In my third day of my Marinduque tour, I was finally able to get a decent room in Boac Hotel. Yes! Apparently, one of the people who was supposed to reserve the room did not push with the reservation. And so, since I earlier notified the Boac Hotel that I'll get the earliest vacated room, the owner texted me that there is already a vacant room. I immediately took it the following morning.
Although my new hotel room is by no means any better than even the cheap motels in Cubao, it had at least a full-size bed, an air-conditioner, a private toilet and bath, a cable television, and 24-hour room service. In exchange, I had to pay 800 pesos a day, which I consider to be still very cheap. Well, I'm supposed to be on a holiday, so every luxury is welcome, as long as my budget permits me. After all, I can always borrow money from my parents later if I get short. I always make it a point to live within my means, even if I had to borrow to do it :)
After settling my things in my new room, I decided to take a shower, as it was very hot even in the morning. While rubbing my face with soap, I noticed that something was crawling on the ceiling. Half-blinded by the soap, I saw that it was a large house spider almost as big as a child's palm, and with an egg sac in its belly. I quickly grabbed my towel and escaped from the bathroom, with soap and bubbles all over my body. I dried myself with the towel, scrubbing the soap off my body.
Dressing up, I went to the hotel lobby to ask the janitor to remove the spider. The janitor laughed as if it was only a trivial matter to him. But it was a big problem for me, as I will never enter that bathroom again knowing that the spider may be just anywhere inside. I accompanied him to my bathroom and said that I'll give him twenty pesos if he could remove the spider there. And so he entered the bathroom while I anxiously waited if he could catch my nemesis.
The janitor caught the spider with his bare hands, even playing with it, as it crawled in his arms. I almost ran away had I not thought that my reputation as a brave man was at stake here. I threw him the 20 warning him not to get near me. I made sure that he let the spider escape outside lest it got back to my room. Afterwards, I continued my shower, but still opening my eyes wide, lest the spider had some relatives.
Fortunately, I did not see one.
And so I went to my continuation of my exploration of Marinduque. The province, even at the new millenium, still retains an air of rural ambience. Even from the poblacion, one can see the lovely slopes of mountains from beyond. I felt that maybe this is the kind of place where I'm really at home. Yes I miss the hub, noise, and activity in Cubao, but the countryside is ultimately where I'm going to retire when I grow old.
With my backpack containing my digital camera, I walked the town towards the countryside: through creeks, hills, beaches, and ricefileds. For me, there is no more beautiful experience than to behold God's lovely artwork as revealed in nature.
But sometimes, even in this most lovely and serene setting, a misfortune can happen.
As I was wading myself through the ricefields to shoot some colorful landscapes, I felt that I stepped onto something soft and warm. My whole left foot (adorned with my new Adidas), was completely submerged in a carabao dung. I love carabaos, you know. But to have my foot completely in its dung is a complete disaster.
Pulling my left foot up, I noticed that it was now colored yellow-green. Although it is not as smelly as a human waste, the dung in itself is not very pleasant to smell. What's more, its totally embarassing because I'm sure a lot of people will laugh at me if they see how stupid can one get into a carabao dung.
But I had no choice. Wiping my foot into the foliage in side by side motion, I was able to get most of the dung off my foot. Fortunately, one of the nearby shacks had a pump well (Poso), and there I washed myself. The shack owners also told me not to get too deep into the ricefields as there are known to be snakes there.
I went back to town riding in tricycle, and then sneaked back into my hotel room. I placed my Adidas shoe in the shower faucet and let the water do its job. I later bought a brush with a long handle to remove the remaining particles.
Oh what a day....I guess I need to rest a bit...
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