Day 1 (4 May 2006)
From one side of the fence (my side, Jake’s side): ABA! Leisurely ang shower.. then a fonecall from Dr. Milan Ratunil. The maid answers the fone while I’m still in the shower. Normally, the maid would disturb me while I’m in the shower, informing me immediately of the fonecall, no matter how trivial the call would be. For example, she informed me immediately when a friend of my brother called asking where my brother is.. hmmm, not here in the shower! (but I kept that remark to myself.) But this time, she didn’t, so I assumed it must have been totally insignificant. When I went out of the shower, I passed by her and she didn’t inform me too, so it must have been really insignificant. While I was changing, I kinda got bothered by the fonecall that the maid did not tell me about, so I asked her what it was about it. And then KABOOM! She told me that it was Dr. Ratunil, informing me that we will meet na lang at 6 a.m. “WHOA!!! Meet where?” The original meeting time was 6:30 a.m. and it’s now 5:50 a.m. and I’m standing here taking my fucking leisurely time changing. Had I not asked... Grrrrrrrr!!!! SO PANIC! STANLEY LET’S GO! So off we go to the dorm.. take note pipol, to the DORM! Halfway there, I had to fone Milan coz I was getting pretty worried, and to my horror, I was answered not by the customary polite “Hello!” Instead, I was answered by a voice that was apparently in PANIC as well. It was a panic level that matched my panic level and perhaps even more. Dr. Ratunil, on the other line, said: “Jake, we’re on our way to the pier, we will meet you there, ferry leaves at 6 a.m.” All of these details we’re given to the maid?! WHOA!! Of all the details to miss it had to be those, off all the fone calls not to inform me, it had to be that fonecall, of all the circumstances to do that it had to be this day when we leave for Boracay!!! “Stanley, we’re going to the pier!” It is freaking 6:53 a.m.!! All those details given to me in an eight-second fone call! It was like an eighteen-wheeler truck crashing at me head-on! PANIC! DOUBLE PANIC! TRIPLE PANIC! Brown bag for Dr. Hofileña please!
From the other side of the fence: at the dorm with Dr. RJ Villaflor (RJ/Ate), Dr. Donna Dee Macabudbud (Dada), and Dr. Milan Ratunil (Milan). While I was taking my leisurely shower, ABA! Leisurely din and pagluluto ng pansit canton! Not a care in the world! And ABA! De-plantsa-plantsa pa! And then a fonecall from Dr. Lynor Nerpiol (Lynor/Manang). The fonecall goes something like.. guys, the ferry trip we are taking at 6:30 a.m. got cancelled so we are taking the 6 a.m. one. WHOA! So, TRALALA ANG TANAN!!! Untata na ang pansit canton, untata na ang plantsa-plantsa!!! GO!
So, everything can now be pieced together. Shortly after Lynor foned Milan, Milan foned me and set-off my own set of panic sequence of events.
Skip to the pier: Dewey (Dr. Dewey Demandante), driving RJ, Milan, and Dada, goes to another dock. Lost! Talent ang pagka-lost! But they eventually find the correct dock for Ocean Jet.
My turn. Skip to the pier: Stan and I headed to the correct dock on the first try. Ok, now pay the toll fee of 10 pesos, sabay confirm if indeed this is the dock for Ocean Jet. The tollguy confirms it’s the dock for Ocean Jet, pero he added “Check nyo lang sir kung ara pa ang barko.” UNWANTED COMMENT! WAAAAH! At that point, I really wanted to just throw the 100-peso-bill to him, and go, speed to the terminal! Pero I had my restraints pa, so cool pa, pero medyo 160 beats per minute na ang heartbeat ko. Now, park beside the Ocean Jet terminal, go out, and again confirm from the tindera ng bubblegum if this is the terminal of Ocean Jet. The tindera confirms that it is indeed the Ocean Jet terminal... pero she added “Fully-booked na sir.” ABA! UNWANTED COMMENT AGAIN! But this time, I would not let the comment pass. “Basi nabaklan na ko ticket sang mga upod ko ya!!” And zoom! Run like THE AMAZING RACE!!! When I entered the terminal, RJ, Milan and Dada had just arrived. Did we make it? Coz the sight that greeted me when I entered the terminal was a huge line of people at the ticket booth. Did we make it? YES!!! Lynor already bought tickets for everybody and, and, and, she was about to give me an award for making it on-time. Not even morning endorsements could make me on-time. Pero Boracay! Mas Importante!! Dr. Karen Meana (Karen), and Dr. Ruscel Dogoldogol (Ruscel) were already there too, and their brothers, Karen’s brother: JR, and Ruscel’s brother: Galileo (please take note of his name at this point.) OK, now all of us had 2 seconds to catch our breath, after that we had to haul your ass on the boat coz we were like the last passengers. Now, distribute the tickets for the seat arrangement. Hindi pa tapos ang action! More, more, more! Up on the boat we go, then look for our seats, most of us found seats immediately. One of the seats for our group was 47H, and it appeared JR was supposed to sit there, pero this lady marches in, asks the guy at 47G or was it 47i if 47H is taken. Detecting something, I told the lady that the seat is taken. ABA! Sit her ass down gyapon ang lola! Again, again, again. This time, sabay kuhit na sa shoulder nya. “Ma’am, taken na na ang seat. Siya ni dapat ang mapungko dira.”, I was pointing to JR while saying that. Shocked speechless na si Milan, witnessing the entire event unfold before his eyes. Zipper the mouth na lang! It was a good thing one of the officers offered his seat for JR. Otherwise.. hmmm, fill in the blanks. And it was also a good thing that Lynor wasn’t able to notice it... otherwise... hmmmm! Hands at waist na tani, with matching glaring eyes, and kilay rising to skyscraper levels. Don’t mess with this bunch right now. The combined effect of waking up early, being made to rush, worrying about the arrival of friends, worrying about making the boat, and skipping the daily maintenance dose of coffee... well, 60 kilograms of flesh in pure adrenaline rush standing right in front of you.. times 9! BEWARE! THEY BITE!!
Well, good thing most of the ferry ride was boring, it allowed the adrenaline rush to subside.
Just a reminder, most of the stuff written in this segment happened between 5:50 to 6:05 a.m., 15 minutes! And we have 4 more days to go. HAPPY READING!
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