We are fond of visiting ruins since we are familiar with some European ancient structures that arere now being one of the top destinations for tourists. As we all know, tourism now in the Philippines is no longer for the rich. Even the lower and middle class can now afford to go to their dream places due to lower travel costs.

There are numbers of Philippine destinations that most likely offer the same ambiance and picture of some top European destinations. We have Balesin Island offering several world attractions, the Huma Island in Coron which is similar to resorts in Maldives and the Bella Roca of Mindoro with it’s Greek-themed ambiance same with the Thunderbird in La Union. We have several of these themed resorts shall we wish not to spend a fortune in flying outside the Philippines. Though there are other high-end resorts that are really world-class when it comes to its amenities and price, like the Amanpulo at Pamilican Island in Palawan.

So much of talking about this pricey and world-class resorts, we have this simple yet beautiful island in Batangas now known for its Greek-themed ruins. I was in awe when I first saw some pictures of it. I am always wanting to visit the place and see for myself the mysterious ruins in Fortune Island.

My new friends whom I am with in Jomalig Island want to have a reunion trip and we choose Fortune Island as a venue. We try to check our respective schedules and come up with June 19 final date for our trip. I organize the event, trying to look for a possibility if doing it our own and in communication with an agency to cater our needs. Pio and Jade Travel Agency  quote us an amount of Php 1,300 each all-in service except food. It turns out to be favorable so I confirm their services to us.

On June 19, 2016 we are set to meet up at KFC Mall of Asia at 2am. Everybody arrive on time. We’re a total of 10 participants of which 6 from my Jomalig friends (Me, Marvin, Kim, Jeeo, JP and Ruffa), 1 invite of Jeeo (Sherwin), 2 friends of Marvin (Gelo and Jona) and a friend of mine (Meong). I am thinking that there are joiners on our trip, however it turns out that we’re the only guests on that day so it feels like it’s a private trip.

We leave SM MOA towards Nasugbu via Tagaytay City at 2:30am. It is a three-hour trip that we arrive in Nasugbu early in the morning. We parked at Jollibee for us to have our breakfast yet we waited for a while for the store to open.

After taking our breakfast, we’re back in our van to take us to our jump off area. We’re taken to a nearby beach resort where we unloaded our things that we’re going to bring to the island. We just left our change clothes in the van. We took all other important things to the island including our food for lunch.

We fixed ourselves as well. We changed into our swimming outfits and put on sun block and other sun protections. Some of my friends brought extra clothes for picture-taking purposes. They have brought extra outfits and other props to achieve their desired photos at the ruins in Greek style.

When we’re ready, our boatmen guided us to our boat. We have our event coordinator with us. He brought our tents and groundsheet, they also brought ice chest with blocks of ice in it. I did brought my cooler as well with cold drinks and ice tubes in it.

The trip took us an hour to get to the island. From the shore of Nasugbu, Fortune Island is quite visible. Due to slightly bigger waves, boats crossing the sea towards the island cannot move fast. We just enjoyed the sways and views from the boat. As we got nearer, we can’t help but pose at the front portion of the boat for good photos with Fortune Island at a distant.

In few minutes time we docked at the shores of Fortune Island. From afar, you will clearly see its attractive white sand and the famous of them all, the ruins. I was expecting that the island be only composed of a small hill with the ruins on top of it. However, it was not. It had a bigger hill that is quite forested with lighthouse on top while the ruins only sat at one side of the hill, just above the white sand beach. At the back of the ruins were rocky cliffs directly dropping to the sea.

When we arrived at the island, we found several groups of tourists already have set their camps. Some tents were pitched on the shore; some were pitched under the existing trees. The island also featured dilapidated buildings that clearly showed worn out constructions, some of the buildings maybe unfinished. The reason why, we don’t exactly know, maybe some more researches on the island can be an answer to that. Let’s leave it that way.

For now, the island is inhabited. Aside from being known to be a private island, no one’s living there since there is no fresh water source in the island. The supply will come from Nasugbu. Electricity as well is one problem. Basically, survival needs are scarce in the area that is why tourists are well informed to bring all the necessary in the island.

While we are busy taking pictures at the sands upon arrival, our coordinator, Carlo was looking for a good place to camp. We went up the buildings and found a good spot to pitch our tents. Some of the occupants near us spent their night in the island so most of them were getting ready to leave the place. They have extra water and ice, so they have offered it to us if we’re planning to consume it. We were grateful for the offer.

We got our tents pitched; we secured some of our things inside the tent. We have somebody to supervise our things while Carlo was coming with us to document our trip with him. We are also thankful for his help in taking pictures on us. We all roamed around the island. We’re excited for the ruins.

At first I was thinking that we’d find a huge pillars similar to that of the Greek ruins. I realized that it’s really good to see it yourself so you’ll be able to validate your expectations. The pillars we’re just like few meters standing forming like that of the Acropolis in Greece. This seems to be the mini of the mini Acropolis (just my description). Though it does not disappointment me, in fact I’m glad I see this personally since I haven’t been to Greece for the original one. For now, this can suffice my dream of visiting Greece.

Not much of the ruins, they also have sculptures still installed in the area. In fact, there is this Goddess still very beautiful to grace for photo opportunities. They have a lion sculpture places at one side of the area located near the cliff. Had this place been completely built, this should be another top of the list of high-end resorts in the Philippines.

After our photo shoots at the ruins; we decided to go back to our camp to return some things we brought at the ruins. We also have taken our snacks while chatting at the camp and then we decided to swim at the beach. I brought my actions cam while Carlo, brought his action cam too. He offered taking pictures of us both on the shore and underwater. He is asking us if we want to do the cliff diving, yet none of our interest. We just bonded on the shore, sharing our thoughts and experiences with each other until we ended up sitting under the umbrella rock formation at the edge of the cliff.

We spend most of our time chatting there. We interview each other. Some weird questions most of the time bring laughter to us. It is such a nice bonding until our friend JP find a sea snake swimming towards us. What was funny, he speak calmly to us that there’s a snake swimming behind one of our friends. We hurriedly get out of the place, it’s like an adrenaline rush upon hearing what he says. Fright and laughter are on us after that experience. After that snake thing, we then decide to go back to our camp.

It was almost mid-day and we are hungry. At our camp, we discovered that only few of us have food for lunch. Our menus are tapang kalabaw and ginataang tulingan courtesy of Jp and Meong respectively while I have rice more than enough for the three of us.

Some are taking rests after lunch, while Meong and I decide to go to the cliff diving area. We just take photos at the jump off. Nobody is doing the cliff jump that time maybe because the sea are not calm anymore.

The place had a picturesque view of the cliff, the blue seas, the vast waters ahead and the island from afar. I am not sure if it is Lubang Island that’s visible at the back of Fortune Island.

We just had quick photo ops at the area since the heat of the sun is so striking. After our purpose, we hurriedly walked back towards our camp and fixed ourselves. As per our timetable, we’ll be leaving Fortune Island at 2pm to escape the much bigger waves in the afternoon. So we organize ourselves and eventually walk our way towards the shore to where our boat is.

We left the island on time and after more than an hour travel time, we arrived in Nasugbu. We were taken to a shower area near the beach. We fixed ourselves quickly for us to proceed to our last activity. At exactly 4pm, we left Nasugbu for Tagaytay. We planned for a side trip at Mahogany Market in Tagaytay for a Bulalo Feast. When we got there, we immediately placed our orders and enjoyed the sumptuous dinner. We arrived Makati past 8pm just right for us to be back to our respective homes before midnight.

We had so much fun on this trip. We did have a nice bonding, reunited with the same activity but on a different ambiance and crowd. Old friendship were strengthened and deepened while at the same time new friendships evolved. It’s nice that from time to time, you still have connections to friends you’ve met along the way. It will not make you a lesser person yet it will expand your network wherever you are. Thank you to all of you!

Been here: June 19, 2016

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Henru

I love to travel, I love to see different places, experience different cultures and turn strangers into friends. Travel is my life, travel is my passion!

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