Team Building in Bantayan

There must be something in the waters of Bantayan: salinity concentration, tidal phenomenon, latitude-longitude placement, I don't know, that makes me float! It is only there, and believe me I've tried elsewhere, that I can float for more than a minute straight.

The QAs of 1&1 spent the weekend (October 13-14, 2007) at the beautiful island of Bantayan, a paradise island off the North of Cebu. Meeting time was suppose to be at 7:00 am in the office but only Aiys and Gigi showed up on time with me being 15 minutes lat es (third to arrive yehey!) and everyone else showing up more than 20 minutes later than the agreed time. The trip started out askew with the contact v-hire (transportation van) having gotten destroyed and so cancelling at the last minute. Jimmy had to go look for an alternative van that would fit our budget but due to the rush, all drivers gave us an overpriced amount until we just decided to take the air conditioned bus. We took off around 8:30 am and arrived at the wharf of Hagnaya around 11:30 am with one hour to kill before the ferry would leave for the island and so we ended up having lunch there.

The ferry ride was uneventful with Roland, Tet and me sitting on the wrong side where the scorching heat of the sun was a direct hit! And the other guys bored to wits end, since the TV on board was showing a horrible pirated copy of You Got Served whose volume was impossible to hear, started with the usual inane conversation ending up playing the game Search the Word, mechanics of which are quite self-explanatory and their laughter interrupting the peace and quite that only boredom can bring.

Upon arriving at the island, there was the usual "attack" from the locals, them trying to get us to stay in whatever resort they were promoting for a commission. We stayed in Sugar Beach Resort for an inexpensive price. The accommodation was quite inconsequential as we were there for the sun, sand, and beach! Well, OK, it mattered a little since Aiys was there (she kinda requires these things) and Kang (very understandable, her being 5 months pregnant).

It. Was. Beautiful.

From the sugary grains of sand, to the gentle lapping of the waves, to the sunny weather, the cool sea breeze, the yummy dinner, the yummy drinks, the pretty stars, and of course, the stupid conversations, it was perhaps the most fun company-backed outing we had.

Let me try to give a brief background: in 2006 we went to Hidden Valley Resort which is exactly where it was located, in a hidden valley! The way there was stressing and we ended up with a pretty pool which was quite OK really since we had the place all to ourselves. The rub was that Jan discussed the QI's goals and targets and organizational structure like who reports to whom, and all that jazz. He prepared some 44 slides! And while the resort served lots of snacks in the conference room, the sun outside was whiling away and setting! On May 2007, we had the first team building of the year at Alegria somewhere south of Cebu. The beach was nice but had no shoreline. The pool was nice and so we soaked there for as long as we wanted. It was OK I guess but I was too pregnant to really have fun. So last weekend's outing was without doubt the bestest we had!

The next day, we went to Virgin Island, an island some 30 minutes off Bantayan. We made a deal with some of the locals to transport us there and then take us all the way to Hagnaya in the afternoon where we will take the bus again and head for Cebu City. The pictures will describe the island. On the trip back to Hagyana, we stopped in yet another island, Hilantaga-an, because the banka crew had to buy fuel. There was none. At this point my overly imaginative mind was running away from me at top speed and I was already thinking of being stuck in the middle of the sea with only god knows what kind of creatures there were underwater (fish, maybe?) and the fact that I. CANNOT. SWIM. And the camera might get wet with all the pretty pictures in it. But not to worry, we stopped again on a different part of the same island still looking for fuel. There was none. NOW I WAS REALLY WORRIED! But the "driver" said not to worry, there was enough fuel so who am I to argue. So again, another uneventful boat ride until all of a sudden the banka slowed down and my mind went back to screaming paranoia again, "This is it, no more fuel and Cebu is still soooo small away!" But funnily, the reason why we slowed down was that the boat crew did a ritual of sorts (Jimmy's assumption) since after slowing down the boat, he threw a coin out into the sea and some 10 seconds later, speed up the boat again. Then when we reached Hagnaya, we docked near the pier, right beside some stairs. The stairs was slippery with algae and moss so we were told to be careful. Now Tet has a VERY EXPENSIVE camera with her, I don't know what kind just that IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE and that's enough for me. When she placed a foot on the stairs, she slipped and you guessed it, everyone was screaming, "AYYY!!! ANG CAMERA!!!" And it was some time before she was able to right herself, a slipper was nowhere to be found but thankfully resurfaced sometime later. When she was able to get safely on shore, the questions were still, "Tet, OK ra ang camera?" ("Tet, is the camera OK?) and "Tet, asa imong isa ka tsinelas?" ("Tet, where is your other slipper?"). Her right foot bled a little but it was just a scratch, nothing deep. Yes, we did ask her if she was OK but admittedly, we were worried about the camera :-)

So after cleaning the wound, we walked a block to the bus terminal only to be told that there were no longer any v-hires and the next bus trip would be an hour and thirty minutes later. So, mulling over yet another development, we had ice cream and bread in a nearby bakery and finally decided to go to the next town, Bogo, and try to board the bus from there. We took the tricycle and 14 kilometers later, luckily, a v-hire was available for a reasonable price. And yet another 3 hours of travelling, enduring Jorny strumming songs on his guitar never really finishing them until a string broke and Alain, sighing with relief, said, "OK, on to plan B" and he took out his speaker, attached an Ipod to it and we listened to real music the remainder of the trip back.

It was a fun weekend, thank you people. As usual, I was my most lazy self, a thoroughly no-good participant except to contribute stupid jokes that are not even funny or are too corny that they had to laugh at the corniness of it all!

A fitting end to my employ, sigh...

Enough talk, some pics:




Lunch at Hagnaya



At the wharf



Jimnmy, the only one who actually watched You Got Served

Sugar Beach (but where's the beach?)

"Coconuts" by the shore (Karsten, are you jealous already? :p)


The Beach

My slippers without my feet

My feet with out my slippers


me

Me floating! SEE?!


Gigi, Sheng and Aiys

Twin palms and Aiys







Girls, what are you doing?!



Dionie's nipple and I

Ben's death-wish: head injury due to Calamay...
Alain, Ben, Aiys

Sheng, Kang, Jorny

Kirk gwapo (Hi Chai)

Stan... Ok fine, gwapo too! (Hi X)

Gigi, the pretty bride to be

The girls: Aiys, Gigi, Sheng, Kang

The boys...? Dionie, Lanly, Alain, Ben

First view of the island

Beautiful! (the island and the waters, not Jimmy! :P)









a little self adoration is allowed in my own blog... so, beautiful!!!