starfish, sandbars, and sea snakes

FOUND THIS IN MY "DRAFTS" BIN-- haven't gotten around to finishing and publishing, so here it is!


gad, so many things to write about!

sorry dahil naaalala ko lang magsulat dito kapag may deadline ako, blogging is one of my fave procrasstinasty-ing ways.

so after that finale script, scripting for the show officially ended february 12. after that, i planned an impromptu weekend family getaway to this place:

Stilts, Calatagan in Batangas.  A really charming, beautiful place. If you crave for nature, peace and quiet, somewhere you can reflect and just...stay still for a while-- this is just the place for you.








so tempted to rent those cottage on stilts (the smallest of which costs P8,000+ a night), pero tadhana na ang nagdesisyon for me---  wala nang bakante.


i wanted to celebrate the finished job with my family, and celebrate we did by the beach! sa mga bata pa lang, sulit na sulit na. it was our pamangkins' first time to go to the beach and they thoroughly enjoyed... the pool.

we went all the way to batangas for a swimming pool. seriously, kids?

i don't know what it is with kids and pools. nung bata kasi ako, between the pool and the beach, i'd take the beach any damn old time! seashells, shovels and pails, waves pulling back the sand from my feet, the soft dry sand, the clouds, the blue horizon--those are my fondest early memories of the beach. and i had wanted our babygirl to have those happy memories, too.

uh, she wasn't too happy there, scared of "eels" that might be lurking in the seaweeds abundantly scattered around us. she also doesn't like the sand clinging onto her. oh well. at least she liked the pool.





it's a really beautiful resort. service is also excellent! the beach, though, is not ideal for swimming, because of the seaweeds (masakit sila sa paa, actually), and the fact that the tide can get very low all afternoon. for waders, this is really cool. but swimmers will only be able to "swim" when the tide gets high near sunset.

but here's the catch.at sunset, it's also"exploring" time for certain sea creatures. that afternoon, i had a near-brushin with a sea snake! i was floating face-up in the deeper waters when my companions told me there was an elongated black-and-white creature inches away from me. hindi ko na tiningnan yung "creature"- i bolted. instantly! no looking back. just ran!

i told the front desk about it, they said sea snakes were part of the natural topography of the place (sea snakes live in coral reefs--i think stilts very near or probably constructed right where calatagan reef is).

lesson learned- do NOT swim in the sea near sunset, unless you're fine with the possibility of swimming with snakes. however, should you encounter one, don't panic, just leave them alone and let them swim along. sea snakes don't bother you unless you bother them first.

Yes, Stilts is where little fish swim around your feet and starfish lie around the shore 

I remember this moment at sunset. Daughter was asking father, bakit lumulubog ang araw? or some nature question like that. then, just a few feet away from them, something leapt from the water and dove back in again. coming from the snake scare, they instinctively ran to shore! later na lang namin narealize kung ano yon-- isda! natuwa naman ako! dito lang ako nakakita ng isdang lumalangoy kasama ng tao. cosmopolitan girl that i am. charot!



we spent the night by the sea-- a first time for me in many many years! ours was a beachfront cottage. that night the moon was full and bright (thank you lord, for this beautiful sight). my husband and i sat outside the cottage til dawn, talking, just breathing everything in. the wind, the sound of crashing waves, the lights from ships and bancas passing by, the moon and the stars. 10 years ago this would've taken my breath away, but now it's just something really special. that steady, quiet kind of love. you know you really love someone when both of you have gone past the can't-take-your-hands-off-each-other stage and you still want to be together, still enjoy being with each other.

as dawn came closer, the tide got lower, and for the first time, we witnessed a "moonset"-- (lumulubog din pala ang buwan?) and in those parts, ang bilis pala ng paglubog nya-- as the sun rose on the other side, the moon went down twice as fast.

early morning, we took a stroll around the resort.

Super low tide in the early morning hours. The shore became a vast, vast sandbar. There was this dog running towards the edge of the water. stopped there, and just barked. kept barking for a about a minute, just barking at the sea! naisip tuloy namin-- nalunod kaya yung amo nya sa dagat? ritwal kaya nya ito araw-araw?

the shore was teeming with living creatures-- mollusks of different kinds, still inside their shells, starfish (grabe may isang sobrang laki!)

this starfish was probably as big as my hand. sobrang laki!

my thoughts exactly. sigh.

i really wish we could have stayed longer. i would've wanted to spend a weekend in one of those stilt houses. waking up to the sight of the sea, right in front of you.
 



Sea Snake notwithstanding, I would really want to go back to this place. God-willing, soon. <3