Day 2 in Puraran Beach

Woke up at 5 a.m. the follow day hoping to catch the sunrise. But clouds were covering much of the horizon. I was a wee bit disappointed because of that. I lingered on the beach hoping the clouds would clear up.

As I patiently wait by the beach I noticed a number of locals are starting to gather at the beach not far from where I am. A fishing boat soon came on shore and offloaded some fresh catch of the day. The locals were there to buy some of their catch.

My cousin and I went to check their catch and bought some.

Spending just overnight in Puraran is too short to enjoy the place. We decided to extend for another day. Running low on supplies we requested Onyong, our tricycle driver, to purchase a kilo of rice and a gallon of water at Baras. He also did the cleaning of the fish when he got back. Onyong was supposed to pick us up and take us back to Baras at midmorning.

The view at Puting Baybay's bar

We had coffee at the bar of Puting Baybay Beach Resort and spent the whole morning chitchatting with the owner. She let me take photos of the interiors of the cottages and invited us to have lunch with them. We weren’t able to cook the fish we bought for lunch so we had it placed in the icebox.

Past noon came but no tutor came over to teach us how to surf. We were told that one would come later in the afternoon. Then came a brief rain shower and we moved our tent inside the beachside hut.

By mid afternoon the tide has ebbed. I took out the snorkeling gear I brought along. Bright and colorful fishes and other marine life abound in Puraran. I was thrilled to see a clown fish swimming to and fro in front of my face.

Right after snorkeling my cousin checked again if we can have our surfing lessons. This time they told us that we’d have it the following morning.

I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon taking pictures of Puraran Beach and Tibo rock.

As dusk came, the sky turned into a bluish pink glow. It has that ethereal feel.

When I got back to the hut, my cousin was already preparing to cook our dinner. We cooked the fish in a way as suggested by Onyong.

Boil water with onions and tomatoes in a pot.

Add the fish when it starts to boil.

Add calamansi (lime) juice and salt to taste.

Cook the fish until done.

We feasted on it and I liked how the broth tasted. The fish is equally yummy. My cousin and I weren’t able to finish everything and put away the leftover for our breakfast the next day.

Time goes by so slowly here. I spent the night lying on the beach gazing at the evening sky and marveled at the countless starts above.