Murphy Rears His Ugly Head: Day Three of the Drunken New Year Adventure

January 1, 2009

Pagudpud was all that we expected it to be. Great beaches, strong winds and one heck of a journey! But there was more, as we woke up to stronger winds and dark clouds. The rain was pouring in all conceivable directions as I pondered the possibility of being stuck here as the threat of landslides and our car being stuck in the mud came as a possibility.

We claimed our complimentary breakfast at the restaurant. People began to come in, obviously a bit tired from the night’s festivities. Afterwards, Archie took out his trusty snorkel and goggles and decided to brave the waves to check out the marine life. I tagged along, hoping to take some pictures. I had earlier wanted to do some jogging but decided against it. I was in for a long drive ahead and didn’t want to risk cramping up. We walked along the coast to more hospitable beachfronts and found killer waves crashing violently on the shores. Archie braved the first of the waves, but found himself in a frenzy trying not to get sucked into deeper waters. The weather made the beach treacherous and so that was that.

After some further exploration of the cove and some pictures, we trudged back to the resort, battling the rains and the winds along the way. It was close to 10:00 and we had better be on our way. The next destination was Baguio City, to meet up with some friends of mine, May and Jane who spent the holidays cooped up in May’s apartment there.

Once again, we were back in the car and off to another place in as many days. Shortly upon leaving Pagudpud town, the clouds suddenly disappeared and the sun was forcing us to squint for vision, seems like Murphy had shown up in Pagudpud!

First of the scheduled stops we had pre-decided upon was the famed lighthouse. Excellent photo opportunity of the structure as well as the view of the northern coast. I remember cursing Archie for making me trek uphill through a dangerous and slippery trail when lo and behold, there was a concrete stairway leading all the way up to the peak. MoFo!

Laoag was host to lunch. Nothing fancy, and real cheap! We somewhat walked through the center of the city, snapping photos of historical and significant monuments and buildings. Impressively clean, well planned and with polite and friendly citizens, definitely one of my top five favorite cities in the country!

We returned to Vigan prepared with our shopping list. Archie bought a T-shirt, I some refrigerator magnets plus a rice-cake dessert that doubled as a weapon of self defense. Of course, we just had to get a kilogram of bagnet which will serve as a bribe to our Baguio hostesses. Hahaha! At this point, we were both already closely watching our budgets. We were almost out of free booze and with 2 more nights to go, getting drunk in some bar might just overstretch our resources.

Loaded with our bribes, we hit the road amidst the twilight for the summer capital. We figured we could have dinner in San Fernando, La Union and then be at Baguio by 9:00 before May would leave for work at 10:00. The road was pretty dark before we left Ilocandia and we discovered that Murphy had some surprises for us.

The first was our brush with Murphy’s bicycle. Charging through the 2-lane national highway at 80kph, the monotony of the drive was harshly interrupted by the faintest and lucky glimpse of Murphy riding his bicycle with nary a reflector to give us an inkling of his presence. I hit the brakes hard and swerved towards the center of the road, just barely missing the oncoming traffic on the other side. Archie was furious (and suddenly awake) and I had decreed that all bicycles were to be banned on national roads starting on the first day of my eventual presidency of the republic! As if that were not enough to remind us that he was hot on our trail, Murphy also sent his demon canine after us. Still on the national road just on the outskirts of San Juan, La Union, Murphy’s dog suddenly decided to slowly cross. I caught him in my headlights just in the nick of time as I jumped on the brakes and skidded all over the asphalt! This clever canine deviously calculated the exact moment when he would safely jump out of our terribly compromised path and we were again just lucky enough to have found ourselves alone on the highway. Stupid son of a bitch!

We took our break in San Fernando City, opting for Jollibee as Happy Tummy was already closed for the night. There was a choice to be made if we should take the more treacherous Naguilian passage or the safer but further Marcos Highway. We decided upon the Naguilian route as we wanted to do good on our 9:00 deadline. This was more treacherous in the sense that the road was narrower and the hairpins were tighter and more numerous. This time, Murphy sent his drunken minions against us. They heckled us by walking on the road at least 3 abreast and taunting us with their non-linear and erratic movement.

We finally arrived in the city, and felt our way to May’s apartment. Still smarting from Murphy’s antics, we became irritable and immediately abused our hosts’ hospitality by forcing them to yield their couch and imposing our will upon the refrigerator and cupboards. May and Jane just didn’t stand a chance against our combined green and blue double assault. I pity the fools!