Pico de Loro '11: Freedom Climb

I never thought I would agree on joining the climb last weekend. It all started when Cj bullied me saying I purposely don't join any of his climbs because I was afraid I might discover I have feelings for him. The hell! So i did join at the end.. oh i have no idea what i was in for..not a single clue..

I totally get why climbing was addicting as well as why other people don't get it. The fulfillment you get when you see the peak of the mountain as well as the craziness of going on a weekend just to tire oneself.


We left Manila around ten in the morning and arrived at the jump off point past noon. We found a van who would bring us to our destination. It was Mark and Buchoy who did the haggling which means we got a good deal.


If you have noticed, I have been meeting a lot of accidents every single time I go on a break. My El Nido cut, the Ilocos traffic mishap, and a lot of undocumented incidents. So, because this is something more of out of the box for me, I was so careful in every step I take. It didn't help that I was wearing the wrong shoes or the rainy weather. I was not the sweeper yet I was always at the end of the line..I guess I am not really that fit..

Well, we ( no, its more of I ),  reached the campsite after a grueling three to four hours climb. most were spent on taking photos and resting..countless rests along the way. nonetheless, I reached the top, no matter how slow I was..

Thanks Beth for the NF 

And the view..

It was breathtaking..

View from our campsite

It was far different from the beach scenes I'm used to.. instead of the white sands and the blue sea surrounding you.. mountains.. and clouds.. the full three-hundred-sixty view..

It was a bit cold. But we expected worse. Glad rain didn't poured on us that night. Or else, sleeping would be impossible.

Thanks to Ambo and Buchoy. We had a sumptuous dinner that night.  Yum!

Fish fillet, Super-patok na soup

At dahil nabasag ni Sir Ryan ang isang boteng Emperador, we (the eleven of us) were left to share one bottle that night. Super bitin! It didn't help that we had loud neighbors. As in super loud neighbors. Dra. Auds, my tentmate, can even attest to that. Argh. If we only consumed enough alcohol that night, we would reach dreamland in minutes. But fate was cruel, we were so wide awake the rest of the night.

Our super noisy neighbors

I woke late the next morning, hoping to get even at least 30 minutes of a decent sleep. But it never came.

I was so determine to look for the nangingibaw-voice last evening. All the shouting and the "Jump-brother! Jump brother!" was not funny at all.

When I finally saw who owns the voice, all I can do was stare him down. Rex was more of naghahamon-ng-away-mood. He said if Benjie and Afable were there, for sure, they were all in a brawl right at that moment.

I turned all my frustrations at breakfast. Careful not to eat much. I wouldn't want to have a go on an open-wide rest room. (Enough for poo-poo stories at me naaalala ako).

We went up to the summit and the view was far more breathtaking.

It gives one a different high..

Now, I totally get it why..

Mountain meets the Sea

Now that's a different set of mountains

Because it was the 12th of June, there was a flag ceremony at the campsite. At siyempre, Pinoys that we are, we didn't go. Instead, we did our own at the peak. hehe. So much for patriotism.

Isang mapagpalayang araw!

Some of us went on to go to the other peak. The three of us, Mark and Rex, were left knowing it was a bit of  a climb again.

Maysie, Ryan, Karl, Mark and Auds doing their own flag ceremony

We eventually packed up and left campsite.

The descent will be much faster compared the climb up. I thought I will be too but I wasn't spared. As expected, I was the end of the trail again. I took the most out of it and shot some interesting photos along the way.

Wild mushrooms

Jackfruit. tama ba?

Crossed one of two of these

At dahil sa tagal kong maglakad, naabutan ako ng ulan..haha. Sori Mam Maysie! Trekking under the rain, now, that's an experience.


The day after, I receive the most unrewarding gift one gets after climbing. Aching to the nth power legs. I was walking funny for a day or two. I really need to invest on some good shoes and do warm ups prior climb. But not soon. Maybe after a month or two.. or more.. hehe.


Contemplating on my first climb, I'd still do it again. Even after that unfortunate poo-poo incident. Even how many times I almost slipped because I was wearing the wrong shoes. Even if how hard the climb was for me. Even if, I'd do it all over again. Because, I know,  it would be all worthwhile at the end...  (naks!)


"Sometimes, the things that scare you the most are the most worthwhile..."

Pico de Loro '11: My first

I'm still thinking what to write about my first climb. 

I can't think because my legs are still aching. Ouch!

But this I have to say. And I'm quoting Ryan here, 

"It's a different experience"...

Coron '10: Enchanting Coron

I remember jumping and running towards the beach when i saw the white sand of Malcapuya shining midday..

 I remember having a serene moment when I saw this spot at Malcapuya. Claiming it mine. All mine..

I remember getting awed at the vast marine life I saw at the Sunken Ship

..of unbelieving I was in the Philippines when I saw Kayangan Lake..

I remember not minding wasting my time lying on one of the hammocks at Banana Island..

..and how I was thankful for witnessing another breathtaking sunset.

CORON '10: Enchanting Coron

Since I mentioned Coron being better then El Nido, it is only fair to post my trip about the place. I'm still thinking what to write about.

Hmmm...

LAIYA,BATANGAS: October Beach-ing!

a mini break with my college friends somewhere in batangas: that was the original plan. somehow, unimaginably, it pushed through at kahit me mga konting "oopss moments"

so on sunday,oct 19 (which was also margas post bday), nagkita2 sa mcdo-araneta. as usual late na naman si donya sheena (walang kupas!).on which we blame her for the next "little misfortunes"  we had that day.hehe ETD was 7:00am para maabutan pa sana ang check in time but since sheena was late,we left manila at 8:00am,arriving at Lipa, Batangas a little late before lunch. We had no idea what we were into. We dropped by at Robinsons Lipa for some chichira and booze (thanks marga!). At heto na ang unang "biyahe" namin. 






Think about this: php58 for a jeepney ride. imagine how long that trip was. We were fighting over wether the trip was either long or the fare was just pricey. Manong driver confirmed that the trip was indeed long. And he added that another ride is needed to go to laiya, which he stressed was another long trip too. haayyy...sheena kasi



So..bus ride (php136) 2 hours + lipa-san juan (php58) 45 minutes + san juan-laiya (php46) 45 minutes = php 240 (4-5 hours???) huwaat!

After too many "are we there yet?" from chepots and realizing that we really are near the resort after running out of paved lane, finally, we arrive!




We went to Taramindu unannounced. Marga's sort-of-game plan was to browse the whole laiya beach in case we didn't find any resort appealing. Glad we already have Taramindu in mind saving ourselves from marga's tiresome plan.







Having approximately ten rooms only, Taramindu is a welcoming place. Ideal to those who simply want to relax and unwind.

Immediately, we got our room. Hunger made us move fast, enough that we immediately handed our share for the room and food, unpacked, change into a more comfortable clothing and headed downstairs to feed our hungry mouths. Our room costs php 4000.They charge per room basis not per head so the six of us managed to squeeze ourselves into two queen size beds. Food costs php600/head which is consumable.







The wait was worth it. For lunch, we ordered pusit, sinigang, lechon kawali, pinakbet. The food was incredible or maybe because we were simply dead hungry. Nonetheless, it was all good. Plates were clean in a matter of seconds.

     Having been fed, we headed to the beach.

The whole stretch of Laiya was breathtaking. The sand was pebbly and walking on it became more of a foot scrub for us. We decided that walking was a bad idea after realizing that we can no more go on with our feet being de-scaled to death. Swimming. Basking under the sun. Volleyball. The whole afternoon, that's all we did.

 Then sunset came...

We were upset the sun set behind us. But we manage to take some equally breathtaking sunset photos and of course, silhouettes




Dinner time!
We had gambas, taramindu fried chicken and nilagang baka for dinner. Another satisfying meal.
We all agreed. Taramindu's food was indeed sumptuous.









Night came in.
Taramindu lights up at night. The resort use dim lights to achieve a relaxing atmosphere even at night. You could barely see a fluorescent light. Ceiling lightings were replaced by wall lights. Tinay said it reminded her of ust during christmas season.





Of course, an outing will never be complete without an inuman session. hehe ilabas ang alak!!
So, the kwentuhan began.




Ooops.This one's off limits.








We went to bed after sheena started complaining of palpitation, after marga was using the word "parang"  abusively and after chepots literally slept on her last tagay! tsk,tsk,hindi talaga mga tomadera. brainy bunch nga. hahaha




The rest of the evening went well.
Unfortunately, I was voted to share the bed with the couple (che&mark). thank goodness for vodka!!




6:00am. Sunrise. I went out to check Laiya. The beach was so peaceful. I decided to take a morning walk. Wherever my feet leads me to..





I happen to see some kids in uniform coming from the other side of the beach. So i figure to go and see where they came from. I found out that there's another whole stretch of beach beyond the rock formations. Just as i thought that this was the "other side" of the beach.






Chepots came looking for me for breakfast. The walk back was a bit hotter since the sun was already up by that time, and not to mention, i was still in my pajamas.

Almuchow!
I had tapsilog for breakfast.





Kapeng barako was the highlight of our meal. yum..yum
walang sinabi starbucks.hehe






The rest of the afternoon was spent on snorkeling, more swimming and more basking. Chepots did more of picture taking.more picture taking.more picture taking. When the photos were finally in the computer, it  totaled of  320! 230 of these were chepots'. alone. What a camera whore....hehe

We had lunch before leaving.

I can't imagine this month long preparation trip has finally ended.

Will there be another "bonding" moments like this? Definitely!... or maybe....