Last Saturday, while soaking wet with my own perspiration waiting for the magnificent MB ARRIBA at the Batangas Port, I chanced upon this article by Raya Mananquil at the Philippine Daily Inquirer claiming that she’s a Boracay Virgin.

Though it was her first time to visit Bora, she didn’t elaborate how nice the place was as so many authors have done so in the past. Instead, she wrote about her observations on the growing problem of waste disposal in the area.

Much as I want to do a Raya Version of my Galera trip, I must admit that, though I’m a Galera Virgin, my eyes aren’t that keen when it comes to environmental concerns.

On the other hand, I found myself looking left & right, up & down, searching for best buys, yummy food stops, beach buddies and beach “bodies”. Nope don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for some hot stuff — coz I brought along my very own, my husband! — I just can’t help admiring how much great leaps women have made in terms of liberating themselves and becoming more & more expressive of the women that they are.

Thin, tall, short, fat, name it! They’re all there parading their bellies without batting an eyelash! Wow! How I wish I can have that same spirit to take off my tank top and reveal my two piece swimsuit too! All that Billabong hiding behind sarongs and shirts… going down the drain… tsk tsk tsk!

Day One started out really well. Lunch at Manalo’s was super filling and yummy! Or I don’t know if I’m just too hungry coming from the MB ARRIBA-gal (as what other passengers called it) trip that anything that looks like food appeals to me! I ate Samaral, liempo, talong with bagoong, inihaw na pusit matched with steaming white rice! Of course, can any lunch be complete without ice-cold Coca-Cola?!?

Next stop: SNORKELING! This activity actually scared me. But since everybody was joining… I’d rather be there half-scared & half-having fun than doing absolutely nothing at all. I wore complete gears to protect me from whatever thats under the sea. I have seen corals hundred times already at the comforts of our house where Kuya takes care of his own corals & Nemo-looking fishes. But I’m not prepared to see them at their natural habitat.

When its my turn to dip into the water, I can’t let go of myself as I was too freaked out to accidentally step on it or disturb their state. Good thing Dexter was there to reassure me and my Kuya who kept on joking, “Wag kang babakla-bakla! Magpakalalake ka!” Yeah thats the deal you get being the only girl in the family!

So finally, I let go and was in the water already. After a few moments, I was adjusting my gogles and preparing my first peekaboo.

There they are… alive and kicking… within my grasp! It was awesome. The feeling you get is indescribable. It took me to a whole new level of understanding the world of other living creatures. It was a humbling experience… being in their territory, feeling so small in the middle of the sea, knowing that I’m at someone else’s home and was probably an unwelcome guest.

It scared me. It really did. I swam a bit more (more meant 5 meters of crazy paddling of arms & legs, Im not a swimmer!) and looked for a different view. What I saw was more scary than the first peek. There were huge formations of odd looking corals, almost as if looking straight at me, and those spiny sea urchins, and other unknown species that I seemed to have missed in my science class!

Thats when I said snorkeling is OVER for me. I asked Dexter to help me swim back to the boat. I was there for only about 15minutes. I waited for them to finish and was envious at how they marveled about seeing moray eels, star fishes, etc. Why am I such a baby?!?

After that, the boat took us to another island with only few swimmers and tourists. Perfect time to get my tan! Walked a little further and found a spot that the sun seems to be kissing at that very moment! Thats only when I was able to take off my sarong and bare it all. Dex was actually surprised, hehehe! As if it was more surprising than to see me naked! Ay sus!

We seemed to attract tourist… was I a tourist spot?!?! Hehehe! Since more people are trooping to share the sizzling sun, I decided to put on my sarong again. So much for sun bathing huh!?

It was getting late already. We’re so excited to get our henna tattoo. We showered and made sure no traces of sunblock was left.

Off we went to Gecko’s Tribe. Aahhh so now I know where those UP students got their unique looking bags printed with lizards! And oh, I found Dreamcatchers there too! If only I haven’t got one too many already, I would’ve bought another one at Geckos!

Ate Mich and Kuya James are cool henna artists. There was a long waiting list just to get that australian ink on your skin! So while waiting, we made chicka. Kuya James even agreed to do a special design for me not found on their catalogue. They called it “Creation”. As in, “Creation na lang ang gagawin ko sayo.” Isn’t that cool?!? I told him I want something like sunrise with tribal look, and so he did. His canvass was my neckline, and boy it was a huge “creation”! Almost reaching my shoulders already! I just love it. For a moment I wished it was a real one! But no, of course I wouldn’t want something like that to be permanent! Hehehe!

My Kuya chose an armband type of tattoo, Tom chose a “Blade”-like design, Dex chose a skull-looking design plus a mean looking sun (!?!) and Abi chose a quarter moon with rays tattoo.

We were all very satisfied!

Since we need 3 hours to dry it, Dex & I decided to sleep for a while in the family room. My Mama & Tatay were both singing using the abused Magic Mic! (it has travelled a lot already!)

What was supposed to be a short nap turned out to be a long sleep and we woke up the following day already…

Day Two began with a heavy breakfast… again at MANALO’s! We’re all excited to go for the Banana Boat ride! The thought of riding at that speed and getting thrown at the water is both hilarious, scary, thrilling and fun. I don’t consider myself so brave at these kinds of activities but the thrill-seeker side got the best of me.

We were composed of 7pax for the boat ride. I was seated second to the last. What started out to be a crazy ride ended up with me being trampled and crushed under water, got kicked at the head, back, arms, legs, everywhere! Thank God I was still conscious afterwards. But I wasn’t able to finish the ride though. I opted to ride at the motorboat and watch them being tossed like Barbie Dolls & GI Joes! Ouch ouch ouch! Thats all I can think of, but seeing them laughing afterwards makes me wanna try the ride all over again… minus the bumps of course!

After the incident, there’s no other way for me than go to rest and spend the rest of the afternoon sitting & waiting. So much for my Galera experience huh!

Oh but I still loved it. My tattoo, my anklets, my galera shirt, my souvenir rocks, and most specially, MY TAN LINES!

What can I say…?!? My summer mission is complete!