TAAL VOLCANO day hike - buwis buhay trip :P

Before I start telling you about our experience, just a quick correction about our common misconception of Taal Volcano. When we visit Tagaytay, we usually take pictures of the magnificent volcano from a viewing deck. I bet this is what you think Taal Volcano is.

This is NOT TAAL VOLCANO.  It's only a part of it.

Taal Volcano is much bigger than you think. Note that the circled crater is hollow.
(Credits to owner Bon Solido. Just edited a bit)

Mind blown? Me too. I think its time to correct our school textbooks.

WE CONQUERED the MONOLITH of Pico de Loro! (part 2)

Click here for part 1: Climbing Mount Palay-Palay (Pico de Loro).

Off to the Monolith!

Off to the monolith!

It was not in the plan that we'd go to the monolith. But some of the group just wanted to go at least at its base just to have a feel of it. It was mainly because of the people we saw at the base looked so cool from afar  (can you see the people chilling at the monolith from the photo above?). Some of the group just stayed behind and will wait at the parrot's beak. Miah stayed behind while me & Chris decided we'd go along with the group to the monolith. 

Stage One: Rocky Slope
The path to Pico de Loro monolith is more like wall sliding/climbing. We have to sit and crawl down 'cause it's too steep. We also have to move fast 'cause the wall we're sitting/holding on is hot to the touch. Tanghaling tapat kasi nung pumunta kami! After that is a narrow path with lots of thorny plants.

WE CONQUERED PICO DE LORO!! (my first mountain)

October 20, 2013

So... What does four inexperienced people with sedentary lifestyles (except for RJ) doing in Maragondon? What kind of spirit came to them when they thought about climbing Mount Palay-Palay aka Pico de Loro without any guide or proper gears? Heck, they don't even know how to get there.

So here's how they hatched their plan:

My colleague Chris was like I wanna go mountaineering. I was like, why don't you try it. Then he was like I don't have someone to come with. Then I was like, I have done some hiking when I was kid. And then he was like, TARA sa October 20! Di na pinapatagal to! Push na yan! HAHAHAHA. 

We only had 3-week preparation and we pushed the plan with little knowledge on what to expect. The final headcount was 4 out of 9 people who planned to join. I was kind of disheartened by the people who backed out. "PUSH NA YAN!" was our expression of the moment.

We met up at 7Eleven near SM Bacoor at 5am. Since there's no bus to Ternate that pass through SM Bacoor that early, we rode a baby bus to Marulas near a place called Zeus (9 pesos). Then we waited for a bus from Manila to Ternate that took the Cavitex route (55 pesos). I was still comprehending what we're gonna do that day, how we're gonna manage climbing an unfamiliar mountain with just the four of us. Little did we know that we're in the same bus as the people that we're gonna be with the whole day! Talk about serendipity.

Czar, Joubert, Joan, Aldrin, Chris, Coco, Sheila (not pictured)

Meet the angels that took us under their wings. They are so unbelievably friendly and considerate! They took care of us when we're hiking even if they don't have to. I don't want to imagine what would have happened to us if it weren't for them. They were also the ones who initiated socially by introducing their selves to us. Geez, I would be happy if I can have at least half of their social skills. I suck with socials.

So we started off by renting a jeep after we got off the bus for 700 pesos regardless of how many passengers. We paid 63 pesos per person since we're 11 people in the group. It's cheaper compared to riding a tricycle to DENR for 100 pesos per person.

Clueless on what to do around DENR, picture muna! My company: Krix (ang pasimuno ng lahat), Miah and RJ 

"May tuntunin po kasi"... An INC member's point of view why they didn't let Yolanda victims into their church

Remember the news about Iglesia ni Cristo members refusing to shelter people amidst Yolanda disaster? Well, some people say this is not true. But I've seen this on Facebook recently and I just have to share it here:

Let's say di nga talaga nangyari ang incident na ito. Pero with what this INC member was saying, if a storm like Yolanda hits this man's INC church, it is highly likely that they will follow suit or imitate this kind of behavior kasi ito ang "tuntunin" nila. It's unsettling when I think about it, really disturbing...

Hindi ko nilalahat ang mga INC (Iglesia Ni Cristo) but it takes a soulless, cold-hearted person para matanggap sa isip nila na okay lang ang ang ganitong behavior in the midst of a great disaster. Ang di ko matanggap ay ang pagsabi niya na "May tuntunin po kasi..." By the way he said it, it's like he indirectly confirmed that the INC really did it.

It hurts to think na nasikmura nilang gawin yon. I don't know about their teachings BUT somebody tell this guy about God's second most important teaching "Love your neighbor as yourself". Wag sana mag aktong Pariseo. I plead the man to stop condemning people and being self-righteous. Bago sana problemahin pag liligtas sa sarili nila, check their humanity first. Baka kasi nawawala na.

Matthew 25:41-46

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

God bless Santillan Peter.
God bless Iglesia ni Cristo.

God bless the Philippines.

BATTLE OF THE PROSE!

Me and RJ were chatting about random things. Then he shared to me a prose he randomly made. It's about a couple breaking up that he saw at a local McDonalds fastfood. What impressed me is he composed it then and there. And darn, he's good... Let me share it with you:

A beginning has an end. And then begins a new cycle.
A tear would fall and trace down the once folded by smile. 

A smile that heals a broken past.

A beginning comes to an end. Two chapter that starts from a sad closure. 

The woman in front of me, teary eyes for tomorrow's darkness.
The man facing her, and his back blocking me.

The woman hides her sadness. 

The man hides his boredom.

I won't say how cruel the man is, as I'm worst than him before.
But this is their story. A story that comes to an end. 

The woman reminisce their happy moments...
... or wonder where have all that gone.

The man is quiet...

... or can't wait to have this conversation end.

If he would ask for my opinion, I would say to remain quiet.
Be a gentleman for the woman, at least for the last time.

No sugarcoating, no blaming.
Let her feel the pain, as she will one day be happy again.

Every story has an end.
Every one has an ideal end.
This is their story.
But this will end, as I stood up and walk away to their story.

I was really impressed about his writing that I became inspired making a prose myself. This is the result:

One's life is another one's nourishment
To prey on the weak is the norm of society
This is what I concluded when I witness a scene
A man dining in Jollibee gnawing on his lifeless fried chicken

Pwede na ba? :P