Enterworks Summer Outing '06 (Day One)

This is the first time that I will go to an outing with reservations. For the past few days, I have been feeling sick. In fact, I lost my voice already. I actually thought of not going because I need to rest. But anyhoo, since this is an all-expense paid summer event and I get to have fun with my co-workers, I forced myself to wake up with only 2 hours of sleep.

One of the buses, courtesy of Marco Vincent (the resort in Puerto Galera), that took us to Batangas Pier was pretty cool. There's an area at the back where passengers are seated in a U-shape formation with a table at the center. Some people decided to play poker but it ended early because of the jerky movements.

I wasn't sleepy yet so I tried watching the Live 8 concert performances being shown. When Madonna performed, we all took a-watchin'. She sang "Ray of Light", "Music", and "Like a Prayer". Table got inspired with Maddy's performances that she planned to sing her songs later tonight.

After more than 2 hours, we reached Batangas Pier. My gawd, the people at the pier gave me headache! The boat was quite small for all the people they put in there. I was uncomfortable the whole boat ride to Puerto Galera. There was a good 10 minutes when rains poured too. I thought, "Oh no! Is this a good sign or what?!"

We reached White Beach around 9. There were so many people swimming. So Quiapo-ish. Eek! I made a joke to Earl, "Is this Bora?" It sure looks NOT! I was telling Dennis M. when we were walking towards our resort that it felt like I lost in a contest challenge. Last week only, I was in Boracay with my friends--peaceful, white sand, lovely people. Now, I'm in Puerto Galera. Oh well, this is free. I'll make the most out of it.


Marco Vincent Resort is quite good (you were right, Franco). We were given welcome drinks, minus the ice. The lobby is airconditioned. They have a good-sized pool. We were to stay at Room 304 but it won't be available till after lunch. We placed our stuff in a temporary room.


We quickly changed into our bathing suits, put some tanning lotion (in my case), and headed to the beach.


The place was full of people getting their tan and/or massage and checking out the opposite or same sex ;oP Some boats & jet skis were also stationed near the shore so we had to find some vacant spaces to swim in. Oftentimes we were shouted at because a boat would be arriving to dump passengers on the shore. Crap!


Around 11, we went back to the resort to try the pool. Paul even gave us some lessons ;oP

Lunchtime came and we lined up for 2 small chicken fillet pieces with veggies. For dessert, we had banana. The serving was quite small though. We were given iced tea but only 60% of the glass was filled. Hmmm... Earl requested for seasoning that didn't come. Some people even had to request for a water change since they didn't get cold water. What's up with the service?

After lunch, we finally got our rooms. Ours wasn't cleaned up yet so we had to wait for awhile.


We went to the beach for our team building sessions and did 2 activities. The first one involved flour passing. I watched Team 3 and even rooted for 'em. They won the first game. Whoopeee! After this activity, many people grew older ;oP

We had Fireman's Pail for the second activity. This was more physically demanding. People were running like crazy. The marshalls kept on shouting for them to be careful. Team 5 won.

Before we gave the third activity, we informed them to change their clothes and proceed to the function room in a little while.

The team of Nicko prepared an interesting obstacle setup. The third activity is called Jungle Gym. The whole participants were tied up and had to go through some obstacles as one group. As if being tied ain't challenging enuff, they weren't allowed to speak. The group informed us that they could finish the task in 20 minoots. Earl was the first person to go through, followed by Beng, etc. Pao was the last guy. At one point, somebody violated a rule: they can touch the rope but not the balls. Instead of just touching the rope, somebody moved it to avoid the ball itself. That caused some awkward moments. After a short while, they returned to the starting point.

On the second try, they finished the third activity through cooperation and some flexibility ;oP I was tasked to do the processing but found it hard to speak. A megaphone helped me out. A lot of people shared their experiences ;oP

Breaktime came and we had pasta. Again, the serving was quite small. Earl & I had second helpings because Raz and Jojo left already.

Swimming time again until sunset.


Before we had our dinner, we played water polo at the pool. I teamed up with Earl, Rene, Jayjay, and Ken. Our opponents were Sherwin, Ogz, Rey, Candy, and Olive. 'twas a fun game. We lost though. I didn't quite like the "finger pointing" though. Took my shower before dinner.


Dinner was composed of beef and the veggies again. The dessert was cassava. Turned out that it's flan. I didn't quite enjoy dinner but I had to eat sumpthin.

We planned to sing inside our room after dinner (brought my MagicSing, of course) but I suggested that we sing downstairs instead. Y'see, there's a lady providing the live entertainment by the pool. She's accompanied by an electric organ. Tabel, Nikki, Ogz, and I approached her and asked if we could sing for awhile. I tried to sing but no voice was coming out. My friends sang "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You", "My Immortal", "Almost Over You" (with Beng doing most of the vocals), and "Fame". Tabel sang the "Remember, remember" part alone and it was freakin' hilarious!

We continued the fun inside our room. We started with a bottle of Vodka Cruiser. Paul, Rene, Ken, Mark & Alex, Beng and some more friends joined us later. Earl mixed our drinks. Tabel provided entertainment with her interpretative dancing skills. I felt really sad because I couldn't sing. Tried a few times but nuthin comes out of my mouth =o( Nikks gave me a hug. I really, really, really needed that.


I fell asleep.

Tabel did a wonderful version of "Papa, Don't Preach". Told ya, she got the Madonna bug. Heard later that they sang "Ice, Ice Baby", "Achy, Breaky Heart", "Star", and "Kiss Me".