Now I had the Ride of my life!

Floro: Tara dun tayo sa taas ng jeep sumakay mamaya.
Me: Ok lang, kaso safe ba dun?
Floro: May bata nga na nakasakay sa taas eh.
Me: Hmmm. (sabagay, if there’s a kid on top of the jeepney safe na siguro yun!)

The Good News: riding on top of the jeepney for the Bontoc-Tinglayan trip was a good decision. You’ve get to see the majestic terrain of the Cordillera right in front of you. The Bad news: I forgot to apply face sunblock! LoL! Imagine on top of the jeepney @ 1:00PM till 3:00PM in the middle of summer season with no face protection, unlike Floro who has his shirt wrapped around his face or Dong who has a scarf while I didn’t have any is totally the stupidest decision I made on that day LoL! (Mental note to self: Don’t forget to apply/cover anything on your face if you’re riding on top of a vehicle on a hot summer afternoon).

After the joyful Banawe-Bontoc trip, we had our lunch at one of the few open eatery in Bontoc. Funny how I ordered papaitan which I just eaten on the night before we traveled to Banawe (and I must admit my mother’s version of papaitan is still the best!). After the quick meal we hurriedly positioned ourselves to the top jeepney to Tinglayan (which actually only have 1 trip per day according to the townspeople). All the boys were on top while the girls are inside the jeep (and after a couple of minutes they fell into sleep).

Floro all covered-up!

Downtown Bontoc

Downtown Bontoc, view from the top of the jeep

Based on my conversation with Floro and seeing the kid sitting lazily on top of the jeep so I thought this trip would be a breeze.

Boy, I was Wrong!

I thought the road was paved or as wide as the Banawe-Bontoc road. I was wrong again! Almost 40% of the trip we passed through a dirt road courtesy of the landslide!

OMG! Dirt road + On top of the jeepney + deep ravine = Praying!

My sitting position is not also comfortable, thank god for squat exercise and tight grip control at the gym, I manage to endure the pain during the whole trip =D.

I remember one particular bumpy ride where were on the single lane, dirt road, on its side is a very deep ravine which really shook the hell out of me! It was so rugged the jeep literally moves sideways a little more on the side of the ravine. Scary noh?!


(When we’re in Tinglayan, the caretaker of the Inn told us that the driver knows the road so well they haven’t got a major accident like falling into cliff or river and people died. Only minor accident they encounter like overturned jeepneys and flat tire and stuff like that. People trust their drivers so well they don’t worry about accidents like that)

River deep, mountain High!

Besides the scary thought of me falling on the jeep or the bus roll over to the ravine, the trip was actually awesome! The view of the mountain, the mighty Chico River below, the blue skies, the rice terraces, the rickety bridges, and the green and brown mountain landscape was truly breath taking. Sadly I didn’t take more precise or dramatic picture of this views coz I was holding on for my dear life while the jeep we’re moving! LoL! Luckily Dong got a better seating position and took a couple of pictures while we are on the road.


Truly it was a wonderful experience. Will I do it again? Why not, given a chance!

Onto our next adventure..The Tinglayan Immersion experience.

Trekking @ Mount Pinatubo and What Not

I heard a lot good reviews about trekking in Mount Pinatubo. Luke and JC went there last year and was jealous seeing them riding those 4 x 4 trucks, err and the crater of Moutn Pinatubo din pala. Luckily Dom organized a trip for Pinatubo a couple of weeks and as soon as I read his announcement I immediately texted him and ask for a reservation. Was suprised also that Rosa

and her AG are joining the trip. Ang saya! The more the mannier! Jejejeje

Meeting time is 4:14 AM @ Shell McKinley. Shucks! Ang aga! Went home from PM around 11:00PM na then eat (i asked my nanay to cooked porkchop bbq even on a friday!) and watch a movie pa till 12:30AM. Then woke up before 3:00AM for Rosa to pick me up and Che then go to Kuya Ef house for our service to Makati.

The trip to Dau took us 1 hour then spend a couple of minute to buy pack lunch and then rode the 4 x 4 trucks (yes!) all the way to Capas Tarlac! 

Nasagap ko ata lahat ng usok along the highway! Jejeje

On the way to Pinatubo

After 2 hours we arrive to this Pinatubo Spa Town where Dom need to register us trekkers and gave us some time to go to the bathroom and freshen up before our trek.

Welcome powh!

4 x 4 All line-up

After making chikka with other people and putting our protective gears for the dust (errr..sila lang pala kasi wala akong dalang pangprotekta) we start our drive to Pinatubo. The first pit stop is a very wide space na puro buhangin and small streams of water. The place looks like this...



According to our guide this place used to be a vast sugarcane fields but it vanished after the eruption. Then I remember the proposal project that I made 2 years ago for Capas Ethanol project, and i was like "where the hell are they going to get the sugarcane to use for this Ethanol plant". And yesterday I sit down corrected. The thing is tarlac has sugarcane sources pala! Now I know jejeje.

The walls of lahar

Sabi ni guide, the place is the location shoot for those GMA-7's sci-fi telenovela a few years ago. (Forgot to ask what's the name though). The place reminds me of the sand dunes of Saudi, minus the water streams of course =D

Che inspecting her camera

After a couple of hours driving we finally start our trek to Pinatubo crater. This is the part i've been waiting for. Good choice I wore a trekking shoes instead of a sandals coz konti lang naman ang mga streams of water we've encountered (plus i dont have sandals! waaaa!).

The lahar wall and me

Parking lot of 4 x 4

During the trek it's hard to find a place to sit down and take a rest, unlike in Batulao where there is a shack after 15 minutes of walk. And it came as a suprised to find a Kubo in the middle of the mountain. Yehey!!! Pahinga galore!

After 20 minutes of trekking again, we've finally arrived at the crater! Wohoo!! And this thing greeted us a the entrance..

God's reminds us on how he can create and destroy life with just one snap

Welcome po sa crater!

In fairness, daming tao sa crater! Met a whole family, a balikbayan, a retires US servicemen (from Clark i suppose) and a lot of young professionals. It's like a pasiklaban ng mga DSLR! Did the DSLR convention moved to Pinatubo? Jejejeje

Thank you Lord for the good weather=D

After eating our lunch and made some acquaintance we descend to the crater lake for the boating. According to our guide its a 170 steps daw. It was easy going down but it was hell going up!!!!

Kuya Ef made it to the other boat coz puno na boat namin. Good thing coz at least we have picture from other the other side. Dom was with him as well. And Josh ,the nice kid we've met (i say kid coz he relly looks so young, eventhough he's working na as a accountant) at the trip.

At the other side of the crater we descend, Faith tried to feel if the water is really hot, and indeed it was true. Nope i didn't tried to touch the waters coz paranoid ako sa mga acid thingy things. LoL! Crazy me noh?

I have to admit the place is awesome! It's like your in the magical world of LOTR. Winner!!! Would love to go to that area where there is sandlike slopes kaso it's on the other side of the crater. So far from where we deck. =(. But still it's nice to view them from afar.

KE, ang huma-hardcore photographer!


That's the area i want to explore sana!
River (lake deep) Mountain high!

A lot of vegetation flourished on the crater lake, wonder how this plants live on this type of water.

Fact: Walang isda sa crater, di ata kaya ang sulfuric acidity level ni Pinatubo.
False: Hindi puedeng maligo sa Pinatubo.
Fiction: Kaya kong languyin to the other side of the lake.

Bato sa buhanginan


Yay! Uwian na!!

All in all the trip is awesome. Btw, before we went to the crater we had a small outreach for the Aeta's living in Pinatubo. We brought clothes, books, school things and some small snacks for the kids. It was heartwarming to see the smiles in their faces upon receiving the gifts. Didn't took photos during the event coz i was handling out the clothes to the adults. I hope they appreciate the little gifts that we've gave them.

Special Thanks to Dong Ho for oganizing the trip, to Shy's AG for the food and kwento, for KE for the service, to our guide Rennan for helping Shy and Dory make it to the top, to the mamang bangkero (pic below) for the safe trip on the other side of the crater, and most specially to all the trekkers who joined us thank you for being a sport. Thanks so much!

Naks! Si Kuya all smiles (kasi puro chicks kasama nia sa bangka)

Thank you and godbless you all!

The Dalaw sa Batulao Experience

Finally, after weeks of planning ay natuloy narin ang First Outdoor Activity ng office namin! Wohooo! Our plan was mountain trekking to Mt. Batulao in Batangas, but as we go on to reach the summit of the mountain the trekking part became a climbing na! Scary!!

Welcoming Sign sa Mount Batulao!

In fairness to Mt. Batulao hindi sha mahirap akyatin. Though nakakapagod coz you need to go up and down the slope (kaya nga sha tinawag na mountain climbing eh) several times in the heat of the morning and noon sun kayang kaya naman sha akyatin kahit ng mga first timers sa pag-akyat ng bundok.

Along the way, you'll see some dilapidated markings indicating which peak are you now. Unfortunately I didn't notice the other markings, kaya itong tatlo lang ang nakita ko.

In Peak no. 8 is the camp site of the New Trail. It's more higher than the old camp trail but the view is spectacular!! We got the Summit as our background! See some pics here...

(naks gwapo!!)

The locals of Batangas are naturally nice and friendly in fairness to them. They will happily assist you if you’re lost (nawala kasi kami ni Al when we’re on our way to the pit stop), and pansin ko rin that the store owners don’t take advantage the climbers when selling buko juice or Mountain Dew (yes mountain dew lang ang available sa bundok, go figure!). I remember when I went to Puerto Galera (6 years ago nga lang ahahaha) the price of drinks and food was Mahalia Mendez! Here in Batangas, the difference of Mountain Dew in the slope and the one being sold on TOP of the mountain was only Five (5) pesos!!!!

No, I will not give my comments (though I would love to kaso wag nalang ahahaha, saying ang space) about how-to-take-care-of-the-environment or how-lucky-we-are-on-what-we-have-right-now-compare-to-those-living-in-the-mountain but instead I will focus on the behaviors of the mountain climbers.

I was surprised to meet a lot of nice mountain climbers last Saturday. This nice people greet you when you meet them on the road, they will say “magandang umaga/hapon/gabi po”, “ingat po kayo”, “kumusta po” and what not. Yes I’m a sucker for nice gestures kaya naman it’s hard not to respond to their greetings din. Sadly some of my colleagues didn’t appreciate these simple gestures (i.e. deadma-thology) so I ended up greeting all those people na nakakasalubong naming =D. There was an instance that some climbers assist us on descending a very slippery trail. Kasi naman kami lang ata ang mountain climbers na ang dala lang sa pag-akyat eh camera! Hahahaha! Mountain Climbing is the best place to spot who is nice, gentleman, concerned people and those who don’t care nor give a damn on what’s happening to you.

Anyhow, here’s some other pics I’d like to share when we’re on Mount Batulao..

The Batulao Ridge

On our way to Peak No. 8 (New Camp)

The Mountain, The Sky, and the Ex-Kubo

Sarap! Sana maulit muli!!

Para sa ating masweswerteng bata..

Forwarded email by a good friend. Enjoy reading!

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE
1950's, 60' s, 70's and early 80's !!
First, some of us survived being born to mothers who did not have an
OB-Gyne and drank San Miguel Beer while they carried us.
While pregnant, they took cold or cough medicine, ate isaw, and didn't
worry about diabetes.

Then after all that trauma, our baby cribs were made of hard wood covered
with lead-based paints, pati na yung walker natin, matigas na kahoy din at
wala pang gulong.

We had no soft cushy cribs that play music, no disposable diapers (lampin
lang), and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, no kneepads ,
sometimes wala pang preno yung bisikleta.

As children, we would ride in hot un-airconditioned buses with wooden seats
(yung JD bus na pula), or cars with no airconditioning & no seat belts
(ngayon lahat may aircon na)

Riding on the back of a carabao on a breezy summer day was considered a
treat. (ngayon hindi na nakakakita ng kalabaw ang mga bata)

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle purchased from
711 ( minsan straight from the faucet or poso)

We shared one soft drink bottle with four of our friends, and NO ONE
actually died from this. Or contacted hepatitis.

We ate rice with star margarine, ate raw eggs straight from the shell, and
drank softdrinks with real sugar in it (hindi diet coke), but we weren't
sick or overweight kasi nga......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, and get back when the
streetlights came on. Sarap mag patintero, tumbang preso , habulan at
taguan.

No one was able to reach us all day ( di uso ang cellphone , walang beepers
) . And yes, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our wooden trolleys (yung bearing ang gulong)
or plywood slides out of scraps and then ride down the street , only to
find out we forgot the brakes! After hitting the sidewalk or falling into
a canal (sewerage channel) a few times, we learned to solve the problem
ourselves with our bare & dirty hands .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all,
no 100 channels on cable, no DVD movies, no surround stereo, no IPOD's, no
cell phones, no computers, no Internet, no chat rooms, and no Friendsters.
......... ...WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside to actually talk and
play with them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broken bones and teeth and there were no
stupid lawsuits from these accidents. The only rubbing we get is from our
friends with the words..masakit ba ? pero pag galit yung kalaro mo,,,,ang
sasabihin sa iyo..beh buti nga !

We played marbles (jolens) in the dirt , washed our hands just a little and
ate dirty ice cream & fish balls. we were not afraid of getting germs in
our stomachs.

We had to live with homemade guns " gawa sa kahoy, tinali ng rubberband ,
sumpit , tirador at kung ano ano pa na puedeng makasakitan. .pero masaya pa
rin ang lahat.

We made up games with sticks ( syatong ), and cans ( tumbang preso )and
although we were told they were dangerous, wala naman tayong binulag o
napatay.paminsan minsan may nabubukulan lang.

We walked, rode bikes, or took tricycles to a friend's house and knocked on
the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them to jump out the window!

Mini basketball teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who
didn't pass had to learn to deal with the disappointment. Wala yang mga
childhood depression at damaged self esteem ek-ek na yan. Ang pikon, talo.

Ang magulang ay nandoon lang para tignan kung ayos lang ang mga bata, hindi
para makialam at makipag-away sa ibang parents.

That generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers, creative thinkers and successful professionals ever! They are the
CEO's, Engineers, Doctors and Military Generals of today.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had failure, success, and responsibility. We learned from our mistakes
the hard way.

You might want to share this with others who've had the luck to grow up as
real kids. We were lucky indeed.

And if you like, forward it to your kids too, so they will know how brave
their parents were..

It kind of makes you wanna go out and climb a tree, doesn't it?!

Excited!

In less than 40 hours i'll be in Baguio na for the RLTC. I'm really excited about this RLTC thing for i know i'll have a very good time discovering God and his wonders for me. Plus the fact that i'll be going to BAGUIO for the first time!

Yay!

Screw the Young Professional (a.k.a. yuppy) image. I'll run around Baguio like a 5 year old kid in a playground. (of course the rltc parin ang top priority activity ko sa baguio, hehehehe).

Excited? Yes!

Atat? Super!

Tapos mo naba trabaho mo sa office? Malapit na!

Gawad Kalinga Gig (Build a Home, Build a Muscle)

Our cute little office here in Alabang recently team-up with Gawad Kalinga Las Pinas to build homes. We've pledge to build 30 houses in 3 years and the village will named after our company (conceited di ba?) Eversince i've heard the news about it thru Ate Evelyn I was so excited I nominate myself to become our department's representative! Well, ganun nga nangyari, I was assigned as coordinator and core leader of this group, even landing me the rights to be the assistant leader of the powerful food committee hahahaha!

Finally, last weekend, it was our department's schedule to build the home. The day starts very very early at 8:00AM! Again, me being a non-avid fan of early-morning-wakeup-pag-weekend have to drag myself to the bathroom at 6:30. After eating my breakfast and driving my sister to her house in Sucat little did I ralize i was sooo late! 8:30 na pala and here I am, the leader of the group still in Alabang. LOL. Di bale they can't leave without me. =P. Supringsily I was not that late, mas mas late pa pala =D.

So, we all go to the construction site, all in happy faces and very eager to help and to work. After we arrive at site and made some short briefing, introduction, teaming-up, etc. we start our work at 9:00.

Our group did a lot of work in fairness, merong taga halo ng semento, taga bitbit ng hollow blocks, nagpipintura, assistant ni foreman, taga pahid ng pawis, etc. It was hard but hey we had FUN FUN FUN! After 2 hours we had our recess break of ginataan (kulit noh, mainit na nga panahon and here we are eating ginataan!), then after eating work ulit!

After half a day's work, 2 recess break, 1 plastic gallon of mineral water, 6 bottles of POP cola, 2 liters of paint, 10 bags of sand, 2 bags of cement our work is done. Everybody was exhausted but i can see in their face (except for the emo guy) the emotional gratification of finally doing something for others. Sabi nila they we're so happy to be a part of Gawad Kalinga, and kung may chance pa ulit in the future for them to join sasama ulit sila.

Then it strucks me. Ang pagtulong ay dapat bukas sa puso hindi sapilitan sapagkat sa bukas na kalooban mararanasan ang tunay na kaligayahan.

(yikes, ang lalim nun!)

Ang sarap talagang maging bata, di ba? =D.

Baguio anyone??

Our group in Tuloy sa Don Boco we're planning to go to the City of Pies this coming long weekend. Im so excited about this trip coz this will be my first time to go there. Yes casper, it's my first time kaya don't laugh about it pag nabasa mo to, or else wla kang walis tambo pagbalik ko.

As early as today im preparing my stuff to be brought to Baguio. Still undecided if I'm wearing rubber shoes or should i buy a brand new crocs. Di bale bahala na si Lord about it. Still thinking if I'm wearing my super cool but formal na jacket which i bought in glorietta (baka madumihan lang, sayang naman!) or the simple jacket of Arellano U which my sister gave to me.

Did a lot of cancellation of lakad for this event like the 3 day mallwide sale sa festival mall (heck, its a three weekend mall wide sale naman, so i still have some chance to buy a much deserved office pants), the outreach of lingkod sa bilibid (next time bro sama na talaga ako!), visiting old high school friends sa makati (text2 nalang mga sis, mahal gasolina eh!).

Hay, i just hope my co-volunteers will push this trip or else i'll end up cleaning our house during this long weekend.


can't-wait-to-be-in-baguio-for-the-first-time
theonoski

New week, New look

It's the start of the week again and by this I started also to do new things for the week like:

1. Start using my BF Homes sticker to get to work.
2. Change the template of my blog site.
3. Wake up late to go to work (coz i have easy access now to work, thanks to my sticker!).
4. Clean the car (I'll promise im gonna clean it later tonight)
5. Try to shut up and do my work here at office.

I feel horrible earlier coz i just realize now that my car have a long scratch on the side. I can't remember where I got it. So now, I'll promise that I will be extra careful in driving daredevil. Mahal ata magpaayos ng car today huh!

I'll behave today promise.

Capones Fireflies

Oh by the way, one sight that really mesmerize me during our stay in Capones is the sights of FIREFLIES (in tagalog Alitaptap) in the island. Yep, it's true there's a LOTS of fireflies in Capones. Super ganda ng sights of the alitaptap wandering on a large tree near the beach. Then everytime there's a thunder or lightning, naghihiwa-hiwalay sila! Astig! Parang namiss ko tuloy yung giant christmas tree sa Araneta coz parang ganon yung eksena!

The last time i think that i saw a firefly was last year, when I was vacationing in Leyte kaso 1 piraso lang na firefly yun =(. But the one in Quezon province (where my late friend Marcel lived) sobrang dami din! Actually it was my first time to see fireflies in throngs (well, being a Manila boy i can only see fireflies in television, wala na kaya nun dito sa Manila) and they were gathering on a very large tree na parang may engkantada na nakatira dun. Spooky but very beautiful.

And one more thing, i still appreciate the fireflies in Capones kahit na i can barely see them coz i've lost my eyeglass earlier on the beach (silly me) but still nagenjoy padin ako.

happiness-every-time-i-see-firefly
theonoski

Daredevil exceeds 2000 kilometers =D.

Hello there, it's me daredevil, best bud theo's mode of transportation. Well a lot of things happened to me recently and mostly it is for fun and excitement. I did went to Zambales together with best bud's group (gosh, i've never been that full in all my travel life) and I did great during the trip. Got some pics above to show you my different angles of my body (both inside and outside). Eventhough i got home very dirty and nearly empty gas it's nothing compare to the fun i have during the trip. I did try to drive in the famous NLEX and SCTEX, and boy the road is really "world class standard", not unlike Alabang Zapote road hahahaha.

Hope I can pass through again to this place =D.


i-know-you-miss-me
daredevil