Chips, Sea, Ahoy!

One free Saturday afternoon, my friend MK borrowed her grandfather’s boat and took me and five other single ladies cruising along the Mactan Channel and beyond. The boat was a gorgeous, sleek, modern lady too with just the right curves in all the right places. Like us, it was raring to break free from its anchor, run away to the sea and leave the city behind.

As we sailed on south, we watched the old landmarks, buildings, bridges and SRP flashing by with smug grins on our faces. We waved like queens at the matchbox cars and tiny people on the coast. With the sea as our buffer, we were all giddy at the thought that even just for awhile, the little stresses and issues we have contained in the island couldn’t touch us. For the moment, we let the chips fall from our shoulders - no work, no responsibilities, no loved ones to think of. There was just the sea, the boat and each other.

As ladies of the hour, we did our best to live up to our modern reputation – free, independent, bold and fearless. We fed our vanities and flirted with boundaries. We dared to break the rules.

For once, we conveniently forgot our work cell phones inside our tote bags. Sorry for the missed calls.

We drowned out the voices of Vicky Belo, Ponds Whitening Cream, and other skin gurus in the city as we shed our tight dresses of inhibitions, donned our two-piece suits and soaked up too much of the afternoon sun.

Then never mind that for months, we’ve constantly struggled to keep our bodies fit. As we settled on the nose deck, we indulged in a rare moment of junk food binge – chips, chocolates, super oily ngohiong, and more chips. Then, overflowing cocktails in plastic cups at 2pm? Why not?

Of course, there was gossip about men and the bizarre creatures on land. There were the countless poses and familiar snapshots of four different cameras. Then, further down south, there was the occasional bold dare among women: Jumping from the boat in the middle of the sea without a lifejacket? Why not?

It was a wild day for single women, trailing with shouts and peals of laughter. It was a day of breaking free, feeling light and crossing over. It was sweet and liberating.

We were still high from the experience when we finally turned around and docked. Not wanting to end the day yet, we decided to continue the party on dry land... only to find another one already in full swing on the same beach spot we intended.

We stopped in our tracks as we saw a bunch of half-naked coeds in their late teens dancing to loud music, drinking booze and smoking pot like it was the most natural thing in the world. And here we thought we were already wild. Some might say it was also sweet and liberating. But the sight sobered me up.

They invited us over to party with them. We declined. Maybe it’s the age gap. Maybe we’re just too old for their kind of fun. Maybe, despite being bold and fearless, there are still some boundaries we’re not willing to cross over after all. I don’t know. Like the water under the Mactan Bridge, somehow, it just didn’t smell right.

-- SunStar Weekend, 5/30/2009