Off-Vespa: a La-Z-boy busride, some wakeboarding and goin’ underwater in CamSur!

The times I get to go out-of-town is either on a relaxing vacation with my wife & daughter or an adrenalin-pumping ride with my Vespa buddies. But once a year, a road trip is scheduled around August with the boys (Bong, Jayz & Denden) without our wives and kids. Last year took us to a spelunking trip to the cool, mountainous town of Sagada (watch our video here).

For this year, we initially planned beach bumming in Pagudpud with Karl (sans Mimi) tagging along. But when Randall heard of our plans, he invited us to his home province in CamSur to spend our 4-day trip there instead. First, here’s a group shot of this trip’s cast of characters:

from left: Randall, Jayz, me, Bong, Denden & Karl (lomograph courtesy of Jason)

So off we went. He booked us for an 8+ hour busride to Naga aboard ‘Isarog X-treme’ – a 20-seater aircon bus with spacious and reclining La-Z-boy for seats! The headrests are even foldable for added comfort for sleepyheads. They even thought of adding a throw for those who wish to snuggle with a blanket; but none of us used it since the smell is not exactly ‘garden-fresh!’ hahaha! A clean 737-ish bathroom is located at the mid-section of the bus. Three flatscreen LCD TVs are mounted from the ceiling at the forward, mid- and back sections of the bus. They downside is that the video is not in-sync with the audio which made pleasurable viewing impossible. We left the bus station in Cubao by 8:30PM and arrived Naga at 4:30AM the next day. Had our breakfast in Biggs at the towncenter then headed to Pili afterwards to check-in a Trailer Home at the CWC (CamSur Watersports Complex). From the outside, one would not expect much with our chosen accommodation. But once inside, the place looks great! The seemingly small trailer has all these inside (from left): masters bedroom; kitchen with mini ref, sink, & microwave oven; receiving area facing the main door; another bedroom (twin sharing) with TV & DVD; and a spacious bathroom. All of us knew we just have to be back there to bring our partners/families the next time.

Slept for a while and got up in the afternoon to try our hands in wakeboarding. Now, none of us has tried this sport except for Randall and his brother Ryan so actually falling in line, and given and swift run-through on how to wake board and eventually wait for our turn is literally nerve-wracking. But since I’m in a company of some of alpha-males, I have to at least give it a go instead of running back to our trailer home and sleep! We first tried knee boarding where each of us kneel on the board holding on to dear life a handle attached to a cable being pulled by a criss-crossing automated mechanism several feet overhead. None of us finished the course on our first go. I was wiped-out only a few meters from the launch area. But we got the feel on our second try and were able do do a round or two. Personally, learning how to bank on twisties riding a Vespa helped me in aiming between buoys in preparation for the immediate and sharp turn on the water. We then tried a different board to finally take the upright stance but we all failed miserably and were wipedout as soon as we launched. I even tried using a pair of skis and was only able to go halfway around the course. By then, we realized that knee boarding is the farthest we could go — at least for this trip.

That hurt my ego more than it hurt my body!

At nightfall, we had a sumptuous Bicolano feast at MangoRed’s homebase. Afterwhich we headed to Wharf Galley Rock Cafe for a rockin’ good time!

The days that followed came with more water adventures. First, by going up to Mt. Isarog hot springs, and then, to the beach at the nearby Daruanak Island the day after that. Now spending time with the professional photographers, videographers and photo hobbyists is cool but it has its downside. My bringing a point-&-shoot camera definitely looked lame with these guys. But my wife’s camera sports an ‘underwater outfit‘ so the boys had a great time tinkering with it. Here are some shots:

Jason Magbanua – the sea monster!

Randall, smiling is not enough. Opening your eyes would make a nicer picture! hahaha!

Bong, a big part of the charm of underwater photography is actually goin’ underwater!

Den took this shot of his feet to demonstrate how the water abruptly turns from shallow to deep. One misstep and you’re down to the abyss!

my favorite underwater shot: Karl’s ‘don’t-mess-with-me’ self-portrait

that’s me above water…

and the rest of me under

It has been one hell of a break from our daily grind. To our gracious host, Randall of MangoRed — yo’ the man, pare!

Check out the blog entries of my Bicol travel buddies for more stories and great images!

• CamSur Holiday by Jason Magbanua
• more of Jason’s lomo images from Naga
• Come South! Cam Sur! by Bong Sare of Threelogy
• Naga X by Karl de Leon (of the famed Mimi & Karl tandem)

Viva Bicolandia!

-o-
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J0HNRANA

john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com