A much needed time under the sun

After months of reducing my melanin levels by staying under the roof of home and work, I was finally able to go to the beach and bask under the sun. The first photo shows me attempting calisthenics at the beach. For some reason, Blue Reef Island Resort had a row of rings under their cottages that people can use for pull-ups and hanging stunts. I go to the gym for strength training but secretly wish to be able to do calisthenic stunts. I became a fan of Chris Heria after watching his YouTube exercise videos at the start of the pandemic.

Anyway, I was looking forward to hitting the beach because I thought I was looking a bit pasty and needed a tan. I know that having a darker complexion helps with muscle definition. But aside from my vanity intentions (I'm just coming clean 😅), my goddaughter's birthday was celebrated at the resort. Her mother is a close friend and it was good catching up with her. I also brought my girlfriend with me and I was glad to have them finally meet.

After having lunch and a good chat with my friend and her husband, my girlfriend and I took a tour around the resort. Blue Reef, as we call it, has been around for decades. I remember it being a favorite destination when I was still in high school. It's cheap and offers good accommodations. It has water slides for kids. And it has good security and many lifeguards. It has a patch of white sand where I laid down for my sunbathing. I didn't bring a towel or a mat with me and I ended up with red marks on my body from laying on the coarse sand.

It was low tide when I decided to go for a swim. This was on a weekend so there were a lot of people. I had to walk toward deeper waters while avoiding rowdy kids going back and forth to the slides, and teenagers boarding a small boat and playing the Bongo drum. The atmosphere was pretty festive. There were no indications of a pandemic, I'd say. I spent a couple of minutes in the water before heading back to our cottage and spent the remainder of our time filling our stomachs with lechon.

I didn't get as much tan as I wanted but my time under the sun with the cherished people in my life was more than enough. 😊

📍 Blue Reef Island Resort, Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, Philippines