taking a dip in Philippine waters in the coldest night of the year

living in an area of New Mexico Northern Desert,USA with just mainlands and no major body of waters like sea or river which are ideal for swimming and beaching, my life has been so 'dry' for six years now....

so i do really miss the phils seas, beaches, resorts and rich-in-vegetation-mountains...
but thanks to the customary practice of my community because with it, i am able to at least get to go back to my home and native land to enjoy a 20-day break from the monotony and structured routines inside the monastery.

last january 26, 2005, my last week of my 20-day visit to the Philippines, i was able to finally quench my thirst for swimming and beaching even if the season was at its coldest. After a day's eventful activity , we all proceeded to a place called Pasacao, a town nearby Naga City of Camarines Sur Bikol, on a truck that brought us to our destination safely.


with my brods and sis (in the fraternity that i joined when i was in College, the customary and its tradition is that once one gets accepted in a ritual by which one is handed of the ideals and secret pasword, he becomes fullfledged member of the fraternity for life), i conquered a beach in the countryside called Pasacao beach resort. Being in the coldest season of the year, they had to shy away from taking a plunge in the sea as it's indeed cold... but the chilling wind and cold weather did not stop me from my most awaited moment of my life: to finally enjoy the Phil sea and its rushing waves and its tiny marine creatures floating on the waters....so my much awaited swimming session went on for hours unmindful of the surrounding sis and brods taking turns in teasing me of all sorts.
the most decent images of me in the waters: Click image to enlarge!


the bravest brods (the youngest in the group)in terms of dealing with the chilling wind and freezing cold shed their clothes and joined me in a pictorial of biceps and chests (LOL!)

the night of fun and laughter went on until wee hours of the next morning when most of them slept while me and few of my brods and sis stayed awake with me listening to their stories and jokes and all that...




to my brods and sis, taking a dip was not as fun as gathering and telling stories over glasses of hard drinks and beers, but for me, at that very moment, telling stories was not as fun as taking a real cold dip in the sea!...but still, i did enjoy pictorials with them but not so much as i was still feeling the waters in my skin from my hours of swimming.



the night ended with me getting satisfied and delighted of my all-night long union with the philippine waters, and as well as getting to know new brods and sis(current member-residents of the group) in my fraternity...