Our barkada was so waiting for this trip because it’s rare that a lot of us get to go on out of town trips.  This time, only one was absent.  Personally, I was so excited because it’s the first time we get to bring both little dogs on a long trip.  So in total, we were 8 adults, 1 toddler, 1 baby in the tummy, and 3 dogs.  So holidays come few and far between for us, in fact Holy Week is the ONLY break for radio jocks like us, so we aimed to fully recharge over the 3 days we were slated to stay there.  We were also looking forward to playing house, since we brought all the food we were cooking during our stay.  The pictures we saw of Canyon were quite inviting, especially the photos of the pool area.

When we got there though, I was quite disappointed at how decrepit the place looked.  Half the condos were never finished, so they looked like ghostly ruins.  In fact the abandoned condos in front of ours looked outright creepy with its open doorways and windows.  Even the unit we stayed in had a musty, moldy smell.  Spic and span was NOT the term I would use for the place.  The bathrooms reeked of some unearthly scent, not very clean as well, and one toilet tended to flood.  Great.  We were so excited only to be stuck in a rotting condo, forlorn and forgotten, like some hermit spinster lost in the woods.

Despite the crappy crib, thank goodness the company saved the day.  It was just nice being among friends, eating, resting, eating, swimming, eating, laughing, drinking, and did I mention eating?  We had 2 friends who are EXCELLENT cooks, who prepared killer meals for us like binagoongan, white adobo, grilled chicken, among many lip-smacking, finger-licking, artery-clogging yummies the whole time.  Not to mention the chips and the softdrinks and the Kool Aid ice pops and anything sinful we can gobble down.  What made the meals so nice was the fact that it was still a bonding time for us, laughing and telling stories and stuff.

The dogs really had a blast.  There was Ben, our friends’ pooodle-pom mix, and our 2 little ones, Nairobi (Chihuahua) and Cairo (Yorkie).  They would just run around endlessly, chasing each other, especially Ben, a male, who has a mandog-crush on Cairo, another male.  Ben would constantly try to hump Cairo, while conveniently ignoring Nairobi, who’s a bit on the Amazonian side of the gender spectrum.  Hmmm…these dogs…

And speaking of dogs, Nairobi would always look out from the balcony and bark at the condo in ruins across from us.  There’s nothing there, but she would constantly stop by the sliding door, growl angrily at something she’s looking at, then start barking the way she barks at home when there are strangers in the house.  It was freaking us out because we were already sufficiently creeped out without our dog barking at some invisible spectre watching us from the ruins.  Add to that the constant browouts (supposedly because of the increased Holy Week load of visitors) throughout the evenings, at least 5 during our stay.

To be fair, the pool and beach area were not so bad.  The pool was pretty nice, and the beach was good enough.  We heard that the new owners took over the hotel, which looks much MUCH better and well-maintained than the condos, so the hotel and pool areas look spiffier and less teaming with germs and bacteria.  There were lifeguards aplenty, a buffet for the day trippers, decent toilets and shower areas, and activities like banana boat and all that other stuff some beach-goers like (we prefer peace and quiet, not so much the rowdy motors from speedboats).  We were able to swim and fry under the sun even though we were dogged by huge chunks of clouds throughout our stay.  But every time the sun takes a peek and blasts some rays, we made sure we were there to sizzle under them.

So despite the disappointing digs, we really had fun and managed to enjoy our stay, just happy to be together.  I seriously had an attack of the blues once we got back to Manila.  Even though I had Saturday and Sunday to chill, I felt desolate and I really still wanted to go somewhere and soak in the warm ocean.  It didn’t help that it was sweltering hot over the last weekend.  But I had to face the music and concentrate on working hard come Monday, so I still have a budget to propel me until the next vacation.

At least tomorrow we’re off to another beach, this time Puerto Galera for the 2nd leg of our RX Hot Summer Fling!  Delle and I will be hosting the party Friday night, but we’ll also be with Tom Alvarez and DJ McCoy.  I hope to swim a bit before we get to work, so I’m stoke again.  I aim to go to the beach as much as possible before the way short summer months are over.  Whenever I feel dehydrated from the punishingly humid Manila weather, I can’t think of anything else but being on a warm sunny beach, naked, I mean wearing appropriate swimwear.  Puerto Galera, you’re about to be Monsterized!