Mt. Napulak (Cogon Trail)

This was my most favorite part of the hike.

It took us almost 3 hours to reach the peak using this trail because we had to be extra careful---one miscalculation in our steps would definitely result to the worst possible scenario.

The almost 75° slope of this part of Napulak, with nothing but the cruel blades of the cogon grasses to grasp so as to prevent ourselves from loosing our footing, was definitely picturesque but was also dangerous for we had to walk on a trail with a width of only about 2 handspans.On one side, or at times, both sides, were actually cliffs, disguised as rolling plains, due to the lushness of the grasses.

There were moments when we had to shout just to release the tension and the nerves whenever we look down and realize the height that we've reached and the picture of what might happen if we do not focus on putting our weight on the right place and firmly grasping the cogon blades.

It was actually amusing because at a distance, the grasses looked like mosses creeping on the sides of the mountain, when actually, they were actually taller than us. If  it wasn't a buwis-buhay hike, I would have giddily sang the Sound of Music  soundtrack because the scene was just screaming for it. Paki-play na lang ng, "The hills are alive with the sound of music...." on the background while scrolling through the photos. ;)

Mt. Napulak (Open Trail and Forest Hike)

It was probably the longest 6 hours of my life.

While we were traipsing the open trail under the scorching heat of the sun, I kept on silently reprimanding myself for asking everyone to do the Napulak hike and camp.

The heat was unbearable. My knees weren't conditioned for long walks, much more, in the mountains. The towering height of the mountain from a distance wasn't hope-inducing, add to that the fact that it wasn't even yet the mountain that we had to scale---Napulak is located at the back of that mountain which was in front of us. It was a daunting task, it silently dawned on us.

A big number of people who conquered Napulak were either enthusiasts or pros. We were neither. Heck, I even catch my breath just from climbing a few flights of stairs.

The hike from 8:00 am-2:00 pm to the last water source before arriving at another trail was really a test of endurance and willpower. We had to keep pushing ourselves. Every step became heavier as time ticked. There were even moments when we asked each other, "Remind me, why are we doing this again?" Our guide, probably almost to the point of being fed up, answered at one point, "The most difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations."

I smirked when I heard that cliche. I have always been partial with cliches.

Little did I know, little did we know, in a few while, we'd agree with his statement.

MacAu in Bucari

During our courtship (this requires a different post), I remember Mac mentioning about his vision of us going places together. And now, we're actually doing it! How cool is that, huh?

Here’s to more adventures together---to more road trips and bus rides that we wish would never stop, to thinking about what to eat for the next meal and then end up with a lukewarm batchoy for dinner because there are no other places where we can buy food (Yet, we ate it so heartily without any complaints. We were happy.), here’s to packing and unpacking things needed for a trip, to the spur-of-the-moment plans of riding a pumpboat to Guimaras just to eat cashew nuts and then return to the city right after, to more walks under the rain while holding hands.

Sometimes, it still amazes me how we both can manage to have a relationship which is definitely far from perfect but is just simply beautiful in its lack of complications and drama. What we have is just simply a hard-core relationship based on trust and respect and love. And because of this, I am looking forward to explore this beautiful life with this man. I am looking forward to a lifetime of adventures with you, Mac. :)

Here are the photos of our first ever trip as a couple in the chilly Bucari last December. The whole year of 2014 was such a great blessing for both of us and it was only apt to spend the remaining days of that year creating more beautiful memories.

Solo in Bagiuo

This blog is literally screaming for new posts! As in, literally.

I have months of backlogs and as a new year goal (fingers’ crossed), I vowed to post more regularly. I have high hopes for my “revamped” self discipline this year. Yay! ;)

***

I would start my post for this year with my solo trip to Bagiuo, summer of last year. During the holy week of 2014, I decided to go up north. Although it wasn’t my first time to go on a trip alone, it was actually quite daunting because at that time, I was still on the process of regaining my pinas’ rhythm since my three years of living in Thailand had programmed me to meld with the Thai’s laidback way of life. Plus, I didn’t book any accommodations ahead, I had no specific plans and I had no itinerary. Several well-meaning friends were actually astounded when they learned that I didn’t pre-book any accommodations, reminding me that there is a big possibility that I might not be able to get a good place or an affordable one for that matter, because a lot of tourists were actually smarming to Bagiuo for the holy week. So, when I boarded the bus going to the city of pines, I was actually boarding it in good faith that my luck would follow me all way up north.

DAY 1
My original plan (See? Kahit papaano may plano ako . Ahahaha.) was to stay in the teachers’ camp. I know. I know. It was actually one of the biggest decisions in my life (This is not an exaggeration.) because I’ve definitely heard a lot of teachers’ camp’s infamous horror stories that while I was still on the bus, my heart was actually thumping with the thought of staying there for three nights. In my head, I was already picturing out my would-be horror encounters. Imagine kung gaano ako katapang at that time? I, who would probably top the “Most Matatakutin People in History “ list, if there’s any, actually decided to stay in the teachers’ camp?????!!! Like, seriously? Points for me, then!!!!

When the person in the information counter of the camp told me that there were no any available rooms for the day, I feigned a disappointed look but secretly, my super matatakutin self regained her normal breathing. That’s how ironic I am. Ahahaha.

Without any idea were to go, I hailed a cab, asked the driver to drive me around the city so that I could find a place where I could stay. That was very impractical, I know, but I had no other choice. I probably went down the taxi and asked for vacancies in 5 different hostels and transient houses before I was able to finally find a place that seemed comfortable and safe, plus the accommodation fee was quite reasonable.

Everything seemed perfectly okay until I found out that they assigned me a basement room where my phone couldn’t get any signal. That was only a minor discomfort. What really bothered me was the idea of being in the basement. I am slightly claustrophobic, that’s why. I thought of another plan. I decided to stay for the night so that I can have a place to leave my things while I spent a good portion of the morning looking for other places around the area where I could be more comfortable. Luckily, I found a hostel which offered a better accommodation and it was just about a 5-minute walk from SM City Bagiuo.

In the afternoon, I just did some touristy stuff---went around the city by foot, rode the jeepney to get to several famous landmarks and tourist spots, ate a cob of sweet corn and strawberry taho while strolling around, and sat in several places and did one of my most favorite activities when I have nothing else to do: people watching. ;)

DAY 2

..and my bookworm heart momentarily forgot how to do its lub-dubs when I saw this local bookstore---I could’ve died right there and then, and the books(!)---the books are such rare finds!

When I went up in the second level, a kid was lying cozily on a corner bean bag and I instinctively smiled at her. She then shyly went to me while I was scanning a poetry book and asked me, “What are you doing?”. I have been teaching for several years and yet I am still surprised, every time, at how kids are so good in identifying gullible adults (Like me, hahaha!) who will accommodate their never-ending questions.

So, when I replied, “I’m scanning some poetry books. What about you, do you like to read?”, that was the start of her spontaneous chatter and of going back to me to ask, “What’s this?”, everytime she could not recognize an illustration in the book that she was holding. Lorraine, my new-found, smart 6-year old friend, validated my long-formulated hunch that some of the best people are encountered in a bookstore. *wink*

---fb post, 19 April ‘14

Travel.
As much as you can.
As far as you can.
As long as you can.
Life is not meant to be lived in one place.

DAY 3

I spent a good portion of the day in church---had my Visita Iglesia and listened to the mass.

Right after, I walked to Burnham Park and enjoyed basking in the afternoon sun which was in good contrast with the comfortable chill of Bagiuo.

The reason why I love the sidewalks and the streets is that they never get boring. One can always find interesting things and stories and people in the midst of their hustle and bustle---you just need to pay more attention.

I am not a fan of vandalism but this one, which is actually a love proclamation, made this ugly, dilapidated wreck of a building less of an eye sore in one the busy streets that I passed by today. It actually made me smile in amusement.

It made me think: What’s the back story to this?

-fb post, 20 April ‘14

That Thing Called Tadhana

>The lines flashed on the screen before the start of the movie, "Para sa mga umibig. Nasaktan. At, para sa mga umibig muli. In short, tatanga-tanga lang.", sent everyone guffawing in unison (including me). In short, lahat nakarelate. Hindi lang ako sigurado kung alin dun sa tatlong categories ang malaking percentage ng dahilan ng pagtawa pero malaki ang hinala ko, dun sa tatanga-tanga lang. The crazy things we do for love, talaga naman.

>The whole story is like the love stories of everyone that we know of, including that of ourselves, fused into one. While listening to Angelica, all the while, I was muttering quietly, "Ay story 'yan ni ano! Teka lang, linya 'yan ni ano. Oh my, bitter na bitter lang, kaming-kami lang dati." And, the lines were delivered on point, with a load of realistic sarcasm. This is what sets indie films from the well-marketed, highly produced movies---the rawness, and the intelligent, well-thought of lines. Yung alam na alam mong ginawa with a perfect balance of puso and utak.

>The lead female character, played by Angelica Panganiban, is somebody whom everyone can identify with. Yung scene pa lang sa plane na ngawa siya nang ngawa habang nanonood ng One More Chance at nakikisabay sa mga linya ni Bea, that was the point I guess, which made her all the more real. Hello? Like almost everyone I know can attest to this: One More Chance is the ultimate break-up/where-do-broken-hearts-go-? movie. Ang mga ibang magdi-disagree, ayaw lang matawag na jologs pero at one point, siguradong napanood din ang movie na 'to. Classic. Nakasama na nga siya sa list ng classic movies ng Cinema 1 kasama ang Oro Plata Mata, Anak, Kapag Langit ang Humatol, at Hindi Nahahati ang Langit. Kaya, no further discussion on this matter.

>JM de Guzman is not your typical guapo artista but he has a way of charming his way to your heart. He didn't even need to over-act. He was just simply comfortable to watch.

>Minsan lang akong kiligin, sa mga weird na bagay at pangyayari pa. There were two scenes in the movie that did just that---one turned me into pure slush, the other reduced me into a puffy ball of awkward tears. Ahaha. The part when JM was trying to put his arms around Angelica's shoulder, no, that didn't make me kilig. It was actually more of JM's arm that did it, suspended in the air, undecided whether to support or to hold back. The awkwardness was just so real and endearing. The second scene (Yes, the part in which I was only one who probably cried.) was when JM said (not in verbatim), "Ako, napanaginipan din kita. Pero walang bungee jumping sa panaginip ko, walang talon-talon, walang bumitaw. Corny nga eh. Naglalakad lang tayo sa session road. Yun lang. Madaming tao, tapos naglalakad lang tayo." That was a beautiful metaphor for me of a quiet and constant kind of love---the kind of love that gives you this warm feeling rather than the heady rush. Quiet. Constant.

>I was having a conversation with somebody (You know who you are. *wink), and I said, "We love several people in our entire lifetime. Lucky are those who love at first try and then end up together, for good. But for the most part of the human population, it will be about loving several people all throughout their lives. And so we say the same words, show the same acts of love from one relationship to another. Which made me think, which are genuinely real, which are done and said only because they're supposed to be done and said?" I was reminded yesterday when I watched the film, "There are many kinds of love but not the same love can happen twice." Tama nga naman. Hindi nasusukat ang pag-ibig sa laki o sa timbang. Hindi nga sila dapat ipagkumpara kasi nga, iba-iba ang klase nang pagmamahal. I was pacified. Ewan ko lang sa kausap ko. Ahahaha.

>I was giddy because the movie showed broken people on the way to healing themselves who realize that when you love, you can't leave it all up to fate or destiny or tadhana. You fight for the people you love and when nothing else happens, let go.

>The short story about the heart and the arrow, hay. It's a gentle reminder that our hearts' choices have greater power over tadhana.

>Ang LSS ko ngayon ay Tadhana. Need I say more?

>The movie made me instantly want to backpack to Sagada.

>Where do broken hearts go nga ba? Iyan ang pilit na sinagot sa pelikula. Hindi ko pa din alam ang sagot, at kahit yung director, hindi din nasagot ang tanong na ito. But for now, I'm just sure of one thing: Let's go to Bagiuo/Sagada and fall in love. If not, we can start in Iloilo's little Bagiuo. Let's go there and fall in love. *wink

This Indefatigable Belief

And I’m so back my ‘pinas!

Working as a teacher in a foreign country sometimes makes me want to cry out in anger and in anguish with the realization of the many opportunities and the quality of education deprived from a big number of young people way back home.

Seeing how these (my) foreign students are enjoying a lot of educational materials and facilities which are most of the time, in 1:1 ratio, awakens a deep-seated sadness in me with the knowledge that way back home, there are still some classrooms that lack books and there are still a lot of selfless teachers who spend their own money from their meager salaries just to buy books and materials which will then be shared to a class composed of 60 students. A desktop computer in a far-flung barrio school, can already be considered a miracle.

Seeing how my foreign students are given all the possible opportunities to study and compete abroad with sufficient funding and support from the school and their government, awakens a seed of frustration and jealousy in me for all the missed chances and opportunities of a lot of young Filipino students who have such so much potentials (and I can claim to be one of the best group of young people in the world, given just the right motivation and training), due to the misplaced funding of the government, lack of training and proper screening of the educational work force, lousy and greedy politicians, and of a big number of Filipino teachers who have chosen to leave *cringe* not only to look for greener pastures, but because some of them have actually lost faith in the twisted system.

It is really true that sometimes, it takes stepping back a little for somebody to see what really is wrong in the whole picture. In my case, I’ve taken miles of steps away and though it might take me some time to heal my frustration over the whole system, but what pacifies and gives me peace at the moment is that my faith in the Filipino youth, in the countless selfless and dedicated teachers who chose to stay (despite of), and my faith in the teaching profession as a whole, is quite indefatigable.

Teaching is Synonymous to Learning

Although one learns a lot as a teacher every day, I consider my first two years as a fresh-out-of-the-university teacher as my formative years in the teaching field. Learning the strategies of teaching, being temporarily cross-eyed from hours of peering through the microscope, memorizing bizarre names which I couldn’t even speak properly (how much more spell?), can all be considered as child’s play compared to being in the actual field. No amount of university training has ever prepared me (most especially my heart) to being an actual teacher. 

Even though I have yet so much to learn, I believe that I gained some of the most significant lessons that every teacher must learn during my first few years as a teacher. And randomly, here are they:

1. Being a twenty year old, well-sheltered, idealistic, fresh-out-of-university teacher who teaches gangly, 14 year old teenagers could most of the time mean disaster and numerous episodes of minimal heartaches. The best remedy? Laugh it off.

2. Most of the time, a hug from young kids actually means being squeezed, to death. But who’s complaining?

3. Remember way back in high school when nobody trusted you with cutting styrofoam because all you come up with are these irritatingly jagged edges and lots and lots of broken pieces? Well, redeem yourself because being a teacher means perfecting the aft of Styrofoam letter cut-outs----and later on, you will have no idea how did you do it. Plus, did I mention that there is a great possibility of going home literally covered with glitters from head to foot while getting these weird glances from people inside in the jeepney?

4. So much about being strict with spellings, punctuations and S-V agreement. Sometimes, you have to learn your students’ language.

5. A science class can instantly turn into a fruit salad party!

6. You think you have already perfected the poker-face look to appear cool and composed when you dissect a frog? Think again. Look at that slight, cringing expression in your face in the photo.

7. A solar eclipse in the middle of a science class is always a welcomed surprise and blessing.

8. When you look after young kids outside of the school premises, no matter how you mentally compose yourself to be overly alert, you would always have that weird thump of worry in your heart . Even though you are certain that you have no ounce of motherly instinct with you, but being a teacher is the closest experience to motherhood/fatherhood that one could ever get.

9. Cherish your support system. They will become your lifetime friends