Bataan: The cowgirl way

Bataan is one of the popular historical places in the Philippines. A lot of events happened here during the 19th century, especially when the Americans took over the country. But what had really made me curious was the traditional festival every 28-29th of November: the Pawikan Festival. It is said that every year, locals preserve the young of the pawikans (or sea turtles) in the turtoise sanctuary in the small village of Nagbalayong, Morong. During the festival, pawikans are brought back to the shore to freely enjoy the marine life and eventually multiply.



Day one, November 29, 2009, Sunday. It was 4:30am when my alarm clock alerted. However the sky was too dark, so I felt too lazy to get up. Besides; the girls won't come early anyway. So perhaps another 5-minute sleep would do.

Soon the minutes carried on until I realized it was almost 5:30am. (Well, better get up or be sorry!) So I immediately prepared my things, took a bath and left the house.

I took a tricycle from home to the meeting place; Jollibee in Casimiro. It was 10 minutes to 6 when I arrived. From there I saw my friend, R-lie, waiting at a vacant table. We had a few chats while waiting for our third company, Joanne. Not later she arrived. I noticed her carrying just one small bag. I laughed, learning that she forgot the most-important things--swimsuit, toothbrush and toothpaste. Good thing I brought an extra swimsuit that would fit her perfectly!

Goodbye, Las Piñas!
After buying burger take-outs (Php50 or $1 for my order), the three of us left the restaurant and waited for a bus nearby. We took a Tas Tranz Liner going to Buendia LRT that cost Php33 ($0.66) each. It was 6:30am when we left from there. While inside the bus, the three of us chatted like we haven't seen each other for years! (We were the blabbermouths of the bus, I know.) After 30 minutes of travel, we arrived at the LRT station, took the overpass stairs and paid for the ticket to Doroteo Jose terminal which cost Php15 ($0.30) each. It was years that I haven't ridden an LRT in Manila, but the old ways were still practiced: males on the left wing of the train and females on the right. In just 15 minutes we arrived at the place (also known as Avenida Terminal). Again we took the stairs and a few walks to the Bataan Transit terminal. It was almost 7:30am when we left to Bataan; tickets purchased were Php195 ($3.90) each.

We took the last row of the air-conditioned bus, then I sat next to the window. Of course I didn't want to miss the opportunity so I immediately took pictures of the three of us. While the bus carried on, I gazed by the window and saw the slums of Manila. I felt bad while watching the background. And so to make my day right I opened my grocery bag and gave myself and the girls some chips and candies to eat. I brought Jellyace while R-lie a can of chocolate-coated Nips (my favorite candies when I was 4!) But the funnier thing was, she even made an effort to bring a hard-boiled egg with her! (where on earth did she place that in her bag!?)

As the girls and I had another chat, I suddenly smelled something really awful.

"Ba't parang amoy utot dito!?" (Why does it smelled like fart in here?") I asked.

With a big, embarrassed smile, Josephine blurted; "It's me."

Now that's what I call PURE sabotage.

Not later I noticed the environment changed when we exited the city. It has cleaner surroundings and the sky was bluer. (Thank God!) I found out we were already in Pampanga.

To be continued...
Next: Hello, Bataan!