Sept. 13, 2014 - we rode a bus bound to Calatagan. My second glance to one of Batangas' beautiful shores.

Four hours from Manila is a cream to white sand haven for beach lovers. It was compared to Boracay by one of my colleague.

Amazingly, there is no traffic in Tagaytay and the bis ride is smooth. When we reached Lian, the skies then cried and made the surroundings wet. I didn't bother to check the weather before the trip.


TO BE CONTINUED....

I was one hour early on my first class last week. To kill boredom, I sat on an English class. 

I asked Prof. Ryan Jones if I may join my classmates on their class and I was permitted just for the day.

They had their quiz on nouns, he quoted "don't worry about the score; it is about what you have learned".

I enjoyed his class and his way of teaching. He translated negative phrases into positive ones like "You son of a beautiful mother." & "Mother lover" .

The class is strictly implementing ENGLISH ONLY language. He believed in the principle " the best way of learning is application."

I enjoyed my stay in their class for they not only tackle ENGLISH grammar but also word meanings.

I have started a new stage in my life. Actually its restarting or continuing what I had not finished. Yes, I am back on my track again with a new set of friends.

These people are of different ages and statuses. They are the ones to whom I share and copy my assignments and notes on our subjects. We belong to a section named NTT 1 Eve at ACLC Guadalupe. We are composed of mostly working students with a good sense of humor.

I thought this would be a very boring subject, but its not.

We are just on our third week and yet we've learned a lot already. This subject is more interesting because almost all in class are working students. We share on our experiences on each working environment.

Our professor, Sir Obra, shares his experiences and strategies in his managerial jobs in various prestigious universities. I've written some of his quotes that made me think of how a management should be and some strategies like "KEEP GOOD PEOPLE WELL PAID" and event quoted repeatedly that "LOYALTY IS COSTLY".

I am looking forward for more ideas on how a management really be, not because I wanted to jot down the faults of my employer but on how to handle life - MY LIFE the MANAGER's way.

A gang went to a beach to unwind. They were composed of several boys and girls of different decades.

After setting up the camp and having dinner, the boys in charge started to prepare for a fun filled social night gathering twigs and woods for a camp fire along the beach. Some boys collected rocks circled around as wind breaker for the burning wood.

It was such a party! Booze of beers and vodka are flowing. Humming was accompanied by a happy strums of guitar. A young boy then cried of grief. He cried and cried silently and nobody over noticed. He stood-up and walked near the shore dipping his feet on the salty water. Sat and even cried out and murmuring "No, no, no". 

An elderly member of the pack then noticed that a member of the group is not around. She was alarmed as she was the camp master. She tried to slip in search of the missing camper and found him in the shore.

She asked the boy "what seems to be a problem, sir"? The boy quickly wiped off his tears and said "nothing, I just want to see t beauty of the night on my own". The leader asked "may I join you"? The boy simple said "yeah, sure". 

Not far away, the party was stopped. They finally noticed that two of the team are not around. A group of men who are tasked marshals looked around and found the two on the shore. They then came back to the pack with he two who was soaked and half wet.

A woman then asked the boy, "seems to me that you just came from crying. Do you want to share something, boy"?  They boy just didn't replied but his tears came running once more. Everybody was trying to cheer him up but the tears just flows.

"Please share your problem to us so we may help you on", a husky voice asked. "There's nothing wrong except that I'm afraid of losing you guys. This might be the last time that I'll be able to join you."cried the boy. "I feel free and all of my hardships seems to vanish." 

TO BE CONTINUED

We went to a talk last night with faculty and staff members of ACLC Guadalupe. The talk was about school policies and many other topics.

It was a fun filled orientation lead by students and Sir Yram of student affairs. Ice breaker winners recieved great tokens.

The bottomline of the orientation is human behavior and ethics. It is alligned to our subject Euthenics.



More pictures soon.

Meet my professor, Prof. Eduardo C. Obra.



He said " laugh more to learn more."

Yes, the title is right. I am back to being a student. I am 31 years old and very proud to continue my unfinished business in my tertiary school level.



I'm not the ONLY late and old in class and its not the first time to have an unknown people around me in a classroom setup.

Surely my age won't be a hindrance in communicating young souls in class and surely it'll be an advantage.

At last, my journey has come into another stage of excitement.

I used to ignore mountaineering and outdoor group invitations because of my strong objection of it's politics. Yes, politics of having climb a number of climbs and membership fees. 

My view of the politics and belief changed when I met a veteran outdoor enthusiast, Sir Edwin Gatia. He explained to me the importance of a good and trusty organization. I then joined Mountain Climbers Alliance of the Philippines (MCAP).

Backed up with skilled and well known people like 

Doc Ted Esguerra "The Everest Doc" and Sir Marc Gana "Ropemanship Guru"

to name some, and many more.

Last year I decided to join the said group and was recognized February this year.

Looking forward for more training and skill advancements.

June 12 is Independence day, a legal holiday that Filipinoes celebrate.

This day for me means family day so I invited my girls to celebrate our own way.


After eating at our favorite fastfood we strolled around and let Lanchiel enjoy her day.

Eating a Korean food means ohlala!

At an affordable price of Php35, you can enjoy a taste of a Korean delicacy.




Located at Metro Market! Market!'s ground floor, you can find a Korean mini mart.

Our family loves to eat.

Eating is always a part of our itinerary whenever we're strolling.



This is a sushi like food we ordered from Bulgogi. A rolled rice, meat and vegestables in a sea weed. An order includes a spoonful of kimchi, a well known Korean delicacy.

An order of this is only Php99.

Who are the BAMers? It's the institution where I'm working now, A private school in Makati that caters pre-elementary, primary and secondary school levels, as Computer In-charge.



I'm so lucky that I'll be able to include my family in a four-day vacation. We spent 3 nights and 4 days on the road to experience how beautiful Philippines is.

Stay tuned for some details of our adventure in Puerto Galera and Mindoro.

The event started with the registration in a mall in Mandaluyong. It's a meet and greet gathering. Backpacking tips were given including what to bring and what to wear.

PhilippineClimb would like to thank the following sponsors:

Zalvaje Eyes

Beads Authority

Beads Authority

The sponsors were one of  the keys that made the event exciting.

We went to the Coastal mall for out ride going to Nasugbu Batangas. The government made this mall portal for the travelers going to provinces south of Manila.

It has an air-conditioned waiting area with free Wi-Fi access to kill boredom.

It's love month, February. Mt. Pulag was believed to  have the most chilly temp at this time. For sure there are number of groups aiming to conquer the said summit for their cause.

Well my Mt. Pulag ascent was not on February but was actually on December 2008.

After my duty on my work on Dec. 24, 2008 my girl and I went on a trip to Baguio. We celebrated Christmas on an ordinary bus bound to Dagupan. There was nothing special on that bus but being with the person whom you wanted to give your life.

When immediately got on a bus going to Baguio when we arrived Dagupan terminal. It's almost sunrise when we get off the bus on Baguio. We hurriedly looked for a room and luckily found a decent and low cost hotel (not as fancy as well known hotels). It was just a few meters away from SM Baguio and a few steps from a fast food chain.

We spent some time around the city buying goods for my Mt. Pulag ascent. I bought a pair of trekking shoes, gloves, and bonnet. We also bought goodies for our family and friends.

My girl need to get back to Manila for her studies so she went back to the Metro alone and I prepared my pack for a climb.

My climb-mates came to the meeting place in time and boarded a bus bound to Kabayan, Benguet. We to scaled the Amba-Amba trail and settled on Camp 2. It was so chilly then that I can't barely move my hands but instincts comes first and hurriedly pitched my dome type tent and hid inside it and put on thermal clothes. We were so tired and cold that nobody ate dinner and called it a night.

Early morning we wake up to see the sea of clouds but we stalled at the Radar. We saw numerous walking lights on the summit and concluded that it was crowded. After a few shots we retired to our camp and stayed for another night then descended to Baguio.

We shopped around just before our ride back to Manila.

When we are on Balintawak, I thought of surprising my girl because it's her birthday. I wanted to go to their house in Bulacan but it was already midnight so I've decided to just go straight back home.

December 30, my girl went home and she cried out of hopelessness. She said that I really don't love her and I never thought of her. We were just lying in bed. She said those over and over again.. Then my tears just came out. I told her that she's wrong.. I stood up and got a box from my things and showed it to her and she even broke into tears. I told her that I was just about to propose to her.

She held back the box and we tried to put on the engagement ring unto her fingers but we're unlucky because it does not fit. Then I got another box telling her that I have a spare ring! And we laughed about it.

The girl is now my wife, Lachmi, and we were blessed with a smart daughter named Lanchiel. Someday our kid will definitely reach Mt. Pulag and other mountains. We wanted to teach her to appreciate nature. And will surely join Akyat Aral on their good deeds to help the communities in the mountains.

The friend of ours posted a photo in Facebook asking my husband that they should try this trail. Here is the photo posted.

And to my amusement, I have tried to search for this photo using the keywords 'dangerous trail in the world'. Indeed, it is the one of the most dangerous hiking trail in the world.

It is Mount Huashan in Huayin City, China. This trail is also known as the 'Death Trail'. Pilgrims go here, esp. during summer, because it is considered as sacred mountain.

How about you, would you dare hike this trail?



Photo Credits to Ratestogo.com