“There are no strangers, only friends you have not met yet.” – William Butler Yeats

This is a guest post from one of your fellow travelers, Emme Celera. She joined us in the recently concluded Luna Sea 3 and has been joining us on our other Road Trips in the past 2 years. Emme is also a Social Media food and travel blogger and SoundCloud singer when she’s not busy with her work as a lawyer by day. Read on as Emme tells her story 

 

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It was a Saturday morning. Jonathan and I woke up early to drive to Dau, Pampanga, where the Experience Philippines team would pick us up. Upon arriving, we hopped on board the ExPh bus and were given our little orange *shot* glasses with our seat assignments (LDR daw muna, bawal clingy LOL).

As I made my way over to my seat, I glanced around curiously: new faces, 30+ strangers all headed to a secret destination. I was ecstatic!

 

The (Party) Bus

I’m honestly not a fan of bus rides- those long, grueling bus trips. LOL. This one’s different though. The ride was all sorts of fun! We played games, drank mixed shots and laughed at stories and jokes. The party hasn’t even started yet but everything’s already gone wild! HAHA. There was never a single dull moment on the ExPh bus, thanks to the super bibo ExPh Team Managers!

**Fave Game: ‘Eating Donuts on a String Game’ where players eat the donuts off the string with their hands behind their backs. HAHA

**Fave Shots: Raygun (Emperador mix) and chocolate daiquiri with coke!

 

First Destination: Sisiman Beach

We went to our first destination- the Sisiman Beach in Mariveles, Bataan right after a scrumptuous *buffet* lunch at Ima Pamangan.

We played “Bahay Baboy Bagyo” under the scorching heat of the sun, but it was super fun naman (except when I got eliminated from the game BOOOO! LOL)

Sisiman Lighthouse

 

Second Destination: Quinawan Beach

The view on our way to the second destination was amazing! We passed by and through Bataan’s majestic rolling terrain, which resembled that of Batanes’ Vayang Hills. We were in awe!

After 2+ hours of driving we finally reached the party venue- the Quinawan Beach- a secluded, unexplored, off-the-beaten path gem.

Yey! Camping under the stars!

The party venue was already set up when we arrived and oooh it was the perfect sight! String rainbow pennants fluttering in the wind, candles casting dreamy glows by the beach shore, warm sea breeze welcoming us with its soothing aroma and the sun slowly dipping into a pool of light.

 

The Luna Sea Full Moon Party
We were promised a night to remember and that’s exactly what we got!

After a delish and palatable dinner, Pusakalye got the party started by playing tropical beach songs (I love their original compositions!)

unli seafood!!!

The crowd sang, danced and cheered along to the gig.

The party is what it should be:

Craaazy (thanks to ExPh’s unlibooze!), super fun (Suck and Blow game LOL) and entertaining (fire dance!)

Buckets of overflowing booze!

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! My fave part!
I honestly can’t remember how many buckets of booze I’ve had. (I also might have blacked out) HAHA.

The full moon party was definitely a success! Kudos to the ExPH team!

 

Third Destination: Sugong Cove

After sharing stories about last night’s party over breakfast, we went to Sugong Cove for cliff diving. It was a 15-minute boat ride from Quinawan Beach.

My morning view

I was still hung over though (LOL) so I skipped cliff diving and went swimming instead. I had fun naman. Watching my fellow roadtrippers cliff dive was very entertaining- the horrified look on their faces as they make their first leap and the sigh of relief as they reach the surface of the cove’s churning waters. LOL

We ended the trip with a boodle fight lunch (yuuum!), bid goodbyes and went our separate ways.

Overall, the Luna Sea experience was superb (but bitin) haha! It was the most fun I’ve had in a while! Thank you so much, Experience Philippines! I can’t wait til Luna Sea 4!

Photos by Emme Celera

Shoutout to all of the Travel Managers who helped set up Luna Sea 3 and to our corporate partners BLOC Camp Site for providing the tents, Canon Philippines as our official camera sponsor, and By The Way for video coverage! Acknowledgements also goes to Pusakalye as our official band for Luna Sea 3, KAJ Audio System for our lights and sounds, Flame On for the awesome firedance performance, DJ Masta for our beats, to the government of Bataan, Marie Ligutan of the Municipality of Bagac, and most especially to Barangay Captain Lorenzo Laguna and his family for their generous assistance!