Doing the same thing almost everyday tires me more than lifting weights in the gym. Imagine, I have to sit in front of the computer for 35 hours every week to check if my team is doing the right thing on their stations every single moment. Well, that's is how we are getting the job done in our field, so to escape boredom and burnt out, I took photography as a hobby.
One cold January day, I searched Google for nice pictures of landscapes in the Pilipinas. I bumped into Ironwulf.com of Ferdz Decena, a travel photographer who was humble enough to share his knowledge to other aspiring travel photographers. Among his numerous entries to his blog, one photostory that captured my attention is his entry about the Anawangin Cove.
One cold January day, I searched Google for nice pictures of landscapes in the Pilipinas. I bumped into Ironwulf.com of Ferdz Decena, a travel photographer who was humble enough to share his knowledge to other aspiring travel photographers. Among his numerous entries to his blog, one photostory that captured my attention is his entry about the Anawangin Cove.
I've been to Zambales so many times and in fact, I own a small piece of beachfront property in the outskirts of Iba. But hearing Anawangin and it is located in Zambales, it was something new. What struck me most is the pictures. Yes, white sand, pine trees, mountains, and rivers all packed into an island...Am I dreaming?
So to end all the brouhaha about the place, I proposed the place to a selected few. Individuals who are daring and bold enough to go against the flow...Non-conformist indeed. Planning and coordination were made accordingly and date was scheduled, March 14-15, 2009. We will try conquering and realizing a dream.
After our Friday shift, the so-called "Project Horseshoe" members gathered in the Victory Liner, Cubao terminal to catch the 04:20am trip. Originally, we are fourteen that planned and pushed for this Project. But due to various circumstances, only seven managed to hit the road (Brian, Camz, Connie, Cyrus, Sandie, Pabu and me). By the way, if your curious what is Project Horseshoe, it is the secret term we used whiel we were planning our Anawangin adventure. The cove was described on a blog entry as a "horseshoe-shaped cove".
After the almost four-hour bus travel, we finally reached San Antonio, Zambales and we were welcomed by our escort tricycle man. We bought our supplies at the nearby market and hit the road again riding a tricycle en route to Barangay Pundaquit.
This is the first stop of Team Project Horseshoe. We supposed to meet Mang Randy, the ever-helpful skipper from Pundaquit. But he is not available when we arrive so his wife, Ate Liza welcomed us in their humble place.
We had our lunch in a nearby carinderia and feasted on native dishes such as pork adobo, dinuguan, igado (Ilocano version of stripped pork steak), and chopsuey. Since most us did not have enough rest and butt-numbed because of the long drive from Manila to San Antonio, Zambales and the tricycle trip from the Poblacion to Pundaquit, we consumed around 10 orders of rice.
The shores of Pundaquit greeted us with damp air coming from the South China Sea and upon seeing the boat and the waves, excitement filled our souls. I have been travelling since 2002 to various places in the country and I could say that I am not a newbie to small boats and big waves. To some like Pabu, Sandie, Connie, Brian, and Camz they have experienced riding outrigger boats like this but for Cyrus, this is his time to be devirginized, at least on riding a boat.
After a chilling ride boarded an outrigger boat while the rain drenching our face, a sharp curve passing by a small island, everything turned into a complete desolate moment. White sand, tall pine trees, mocha brown mountains, and we finally realized...We are now in Anawangin Cove.
The picturesque scenery made me teary-eyed as I finally realised my dream. To set foot and touch the water of Anawangin in which I only see in the web and reviews from different photography and travelogues. We took our first picture as a group and I could say, the only decent picture we had during our stay.
Pabu, Sandie, Cyrus helped each other in pitching their tent while Brian and myself pitched ours as well. Camz and Connie prepare the food supply atop the bamboo table reserved for us by Kuya Bernie, the caretaker of the island.
After taking our afternoon meal of wood cooked rice and grilled tilapia and talong courtesy of Brian and myself, Connie sauteed bagoong to match the fish and talong, we're off the sight seeing and light trek mode. We traversed the one kilometer east side of the dry river bed and do some photo ops. Pabu and myself fulfilled our passion for photography taking macro shots of insects, flowers, trees, and wild berries. In this picture, we are heading to the south part of the river where water is still flowing.
It is beginning to dark and most of the Team doze off in the tents, Pabu and myself decided to check on the rock formations on the leftmost part of the cove. We took some good pictures here including the dramatic sunset of Anawangin Cove.
We spend the night with our old reliable petromax provided by Kuya Bernie. We feed on grilled tilapia, liempo, hotdogs and cheesedogs, and Cyrus's ever favorite from home...Pork and Beans...Brian, Pabu, and myself had some GSM Blue to booze ourselves to sleep and take a late night shower courtesy of the island's old school posong de bomba!
Morning greeted us with hot cup of coffee from our reliable kaldero and a hearty breakfast of Nel's Palaboy onion and tomato omelette, Brian's Hand-mashed fried rice, Connie's Kinamay na hotdog, and Cyrus' homegrown sardines ala 555. It was the best breakfast I've had for years!
As we pack our things for our return bout to reality, we trekked the right side of the cove. Connie and Sandie dipped to the cold river water and Pabu, Cyrus, and myself tried rock climbing atop Mt. Anawangin. We took pictures while were on top and the river serving as backdrop.
We thanked the good people of Pundaquit: JL Acosta, Kuya Randy, Ate Liza, and Kuya Bernie for their warm welcome and help to us. We will definitely see Anawangin again.
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