Gone Surfin'

Gone Surfin’

It was the start of summer (March, 2013) and the gang decided to have weekend getaway. Our Pulag guide, Alain, mentioned that he has a place in Baler so we said tara let’s Baler. Alain arranged everything... the van, accommodations, tour, food. He wasn’t able to come with us but he entrusted us to his friend who became our driver.

We left Makati late Friday night. It was a 5 hour ride with stops somewhere in NLEX and Nueva Ecija. We arrived around 5am and the resort staff was still sleeping. We rested for a little while, fixed ourselves and headed to Baler town for some breakfast and city tour.

I didn’t know anything about Baler except that it was in Aurora, which was used to be a part of Quezon province. I wanted to see the church where Anne Curtis and Jericho Del Rosario filmed Baler the movie.

After the so-called walking tour to the museum, we found ourselves trekking to Ditumabo falls.

It was a quick and easy hike. Got to cross some streams.

"baby falls"

Ditumabo Falls

The trek got us really hungry for lunch. We went to this small buffet place. The price was P150, a steal should I say. Food was Filipino and limited, I guess around 10 viands, but it was delicious.

After some rest from lunch, it was time for surfing! No pictures since we just had a buffet! Tummies and rash guards are awful combinations you know!

surf class, we got some discount!

The next morning, we had our time at the giant balete tree.

Then surfing time again before heading home.

Surviving Sagada Part 2

Woah! It's been almost 3 months since I last updated. Sorry for that. I've been busy with new work, and settling in to the new city... But enough of that! So now... back to Sagada!

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We took the first day off to recuperate after our misfortune. Keith joined Rodel and me for our own "city" tour to take some photos... We tried looking for those old Igorot huts and got to see some rice terraces upclose instead! 

For dinner, we decided to try out Salt & Pepper Diner. They different "flavors" of grilled chicken cooked their way. I had this:

It was also my first time to try out mountain tea. I'm not a tea lover but I loved it! I tweeted this picture and @SurvivingSagada suggested that next time I should try it with milk!

Mt. Pulag - First Attempt

Up to now, I don't know what went to the minds of my friends at work why they decided to become outdoors people. After camping in Nagsasa, next thing I know we were already planning for our trip to Mt. Pulag. We initially intended to have a preclimb activity but our work schedules were so tight. With our fingers crossed, we booked our Mt. Pulag adventure.

We decided to take a trip package, as we did in Nagsasa, so we wouldn't worry about food and camping stuff. Well, most of us are first time mountain climbers so we need some help in Mt. Pulag. Note, it is the highest peak in Luzon so this is something major. So we got in touch with Nino's friend Alain to arrange our trip.

Preparation meant shopping for some gears. We needed some trekking pants, trekking shoes, big bag, sleeping bag, fleece jackets and other stuff to survive the cold weather in Pulag. I thought 3K budget each was all that we needed. It covers the package only: transportation, fees, food. Nobody mentioned it would cost more since we didn't have trekking stuff! Tina and Annie went with Keith and me to Divisoria to shop for some stuff and they said, "mas ok pang magbeach, 'di kelangan ng damit at madaming gamit!" Well, they were totally right!

So it was me, Keith, Lee, Bobby, Nino, Logan, Rodel, and Chris to Pulag. Tina wasn't able to come as she can't take a leave on her new job and Glenn hasn't been cleared yet but his doctor to go trekking. Bobby invited his cousins and their friends and that's another 10 people... Sorry didn't get all their names, too shy but we all got along.

The plan was to take the Ambangeg-Ambangeg trail. It is called the executive trail since it's the easiest. Another trail, called Akiki trail, would take climbers 3 days to reach the mountain's summit.

Bacolod-Iloilo-Guimaras with Paksyon Part 2

We took the 5pm ferry to Bacolod. Met this hardworking dog, sniffing all the bags to ensure the passengers' safety.

We arrived in Bacolod around 7pm. We were booked at the Northwest Inn. We were so tired but cabs and trikes just wouldn't let us ride on their normal rate. Good thing there was this manong jeep who was kind enough to take us to the inn at a minimum fee.

We took the roof deck room for more bonding time. Had some extra beds but still put some effort to rearrange the room so we could take our telenobela photos.

pang drama ito, bawal ngumiti!

Bacolod-Iloilo-Guimaras with Paksyon Part 1

In 2005, I joined Sykes as a technical support agent for one of the largest telecommunications company in the US. I was lucky to be with a group of wonderful people whom I became friends with until now.

One day, my circle of friends were discussing some issues (well, every company has those) and we were called into a room we fondly call bartolina (prison solitary confinement) by our team lead, Arvin. He then started pointing to us one by one, saying, "ikaw, ikaw, ikaw, ikaw... mga paksyon kayo eh!" (you, you, you, you... you have a faction!). And that is how we got our name, Paksyon.

Fast forward to 7 years later... we are no longer with Sykes. While some of us stayed in the country, some has gone to Singapore, Australia, the Netherlands and anywhere else in the world. Our "OFW" friends have decided to come home for a Christmas vacation so we set to have reunion of sorts in Bacolod where Arvin is now based.