I left home last May 5, 2012 (Saturday) about 11AM to ride a bus to Batangas Port and ride a boat going to Romblon Island. The first day that I set foot on the province of Romblon is the day after but May 5 is what I consider the first day of our trip.
The boat we were riding at Batangas Port
From the house I took a taxi going to Cubao and from there I rode a Jac Liner Bus (175 Pesos/person, 2 hours) which left around 12 noon going to Batangas Port. I needed to be in Batangas Port by 3PM as I was still meeting Dazl and her family along with Marky and Pam. Turns out I was way too early at Batangas Port (2PM) so I decided to buy a drinking water and some snacks. I saw a 711 convenience store in the vicinity but I decided to buy from a sari-sari store within the port because I like to support small businesses. When I asked for a 350mL of drinking water the lady at the sari-sari store said that it cost 30 Pesos a bottle! I was shocked but decided to buy the water since I thought that at the airport prices also goes that high. I was then craving for a hotdog sandwich that only 711 had, so I went there and decided to also check their 350mL drinking water and it was just 15 Pesos!
I like supporting small businesses but if their quality of service is crap and their prices are a total ripoff, I would happily go to big companies to get what a hard earning citizen, like me, really deserves.
Going back to the topic, Dazl and company arrived. I went through the terminal and met them to get my Montenegro Lines ticket to Romblon Island (954 Pesos/person, economy accommodation).
When it was time to board the ship, I excitedly boarded that ship as my last time to ride a big boat was when I went to Marinduque with Gideon and Ivan more than 5 years ago.
The smell of the crude oil, the salt in the air, the slippery floor and the double deck beds that are too thin for a big guy like me to fit in comfortably were nostalgic. So as the people who sleep on multiple seats or the people that put their things on other’s seat not caring for the standing people were nostalgic too. But if you have a ticket and a seat/room/bed number then you have the right to wake people up or ask them to remove their belonging from where you should rest during the journey.
The boat left around 5:30PM, my 2nd favorite time for a boat to leave as I could see the sunset.
When it was around 6:15PM, Dazl called us and invited us to eat dinner. I never thought of bringing a packed dinner since I could survive the 10 hours of estimated travel time by just hibernating on a sit or on a bed and doing a poker-face so when people look at me I look like I’m not hungry but in reality it’s the opposite. But since Dazl prepared dinner for all of us I was happy that I would not have to use my poker-face mode.
After dinner we went out to get some fresh-cold sea air and went into time-warping conversations that I was surprised to realize that it was already 12 midnight. We decided to call it a night and start sleeping as soon we will be arriving in a couple of hours. Besides we still had a lot of days to go around Romblon Province to try and extract each ones secrets.
And after 2 hours of trying hard to sleep and 15 minutes of finally doing it I heard the horn of the boat and excitedly went out to the light of the full moon showing the silhouette of Romblon Island. It was the sign of the adventures to come and I was ready to experience it. Game face on!
And after 9 hours and 21 minutes inside the boat I was finally stepping on dry land. (2:51 AM)
Finally going out of the boat
Yes, I was still sleepy. Yes, I was again hungry.
A non-ripoff sari-sari store in Romblon Island opened when we arrived early in the morning.
P.S. When I went back home after 20 days from our Romblon Province adventure I realized that riding on the boat for 10 hours is definitely worth it to see the unique beauty of Romblon.
Note:
- I usually don’t sleep on transit.
- My 1st favorite time for a boat to leave is during the sunrise as I will see the sunrise as well the scenery when the ship is running in daylight.
- My technique to not slip on the slippery floor of a boat is to walk tip-toed.
- Bring your packed food during the trip as the food in the boat is really expensive.
Something you should not know
I saw a dishwashing liquid that has a tag of “Ocean Fresh Scent”, when I translated it in Tagalog I realized that it wasn’t marketable in our native tongue – “Amoy dagat”.
Know more about Romblon with my eBook entitled Bits and Pieces of Romblon. Click here to get a FREE copy.
Follow my Romblon Island, Romblon Series
- 14 Things to do in Romblon Island, Romblon (Summary)
- How to get to Romblon Island
- Where to stay in Romblon Island
- Boat Ride to Romblon Island from Batangas Port
- Motorcycle Tour Around Romblon Island
- Tiamban Beach, ITT Tower and Agbaliga Waterfalls
- Fort San Andres
Follow my Romblon Province Series
Id been longing to visit Romblon but I always getting hesitant because of the long hours of travel by sea. With your smooth experience, maybe soon I will take this as part of itinerary on one of my vacations in Luzon 🙂
fave line – When I asked for a 350mL of drinking water the lady at the sari-sari store said that it cost 30 Pesos a bottle! I was shocked but decided to buy the water since I thought that at the airport prices also goes that high. I was then craving for a hotdog sandwich that only 711 had, so I went there and decided to also check their 350mL drinking water and it was just 15 Pesos!
lol