After revisiting the famous beach of Calaguas, me and my best friend Vanessa went to Camarines Sur for our flight back to Manila the next day. But before leaving for Manila, we planned to go to CWC since my friend hasn’t been to that water sports complex yet. I arranged to have our stay in one of my relatives who lives in Bula, Camarines Sur, which is an hour and a half away from Naga City.
It was already 6:00 PM when the passenger’s van left the terminal in Daet. We traveled the road for like two hours to get to the next city. We reached Naga City at around 8:00 PM and since it’s too late already for us to travel to Bula, I contacted my cousin and told her that we’ll just be staying in Naga City instead. We still have plans of going to CWC so I don’t think our time can still permit us to get to Bula.
I’ve been going in and out of Naga City since I was still a kiddo but I haven’t really tried staying in the city. Why should I if I have relatives in the area, right? But this time is a different case. We have to look for a hotel or inn since we were caught on the road. I asked my friend Carla to help me look a cheap accommodation in the area since I don’t have an access to internet and she gladly helped me to find one. Then she recommended Sampaguita Tourist Inn to me.
Upon arriving in SM City Naga, me and my friend rode a tricycle going to Sampaguita Tourist Inn. I wasn’t aware that there are two branches for this hotel so I just told the driver to take us to the old one. I was thinking since it was old, the old branch could be cheaper thus explains why I asked the driver to take us there.
And yes it’s old but bearable. When we saw the new branch which is just few walks away from the old branch, we wish we should have just opted to stay there. The old tourist inn is located at Panganiban Drive in Naga City, just 5 mins away from SM City and from the city central.
We had standard room with twin bed, air-condition, TV and private bathroom for the night. The room costs like PHP 525.00 a night.
After we settled our things, we went out of our room. I saw there’s a computer available in the lobby so I went online first to see how to get to CWC during that time. Then I found out that CWC closes at 9:00 PM; and it was already passed 9:00 PM so we cancelled our plan of going there and thought of an alternative activity for the night. Then we’ve decided to get to the Centro (central) and had our late dinner at Bigg’s Diner.
We rode a tricycle from the tourist inn to get to the Centro, which took us about a minute to get there. It was good that Bigg’s Diner here is open 24 hours a day.
After dining in, we thought of having a drink before wrapping up our night so we rode a tricycle going to Magsaysay Avenue. The area is known as a place for nightlife and hanging out, there you can find restaurants and drinking areas.
Since we failed to visit CWC last night, we’ve made a plan to visit the water sports complex right after checking in to our 10:30 AM flight.
We checked out from the tourist inn at around 7:00 AM and hurriedly went to the terminal. We took a bus to get to the airport since we thought it’s the faster way to get there. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the airport, just in time as the check in counter for our flight was already open. After checking in and checking in our bags, we then hailed a tricycle going out from the airport, we then rode a jeepney from the highway bound to Naga; then we alighted at the Capitol. From there, we took another tricycle going to CWC. It took us 20 minutes to get there from the airport.
It was a calm morning when we arrived at the water sports area. There are only few guests that time which is in fact good since we could enjoy the area more and have wake boarding without the hassle of lining up. So the next time I’ll be visiting this area, I’ll go before lunch to avoid the flock of guests.
We registered and paid the fees first at the receiving area. We availed of the 1-hour wake boarding which costs PHP 165.00 per hour, we also paid PHP 40.00 for the rental of life vest and equipment, as well as made a refundable deposit of PHP 500.00 which will be refunded upon finishing the 1 hour activity. The fee comes with an hour free use of swimming pool but too bad the pool isn’t operational that time since they were cleaning it. Anyway, we’re not there for the pool but to go for wake boarding; so when we settled everything and had our equipment, we started the game.
For the past wake boarding experiences that I had, I always perform the activity at the beginner’s area. I’ve been wanting to try it at the professional’s area but the timidity in me always hinder my goal. So since there were only few guests that time, I don’t think there’s no need for me to be shy anymore. So me and my friend, tried it there. I don’t want to keep pace with professional wake boarders so me and my friend just had the knee boarding.
Well with the entire circuit that I have to navigate with, it’s not that really hard to do the knee boarding. In fact, it’s easier than the wake boarding itself as you only have to kneel down then navigate the handle depending on which side to turn. But I must say the hardest part of the activity is when missing the turns; then get left behind. I have to walk far to get back to the guests area.
So after trying out the knee boarding, we went to the beginner’s area to attempt wake boarding. There were only two guests trying the activity. Hooray! We had the full area by ourselves! No need to line up and wait for my turn.
I was able to try this activity quite times already but haven’t really been successful in getting a full circle ride until that day. I must have been lucky that time. It felt good that I didn’t fall from the board while riding it. I was able to make that turn that I’ve been wishing to learn since I had my first attempt. It was such a nice feeling.
Well if my friend was able to do the knee boarding successfully, she wasn’t able to stand longer on this ride. The instructors were too eager to teach my friend and even told us that we can actually stay longer even if we only pay for the one-hour rate. We would love to but it was already 10:00 AM so we have to go.
We finished the activity, had a quick shower and waited for a tricycle to arrive. It was already nearing our flight time and still, there’s no tricycle in sight to take us to the airport. We even asked one woman who was selling food in her mini-cart to take us to the highway but she’s too busy to accommodate us. Well I can’t blame her. We asked the guards if there are habal-habal (motorcycle) available because we’re already bothered about our flight. The guard on duty helped us to get a motorcycle going to the airport. After a couple of minutes, we were fetched by a man and his motorcycle which I supposed a staff from CWC. We rode the motorcycle and in less than 15 minutes we reached the airport. We paid the driver with our deepest appreciation for their kindness and goodwill.
We hurriedly went inside the terminal, checked our bags and everything and hooray, we made it! It was just in time for boarding. Whew, that was close for missing our flight. We felt relief after making it. It was a heart pounding experience getting to the airport, the longest 15 minutes I ever had. I never learned from my past airport experiences.