The Happy Cafe: Punta Fuego 2016

Punta Fuego, Nasugbu, Batangas. October 30 to 31, 2016.

The view from one of the houses we rented.

This vacation was really exciting for me and for my family. It's the first time we're going out of town with all of my relatives on my mother's side (except for one family who was based in Iloilo). And where did we decide it to be? At Punta Fuego, Nasugbu, Batangas, for its beaches, pools, and yacht club.

To get everyone there (we're a big extended family), we rented a coaster and left early in the morning, stopping only at a commercial area for lunch before resuming with our journey. The coaster drove us through the winding paths until we finally reached our destination by early afternoon. We unloaded all our luggage into the houses we rented and enjoyed the view and the fresh air:

1. Beach

After we settled into our rooms, we quickly changed into our swim suits and headed for the beach! I wanted to take a dip so much to feel the waves go up and down on my legs! Such a good and relaxing feeling.

Only problem was that I didn't know how to swim, but it's alright. I'm slowly learning to let go of my fears of drowning and trusting the waters to carry me (I can now float a bit haha).

Dipped with my cousins, aunts, and uncles. One of my cousins had snorkelling devices and lent them to me. Wore it, albeit it was a bit too big for my face (water would leak in), and then plunged down into the water. And wow, saw fishes underneath! It feels like things got reversed: I was in my own aquarium filled with air and the fishes were in their natural habitat. Amazing!

I didn't want to stand anymore, but it was turning dark and we needed to eat dinner. Wrapped myself in a towel and cleaned myself before riding the shuttle service back to the entrance of the village and then walking towards our house. The shuttle got soaked because of us haha (sorry!) The night was colder than usual so we hurried back to the warmth of the house.

2. Dinner

Dinner was at Punta Fuego Hotel's buffet service. It was delicious! They served unique dishes that aren't usually served in hotel buffet such as seafood paella, Japanese rice salad, and skewered seafood that was as refreshing as it was healthy. To celebrate our first ever Sun family outing, we got ourselves wine and toasted.

The plan after dinner was either to watch free movies at their theater or to go to their hunted house display since it was Halloween, but I guess we were all already too tired from playing at the beach earlier that afternoon so we headed back home in different batches.

There wasn't any more shuttle service and since we had a very big dinner, six of us (my parents, my cousin, and her parents) decided to walk out all our gained calories! Yeah! It took us around fifteen minutes of walking before we started to realize that we still had a very looong way to go before we reached the house. Remember, this was at night and the streets were dimly lit. It felt really cold and the whole place was silent. It was also Halloween season.

So while the stars loomed above us, there was also an eery vibe. Most of the houses along the street looked very American and pretty, but most of them were also very dark and seemed to have no one living inside. Perhaps the houses were only used as vacation homes.

After around thirty minutes, my Uncle gradually walked faster until he disappeared from our sight. Then my dad.

The remaining four laughed so hard at the thought of us one-by-one disappearing into the night and the coincidence of tonight being Halloween, but we soon fell silent due to the creepy nature of the place -- and the distance we've been walking. There still wasn't any sight that we were near the house.

*Lightbulb illuminates*

After around forty-five minutes, mom suggests we hitchhike at the passing vehicles. After around two to three vehicles, my cousin's car comes up and we wave our hands. "It's our turn with the car!" And my male cousins go down to let us and lo and behold, we were only a corner away from the house. If we hadn't given up to soon we would've gotten to the house all by foot.

Just grabbed my shoal and then off I go with my cousins to go back to the hotel to pick up my other older relatives. The adults would have karaoke night, while we youngsters would go stargazing at the highest and darkest points in Punta Fuego.

Lounged at the hotel while my cousins prepped their photography equipment to shoot stars.

3. Stargazing

When the car got back, we all headed to this open field at the very top of an inclined plane. There wasn't any houses there (just on the sides) and only had street lamps. On one side of the street was a body of water, but it was pitch black. You could just see parts of its waves getting illuminated by the stars that made it seem like it was glittering. On the other was a field that further down led to the town.

My cousin took shots of the sky.

I wished I had brought a blanket with me so I could lie down on the middle of the street to look at all the stars around us.

Unfortunately, it was too dark to take any photos there, but it was quite an experience.

4. Firefly Hunting

Next stop is Punta Fuego Point, which is the farthest point of the area. It goes out to the sea. We parked at the end of the street by the last occupied house and got out armed with our flashlights. It was really dark so we had to be careful not to lose our footing lest we trip down to the grass.

We got to a hut at the edge which gives you a view of the sea. It was black, but we could hear its waves crashing against the rocks beneath. We closed the light provided by the hut, and it gave us better vision of what was the blackness beyond as it gave our eyes a chance to adjust to it.

But that was the thing -- with the lights closed, we were in the middle of immense darkness all around.

And then we saw one - a flickering yellow light that moved around. Then there were two, three, and as many as six just flying around us.

Fireflies.

Can I keep one? Probably not. Their flickering light goes off as soon as artificial light is opened.

We kind of froze together just watching the fireflies move around.

Silence.

My cousin took photos of the darkness beyond us by letting the exposure for each shot take long. He gets a few pretty shots.

We head back after he's satisfied with his shots and drives the ladies back to the karaoke party. The boys had one more place in mind before calling it a night: Crescent Beach. My brother later tells me that crabs were all over the place at night.

The next morning, I woke up early enough to explore Cresent Beach myself. From our house, I needed to go down a long set of stairs made of unpolished rocks which were painful to my feet and nearly broke my slippers before reaching it, but it was worth it.