the mind wanders / my very own titanic adventure...

...except for the part where the ship sinks, else i wouldn't be here to tell the tale.

jose's post yesterday in his blog about being in cebu got me thinking about island-hopping days of yore. other than luzon, the only islands i've ever been on in this archipelago are palawan and mindoro (for puerto galera's white beach -- an excellent place for comet watching).

i'd like to see the famed beach-y perfection that is supposed to be boracay; but the reputation also has it's own reputation to be quite dear on the wallet. so that's a pipe dream... ...at the moment.

anyway, my first trip to palawan was engendered by the encouragement of paul, a friend and officemate. his fiancee was working at the legend hotel in puerto princesa, palawan; and his trip had been in the offing for a while. i, on my part, took a while to decide. so it was very last minute that i ended up booking a berth on a negros navigation ship scheduled to leave the weekend before the holy week observations that year. paul had taken a flight -- i could've too, short of the indecision.

besides, it would be an experience. what could go wrong?

...nothing went wrong. it went weird.

before the weirdness: it would be a literal voyage of firsts for me. previous travels had been with family and/or friends. this time, i'd be on my own. also first time on an inter-island vessel larger than the scaled-up bancas that ply the batangas-puerto galera route. and longest trip, too. 12 hours. that's just an hour less than a non-stop mnl/lax flight -- at a huge speed disparity. i'm sure that the ship i took is a perfectly swift vessel in it's own right -- and the operator certainly wouldn't operate it at maximum velocity... ...of course, that would be an experience too.

got to the port early, boarded with little fuss. (this is pre 9/11, of course. don't know how it is these days. have never taken another similar ship trip again). am in a room with two double-deck bunks flanking the door, with a diner-style table under a fixed picture window; benches attached to the walls in line with the bunks. just before departure, a couple came in; talking to one of the crew. the crewman went away and came back with news that a suite was available. away the couple went...

...and that meant that the cabin was all mine. (",)

to the weirdness:

passing corregidor. hm. take glasses off, and use binoculars. ship-shaped islands. concrete. whatever for? door opens. turn to look, nearsightedness allows me to see blur in doorway. door closes. what was that about?

later, lying in a lower bunk, reading a book. door opens, person walks straight in and sits by the window. door remains open.

hmm. i close the door. cliches about strained silences apply. i don't remember who speaks first, but the story: he's on his way to puerto princesa to do something about a show his mom is putting on at a hotel. his companions are workers for his mom, and they've gone gallivanting about the ship, locking the cabin, and he didn't have a key. so, he asked, kinda belatedly, if he could sit here for a while.

...

oookaaay... ...anyway, be nice, chitchat, etc. he leaves after a while, saying he'd be back to
accompany me to dinner, and never comes back. which is good.

after dinner, head out on deck for some fresh air. i had watched the sunset earlier, and it was quite picturesque. the night was breathtaking. there were a lot of small, puffy clouds about, and the moon was full. the 'jesus rays' one commonly associates with the sun behind clouds were in abundance, but this time the moon was powering them. great splotches of moonlit water with wavelets twinkling in that light, connected to the sky by vast columns of moonbeams. and in the shadows, darker patches in the water -- not sure what they were, but the boat seemed to be navigating an obvious path of lighter shaded water among these. the water is also rather calm. there are no swells, so the boat just seems to hang in space while the scenery floats by. quite peaceful.

look in on the bridge, and it's dark. all of the light in there was coming from the intruments. everyone was standing; no one was saying anything, and about five of them were at the forward windows, peering into the night.

decide to call it a night. sleep was fitful -- kept waking up to a bright light in the window that would move erratically. thinking about it, it was probably a planet or a star...

breakfast. i was early, hoping for better pickings than the night before... food still not good. scrambled eggs are cold. ah well.

...and then he shows up. with nothing better to do and only a couple more hours before we get to the port, i decide to accompany him around the ship. we end up at the bridge -- lo and behold, there are rungs leading up to the roof. up he goes. what!?

...don't know why, but up i go too. next thing, he hands me his camera, and i take a picture of him doing the 'king of the world' bit at the front of the roof. next thing, a crewman pops up and tells us it's forbidden to be up here... ...picture's taken, so that's an accomplishment for leo.

...why leo? i don't remember when, but sometime during the trip, he confided that his girlfriends have suggested that he resembled the titanic star... ...i may post a picture sometime, and you get to decide.

trip over, boat docks. paul and his fiancee are at the port, and as i go to meet them, leo shows up.

!!!

paul has made plans already, and we're discussing these -- and leo pipes up to the effect that he'd like to hang out with us for a while; he'd ask his mom to excuse him from the show or something like that...

...and the saga continues.

next time.