3 we ran into Ninong Jess Robredo (mayor of Naga City), and the mayor of Palawan standing w/ us at the check-in line.

While it was certainly bigger than our last two international airports upon closer scrutiny you can tell some things were rushed at NAIA 3. Water stains on the ceiling. Flatscreen TVs brought in from the original NAIA because the airport flight information monitors weren't working. Airport clocks were out-of-order, too, so God help you if you come in late and watchless.

We had sammiches and coffee at Dèlifrance, who thankfully retained their original overpriced menu items, as opposed to the average inflated airport price. (And they have WiFi! Shoulda brought the laptop.) At baggage inspection they asked 4-Ku to check in his bag because he brought a Swiss Army Knife and safety razor. Meanwhile, despite the liquid ban my big bottles of mouthwash and shampoo made it through w/o incident. Near the end of the X-Ray machine was a giant dropbox holding all the confiscated cosmetic and toiletry liquid containers exceeding 100ml in volume. What a smelly and fragrant waste.

Half an hour's nap later we landed in Bicol. We settled in 5-Kim's recently renovated Mabulo house (now w/ way-better bathrooms, plasma TVs and no sign of flood damage) before going to the ribbon-cutting and blessing ceremonies of the SeaOil Mega Station. Now surrounding the Seaoil Olivan gas station was the Olivan Home Depot (run by son Donald), Total Smiles Dental Center (run by daughter Wenny), a Ford service center and a branch of Banco De Oro. Across the street was a Shakey's, Mercury Drugstore, The Coffee Beanery, David's Salon, PruLife UK and Little A.Sia Restaurant, apparently not connected w/ Little Asia (and cutting it close w/ the copyright issue).

Festivities included a motorcade, a marching band, balloon constructs, buffet food, relatively sexy models w/ SeaOil Lubricants printed on their tanktops (LUBRICANTS printed strategically below the boobline, a seemingly subliminal incentive for customers who need more convincing after they read the Free gift w/ every purchase of Lubricant sign out front), lion dancers and street kids waiting to take advantage of the post-blessing coin and candy tossing (and swipe some of the balloons). One display in the Olivan Home Depot I thought was clever was the bathroom setup fastened on the wall in a 90-degreee angle, including toilet and sink! Wasted a perfectly good copy of Maxim, though.

Post-festivity activity for me was a trip to Pasacao, Ma's hometown. We stopped by her old office/home, SeaOil's refineries (hidden behind Shell's bigger refineries) and a couple of small beach resorts. The Euresian (sic) Resort's loosely placed stone flooring made for difficult walking, and light fixtures on the patio were non-existent. At the Seascape Beach Resort (rumored to be owned by relative of ex Erap suckup Ronnie Zamora), there was a single cottage w/ satellite TV hookeup, but also an ugly coastline at low tide, where you can see everything you wish you hadn't stepped on had it been high tide. The one common feature of these beach resorts is copra. Ah, the smell of dried coconut meat. Distinctly Bicol.

Dinner was at the Red Platter where we were served Dampa-like entrees of seafood (didn't touch the paella negra). Missed the mango shake on the menu and ended up w/ mango nectar. Brownies and Food for the Gods for dessert. Caught up on some reading before going to bed, the A/C's glowing blue LEDs beaming down on my as I slept.

SUNDAY--
Donald took me to the CWC (CamSur Waterboarding Center). Since it was morning there weren't that many people (nor an Aga Mulach sighting) and the sun wasn't beating down too badly. One waiver form, vest and helmet later and I was set. After some tips from Don ("lean to the left") and 1 round w/ the beginner's board (wiped out after 1 round), I took up the skis.

One thing Don didn't tell me was if you use the skis the speed of the cable pull forcibly shoves the water up your butt like a bidet on steroids. Every minute I was skiing I was also getting an involuntary enema and choppy water chafing on the hiney. The 1st two turns were treacherous as it lulls you into a false sense of security before the 3rd (as well as the 5th and last) snap and pull you even faster, threatening to wipe you out and remove your shorts (note: wear securely-tied shorts).

What surprised me was that it wasn't the wipeouts that... wiped you out, but swimming back to shore. At certain parts of the artificial lake a weary wagon can pick you up and take you back to start, otherwise you paddle and wade through the murky, tasteless (probably drank a glassful) water, pulling the skis/board along. When I finally moved on to the board I managed to ride (and wipe out 4 seconds later) it before our hour was up.

Don comes here so often he meets more tourists from Manila than I do, even his ear doctor Ato (whom I also met, along w/ his colleague Mai). After a chicken burger lunch and a Joey Marquez sighting we drove back to Bagumbayan, but not before dropping off Ato and his colleagues at the institute for the deaf they were working in.

Spent the rest of the day (and evening) at Bagumbayn, so, back full circle w/ the blogging. Butt and abs sore now. Shoulder blades to follow.