5 Tips to Overcome Stress Due to Delayed Sail

Merry Christmas 2017 Everyone!  Here's our group sending you our warm greetings from the port of Batangas.  Why were we here? Believe me, we didn't want to but had to. Here's how we celebrated Eve there.

"The Batangas port is also a gateway for passengers, Roro/ferry (terminal 2) and tourist traffic. There are 3 passenger terminals located inside the port, after the toll entrance. The presence of a population of hustlers, tourist guides, and pushy unofficial port authority "helpers" targeting tourists can be a problem especially for foreign visitors who are not familiar with the organization of the terminal. The boats have tendency not to leave on time, and the poor reputation of the passenger terminal is in serious need of improvement. Some Roro ferry services also seem to consistently fail meeting maritime safety standards due to minimum ship maintenance, and chronic overload..(wikipedia)"

It all started because my brother and I chose to spend it to the beautiful island of Boracay. It would be his children's first adventure there, third for mine and Chesca and second's for mom. I was excited because this adventure comes in DIFFERENT.  Why, because we took the 3-hours van DRIVE from Montalban to Batangas, Port and then SAIL to Caticlan Port.  Sounds an adventure, right?

However, our adventure began when the sail was DELAYED.  Yep, we had to stay OVERNIGHT at the port because the ship will arrive 2 am.  

Our group composed of my brother's family (5 of them), us (3), sister's-in-law parents and niece.  Total of 3 kids and 8 adults. 

I blog this to be able to share smart ideas and tips to avoid hassles and difficulties for travelers.  A part of it is brutally honest and unbiased.  Thus, I mean no harm just purely information sharing.

ITINERARY

02:00 PM   Our group left Montalban via one-way van we rented from Andrei's neighbor.  The van with driver fetched us from Andrei's home and drove us to Batangas Port.  It was a 2 hour van drive.  We were all happy and excited.

04:00 PM  We arrived Batangas Port.  Upon arrival, we were advised, that the ship departure schedule will be delayed till 2 am.  We were slightly dismayed. 2Go management could have at least texted us before hand so we didn't have to leave Rizal so early or at least advised us so we can cook our dinner and prepare some mats to sleep on.  We prepared our printed tickets and stood in line to check-in at the port.  There were a lot of people already.

05:00 PM  We got in and sat on the bench.  Good thing the AC was cold so that made us comfortable.

06:00 PM  We bought some noodles and 711 meals for dinner.  That was a rescue for the unexpected delay.  Although I noticed some people actually have their own cooked meals. After the meal, I roamed around the stalls and bought 5 php worth of carton as our beddings so we lie down on the floor. The kids need to have a good position at least.

sleeping on the cartons on floor

7-9 PM  After our quick fast food dinner, I made the children busy with a guessing game.  The token was 20 php for winners. Noelle, Iana and Chesca enjoyed it.  They even shared their talents in singing in dancing to kill time.  I also told them stories but after a while, I was also sleepy.  Check these videos:

5 TIPS To Overcome Stress Due To Delayed Sail

1.  Perspective.  Look at things the other way around. Some happenings can't be explained but only accepted.

2.  Positivity.  Good things, we had kids with us. They radiate and remind us to be happy no matter what our situation was.  They enjoyed sleeping on the carton on the floor.  So why wouldn't the adults be?

3.  Acceptance.  Delayed is delayed.  Accept it as it is and enjoy the moment.  Don't count seconds or minutes because it will be tiring.  It will get you more irritated.

4.  Enjoy.  Find ways to enjoy the company you have.  As an aunt, I am fond of giving out games.  We had 2 rounds and the girls even shared their talents.  Such a good way to keep the spirit high.

5.  Learn.  Not all adventure is meant for fun.  Lessons to learn come with it.  I guess we just had ours early before the main fun came.

HOW TO GO THERE

The distance to Manila is only 114 km, but traffic can be very heavy especially in and around Manila, so travel time is normally 1.5 to 2 hours and up to 3.5 hours in case of traffic congestion in Manila. There is no direct connection from Manila (NAIA) Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Batangas port by rail, plane or bus (need to go to nearby Taft Avenue terminal by taxi).

The port of Batangas can be accessed from:

• Manila by A/C direct Bus (ex. Taft Avenue, Cubao Central Bus terminal, Pasay City – nearest from (NAIA) Ninoy Aquino International Airport)
• Taxi or private car. There is neither train station nor airport. 

The 2 corridor expressways between Manila and Batangas Port are:

• South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) 
• Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, known as the STAR Tollway. 

Due to traffic congestion in Manila, using the STAR tollway is without any doubt the fastest way to access Batangas. Batangas Port Diversion Road begins at Balagtas Rotonda of STAR tollway located at the junction of President Jose P. Laurel Highway and Batangas-Balete Road. The Bolbok Flyover is included within the diversion road located at the junction with Palico-Balayan-Batangas Road until the road ends at the seaport area connects with Western Nautical Highway of Philippine Nautical Highway System (also known as /Roll on-Roll off or RoRo) from Batangas in Luzon to Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao (wikipedia)