Our 'Epic' Journey to Oriental Mindoro: Day 2 - Rest(?)house

It's technically Day 2 already but we're still on our way to Albert's place so... :)) 

The Long Wait Continues

I don't know about the others but I was feeling really drained by this time. I couldn't help but think about my work because I was supposed to finish 3 more articles last night and I wasn't able to do that. I was literally just staring blankly. I didn't want to talk because: a.) I was starving and I'm trying to conserve energy; and b.) I honestly couldn't think of anything else but work. haha

They were all taking turns guarding our spot in the long queue and I was just there sitting and feeling miserable. Then I realized... this is not how I want it to end. I could do better than just mope around, forcing God to listen to me lament about my sorry state. I then stood up and walked around with one goal in mind: To look for a place to charge the tablet and phone WiFi. While walking, I was thinking how easy it would be to ask for permission to plug in an outlet once I see an office-like place. 

The first spot I noticed
with an electrical outlet was the police/information assistance booth near the port's entrance. There were just two plugs: one for the electric fan and one for the water dispenser. I debated for a second if that's a good place but finally decided to just go do it once I spotted someone who looked like she's in charge. I asked politely-and-very-meekly if I could somehow plug my tablet in their outlet. At first they refused but I tried again. I put on my best paawa look and asked them if I could please use it because I just need to finish/submit something. Thank God it worked and the woman told me I could temporarily unplug the electric fan. Nice! 

I got to work then and was able to edit my teammate's articles despite the intermittent connection and the general hassle of doing it using a small tablet. At least I was able to tell them I'm stuck in Batangas port for the night after editing a couple articles from my team. While doing that, I suddenly remembered I still have that cup noodles from the bus stop earlier today and with the hot water dispenser just within arms reach, I decided to eat there, too.

But after maybe half an hour, one of the police officers seated in front of me said that no one's actually allowed to use that electrical outlet for personal use since it's just for the fan and the water dispenser. Oops. And for added credibility, he told me that even they themselves were not allowed to charge their phones on that outlet. Double oops. In short, I was then forced to say that I won't be long anyway and had to quickly wrap up what I was doing.

It's almost past 12mn already at this time and I was actually a bit worried that they might have already secured tickets and were looking for me for ages. But when I texted Albert, he said he's still in line. I just couldn't believe that after almost 7 hours in line, we still haven't bought any ticket. What's up with this port?

I decided to buy something to eat before I head back there in our little place in the crowded ticketing area and settled on some expensive piyaya (there were no cheap ones so no choice there). I also managed to get two empty bottles that we used that day and filled them up with cold water from the dispenser XD

Dan and Ronnie were still taking turns accompanying Albert in the queue and I was just so tired I fell asleep on our baggage....

Finally, at around 3am I woke up from my nap and found out we got tickets! At long last. But our ferry won't sail until 5am so we still have a lot of time to kill (which is just perfect because we had to literally fight our way through the crowd just to reach the entrance of the terminal). Thank God we were able to get through that in one piece and board the ferry ahead of departure time. Early morning sea air after a stressful day? Perfect.

Finally.

The Long-overdue Ferry Ride and the Ridiculously Expensive Jeepney Ride

Welcome to Calapan, Oriental Mindoro!

7am. Finally, we've set foot on Oriental Mindoro! Yay! By this time, I was still under the impression that the remaining leg of the trip would not be more than an hour. I was wrong. First, we had to wait for the jeepney to get completely filled up then travel for around half an hour, I think. (When we got off the jeepney, we were even surprised when the guy told us the fare's actually 50 each, not 30. Wow, that's extortion already. It wasn't even that far! Oh well.) 

Albert's family was waiting for us with their trike across the road. I didn't realize this at that time but literally his whole family was there -- his dad, mom and 3 younger brothers, including the baby brother. I guess they must have missed Albert. When his mom arrived, from the market I guess, we took off. We drove along a seemingly endless rocky road flanked by equally endless ricefields. It's a proper rural place alright, and I like it a bit more.

----------------------------------- This is where Day 2 starts actually :))

Finally (at Albert's) Home!

So, we've met the rest of Albert's big family -- his grandma, grandpa, uncle and lots of kids: Kathleen, Erika, Shedi, __ Rolly, Sandy, Andy

Anyway, even after relocating in the nipa hut at the back of the house I can't connect with my phone WiFi so I had to borrow a Globe pocket WiFi which works intermittently in that area. At least I was able to send a Skype message to my boss before the connection completely died on me. I would have fallen asleep right then and there if not for the little kids with me who can't seem to decide which they would like me to play in their laptop: Big Hero 6, Frozen or an English dub of Doraemon. 

Finally, after more than 24 hours of not eating any proper meals, we get to eat lunch. On plates. With rice and all. It's a wonder how you appreciate mundane things after having to survive without them.

I still can't forget about my work though and I'm wondering if my boss got my Skype message this morning where I apologized for being MIA last night. In my quick apology message, I even said I will make it up to her today so knowing that I still can't connect properly to the Internet still is really eating me up. I even proposed to go to the town proper and work in an Internet cafe but thankfully, Albert suggested going to his relative's house downtown where they have a WiFi and possibly a better reception. Needless to say, I rushed to get a much-needed shower right after lunch and then we set out for downtown, thanks to his dad who drove us with a trike. The plan is to just return home once I'm done and then pick up Ronnie and Dan.

(By  the way, the house of Albert's relative is a mansion.) To my dismay and disbelief, we still wasn't able to connect to the WiFi in the house because no one seems to know the correct password. I was thinking then that I should have at least brought the pocket WiFi so we can try if there's a decent signal there. To my delight, Albert has brought it with him in his bag. Good thinking bro! 

It's a Miracle

Honestly, I thought I just got fired. After only three days at work, no less. That's because when I logged on to check our work assignment sheet, I couldn't find my name there. Okay, I panicked for a second and then immediately sent another Skype message to my boss. Told her I'd love to have my topics now so I can finish them earlier. And just to check if she read my I'm-sorry message, I followed up with "I'm not sure if you read my message early this morning..."

After a few nerve-wracking minutes of waiting for her to reply, I decided to just check the work sheet again to see if my name will come up this time. And to my immense relief, there at the very end of the colum, I saw my name (which means I'm getting assigned my topics today)! Also, it means I'm not fired. *phew* Lesson learned: Apparently, my boss reads my Skype messages but just won't reply to them if she doesn't feel like it.

Returned to their house after a couple of hours and found Ronnie still trying to contain the group of energetic kids while Dan was sleeping soundly. That reminded me: I haven't slept properly for how many days in a row now? Lost count.

Food Trip at the Plaza

We all went to the big house and dropped by the plaza to get some dinner. Though I knew I really should start working already, I still went with them thinking that it probably won't take long anyway. There was really nothing special to see at the plaza at that time; we just looked around the food stalls and basically did a food trip. 

I remember we had this funny pseudo-argument when one of us got impatient about us checking out food stalls but not buying anything yet. He's all Choose-now-we're-wasting-time while I was all But-I'm-still-thinking-about-what-to-buy. I even made the mistake of asking why he didn't choose and buy for himself already if he's in such a hurry. *facepalm* Of course he'll say he's waiting for everyone -- you know, "All for one, one for all". (-_-') At once, we remembered how we noted one time that we should always have Samuel with us or else no one will serve as a buffer. XD (Before  anyone rebukes us about bearing with your brothers, I just like to clarify for the record that the argument was not serious -- it's more like funny banter, really.)

Ended up buying some quail eggs while the others bought burgers, calamares and stuff. 

Back to Work

Thought I'd be able to rest at least a little bit earlier today but guess I was wrong. I ended up sleeping around 3am! I wasn't able to appreciate the comforts of the house  that much because of trying to frantically write three articles and edit my team's work but...oh well.

Go to Day 3