Be amazed. Mt. Napulauan. I will conquer this June.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Last Sunday
Last Sunday, I had the opportune time to visit and get to know her dad. I was supposed to wake up at 6:30 am but lo, the clock said 8:00am. Taking a quick shower, I raised to get my ass to her house. Just in the nick of time, when I got there everyone else was ready to go. Lola had her umbrella, Sister carrying the Scrabble board, Mom holding on to the picnic basket and my girl waiting and wearing a frown :s. I was late. She stalled their departure for as long as she can. They could have left me, and I'm glad they didn't. She's a sweet one! :)
I took the wheel and drove all the way to Sucat. Along the way we bought some food and flowers. A few minutes from our stop, we arrived at her Dad's place. It was a perfect Sunday morning for a family reunion. The sky was clear and weather was fair.
We unloaded our stuff and her Mom took care of the picnic basket and unfolded the blanket under a nice shady tree. My girl took my hand and we walked towards him. She introduced me to him, I said Hello but he responded only with a breeze of silence.
I looked down and stared at the ground. The grass are surprsingly green and fresh this time of the year, I thought. The memories may have been fresh, too, no doubt. Written on a stone was his name and two dates. Tomorrow would have been his birthday. Two days from then would be the date of remembrance.
It never hit me before. I've never experienced those kind of emotions when you lose someone dear to you. I stood silent for a moment, I looked at her and smiled. I was happy for my girl despite the tragic event that had happened. She has become stronger and stronger each day for the past 13 years.
Life is indeed an experience, and tragic events are just one of the sad parts. How you handle these kind of situations determines what you will become and how strong you will be. ;p
I took the wheel and drove all the way to Sucat. Along the way we bought some food and flowers. A few minutes from our stop, we arrived at her Dad's place. It was a perfect Sunday morning for a family reunion. The sky was clear and weather was fair.
We unloaded our stuff and her Mom took care of the picnic basket and unfolded the blanket under a nice shady tree. My girl took my hand and we walked towards him. She introduced me to him, I said Hello but he responded only with a breeze of silence.
I looked down and stared at the ground. The grass are surprsingly green and fresh this time of the year, I thought. The memories may have been fresh, too, no doubt. Written on a stone was his name and two dates. Tomorrow would have been his birthday. Two days from then would be the date of remembrance.
It never hit me before. I've never experienced those kind of emotions when you lose someone dear to you. I stood silent for a moment, I looked at her and smiled. I was happy for my girl despite the tragic event that had happened. She has become stronger and stronger each day for the past 13 years.
Life is indeed an experience, and tragic events are just one of the sad parts. How you handle these kind of situations determines what you will become and how strong you will be. ;p
Friday, May 04, 2007
Mt. Ugo, Benguet
Destination: Mt. Ugo
aka: ?
Location: Itogon, Benguet
Elevation: 2086 masl
Difficulty (1-10): ?
aka: ?
Location: Itogon, Benguet
Elevation: 2086 masl
Difficulty (1-10): ?
Sigh... all I can say is that I missed this climb. This is supposed to be GAC's 4th and last training climb for the year. They say it was one of the best climbs ever, albeit there were only 7 of them. I wasn't able to make it because I had the flu and I don't wanna risk it even though I already felt better. Nevertheless, here are some pix for you to enjoy =) Next year, I'll be back to trek this mountain. =)
Thursday, April 19, 2007
a reason to be happy
The NBA, my Cleveland Cavaliers...
Today is the last day of the season. Chicago and Cleveland are forcing themselves for the No. 2 against the No. 5 spot. Whichever got the higher winning percentage, of course, gets the top seed. The Cavs are 1/2 game behind Chicago and currently at 5th. Whichever is 5th gets to play against Miami (4th) in the first-round of the playoffs, and I don't want that, not this early in the playoffs. Cleveland has to win and Chicago has to lose today... and thank you God for granting my little request. Huweee!
Today is the last day of the season. Chicago and Cleveland are forcing themselves for the No. 2 against the No. 5 spot. Whichever got the higher winning percentage, of course, gets the top seed. The Cavs are 1/2 game behind Chicago and currently at 5th. Whichever is 5th gets to play against Miami (4th) in the first-round of the playoffs, and I don't want that, not this early in the playoffs. Cleveland has to win and Chicago has to lose today... and thank you God for granting my little request. Huweee!
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
The High Peak
Destination: Mt. Tapulao
aka: High Peak
Location: Iba, Zambales
Elevation: 2,047 meters
Trail: Unpaved roadway
Mt. Tapulao has one of the most breath-taking sceneries in Northern Luzon. It towers more than 2,000 meters above sea level and is considered one of the highest peaks in the Philippines.
This was just my 2nd climb as a trainee of GAC and I would say that this is one of the easier climbs (compared to Mt. Tarak) because this this time I was more than ready. I already bought a North Face (Skareb 40) bag for only 2,800 bucks (not bad huh?) and trekking shoes to finally protect those precious feet of mine. I also made sure that trail food will not be a problem.
We hired a van to ease our minds from all the trouble of getting to the bus station on time (what happened last time was that we almost got ourselves killed when the mini-bus raced to catch the last bus to Manila). Our transpo dropped us at the jump-off point in Dampay Salaza, Iba, and did the usual courtesy call to the barangay. Our trek started at 6 am and it was going to be a long and torturous walk uphill.
Tapulao is actually a mountain range running through Zambales. It is also known that it will take around 10 hours to traverse 2 mountain tops until you get to the highest peak.
Well, we did it in 4 1/2 hours. Ahem.
Yeah right? It's true, man! That is if you hitched a ride on a truck. Hehehe. I know, I know it's a shame but I admit it. It just so happened that my co-trainee had problems with her bag. The pain that was caused by the bag was so unbearable that the Sweeper gave us the nod to hitch a ride.
Anyway, the ride uphill was just awesome. I have never seen such beautiful and picturesque mountains before. Everything looked amazing from the mountain top down to the sea. There's even a part of the trail wherein you are covered with pine trees overhead, and the breeze touches your face and cools you from the heat of the sun.
At 10:30 am we made it to a mine and it was going to be our stop. We didn't know that there was a mining operation for chromite that existed there. Anyway, the dudes there were cool. They helped us unload our bags. We didn't give them anything though except our thanks. Hehehe.
We walked for another 30 minutes 'til we reached the Camp Site, dropped our bags and ate lunch. Afterwards, it was all boredom. We literally had nothing to do because technically we should have been there later at 5 pm and by then we could set camp and cook dinner.
Everyone was bored, it was noon and it was hot. I found myself a nice shade under a pine tree, and slept through the afternoon while listening to Chillout songs from my iPod. Steady lang, mhen. One good thing though was that there was a signal on my cel so I called Tots and told her everything that happened that morning. Madaya daw kami. Hehehe.
At 5 pm I pitched our tent and started cooking dinner (I assisted, by the way). Dinner was delicious and en grande! Our group made chicken tinola and soup , and not those sissy-ass hotdogs or corned beef or instant noodles kind of stuff. The other group made pork sinigang, too! Yum!
Socials came in after and ended very early because only one dude brought alcohol! Sheesh. And I intentionally did not bring one because it adds more weight to my pack. In GAC, it is customary to bring at least one quatro-kantos during a climb. The members were pissed about this that they raised this issue in our post-climb meeting.
At 4:30 am the followin morning, we readied ourselves for the summit assault. Headlamps, jackets and all, and oh, cameras! Lots of cameras! It took an hour to reach the highest peak. Again, it was a beauty! Sunrises are just so spectacular to watch!
By 8 am we were back in the camp site, preparing breakfast and packed lunch. Break camp by 9:30 and descent by 10 am. I'm telling you, man, down trekking is hell! Imagine 7 hours of torture, sniffing dust from the dirt road, little stones seeping into your shoes, bigger pointed rocks hurting your soles and crazy downhill slopes threating to blow your knees! But fortunately, our prayers were answered that morning. There was not a hint of sun the whole afternoon and no one was injured. God is good indeed.
The last group to arrive at the jump-off point, the Sweeper's Pack, that's us, was at 5 pm. We took our baths and headed home. No pressure to catch a bus here! We had dinner in Chowking Olongapo and was back onto our precious beds by 1 am of Monday. Work starts in 7 hours, and I was not late =).
Costing:
Van fare = Php 400.00
Brgy registration = Php 20.00
Co-Trainees:
Pia, Jason, Janette, Hedda, Cecile, Mark, Rofil
Members:
Ria, Boyet, JR
aka: High Peak
Location: Iba, Zambales
Elevation: 2,047 meters
Trail: Unpaved roadway
Mt. Tapulao has one of the most breath-taking sceneries in Northern Luzon. It towers more than 2,000 meters above sea level and is considered one of the highest peaks in the Philippines.
This was just my 2nd climb as a trainee of GAC and I would say that this is one of the easier climbs (compared to Mt. Tarak) because this this time I was more than ready. I already bought a North Face (Skareb 40) bag for only 2,800 bucks (not bad huh?) and trekking shoes to finally protect those precious feet of mine. I also made sure that trail food will not be a problem.
We hired a van to ease our minds from all the trouble of getting to the bus station on time (what happened last time was that we almost got ourselves killed when the mini-bus raced to catch the last bus to Manila). Our transpo dropped us at the jump-off point in Dampay Salaza, Iba, and did the usual courtesy call to the barangay. Our trek started at 6 am and it was going to be a long and torturous walk uphill.
Tapulao is actually a mountain range running through Zambales. It is also known that it will take around 10 hours to traverse 2 mountain tops until you get to the highest peak.
Well, we did it in 4 1/2 hours. Ahem.
Yeah right? It's true, man! That is if you hitched a ride on a truck. Hehehe. I know, I know it's a shame but I admit it. It just so happened that my co-trainee had problems with her bag. The pain that was caused by the bag was so unbearable that the Sweeper gave us the nod to hitch a ride.
Anyway, the ride uphill was just awesome. I have never seen such beautiful and picturesque mountains before. Everything looked amazing from the mountain top down to the sea. There's even a part of the trail wherein you are covered with pine trees overhead, and the breeze touches your face and cools you from the heat of the sun.
At 10:30 am we made it to a mine and it was going to be our stop. We didn't know that there was a mining operation for chromite that existed there. Anyway, the dudes there were cool. They helped us unload our bags. We didn't give them anything though except our thanks. Hehehe.
We walked for another 30 minutes 'til we reached the Camp Site, dropped our bags and ate lunch. Afterwards, it was all boredom. We literally had nothing to do because technically we should have been there later at 5 pm and by then we could set camp and cook dinner.
Everyone was bored, it was noon and it was hot. I found myself a nice shade under a pine tree, and slept through the afternoon while listening to Chillout songs from my iPod. Steady lang, mhen. One good thing though was that there was a signal on my cel so I called Tots and told her everything that happened that morning. Madaya daw kami. Hehehe.
At 5 pm I pitched our tent and started cooking dinner (I assisted, by the way). Dinner was delicious and en grande! Our group made chicken tinola and soup , and not those sissy-ass hotdogs or corned beef or instant noodles kind of stuff. The other group made pork sinigang, too! Yum!
Socials came in after and ended very early because only one dude brought alcohol! Sheesh. And I intentionally did not bring one because it adds more weight to my pack. In GAC, it is customary to bring at least one quatro-kantos during a climb. The members were pissed about this that they raised this issue in our post-climb meeting.
At 4:30 am the followin morning, we readied ourselves for the summit assault. Headlamps, jackets and all, and oh, cameras! Lots of cameras! It took an hour to reach the highest peak. Again, it was a beauty! Sunrises are just so spectacular to watch!
By 8 am we were back in the camp site, preparing breakfast and packed lunch. Break camp by 9:30 and descent by 10 am. I'm telling you, man, down trekking is hell! Imagine 7 hours of torture, sniffing dust from the dirt road, little stones seeping into your shoes, bigger pointed rocks hurting your soles and crazy downhill slopes threating to blow your knees! But fortunately, our prayers were answered that morning. There was not a hint of sun the whole afternoon and no one was injured. God is good indeed.
The last group to arrive at the jump-off point, the Sweeper's Pack, that's us, was at 5 pm. We took our baths and headed home. No pressure to catch a bus here! We had dinner in Chowking Olongapo and was back onto our precious beds by 1 am of Monday. Work starts in 7 hours, and I was not late =).
Costing:
Van fare = Php 400.00
Brgy registration = Php 20.00
Co-Trainees:
Pia, Jason, Janette, Hedda, Cecile, Mark, Rofil
Members:
Ria, Boyet, JR
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