Most people spends their Labor weekend partying it up in Boracay. Sadly, I am not one of them this year. But looking at some of the Instagrammers’ Insta-story about their weekend getaway to the beach makes me want to try that. Perhaps next year?
Back to the topic, A few friends and I initially planned to spend the weekend over in Bohol. We were planning to go island hopping around Tubigon, Bohol. Sadly, the terrorist suddenly invaded the island and for our safety, opted to find an alternative destination.
THE PLAN
We decided to go to Southern Leyte. We were invited by a good friend of mine for the weekend. I personally wanted to explore some islands which I’ve been eyeing for a while now. It was my fourth time in Southern Leyte but I haven’t explored the island as much as I wanted to.
Since most us were coming from different places, we decided that we’d rendezvous in Bato, Leyte (the place we’re going stay). I’ll be coming from Bohol, others from Cebu and a few from Northen Leyte. I arrived 12 hours ahead of the rest in the group. That made me and our host (Fati) plan out our final itinerary for the weekend. We also did the necessary things to buy for the weekend, especially the food.
THE DOWNFALL (CUATRO ISLAS, INOPACAN)
Basically, we planned to go island hopping at Cuatro Islas on Saturday, leave o n the afternoon to catch the last trip bound for Canigao island and spend the night. By Sunday, if there’s any time left, chill at Bato, Leyte for some BBQ and Halo-halo.
If you think that your plans will be perfect to the dot, it won’t. Somehow, the universe will find a way to create problems along the way. As for us, that bump in the road started when we arrived at the port of Inopacan. It is the drop-off point for the Cuatro Islas island hopping. We knew we were late since we arrived passed 9 AM and from what we’ve heard, most people starts traveling as early as 6 AM. What we didn’t anticipate is the overwhelming number of people already queuing for a boat. The good thing though is that there is a queue and a fixed price for the island hopping. There is a system being followed to make traveling easier. Bad luck for us because we’re the 47th group on the line. 4 to the freakin’ 7! We can’t wait that long just to ride a boat, especially that there are only a few boats for the island hopping. It’s such a shame to come and expect a good outing and end up with nothing.
We decided to plan something out on the spot. We can’t just stand there and do nothing. Our host, Fati, suggested we go to a spring that’s near from where she live. It’s a good place to cool off our fuming minds because of our unlucky situation.
KIOSKO, MATALOM
I’ve been to this spring before and still for the same reason, because we didn’t have anywhere else to go. This water source is just a walk away from the highway. The name Kiosko is actually the Food Park/ Restaurant near the highway. They also have a pool where the water from the spring flow on to. But we were cheapskates and went to the spring up ahead. There are no entrance fees up there which is really good.
There’s really nothing to do there besides swimming and cooling down and if we have any other option, I’d pick that over the spring (I’m being honest). I don’t have anything to complain. Especially if I’m with my friends just hanging and making the most of our situation.
CANIGAO ISLAND
By the afternoon, after eating our lunch and having a few drinks, we had enough of the spring. We wanted to go home to prepare our stuff. We agreed that we’d continue the rest of our itinerary as planned. We will still spend the night in Canigao island.
We arrived in Matalom’s wharf just in time for the last trip bound for Canigao. We were ready for a camp out by the beach. Brought our food, tent and our positive vibe for the trip.
Luckily, it was minutes away from the sunset when we arrive on the island. Finding a spot to camped out was a slight struggle. There were a lot of people who wanted to stay the night on the island too. It was fortunate that we found a place. We set up our tents quickly right before the sun started setting.
We brought some food to cook for dinner and some leftovers from our lunch. Thank God for my friends who knows how to cook and grill. I’m really useless with this kind of things. We drink the night away while playing a few card games and eventually opened up with some of the problems we have been bottling down. Most of us were having misfortunes in the love department. Yep, that’s what alcohol does sometimes. It brings out the problem you’ve been trying to hide.
Our camp had a shortage in the food department the very next day. We didn’t prepare any breakfast nor brought anything to cook. Thankfully, there are stores and a canteen where you could buy food and other essentials. Finding food was our number one priority.
Some in the group wanted to take a dip in the beach. The rest of us took this opportunity to have a mini photoshoot.
We bid goodbye to the island before noon. We wanted to eat somewhere for lunch because the food on the island is quite pricey for what they’re serving. The restaurant where we ate for lunch was just right for its price. It’s also conveniently near from where we’re staying in Bato, Leyte.
Bato, Leyte Bay walk
The rest of the afternoon was all about being lazy at our host’s house. Most of us needed to recover from the very long day we had the day before. Fati’s family has a BBQ place on the bay walk. All throughout our college years, we’ve been teasing her to bring some to school. The anticipation is killing us that’s why we really made time to hang out and taste their BBQ.
Aside from the different kinds of BBQ to taste from, we were also eager to try out their halo-halo. We were supporting our friend’s business. More like making it bankrupt (sorry Fati haha) because we weren’t paying customers.
This was the last night for some in the group. The weekend is almost ending and it’s back to reality. We had a blast though. That includes the few problems we’ve encountered along the way.
Note: I’ll be posting the budget breakdown and time schedule on another blog post.
RADYSETGO | searching paradise in every form 