Waterfront Beach Resort, Bataan

Last May 8 and 9, we had our summer company outing at Morong, Bataan. It was a 4-hour trip from Makati. When we arrived at the main entrance of the resort, all I could see was long stretches of earth, trees and mountains. 

This reminded me of a typical barrio set-up. At first, I really couldn't believe that we are actually in front of a beach resort. I actually had to mutter to myself, "May tao ba dito?" (Are there people here?)

Entering the resort, I could see some of the featured amenities of the resort already: the small children playground - which you could only use early morning and late afternoon, that is, if you couldn't bear the summer noon heat; the structures where the rooms are - good thing, I saw A/C units in them, and; the pool, in which I was hoping that it wasn't the last one in the resort - first thing I thought it was a kiddie pool.

And this was the only swimming pool in the resort.

Then, we had our lunch on one of the resort's function room/canteen (because it looked like one). They say it was their bar and restaurant. Okay. Well, it was then I had a view of the beach.

The colors I saw there somewhat made me at ease and convinced me to be optimistic for this weekend. After we're done with our lunch, we finally had our rest in our designated dormitory rooms. In one dormitory room, there are 10 twin beds and one bathroom / CR. And the room was air-conditioned.

After that short break (got a bath and change of swimming attire just in time), we we're called out for some activities prepared by our summer outing committee. I was given a heads up that there are no other facilities in that resort such as kayaks, jet skis and banana boats. And that was a major disappointment for me. I could see motor boats touring around, but I couldn't fine interest in riding one for our free time. For I couldn't see nearby islands to tour at.

But we still managed to enjoy the day. After the committee games, we had our free time on the resort. We swam on the beach, though some of us got stung by jellyfishes (luckily, I don't encounter one); some brought skim board - which looked like iron board, for me; some played beach volleyball.

And it doesn't end there even when night falls. We played billiards and shared some laughs and stories with our officemates, over bottles of cold San Mig Light. We also played Taboo, before finally calling the day off.

Day 2, I've finally had the chance to have a morning dip on their pool. It was nice, for I can see the mountain view from the pool. Shortly, after that, we prepared ourselves for our departure, then had some breakfast and a hot cup of coffee. It was then a parted from my friends to scan the whole resort before we leave.

If you want to have some tan, you can lay your backs on these benches.

There are nipa huts here for small groups.

This place is really not that bad after all. Though, there are some failed expectations. It really depends on the people you're with and how you'd spend your time with them. Wherever place you are.

First Time Voter

I woke up for as early as 8:30 am (yes, its definitely early to me) just for this "historical" (melodramatically speaking) moment of my life. Its my first time to vote. And by chance, the first time that this country will implement automated elections. About time.

My first thoughts? The idea that I had in mind was it would be like having your entrance exam in college, where the test is of multiple choice type. Possible answers are written with unfilled shapes (like a box or circle). And all you have to do is mark the shape beside the answer of your choice. For this year's election, voters will just have to "itiman, i-shade loob ng bilog" (Fill-in or shade the circle) you know, "yung bilog na hugis itlog" (oval-shape or egg-shape circle) beside the candidate's name. No more enumeration type of exam / voting.

Important note: Make sure that your ballot is clean, no other marks or smudges. And when voting, make sure that the only mark that you put on the ballot is in the oval of your choice - no unnecessary markings on the ballot. For once you feed it in the machine and was rejected, you'll lose your chance of having your vote count on the poll. A voter is entitled to one ballot only. Also, don't over-vote. Mark only the right number of candidates for that position (1 President, 1 Vice-President, 12 Senators, 1 Congressman/woman, 1 Party List, 1 Mayor, 1 Vice-Mayor and 6 Councilors). Prepare a list for that manner. Its okay to under-vote. But once you over-vote, the machine won't consider your vote for that position (e.g: Your vote will be counted even if you only chose 5 councilors on your ballot. But the machine won't count any of your votes in a senatorial position, if you voted for 13 people as senators.)

When my ballot was given to me, they made me check the ballot, then had me sign on their list. After that, they took a print of my right thumb - this part of the process actually made me worried. Should this be after giving back my ballot? What if I accidentally used my right thumb in holding my ballot? Good thing, I didn't let excitement overcome me. And I was careful of my right thumb, then. But what if other voters won't be as careful as me?

And then there's the real star of the election - the PCOS machine. I've actually spelled this before as PICOS, but the machine's full name is Precinct Count Optical Scan (omg, when I googled this acronym, first one on the list of results was Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Haha). But really, its the high-tech ballot box. Could also be the automatic ballot box. When I saw it, it looks like a garbage bin - hehe. This is where you pass your paper after the exam - er voting. You feed the ballot in a designated slot in the machine (like feeding paper in the printer or copier machine). They say that no matter what page is facing up, the machine will still read your ballot (what I did was having my ballot's front page facing up). Then, you wait for the display on the right, beside the slot where you fed the paper. It should say "Congratulations.." to notify you that your vote has been counted. I even saw on the display that I'm the 285th voter in that precinct. After successfully casting my vote, they applied indelible ink on my right index fingernail (and it looked like a dead nail after that). And I'm done.

Another note: You have at most 4 chances in feeding your ballot in the PCOS machine. If the machine rejects your ballot for the 4th time, your vote won't be counted anymore.

I would like to take note of other experiences on this first automated election:

• Voting is done for approximately 5 minutes, they say its really much quicker than the old system. But what really took us time in the whole process was the line of people to our designated precinct. Officers gave us numbers and made us fall in line for almost 2 hours. We are actually standing in line for 2 hours. But I'm still positive that this would improve for the next election.
• My mom and I had the same name (first, middle and last name). The only difference of our data was our birth date and age. When we got to the school to vote, my mom couldn't find her name on the list of voters for this year. We only found one name and it was confirmed that it was me because of the birth date and picture on their list. Maybe they've considered my registration an update for their previous record of my mom, thus overwriting her data with mine? My mom really wanted to vote today.

Still, after all it felt good that its done and I've experienced being part of something like this, something that happened first.

Vanity?

"Ang vain, vain mo.." (You're so vain..)

That's a comment I got when I took my cellphone out and took a picture of myself, in front of a friend. Such gestures would also make me to think or react the same way, being on my friend's position. But that is before I really understand the word "being comfortable with yourself". Its not actually being vain or maarte. Its just what you'd like to do in that moment, disregards what people around you think. As long as you don't do anything that may put others in trouble. And that's what I'm practicing right now. To be comfortable of myself. Just being natural in me.

But actually, "wala lang talaga akong salamin, at kailangan ko lang makita kung anong hitsura ko ngayon" (I don't have a mirror with me and I need to know how do I look right now).