Puerto Galera

How to get there: a 2-hour bus trip JAM Transit from Pasay passing through the very efficient Star Tollway, and not via the BLTB station which burned down in a fire 2 years ago --- that's how long I haven't been back to Galera. Then a 55-minute ferry (plus 30 minutes of waiting for passengers to load), MB Golden Hawk which deposits you straight onto White Beach. Wallet damage: P300 one-way.

Where to stay: Myra and Madelayns airconditioned rooms for up to 4 people for P1,200 a night. Would honestly have preferred the non-airconditioned beachfront cottages, but it was time to try a little more comfort for this trip.

What to bring: Cash, toilet paper and towels. Don't make Phil's mistake of thinking there are Boracay type accomodations on White Beach...he had to brave a 5-hour trip to Calapan to get cash from the ATM...and share a towel with his roomie.

Where to eat: Blue Marlyn's for a good corned beef breakfast, Ferdinand's Seaside Cafe for Banana-Peanut shakes, classic grilled favorites (and huge side order of flies--- urk), various seaside grills for great barbeque and Purefoods tender juicy hotdogs, some forgotten kubo-bar for the fabulous Mindoro Sling which sends you off to a deep and restful sleep and wakes you up way early in the morning for some serious sun-worshipping, and the best ever Italian pizza and pasta at Italian Corner Pizzeria on the main road.

What to do: Bake in the sun, ride a banca to go snorkeling in a nearby island, get a coconut oil massage, get hair braids, watch other people spend money on henna tattoos and banana boating, listen to live percussion and a great on-the-spot Spanish blues singer, take zillions of pictures of myself and camera-crazy friends, play with those crazy light wands, enjoy a beach bonfire, drink the night away and sleep far awaaaay from the city and reality.

What I learned: How to take good pictures of myself (thanks Pao!), the wrong way to put a hair braid, and a disturbing story about someone's past.

This year's Galera cast: Patrick, Karen, Boj, Phil, Pao, moi, Tricia, Trisha and Marj.