Sarangani Bay Fest 2013: A Tale of Foam Party, Fireworks Display and Missing Slippers

Because we don't want another summer to pass by without experiencing anything new, I and my HS friends planned an out-of-town trip that inadvertently changed our lives, exaggeratedly speaking of course.

After months of passive-aggressive planning in our class' FB page and out of 46 classmates, only 6 of us confirmed to hit the road: Dervin, Ailyn, Arianne, Ivy, Cindy and me. Pussycat Dolls it is!

So the four of us – Ailyn,Cindy, Ivy and me – traveled to General Santos on Friday night where Dervin and Arianne were waiting for us.

One manifestation of our excitement was that we documented everything: we took pictures on the bus, upon our arrival at GenSan, our midnight snack at McDo, van ride to Gumasa, etc. We were so obsessed with our activities and took pictures of even the most nonsense of stuff, we should seriously consider a career in a documentary show on national TV.

It was memorable in all respects, but there were 3 things that defined our SarBay Fest escapade: the imaginary foam party, the enchanting fireworks display and the mind-blowing missing slippers.

Sarbay Fest officially started on Friday, May 24, but we were still on our way to Gensan at that time. That didn't stop us, however, from making the most of the night.

And there we were. We imagined ourselves to be somewhere in Gumasa, covering ourselves in bubbles and dancing in the tune of  David Guetta's house music. We were grinning from ear to ear, along with the thousands of party goers in Sarbay Fest's sexy FOAM Party. We were having the time of our lives!

But in real life, we were in General Santos City, enjoying the city and the moon, having midnight snack at McDonald's, returning to Dervin's air-conditioned apartment (emphasis on the air-conditioned), and doing what we do best: chitchatting. Endless chitchatting.

We may not have experienced the wildness (and gayness?) of SarBay Fest's foam party, but we had our own version of party in each other's company, blabbering stories of our bus ride instead of toying with bubbles. We had our own version of Foam Party, only the foam were the beds. We call this “The foam party that never was”. And just for the record, I wouldn't trade our own version of foam party for anything in the world.

FOAM PARTY AT SARBAY FEST (Photo by Paul Jordan Berguia and friends)

OWN OWN VERSION OF FOAM PARTY... at 3am :)

Saturday morning was idly spent on surfing the net and recording a silly dance video on Psy's “Gentlemen” (I won't share the video's facebook link here to preserve my self-respect). Before we decided to head off to Sarangani, we spent the remaining hours of the morning creating our list of first world problems: what color of dress to wear, what to wear for the night's party, what clothes to bring since we had to travel super light, what accessories to put on, etc.

You see, we were fussing over our OOTDs and OOTNs when we should had been worrying where to stay or sleep in the first place. We didn't reserve a room at any resort in Glan, we didn't have a tent. Sorry, but we all had bigger problems than that. Outfits are more important to us than shelter.

Then we headed off to Sarangani!!! Can you still feel the excitement in my tone? After one hour of travel from GenSan, we reached Glan then took a "Habulin-mo-ako" tricycle ride to Gumasa, where Sarbay Fest is annually held.

The once sleepy town of Glan was transformed into a haven of merrymaking. The Food stalls that sprouted next to each other, the people whose skins were inked with freshly painted hennas, the music, the buntings, the heat – THE HEAT – welcomed us, and the indifference of people as we struggled to find our place in Gumasa's beach resorts were clear indicators that we were in the right place. This is Sarbay Fest! Woohoo!

As what I've said, we didn't have any tent but sure there was a store that sold tents so we made the life-changing decision of purchasing one. To reveal another ignorance, it was our first time to set up a tent so imagine the bliss we felt when we successfully put up one! Ivy, the group's official photographer, had fairly captured our “short term dilemma-turned-into-long term glory” moment.

Our unnecessary love for details give us an edge to become potential photojournalists for National Geographic Channel. What do you think?

Saturday afternoon passed by imperceptibly; we posed for more picture takings (cause that's what we really came here for, you know. PICTURES!), took a leisurely stroll around the place, had refreshments, took a brief dip on the sea, and before we knew it, the moon has shown itself in the sky.

Darkness slowly swallowed the place and we knew we had to prepare ourselves for the night. But we were surprised by the fact that in White Haven Resort, there was only one CR each for male and female, causing real inconvenience for the tourists. You cannot take a bath in the CR but there were public washrooms provided. By “public washrooms” I mean having to take a bath next to each other because there were no cubicles where you can privately clean yourself. 

So when three of my friends (Ivy, Cindy and Arianne) went inside the comfort room altogether to take a bath, bunch of queuing girls whose bladders must have been bursting roared complains in their lines. Obviously, they broke the rules by taking a quick bath there because the public washroom was “too public” for them. They almost got into a bitch fight. Almost. One of the group's “Sarbay fest bucketlist”, which was to pick a fight, could have turned into a reality. Didn't happen, though. Next time, maybe, Arianne?

Water was a luxury because there was no faucet where you can drink potable water. You don't have easy access to water where you can brush your teeth or take a bath properly. Maybe the influx of tourists was one factor. I can make a research paper about “White Haven's inconvenient bathrooms and the level of personal hygiene among Sarbayfest goers.” Atik laaaang!!!!!!!!

Enough of the CR moments, let's proceed to the most enchanting part of the night, the highlight – the FIREWORKS DISPLAY!

Local bands graced the stage and performed one after another before the jeering crowd, while some party goers chose to chill out through food and drink tripping; others chose to stay within the perimeter of their tents, with bottles of drink at hand, of course.

When the night was getting late, we rested in our tent and were half-asleep when suddenly the event host started the countdown for the fireworks display! We scrambled on our feet and joined the tens of thousands of revelers, heads all lifted up to the sky in anticipation.

And then this happened: Fireworks shooting upwards and then bursting into various colors, like falling debris from the heavens. Colors of red, yellow, blue and green painted the starless sky, leaving spectators speechless by the beauty that appeared before our very eyes.

The feeling was magical. It was like Dumbledore and the rest of Hogwarts' professors were casting spells and creating a spectacular view of enchanting fireworks in the night sky after a successful Triwizard Tournament. 

The partying continued until 2 or 3 in the morning?, I really can't tell. Tired and oblivious to the noise around us, we fell into slumberland, still floating from the spell of fireworks upon us, never thinking that there's a bigger surprise waiting for us when the sun rises.

The ultimate news shocker came in the morning, when, as we were about to blow Sarangani's Sunday morn a kiss, all of my friends' slippers were gone!

The tents that once crowded Gumasa's shoreline slowly vanished by the morning, and so did our slippers! I mean, my friends' slippers; only mine survived. We heard similar complains from people too and we didn't know if we should be angered or relieved by the fate we shared with them.

Everyone was worried about their slippers except Ailyn. The night before, she wasn't in the mood at all to enjoy the celebration, but when we confirmed that their slippers were stolen, she became the happiest person on earth at that moment. Talk about weirdness.

I had no idea what kind of Lupin III creatures roamed the coast, but police officials and store owners said this happen all the time. If this happened all the time, shouldn't police officials have tightened their belts on the security? Good thing there was a store, a single store, that sold slippers on staggering, unreasonable prices. So we got our happy feet again!

After the adventures we've had  (the good, the great and the ugly), I'd still like to come back here soon, in a time when the sleepy town will return to its original feel, when there are less tourists and noise, and experience Gumasa's beauty and serenity in a different way. I'd like to give this idea a chance, hopefully next time there would be no missing slippers.

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