I'll let you in on a little secret: I don't shower every day.
Let alone in this the cold, rainy season!
So you can imagine what a surprise it was for my closest friends to video call me as they stood outside our front door on a lazy afternoon, me and my boba tea in bed.
Dang!
The messy kitchen, my unkempt hair... the lousy shirt I've worn for 3 days straight... and my zombie-ish disposition for days of what I call "unshowered thoughts" (because I consider showering to be meditative at best).
With a friendship like ours, you can let all that slide. They love me in my worst and they saved me from my 4th day of shower fasting by taking me the next day to the beach!
Our public beach at Minglanilla, Sherlock (and oftentimes lovingly called Palm Beach), is nothing fancy. We grew up spending Sundays in this little corner of the town. I had a picture here with my mom when I was 2 years old and took one when my child turned 4.
We went there for a seafood breakfast. The tide was low when we arrived and there were a few kids having fun in their floaters.
We prepared two pieces of fresh Pampano we just got from the market, burned the coals and bought a couple of Kinilaw na Bat, a sea cucumber ceviche prepared in two ways (hard and soft) and a stick of boiled sweet potatoes.
The sea cucumbers cost us P50 each. We also got other sea foods from the only stall open that day: a stick of grilled squid (very soft, richly marinated), Kinilaw sa Gata (another fish ceviche dish with coconut milk) and Salvaro (a crispy, flat Cassava bread drizzled with sweet coconut syrup).
Just writing about this makes me drool. I can't believe I almost forgot how inviting our local food is.
We first had Pampano during one of our misadventures in Bohol. My friends had a love quarrel and we ended up "escaping" our way to Bohol to get a breather.
We didn't realize how expensive the seafood were at Panglao that we ended up roaming around the area the entire afternoon only to find a decent Sutukil near Danao, quite far from the main hub at Alona Beach.
Jean had love at first sight with the succulent steamed fish and has been raving about it when we got home. We were lucky to get our hands on a fresh catch this time!
Grilled Pampano has a crispy skin layer that perfectly seals the juices and soft fatty meat.
And as if by divine intervention, a piece of sweet potato rolled from our table to the salty waters. We decided to grill it and just like that, we ended up with a hearty match made in heaven.
We had to drag our table up a couple of times as the waters slowly rose, later almost violently splashing on our faces. I started to sus that it was God teasing, pulling me in for a swim.
Everything always looks a lot better in high tide, and the sea started to feel inviting.
After our quick brunch, I jumped right in and joined Harry. Shortly after, Sheb and Jean plunged in!
Of course, I love taking pictures. I always feel that memories, like the ones in our heads, are simply a collage of pictures we collect moment by moment.
I don't think we can possibly form a core memory from selfies and groufies alone. I'd like to think they're also shaped by the little things that leave lasting impressions, like the random colors, faces and emotions that fill the day. A tapestry, a montage... everything random that complements the highlights.
I would remember this day forever... or so I wish!
That's why a camera always come in handy.
Hi My name is Jan. Thanks for reading my post. I write content about things that are happening in my life, my thoughts and the human condition. My writings are 100% human written. If you like my writing voice, and how I put meaning in the mundane things that are happening to me in the regular, feel free to leave some comments so I can follow you and we can connect.