Journeys Down South

at 'our place'

Dumaguete has become our second home due to the many wedding coverage assignments we used to have. The Boulevard has become a welcome sight, the people there are not just suppliers and clients, they have become our friends. We call each other by name, we text, we hug each other when we meet. The familiar sight of Dumaguete brings our heart to an ease.

But going to Dumaguete is another story. It is not an easy feat, especially when you prefer to drive your way there. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. The long drive to Dumaguete is the best way to go there, I always say. But first, you have to condition yourself either to wake up early or sleep very late, depending on the travel time you wish to take.

one of our many trips

The long drive takes about 3-4 hours from Lapu-Lapu City to the southernmost tip of Cebu, Bato where the port of exit is located, with barges going to Tampi, Dumaguete's port of entry. Along the way, you have to brace yourself with unexpected turns, roadblocks, potholes, detours because of unscheduled road constructions. You have to familiarize yourself with the many blind curves, especially near Boljoon. And one thing that you have to keep your eyes open are the speeding buses whose drivers act like they are the kings of the road, unmindful of incoming vehicles, uncaring of the ones following them when they do a sudden brake. You also have to equip yourself with the following: food, water, junkfood, good music for the car, full tank of gasoline, movies, a change of clothing and a clear driving focus. Plus, you have to familiarize yourself with the barge schedules so that you won’t miss a trip. We once did, and we had to sleep inside the car parked the pier to wait for another trip.

working for an engagement shoot in Dgte

So, as you can imagine, it is not that easy to travel. There are also easier ways to do so—a plane ride costs extra but it takes only 15minutes and no hassle at all to arrive in Dumaguete. But as I said, I wouldn’t have it any other way. You see, along the way, I get to spend time with friends who are with us—Aisee and Jayson for example, with making videos out of almost anything, playing crazy card games, watching funny movies in the barge, singing our hearts out, Jiggy, and Rayman and Stanly with their non-stop jokes and topics. And oftentimes, when it is only Lito and I who would go through the travel, I would get to spend a lot of time with him.

test shot at the Boulevard

A lengthy car trip with Lito means having to submit yourself to a lot of burps and farts, stopping by to buy and eat twin popsies or taking a photograph of the most beautiful views, and screaming your hearts out to Bon Jovi songs with the window down—just because. It also means slowing down to look at the beauty of nature as you go further south—the beaches, the sea, Sumilon island from afar, jungled trees. It also means hours and hours of laughter, debates, discussions, putting your feet up in the car, taking turns in sleeping, sharing a casual puff, and comfortable silence in between. It means having to name places as our own. There’s a place in Santander with a viewing dock of the bluest of skies and the vast view of the blue sea. Whenever we pass by that place, we would say, “Hey, it’s our place!”  It means laughing our hearts out amidst unimaginable waves and rainstorms while in the barge. Once, the waves made us dizzy, we made our babies (stuffed toys) do a skit and we just talked about the future, and somehow, the waves were forgotten.

I would like to see our situation and our battles now as similar to those lengthy car trips. It ain’t easy, with roadblocks and bumps and unexpected detours masked as additional problems, bad blood counts, infections, worries, depression, side effects. There are negative people who also gets our spirit down, like Ceres buses honking their car horns without a care in the world. All we have to do is to know when to slow down, when to overtake or when to shout at the crazy driver. Yet, just like our travel south, it won’t be as fun if you won’t slow down and stop to appreciate the view as you go by.

And most importantly, and I say this as an association to every aspect of life, lengthy car trips are meaningless without great company. In this life, you have to equip yourself with people who can find humor in situations, even when there are times that require you to be serious; people who can make you smile no matter how tough the times are; people who make light of situations that would make you unhappy. Life is tough and if there is no one with you to go through it all and make it bearable, how sad can that be? People with a happy disposition are infectious and can make you feel better, no matter what you go through—be it a flat tire, or a detour, or honking buses, or cancer.

Draw Something with Lito: reason for
boisterous laughter
somewhere in CHH 10th floor at dawn

Back here in the hospital, the room was filled with laughter in the early hours of dawn as Lito and I were still wide awake, guessing each other’s drawings in the new iPhone app craze, Draw Something. He was laughing his heart out as to how he would draw “Tintin” for Belle, my best friend and he belted out a boisterous laugh that can be heard outside our hospital doors. For Cebuanos, you would get the joke. He drew something that must have made Belle turn her seat around.

It is ironic to think that my ancestors are renowned painters/artists in the country (the Abellanas of Carcar) and yet I cannot draw a decent stick figure that can sit down. Yet, Lito and I were laughing because small details like a dot or a phrase or a color would have us guess the drawing in an instant. The hilarious sketchy way it was presented was messy to the point of being comic but well, we both get each other.

It made me think of a statement of that one nursing aid who caught us laughing our hearts out one afternoon and she told me this when I was getting water at the nurses’ station: “Ma’am, lingaw man kaayo mo tan-awon uy, makatakod..(Ma’am, you seem to be having so much fun together, it’s contagious). I felt happy hearing that statement because even if Lito and I are both on reverse isolation and for weeks, we are alone in this hospital room, we find semblance and meaning by just being together.

I am proud and happy to say that in this journey that we have, we are so equipped with the greatest of company. We are so blessed with friends and supporters. It has been 23 days in the hospital for this chemo cycle and we are under reverse isolation but hey, I am happy to say that in our many travels, be it south, or outside the Philippines, or inside this hospital room, I always have with me the best company anyone could ever have—well, with the farts and all, he is still great company.  I have my Lito with his minion hair, his humor that can be spot-on and infectious whatever age you are (he wants to be a stand-up comedian, by the way) and his laughter amidst pain and him befriending the nurses, and us laughing our hearts out at 2am just to guess what our crazy drawings are.

We are almost halfway our journey south. Who knows what else is along the way?  With a full tank of faith, support and love, and a spare tire of hope and Lito by my side, I’m sure we can surpass the roadblocks and the detours and the buses along the way. With great company and the many blessings, getting to 'our place' will be worth the trip. I wouldn't want it any other way. 

Related Videos: 

Lito and Jayson while waiting for the barge

having fun with Levi and Muriel, while in the barge