As I welcomed 2015 last January 1, I promised myself I'll go out of my comfort zone. Explore a little, try new things and be spontaneous. As much as my family wants to go out of town whenever we can, my hubby's work doesn't permit us and yes, I dunno how to drive (I know it sucks! haha - I added it in my bucket list/goal this year). I don't know pero parang I have this adrenaline rush to go out this year. Live a little. And when I say go out, I meant out of the country, go to disneyland, universal studios, shop at Bangkok. Travel by plane and everything by land.
So, when someone asked me if I want to join an overnight bloggers tour at Grande Island, Subic.. guess what? I didn't say yes right away. Lol! I googled it first since I've never heard of Grande Island. When I checked their website it occurred to me that the island is surrounded by water. And we have to take a 20-30minutes ferry ride to go there. It's been years since I went to the beach. And sad fact about me? I'm scared of mass water. I don't know how I got this phobia, pero takot talaga ako. Big factor na din that I don't know how to swim to save my life (I'll add swimming lesson to my bucket list). Haha! So any travel na may water, I'll say no right away. I thought kasi when we get to Subic, Grande Island na yun. Hindi pa pala. Going to the beach is ok, pero if I have to travel by water to go to the beach, medyo scared na ako. My fear got ahead of me and was preparing to text na I can't go. I don't know why pero there was this feeling inside of me that I'll regret for not going. Especially if I'll see pictures of my co-bloggers enjoying and having a grand time in my facebook timeline. I'll be kicking myself sa inggit for sure. Haha! Anyhoo, I asked my hubby also if he would approve. Sya yung sign ko if I'll go or not, and guess what? He said yes right away. Hay. haha! He told me if I want to live a little and be adventurous, this is now the right time. According to him, I always say na let's go out, let's go to the beach, let's do this. I want adventure. And here I am, presented an opportunity to try everything, and I will say no? Then I realized my hubby has a point (finally! Lol). And bigla na din akong naexcite. In short, I said yes na. Woot! 2015 is my year, and I need to overcome a lot of things and just get over it. (why am I telling you this story? I dunno! Haha! But seriously, baka may maka-relate and need inspiration for overcoming fear :D)
So anyway, the group met last January 16 at McDonalds's Mindanao, and we began traveling to Subic at 7am.
And whoever invented the NLEX and all that roads to shortened the travel up to Subic, bravo to you! It only took us less than 2 hours to get there. :)
Thank God there was no traffic that day. And after a lot of sight seeing here and there, we arrived at Subic Free Port to catch the 9am ferry ride.
Here's the ferry schedule to bring you to Grande Island.
group shot before our ferry ride (pic from Lariza)
The ferry was big enough to accommodate all of us. And hindi sya scary promise. Yay! A check in my bucket list!
Can you see the Grande Island?
Feeling brave, (pat on my back) haha! The water was calm and as we approached the Island, bigla akong naexcite.
If you want me to be honest, I was a little antsy and experienced anxieties while we were up there in the ferry. I checked where they stash their lifejackets (they were in front of us), lol! I was counting minutes until we land. I just covered my fear by having a lot of selfies, haha! And seriously, being in a group of fun people who wants to have fun and grand time, taking pix in every angle (lol), I was able to relax and enjoy the ferry ride. (group pic from Lariza)
You can't imagine my giddiness when I got off from the ferry. Yes! Land! Hahaha!
They also have mini cart like this to accommodate their guests to bring them to their Chalet room.
We were also greeted with a welcoming refreshment from this Kuya.
I just love how refreshing it is to see all these trees surrounding the Island. A little walk lang and there's the beach agad from our Chalet room.
We were given 5 Chalet rooms for 10 bloggers. Really, it was big enough for me and Lariza. It is an air-conditioned room with queen size bed. In every Chalet room, there are 3 beds, cable TV, vanity desk and drawers for our things. There's no ceiling light, they only have lamp shade. So if you're planning an overnight stay and is afraid of the dark, bring your emergency light or you can light up a couple of candles for a more romantic and cozy feel. But make sure you don't leave it lit. :D
Their bathroom is clean with heater.
Here's what the outside of Chalet room looks like. They're facing the beach so it has an easier access to go inside the room through here.
We had a menu set in our room and you can also have it delivered to your Chalet room for outdoor ambiance.
The winning "ulam". Who can say no to pork sinigang? We so loved it and we ordered them for lunch and dinner. Haha!
We only ordered 5 dishes and it is good enough for 10 pax. And for an Island cooking, they are all yummy! Though the beef was a little hard to chew, the "sabaw' and gulay makes up for it.
We were served fresh fruit platter. I think the only fruit they have are ripe mangoes, watermelon and pineapple. We've been served same fruit 3x during our stay.
Do you think I just wasted my time lounging around in our Chalet room? Haha!
Stay tuned for my next post of what happened when we were at Grande Island. Wait... can I just say that I was so proud of myself for being there? Lol! Cheers!
