The (Mis)adventure of the Kitty and the Bunny

The last weekend was probably one of the longest weekends (figuratively, of course) I have ever spent in my life. Ander and I arrived at the bunny‘s house at half past noon on Saturday. We’ve already been travelling 4 hours by then, and we’re about to go on another 2-hour trip with her family and relatives to Nasugbu in a nearby province, which is known for its nice beaches. Ander and I are like extended extended extended members of her family, you see. I’ve been in a lot of family things with them. But this is not just another one of them.

The weather was not the best, as an untimely storm made landfall that weekend. Nonetheless, we had fun froliciking in the huge waves, catching up, laughing at all her dad’s jokes, looking after the kids, just getting our hands on all the food — albeit functioning on 4 hours of sleep. Sunday night, and we were ready to head home.

Now the normal route home from Nasugbu is around 78km (48 miles) via Tagaytay and would take slightly less than two hours. Her cousin this time, suggested another route for some scenic views for everyone. He can’t be blamed though, the trip would have been magnificent …had it not been at night …and storming. Everything was pitch black.

Along the way we were able to have fun despite the eerie vibe (picture winding mountain roads surrounded by swaying trees which are only illuminated by the faint car headlight)

This video below, a case in point:

Me: Uy, gago may naglalakad ?
Mai (driving and filming): Oo nga eh, zombie?
Ian: *completely unrelated* Nasa LA na kamiiii!
*everyone laughing in unison*
Ian: Ay, walang traffic dito sa LA
Mai: Naka-video ako
*Ander whispers something*
Me (whining indistinctly): ..hon ano ba ?
*Ander and Ian LOL-ing*
Mai: Ano-no?
Me: Wala daw mukha
Mai: Gago ?
Ian: May ammo ka ba d’yan?

Anyway, the fun was short-lived when a series of misfortunes started happening. We were a five-car convoy and one vehicle ran a flat tire. Everyone had to wait. After quite a stretch of extremely winding roads, everyone had to pull over again when one the vehicles overheated (I think). The van with Mat, Mai’s brother’s teenage friends suffered on the neverending mountainous road and possibly wasn’t able to handle the load. Now we are on the side of the road in this area, lined-up, with nothing but the hazard lights and headlights from the vehicles to illuminate the area.

Went ahead and just grabbed this photo from Mai’s brother’s Facebook

The wind was also blowing so hard, and it was raining quite a bit on top of that. The road was uphill, and there were no nearby towns. Nobody else was there. The area had no network coverage. Everyone is cold and hungry. It is also the first time I had to pee on the side of the road. Thanks to Crispy, my “adult stuffed-animal” in the form of a blanket, that I had coverage. Also thanks, Mai, for potentially exposing my butt to your brother’s friends. I’m not sure if that in particular was a harrowing or a fun experience. Perhaps both? At one point, a motorist on the opposite lane passed by and stopped near us when he made sense we were in trouble. He just idled there for a minute while grunting over his mobile phone. Mai’s brother was signaling us to just go back inside our respective cars because it was really sketchy, not to mention weird. According to him “he couldn’t have had some motor trouble, since his motorcycle is new and plate-less.” We were scared and all panicking inside. All the recent news on massacres and extrajudicial killings just kept playing in my head. Luckily, they were able to fix the vehicle’s problem, given that Mai’s dad is an excellent oil rig mechanic. With just a bit of passenger-shuffling (the load on the problematic vehicle had to be lifted), we were on our way again after that two-hour stop. The vehicle died one more time after that. We lost someone/gotten lost ourselves a couple of times too (only one driver knew the way, so everybody had to stick together). The van originally with Mat’s friends was sent home ahead, only to realize later that their bags were still there. Mai’s dad stepped on dog poop, etc. — this trip had so many fails that we just laughed it all off on the way home. What could’ve taken us less than two hours ended after seven long hours.

It was weirdly fun and I am looking forward to our next (mis)adventure ?