Oslob Day 1 - Of long journeys, booze, music, and a whole lot of FUN!

Last Saturday, my team and I headed for the Southern Cebu town of Oslob for our first ever team outing. 

FINALLY. This has been talked about since last year. We only just got around to finally planning and pushing through with it this time after the recent schedule bid which gave us all weekend rest days. Also, our team had been awarded Php10,000-worth of Sodexho gift certificates (from the account) plus Php 2,000 in cash (from the Chat Support line of business) for having the lowest number of lates and absences for the month of December. All in all, we had Php 12,000 to spend and we were so ready to head out of town to do so!

Lyle found this rest house by the beach that we could rent out for Php 3,500 per night. This information was from a local forum from a thread back in 2010, so the price wasn't really updated. When we contacted them for inquiries, we were quoted a price of Php 4,000 per night, which was good for 10 people. The number of heads in excess would be charged Php 100 per person.

It was a pretty good deal.

Aris, Lyle, Ron, and I went on undertime to buy food and supplies at the Save More supermarket at the E-Mall. Then, it was a short walk to the South Bus Terminal to meet the rest of the team (and ex-team mates and guests) who would be taking the bus to the Oslob. Others were going by car and motorcycle, while others were coming by bus at a later time.

Ready, set, GO! :D

There were 14 of us on that bus, and it was a pretty chaotic mix of napping, munching on snacks, talking/shouting, fighting to connect to the wi-fi available on the bus, and watching The Expendables on the TV monitor.

One thing that surprised me on this ride was the stop over in Argao. In all the times I've been going to the South on an Oslob-bound bus, this is the first time we've had a stop over - EVER. The only route I could remember that had a stop over was if you crossed over to the Western side of Cebu, with the bus stopping at a rest stop in the town of Barili. It was a welcome relief, nonetheless, as most of us were either hungry or had to get our bladders emptied.

Wi-fi and flat screen TV monitors. Ceres Tours has indeed come a long way.

About 20 minutes later, we were all back on the bus, and the trip continued. Activities previously mentioned were resumed. 

Just over 3 hours into the trip, we found ourselves getting off by the side of the road, right across the Oslob Garden Stay Resort. No, this wasn't where we were to stay for the night, but I had read about this resort online so it was worth a mention haha. 

Right beside the Oslob Garden Stay was the Lagunde Resort - and this was where we made reservations for a night at their rest house. So a few meters from where the bus dropped us off - and we had arrived!

Bye bye, bus!

We've arrived!

No dog in sight, though..

We knew there was a pool when we checked their page on Facebook, but we weren't sure if it was already opened for use. Fortunately, we were told that it was available and that we could most certainly use it. Oh yeah!

to the pool!

The rest house was NICE - a spacious living room, kitchen, and dining area, 2 airconditioned bed rooms with a connecting bathroom/toilet (that was really HUGE you could dance it in), and a lawn that led out to the sea wall high above the shore. Each bedroom had a king sized bed, a bunk bed, and a wardrobe, though one bedroom was bigger than the other and had a dresser as well. There was cable TV and a couple of couches in the living room, as well as a refrigerator, stove, cold water dispenser, and utensils ready for use.

Our home for the next couple of days!

Ser Cheaf!

The beach below :)

smile :)

Oslob Garden Stay - our next door neighbor

Photo ops right after arriving

The jump shots

Starting the trip right lol :P

A budding romance? :)) Ahaha!

The afternoon was all about food, booze, singing, stories and jokes, more booze, games, and a lot of fun and laughter! It was really really fun! Thanks, guys! :D

(late) Lunch!

How huge is that pitcher!

The acoustic duo

Night(shifter)s of the square table!

Pretzy, you cutie! :D

With the "porn star" ahaha! :D

What is with the facial expressions??

Band music? haha

Serena mode ON!

Poi and his scissor moves :)

Aspiring models (lol) on the ledge :P

Late arrivals

Ximxim Pinoy henyo :)

Then and Now :)

Amidst all the fun and games, though, one person was strangely MIA.

Ha! Just you wait! *evil smirk* :D

No worries! The guys made sure he got a wake up call that he would never forget - and one that would make it impossible for him to still go back to sleep hahaha!

Marseh had to go back to the city that night as she had plans to go to Camotes with her beau - it was her last day with us (she had handed in her resignation, effective that day) and we bade her a teary (well, on her part lol) farewell with Richie saying words of parting, assuring her that we will always be here for her. 

Bon voyage, Marseh dae! We will miss you! T_T

Awww.. :( 

Have a safe flight, good luck, and God bless in Dubai, Marseh! :)

Team Ximximi - past and present :)

Dinner was prepared and served at the resort's "dining hall", which was still by the sea wall. We couldn't really see the sea, but we could hear the waves crashing loudly below. It was relaxing, and noisy at the same time haha.

Grilled pork belly yum!

Inun-unang isda, sinigang na isda, and kinilaw na isda + grilled pork belly = WIN!

After dinner, the proposal to go night swimming at the resort's pool came up, and while most of us willingly agreed, there were those who retired to bed early (ehem, River, ehem). So we changed into swimming clothes and plied off to the pool. My camera was more than ready to go underwater! :D

The pool at night

The pool wasn't very well lighted, but it was ok. The water was warm enough to ward off the coldness of the night.

Jump shots haha

We made full use of my camera's underwater features hahaha!

The (weird) headshots..

The funny..

And the DIY :P Sariling sikap haha :))

One of the highlights of this trip was, hands down, Richie Arriba - a former team mate turned ASG for another team. His crazy antics, both physical and verbal, made us double over in laughter countless times throughout the day, and he was still on a roll at night by the pool. Out of all those who took drinks that day, only Nikole was left unsober, and thus, made for a willing partner for Richie's pool shows which included "Teaching Nikole to swim" and "Training Nikole for the camera". Haha! It was a relief that she didn't throw up in the pool, though. :) Hehe.

The (fake) HUNK (channeling Marky Yap, the guy laughing in the picture) and the SEXY (but drunk haha!).

The audience of the Richie Arriba show hahaha!

The night was still young when we decided we had enough water activities for the day. But having come from an 11:30PM to 8:30AM shift (though we did punch out early), then travelling for more than 3 hours, and most importantly, staying awake having fun the entire afternoon finally took its toll and I could not wait to finish bathing and change for bed. Luckily, not everyone headed straight to sleep so there were still a lot of space on the the small bedroom's king-sized bed for both Airene and I. Woohoo!

So while others went back to the drinks outside, I found myself in dreamland, fully satisfied by the fun that was had all afternoon. :)

What happened after? Read on here. :)
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