Camotes revisited...

Camotes... a group of islands in central Philippines is located 36 nautical miles off mainland Cebu
comprising three main islands of Pacijan, Poro and Ponson.  It is comprised of 3 islands and having
4 municipalities namely Poro, Tudela, San Francisco and Pilar.  These islands can be reached by
sea with regular trips daily from Danao City and Cebu City.  Camotes is considered as one of the great
places to have a vacation here in Cebu.

In my 13 yrs here in Cebu, I have been to Camotes 4 times.  Twice for company outings, once with my family and...
okay, three times for company outings (although the last one is unofficial).  And after all this time, the islands
still amazes me.  Every time I come here, I always encounter new things, I visit new places and I get new
experiences.  This place is great.

The first time I visited Camotes, it was our summer company outing, we stayed in the My Little Island Hotel.  We were
there for 3 days, I think (can't remember anymore)... Anyway, since there were around 50 of us, I think we occupied most
of the rooms in the hotel.  So basically, we pretty much owned the whole place. Our daily iteneraries includes breakfast
at the hotel, tour some where, lunch at the beach, swimming, tour again, then back to the hotel for dinner and some
night swimming on the pool.  We also had some videoke sessions and some parties.  It was a great experience and
we got to tour most of the famous spots in Camotes.

My second trip here, for 3 days also, was with my family and my wife (we were not yet married then).  We stayed in
Santiago Bay Garden & Resort.  My mom was with us, so was my two nephews, my sister-in-law, her sister and her mom.
We rented out a van to take us around Camotes for 3 days.  We went to Greenlake Park (my first time there), then to
Bukilat Cave then also to Mangodlong Rock Resort.  It was both tiring (family vacations... go figure) and enjoyable as well.
Next, would be another 3 day trip with my colleagues from work.  It wa our summer company outing, and I
was one of the organizers.  There were about 20 of us and we stayed in Mangodlong Rock Resort.  We didn't spend much
time touring around the islands since  most of it swimming and relaxing.  It was a great reprieve after being cooped up in the
office for so long.  We simply had fun all during that time.  Although, we did encounter some glitches as we were going home,
all in all, the whole experience was great.

My latest trip to Camotes was just last April 30 till May 1.  Me and my officemates, decided to have our own summer outing.
What started from casual talk during our lunch, ended up being realized.  Although, I only spent one night this time, some of
my officemates spent two nights in Camotes.  We had a blast and it was great to make new friends.

Camotes Islands will always have a place in my heart.  Its a very wonderful and a little bit magical.  One look at its shores and
it wipes away all your stress.  Someday soon, Im going to go back.  This time, with my wife and our son.  I think he will love it here too :)

Summer Ends...

Summer's officially over yet Cebu's weather has barely changed since March.  If anything, it seems everyday is hotter than the previous one.  Plus, the regular circulation of brownouts and "no water" makes all of these really a pain in the a$$.

PAGASA already announced that the El Niño phenomenon is finally over and La Niña is approaching.  I hope everyhting will be back to normal by then.  But then again, this is all just wishful thinking on our part.  One of the hard lessons I have learned in life is "There is no such thing as a perfect condition... something always screws it up".

Oh well, life continues for sure... So I say let the rainy season start.  I think we all could use a weather change.