Cagbalete Island Adventure

CAGBALETE ISLAND ADVENTURE

by Aicelyn Grace Galon, UEM Applicant

Quezon

It was rather a fair morning when we started out for our itinerary. Summer had intensified our minds and bodies that we headed out for a different kind of adventure: UEM hits off to the beach! 

With approximately five hours of bus ride, we quietly boarded and wondered in our minds what might be ahead of us for that day. It was pre-discussed earlier on the bus that the island cannot supply 24hrs electricity. Therefore everybody was strict on using their gadget, so most of us just slept. As we approached the junction from Tayabas to Lucban, we got off the bus and headed for Lucena Market via riding a jeepney. As for observing the general responsibility rule of knowing what things one should bring, everybody spread out to buy other necessities that they lack upon arriving to the market. We were given 15- 30 mins. to shop. 

It was my first time in Quezon Province and I must say that it is somehow comparable to Ilocos. Not that they have the same sites to offer but because of the approachable people and impeccable cleanliness of the place. It’s like everybody was disciplined and determined to keep the area clean. Though most of the towns were categorized as remote areas, the consignments are undeniably spic and span. I was even surprised that one of their trash bins in the humble Park of Maubanan in the quaint town of Brgy. Daunganin Mauban was categorized into three: Nabubulok, Di Nabubulok and Residual. I don’t really know what Residual stands for but it made me curious about how orderly and well-informed these people are. 

When everybody had bought their supplies and assembled. We rode off another jeepney. It took us to Lucena Grand Terminal where a bus will take us to Mauban, Quezon. From there, we are to ride a boat that’ll take us to Pansacola Beach, Cagbalete Island from which will be our home for three days and two nights. 

As the pictures in the internet weren't lying, the beach indeed is astonishing! It was past 3.30 pm when we got there because of bus travel miscalculations but the scenery took our breaths away. After assembling on our cottage we quickly changed our clothes to stroll the luxurious beach and enjoy the waters. It was getting dark when we realized that we should carry on with our cooking assignments. 

We merrily consumed our dinner because if I’m not mistaken it was the most decent meal we had since we started the day. As the night unfolds, we leafed through UEM’s organizational processes, faults, successes, a little of its history, administrative issues and a general discussion on its existence in the University. It was one of the most meaningful discussions I had with these people and somehow we clarified things by trying to understand and accept both sides of the perspectives. After these deep conversations, we had a few drinks and slept. 

The next day was still surrounded with the same scenic-magic that we saw yesterday. After grooming ourselves and proceeding on our meal plans, we started to swim, explore the island and basically enjoy the entire place. It was now much more accommodating because its high tide and that just means that we will be satisfied by the sea level without going on by the shore too far. In which it also means that we went swimming in and getting tanned like crazy. We also saw the village’s public cemetery which made us hush a little bit and some other resorts. We played with the sand and splashed around like foolish little children for quite some time. Then we got back to our cottage for lunch. 

The latter part of the day was allotted for Team Building Activities. Though we only had one, it used a considerable amount of time to finish. The activity wasn’t too taxing, physically speaking, but it sure did test our leadership skills, coordination and cooperation stances. The forum about the activity after that highlighted the reasons and possible causes of situation/s it symbolically stood for. I can say that we really learned a lot from that activity. It opened our minds more about the organization and check on our decision making capabilities. After that we had our dinner and then lighted up the bonfire. It was my first time to experience a bonfire and I think having one on summer is not the best option. We gathered in anyway. We resumed talks and a couple of drinks. Also, I saw a tree surrounded by fireflies, and again, this is another first. It was spectacular and really made me want to catch one. After quite some time and a bowl of macaroni/spaghetti was cooked and consumed we all went to our beds and slept. 

We tried to squeeze in another team activity but we were too afflicted with the beach’s atmosphere that we just decided to chill and just converse. We started to pack our things back in the afternoon and got off to the beautiful island by 1pm. We arrived at the bus station by 2pm and headed to the Lucena Grand Terminal by 4:30pm. From there we took our respective buses to our way home taking with us a bunch of memories to cherish and a lot of wisdom to ponder and apply on up until the next climbs. More climbs, deeper friendships!