Uber-joyed at Uraya Beach Resort

In many parts of the country, May is known as the month of fiestas, festivals, and flowers. It’s also one of our preferred months to hold our summer teambuilding activity. That's why my coworkers and I thought of having pista sa nayon (village fiesta) as this year’s theme for our departmental gathering, which turned out to be a frenzied hodgepodge of fun, food, and fellowship—complete with a boodle fight!

Uraya's white-sand beach

In choosing the venue for the much-awaited event, we took into consideration several things like the accommodations/amenities, activities offered/attractions and, of course, distance and location. Lucky for us, there’s the nearby Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte that offers a wide array of beach resorts to choose from for our own little pista sa nayon in May. 

Samal Ferry Boat Terminal in Babak

You can never go wrong with this island. It has successfully marketed itself as a prime destination for weekend wanderers searching for a brief respite from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind in Davao City and its environs. It has all the essentials that visitors usually look for in a sun-sea-and-sand weekend getaway. We’ve proven that on several occasions in the past.

Uraya's white-sand stretch

This year, we thought of holding the get-together in one of Samal’s lesser known seaside destinations—Uraya Beach Resort a.k.a. Olivia Sands Resort. Unlike its neighboring resort, the world-famous Pearl Farm, Uraya has nothing special to offer to those who are used to tourist traps with high-end accommodations and amenities. Nothing fancy and flaunty. But it’s our kind of place—remote, clean, quiet, and unpretentious. 

Uraya is one of the must-stay hideaways in Samal when you want to be far from the madding crowds that haunt other known honeypots in the island. It’s the go-to resort when you want to fill your lungs with some fresh, salty air, sip your fave brew under the shade, laze inside your tent with a paperback, or pour your heart out to a friend or two.  I’m fond of beaches with a “less-party-more-peace” vibe so being in Uraya was bliss for me and, I believe, also for my coworkers who unanimously chose it.

A barge bound for Babak

From Davao, we took the barge bound for the ferry terminal in Babak and drove all the way to the resort located in Kaputian. With a good number of buses and barges plying the Davao-Samal route, commuting your way to the island is a breeze. If you’re coming from Davao, the Island Express buses are stationed at F. Bangoy Street and go straight to the Central Warehouse terminal in Peñaplata, Samal.

From there, you can hire a motorcycle to take you to the resort. Mind you, the barges operate 24/7 so you need not worry about going there even at night. How much would it cost you to get to Uraya? Well, you need around Php50 for the bus and Php100 for the motorcycle (but I think you can still haggle with the driver for a lesser amount). At the resort, visitors are charged Php150 for day tour and Php250 for overnight stay.

  

The resort’s accommodations and their rates are as follows: open cottage (small, good for 10 to 12 persons) at Php500 for day tour and Php1,000 for overnight stay; open cottage (medium, good for 14 to 16 persons) at Php800 for day tour and Php1,600 for overnight stay; airconditioned closed cottage (good for 4 to 5 persons) at Ph3,000 per night; closed cottage with electric fan (good for 2 persons) at Php2,500 per night. I heard the rates could vary time to time so it’s best to make prior arrangements.

Uraya’s simplicity tugged at my heartstrings. Must be the stretch of powdery white-sand beach, crystal-clear water, lush mangrove forest, tree-shaded, open-air cottages, clean bathrooms and restrooms—just a few of the essentials I expect to see in a beach resort. I also dig those small huts built on the water and the wooden bridge connecting them from the seashore. At night, I relish the tranquility that’s only interrupted by the sounds of crashing waves, night birds and cicadas.

It was the boodle fight, however, that turned out to be the highlight of our gathering at Uraya. Having experienced it during my ROTC days many years ago, I’ve been wanting to indulge once again in a kamayan, the traditional way of eating with our bare hands—in one festive atmosphere at the beach. On one occasion, I floated the idea to my coworkers who happen to be foodies and foodtrippers themselves. To my delight, they were all eager to put up our own version of a boodle fight!

In the Philippines, boodle fight is the military term for mess hall eating. Banana leaves are often used as cover for any surface that serves as a table. Made mostly of broiled or steamed seafood, grilled or barbecued pork or chicken, blanched veggies, fresh fruits, among others, the delectable fare is laid out in piles and the men in uniform (top brasses and their troops, that is) partake of the food as a way of showing of fraternity, unity, and equality.

The “fight” pertains to the act of grabbing and eating food as much as each soldier can before it runs out! Using their bare hands, each one of them lay hands on the food while it is there—in a tacit display of “survival of the fittest.” It’s one helluva boisterous occasion where everyone has to momentarily forget about table manners and etiquette and throw all caution to the wind. Otherwise, they’d end up a starving spoilsport!

For me and my coworkers, the boodle fight put to test our teambuilding skills. Mind you, the staff took everything about it quite seriously. Weeks prior to the event, they went to great lengths to learn how to mount such a feast, searching the internet for how-to videos. A few days before the event, they started buying the stuff—seafood, chicken, pork, fish, veggies, fruits, sweets, etc.—that formed part of the course that was offered during the boodle fight. They also made arrangements with a caterer who cooked the crabs and shrimps.

Then D-Day came. Arriving at the resort, the team members were agog as they engaged themselves in the chores assigned to them: some of the women took charge of hanging buntings to create the “fiesta” atmosphere in our cottage; the others handled the preparation and arrangement of the food that we would partake during the “feeding program”. The men, on the other hand, took turns in grilling the pork, chicken, and fish that were part of the delectable course. I was so impressed by the explicit manifestation of teamwork I witnessed that day. Such a joyous occasion indeed!

Then came lunch time. Following the essence of kamayan, we partake of the food sans plates, spoons, forks, and knives—only with a pair of disposable plastic hand gloves! No, we didn’t have to wrestle with anyone just to get our fair share of the grub. Everyone made sure there was so much food for anyone and everyone. Eating with our hands, we engaged in playful banter, took selfies and groupfies and what have you. When the dust had settled, the boodle fight turned out to be one of most tummy-filling meals I’ve shared with my coworkers!

Spent but sated, we opted to laze around and do our thing instead of engaging in some game or physical activity. Some of us seized the remaining hours to catch some snooze, few sipped some booze while others had fun playing with cards. Before we called it a day, we gathered for groupfies at the foot bridge as the sun began its descent at the horizon. Short as the “fiesta” was, it turned out to be such a sweet and sought-after time-out from the corporate hurly-burly, turning us into uber-joyed souls at Uraya!

All told, the summer fun and frolic we had helped secure those essentials we’ve been working hard to achieve all these years—teamwork, communication, leadership, cooperation, creative thinking, decision making, problem solving, and, most of all, time management. It was one joyous occasion where everyone was fired up by happy pills that guaranteed a great time. Frivolity aside, the pista sa nayon we had at Uraya is a reflection of how we as a team celebrate life and work! 🤩🤩🤩