UMINA WEEK
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Day 2, 29 November 2016
We woke up early to watch the sunrise!
It was cloudy and we were worried that waking up early was pointless. We spent ten minutes at the beach, watching the mountains that sat in the east, letting our feet sink in the grainy sand. The water swished and swashed in front of us.
But the sun did not disappoint. The oh so majestic being that it was, stood from its throne, and graced us with its beauty and warmth.
It felt like everything clicked into place. Somehow.
Walking back to our cabin, we found Jason and Kaitlyn still lying down in bed. Jason was resentful that my alarm woke him up, too. He couldn't let it go for the rest of the week. Way to hold a grudge, dad.
But he was nice enough to drive to the bakery, early in the morning, to buy bread... and croissants! So, thanks, for the choc croissants, dad!
Before proceeding with the day's activities, I had a crisis. 😩 It was sooooo embarassing! I didn't expect Mother Nature to strike for another two weeks. Yet, there she was.
Anyways, after that, we visited the giant jumping pillow, which my friends enjoyed, but me, not so much. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool.
I went with Evelyn, Kaitlyn, and Jason to the shops to buy gears to cope with the havoc wreaked by Mother Nature, including junk food. Kaits and I tried to buy alcohol from the liquor store but the lady wouldn't let us because Jason and Evelyn, who were both underage, entered the store. We ended up going to a different store and purchasing two bottles of Moscato.
Night 2
Kim and co prepared dinner, which consisted of Mi Goreng, corn, and salad.
When dinner had finished, Kim, Adil, and I drove back to the liquor store to buy the alcohol Kaitlyn and I tried to buy earlier because it was cheap. We got two bottles of Rose Moscato and a couple packs of vodka cruisers.
Game night was, again, hosted in our cabin. This time, our group made a portmanteau out of two games- Paranoia and Pie Face.
How to play Face the Paranoia:
We played it until we realised that one of our friends was drunk off her face! We kind of took advantage of the situation, where we asked her questions and she would have silly answers. Andy decided to sleep in our cabin tonight, while Andrew slept in the other.
Day 3
I overslept! I didn't get to watch the sun rise 😔.
When I realised this, I stayed in bed and just watched an episode of Encantadia. (Haha, call me lame for watching the show early in the morning but I needed to know what was happening with Lira's story!).
For breakfast, we scavenged whatever food we had. Evelyn made tea and toasted crumpets for me. Thanks, yo, or should I say Yeoh.
I decided to be creative. So there was this Cadbury Chocolate powder in front of me, which made me sentimental for Filipino breakfast. The crumpets and the chocolate powder reminded me of Pandesal and the Milo powder. In the Philippines, we put Milo in the pandesal, and I decided to do the same to the crumpets and chocolate powder. This time, it was with a twist... I decided to put peanut butter as the middle man between the chocolate and the bread.
I'll admit it... It was goooood! 😋
Tina, Evelyn, and I actually wanted to explore the town, which was only ten minutes or so away from the resort. While walking, we talked about how freeing it was to not be tied to school, but, for me, the freedom was stifling. I had so much time in my hands that I didn't know how to spend it. So much time, so little money.
We found a local Vinnies shop. I didn't want to go shopping because I didn't want to spend anymore money but the rosy skirt on display ultimately pulled me in. I had to have that skirt!
In a few seconds, the mannequin was robbed of its clothes, because Evelyn also wanted the red shirt partnered with the wrap-around skirt. I didn't need to try on the skirt to know that I was sold.
We looked around the shop for around an hour or so. It was fun because it was a quest for clothes that looked nice on us and that didn't look too worn out. We weren't too worried about the cost because each piece were only about $5 to $7.
In the end, I got five pieces! A blue dress that Tina picked out for me, a pink lacy dress Evelyn handed to me, a maroon shirt from Jay Jays, a black leather skirt, and the rosy wrap-around skirt!
Jason picked us up because we were too tired to walk back.
For lunch, we had roast chicken in a wrap. We also bought beer-battered chips from the resort's cafe (which was fucking delicious).
The group decided to go to the beach after lunch. I let them go ahead to the beach because crisis.
When I reached the beach, Nicole and Andrew were playing at the shore. The rest had walked on and to the rocks, so I did a little soul-searching of my own. It was quite fun to be alone, actually. I took my time getting to the rocks. And when I got to the rocks, I tried to be daring. Every time I had the chance, I hopped onto the rocks closest to the water, and sometimes, I found myself sitting, letting my legs dangle off the edge.
At some point, I was able to reunite with the group.
Night 3
Tina, Nicole, Andy, and Andrew cooked pasta! But Kaitlyn and I ate later than everyone because we got carried away with our conversation. We should've been pasta, I guess...
Everyone was too tired to function, so we didn't do a proper game night. Nicole, Andy, Andrew, and I played card games.
Tina, Evelyn, Kaitlyn, and I drank Moscato. I kinda had one too many drinks...
I wasn't drunk, I remembered everything that night. I remembered how everything just seemed so funny, but really it wasn't. I laughed, and I wasn't sure if I had control of it- if I had control in the way that I was going with the flow- or if I actually could not control my laughter. It was a nice feeling, though. I felt light, and I didn't have to think of consequences or of how people around me felt. I was just in the moment. I slept the night away with giggles and laughters.
Day 4
It was my last day as I had to head back to Sydney early.
I overslept... again. I missed the sunrise... I was too tired to go with Evelyn and Tina to the town, which we agreed to go to again the night before.
Jason, Kaitlyn, Andrew, Andy, and I had breakfast at the resort's cafe. I ordered the small brekky- which I actually overestimated and was legit small. The bread was good, though, and I liked the milkshake. Samuel also joined us.
I was feeling anti-social so I excused myself to go to the beach. I let the sea wash the sand off my feet.
Okay, so I do this thing whenever I go to the beach. I stand at the shore, facing the ocean, and I watch the waves collide onto each other, outdoing the other. After the waves collapse, the water calmly runs up the coast and holds my feet captive, and as it does so, I close my eyes. When the ocean pulls the water back, I open my eyes, and everything's in fast-motion, like the world around me is in a time-lapse, and I'm the only one not moving.
Serenity.
I sat on the sand for a while, until I felt too hot under the sun.
I found Nicole, Andy, and Andrew in the arcade room, so I joined them. I battled Andy in this fighting game and I can't believe I won! 😁
Later in the afternoon, Kaitlyn and I took a dip in the beach, while Evelyn sunbathed. The girl fell asleep under the sun and woke up to have been burnt.
We headed back to our cabins just in time for dinner. For the night, we ate at Umina Club. Jason drove.
As it was a club, those of us who were over the age of 18, legal adults, had to sign in. Originally, the receptionist was not going to let us into the club because some of us were underage, but we cleared it up with her that we were not going to consume alcohol, but was just there to have dinner.
I ordered pork chops with vegetables- roast potato, carrots, beans. It reminded me of that awful meal Angela and I had at Harbourside. It wasn't that this meal was awful, I think I compared it because this meal was waaaay better.
After dinner, Nicole, Tina, Andrew, and Andy opted to walk back to the cabins. I wanted to walk, too, but I had to organise all my things as Kuya Karlo told me that he would be there by 7:30pm.
The car ride back was hilarious because Jason drove around the site, and we kind of got lost...? He took a wrong turn and we ended up at some random street. We did a U-turn, which seemed impossible because the street was soooooo narrow. But we found our way.
I said goodbye to Kaitlyn, Jason, and Evelyn, which made me sad because I wished I didn't have to go home early. Nicole, Tina, Andrew, and Andy were still on their way, but I couldn't wait for them so I wasn't able to bid them goodbye.
And so this journey ends...
It was cloudy and we were worried that waking up early was pointless. We spent ten minutes at the beach, watching the mountains that sat in the east, letting our feet sink in the grainy sand. The water swished and swashed in front of us.
But the sun did not disappoint. The oh so majestic being that it was, stood from its throne, and graced us with its beauty and warmth.
It felt like everything clicked into place. Somehow.
 |
| Panoramic shot of the sunrise at Umina beach |
 |
| ctto Evelyn |
But he was nice enough to drive to the bakery, early in the morning, to buy bread... and croissants! So, thanks, for the choc croissants, dad!
Before proceeding with the day's activities, I had a crisis. 😩 It was sooooo embarassing! I didn't expect Mother Nature to strike for another two weeks. Yet, there she was.
Anyways, after that, we visited the giant jumping pillow, which my friends enjoyed, but me, not so much. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool.
I went with Evelyn, Kaitlyn, and Jason to the shops to buy gears to cope with the havoc wreaked by Mother Nature, including junk food. Kaits and I tried to buy alcohol from the liquor store but the lady wouldn't let us because Jason and Evelyn, who were both underage, entered the store. We ended up going to a different store and purchasing two bottles of Moscato.
Night 2
Kim and co prepared dinner, which consisted of Mi Goreng, corn, and salad.
When dinner had finished, Kim, Adil, and I drove back to the liquor store to buy the alcohol Kaitlyn and I tried to buy earlier because it was cheap. We got two bottles of Rose Moscato and a couple packs of vodka cruisers.
Game night was, again, hosted in our cabin. This time, our group made a portmanteau out of two games- Paranoia and Pie Face.
How to play Face the Paranoia:
- Form a circle with your group,
- The person to your right asks you a question and you have to answer with the name of another person in the group. For example, Person 1: "Who is most likely to be a virgin?" Person 2: "Harry"
- Now, if the person whose name was mentioned is curious as to what the question was, they can opt to take the chance to get smacked with whipped cream on the face to get the question revealed to them.
It was suspenseful because you never knew if you were going to get hit with the cream or not!
Day 3
I overslept! I didn't get to watch the sun rise 😔.
When I realised this, I stayed in bed and just watched an episode of Encantadia. (Haha, call me lame for watching the show early in the morning but I needed to know what was happening with Lira's story!).
For breakfast, we scavenged whatever food we had. Evelyn made tea and toasted crumpets for me. Thanks, yo, or should I say Yeoh.
I decided to be creative. So there was this Cadbury Chocolate powder in front of me, which made me sentimental for Filipino breakfast. The crumpets and the chocolate powder reminded me of Pandesal and the Milo powder. In the Philippines, we put Milo in the pandesal, and I decided to do the same to the crumpets and chocolate powder. This time, it was with a twist... I decided to put peanut butter as the middle man between the chocolate and the bread.
 |
| ctto evelyn |
Tina, Evelyn, and I actually wanted to explore the town, which was only ten minutes or so away from the resort. While walking, we talked about how freeing it was to not be tied to school, but, for me, the freedom was stifling. I had so much time in my hands that I didn't know how to spend it. So much time, so little money.
We found a local Vinnies shop. I didn't want to go shopping because I didn't want to spend anymore money but the rosy skirt on display ultimately pulled me in. I had to have that skirt!
In a few seconds, the mannequin was robbed of its clothes, because Evelyn also wanted the red shirt partnered with the wrap-around skirt. I didn't need to try on the skirt to know that I was sold.
We looked around the shop for around an hour or so. It was fun because it was a quest for clothes that looked nice on us and that didn't look too worn out. We weren't too worried about the cost because each piece were only about $5 to $7.
In the end, I got five pieces! A blue dress that Tina picked out for me, a pink lacy dress Evelyn handed to me, a maroon shirt from Jay Jays, a black leather skirt, and the rosy wrap-around skirt!
Jason picked us up because we were too tired to walk back.
For lunch, we had roast chicken in a wrap. We also bought beer-battered chips from the resort's cafe (which was fucking delicious).
The group decided to go to the beach after lunch. I let them go ahead to the beach because crisis.
When I reached the beach, Nicole and Andrew were playing at the shore. The rest had walked on and to the rocks, so I did a little soul-searching of my own. It was quite fun to be alone, actually. I took my time getting to the rocks. And when I got to the rocks, I tried to be daring. Every time I had the chance, I hopped onto the rocks closest to the water, and sometimes, I found myself sitting, letting my legs dangle off the edge.
At some point, I was able to reunite with the group.
Night 3
Tina, Nicole, Andy, and Andrew cooked pasta! But Kaitlyn and I ate later than everyone because we got carried away with our conversation. We should've been pasta, I guess...
Everyone was too tired to function, so we didn't do a proper game night. Nicole, Andy, Andrew, and I played card games.Tina, Evelyn, Kaitlyn, and I drank Moscato. I kinda had one too many drinks...
I wasn't drunk, I remembered everything that night. I remembered how everything just seemed so funny, but really it wasn't. I laughed, and I wasn't sure if I had control of it- if I had control in the way that I was going with the flow- or if I actually could not control my laughter. It was a nice feeling, though. I felt light, and I didn't have to think of consequences or of how people around me felt. I was just in the moment. I slept the night away with giggles and laughters.
Day 4
It was my last day as I had to head back to Sydney early.
I overslept... again. I missed the sunrise... I was too tired to go with Evelyn and Tina to the town, which we agreed to go to again the night before.
ctto evelyn
Jason, Kaitlyn, Andrew, Andy, and I had breakfast at the resort's cafe. I ordered the small brekky- which I actually overestimated and was legit small. The bread was good, though, and I liked the milkshake. Samuel also joined us.
I was feeling anti-social so I excused myself to go to the beach. I let the sea wash the sand off my feet.
Okay, so I do this thing whenever I go to the beach. I stand at the shore, facing the ocean, and I watch the waves collide onto each other, outdoing the other. After the waves collapse, the water calmly runs up the coast and holds my feet captive, and as it does so, I close my eyes. When the ocean pulls the water back, I open my eyes, and everything's in fast-motion, like the world around me is in a time-lapse, and I'm the only one not moving.
Serenity.
I sat on the sand for a while, until I felt too hot under the sun.
I found Nicole, Andy, and Andrew in the arcade room, so I joined them. I battled Andy in this fighting game and I can't believe I won! 😁
Later in the afternoon, Kaitlyn and I took a dip in the beach, while Evelyn sunbathed. The girl fell asleep under the sun and woke up to have been burnt.
We headed back to our cabins just in time for dinner. For the night, we ate at Umina Club. Jason drove.
As it was a club, those of us who were over the age of 18, legal adults, had to sign in. Originally, the receptionist was not going to let us into the club because some of us were underage, but we cleared it up with her that we were not going to consume alcohol, but was just there to have dinner.
I ordered pork chops with vegetables- roast potato, carrots, beans. It reminded me of that awful meal Angela and I had at Harbourside. It wasn't that this meal was awful, I think I compared it because this meal was waaaay better.
After dinner, Nicole, Tina, Andrew, and Andy opted to walk back to the cabins. I wanted to walk, too, but I had to organise all my things as Kuya Karlo told me that he would be there by 7:30pm.
The car ride back was hilarious because Jason drove around the site, and we kind of got lost...? He took a wrong turn and we ended up at some random street. We did a U-turn, which seemed impossible because the street was soooooo narrow. But we found our way.
I said goodbye to Kaitlyn, Jason, and Evelyn, which made me sad because I wished I didn't have to go home early. Nicole, Tina, Andrew, and Andy were still on their way, but I couldn't wait for them so I wasn't able to bid them goodbye.
And so this journey ends...
Always,
Justine
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