Ever since my journey
as a senior began, one of the activities that I looked forward to was the batch
outing that is traditionally held at the end of the school year. The English
and Filipino elocution, school fair, Entrepreneurship Day, the series of CAT’s,
the Christmas party/program, the JS prom and the All Star Olympics flew by in a
jiffy. It was down to the last month of the school year- all seniors, including
me, were feeling very sentimental about graduating soon. Nonetheless, we all
looked forward to the opportunity to reflect on all the memories we made and neglect the ones not worth keeping like the beheld grudges in the past.
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| It was my girl Louise's birthday during the batch outing. I had a little surprise for her! Scroll down to check it out. :D |
We
boarded the bus at 8:30 am and arrived at Caliraya Recreational Center, a
Christian camp located at Lumban, Laguna at around 12:30 pm. The trip was long
and grueling. Luckily, we had music to keep us all entertained and beat the
roadtrippin’ blues. One fact about Caliraya island is that the weather’s
bipolar- it gets scorching hot, the next thing you know, it’s raining, then it
gets windy and cold. When we got there, it was raining pretty hard but stopped
after a while. We boarded a boat to the island, ate lunch and checked in at the
duplex rooms. There were two houses; each had a duplex- one house for the
girls, the other for the boys. The duplex separated girls of section A and B,
likewise done to the boys’. We prepared for the group games that would begin at
2pm. Before the games began, my friends and I explored the place. I could tell
it was a pretty large resort packed with a lot of activities- kayaking,
horseback riding, jet-skiing, swimming, bungee jumping, zip lining, mud sliding
and rock climbing to name a few. We weren’t allowed to do the lake activities,
though.
We
played all group games under the blazing heat. I slapped on some sunscreen and
made sure I wasn’t parched to prevent myself from getting heat stroke. All
group games required teamwork and cooperation. It was fun working with all
members of the blue team- this is accordance to our teams during our intramurals
held last month. One of my favorite group games was the Earthball- a large
soccer ball about 20 times larger than the normal one is used as a volleyball-
it was fun lifting the inflated ball, seeing it being thrown back and forth by
both teams.
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| Jumping is against the rules.. but ngh. I just needed an extra push! It sucks being small, 'ya know?! =)) |
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| I look creepy here, don't I? |
Afterwards,
we had a free time of 1 ½ hours. My batchmates and I took the chance to swim
and go on the mudslide. The mudslide is also one of the funnest things to do in
Caliraya- you slide down a slippery hill and a “mud puddle” awaits you! Prepare
to get splashed with a mixture of detergent, water and of course, some earth.
It may look gross, but you’ll think otherwise once you try it out. My
batchmates and I enjoyed it so much, that we just had to go for a couple of
rounds again the following day.
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| This is probably the longest 'line' of Seniors that went on the mudslide altogether. Can you spot me? :P |
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| The BIG puddle. See what I mean? Hi, Eunice. |
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A
crescent moon and a curtain of stars filled the sky and welcomed the evening.
We had dinner (plus surprised my classmate Louise a slice of carrot cake and
candles since it was her birthday during the batch outing) and went to a
multi-function room for the “plenary”. Pastor Noel, the school’s pastor, spoke
before us about friendship and forgiveness. I find him a good speaker. I was
very much engrossed in his sermon, that he gave me a bar of chocolate for
answering his question. During the sermon, he asked us to say our thank you’s
and sorry’s to our friends. In no time, the room was filled with tears, sniffs
and hugs. It was very heart-warming and it felt great to receive and give hugs,
thank, apologize and forgive. We also exchanged palanca letters. I was also crying while reading the palancas my loved ones wrote for me- it
made me realize that I’ve been blessed with good, true friends and a loving
family. The 4B (my section) girls and I ended up having a ‘slumber party’ on
the second floor of the duplex, sharing food and stories about ourselves and
anything under the sun. I really learned a lot that night.
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| My mini surprise for my girl Louise! It was lighted, of course. It was a never-ending candle! It took her a while to blow the flame away. Haha.  |
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| Yes. Believe it or not, that's a palanca. Written on a manila paper. |
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| There I am! Listening while reading my palancas. Hehe. |
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| With the cool and awesome Pastor Noel! |
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Incomplete. :-( |
The
following morning, we made the most of the time we had left. I went zip-lining,
bungee jumping, mud sliding (it’s more fun if you form a long “train” with your
friends and if it’s drizzling) and rode on the Zorb ball. We left Caliraya at
lunch time and arrived at school at around 4:30.
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Like brodar, like sistar. ❤   |
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| Since I figured that zip lining looked fun and less scary than I thought it would be, and that wasn't all the time that I get to go on a batch outing with my friends, I decided to give it a try. Apparently, ascending up to the tower 32 feet above the ground got me trembling and pale. I survived anyway! Ica, my best friend, loves me too much that she took a picture of me, witnessing my acrophobic self. |
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Flip!
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One of the few lessons
I learned throughout the batch outing were the following:
1.
No matter how
much I hate packing, it will always be an essential. I cannot escape, run or hide from it. I regret excessive
packing, adding unnecessary weight and stress to myself. Good thing that the
activities made me forget how mad I was. (Have you noticed why I'm one of the few not wearing a jersey?)
2.
Researches say
that a typical Filipino has difficulty of choosing only ONE best friend since
he/she’s afraid the other close friends that may get hurt- that’s why, most
Filipinos have ‘many’ best friends.
3. ""Ang kaibigan, minsan maingay, parang lata- at least
hindi plastic. Pero magingat ka sa lata, kasi malalim makasugat." (A friend, is sometimes noisy, like tin- at least it's not plastic. But beware, sometimes, it can deeply wound you.)
4.
“Ang may kaibigan, ay parang Centrum. Sila ang
kukumpleto sayo.” (Friends are like Centrum. They complete you.)– Trystan Santos
5.
Proverbs 17:17
- "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of."
Many believe that '13' is an unlucky number. As a person who disbelieves in luck, I'd rather say that I'm BLESSED- to be a part of the TSMS Seniors Batch 2013. ;)
Photo Credits
T. Aileen Mabini
Chloe Yambao
Alyana de Jesus
Louise Marfil
Ica Babaran
Shanice Barbin
Abbie San Juan
Arvel Alvarez
Dana Libunao