Superstarxtala Production #3: Misadventures in Chasing Sunsets and Milkyway

"The most beautiful sunsets come after the rain."

June 2017
Nagsasa Cove, Zambales, Philippines

I just wanna share my experience on how I was able to capture this beautiful sunset.

My team in the office decided to go on an overnight camping trip in one of the most renowned beaches in the Philippines, Nagsasa Cove some time in June 2017. This is the first outing of my team so we were all pretty much excited.

From Makati, we rented a van to take us to Pundaquit Beach, where we will be taking a boat ride to Nagsasa Cove. It was drizzling when we arrived in the morning, but a rainbow greeted us so there was a hope for a good weather.

However, it was raining on and off all day when we arrived in Nagsasa Cove. We had a change of tents for like three times because they all ended up soaking wet. Because of the weather, we no longer expected any sunsets anymore.

But to my surprise, we were still able to catch one, not just an odinary sunset, but a color-bursting and jaw dropping one. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen. By the way, I'm a sucker for sunsets and quiet times in the beach while watching the sun go down.

Here's some more photos of the sunset:

Another saying says, "beautiful things happen when you least expects them to happen." But it also follows that "sh%t happens when you least expects them to happen."

Then at this point, since the sun already showed up (er down?), I thought the raining would stop. That there's a chance that we could somehow sleep decently at night without the fear of our tents getting soaked in the rain. And yes, that sh%t I was talking about? It happened, it rained again and it was a strong one. And yes, at this point, I already admitted to myself that I'm bad in weather forecasting. So my team no longer asks me about the weather anymore.😅

As a result, our newly set-up tents were again soaked by the rain. We were forced to sleep uncomfortably in the tables and bamboo plank-seats of our cottage and had to make sure that everyone gets a space.

Just so you have an idea of how hard it was, here's a picture of us (yes, that many) and of the cottage we were trying to fit in:

Our sleeps were so uncomfortable that we all woke up in the wee hours of the night. Then another thing happened. The rain has stopped and then there were stars and we saw the Milkyway!

(This is just a screenshot from my Instagram post. I can't find the original version anymore as I usually delete them already after posting it in Instagram.😅)

This was not the camping trip that we expected.
But in retrospect, if not because of the rain, we wouldn't have seen this beautiful sunset. We wouldn't have slept uncomfortably that we woke up in the middle of the night and see the Milkyway upclose. It wasn't so bad after all and we still managed to have fun despite the circumstances anyway.

Anyway, I only have one important advice if you are planning to visit Nagsasa Cove or the nearby coves in the area during the end of May, beginning of June or just when the rainy season is about to start: PLEASE BRING A DURABLE/HEAVY TENT THAT CAN WITHSTAND THE RAIN IF YOU DONT WANNA END UP LIKE US Do not rely on the flimsy tents provided by the tour agency. Bring your own.😁

The place is really beautiful, except for the rain, REALLY.

Before I end this post, here are some more photos taken from our trip. Hope you like them!

P.S. This is my first attempt to make a "Travel Blog"
Please excuse me if I have some mistakes in the article and please do let me know on where I can improve on. 😅😘

Photos: Taken using S7 Edge
Edits: Snapseed and Photogrid