(June 2002)

I find myself laughing alone these days like a lunatic. Who wouldn't be, the recent "escape" in Western Pangasinan was a riot. We left Friday  night at past 11pm as against the original meeting time of 10pm, no thanks to Gary, Donna, and Leon. I'm lucky not to have received dagger looks  from the group waiting on SM City for being sooo late.

Upon entering Mangatarem, the first town of Pangasinan we passed, the rains started, and, well, up to Bolinao. It couldn't be because i was singing my heart out the whole trip just to keep my driver and me awake, or is it? We arrived in Luciente Dos at around past 4am and we had  freshly baked and miniscule 'pan de sal' and cheese and coffee. Everybody, still tired and sleepless, found himself or herself a place to retire even  for a short while. Besides, the warmth and hospitality of Catanaoan family made us feel right at home. After the second breakfast at  9am we  proceeded to Bolinao town to buy food and other supplies for our next rendezvous.

The rain had stopped and on our way to Bani, sunshine greeted us on the hi-way. What a fine morning. Jimmy Cliff was crooning over the   cassette tape, " I can see clearly now the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way, here is the rainbow I’ve been waiting for, it's   gonna be a bright, bright, sun shiny day.”

In Bani, I brought the group to the highest part of Surip overlooking the beach and the South China Sea. The view was beautiful, the wind   fresh, and the group upbeat because the rain had stopped completely. We then went down to Mayor Navarro's corner of paradise in Surip   and the group  excitedly took pictures on the rocky part of the beach. It dawned on us that the prospect of snorkling that day is akin to   rock climbing without ropes, the waves were so big and it could easily throw our fragile body to the sharp rocks. As always, the Mayor  and his lovely and accomodating wife gave us a warm welcome. After sumptuous lunch of steamed hipon and alimasag, bagoong na padas, and green mangoes, courtesy of yours truly, we decided to go caving instead.

Due to rains, the road leading to the cave was muddy. We had to hike but it turned out to be a pleasant experience. The entrance to   Nalsoc Cave was, as Gary put it, Lord-of-the-Ringesque in quality, intimidating and yet, awesome. Boy, this was where the fun begins.  Not everybody had a  flashlight, a big no-no in caving, but since I’ve been to the cave for the fourth time already, i know that there are no   hidden abyss, forked chamber,  and three-eyed monster inside, therefore, it's safe as a condom. So guys, you better avail yourselves  headlamps for our future caving  and camping trips. For me it's always been fun and adventurous to enter Nalsoc and that moment was  no different. Everybody was thrilled when we got to the 'bat chamber,' where thousands of bats were hovering above us. We moved in deeper up to the moment where we all have to take a dip into neck deep Underground River. Fun, fun, fun! Unfortunately, we cannot go on much deeper since not everybody were quite ready to do some swimming inside the cave.

As always 'safety first' is the main concern   of the club. So we've decided to finish the cave next visit, with complete  gear and stronger conviction. Gary do not forget your lifevest next time, ha, ha, ha! Besides, we didn't have much time for sunlight. We all went  back feeling excited and elated with a few commotions on the side. First, Dana got cramps on both legs, good thing the knights in shining flashlights  were there to help her, Leon, PJ, Gary (shining   head), and ehem, yours truly (yeah, right!). Second, Ate Shawie, just as we're about to reach the cave entrance, bumped her head in one of the stalactites with a loud thud. This was all because PJ did not give attention to her 'pangangailangan' the way he provided Mutya. Speaking of Mutya, who did not join with us in caving, had other plans of her own, in the company of our resident HUNK driver, Pane. Mutya, details please. Back to Surip, most of us went swimming on the beach trying to remove from our bodies the strong stench of bat shit and bat piss.

That night, we indulged with pork adobo and fried bangus, courtesy of, ehem, me (again!), for dinner. With Mayor Navarro's graduation and cutillion inspired music on the background, we spent the night amongst the stars drinking vodka and munching on boiled fresh   peanuts. Mayor, who was obviously charmed by Bennete and Mutya's allure, took pictures of them to be added in his portfolio of bold  beauties, which included Alec Bovick (Alec who?). Then, we all slept like a log after finishing off more beers.

Another beautiful Sunday morning, the girls promised to prepare breakfast this time. But then, it's almost 9pm and there were no breakfast on site. As usual, I had to stretch my culinary prowess in order for us to have a decent meal that morning (yabang no?) with adobo rice, longanisa, fried eggs, prepared instantly. Tsk, tsk, girls next time try harder.

We said our adieu to our good hosts and proceeded to Agno for the next leg of our adventure. We arrived in my distant relatives place in   Agno where I found out that my distant "lola" died a few months ago. This was really sad since she was the one who always attend to whatever i would need in my visits. She will be missed but never forgotten.

Instead of the usual visit to Umbrella Rocks, i decided to check out Sabangan Beach, which I heard was quite ok. After being lost for a few kilometers we finally reached Sabangan. Everybody was so excited to take a dip in the fine gray-sanded beach with a nice view.  Again, for fear of not being able to eat a decent and fast meal, we, the boys, decided to run the kitchen again. The menu, everything  grilled. This time we had samaral fish, tahong, pusit, talong, all grilled to perfection, and steamed okra, seaweeds salad, bagoong padas, and ice cold Coke. If you ever wonder how in the hell did the meals cost only P50 per meal, well, that's the joy of being an “escape”  member. Kudos to me (this is getting to be  a bit boring, really) again.

After the sumptuous buffet, everybody hurriedly changed to their ESCAPE swimwear summer collection. Gary, PJ, Panie, and I opted to stay and rest since we're all dizzy and overfed. From the horizon we saw dark clouds ready to explode large amounts of rainfall, and   when it did, the swimmers started heading for the shades, maybe, i suppose, because the rain wasn't fun anymore if the drops hurts your skin. "Umaaraw, umuulan, ang buhay ay sadyang ganyan," the Rivermaya music from my cassette seemed to share our predicament.

Late that afternoon we headed for home. I expected the road trip back to have the sound of silence. I couldn't be more wrong. The swim in  the  beach did not in anyway diminished the energy of the group. I introduced a 'name game' to keep everybody's mind awake. Any person who cannot   say a word about a certain topic will be forced to strip anything from his or her body. For example, i asked   everybody to name any words pertaining to a female organ. Suggestions were all funny and bordered on the ridiculous. On the other hand, the male organ did not escape castration from the group also. Benette kept pestering me for more words even she was four rows away from me. Afraid maybe that she may have to strip.

Just when you thought everybody would go home naked, the Sagada bunch started to ape Karen Carpenter. Ladies, you have nice choices of song with nicer voices to complement it. The ESCAPE singing chorale covered all sorts of music from retro, new wave, Disney, movie themes, opm, glam rock, Broadway, to, would you believe, Haring Solomon. Ichu, you should've come with us with your   thick songbook. Gary brought the house down, the car, rather, when he unashamedly belted out his version of a Haji Alejandro classic.  PJ and I did a couple of eraserheads. Leon, on the other hand, gave out his version of "Bulag, Pipi, at Bingi" quite literally. Not even the   charm of Benette (while the rest of the girls doo-wop on the side) could persuade him to shed the hidden Videoke King in his closet.  Peace, man!

Only a stopover in Jollibee Pampanga made us realize that we've been singing for almost four hours already. Now we knew that singing   could induce starvation. The few hours of travel from Pampanga to Manila became silent after everybody had our fix, meaning, "busog."

After I left everybody from their respective stops, i knew for sure that in the coming days, I would be smiling by myself again like a   lunatic. I knew  that because the same thing always happens to me after the end every 'escape' trip. This time though the smile would be   more lasting and felt  from the heart. The thought that this club is getting bigger makes me want to sing " here is the rainbow I’ve been   waiting for, it's gonna be a bright, bright, sun shiny day."

(written by Noel Galang)

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