PINOYAPACHE GOES TO MALAPASCUA AGAIN

THE TWO O'CLOCK ALARM in the morning of November 27, 2010 went by unnoticed until Eddie Alberca shake my slumber with an incessant ringing of my cellphone at 4:30 AM. In one swift move I am already in my office in Mandaue by 5:15 AM.

The veteran multicab is ready and the package is already fixed inside my green Habagat Viajero as I settled in the front seat beside Eddie who will do the honors of driving the small vehicle. We start at 5:30 PM. Destination: Malapascua Island.

This will be my third trip to the island located just off the northernmost tip of Cebu; the last time, an overnight trip on April 30. And this is my third time too with Eddie driving. This time, we won't be sleeping in Daanbantayan like the two previous trips.

Eddie stepped hard on the pedal and the multicab sped off like a road devil. We pass by Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Danao City in a blur before slowing it down in Carmen when the rains fell. The highway starting from Carmen up to Bogo is the noisiest highway. You know why? The concrete is built in sections of an average of 2.5 by 2.5 meters and one is not on level with the other and the wheel make a sound as it pass by it at high speed.

Blag...blag...blag...blag...blag...blag...

A very disconcerting monotony. Ignoring the noise, the peripheries of the highway is so pleasant in the early morning light. You wouldn't find pure innocence in any other hour of the day. The green countryside is so soothing to the eyes, the smell of grass and saline wind mixing in the breeze is so invigorating. Reminds me of my youth. So nostalgic!

Once we arrive at the wharf of Maya – the gate way to Malapascua – I look for my favorite hole-in-the-wall eatery. It is the feast day of the village of Maya and my favorite cook is absent running errands for a prominent family but she cooked and left her patronizers tasty menu like katambak¹ fish stew and a thresher-shark tamarind-based soup. The oversized Indonesian pepper made the eating a memorable one, you know what I mean.

At nine, the pumpboat for Malapascua leave. I enjoyed the time doing videos about life in the little boats before it leave. Tourists should know that it will cost you fifty pesos going to and fro to the pristine island; none if you are booked into one of the dive resorts like the Sea Explorers. The small boats, locally known as tunda, those that will take you from shore to boat and vice versa, is only ten pesos but none if you are booked.

Me and Eddie arrive at ten in the morning in the very white beach of Malapascua after transferring from pumpboat to tunda and shore during a low tide. The tide plains are wide but the exposed sea bottom is firm and I jump over narrow water runoffs until we top over the soft sand for the direction of the Sea Explorers Dive Shop and Resort and deliver the package.

We stayed for about an hour and I take the liberty to observe a group of locals building a huge wooden boat. Very interesting. Boat-building, the primitive way, is a skill that has lost its aura with the present generation. Saw two men cutting lengthwise a 40-foot plank with just a hand saw. After taking good pictures I, once again, leave the island for the mainland via the tunda and pumpboat and on to another tunda.

We both go back to the eatery which we have taken breakfast a while ago. This time, two vendors were passing by selling freshly-caught shellfish at five pesos each. The seashells were of different varieties ranging from winghorns to young giant Pacific clams to convoluted ones and they were all large, which is a bargain in itself.

We paid for twenty pieces of those, cooked ten and stowed the rest for dinner later. Since the storekeeper is absent, we boil the ten shellfish ourselves over a primitive hearth powered by firewood. We stoke an ember to life after considerable blowing aided by small wood debris as tinder.

We eat the cooked seashells dipped in vinegar and soy sauce mixture, spiced hot by the huge Indonesian pepper. We tarry for a while until it is 2:30 PM and time to go back to Mandaue City. We pass by the straightest highway in Cebu Province – about three kilometers or more – in Medellin and trod on the noisiest – about sixty kilometers – from Bogo to Tabogon to Borbon to Sogod to Catmon and to Carmen!

It is 5:30 PM when we arrive at the office. Brought my officemates bibingka² from Catmon while I parted half of my seashells to colleague Joe Patrick Uy. It is a long day and I refresh myself by steaming my share of the seashells as I return home. This will give me strength to tackle a mountain tomorrow.

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1Sea bream.

2Rice cake.

NIGHT TRIP TO MALAPASCUA

I LEFT THE OFFICE in Mandaue City at ten thirty in the evening of April 30, 2010. I will take an overnight trip far north to Daanbantayan and, from there, cross over to Malapascua Island early in the morning to retrieve a package and bring it back to the mainland.

I will not be alone. Eddie Alberca will be with me and he will drive the Toyota Revo over two small cities and nine towns, a distance of roughly 138 kilometers, more or less. The Revo's fuel tank is three-fourths full and the astern and flank windows are taped with the election posters of Tito Sotto – a senatorial candidate for the May 10 election which are a few days away and we are Vic and Joey. (Just joking).

By the time we got past Danao City, the North Hagnaya Road becomes a challenge for a sleep deprived driver. Although well-paved, the lighting leaves a lot to be desired especially at the stretch between Carmen and Catmon. The highway is built on the cliffside where the Camotes Sea is ever patient in waiting to catch a seaward fall.

The sky is cloudy, depriving us full moonshine and what few lights illuminating in the dark, becomes a blur, as Eddie stepped on the gas hard to reach our first destination before three in the morning then sleep three more hours before crossing to the island. That is the plan and, as each and every plan, it could stick or it could change.

After an hour, we are still in Catmon and nearing Sogod town but with much safer road conditions. By the time we reached the village of Damolog we switched to the highway that climbed over the Panugnawan Hills in Tabogon where the dreaded Eme Cliff is located although not as threatening as before because of aggressive road widening efforts by the DPWH.

The sudden late night shower presented another problem with Eddie as the now-wet downward turns made the road slippery. We are now in the middle of our destination and Eddie was very careful to the obstacles we traversed and negotiate but, by the time he is on a flat grade, he set hard the pedal and accelerated the Revo to 200-220 Kph!

We reached Bogo City at around twelve thirty midnight and made a brief stop to refuel and for some well-deserved midnight snacks to pep up ourselves against Lady Starlight. Then we hit the road again and the AUV screeched its wheels as it made a speedy right turn to the junction were Bogo, San Remigio and Medillin meet.

In Cebu, the only (and almost) straight roads that ran for several kilometers are found only in Tuburan and in Medellin. And Medellin is the longest of the two and we were now cruising at top speed here. We reached the Daanbantayan District Hospital at 2:15 AM and decided to end our journey for the night. I gave Eddie the whole Revo compartment while I looked somewhere flat to lay down.

I found one under the awning palm leaves of a young coconut tree where there is a work bench in which there are recent dry wood shavings accumulating underneath it. I spread the shavings evenly and placed my light sleeping bag over it. A folded vinyl tarp is ready beside me, just in case it rained. Meanwhile, a large bat screeched overhead and flew away, probably disturbed over my unwelcome company.

I woke to a beautiful dawn of May 1, 2010. I looked at my cellphone clock and it says 5:15 AM. Washed my face and body with a wet face towel near a water tap. Eddie did likewise and he complained something like mosquitoes throwing him off into fits of discomfort last night. I thought he used the Revo's aircon?

We left the hospital at six and proceeded to Maya Wharf – the gateway to Malapascua Island, to Kawayan in Biliran Province and to some small islets. Eddie and I had been here in June and then me with Patrick in October, both last year (2009). I always looked forward to eating in a hole-in-the-wall joint here that specializes cooking freshly-caught bounties of the sea. The old lady instantly recognized us and provided a table and seats and free servings of the bottom end of a cooked milled corn.

In the wok where two steaming big pots. Eddie grabbed open the first lid and he was all smiles. We just had a treat of a rare seashell, locally known as tipay  or Mother of Pearl oysters (Pinctada Maxima), sliced up in small cubes and cooked with a thick sauce concoction. Very juicy! In another is a soup from a fresh anduhaw fish. A little girl passes by to sell a large bowl of fresh shrimps and we paid it outright for our own exclusive consumption. The dear old lady even offered to cook the shrimps for us free. Wow! What a treat indeed!

After that sumptuous breakfast, the dear old lady, again, offered to sell and cook for us her cache of a large but fresh squid kept inside her ice cooler as our food for lunch if ever we would come back by noon. A big YES was our reply. And, as before, we paid for that without any hitches. I will have that squid by noon, I promised myself, but, first, I have to finish our work.

The boat that is to ferry us to the island is moored amid sea. In going there we have to ride a small boat that is steered by pushing a long pole to the sea bottom and it cost ten pesos a ride. Once on the boat, we sat on the lee side where we would be away from the waves. The boat captain charge fifty pesos per trip per passenger and there were many passengers and tourists – local and foreign – on board.

The waves were choppy but there were no large swells. Saw a sea gull dive and splash down into the water and coming up with a fishtail caught in its beak. Did the feat over and over again until my attention is caught by a large sentinel rock in between mainland Cebu and Malapascua hosting a lone beach house. Looks abandoned and, perhaps, left by the owner to deteriorate. The islet is bare of vegetation and I am absolutely sure that there is no water source except ferried from the mainland.

The boat slowed down as it got past an imaginary line marked by a floating buoy. The skipper steered the wheel left and right as it followed an invisible channel blocked here and there by anchored boats of the same design – with outriggers and painted white. As the engine is shut off the polemen started their work pushing and grunting. A water splashed and down goes the the anchor on the starboard side as the front pole man tried to push back hard to slow down the boat's approach to the pristine shoreline.

Just before the prow touched sand, I was now up and running on the beach. Old habits die hard, don't they? I couldn't believe I could still do this with a pair of arthritic knees and approaching middle age. It's just a fluke maybe with the soft pearly white sand cushioning the impact of my landing. Maybe? But, I don't care. I am in MALAPASCUA.

I walked the beautiful beach line carrying my camera with Eddie behind me. Rows of this same outriggered boats are secured along the beach with nylon ropes which I have to pass over or under it. Meanwhile corralled beach houses faced parallel with the shoreline as a five-meter easement is implemented by the island-village authorities giving access for everyone – poor fisher folks or rich resort owners – to the sea.

Due to the presence of these pricey resorts, food and water costs have risen as well. A tube of ice costs five pesos and a ganta of rice is sold at ninety pesos! This is too much for the tourists and visitors and how much more for the local folks. Nevertheless, this is much cheaper compared to, say, Boracay. The good thing about Malapascua is, it ain't crowded and sewage is almost absent in the water.

Malapascua has excellent dive spots. Thresher sharks abound here in sheer numbers. The deeps here is their haven. The first time I was here, I ate a freshly-caught juvenile thresher shark cooked in coconut-milk soup and it was excellently done. All fishes and seashells are cooked and eaten here fresh from the sea for electricity is a rare commodity here. Power is switched on only at six in the evening and shut off at 10 PM.

Shouldering the package on my right shoulder whose weight, I estimate, to be about 12 to 15 kilos, I went back to where I came from over unstable soft sand where my shoes were buried under the added weight. I climbed to a waiting boat and glad to set down my cargo on the deck and enjoy the fresh breeze cooling away my heated up body. The boat filled quickly with tourists and visitors and cargoes.

In a while, the pole guys started their work and the boat retreated away from the shore and took a reverse right turn then the skipper's mate pulled out a cord from below deck and the engine coughed to life. It is business time to cross the channel once again back to the mainland. Two other boats left the shore one after the other tagging behind us while another boat coming the opposite way passed by us.

As the boat slowly approached the unfinished quay of Maya, pushed and counter-pushed by all these polemen, I instantly remembered about the waiting squid whose chopped up meat is cooked in its black splendor. Impelled by this thought, I forgot, then and there, that I have arthritic knees and I also forgot that I am approaching middle age. I jumped from the prow into a huge boulder that served as a rampart for the quay even as the guy lines have not yet been secured to the missing bollards. This is no fluke, I assure you. This is an old habit that refused to die.

I walked briskly up the slope into the Toyota Revo parked right across the kitsch eatery where we did our breakfast hours ago. Eddie came after me gasping for breath and sweating profusely. I left the package secured inside the Revo while Eddie turned on the engine and cooled himself with the built-in aircon. I walked across and went inside and examined the pot where the squid is cooked. The dear old lady upon noticing our presence have re-heated the food in its – you're right – black splendor.

We left Maya Wharf an hour-and-a-half later after consuming a flat bottle of Generoso Brandy mixed with Cobra Energy Drink. I laughed at my reddish face in the mirror resulting from that mixed drink yet I am quite sober and the Revo spurted down the highway and, for the first time since last night, I could see the landscapes clearly. The camera came in handy and I picked my shots at great speed. The result speaks for itself that the camera is drunk!

At Catmon we looked for a gallon of a locally-fermented alcoholic drink made from the sap of coconut and found one after considerable search all over the town. This drink is called tuba and I am buying it to drink and celebrate a safe trip. But I cannot consume one gallon even with Eddie and Patrick helping me but I could age the rest and convert it to vinegar.

Finally, we arrived at Mandaue City at three thirty in the afternoon. I filled Patrick with lots of stories especially with the food trips we had in Maya Wharf and Patrick knows I am not talking about a yarn. He just promised me that he will look forward to another trip there which he did on June 11, 2010 and after that, it was his turn to bloat me up with his tales of the food trips.

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MY OWN TOUR DE CEBU

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING forward for a long time to travel the whole island of Cebu in a long and continuous journey. When I was a young man and plenty of time then, that was more than twenty-five years ago, I used to go out to the far reaches of the province to the north and into the south, yet I was not able to complete that dream trip.

Then on June 28 and 29, 2009, my life-long dream of going on a circumferential trip were fulfilled when my employer tasked me, along with Omar Pace and Eddie Alberca, to distribute packages to all the district hospitals and properties of the Cebu Provincial Government.

We started from Bakilid, Mandaue City on June 28 at five in the morning on board a Mitsubishi Delica. Eddie was designated as driver, Omar as back-up driver and navigator while me, acted as logistics man, recorder, part-time navigator and unofficial historian and I took a seat at the most spacious and most comfortable part of the vehicle.

The opportunity gave me a high-spirited yawn when I settled at the back as Eddie steered the wheel for the South Road Properties and good open spaces that gave me a luxuriant view of the Babag Mountain Range and the Mactan Channel. I did not have a proper camera with me so I have to settle with a cell phone camera of a lower pixel and took a shot of a sunrise at sea and a cloud rising over Babag.

The south coastal road took us to the belly of Talisay City; we exited at Linao and arrived at our first stopping area in Minglanilla District Hospital at 5:53 AM. Fifteen minutes later, we were on our way for the land of chicharon, bocarillo and ampao. In a blur, we passed by Minglanilla proper, Naga, San Fernando and, finally, Carcar, where the J.M. Paras Memorial Hospital is located.

We left Carcar at 6:55 AM and passed by Sibonga until we arrived at our next stopping area in Argao District Hospital at 7:27 AM. After our business there, we took a filling breakfast at eight in Carmen's Carenderia. Eddie stepped on the gas pedal the moment we left Argao to propel us for the next engagement in a short time as possible. Goodbye torta lovers!

The weather was perfect. Very sunny and, oh yes, the highway is in the best condition. It snaked along seaside cliffs and near shorelines as we passed by the towns of Dalaguete, Alcoy and Boljoon. This is one of the most pleasant stretch of beautiful coastal areas that are very familiar to me.

White powdery beaches line the shores while clear blue-green sea sparkled on a high tide. Beautiful tiny Sumilon Island simmered in the distance. I bickered, in jest, at Eddie to halt the vehicle to take a quick dip! In the end, the saner part of me won. I have a job to finish this day and we have a long way to go up to the north. By 9:12 AM, we reached the district hospital in Oslob.

Afterwards, at 9:33 AM, we left Oslob for Santander. At Santander we stopped by at Mayor Wilson Wenceslao's convenience store and bought for ourselves bottles of mineral water and energy drinks. Omar relieved Eddie at the wheel and we went around the southernmost tip of Cebu at Bato in Santander before going up to Samboan, Ginatilan then in Malabuyoc, where we arrived at the M.J. Cuenco Memorial Hospital at 10:44 AM, located on the seafront and right across the town parish.

We left Malabuyoc at 11:04 AM as Omar exerted pressure on the pedal and the Delica sped like a crazy rocket. I miss this Sunday's Mass and I have to content myself singing the Our Father. We passed by Alegria then in Matutinao, the first barangay in Badian. Oh, Matutinao. How many times have I been there? I love to camp at the end of the river – at the source itself – and caress my back with the large spring. I saved a life of a youngster there and I'm well remembered by the folks.

We reached Badian proper and drove up a hill to where the district hospital is located. We arrived at 11:40 AM. We stayed for twenty-two minutes and I took the opportunity to stretch my legs at the front lawn of the Santiago de Apostol Parish. I took a shot of the old church. We then left Badian for Barili.

Along the way, we passed by the beautiful southwestern towns of Ronda, Alegria, Moalboal and Dumanjug. We arrived at the Barili District Hospital at 12:43 noon and, thirty minutes later, we took a very late lunch at Shamrock Bakery and Restaurant. After the quick meal, we directly went up to the Farmer's Training Center in Boloc-boloc, Barili and we arrived there at 2:23 PM.

At 2:48 PM, we left the training center and proceeded for Pinamungajan town. Eddie now was back on the wheel. We took a detour and went up the Carcar-Barili Road going to the direction of Carcar. We reached a junction just ahead of Mantalungon and took the road left to Aloguinsan. The road to Aloguinsan was the loneliest stretch of road I have ever seen in Cebu and it passed on a very mountainous terrain.

We reached Aloguinsan and passed the sleepy town for Pinamungajan, where we arrived at J.M. Borromeo District Hospital at 3:50 PM. Ten minutes passed by, and we went on our journey north to the next stop in Balamban. We made a brief stopover at Toledo City though for refueling before resuming our journey.

We arrived at the Balamban District Hospital at 4:54 PM and took a quick rest and a little refreshment. We left Balamban at 5:15 PM bound for Tuburan. The sun started to set on the horizon and Tuburan is still a long way – about 30 kilometers. We passed by Asturias and a great distance separate the two until at 5:53 PM we arrived at the Tuburan District Hospital.

We left Tuburan at 6:06 PM for Daanbantayan – another long distance. Along the way we passed by the municipalities of Tabuelan, San Remigio, Bogo and Medellin. At the coast of Tabuelan going to San Remigio, I saw a very lonely sunset in my whole life. A teenaged boy sat on the plank of a bridge gazing at the spectacle. I stopped the vehicle and took a hurried shot of the scene.

At the junction of San Remigio, Bogo and Medellin, we stopped and eat a full dinner. After the meal, we proceeded to Daanbantayan and arrived at their district hospital at 8:20 PM. It had started to rain hard and we stayed for the night, the three of us, inside the van, at the hospital's parking area and slept soundly. The rain fell and it never stopped until around 2:00 AM.

We woke up in the early morning of June 29. We decided to start early for the port of Maya and left Daanbantayan District Hospital at 6:50 AM. We intend to cross over the sea to Malapascua Island to deliver four packages. While waiting for the first boat trip, we took a hearty breakfast of linarang pakol, tinuwa'ng malabunok and squid broth – all freshly caught.

Eddie and me decided to go to Malapascua instead while Omar will stay behind to watch the van. We arrived at the island at 8:45 AM and we were met by out host at the reception area. The island is a sunbather's and diver's paradise and is famous for its thresher sharks that are found within its depths. Although smaller than Boracay Island, it has powdery white sand beaches and clear blue-green water that would rival the over-congested resort.

We were treated to a stew of juvenile thresher sharks cooked in coconut milk by our host which were caught by net the night before. We obliged the tempting offer and took a second breakfast. It was my first time to step on Malapascua. We ended our visit at Malapascua and left at twelve noon. We both arrived at Maya Port at 12:49 and we sped towards Hagnaya Port in San Remigio to rendezvous with another contact from Bantayan Island who crossed over to pick up his package.

We arrived at the Hagnaya wharf at 1:22 PM and took lunch there. Fully refreshed, we resumed our trip bound for Sogod at 1:58 PM. We passed by Bogo and Tabogon via the once-dangerous Ime Road and arrived at the district hospital located in Damolog, Sogod at 2:34 PM. Omar had a brief reunion with his daughter who is undergoing internship at the J.B. Dosado Memorial Hospital. We then left at 3:08 PM for our last engagement – Danao City.

Now that the Delica is several kilos lighter, it sped over Sogod proper, Catmon, and Carmen along a cliffside highway. The familiar places brought me pleasant memories of my past. Oh, how I wished Eddie would not step on the gas too hard. We sped away and overtook as many vehicles as possible until we reached the Danao District Hospital at 3:32 PM. We rested awhile until it was time to go for our last stretch and left at 4:16 PM.

Finally, we arrived at Mandaue City at 5:11 PM. We were all tired but not exhausted. I finally make true my dream of traveling the whole island of Cebu to the south, west, north and east with an island-hopping segment in Malapascua. On the whole, we churned out 480 kilometers, more or less, over two days and I see another sequel of this in the future.

The office staff clapped their hands upon seeing us and our vigor came back where, eventually, we stayed for a couple of hours to check on the logistics for tomorrow's activity. I was the last to check out at eight and brought a pack of pintos to my wife and kids.

Document done in OpenOffice 2.1 Writer.