Bantayan Trip 2025: Part 2

Hello, Fine Hivers! If you're new here, check out the first part, enjoy, and come back for the continuation :) Here's the second part of our Bantayan Trip 2025!  ## 2nd half of DAY 02: JUNE 28, 2025 After enjoying the waves of the Paradise Beach, the group headed to our next stop for dinner called the Teresito Dragon Fruit Farm. It’s a Dragon Fruit Farm with a café, restaurant, and different sorts of entertainment from badminton to fun games. The place is so huge and nice, but I thought it would look nicer during daytime. We ordered various food from their menu and for their specialty, we had Dragon Fruit ice cream which was 10/10. They also had other variants of the said fruit like the jam and juice. As a lover of the said fruit, I took home the remaining two Dragon Fruit jams and brought one for my family and friends. We had so much fun with the food and place and made friends with the area’s dog. * _{upper row: food and ice cream, middle row: the field and entertainment area, last row: instagrammable spots, dragon fruit health benefits, and the area's dog} * While we were having dinner, my driver friend had the e-bike provider replace our batteries in advance since it started to degrade when we were travelling to the Teresito Farms. However, things turned a little unexpected and quite dangerous if you think about it. As we were travelling back home, the supposed full charged battery didn’t seem like it and our trip was slowed down to 2kph. Fortunately, there was an open gasoline station nearby and decided to wait there for rescue. While waiting, I practiced driving the vehicle and made turns within the vicinity. The vehicle still runs as long as it will not run straight and at a very slow speed. * _{left: gas station, right: stranded situation with the low-powered e-bike} * After an hour of waiting, the rescue arrived with a charged battery of only 75%. However, since we were confident that we’ll be able to make it through due to the remaining distance to our place, we decided to push through with the ride home. However, the same thing happened and this time, there was no nearby stores or gas stations we can take shelter in so internal panic started to kick in. Luckily, there was a well-lit corner with tricycles passing through and we were able to hail one. After minutes of deliberation, our driver friend and her girlfriend remained in the e-bike while waiting for the second rescue and the rest of us went home first. On our way home, we helped in communicating for the rescue to be expedited because our e-bike was stuck in a lamppost by the corner with no people around except for passing vehicles. We got back safely to our accommodation thanks to the tricycle we hailed who were on their way home after attending the fiesta. Minutes after, our driver friend and her girlfriend arrived with finally a full-charged battery. It may be an eventful and unexpected way to almost end our second day but we all decided not to dwell on the negative vibes by playing board games and fast-paced games with good and bad characters. We played The Resistance: Avalon, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, and Undercover: Word Party Game which are social deduction party games. They have different rules but their common denominator is finding out the “bad guy” in the group. It entails mental ability and critical thinking skills for you to win the games. We slept probably at almost 2am tired from the heavy laughter and banters that we totally forgot about the unfortunate event :D  * _{from left to right: The Resistance: Avalon, Undercover: Word Party Game, and One Night Ultimate Werewolf} ** _{photo courtesy: https://www.gaminglib.com/products/the-resistance-avalon, https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/A1wRaH3zXSL, https://www.gaminglib.com/products/one-night-ultimate-werewolf?srsltid=AfmBOoqwDgAyGn7QzRwWS-osg90hAiGAy1jSZEkiEQSM2-GzkWbJm0KN} *   ## DAY 03: JUNE 29, 2025 The last day marked our third and final day on the island. As usual, I strolled again by the shore and decided to pick up some shells as memorabilia for this trip. For our breakfast, we went to MJ Square which is located just a few blocks away. We were looking for a café that would offer breakfast meals and eventually settled at Café Lynn and chose bacon and cheese sandwiches, takoyaki, espresso shot coffee, and pastry as our breakfast. We went back to the accommodation after eating and some of my friends decided to take a last-minute dip by the ocean while I prepared ahead. We checked out by 12nn and made sure the place was clean and fixed. * _{from left to right: interior design of Cafe Lynn, sandwich, coffee, Kermit's Cafe cake} * Before heading out to the port, we dropped by again at the MJ Square and ate our lunch at the Bantayan Burrito Company. I first knew of this since they had a second branch in Lapu-Lapu City and me and my workmates were regulars there every Friday night but eventually, they closed down. This restaurant is known to have good and savory Mexican food. We had their famous packed burritos and nacho chips. However, we didn’t get to spend that much since we were trying to catch the 2pm barge trip. * _{from left to right: front facade, nachos and burritos (flat lay), nachos and burritos (up close), burritos (very up close)} * Finally, we arrived at the Santa Fe Port and lined up for tickets for the bus and the barge. The trip was packed and we settled on wherever gives a good amount of ventilation. After which, the 5-hour drive home started and we all said our goodbyes as we individually dropped off to our respective locations. * _{from left to right: jam-packed barge, side of the bus, entrance to the barge, port exit, ticket booth} * As much as we wanted to stay, reality will always find and hit us at the end of the tunnel. However, reality shouldn’t be as scary as we thought as long as we shape it to how we really want it to be – by being happy. As for me, happiness is creating memories by exploring the world and experiencing nature with the people who matter to me the most. If you’ve reached this part, then, you've definitely endured reading a big piece of my mind so thank you for taking the time and hope to see you here again next time 😊 God bless you, Fine Hiver, and stay safe! --- ---