Of boat rides, faraway islands, crashing waves, tiny shells, great food, endless trekking, and wonderful friends

If there is something I would like to do for the remainder of this month, it is go on a summer escapade with my friends, away from the city, from the usual places we go to. Last week, our Zambales trip finally materialized. 

After a four-hour car ride from Quezon City to the port at Pundaquit, and another one-hour boat ride, we finally reached the island of Nagsasa. Next to Anawangin, the island is already becoming a go-to place for campers and adventurers. 

After a whole day of soaking up the sun, trying to catch the waves, getting our skin and eyes stung with the saltwater, eating our fill with delicious food that came with our tour package, trekked to what seemed like the other side of the mountain in search for the "falls," we set up our tents just around a dozen steps away from the sea, and let the cold wind, the soft drizzle, and the sound of the waves lull us to sleep.

In the following morning, after having our breakfast we set off again for some island hopping. We reached the island of Capones with its off-white sea shore, and huge rock formations. We wanted to stay longer because it's the most beautiful place we've been to yet, and we were glad it has not become a campsite. Otherwise, my friends and I reckoned it would be spoiled. Since the waves were too big, the boatmen told us to skip visiting Anawangin, and we headed to the island of Camara instead. Here we had ourselves thrown back and forth by the big waves, and snorkeled a little bit. With much regret that we can not stay longer, we headed to the port and settled for a late lunch on the way home.

We had so much fun and the next trip is already in the works. 

I only had a point-and-shoot camera with me, and was not even able to set it properly because the battery was so close to running out.  :))

 Sunrise viewed from the middle of the sea. :)

 Beach bumming.

The (really challenging) trek to reach the "falls."

 The mountain side looks like a desert land.

 See you again, Nagsasa. :)

The Budoy Boot Camp :))

A few days I ago I had finally sent my letter of resignation, the effectivity of which will be a month after the official receipt of the letter. I convinced myself that it's time to leave my comfort zone, professionally speaking, and set out to search for a career that I have devoted my years of college education for.

Last night, though, I got a taste of what I am bound to let go and move on from.  Because of some technical glitches, the office had to suspend the operations. We instead made use of the time for teambuilding activities and meetings to bring up concerns and come up with solutions collectively.

After these, we had a rather rowdy dinner together at a diner near the office. When I ordered my third serving of rice, they were sort of scandalized with the fact that I eat so much. I've been telling them again and again that I can eat quite a lot often and when I want to, and they never believed me. Back at the office, everybody got rowdier still as we all tried to go artistic with the craft materials bought to decorate the team's bulletin board. Probably because it's so rare to have so many of us together in the office, we made fun of the most trivial things. Someone was even sabog more than normal, and that's saying something.

After we left the office, we were in for another night-out filled to the brim with random anecdotes (including "Alamat ng KnL and other stories") and even crude jokes. If I hadn't been with these people for the past two years, I would've been terribly culture-shocked, but as it goes, such cacophony and jests only made the night more interesting for me. I love observing how different people can be when they've had their dose of alcohol, or when they're given free rein of the karaoke's mircophone.

I got home with my head filled with the events of the night, grateful for the chance to be in a company of such diverse and funny (and some awesome) people. Absurdly, I began to ask myself and wonder why I had to leave anyway.

The Tale Behind the Mask

Phantom (Susan Kay, 1990)

Only some days after I started trying to learn everything about the Phantom of the Opera from both the Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical and the novel by Gaston Leroux that I discovered the spin-off novel written by Susan Kay titled Phantom.

Kay's novel followed the story of the terrible musical genius, from being born as Erik to a middle-class family in the French village of Boscherville, to being the fearsome Opera Ghost who made the cellar of the Paris Opera House his lair. Using the main character and the different points-of-view of the other characters who managed to interact and live with Erik throughout his seemingly accursed life, Kay laid the foundation of the Phantom's genius and  motives. She insterspersed the background from the canon novel, with thoroughly researched factual events and places to serve as the background of the well-loved gothic classic of Leroux. The novel traced Erik's education from childhood, to his travels within Europe and beyond the Mediterranean, learning various trades and skills, and fighting his way for survival and affection.

I have always loved the Leroux classic, my copy almost battered with constant re-reading. But Susan Kay's Phantom is a truly outstanding addition to the ageless tale of the Opera Ghost. Kay managed to fill in the gaps in the novel and had developed a firm foundation of the characters. The novel is filled with vivid imageries of the grotesqueness of Erik from birth, the Gyspy caravan he belonged to for a time, his apprenticeship to an Italian stonemason, his traversals in the fairs of Russia, his adventures in the exotic land of Persia, his wanderings in Europe and finally back to France, where he met his boon and bane, the young and beautiful chanteuse Christine Daaé.

There was no shortage of philosophical meanderings as well as allusions to religion. The characters Kay created to surround Erik were truly sound and affective at some points. He was given a human face, to put it simply. He was given the chance to care for people and be cared-for in turn. Whereas Leroux's Phantom was a fearsome monster, Kay "redeemed" Erik through his achievements in the world of music, art, and even architecture.

The novel as a whole is dark, at times witty and emotive. After the last page, Kay's creation of Erik still haunts me, along with the other characters and scenes that sprang forth from the pages, particularly the development of Daroga from the Leroux novel (which the musical left out), and the introduction of the Italian master stonemason, Signor Giovanni. ("There was so much beauty in your soul, Erik, so much beauty that I fear now, because of one old man's folly, will never see the light of day.") It is a brilliant albeit strongly imaginative take on The Phantom of the Opera, and I could see that my copy of Phantom, despite being electronic, will be re-read as much as the original Leroux has been.

Six hours of Hadley Fraser

Again

by Scott Alan

If I could turn the hands of time
And have a chance to right my wrongs
Love you twice as much
Held you twice as strong
I should have never let you go
And I shouldn’t have walked away believe
Now that we are here
There’s one thing that I need to say
I love you still
I’ve never stopped
I don’t think that I will

   

Take me away
by Scott Alan

Take me far away from here
Let me reside in the silence
Let the world just disappear
Let me leave it behind
Let me have one day alone
I want the thrill and sensation
Of living life in the unknown
I just want to stop and breathe
I don’t care what’s coming next
I just want to frame this day
Life’s too short to have regrets
If I sail away
Will I reach the sea?
If I soar the sky
Will I feel the breeze?

   

On Constellation Street
by Scott Alan

Leave me here on Constellation Street
The stars come out and sing with each heartbeat
Time can not stop me feeling complete
We stay down here on Constellation Street
Snow falls down and robs us again
Of precious moments like them
Time returns and melts the ice
And points us to the plan

-------
 From Lion King medleys to select tracks from West End musicals to his original compositions, this voice had kept me company from the beginning of my shifts until the end, and for days on end already.

Ah, Mr. Fraser. You are causing great shifts in my preferences, sir.

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What's so bad about you being so full of yourself is that your ego feeds on the egos of those around. You have every reason to be vain if that's what makes you tick, but it does not mean the people around you are as crazy as you are about yourself.

We're friends. But, by golly, please take it in stride.