Not Ready

(Grr... I've been blogging and writing for the past half hour, only to be interrupted to fix someone else's laptop. When l tried to save the file, it didn't and I have to write it again! Pucha!!)

Follow your heart.
Easy to say, but hard to do.

My heart is telling me not to go to residency yet. I am not ready. I want to climb mountains, run a marathon, travel with my sisters and family, believe and fall in love again, go through my pictures and put up a tarp for my new bedroom wall, enjoy our new home, learn to cook (I really do but I don't have the time. It was sad that our monthly cookout contest only lasted a month haha), maybe help out in the family business (I said MAYBE but I'm really not into marketing and sales but I am very organized so I'm sure that will help).

I feel that I MUST do this things NOW not in 3 years.

Now, I'm at my fittest, I can climb, do inclines, run 13k (and counting). I have new travel and adventure buddies. I am young, single and earning my own money. In three years, we don't know what will happen. So many things can happen in 3 years. If I get married, I'd probably have to save, I can't travel as much as I wanted to or take crazy risks. Even if I remain single, it's still not as easy as now because of my age and health (haha parang napaka oldie naman). Not if I take my residency after 1 year, take and do all these things, masawa! I mean I'm sure that I will go into residency.

But what's the hurry? Kang and Julie are not even board-certified doctors yet. I feel the parental pressure but I know my cousin doctors also took a while before they had their training. Diane is just studying for the Step 1 MLE but the matching takes longer. So.. Why? What's the hurry? Haha

Saying these things like papasa na talaga ako haha Pero the point is, if I give up as early as now, I can already book for my flight to Cebu with my sisters to enjoy the Sinulog Festival, prepare to climb Mt. Kanlaon, go home to my laptop and select my pictures for my new bedroom wall. Instead of staying in Makati, half heartedly studying, getting hurt and disappointed by my unreliable inconsiderate (ex) Study Buddy. But I know that I'm not a quitter. But I will leave it in God's hands. Whatever will happen. It's just the anxiety that's killing me.

(At bakit walang mga paragraph breaks itong sinulat ko? Ano ba iyan... Galaxy Note is nice but I still love my laptop even if it's 7 years old already. )

Mt . Tapulao Climb

We finished the 9-hour uphill hike at Mt. Tapulao! I thought l wouldn't make it! Really! First hour in the climb and I just wanted to go back! It was cold and raining and carrying a really heavy backpack! l think that's the first mountain l honestly wanted to give up. But maybe because our pace is actually fast. From an original hike of 12 hours in the itinerary, we finished it in 9 hours only and it was raining already! Grabe!

Let me start from the beginning. Six climbers were crazy enough to climb a mountain knowing (1) it was a 12-hr climb, (2) that you have to carry heavy backpacks because the weather is as cold as Mt. Pulag, and (3) that all weather forecasts showed rainy showers and thunder storms! Crazy indeed! l was already cold in the PLDT office as is. What more on top of the mountain, wet with a very heavy backpack? Especially when I'm usually a light-packer. I would have backed out if Abby did. I thought she was a sensible person, but I was wrong haha I just don't want to back out by myself haha

Victory Liner Caloocan Bus Terminal

So we met up in Victory Liner caloocan to reach the 11 pm bus. After a 4hr disturbing bus ride, we reached lba, Zambales (PhP 342). We passed by 7-11 for breakfast and continued our tricycle ride to Palauig (450/tricycle/3pax). We started our trek at around 6am.

Arrived at the registration area

It was a never ending trail of rocky road, there wasn't much cliff, just endless views of rocks,rocks,and more inclined rocks...

If we only knew that this is the view that we can see... 

After approximately 2-3 hours of rocks, we reached some forest part followed by another set of rocks then the swamp.

Never ending trail of rocks

After 4 hrs, we reached the first water source. After approx 2 hrs,we reached the second water source where we had our lunch. It said 10 km, which basically means we're 2/3 into the trail! Yey! And so we thought...

10-km mark (a lie, I tell you...)

After about 2 more hours of rocky road, which actually became a stream and eventually a river trail because of the heavy rain, the trail became a series of orange (clay i think) path with some rocks.

clay path mixed with the river tral

Eventually, we saw the sign saying 13 km... Meaning only 2 more km into the bunker! And eventually the first set of pine trees appeared.

First set of pine trees

There were also some parts where there seemed to be some landslides. There wasn't much cliff and the path was very wide so it was still "safe" despite the weather.

land slide

Eventually, we reached the 15 km mark! But where's the bunker? False hopes because there was about another 1km to the bunker! Hmph! It was the looongest 3km of my life! Knowing it's just nearby, I let them go way ahead haha (by this time, I was really missing Milcah and Ralph and all those other co-hikers who are slower than me haha). 

15-km mark... fake...

By this time, the rain was also coming so hard that there was part of the trail that I have to wade in, knee-deep. I sort of started walking fast despite that I was really tired because it was scary and I was alone. Anyway, shortly after was the bunker. Finally!!

Still wet inside the bunker because of the holes in the roof

We reached it shortly after 4 to 5 pm. We unpacked our wet things from our wet packs despite the so-called rain cover. Also despite my raincoat and rain trousers, I was still wet to the bone! It was all useless... Well, the raincoat helped against the wind.

We changed into dry clothes. By this time, my jacket was soaked. I just wore the REST of my dry clothes to keep myself warm. Then hid myself in my sleeping bag, which was very cozy against the rain pouring outside. I was awakened to quickly eat dinner.

I was in the top bunk and it was hard getting down because there were no stairs or stepping whatever. I just told abby to get me some 3 slices of spam. Then I went back to sleep. No more water, no bathroom routines. I was scared that once i get out, I'll be cold. I even thought that I may wake up in the middle of the night because of the cold. (Well, technically I woke up, but it was because of my sleeping position and my back hurt.)

I know that we're supposed to wake up early to go to the summit, etc but no. Hearing the rain drops outside made me to tired to get out of my comfortable sleeping bag. (Okay, so it was worth it to bring this really heavy backpack.) We got up around 7 am. Yes, that was the only climbing experience I had where I slept for 12 hours! Haha I know that we couldn't possibly go to the summit because we won't be seeing any Sea of Clouds or any view because we're in the rain cloud.

After 24 hours of keeping it in, Abby and I finally peed! (Shucks, we hold it in for 25 hours! Tsk tsk... I wouldn't be surprised if we would have urine infection.) So we just had breakfast, break camp, and went on ahead. Since there was a time where the rain ceased or at least was light, Abby and I took pictures with the nearby water source and waterfalls. (This is the best view that we could get in this climb since there was no summit to see.)

Tapulao Mini Falls

with the water source behind me

On the way down, I know that we couldn't help not getting wet because of the weather, but I just cannot stand to wear my wet clothes from yesterday. So I just wore the clothes I slept in (I just made sure I have one set of dry clothes to change into when I board the bus), which was still dry. I put on a garbage bag over my dry clothes, then put on my moist cool jacket. Yep, learned that from Master Hiker Rein on Waterproofing 101. (Though I wished I learned of this yesterday when I needed as much dry clothes as possible.)

Six Crazy Climbers at Mt. Tapulao despite the Habagat Rain

The downhill hike was so easy! We only had 2-3 breaks on the way down, and you can actually trail run on your way down. (Though your knees will certainly not thank you for it.) Though we did stop, where there was a wide break in the "river" trail and washed ourselves with the cool refreshing mountain water. (Haha! So basically all those water proofing ourselves was for naught.)

Yes, I have my thermal suit (with long sleeves and turtleneck) and dri-fit shirt with my leggings and shorts to protect myself from the cold... but I swam in the cool refreshing mountain water anyway

Our downhill hike only took us 4 hours and 20 minutes! Almost 2x as the uphill! Whew! Though if you compared our time to the original itinerary, we were actually pretty fast. The average hiker can hike it uphill for 12 hours and downhill for 8 hours, but we did it in 9 hours uphill and 4 hours downhill. Yes... our pace was really fast. I'm not climbing with these people again if there was just the 6 of us! I'm not sure if I can take our pace that fast again! I'm only climbing if there are people who are slower than me! I mean, a more relaxed pace than me! Haha

Lessons learned to waterproof your things or to bring in cold, rainy climbs:
1. Bring extra ziplock bags and garbage bags. Put your valuables and gadgets in ziplock bags to waterproof them.
2. For your electrical gadgets, bring silicon gels to make sure the moisture will be absorbed. (Dada thought me this one. Apparently, he learned this lesson the hard way when his phone broke down. Thanks for the silicon gel.)
3. When sleeping, the moisture from the cold can get your things wet. Waterproof your things by putting surgical gloves over your dry knitted gloves, putting plastic and rubber band over your socks, and wrapping your sleeping bag in plastic. (This one is care of Deo from my Pulag experience.)
4. Rain covers are basically useless. Simply put a garbage bag inside your bag, then put your items inside. (Or use a large vacuum, compressed bag like I did so you can also compress your thick clothes and sleeping bag.)
5. Rain trousers made of ethylene something and rain coats are also useless if there is some heavy wind and heavy rain (I think it seeps through.) You can try trousers made out of PVC which is made of  thicker materials. Another thing is you can wear a garbage bag (cut holes for the head and arms) over your jacket, so there's more waterproof protection. (I got this from Rein.)
6. I'm not sure how to waterproof your shoes or your socks, except to simply use waterproof socks (which I think is similar to the one used in scuba diving). This one I still have to test. I just thought of this one while I was there.
7. I think it would be a good idea to just have one set of clothes to be wet... Darn, but if you're a guy, I guess it would be a good idea to climb topless. But if you're a girl, just one set of dri-fit shirt and a pair of leggings would be enough. There is no need for additional jacket to cover yourself, because you'll get yourself drenched anyway.
8. Just make sure you have enough DRY clothes when you get up there. I suggest a thermal suit, normal shirt (which you can also use the next day when you hike downhill), another shirt (that you can wear after the climb), fleece jacket, and a thicker jacket. For my bottoms, I had shorts, leggings (which I used during the hike downhill), and a cotton-thick jogging pants (which I also used after climb).
9. They say Oil of Wintergreen or Salonpas will give you warmth. I haven't tried this one but apparently it works.
10. Drink alcohol! Haha I brough Mojito for this climb, but apparently, I didn't need it. :)

Birthday ocean waves amidst the typhoon Gener

Ocean wave comes tumbling in and out, crashing into each other, doesn't know where to go, hitting each other, creating more confusion and the cycles continue viciously  What can I do to calm this confusion inside of me? It seems to go on forever. I really love the air and the sound of the crashing waves together. I can love an occasional moment of craziness but I don't know about the actual status of the water. It's really different; this view and feeling from outside the ocean looking at it and being submerged in the waves of confusion. I know eventually everything will pass, the confusion will resolve itself, as time passes. So what do you do until the storm passes? You simply hold on. Don't give up and let time calm everything down until you can breathe again.

Mt. Daguldol Climb/Laiya Beach

Another fun weekend spend with the Backpackers United :)

Backpackers United at the foot of Mt. Daguldol - Photo by Victor Ayson

At first I was again hesitant because I have no friends again (Ha!)... I meant, I have no old friends. Anyway, Ralph and Deo convinced me to come nevertheless because at least I knew some of the climbers already due to the previous climbs. The funny thing was, I invited some "old" friends Yani, Milcah and Patrick. None of them came, but a friend of Yani, Emman, came! Haha Proxy... I don't even know who he is, and I'm supposed to entertain him? Naku, shy pa naman ako! Hindi ako sigurado sa powers ko! Hehe I also saw from the list that there were previous climbers who I climbed with last year... Back when I was really really super shy and quiet (even my sister remarked on it! Now I'm just shy :P). I guess I can redeem myself hehe

Anyway, so on with the climb. We were to meet at 3:30 AM in McDo Buendia-Taft, but well, I got there around 4:20 AM. I was the one who drove so, basically it was a 20-minute travel time from our home. Apparently, I was just on time because the taxi in front of us was dropping Deo off haha (I just love it when things just fall into place!)

At around 5 am, we went to the bus terminal at JAM liner bound for Lipa City, Batangas. (I thought it was JAC liner because it was the liner that was beside McDo! I was calling Deo in his Sun number, which apparently wasn't working. And he was calling me in my Globe, which I didn't bring!) From Lipa, we rented a jeepney bound for San Juan, Laiya, Batangas... The place where I got electrocuted and my heart stopped! (FYI, I'm almost three years old, post-electrocution.)

So, we changed costumes, fixed our things and we left most of our things at the area. We just brought what we need for our dayhike in Mt. Daguldol. Maybe I'm getting fitter or I've just been through a harder mountain, but I didn't think Mt. Daguldol was that hard... Okay, or maybe our pace was slow so it wasn't that hard hehe

Photo by Victor Ayson

Photo by Victor Ayson

There was about a 30-minute walk in the beach to get to the jump-off point, after which there is an average of 3-hour hike to the summit. But we didn't get to the summit first. About an hour from the jump off point, we went to the waterfalls. 

Photo by Victor Ayson

There wasn't much area to swim or bathe. But it has many rocks, so we did a bit of rock climbing haha. (Rock climbing na pala iyon? Actually, I think that's what they call "scrambling" but I'm not sure.) I read somewhere that this has the SWEETEST water... They're right. It's the sweetest, based from the colonies of big red ants in the area. You just have to stand in a rock, and ants would crawl up your legs (or your socks, such as in my case).


After a series of photo shoots, we went ahead to continue our trek to the summit. There were originally two series of halo-halo stops and a buko-juice stop. We stopped on the first halo-halo and had our packed lunch there.

Halo Halo Stop 1 -  Photo by Victor Ayson

(Original) Halo Halo Stop 2 (but it was on break so there was no halo-halo at this time) -  Photo by Victor Ayson

Then you will pass by "Pride Rock" (which I named after Lion King because of the protruding rock).

Photo by Victor Ayson

Seaside view from the Pride Rock - Photo by May Moya

And you're almost there! Near the summit! The summit was composed of 2-3 trees and a sloping hill. In terms of view, there were other mountains that were higher so you couldn't see a 360 view of the area.

Group pic at the Summit - Photo by Victor Ayson

Photo by Victor Ayson

Panoramic View of the Summit - Photo by Alex Locsin

Other side of the panoramic view - Photo by Alex Locsin

After the summit, we went back to the beach. It was around 6, so it was getting dark by the time we reached camp. Deo started cooking and grilling, but we were only able to eat around 8 pm already, so we were all very hungry. While waiting for the food to cook, some of us went night swimming. Seeing "underwater fireflies" whenever we move under water, getting stung by a weird underwater organism (cannot be identified due to the darkness), hoping it would be cloudless so we could see stars...

Dinner followed by socials. Buti nalang the guys follow a "Ladies First" rule - Photo by Victor Ayson

After dinner, we had the usual socials. Supposedly, we were to have our karaoke for our socials but it was only up to 10 pm, so we forego that thought. (A lot of us were REALLY disappointed with that thought... So much that we made up for it in our post-climb! Which was really fun because we were almost complete, only 2 of us didn't make it that time, and we finished and dispatched at 6 in the morning! The sun was already shining! Haha But that's another story for another time!) We just had the usual Deo style of Q and A, while drinking some really bad mix of gin, orange and more gin. Really disgusting! Only eating my Oreos made me surpass that! But still...

More photo-ops come morning for those people who were awake.

Sunrise at Laiya Beach - Photo by Victor Ayson

Rock Formations -  Photo by Victor Ayson

Looking at the sea -  Photo by Victor Ayson

We ate breakfast. Wanted to play volleyball but there was no ball (I should have brought one! I knew I thought about it...). Played patintero in this striking heat of a sun. (Bakit ngayon wala ng clouds? Kagabi ang dami??) Eventually went to the beach at noon! After a series of photo-ops, we fixed our things and went home. I was able to reach mass in Quezon City by 7 pm :)

Backpackers United at Laiya Beach -  Photo by Victor Ayson

PS The campsite was beside the place where I got electrocuted! If only I had my camera (or even my phone camera), I would have taken a picture with MY pole again after three years! Hehe Everything looked the same!

Mt. Tagapo Climb

Mt. Tagapo is a nearby mountain located in Binangonan, Rizal. It's actually an easy climb, taking an average of 2 hours to climb. Supposedly, I wasn't to go to this climb because it was originally scheduled the previous week. (I had a wedding to attend on the original weekend of June 16-17.) However, because there was an impending typhoon (which was hardly felt in Manila), it was moved to June 23-24, and I was able to go.

I was able to invite Yani and my new friends, Milcah and Patrick. Unfortunately, because of Patrick's schedule we weren't able to go with Deo in his original itinerary, which was supposed to leave at 5AM from Edsa Central. Instead, we met at Edsa Central at 8 am. Supposedly. (Also, I came from duty in Cavite, where I left at around 3:30 am then went home to pack, and finally met them at around 8 am in Edsa Central.) Milcah and I were prompt. But Yani arrived at 9 am, and Patrick arrived at 10 am! Good luck! We finally left around 10:30 am!

We reached the Binangonan port around 11:45 am (where it was already hot!). The boat to Brgy. Janosa left at 12:15 pm, and we arrived in Brgy. Janosa at around 1:30 pm. We registered, and ate lunch there. (Patrick and Yani didn't have packed lunch, but there were some carinderias so it was okay.) So finally, we started the climb at 2 pm from the jump-off point! Grabe! We even met some of our co-hikers Rein and Abby who was climbing down. They went down to buy some snacks and some water. Apparently, there is a lack of water because it was so hot earlier when they hiked.


Anyway, maybe it was a good thing that we were delayed. Because it then started to rain. As in pour. We were able to take shelter in a nearby hut (the only hut in the trail actually) for about 30-40 minutes, waiting for the rain to stop. By that time, Rein and Abby already came from the bayan and we called them to take shelter in the rain. When the rain subsided, we resumed our trek.

The track was now muddier so it's harder to trek. Still, I would rate it an easy climb. I tried to help my fellow co-hikers by trading backpacks with them. (My backpack was loaded with another 6 L of water as texted by Deo, so our guide Archie was the one who carried my backpack.) It's another easy climb, needing only a few minutes of rest to recover. There were also lots of trees so there wasn't much need for my sarong. 


Anyway, we reached the campsite after approximately 2 hours. I went ahead of them because I was carrying the heaviest backpack (carried initially by rein with about 14 L of water!). After the trees, you'll get into a clearing full of very tall grasses. I reached a fork and I was a bit confused on where I was to go. Then I heard voices from one side, and finally found the right trail.

Some of my co-hikers who were there earlier was going to the summit to view the sunset. I went first to the campsite, put down the very big and heavy bag, and went with the others to the summit. 

Backpackers United at Mt. Tagapo Summit

Sunset at Mt. Tagapo (viewing Laguna de Bai)

Late Climbers Milcah, me, Yani, and Patrick... Just in time for the Summit Sunset

After climbing the summit, my friends and I finally changed clothes and settled down. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very good idea, because we only had the scraps for dinner! Haha Either that or dinner was very good some had too much, while we only had the scraps huhu We had the usual socials... Though a lot of us did remark that it's very much improved compared to the previous socials.

Sitting in a circle, holding our socials... Siyempre, wala palang group pic hehe

Breakfast Committee

We girls learned from our mistake last night, so the boys let us went ahead! Haha

Backpackers United at Mt. Tagapo Campsite

The next day, we had breakfast, fixed our things, and went down. It was still a leisure trek. The trail wasn't so muddy anymore, so the helped a lot. Unfortunately, the guide/porter wasn't on time, and there was only 1, when there was supposed to be two. Anyway, we eventually reached Brgy. Janosa, climbed aboard the boat, and left for Binangonan Port.

From there, we rented a jeepney to go to Daranak Falls. We weren't able to go to the cave anymore or the other waterfalls because it was closed. Daranak Falls is easily accessible, with a lot of people going there for a swim. Of course, there's the main waterfalls and a swimming hole, there's also a mini waterfalls on the side (unfortunately full of vandalism), where you can get a massage (though not as strong as the main falls). There's also a cliff where people can jump from (it's not that high), and people can climb the cliff by doing a little rock climbing (well, I did anyway hehe I enjoyed the rock climbing more than the jump).

Welcome to Daranak Waterfalls

Daranak Falls

Sides of the water basin

  

By the Mini Waterfalls

Backpackers United after washing up

At around 6:30 pm, we finally left the place and arrived in Shaw Blvd around 8 pm. We had another round of Elixir of Life in the jeepney enroute to home. That was pretty funny. Milcah and Yani, very talkative people seem to grow comfortable around the Backpackers and were soon joking around with them. Anyway, on with our next adventure :)

Photo Credits to my fellow climbers Isa Sandoval, Alain Cortes, Dada De Silva, Milcah Loyola (hehe tamad pa din magdala ng camera! Sige, next time, I will try to remember and charge my camera!)