01312: Some Thoughts on Our Puerto Galera Trip


We're back from Puerto Galera! And I hardly know where to begin in terms of how to discuss everything that we did and all the fun we had. And I admit that our brand of fun may not seem like as much fun for everyone else since we didn't get into any of the more tourist-like activities nor did we even attend the Malasimbo music festival, which is the big reason everyone else was on the island.

If anything, beyond any of the big events we could have attended or the water vehicles that we could have tried our luck with, what was of greater value was the amount of quality time we spent together. As much as we spend a lot of time together at the Sietch or at O Bar, it was nice to be at a place outside the city like the beach. And with most folks busy with Malasimbo, we actually didn't have to compete with too many other guests for most of the time there. Funny thing, that.


Naturally there was a lot of drinking involved, but it was all in good fun. I think we went through almost 2 pitcher's worth of Mindoro Slings and maybe 9 beers for each of us. And we made a number of new friends while on the beach who were generous enough to share their tower of Mindoro Sling as well. We also gorged on a good number of shrimp (some dried, other grilled), the obligatory chicken kebab skewers and all that good stuff.

What I also liked about this trip was how much, well, smarter it felt. I don't mean we engaged in intellectual debates about the sad state of affairs that is our political system or anything like that. It's more how well planned things were starting from how I'd rearrange my schedule to meet up with Tobie and Prince in time to get to the bus station and a bunch of other things. One key success item was Prince preparing a delicious batch of chicken adobo to bring with us that helped offset any lunch costs significantly. We even brought along bread and instant coffee mixes so we'd have ready breakfast come Sunday without resorting to looking for an open restaurant or whatever.

Seemingly little things like this make me happy.


One of the more interesting things that we did with a pitcher of Mindoro Sling was to play a little "drinking game" that Tobie came up with. But instead of ridiculous challenges of physical acuity under the influence of alcohol, Tobie suggested that before every shot we'd take turns sharing one thing that we love about our relationship. And I know how silly and mushy that sounds, but it led to some nice sharing for the three of us and a good way to acknowledge a lot of the challenges that we had gone through in order to reach the happy point where we are now.

To be fair, we had a lot of "moments" over the course of this weekend. Being away from our work obligations and other real-life responsibilities even just for a day really helps put you in the mind to think about more important things like our unique and rather complex relationship. And given the obstacles that we had to surmount as recent as last week, this trip couldn't have been more timely. So yeah, a lot of those moments really went a long way to make things seem extra special.


And naturally there was a whole lot of being mushy and showing how much we loved each other while at the beach. And it didn't matter how many other people were present or who else might be watching. There's never any reason to be ashamed to show the kind of love we have for one another.

And yeah, we're really that mushy and campy about all this. Yay for Baduy Pride!

Until the next domestic tourism adventure!

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