The Highlight Of My Summer In 2007

When I was working in the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) seven years ago, I had set foot on one of the country’s pride when it comes to pulchritudinous beaches.

It was a fine Saturday morning when our team arrived at the gates of the Philippines’ biggest coal-fired power station, the Sual Power Station, which generates more than 1,000 megawatts and was built in 1996 to supply electricity to the whole of Luzon. One of the many good things about being with the OSG is its established ties with Team Energy. For every company outing sponsored by them, we were privileged to get free board and lodging.

Team Energy has two power plants: The Pagbilao Power Station in Quezon and our featured point of entry for our featured place, Sual Power Station in Pangasinan. We actually had our first company outing sponsored by them only a few months before this one and you can view it via this post: “First Taste of a Virgin Beach at Lukang Island in Pagbilao, Quezon”.

The day started with a sumptuous early meal at the plant’s exclusive first-class cafeteria where an array of mouthwatering seafood swamps the dining tables. After that we spent several hours of sightseeing though the moorings a few meters away from the cafeteria.

Seeing the vastness of the ocean and hearing the swooshing of its waters against the bulkhead and the yatchs’ bows and sterns gave me such a summer indulgence to the sense of sight. We then checked in our respective rooms after and did the same thing during lunchtime.

The night was full of fun, music, cards, and some soft and hard drinks. Did I include massage there?

The following day, 25 May 2007, at around 8:00 o’clock in the morning, the plant let us used one of their gorgeous yachts to get to Alaminos City for our major destination: The Hundred Islands National Park. I couldn’t forget the rough sailing we experienced on our way until we were getting closer to the park. Nevertheless, everybody got excited to get off from the yacht as soon as we were seeing some of the islands. We navigated along the area enjoying the fine scenery.  We were able to count a few small and big islands.

Like us, each island has a unique characteristic of its own and each deserves appreciation.

Soon, we had to dock, and this was how we got to the Governor’s Island for our lunch. The Governor’s Island is one of the three most developed islands in the national park and it’s the most popular among the islands.

After filling our sacs with another batch of esculent seafood, we explored the island. In doing so we discovered more than the craggy terrain, there are coves in it that has fine white sand beaches ideal for swimming. We didn’t swim though. Our guide led us to a hiking trail atop a hill-like rock formation to feast on the 360 degree panoramic view of the whole Hundred Islands National Park.

I took mental pictures of the exquisite views, and I was pretty sure my colleagues and friends around did the same. It was just unfortunate that I didn’t have a super camera during that time. I had to borrow a couple of images from Asian Journal and The Pinay Travel Junkie to make a point. The views atop will surely leave you breathless!

Photo Credit: Asian Journal

The sky was blue, the birds were singing, and the sun that accentuated the solid blue contours of the sea was eye-squintingly bright. I felt so insanely peaceful.

Photo Credit: The Pinay Travel Junkie

Our visit to Governor’s Island did not only cover sightseeing but peregrinating the cave at the back of the island. The cave is big enough for people to enter but has a very narrow body. There is nothing extra special inside it but I got fascinated by the petrology of its rock formations. This point marked the end our our island adventure to the Hundred Islands. We all returned to Sual by 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon and washed up as soon as we got to our rooms.

Seeing about a hundred of the Philippines’ 7, 107 islands is an accomplishment for me. The beautiful views and fun memories from this team building highlighted my summer in 2007. They will be forever etched in my memory.

Related Posts

Bolinao Hundred Islands Tour Package (Updated as of January 2015) at 8wonderstravel.com

Pangasinan: Hundred Islands National Park, Entrance Fee, Boat Ride Rates, HOW TO GET THERE at  backpackingphilippines.com

Hundred Islands National Park: Rates and Rental Fees at asensopangasinan.com

100 Islands at travel.pangasinan.com

Hundred Islands Tour Package for a minimum of 4 pax at lovekoanawangin.wordpress.com

Hundred Islands National Park (en.wikipedia.org)

A fun filled weekend at the Hundred Islands (theweekendsightseer.wordpress.com)