Welcome, Intruder.

I just got back from Quezon. Stayed there for 4 days (Sept 17 - 21). I feel like I'm such a backpacker, considering that I was just fresh out of Camarines. I'll try to post some pics from Camarines and Quezon, although I'm not in any of them. It's so hard to be vain (you know, tourist kind of vain) when you're on field. Haha. As usual, here are some snippets:

1. It took us 7 hours or so to get to an island in Quezon.
Yeah. It was butt wrenching. Aray. We had to get to this island municipality in Burdeos and it was such a loong trip by boat. We left Real port at 4am and we arrived there at around 11am.

2. I had been on the same boat with armed men.
This was an experience. Haha. My co-workers and I shared a boat with PNP and Maritime officers in them. As in, they were armed. Heavily armed. They patrol the sea to catch illegal commercial fishers in Northern Lamon Bay.

3. I woke up with a gun pointing at me.
Seriously. This guy unwittingly laid his gun on top of the bags near where I was sleeping and the barrel was really pointed at me when I woke up. I wasn't scared, though. I was just slightly annoyed

4. I ate Yakisoba with improvised chopsticks.
We were all complete with food (we have fish (really big fish), hot water, coffee, ulingan as in stove using charcoal haha, rice, drinking water and yakisoba.) BUT, somebody forgot to bring utensils. Here's the story: We had to dock in one of Polilio's port to eat breakfast. It was the first meal since 4am and we learned that we didn't have spoons and forks. So, being the resourceful persons the uhm cops were, they went to Polilio's forest (not really forest, haha) got a few twigs and made it into chopsticks. So there, I ate Yakisoba with improvised chopsticks.

5. I ate carabeef for the first time.
Much as I would hate to admit it (because it was weird eating a national icon; fuck the cows THESE are CARABAOS), carabeef tastes so good especially when it's cooked perfectly and made into nilaga.

6. We almost got stranded at sea.
I think it was still around 30-40km from Real (itinerary: Burdeos to Real to Manila) when the boat ran out of gasoline. So, Kuya immediately stopped the boat's engine to fill it up. However, the motor starts conking out. It's either the gasoline we bought back in Burdeos was mixed with water (aka may halong tubig hahaha), or it was crude oil, or the motor was just fucking screwed. Anyway, the assessment is the first one. It took us for like 15-30 mins before the engine started working. Shaggy, Brian and Dennis took turns paddling, it was almost funny. They look rowers in a Bench comemercial wahahaha. Anyway, it was scary, too. The winds were very strong since it's the start of the Amihan season and we all know that Goring (the storm's name, gorilla? haha) is just leaving Batanes, so that influenced wind speeds and directions. The waves were so freaking unfriendly and it kept on splashing on us. I got "salt-burn". My face stung like hell. BUT I've got to say, it was an experience :-)

7. I saw someone pass the ball to a post.
Kakatawa lang kasi when were in Burdeos, the municipal hall had a basketball court in it. Boys and men were playing but all of them (except one) wore slippers instead of rubber shoes. The odd man out, with jersey and rubbershoes, passed the ball to the post. It was hysterical. Kept me laughing for days until now. Ha ha ha ha.

8. I did an inventory of seized stuff.
The patrolling team for the first time caught some fishermen using NaCN (or sodium cyanide, however it was popular there as sodium only, how weird). So the boats were seized as well as the paraphernalia within them. I was the one who took the inventory of two boats with Kuya Willy. Wala lang, I felt so uhm CSI. Hahaha.

9. I felt bad for the caught fishermen.
They look so lost and they were so sincere when they told me they only did it to feed their families. BUT I felt even worse when I learned that some of them were using cyanide for the longest time (10-20 years). Just think of how much damage it has caused the marine ecosystem, of how much little fish species were caught causing the resource equilibrium (just made that up) to be tipped slightly on the dwindling side. And it's not an isolated case. There are still lots of them using cyanide AND dynamite in fishing activities. I felt that they are aware that using these stuff are prohibited by law but they are in no way conscious WHY.

10. I felt the meaning of real hospitality.
You know, while in Burdeos, we stayed in just one house. The people are so nice. They let us be there as if it's OUR house. Food is delicious and never scarce. I ate a lot of lapu-lapu or grouper, which has a high market value in Manila. There's also carabeef, a whole lot of fish which I'm not familiar with, crab, egg, adobo, etc. We were never obliged to clean up or wash the dishes. When they caledl us for meals, the table was all set. The lady who cooked for us didn't eat until after we have eaten. Nakakakonsyensa, actually. They are nice people.

11. Here are some amusing stuff we saw:
* In an advertisement in a municipal broadsheet: "They drink our water. Why can't you?" (Interpretation: What? So you're too good for our water now? Hahaha)

* On an auto service station signage: Services offered: Jitney Design. (Comment: That should have been JEEPNEY)

*Along the road to Quezon: Vedioke (Comment: Obviously, it should be videoke)

Hehehe! Marami pa, I just can't recall all of them at the moment.