Day 1: Where the Sea Ends and the Sky Begins...

If you're coming from the south, Isla Vista (that's Island View in English) is to the left. You have to go in a narrow alley to get to it. The resort itself is spacious enough, but don't expect any amenities you can normally find in other beach resorts, like pools, recreation area, etc. Aside from the small restaurant, there are only the shower areas, barbecue areas, and of course, the cottages. There is an air-conditioned apartment-type cottage there, but since we're on a budget, we took the non-aircon one.

The cottage had one room, one toilet & bath, small kitchen, another double-decked bed, and two sofas. Aside from the 8 of us, we also shared our room with our little friends, namely, the bed bugs, the mosquitoes, and a big frog that decided to have an overnight stay in the bathroom, ano matter how much we tried, it wouldn't budge! Geez, it took hours before any of us could muster the courage to use the bathroom. For me, it wasn't the fear and intimidation, but the prudeness. I mean, me taking a bath or a poop while the stubborn intruder was there watching and seeing everything? Poor frog! It might've needed a psychiatrist to recover from the trauma! :D

By around 5PM, after we've settled our stuff inside the cottage, we all decided to check out the beach and watch the sunset as well. There are other resorts lining the beach, but the actual attraction of all those resorts is not the beach where they're on, but Potipot Island nearby. So, we made do with running/sitting/walking/playing on the brownish sands while waiting for that favorite part of the day. Although the sand wasn't white, it's very soft and fine, and nicely warm to the skin, that we actually had fun. One of my friends, Pamela, brought a tripod for her cam, so we could take group pics, and since all of us are camwhores, we totally appreciated it! So we took, took, took pics of ourselves and of the setting sun, playing with shadows and silhouettes.

The sunset was just perfect. Since Zambales is the westernmost province in Luzon, there was nothing save Potipot Island that came between us and the phenomenon that was slowly unfolding in front of us. The sea went as far west as our eyes could see, and when I started to lose myself in the whole thing, my imagination drifted me towards the sun. I imagined myself going forward, forward, farther and farther away from everything but the beautiful feeling of peace and contentment I was having, forgetting where the sea ends and the sky begins. ..

Of course, I had to go back to reality, otherwise I would've ended up in Vietnam hehehe. But, the feeling stayed with me for the rest of the night. My friends left when it's almost dark, but I stayed behind, watching and waiting until the last rays of gold, orange, red, and pink were gone before I joined my friends inside the cottage. I just can't get enough of sunsets, never. Sunsets does something to my soul, I just can't describe it in words. That particular one was not an exception. One of the best I've seen in my life :)

Dinner was grilled tilapia (a local fish), pork chops, and plenty of rice. We ate to our hearts content and chatted for a bit, excited for our trip tp Potipot the following day. After dinner, some of us started feeling tired and sleepy because we all haven't slept since the night before. Some of the guys decided to try night-swimming, but as for me, I just layed on the mattress and fell asleep, oblivious to all the noise outside and the comings and goings of people inside the cottage. It was just me and the sandman, and the image of the sunset still in my mind...