Manaoag Adventure

Cast: Ace Bautista, Jay Castro, Marlon Castillo, Tin Delos Reyes, Anna Devanadera, Siela Gala, Joel Pagkatipunan, RC Posadas, Eeza Ramos, Jun Sanosa

Road trip soundtrack
Joel: “Ayos sounds mo p’re ah”
RC: “Embassy mix pare. Eto favorite ko” And changed the song to track 6.
‘Because of you’ by Neyo plays. And then the next track, and the next, and the next…
By track 9, RC goes “Pare, number 6 ulit ha. Ok lang?”
Hmmm… Popsy, favorite?

So 3 times naming napakinggan yung tracks 5-8 bago palang dumating ng NLEX. But in fairness, after nun, buong CD na yung pinapakinggan namin. From track 1 to 25 na. But since yun lang ang dalang CD ni RC, mga 6 times naming sya napakinggan.

Actually, may isa pang CD. MP3 ng mga love songs. As in oldies love songs ha. Parang pang prom nung 1980’s. Not that I know. 1997 ako nag prom. ANYWAY, thankful narin ako sa Embassy mix ni Pops.

Invading Tarlac
So we arrived in Tarlac. We went to Papa Jay’s head quarters first. We saw his office. Whoa. Kakabilib.

After that, we went to the house where we will stay. It was a 1 bedroom house. Super cute and cozy. Mukang vacation house nge eh. Coz though completely furnished, it even had utensils and plates, it didn’t have a gas range. So who ever lives there, laging kumakain sa labas. And mejo religious yung owner ng house ah. Maraming figure ni Mama Mary everywhere. Except sa bathroom. Doon, may wine and 2 glasses beside the bathtub.

Syempre, nag inuman sa house. We brought 1 box of canned beer (left over nung bridal shower ni fritz). But Papa Jay had his alalays buy more pa. And syempre they brought super dami food din. And di parin pala alam ni Papa Jay ang first name ko. So forever na Ms. Gala ang tawag nya sakin pag tatagayan nya ko. Yes. Sya ang nagtatagay. Sabi nga ni Marlon, kung boss si Papa Jay sa Tarlac, pag dating sa 4D, alipin na naman sya. Hehe.

After an hour or two, the girls called it a night. And we took it upon ourselves to fix the sleeping arrangements. Kasi, pag lasing na yung boys, kung saan saan nalang yun mahihiga. Baka mag-tetris nanaman sila sa higaan. Isang trait nga pala ng 4D eh magkasya matulog sa masisikip na lugar. There was only one bed but Papa Jay had some mattresses brought over so kung tutuusin maraming matutulugan.

And para dumami yung pwedeng higaan, we got the cushions from the sofa. Makapal, pero hiwahiwalay. At first, we thought na si RC and i-assign dun since ganun yun tinutulugan nya minsan sa Manansala. But no, di sya pumayag. Naghihiwalay hiwalay daw kasi yun. Shoot. Crucial pa naman na may humiga dun. So I told Dev, “Momsy, lagyan kaya natin ng blanket over. Para di obvious na hiwahiwalay.” Hmm… in fairness, it worked. Dun humiga si Papa Jay. But don’t worry, since hindi sya malikot matulog, di naghiwahiwalay yung higaan. In fact, ang sarap nga ng tulog nya eh. Sure ako dun dahil mejo lang, ang lakas nya mag-snore. But you know what? Ang astig ng hilik nya. Parang galing sa maraming tao. Actually, yung ibang sounds nga parang hindi galing sa tao. Tapos nagiiba-iba pa ng tempo and melody. Astig. Sa totoo lang, ang bilis ko nakatulog dahil dun. Promise! Tas hindi pa ko nagising during the night.

Dahil ang dami namin, and 1 lang yung bathroom, we had to make a schedule. Ang matagal maligo, mauuna. So kami nang girls yun diba? Sabi ni Dev, si Eeza daw dapat mauna. Sabi naman ni Eeza, mas matagal daw si Tin. Sige girls, magturuan pa kayo. ANYWAY, so si Tin na nga ang pumayag mauna, si Eeza, ako, then si Dev.

The following morning, I heard Tin get up to take a bath. I heard her finished and I also heard her wake up Eeza. So mukang gising na ko ng mga panahon na yun. Si Eeza naman, tumatawad pa. I thought na ako na mag-offer na mauna, pero syempre, kakagising ko lang, wala pa akong brain and mouth coordination. So naunahan ako ni Eeza. Sabi nya, I could go ahead.

So natapos na ang mga girls, so boys naman. Si Jun, ang nauna sa kanila since he was fully awake already. Yung iba kasi, totally asleep pa. Eventually, isa isa narin sila bumangon at kumilos. And may I just say, si Ace at si RC parang babae sa tagal maligo. Ang dami na naming na-okray, di parin sila tapos.

Since ang tagal ng liguan process, 1030 na kami nakaalis ng Tarlac. Di na kami aabot sa mass so we decided to have lunch nalang. We went to Isdaan. Sa entrance, may guard. Syempre, di namin pinalampas ang gaguhan opportunity:



And ang ganda pala dun ah. Parang theme park. So while we were waiting for the food to arrive, some of us went around to check-out the sites.

And because we are all waiting for the bar results, hindi rin namin pinalampas si Buddha.

You have to touch Buddha, make a wish then ring the bell.

Si Momsy, tuwang tuwa mag ring ng bell.

Ang saya no? Anyway, we went back to our kubo to eat. Mejo nakakahilo pala kumain sa floating balsa.

Manaoag

After eating, kahit anong saya ng Embassy mix ni RC, hindi nya kinaya ang halong puyat at kabusugan. I woke up nasa parking na kami ng Manaoag. Wala pa nga ko sa tamang huwisho nung bumaba ako. But anyway, nagising naman ako nung naglakad kami papunta sa Church. We got there 30 minutes before the mass. So we bought candles muna.

Ang dami ngang theories kung ilan kelangan bilin eh. Most of us bought 10 candles, one for each bar subject tas plus two para siguro sakto na sa suklian. Pero pwede rin 1 for happiness and 1 for world peace. Ako, 10 candles din, 1 for each bar Sunday, the rest para sa ibang intentions.
Marami kasi akong hinihiling. The best yung kay Marlon. Dalawa lang. One for him to pass the Bar and the other, for safety. Baka nga naman maka pasa sya tas masagasaan sya after. Hmm… May point sya. So yung isa kong candle, for safety narin.

We had mass first before we lit the candles. May blessing daw after the mass so we were thinking, we should have the candles blessed first before lighting it. Anyway, after the communion, dumadami ang mga tao na pumapasok at unti unting lumalapit sa altar. Sabi ni Jo, kelangan daw pumunta narin kami sa front kasi sobrang dami ng tao. We don’t want to end up sa likod na likod coz di na daw yun inaabot ng holy water.

So after ng final blessing, nakipag amazing race kami sa san damak-mak na tao na pasimpleng tumatakbo papunta sa unahan. Maganda yung spot namin. Di masyadong front, pero abot parin ng holy water. Sina Eeza, din a nabasa. Pero buti nalang, mag round 2 si father. Syempre, nagtakbuhan ulit kami dun. This time, para na kaming naligo sa ulan. Basang basa. O yan, Lord, pag di pa naman kami pumasa nyan ha…

We went to the lighting area. Daming tao ha. Yung spot nga na napili ko, halos puno na ng candles. At pati yung candle stand, nagliliyab na. Pero hala sige, light parin ng light. Mejo natakot nga ko ng onti. Mainit at mausok. Nun ko naalala na ayoko talagang mapunta sa hell.

After church, we went to Razon’s for merienda c/o Eeza.

We ordered the bilao for 16 people, halo-halo and some puto. 10 lang kami so baka nga sobra pa yun eh at may take home pa. But no. First round palang mejo paubos na. 4 nga lang ang naka second. Hanep.

Nang mabusog, at magamoy kornik, we went home. Balik sa pag aantay ng result.