New Year’s Eve and the first few hours of 2011 found me with good friends on Samal Island for an event thrown by Camp Holiday. The main objective was to herald the new year — and the new decade — with a bang, hence the departure from my beloved Davao City, where fireworks have been banned for many years now.

It was my first time at Camp Holiday, which is located north of this island “city”, right beside the ferry terminal. I was delighted to see (despite the heavy rain) that the resort turned out to be quite pleasant. I had thought it was just like most of the beach resorts on Samal: just a beachfront with simple amenities. The Camp does have an area for tents, but there are plenty of hotel-style rooms available (but none that night because the place was fully booked).

I was with the Venuti (Swiss Deli, Picobello) and Alabado (Skin Doctors) families to welcome the new year, and we had a great time reminiscing on the events and happenings of 2010 and talking about the possibilities in 2011.

The entertainment prepared for us — and hosted by performer extraordinaire, Ahbet Padilla — was not exactly what I had in mind for New Year’s Eve, but the dancers, actors, singers, and even a young magician, did a great job of lifting everybody’s spirit. I especially enjoyed the performances by the Sinang Tala dance troupe of John Paul II College. They wowed us with some fire dancing accompanied by a very lively, engaging and colorful percussion band.

There was a snag, though. In the wee hours of the first 2011 morning, the ferry left earlier than scheduled and stranded us on the island, without warning, and in spite of the fact that the supervisor had called ahead to inform the ferry that there were still guests at the resort. There were no more rooms available and the supervisor was too inutile to do anything about the situation. (Mind you, the resort and the ferry service are both owned by the same people.) I heard nary an apology from anyone among the resort staff.

I must admit, generally speaking, good customer service is something to be desired in these parts, but the people at Camp Holiday took the problem to lower depths last New Year’s Day. I sure hope they shape up if they plan on beating the growing competition on Samal Island.

The food. Hmmm… how shall I put it? It was a dinner buffet, and there was a good number of choices and the place didn’t run out of food. But, the grilled fish was dry and the rice was simply awful, and most of the food was lukewarm. Except for the lechon, which was mouth-wateringly good!! The vegetables were delicious, though (I believe it was a pastel), and I did enjoy the lamb. All in all, it wasn’t worth the ₱900 I paid for the ticket, I’m afraid to say.

Still, I did have lots of fun. (The vino helped, of course.) And the fireworks bonanza was fantastic! I believe it lasted for about 10 minutes and it was bright and brilliant and dazzling!!! It had been a long while since I last experienced an honest-to-goodness fireworks display on New Year’s Day, so this time at Camp Holiday was an awesome treat (despite the snags).

Also, since the next ferry wasn’t due till 5:30 in the morning, I got to tour the villages of Babak, Samal and see how they celebrate New Year’s. There were street dancing (and drinking), complete with open-air disco lights, and gregarious revelers milling about on the streets. Sari-sari stores were open until daybreak, and the locals didn’t seem to mind the brightening horizon…

The ferry arrived half an hour late. I got home exhausted and still a tad miffed, but I woke up refreshed and wanting to do more exploring of Samal Island. I’ve been going to the beaches of Samal since forever, but there’s still much to see there! This year, I hope to be able to experience more of the Island Garden City of Samal.