My friends and I originally planned to have drinks after our last final exams last Monday. But my friend Nikki suggested we rather go to Puerto Galera instead. I've never been to Galera (sad I know) so I was excited, but a bit doubtful. For the past 3 years we've known each other, we've never made a trip out of town. A scheduled trip to Enchanted Kingdom was did not materialize, and I even had to beg them to have afternoon snacks at Serendra. No, that did not push through either.

But being the beach bum that I am, I was determined for this trip to happen. I've never been on a trip with my friends, college or highschool, unless it was a scheduled school activity. I handled reservations. It was not easy - I had to work with everyone's budget, including mine.

We finally settled with Virgin Beach, where my family and relatives took our own beach break last year. Sadly, Milenyo damaged the town of Laiya and left the beach dirty and unruly.

Despite several setbacks - a friend cannot make it - the trip was on. We met at 6 AM and started our almost 3 hour journey. But when you're with your friends, you certainly won't feel the trip to be that long.

There were only six of us, but we were determined to have fun.

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And so we did. We played cards and frisbee.

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Took photos.

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Good thing the beach this time was truly virginal. It was refreshing.

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We embraced our inner child by playing 7-Up. All of us lost and ended up having sunblock on our faces.

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We had lunch at the pavillion where the view was amazing.

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We took some more photos.

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And attempted to create a silhouette photo, but in vain.

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We tried snorkeling, but we saw nothing but sand, rocks, and a few small pieces of trash here and there. Good thing this little starfish got lost and joined us.

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It was time to go home. And this trip has definitely left a mark on us.

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