Yeshua's First Beach Camp

KALADKARIN's BEACH CAMP and ISLAND HOPPING

Venue: Dampalitan, Puting Buhangin at Kwebang Lampas, Borawan Island

Padre Burgos, Quezon

Trip Dates: January 22-23, 2012

Yeshua and I were both sick, so I had to cancel one of my dream climbs (Mt. Damas) and joined my friends who were planning to go beachbumming in Quezon. One of my friends told me that the sea breeze would help Yeshua and I feel better and be relieved of our URTI and other respiratory discomforts. Yeshua had so much fun, and I couldn't be any happier seeing him do things for the first time, hearing his crisp laughter, witnessing him cry as i take him off the sea... PRICELESS!

We went island-hopping in the beautiful places of Padre Burgos. First stop was at Dampalitan, where we stayed overnight.

It was Yeshua's first boat ride! It was Yeshua's first time to sleep in a tent as well.

We had 2 crispy pata, more than a kilogram of chicken which we planned to make adobo from, some canned goods, some chips to munch on, soft candies, and a pack of mamon. While cooking our dinner, camera peeps went birdwatching and Yeshua went playing with the local kids at the beach. He'd drag Teddy with him and would sometimes leave him on the sand.

We had a great time drinking tequila during our socials. We had endless topics and a bonfire to keep the night warm... After the drinking session, we took the liberty of dipping in the sea.

When I went back to the tent, Yeshua woke up and looked for an electric fan. He went back to sleep after I pacified him with a bottle of milk. I was still sleeping when the others went to continue birdwatching. Yeshua got up early as well. He went around with Teddy. When I woke up, I put him in the hammock. It was his first hammock experience.

The next day, we broke camp around 8:30am and headed for our 2nd stop at Puting Buhangin and Kwebang Lampas, where we had our luch.

After eating, we headed for our 3rd stop, which was at Borawan.

The seawater, sea breeze, and the sun did yeshua and me good. Our coughs had become milder, our fever--lower, our spirits--more alive. Thank GOD for the bonding moments and good company to share them with--Jason, Ces, and Elmer and 2 new-found-friends: Jekk and Tiny...

One Lazy Sunday

KALADKARIN's PHOTOWALK

Venue: UP Diliman Campus

Diliman, Quezon City

Visit Date: January 15, 2012

Climb after climb, we got to miss oversleeping on weekends, waking up to a lazy Saturday afternoon, and just bumming around the house 'til Sunday late morning. Then, we decided to have a photowalk at the University of the Philippines Diliman Campus...

It was the first for me to get to the assembly area ahead of the others. When Elmer arrived, we headed for UP right away. While waiting for Jason, who wasn't able to wake up early because of a tiresome traverse trek the day before, Elmer and I gamely posed for the lonely camera placed on a tripod.

A few minutes later, Elmer took photos of me--some were unflattering, so I decided to pose for the camera for Elmer to take some good shots of myself.

I really don't know how to ride a bike, so yes, I'm a poser...

We had lunch at The Chocolate Kiss.

We enjoyed window shopping at the campus commercial center.

We had our photo taken by the ever-reliable tripod at the famous Oblation.

CLIMB 024: New Year's Day Hike

DESTINATION: Mt. Balagbag 777 MASL

JUMP-OFF POINT: Sitio Balagbag, San Isidro, Rodriguez, Rizal

SPECS: Minor Climb, Difficulty 3/9, Trail class 1-2

CLIMB DATE: January 1, 2012

During childhood, it had become a tradition to spend my New Year's day beach bumming... Taking a dip at the sea symbolized purification. Another tradition on New Year's Day was spending it together with the whole family; but ever since my dad died, we were never complete on the first day of the year...

With Yeshua still in Zamboanga with his paternal relatives, I had decided to climb on New Year's Day as I had enjoyed the Christmas Day at Malipunyo with two good friends of mine.

I thought I was doing a solo day-hike and I didn't mind at all. As the climb date neared, Jaysen confirmed his attendance. I decided to post the said event in different mountaineering groups and got quite a number of responses from interested climbers.

Their main concern was that if they got too drunk on New Year's Eve, they wouldn't be able to wake up early for the call time, which was at 4am. I was expecting around 10 participants in the climb, but only 6 of us showed up at the assembly venue.

Meet-up was at the Jollibee Farmer's Plaza Cubao. It was a 24-hr food joint, but since it was New Year's day, it was closed. When all the responsive ones arrived, we mounted a bus to Jollibee Tungko. We took a jeepney to Licao-Licao and walked our way to the jump-off point.