An island touched by Mayumi of the Sea

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be Patrick, hanging out at the beach?

Let me show you the perfect place! 

It's just off the coast of Palauig, in Sta. Cruz, Zambales, an estimated 7-hours travel time by bus from Manila.

When someone asks to go with me on a trip, the initial questions I ask are how much is your budget? and what would you like to do? This helps me determine how far we can go and how long we can be away. So when my friend Yay (from WAY OF THE SUN) put a PhP3,000 cap to a trip at the beach, I began looking for the farthest placed we've both never been to within an all-in 1K round-trip fare. 

The weather was Summer-in-January: bright and sunny. Perfect for skipping and hop-scotching. For walking under tree-lined-streets and the beach. So while others were stuck in traffic, fanning themselves in the midday heat tsk-tsk-tsking, I was gallivanting somewhere else, a little worried about global warming  --since summer has come early-- and at the same time excited that summer had come .

starfish multitude

Off we went to an island where dogs run  free and it's perfect to be a starfish! The place was strewn with a multitude of them, some even beach themselves on the shore, the tide leaving them to dry. Magalawa Island is not yet commercialized that it still retains a homey feel to it, with personalized service from the owners of Armada Beach Resort: Nanay Auring, if you're friendly enough and pay your respect -- this could be as simple as playing music for one (i.e. headphones) instead of for a crowd (i.e. speakers) in a place with a strict NO SOUND PLAYING rule. You know what it means.

island rules

Lounging at night at the beach, I thought how perfect this island would be for a night to watch a good celestial show. Clear skies with twinkling stars is how I want it to be on November 17 & 18 when I intend to go back during the Leonids Meteor Shower; when hundreds of mostly blue and green meteors will shoot across the sky per hour!

sunrise

sunset

If you intend to do the same, here are other dates for the best meteor showers this year:

     * December 13 & 14 during the Geminids Meteor Shower. It will be an awesome show of up to 60 multicolored (white, yellow, blue, red, green) meteors per hour under the dark sky conditions of a new moon. This will be a great chance to see a bright fireball cross the sky!

     * August 12 & 13 during the Perseids Meteor Shower when 60 meteors per hour can be seen shooting across the skies. 

Other dates of interest are:

      *  June 4 for the full moon at a partial lunar eclipse -- this will be visible throughout Asia

     * November 28 for the full moon at a penumbral lunar eclipse -- this will be visible throughout Asia and the Pacific Ocean