My Long Weekend Was

Last April 8, my family went out for a day tour in Batangas. My nieces and nephews wanted to swim in the sea waters and get some sunburn. My whole family, except for my mother and my aunt who refused to join because the ride was too exhausting for their age and we were joined by some other relatives. Our plan was Manuel Uy resort in Calatagan, but when we reached the place at sunrise the beach was already full. There were many people and vehicles waiting by the gates of the resort, and that’s probably because the place has become popular in social media when some travel bloggers share beautiful photos of the place. And holy cow did we forget it was a holiday long weekend. I actually warned my sister but they did not listen. Lesson learned.

And so we searched for an alternative resort. I felt disappointed but since we were already there, might as well enjoy the time. We had no other option but Matabungkay resort, since the other resorts nearby were either expensive (hello Stilts) nor just not ---- well, we can’t swim in there.

The cottages in the resort are made of bamboo and were all floating in the water. Most of which are old, and you can say that it’s been floating in there for ages, judging by the moss that stuck everywhere.  The beach was too crowded and the water was not very clean anymore. You can see people just don’t care about the trash floating around, and were not even aware that their own trash went floating in the water. The place was too noisy, men drinking Emperador and smoking cigarettes, on the shore some women belting some Beyonce song, and there were shouting and loud chatting everywhere.

We rented a boat and went to a short ride to a nearby private resort that’s clean and quiet. The boat driver told us that a businessman owns the property. The place was lovely. The sand was white, the waters are clean and clear there were even small starfishes in the water. I wanted to stay there for hours, but we were not allowed so we just took pictures instead and went back to our cottage.

I had a good time though I was tired from the trip. Despite the disappointments from not being able to go with the original plan,  I was glad to have spent some time with my family. I was just a little upset seeing people sabotaging our seas, and the environment as well. It’s just sad that there’s trash everywhere. We were charged an environment fee of twenty five pesos per head but where does the money go? Are the government of Batangas won’t do anything to protect their beaches? I guess it’s not really the government to blame, but the people also. Most Filipinos are a bunch of undisciplined people who would only think about nothing but personal gain. If these people won’t do their share in protecting the planet, I pity the future generation.  Even if the president close all the beaches in our country, but we are not doing our share, that’s nothing. It’s our collective actions that will reveal how much we care, and if most of us are assholes on our planet, then expect an asshole-r earth! Gosh!

I have read reviews from travel blogger about that Manuel Uy resort, and one said that the beach was really lovely, except that people started to flock in this place and leaving their trash behind. I just hope that those travel bloggers are at the same time would send the message, not only to the resort owners but also to the people going there to be responsible enough in taking care of the planet. Travel bloggers are social media influencers. Their opinions matter to people who read their blogs, and they should highlight in their reviews about people’s responsibilities when visiting these places. Just saying.

I need to end this post. I should probably write a separate one about my experience with seeing parents setting bad examples to their children about being abusive to the environment, so bye for now.