And, we entered Bolinao proper. The roads were lined with coconut trees and country houses adorned with many flowering plants. We drove on and on for some more hours until we reached the sign that says “Welcome to Patar.” The road got narrower. Wild plants and bushes lined either side of the road.

On my right side, I saw very big rolling waves hitting the shore, and I excitedly pointed them to Lee, to which he groaned “Wow”. The view was spectacular—big rolling blue waves making white foams and bubbles when they hit the shore, exactly the opposite of the calm sea in Hundred Islands Alaminos.

We passed by many resorts and we were tempted to stay there but the resorts were private resorts and they were expensive, so we agreed to go to a  public beach.  We reasoned that the sea in the private resorts is the same sea in the public resort, so yeah…it was a good way to console ourselves, not acknowledging the fact that we did not have enough money to stay at a private resort. Sometimes, denial is heavenly.

We drove some more, following signs, until we reached an unpaved road. Waze told us to turn left, so we turned left. The end of the road led us to the beach. It was December and so there were a lot of people, and it was a challenge to find a good accommodation house.

As usual, Lee stayed in the car while I walked around looking for a comfortable but affordable accommodation. After the fifth try, I could not believe my luck. I found a newly-constructed accommodation house, with really big and air-conditioned rooms, with a common cooking area for all of the vacationers, and a wide parking area for our Avanza and for the other cars. There was also a small retail store in front of it, also owned by the accommodation house owner.  It was along the road, and it was only a few minutes away from the beach.

The floor of the rooms was shiny and wooden, the beds were wide and they were so clean that I could still smell the detergent powder and fabric conditioner that were used in cleaning the sheets. I could also smell the fresh paint on the wall. There’s a veranda for each room, equipped with a dining table and some chairs.

The rooms were originally priced at 1,500 but I haggled again, so finally it was 1,200 per night. Lee was really pleased when he saw the rooms. I occupied Room 1, the one near the road, and Lee occupied Room 2.

I don’t know what wood was used for the bedroom floor but it was a shade between black and brown and it was very shiny. I felt sorry for the wood when Lee entered his room in his dusty shoes. I had the sense to bring with me my indoor slippers. Well…I think the owners should provide indoor slippers if they don’t want the floors to be sandy and dusty. But in my opinion, vacationers should respect the property as well by keeping it as clean and as orderly as they can. Talk about manners.

As soon as I had settled the things we needed in the room, Lee knocked at my door. He wanted to explore the local place and go to the local market to buy food.

The lodge owner informed us that the town proper where the local market is located is two hours away. My eyes locked with Lee’s eyes and we both laughed an “I’m giving up” laugh. Nevertheless, we drove and we found some small stores selling fresh produce along the road. Again, we relied on Waze. Patar is totally a countryside. It was serene and it looked isolated.

It was quite irritating because all the things that we wanted to buy were all answered with “wala po” which means None.

Finally, after exploring the area some more, Lee and I could buy some vegetables and meat that would last for two days more. I wanted to make pork sinigang so I was happy to be able to buy the ingredients. We also made some strange curry.

While I was cooking sinigang in the common kitchen, I was crying and I did not know why. Maybe because I was hormonal; I had just had my period.

Lee and I ate dinner in his room. He placed the sooty pot directly on the white marble table and soon, the table was oily and sooty as well. Lee  made a lot of mess and we were too tired and too hungry to clean it. Lee drank soju while he ate sinigang and I drank Sprite again.

After dinner, Lee and I went to the beach. It was only a few minutes away on foot. It was a public beach, yes, but it was very big; there was space for everybody. No, we did not play in the water because it was already past 7 in the evening.

There was the moon in its waxing crescent stage. No, I did not bring my camera to the beach that night; I did not expect to see a beautiful moon when I went there.

The beach was so intensely making noise with its waves, and some music was being played somewhere. Lee and I lay down on the sand and started singing together, singing in turns. It was one beautiful moment. The tempestuous sea breeze made the scene even more calming. We sang to the stars, we sang to the sky, we sang to the moon which was partially covered with clouds. After talking nonsense for a about an hour, we decided to call it a night. We exchanged good nights. He headed to his room and I headed to mine. He did not know that when I was already alone in my room, I did not sleep but I made some coffee and ate snacks. I wanted to go to the beach by myself again to compose a poem under the crescent moon but when I saw that it was already really dark outside, I changed my mind.