Sunburn, waves and water proof paper!

I feel like I'm on vacation right now but I'm just on my regular weekend off. I had such a fun day yesterday - water fun under the sun! I had the best company ever - boyfriend, my friend from work Vanette, my niece Dalnes and my nephew Esban.

Vanette loves swimming. She's gone to two swimming courses in the three years I've known her. We've been talking about taking a dip for the whole month of April but didn't get to go then. Oh when we finally got to go, the sun was really on it's brightest and hottest! Yesterday seems like the only day in the past week that didn't have rains in the afternoon. There were threatening rain clouds at around 4PM but they didn't blow over Taytay (the municipality where the resort is at), and even when it started drizzling as we were on our way home, it was just brief like the wind just blew them over there.

We went to Club Manila East, a resort that's about 35-45 minutes away from here. This was the same resort that Vanette and I went to 3 years ago with 3 of our other guy batchmates from work (who are all no longer in the company). This visit was in stark contrast to the first one: we were practically alone there on that Friday afternoon while we shared the resort yesterday with hundreds of people! They have more pools this time around though so it didn't really feel very crowded, except perhaps in the Beach Waves pool.

As my dad drove us in to the entrance of Club Manila East (CME), we were overwhelmed by the number of people hanging around at the gate and the vehicles that filled the parking lot. Thankfully, the queue for tickets wasn't that long so we were in after about 5 minutes. While waiting, Alfred lifted Esban to see the people on the kayaks. We also saw the sign for surfing lessons up front. At first we wondering, how could they do it? Surely, the artificial waves wouldn't be that strong. Later in the day, we learned just how possible it was to really ride those waves!

The only thing that kept me from really enjoying the trip to the max was that I caught a cold the night before and it's just no fun swimming with colds. I also couldn't stand the intensity of the sun's rays. It was really awesome that one of CME's maintenance guys put up our table and chairs about five feet from this pool that had the least people in, and right under a mango tree! Shade! We had the coolest spot ever and we only had to pay 100 pesos for it. Before we got that spot we wanted to rent a hut or a cabana but all of them were already taken. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise really.

The kids really maxed themselves out swimming, it was fun to have them because they could both swim already so we didn't always have to fuss about them. All we had to was just make sure we had our eyes on them. They did venture out on their own to the Kiddie Pool on the other side of the resort. Dal is very capable to watch her brother though so I didn't worry too much. They came back in less than 15 minutes.

The first pool we checked out was Beach Waves. Of course, within 5 minutes of our arrival, the kids were on there. Good thing too because the waves just started. Us three adults didn't get to experience the waves yet in the morning, it's like the waves went on break or something. So we checked out the other pools and found our awesome shaded spot.

When our pool (yes, I claimed it) was closing at 5PM, we decided to go back to the Wave Pool. Vanette and I would not leave without getting a taste of it (not literally okay). Alfred and the kids went there after lunch so boyfriend already knew why Esban just couldn't get enough. So off we went and WOW, those are some waves. The whole time I was thinking, real waves are more forgiving! Haha. We stayed for like three cycles, the last one were just at the "shore" where the waves break. It was so much fun. I kept worrying about Esban though because as violent as the waves were, he kept taking them on and pushing forward! I had Alfred and Dal alternately chasing after him. Near sundown though, he was the one who said we should go - he was hungry and looking forward to going to SM Taytay!

The shower rooms weren't crowded as I though they would be. Thank God. There wasn't much hassle getting the kids cleaned and dressed up. Esban even came back for me asking me to hurry - that's just because we thought it was going to rain. We had to take pedicabs to the main street as the shuttle was no longer available (too bad, we were looking forward to taking a ride on those). And then we took a jeepney to SM Taytay. We really just wanted to check it out a bit and maybe find something other than Jollibee to eat, but we ended up eating at McDonald's! I figured it would be easier to get a cab from there too. Okay, it wasn't easy, but we did get a cab that agreed to take us home.

Esban fell asleep on the ride home, just as expected. He came up here after lunch to tell me he liked it at CME and wants to go back. That's just as expected too. I want to go back too sweetie :)

Any regrets on the trip? I guess only that I didn't borrow Edsel's camera pack to get the digicam water proofed. Another would be that we didn't ask other friends to tag along. There's always a next time. :)

Oh, this has turned into a long post and I haven't even mentioned the water proof paper bracelet they make you wear upon entrance. No worries, I'll have another post on this later with pictures! I've just transferred them from the camera and checking them out!