We had to debark the Roro at the Calapan Port, Oriental Mindoro, and then ride our bus again for another five-hour, 110 kilometer drive to Roxas Port, Oriental Mindoro. After that, we will cross the sea again from Roxas Port, to Caticlan Port, Aklan. And then for the final leg of the journey, some six hours and 230 kilometers of long road journey from Caticlan Port, Aklan to Ilo-ilo City.
So far, we had already had 6 hours of travel (3 hours by bus from Manila to Batangas Pier, and 3 hours by Roro crossing the Verde Island Passage). I was still fresh with still a lot of reserve energy for the next 19 hours of combined land and sea travel.
But I forgot that I hadn't had any proper meal yet since we departed Cubao 12 pm earlier. Inside the bus, I ate some Rebisco biscuits and drank Coke-in-Can. Seated beside me was an old man who I presume to be an Ilonggo, and who spoke very little Tagalog. With him is his apo-- a boy who I estimate to be about five year old-- seated in his lap. I offered them some biscuits and Coke but they declined.
The little boy was eating some itlog ng pugo (boiled quail eggs), which they bought from a vendor who entered the bus earlier. The little boy was quite nauseous (either because of the long ride or the eating of pugo) and all of a sudden, he vomited into the floor, messing one of my trousers' leg with some partially digested pugo. I offered some candy to relieve his nausea but he was quite groggy. The old man was saying sorry to me and I said it was alright. It happens every time. So a word of advice, my dear readers: if you are bringing a child into a long bus travel, bring a plastic container to contain the vomit so that you don't mess a man's trouser.
After a few minutes, the bus stopped in some God-knows-where unknown Mindoro village to let passengers eat, use the restrooms, or bask in fresh air. We stopped in front of a restaurant where cooked foods are placed on pots and trays for the passengers to choose from. In gratitude for the drivers and kundoktors( bus steward) who deliver customers, the restaurant gave them free meals. I have the feeling that we are actually the ones paying for their meals because the food was quite expensive. For example, I had to pay 60 pesos for one small platito of pork adobo, and 12 pesos for one cup of rice. But it was okay--we didn't have a choice, really. If only there were some Turo-turo eateries or tapsilogan nearby, but all I see around here are huge tracts of rice fields and mountains from a dstance.
So far, we had already had 6 hours of travel (3 hours by bus from Manila to Batangas Pier, and 3 hours by Roro crossing the Verde Island Passage). I was still fresh with still a lot of reserve energy for the next 19 hours of combined land and sea travel.
But I forgot that I hadn't had any proper meal yet since we departed Cubao 12 pm earlier. Inside the bus, I ate some Rebisco biscuits and drank Coke-in-Can. Seated beside me was an old man who I presume to be an Ilonggo, and who spoke very little Tagalog. With him is his apo-- a boy who I estimate to be about five year old-- seated in his lap. I offered them some biscuits and Coke but they declined.
The little boy was eating some itlog ng pugo (boiled quail eggs), which they bought from a vendor who entered the bus earlier. The little boy was quite nauseous (either because of the long ride or the eating of pugo) and all of a sudden, he vomited into the floor, messing one of my trousers' leg with some partially digested pugo. I offered some candy to relieve his nausea but he was quite groggy. The old man was saying sorry to me and I said it was alright. It happens every time. So a word of advice, my dear readers: if you are bringing a child into a long bus travel, bring a plastic container to contain the vomit so that you don't mess a man's trouser.
After a few minutes, the bus stopped in some God-knows-where unknown Mindoro village to let passengers eat, use the restrooms, or bask in fresh air. We stopped in front of a restaurant where cooked foods are placed on pots and trays for the passengers to choose from. In gratitude for the drivers and kundoktors( bus steward) who deliver customers, the restaurant gave them free meals. I have the feeling that we are actually the ones paying for their meals because the food was quite expensive. For example, I had to pay 60 pesos for one small platito of pork adobo, and 12 pesos for one cup of rice. But it was okay--we didn't have a choice, really. If only there were some Turo-turo eateries or tapsilogan nearby, but all I see around here are huge tracts of rice fields and mountains from a dstance.
As usual, it was a self-service restaurant where diners need to follow a line to buy their foods. The foods are then scooped from the trays and placed directly on your plate just like the way you see it in movies about Alcatraz. One man complained that the scoop of adobo he was getting was very little and demanded a few more from the serbidora.
After the supper, we proceeded to the restrooms to unload some unwanted stuff. Restrooms along the bus roads are always a challenge to use. They are dirty, smelly, and quite flooded. I don't know but some men preferred to pee at the floor rather than into the urinals. I remembered my trip to Samar two years ago, where I employed an unusual technique to avoid smelling the ugly restroom stench. I had to cover my mouth and nose with my left hand while trying to steady my pee with my right.
Anyway, we had to resume our travel after the 20 minute break-time. The little boy was quite fine now and was already sleepy. It seemed that the break-time and fresh air did some wonders to relieve his nausea. Meantime the night had already descended and the konduktor decided to play some movies in the TV set installed in the bus. The movie was an old Tagalog action film starring Robin Padilla, killing all his 120 heavily-armed enemies--with only his one gun. But Padilla also got hit--in the arm, and for that, he rescued his chick and lived happily ever after. Ho-hum...
After the movie, some music were played and most passengers decided to doze off. The lights of the bus were turned-off. The seats could not be reclined(this was an old bus) so most slept in sitting position. I am not much of a sleeper and much less a sitting-sleeper so I was just peering my eyes outside the window trying to make out figures in the darkness. Well, I could figure out some ricefields and some faraway mountains, as well as some nipa houses along the road. These are the sort of typical countryside sceneries you'll see along the provincial roads.
Anyway, we had to resume our travel after the 20 minute break-time. The little boy was quite fine now and was already sleepy. It seemed that the break-time and fresh air did some wonders to relieve his nausea. Meantime the night had already descended and the konduktor decided to play some movies in the TV set installed in the bus. The movie was an old Tagalog action film starring Robin Padilla, killing all his 120 heavily-armed enemies--with only his one gun. But Padilla also got hit--in the arm, and for that, he rescued his chick and lived happily ever after. Ho-hum...
After the movie, some music were played and most passengers decided to doze off. The lights of the bus were turned-off. The seats could not be reclined(this was an old bus) so most slept in sitting position. I am not much of a sleeper and much less a sitting-sleeper so I was just peering my eyes outside the window trying to make out figures in the darkness. Well, I could figure out some ricefields and some faraway mountains, as well as some nipa houses along the road. These are the sort of typical countryside sceneries you'll see along the provincial roads.
At 11 pm we finally reached the Port of Roxas, Oriental Mindoro. It took us some five hours of land travel from Calapan to Roxas (some 130 kms). We will board the Roro again to cross the sea towards the Caticlan Port, Aklan.
While waiting for our bus to board the Roro, I whiled away sometime to look for a Sari-sari store around the Roxas area. There are many such stores in Roxas open till early in the morning, serving the passengers who will board the ferries. I bought some Hopia and a cup of coffee from this store.
Each passenger--young and old--had to pay a terminal fee of 15 pesos each to enter the harbor. We had to wait sometime to wait for the buses to enter the ferry. At 12 pm, the ferry finally hooted its horns, signaling the beginning of our sea voyage. I went to the third level of the ferry to shoot some scenes, but couldn't get sharp pictures because of the choppy sea waters. The trip would be about four hours long, so I decided to just rest for a while to reserve my energy for the long sea journey.
To be continued
To be continued
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