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Pundaquit-Anawangin Escapade...

long weekend offered us a chance to go out and be together again in the great outdoor...

for a time, after some of our friends left for greener pastures, there were just the four of us left... camping, climbing, going to the beach and going "home" to marinduque.. until john left for japan.. then our outdoor life together stopped.. i went into mountaineering and kenneth and nyoy went back to being city slickers..

the long weekend however coupled with john coming home was a great recipe for some fun adventure..

OH WHERE OH WHERE...

it felt like a countdown to long weekend.. monday the guys started asking me where to? and i said.. all up to you.. where do you guys want to go? climb? beach? travel? bum around? and the answer was ALL OF THE ABOVE.. wow, a pretty tall order.. but i had no problem thinking of places to go on a long weekend..

and so i emailed all of them (including those guys working abroad!) ha! ha! ha! i can just imagine them pounding away on their computer keys, and out comes this email from me... CLIMB AND BEACH - LONG WEEKEND ESCAPADE.. sunshine, water, mountains... perfect perfect outing..

TAKE MY HAND.. WE'RE OFF TO NEVER NEVER LAND..

since the guys left it all up to me to make all the arrangements, (a first actually, usually i was just a happy camper following around).. i asked around from bajay and bojo about the pundaquit climb.. i wanted to make sure about the IT since we will be commuting.. this will also be my first time climbing pundaquit so i didn't want to make room for chance.

and so with the IT given by bojo and with some sound advice from bajay, i was ready... night before we left, i had to run with business partners in serendra with igue and jaime coaching... i had to buy groceries... and i had to get my tent from jeng's.. HECTIC! but i was in the groove.. kenneth helped me out with the groceries since they decided to pack and sleep in my house..

by 1am one of our friends came, took us out to eat and the guys proceeded to go somewhere while i was left in the house to repack the groceries.. ugh! by 2:30 nyoy and kenneth came back with a video of extreme mountain biking.. we spent some time watching it while packing.. and my house looked as if a tornado wrecked havoc to it.. we were left with one hour of sleep.. and like military school, i woke them up promptly at 4am! since all of us were excited about the outing, we were at the bus station promptly at quarter to five.. of course i didn't tell them the bus leaves at 5:20am i told them it leaves at 5! hah!

WE'RE HERE!!

finally we arrived at sam's resort in time for lunch and a little briefing from our guide manong bodji..
we made arrangements for some of our provisions to be taken to the beach the following day since we will be spending one night up in the mountain.

initially, i balked at the idea of spending one night in the mountain when the beach is so near.. but i thought about it, and i missed star gazing with these guys.. it has been a while since we last spent a night camping.. so i gave in.

since this was a fun climb in its truest form, we spent some time frolicking in the river and in the mini falls.. we were taking it slow since john hasn't climbed in over a year, except for mount fiji.

kuya bodji warned us though of wild carabaos roaming the land.. i filed it away at the back of my mind. though i had to laugh when he said that if we encountered one, we should run and look for the nearest tree... what the!! there were no trees that were climable in the area! it was a grassland..

THIS LAND IS OURS..

finally, we reached the summit.. and the camp area was small but enough for our two tents.. manong bodji left us after we have settled, and after our ohhhss and ahhhsss.. he must have found it comical watching city people in awe of this view.

he again warned us of the carabaos and pointed to us the general direction going down. i was confident enough in going down since we had with us john's GPS and both he and nyoy were sproting suunto watches.. while me, i rely on trail marks and trail signs.. so no worries..

we had the whole place to our own! we all enjoyed the view so much, it took us a while to finally set up camp.

as usual, we spent the night chatting away.. the guys cooked the meal, kenneth is our "rice cooker" cooks it perfectly everytime - even better that i ever can, which says a lot!.. while nyoy did all the rest.. and all i did was look on.. ahhh perfect time, perfect place!



we shared john's thermarest as our pillow and the four of us star gazed and talked about any and every topic we can think of... until i fell asleep.. nyoy later woke me up around 2am to transfer to the tent.. the one bottle tres cepas we brought along was enough since kenneth does not drink.

GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE! HELLO MR. CARABAO!!

we woke up around 7am and again we were awed by the view, especially me when i opened the vestibule and i saw before me Anawangin cove.. wow! how many people at that moment had the same exact view? only us four..

we weren't worried much about going down since we had john's GPS with us, which he already plotted.. (and to which i really do not have any idea how to read)so we went down a little past 8am... fun climb, slow breakfast, slow in breaking camp..

going down was hot but we had that river below where we soaked for more than 20 minutes. i finally urged my friends with the promise that the beach was something they should see right now!

so off we went... trekking through multiple trails that crisscrossed whichever way.. at one point in a single trail, nyoy went first suddenly he turned around, shouted.."ai! carabao!!!" i was immediately after him, he zipped right past me so fast i didn't know what happened!

an then i saw the hind part of the carabao... it was huge! bigger than anything i saw.. belatedly, i realized i was wearing my red adidas drifit shirt! uh-oh... i was rooted to the ground for about 2 seconds and then i ran back... i remembered manong telling us to look for a tree.. but there were none to be found!!! i couldn't climb a bamboo tree that is no bigger than a shrub! WTF!!!

and then sanity came back... i realized the carabao ran the other way... oooohhhh if only i had a camera at that time.. i would've photographed nyoy and the carabao, titling it "Ready...Set..Go!!!" both looked each other in the eye, realized there was an intruder and ran at opposite directions! funny... well at least now it was funny... but i lost my wits for about a few seconds there.. the four of us ran around in circles for a while.. looking like poor imitations of a slapstick grade B film..

MY TOES JUST TOUCHED THE WATER...

and then finally the beach... ahhhh glorious anawangin! my friends were amazed with what they saw.. and i was proud to have introduced them to this place. i know that they are the kind of people who will know how to take care of the environment.. no messy garbage, no vandalism..

the caretakers, kuya manny and his wife met us.. they were touched that even before we came, i asked permission and that i gave a message to our boatman that we will be arriving on the said date.. kuya manny was even more touched that someone remembers his name.. well, i have bajay to thank for that! :D

so both of them met us, gave us the best table and two benches while other campers had to contend with none.. :)sometimes the smallest courtesy can open so much possibilities.

HOURS MELTING

it rained that night but it did not matter... i had set up a parawing for us and we stayed there rain and wind and all.. eating the pasta i cooked, drinking our tequila, biting on our oranges and laughing our heads off..

as usual, i went into the water for a dip from time to time... nyoy had to set alarm on his watch just so i'll come out of the water..

morning after, we went around once more for a little exploring by the river.. we made a promise to come back to this place one of these days and just chill on the beach.. i asked them to be discreet on who to bring.. although this place has been known to a lot of people already, still i would rather not contribute to its popularity to people who would not know how to care. thus the pact was made, bring only those who know how to care... for which i am glad..


it is always bittersweet to leave such a special place behind.. but reality calls, work beckons and demands.. the real world soon intrudes on this piece of heaven that was found.. and it is time to go back..

but then again, you assure yourself... there is more to come!

World Car-Free Day...

last september 22, my friends and i decided to meet up at UP for some biking. we were supposed to go to AFP then monterrey then maarat and join this thing in cubao which was a bikathlon called World Car-Free Day spearheaded by the firefly brigade.

i had no idea whatsoever what the IT was.. i just simply rode on my bike and pedalled towards UP with john and meeting up with kenneth in qc av. the off road and trail plan was scratched since john, in his pigheadedness didn't change his tires and used road tires instead..

it was however fine since it started to rain so hard there were times i felt as if a pail of water was thrown at the side of my body with a force.. the rain didn't bother me though - it was reminiscent of my elementary years when my friends and i would go around biking when it rained and then play.. such happy care-free days..

so we opted to join that bikathlon, we seeked shelter at Coffee Bean in Gateway mall shivering and drinking coffee.. after that, we joined the team from fireflies.. they asked us from what group we were and we simply said we are team marinduque.. it was too hard to explain anyhow from where we were.. 5 years ago, i got to know these guys whom majority were from marinduque, hence the name TEAM MARINDUQUE.. they adopted me eversince 2001.

the funny thing was i was just there to bike with my friends.. who were the first people who influenced me to put together my own bike.. finally we had this chance to bike together... less of course some of our friends who are already out of the country.. and our first bike together was a pro-environment bikathlon.. going around Cubao-EDSA-Greenhills-New Manila- North Ave-QC cirle-Cubao. Covering 25kms more or less..

this event was covered by inquirer.. which came out on today's issue... and guess whose photo were there? OURS! ahahahaha funny... i also chanced upon pixelus' blog in wordpress... nice...

logged in a total of 60kms that day since i had to bike home again... i was tired but it was a good ride..

hah! chicken...

ahahaha ok at the risk of sounding like pops who keeps a log of his run time (pops if you're reading this, you know what i mean) hahaha... i have to say i am improving.. my time?? ohh well, that's a secret... but all i can say is that i ran more now than when i was a trainee :D

tax is helping me a lot with my running.. she could be a bmc director in the future you know, or assigned in the physicals.. never imposing but very encouraging.. so i follow her lead.. or rather she slows her pace so she can time me..

we ran 6kms last night without me faltering and absolutely NO walking on my part.. damn was i proud of myself... hahahahha!!! i cannot help but laugh at this experience.. i mean, i was probably the worst trainee ever when it came to running.. nothing could ever motivate me.. and there is only one thing that motivates me now.. i will not let my business partners see me WALK! not even the thought of not passing the 15km could make me run before, i passed the second 15km by the fact that i had that downhill portion to compensate..

but now i am actually serious in this running thing.. (goodness is this me talking??) hahahah god, i still can't help laughing about it though.. the things i put myself through.. but dammit! i will do this.. let's just hope future distractions will not hamper much on my running.. NAKS!!!! CHICKEN!!!! =))

on the run..

i am running again... yeah, the HORROR!!! but i have to run the New Balance Power Race and finish the 10km run..

funny how i arrived in this situation. The channel manager from my principal was always gung-ho about running.. we always found some common ground to talk about with all of my outdoor activities: the biking, the climbing and the diving.. but running.. now that's another matter altogether..

but since i knew he likes running, i forwarded to him the emails from AMCI regarding the race.. not five minutes after i forwarded, he emphatically said "let's go! invite the other business partners!".... uh-oh..

but i tied it up nicely with another marketing activity (which of course will be another story) and without question my budget was approved..

so now here i am... trying to run again..

my running shoes have been relegated to the lowest part of my shoe rack gathering dust, but both of us were panting last night!

now jaime is giving me a "running program" - fit for me... 10km for 1hr 20mins with lots of rest days and beer in between!!! hahahaha funny... but i will surely follow it religiously.. the rest days and the beer days that is.. :D

My Shangrila...

truth to tell, the real reason why i accepted being GL for TC3 was because of the mountain itself. Kibungan. The first time i went there was last year when i was still a trainee. i had the privilege of being in the sweepers group since at that time it was already my fourth TC. What i saw in that mountain, i wanted to revisit and see again.

so there it was - GL to ken, edwin, alan, alex, joanne and peachy. as i have said, six very interesting very different personalities. my members comprised of jeng, za, tatax and surprise of all surprises, dex. i had a tight group and i had well organised trainees. i did not have to do everything for them - they were able to do meal planning, groceries, and as well as preparing for their costumes for their presentation which ken did mostly.

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

the travel was fine except that we ecountered several mishaps - the first one we had a flat tire in la trinidad... second was when we got stuck on soft ground that was mostly clay. it took the people there several hours to get us out..

by this time, we were all hungry - unfortunately, my bag was on the side of the bus that was leaning towards the wall of the mountain.. so packed breakfast was out of the question. arlene brought out this one huge bag of chicharon, we ate it but i could feel my heart clogging... talk about fat and grease for breakfast! and yes he brought coke too...

BALAHO that was the word for the morning. Actually, that was the first time i heard the word... balaho, meaning stuck or buried in the mud. to pass the time, we came up with sentences using the word balaho.. za, kat, tadz and shai and i used it fifty thousand times before we got bored of it! hehehe

then my caffeine-deficient brain threatened to shut down.. i had to get coffee fast.. and in this road there were none to be found.. the bags were trapped, the cooksets packed.. i could feel a headache settling in.. and so when my trainees told me there was a store some 300meters back, i said let's go!!!

we found this sari-sari store and since joanne could speak the dialect, we asked her to beg for hot water for the coffee.. not only were we given hot water, we were made to go inside the owner's house, served with their best mugs out. we got lost in translation though and it was joanne who regaled the owner of our predicament, where we were from, and where we were going. i had two mugs of coffee in one sitting, same with allan..

then suddenly someone outside the window called us, the bus was miraculously out of the "balaho".. we had to go fast.. and it turned out we had to walk half a kilometer away from the site since the bus had nowhere to park.

finally we made it to Kibungan Municipal Hall, we only had time to have a quick lunch and then off to the veggie truck for another 3hrs of roller coaster ride.


Kat, Jeng, Tax and i had a brilliant idea to while away the long ride.. we played pusoy and then pusoy dos.. and of course we had imaginary bets.. calling it "PASA LOAD"... one kilo of rice each, whoever loses, shall carry all three kilos!!! we played as if that pasa load was for real.. kat was always losing and she must've ended with all the loads including my cookset. my sides hurt from all that laughter and shouting and egging... we didn't even mind that we had another "balaho".

UP TO THE MOUNTAIN WE SHALL GO

finally! we reached our jump-off in sitio moling. we did not waste any time and after a short prayer, we were off in groups. by this time it was already past 4pm.. we were supposed to start trekking at 12nn.

looking at the view, i was a bit miffed since this was the part of kibungan that i did not experience last year.. but the heavy clouds and fog veiled some of the more interesting sites. and then pretty soon, the sun settled and darkness came..


halfway, za complained of intense pressure at the back of her head coming like migraine. i told her that she was experiencing a mild case of hi-alti sickness.. so i asked her to stop, checked her pupils and asked her to go down several meters.. when she did, she exclaimed that the pressure eased.. we were discussing about it, when suddenly a trainee came along, stopped where we were and just dropped his bag beside the trail..

the next thing we knew his backpack went rolling down the mountain.. and it sounded like an eternity before we heard it stop.. goodbye dinner, goodbye money and goodbye warm clothes... or so it seemed.

bojo came upon us and immediately instructed me to go ahead and shout for rope.. i left za with tatax telling them to take it slow.. by this time the rest of my team were at the ridge waiting for me.. i shouted to pass on the message for ropes.. you could hear people passing the message along..

finally we reached the last ascent before campsite. i was a bit thankful that it was already dark since allan already conveyed his fear of heights during preclimb. he told us that he froze during tc2.. i knew kibungan, and if heights scare you then you will definitely experience vertigo. so the darkness helped a lot in making alan go since he could not see what was below and how high up we were.

TRAINING-CUM-FUN CLIMB

dinner was good, chicken with oyster sauce and red pepper and the warm soup helped a lot. the trainees were the ones who set up the parawing and it went remarkably well - with alex doing most of the work.

after dinner, jeng and i started on our rum.. trainees edwin,peachy, alex and alan joined us while joanne slept early and ken went with rob. after a few rounds, peach excused herself..

since we started out late, the lights out policy was moved until 12mn. which was cool since we had more time bonding with our trainees.. promptly at 12mn, i gave alex his last shot and told him, sorry, next time when it's not your TC anymore let's drink till we're good! :)

THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER

i checked if everyone was in already,to my consternation, peachy wasn't there inside our tent. last i saw her was she was getting something from our tent.. the last campsite that had a party going was the climb staff's.

i asked jeng to go with me.. since i knew if i went there i would be offered drinks! and knowing the descent of kibungan, i didn't want to be too inebrated the night before.. noooo way will i go down that mountain floating on a haze of alcoholic cloud! hahaha

jeng declined.. by virtue that she might not be able to say no to more shots! so i went there alone.. and lo and behold peach was there, warmly ensconced surrounded by the climb staff.

i asked the TL why i wasn't informed that i still had a trainee with them and everyone chorused in... "there is no trainee here!" hooookayyy.... so i left without taking that shot and without another word..

afterall... what's the postclimb for? this mountain was too beautiful to talk about issues.. though i wish there were some kind of check and balance to the whole thing.

i came back to our campsite and marc was there.. begging for a place to stay.. his tentmate nette was a little bit on the drunk side hahahaha.. when marc asked her if she felt like puking she simply said YESSS!! in that singsong voice of hers.. marc cringed at the thought! by this time he was already fawning and kneeling and begging for me to let him sleep inside the tent.. i had to agree! hahaaha and besides i do not relish sleeping alone in a big tent with cold cold weather!

suffice it to say, my trainee never came back to our tent - instead she came home at 6am when everything was already prepared..properly contrite..and with a sheepish grin. she finally woke up after janice dragged her halfway out of the tent.

i said my piece and i let the issue go.. i refused to feel anything but pleasure for the sites to see. :)

DOWN DOWN DOWN AND UP AGAIN!

seeing the view on the second day right after the mossy forest was just simply awe inspiring! this was the part that i didn't see during my first climb here.. the expanse, the green, the trees in the distant horizon... it was just simply amazing!




we negotiated the way carefully since the trail was nothing more than a foot and half wide with sheer drop on the other side.. one slip and you die.. and nobody was more conscious of this fact than alan... i asked tax to pace him and told alan to follow where tatax steps.. that proved to be effective.

although quivering from fear, he continued on.. never looking anywhere but straight where the path was. from time to time i would see a glimpse of him quaking and negotiating a difficult move sitting down on his haunches and just simply sliding down and hanging for dear life.. but he never stopped.. he never gave up.. and he never froze.. i was sooo proud of him, i could cry!! that was looking fear in the eye and never backing down! right here was a man struggling to conquer his fears - and he did just that!


THE BEST WAY TO SPEND THE WEEKEND



as promised, i cooked dinner for us all on the second night... it was my dinner treat for everyone.. for the trainees for being such troopers and for my friends who were there for support and for fun company.

i gave the trainees some time off to discuss their presentation and perhaps to practice.. but we all ended up just talking while they huddled together inside alex and alan's tent. (thanks to glenn who lent it to us)

when dinner was ready, we simply polished it off in mere minutes.. a kilo of pasta all gone! hahaha i love it when people appreciate my cooking by way of polishing their plates and getting two or more helpings.

the presentation did not push through.. i went inside my tent intending to rest and to come out later for some socials.. i went inside my sleeping bag.. warmth engulfed me.. i felt so comfortable and i promptly fell asleep! i vaguely remembered shai and kat calling me from the outside.. all i could manage was a moan and croak that sounded like "yes?".. hehehe shai and kat i think left me alone after hearing me.

jeng, za and tax slept like babies as well... we must've appeared so boring to our trainees!! though i swear to god, i did not intend to sleep that early... i had a good sleep though and i felt properly rested in the morning.

WHEN YOU'VE GOT TO GO...DON'T CAUSE TRAFFIC!

morning after, we started a bit late since everyone wanted to have their photos taken on the view deck. i gave the trainees time to do some picture taking moments as well..it was really an amazing view, worth all the climb and worth a few minutes off our time..

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we started down and it was another killer descent... by this time, alan was already settled with the fact that yet again we will be passing thru the side of the mountain at dizzying heights..

after a few minutes tatax stopped on the trail.. we had to stop as well.. we thought that there was traffic in front of her.. but as it turned out, jeng of all places finally decided to do a major!!! on single track trail.. how she managed to find a spot in an almost impossible descent i could not imagine!! after much shouting for tissue paper, and uncontrollable laughter, we moved on.. with twenty or so people behind us..

BABY DEXTER

we all regrouped at mang gorio's inn soon after..

by this time, dexter's excitement of climbing was already waning... he came with us since in his own words, he got bored of the city life.. however by the third day he was already wondering why he came anyway!!hahaha

dex is one of the strongest climbers in our batch, but in kibungan he was such a baby! i had to cajole him from time to time... and get his mind off the freaking long ascent going back to the kibungan municipal hall..

the final ascent could be quite frustrating especially if all you can think about is washing up.. all this time, dex kept asking me how long, where is the road, how far, am i sure? am i sure?? hahahha i couldn't help but laugh and laugh at him.. he looked like a petulant kid required by his mother to walk all over the mall in search of a perfect pair of shoes!

he was such a sport about it though and laughed at himself and the predicament that he led himself into... truth to tell, he does miss being with batchmates.. jeng and i teased him during the climb that we were the only batchmates of his who can actually "tolerate" him! he is a different blend altogother.. rather like an acquired taste actually.. hahaha

HOMEWARD BOUND



finally after three long days and multiple mountains later, i was able to put up my feet, relax, and shampoo my hair..

after loading on the rickety bus we were on our way... and yes as predictable as the sun rising in the east, we had another breakdown.. a flat tire.. the story of kibungan travel!

we reached baguio almost midnight.. tax, jeng, dex and i hauled ourselves inside the special trip bus.. that was a first for all of us.. the bus was huge and comfortable albeit we were seated at the backmost! za and mike were able to get an earlier bus so they went ahead..

when we reached manila.. jeng and i decided to go to church in baclaran.. just to say a little prayer of gratitude for the safe climb and the wonderful time we've had with friends..

and then back to reality... awwwww shucks!

revisiting kibungan...

once again, janice dragged me into something totally unplanned... this time with a bigger responsibility..

GL for Kibungan with six very interesting trainees and two friends who came through when asked for help.. i rarely ask favors, and begging is not my talent.. but thank goodness for friends whom you can rely on..i do not want a big group, i want a cohesive group! and being with real friends with this kind of responsibility is a treat.

though this was unplanned (i was contemplating on going to bohol with an ex officemate to dive) i still accepted the responsibility..

if anything, it is giving back to this club what i have gained so far... i just hope that i am not going to disappoint my trainees much!!! hahahaa all of them are strong, though one trainee is a bit acrophobic - i just hope he won't freeze up when he sees the beautiful high alti views of kibungan... let's pray that the beauty of the place surpasses his fear..

for now the responsibility lies in providing for equipment for the group... so far i only have three tents, mine,nheil's and darren's which are yet to be collected :D ... c est la vie... but when there's a will there's a way ey? so hopefully everything will be completed before wednesday...

a friend of mine gave me his cookset... (heaven sent actually, which of course i have yet to get!)... hmmmm what else what else... parawing... well we can buy.... stove.. i want dragonfly... but i don't have it.. so i'll settle for butane..

although i am one very spontaneous person, i tend to get OC when given a responsibility where others are involved... maybe that is why i like the idea of the unknown when involving only myself, but with others, i am a worrywart! wahhhh... hhahahaa...

ohhhh welllll.... let's see what happens..

falling in love with davao...

i went there on a business trip that proved to be one hell of a very pleasurable trip.

EZ MAP IS THE WAY TO GO...

in my whole life, i never relied on a map. not even when i was a new driver here in manila... i never bought one, never owned one much less looked at one closely. the most i owned was a map of the philippines before when i was in college with colorful pins indicating what places i had been to.

but as far as navigation is concerned, i tend to just go with the flow and ask if lost. but when i got to davao, i wanted to cram in as many sites and activities as i possibly could, the only way to do it is to to get a map and plan ahead..

i was with my product specialist and she proved to be a good company..in other words kaladkarin!
i planned the daytime activities and she planned for our outing at night.
i only had two other objectives aside from closing the business, it was 1.) EAT tuna, seafoods, and durian and 2. DIVE!

before i even made my trip i searched the net for dive shops and i saw dive davao scuba shop. it appealed to me and i immediately coordinated with them. i talked at length with the dive master maeng, turned out the jump off is quite near.

FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD

the idiot-proof EZ map was really useful! as soon as we settled our things in our hotel, we searched for a place to have lunch... and of course we went looking for authentic, cheap tuna place... and we found it in Luz Kinilaw place.. 150bucks for a panga that could feed four! (though my officemate and i polished it off without difficulty!) yummmyyy!

next stop was magsaysay fruit vendors association... i made kate eat durian, full as we were, we could not finish the whole thing!! but it was divine to eat durian again.. and at 30bucks a kilo, it was a treat..

from there we walked through their park and we dropped by the scuba shop where i was supposed to go... the attendant was very warm, very engaging and called me by my first name.. they already had the equipment ready for me to fit.. it felt very personal and very assuring.. i was glad i made the right decision.

i love to dive, that is not to say however that i do not think about the hazards, i tend to choose whom to go with, preferring sometimes a paid for DM than just any group. and seeing how they cater to customers put me at ease immediately.

MEET ME AT JACK'S

we went back to the hotel replete and ready to go yet again. we were meeting some avaya people at jack's ridge.. and the EZ map once again proved very useful..
one thing that impressed me much in davao is how clean their city is.. how very courteous and helpful the taxi drivers are not to mention the fact that they give you the exact change..

so although it was a bit late at night we were both confident to ride the taxi towards jack's ridge.. called such because it is perched high above overlooking the city.

dinner proved to be a fun affair with just four of us... after which we transferred to MTS (Matina Town Square) iris left us early but it didn't matter, we had our friend EZ map with us.. we can go anywhere we want!

A FOUR LEAF CLOVER SAYS IT'S A TOURIST ATTRACTION!

the map indicated some places that are tourist attractions.. indicated by what looked like a four leaf clover to me hahaha and so i planned yet again our friday adventure..

of course there was the meeting to go through and of course i had it scheduled in the morning.. no sense doing it in the afternoon... we went there and it was a success from the word go.. closed it in less than 30minutes and so we had so much time to spare..

we just came back to the hotel after lunch dropped everything off and changed to comfortable clothes.. in less than an hour, kate found herself crossing davao channel towards samal island! for only twelve bucks you get to see other resorts.. so we picked paradise island.. i wanted pearl farm but it was a bit expensive.. plus we did not have a lot of time.


we went around the resort, took pictures... drank durian shake called the office from there... talked to clients while listening to the waves crashing down the shore.. ahhh mobility at its best.

we came back by four pm and i immediately instructed the taxi to go to davao museum, we had to tell him how to go there.. since he did not know they had one.. he was quite thankful actually and he decided to wait for us while we went around.. he stopped his meter for us.. in manila it's either you are left high and dry by the driver or charged with an arm and a leg..

after that, t'boli weaving... kate was lucky enough to find a nice woven bag.. i wasn't able to shop since i was on the phone the whole time.. bummer.. after that we went to Lo Wan Buddhist temple.. just to have a look see..


our energy level was high and instead of taking another taxi ride we opted for their jeepneys... again, the driver was helpful and his wife as well... good thing i am bisaya talking to anyone there was very easy.. we got back to the hotel soon after still very much looking forward to going out again!

kate was supposed to leave on saturday leaving me behind to dive...but the way she enjoyed the day, she had second thoughts and we called up the office to rebook her flight.. i was thankful actually, i did not look forward to sleeping in a big hotel room by myself..

DIVE DAVAO

saturday had me waking up at the break of dawn.. kate was still asleep and so i had breakfast early and left for sta ana wharf telling her half jokingly that if i am not back by 6pm she should start looking for me.. hahaha that woke her up! but actually it was a precaution. at least i was assured someone in davao knew i was diving :)

the dive rate was cheap actually, 1500 inclusive of boat, lunch, equipment and DM fee. not bad, and i only paid 40bucks for my taxi! i can't help comparing it to anilao diving.

there were only two of us from manila the rest were davao divers. when we went to the wharf, i saw their boat and it was big! bigger than what we use in anilao.. it could seat 20 divers comfortably. so off we went to samal island first to pick up the other diver from manila and onwards to talicud island.

again i did not feel out of place, i could converse in their dialect and pretty soon i was getting to know my fellow divers. there was bong, who was into structured cabling and doing a project for phil-am life, cima who is into spear fishing, alain who works for citibank davao, russel who works at hsbc, makati.. who knows rico lopez and sam (small world)and then coly who is basically bumming around after getting back from singapore.

our first dive was fairly smooth.. once again i found myself transported to another realm. my dive master was adept at ponting out little creatures and camouflaged ones that otherwise i would've missed. the area was diverse in marine life..


soon after i was swimming confidently looking and pointing but then instinct told me to look down, and by god i almost leapt out of my skin, not five feet below me was the longest sea snake i ever saw.

i am not afraid of snakes i can even hold them, even fascinated by them but seeing one slowly weaving around below you can give you quite a start! i swam towards my DM and tugged his bc and i got his attention.. he went towards it and we were all just above him hovering and observing. he was taking photos when suddenly the snake turned around and looked up towards us.. boy, were we fast in dispersing! hahaha he looked as if ready to swim up and strike! so we let him be.

we spent our SIT at this undeveloped beach... white sand, blue seas... warm breeze.. ahhhh soo beautiful. lucnh consisted of native chicken, grilled chorizos and of course fish! we stayed there for two hours since bong and cima went as deep as 140ft. spear fishing. normally i would've balked at the idea of spear fishing, but these guys know what to get, how to be on the safe side and it was not a "sport" for them... they eat what they get and they don't get a lot and they don't spear rare fish so it was ok.


MANSUUD WALL

since i was flying out the following afternoon, my DM just took us at an average of 40ft. to a dive site called mansuud wall.. he promised us schools of matambaka fish.. not ten minutes after we saw it.. wow.. so many at one time.


again it was a fairly easy dive with a little current.. there were tiny creatures as well form sea slugs to this little fish that i saw for the first time here.. our DM said something like crawfish.. or something to that effect.. i could not really understand hahaha either it's because of his accent or i needed him to spell the name out

and then i saw 15ft below me a huge fish i could not identify at first..i wanted to go deeper but i was mindful of my depth gauge. so i stayed above grateful that vis was excellent.. it turned out to be lapu-lapu.. a huge one at that! nice

RIDING THE WAVES

going back, we had to drop off russel once again to samal island since he was staying at one of the resorts there.. by the time we were crossing towards davao it was already past 4pm. towards the middle of the channel the waves started becoming big..

huge enough to send our boat high up in the air and crashing back down again... our boat was big but water still came in from the front and from all sides.. at first i wanted to act nonchalant about it.. these boat crew were capable.. but cima made a comment that this was the first time he crossed this channel with waves this big.. seconded by alain who said that yes, his nuts were in his throat already!!! wahhhh... and to think that they dive here often... the short crossing took an eternity for me.. i got off the boat nauseated and ready to kiss the ground.

it was raining in davao and moonsoon winds were high thus the waves.. but i was glad i was on solid ground once again..

i arrived in the hotel still energized. kate was there already and she already had plans for us for the night.. good... i just cleaned my gear took a bath and then we were off till 2am!

davao people are nice... very warm very engaging... my DM dropped at the hotel after dinner just so i could copy all the pics.. how nice is that? here, you would have to beg for others to email you copies..

the guys in davao will give you drinks but will not approach if they know you are not interested.. some are bold enough to ask for your name but not so much as to intrude.

all in all we had a girls bonding time... me kate and iris.. over ice cold beer and rhum coke (at 25bucks per shot! hahaha)

SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY!

and then the sojourn ends... sunday i woke up at 5:30am sad that i was leaving already.. there were still so many sites to go so many things to do... my flight was at 1:30pm so i had enough time to buy all the requisite pasalubong..

again, aided by the map (at this time it looked so well-used) we went to ciramina, a place where you could buy frozen seafoods ready to be packed in styrofoam boxes. i think kate and i went a little berserk in buying fish there... we spent close to 2k each, and in davao that means lots and lots of fishes! hahaha

so i ended up buying good for four families! i will be eating fish for the whole week! bought pompano, several blue marlin steak, tuna belly, tuna panga, swordfish and diana and tuna sashimi... i just dumped everything at jeng's billiard place since she has the freezer capable for storing my panic buying episode at citramina!

ahhh davao... i fell in love with that place... and yes if given the chance i will relocate in a heartbeat.. :)