Quack, Quack...

I have a terrible muscle pain in the upper leg area. The culprit? It's the duck walk game conducted by Sir Jhaze during our team building activity in Batangas. It's so painful that I could hardly take one step higher or lower in our stairway. It slowed me down 70%! I haven't experienced such muscle ache in my entire life.

I haven't experienced a company outing, either. So I guess I'll have to call it quits. ^.^ The pain from the said event is worth it. Afterall, we won the first place for the said game, and 2nd place overall.

It was such a long day for me, haven't been able to sleep the night before. After the shift, we proceeded to Sir Wilson's place. There were nine of us -- Sir Wilson, Nikka, Maica, Dhang, Noel, Jason, Ruth, Gian and me. We rode a van on the way there. When we reached the place, we enjoyed videoke while preparing our midnight meal. Then, a tattoo artist started painting Nikka, Maica, Wilson and I was supposed to be included. But I couldn't make up my mind on where and what tattoo to put on me. Goodness! It was only henna and nothing permanent yet I was so hesitant. Nature won and we ran out of good ink. Hahaha! It could have been my first time to have a body art.

Call time was at 5:30am. We arrived in the meeting place at 5:10am. The bus started moving at around 6:30am because we were waiting for some more people to arrive. The trip to Mabini, Batangas took about three and a half hours with a couple of stop over in between. The first stop over was at McDo, where we had breakfast. The next one was a short bladder break at a gasoline station. We arrived in the land travel end point at around 10am. We stayed at a resort for about half an hour to prepare ourselves for a boat ride to an island where the team building was to be held. We were supposed to go to Bayawak Beach but because the boatmen said it was too risky to go there, we settled for another resort -- the Olympic Point.

It was a big resort and it looked better than the first shore we first checked out. The sea wasn't that sandy though. You have to swim with the rough surface underneath. But to a sea-lover like me, it was such a heaven.

We arrived sometime at noon. First, each team had to build a tent out of the materials provided. There were ten of us in the group. Three of them were the Korean staff from Avalon. These three were executives, mind you. But they were able to build a nice tent for the group quickly. We were the first one to finish.

Then, a series of games were conducted. The third one - duck walk really made an impact on my leg muscles. Our Korean teammates - Cho, Kim and Park, whom I believe were military men at one point in their lives, joined us. (Korean men are forced to join the military as soon as they reach the age of 21.) They were very strong and swift. Our team captain, the big boss who was also my partner, was literally dragging me towards the end point and Mhay, another teammate was pushing me badly, just so we end up winning the race. To top it all, I got bruises and my knees were scratched. Ugh!

We had lunch after the tiresome activities. Pork Steak, Chicken Barbeque, Hotdogs and Eggplant Ensalada were flowing. And lots and lots of sodas and chips to munch on... Then, we enjoyed another round of videoke. Later, I dipped in the sea and swam for half an hour! The water felt so good. I didn't mind the heat of the sun. I didn't care if I get tanned...

We borrowed the snorkeling materials that our Korean counterparts used. It was a wonderful experience. The only problem is that, I messed it up every time I breathe in. A lot of water got onto the mask. I think the mask was too big for me. So I just snorkeled with my bare eyes. By the time, I got out of the water, it looked like I cried hard. Russel told me to let it go... Hahaha!

When the time came when I had been awake for more than 24 hours, I decided to take a power nap because my body couldn't take it anymore... I was able to sleep for maybe an hour. When I woke up, I was energized.

I played basketball. I wanted to see if I could still dribble the ball and shoot some basket. Yes, I did! In fact, I did improve in shooting lay-ups. Gosh, it has been a long time since I handled a basketball. Ms. Elly, our Department Manager, joined me. It was her first time to practice shooting. I taught her about the "boarding rules" and she was able to make a goal! I was so proud of her! Am I not a good teacher? (^.~)

After that, we were called in for our finale game where our team ended second. The awarding ceremony followed. Then, it was time to pack up. We left the island at past five in the afternoon. The boat ride would only take about 20 minutes. Not if something happened... Then, it happened. We got stranded in the middle of the angry waves when the engine of our boat stopped working. We were very scared. We prayed for the boat to work again but it did not happen. I realized that the boat isn't stable without it's engine roaring. Another boat, from which some of our teammates were on, fetched us and brought us safely back to shore. Whew!

We went back to the resort were we first got into. We took a shower there and had our farewell meal. Then, we rode the bus on the way back to Globe Towers, where we started. I spent 80% of travel time sleeping. ^-^ We arrived there at 10pm.

It was such a wonderful experience; all of us are excited for the Christmas party! What could Sir Jhaze have in store for us??? ^-^