Just the way you are - 3

Ann, Inday, Lilibeth, Tune and Erbing - We’ve been friends since the carefree high school days. We never thought we’d age or that we would find time to get together to have fun albeit at a slower and more calculated pace.

I lost contact with these guys for about 30 years while focused on bringing up a family and establishing my place in the sun. In 2010 I was blessed to reconnect with these friends with the help of facebook and since then we’ve found time to have reunions in Bansalan – 2011, Bangkok – 2012 and this present one.

This reunion in Coron was the brainchild of Tune and Lilibeth organized it to the tiniest detail. My profuse and heartfelt thanks to Tune and Ann for my Cebu-Coron-Cebu plane fare + other incidental expenses throughout the reunion + pasalubong stuff from the US; to Inday for durian tarts and other treats from Davao; to Lilibeth for the bed and breakfast in her beautiful home + tours to southern Cebu + etc and finally to Erbing for the shorts and for his patience for my snoring while he slept next to me – yeah, we finally got to sleep beside each other on one bed. Hahaha.

The rest of the story is in the photos.

L-R: Erbing, Inday, Lilibeth, Tune, Ann, Sunni

this was at the porch of Lilibeths house.

Lilibeth's mansion in Villaraya subdivision, 

Lawaan III Talisay Cebu

day 1 was a tour to southern cebu. this is the shrine

of the Virgin Mary at Simala, Sibonga

that's it. you'll see hundreds of devotees

trooping to this shrine everyday

we had lunch at a seaside resto in Argao that

served exotic sea food and i had my fill

steamed conch snails

that night Lilibeth treated us to her favorite
jazz bar in Mabolo.

the band didn't disappoint me a bit and Lilibeth's

dancing was a rare and pleasing sight.

 i had a chance to meet this lady and she tasted good.

i wish to meet her again someday.

that's the gorgeous Tune and her Margarita. She wasn't in 

the tour that we had that day and this was our first

shot together when she came into the bar. i didn't have the slightest idea that 2 nights from now she'd be beating me to the toast with Pepe Lopez in an enchanted island.

the bunch of friends at the bar.

The next day we head to Mactan Airport for the flight

to Busuanga then Coron. Erbing has not been under the sun

yet nor has he had a drink, but he's soo red with excitement.

blame it on my cam of course.

that's us waiting for our plane

it was a propeller driven plane with only four seats 

to a row but enough space for our knees.

cousin Inday gets to seat beside the hunk and

we tried to beat each other to dreamland.

a shot of the enchanted place we were going to.

by this time my heart was skipping beats and doing somersaults.

the Coron beauties - including Erbing of course.

Lilibeth meets her penpal - Eran, the guy who organized and 

booked our tours and accommodations and promised us that we 

would have a blast. he is an accredited tourist guide and 

he took charge of our vacation. he didn't disappoint us a 

bit and we would recommend him to anyone who would want to experience Coron.

the excitement is palpable

our first meal in coron and i had to take a photo of this 

adobong kambing. it was soo good and gone in a few minutes.

Maquinit hot springs guaranteed to boil your testicles
to a soft yet crunchy mass.

i was wishing i lived nearby.

the next day was island hopping and swimming in an island 
lake that had hot and cold water side-by-side.

never-ending photo shoots.. the place was just so
enchanting and mesmerizing. krabi and phuket would pale
in comparison.

an iconic shot that Coron is much known for

crystal clear water + bffs make such a beautiful scene

this is one of Eran's advantage - you eat like a king.
check out the broiled squid, crabs, fish, chicken,
pork and some eggplant salad.

the private boat for the whole day. the skipper is
from Bacolod Lanao del Norte who visited Coron and got hooked.

fun, fun, fun... just like teenage girls who ran away from home.

and now the best part of the day begins...

... and i'm not talking about the tequila that i bought at duty free bangkok and carried all the way to the island.

it's about opening up and sharing tales of adventures, 
of hearts breaking, of missed chances and successes, etc.
with the tequila loosening up a little the tightly guarded secrets.

that's our corner in the Palanca Guest House that
graciously allowed us to rumble into the late hours of the night.

in the end it was Tune, Ann, Erbing and Noah making
one toast after another. we managed to walk to our
rooms unaided. what is 1 liter of tequila anyway?

there's no hangover in Coron and the next day
found us back in the water in another side of Coron.

Erbing's legs were no match for Ann's and Lilibeth's

Lilibeth's fear was conquered in these waters.

we had lunch at another beach and this time we had

kinilaw, crabs, broiled fish, etc.. burp burp

back to port in the afternoon we gazed up at Mt. Tapias
and vowed to conquer her at the break of dawn.

5 am and we're walking the silent streets of Coron
in our quest for Mt. Tapias peak with the lighted
cross beckoning

720 steps up

Tune is taking it easy

a jig on the top after some practice, but i still
can't seem to get it right.

that's us minus Lilibeth who decided not to finish the climb
and plus Nuj and Cheery (my dive buddies). two groups actually
merged in this climb. bff + dive buddies...old + young. LOL.

we met Lilibeth on our way down and with our encouragement she decided to finish the climb and made it. 

Lilibeth on top of mt tapias

that's the town of Coron and the outlying islands

checking in for the return trip to Cebu and Erbing is overweight

separation blues

a storm was threatening but the plane managed to land and leave
with us on board

Erbing behaving bizarrely... guess it was because of the pretty 
stewardess up front giving instructions.

in the airport shuttle bus savoring the final moments
before parting

i'm in mactan airport for my return trip to Bangkok and bffs get into Lilibeth's car and wave good bye... while my heart threatens to stop beating. i'll see you again my friends and please remember that no matter how you may age i will still love you "just the way you are."