Climb 025: The Tahong, Talong, and Pinya Climb

DESTINATION: Mt. Palpag 600++ MASL
JUMP-OFF POINT: Maragondon, Cavite
SPECS: Minor Climb, Difficulty 3/9, Trail class 1-2
SIDETRIP: Gen. Gregorio Lim Marine Base Beach Resort a.k.a. Boracay de Cavite
CLIMB DATES: February 18-19, 2012

On my 2nd mountaineering anniversary, I wound up once again in Cavite (my first climb was Mt. Palay-palay in Ternate)--my father's home province with half my kaladkarin family (Elmer, Jason, and Ces) and some addition to our growing clan (Oyet, Jekk, Julius, the 8-yr-old PJ, Temyong, Tiny Bubbles and her hakot: Elaine, April, Marife, and Mhay).

The inception of this climb happened during the padre burgos island hopping.

The day before the climb, I was anxious because I went on hibernation from climbing for one and a half months after the atavism of my asthma and angina symptoms. Up to the last minute, I was praying for a great weather, a delayed monthly visitor, and a successful turnout. In return, I promised my boobs that they will not have an exposure the whole climb. Hahaha!

Palpag is not a common destination for mountaineers. This hidden paradise offers a serene farmland that provides a perfect view of the metro. During our socials on saturday night, we were able to watch the pyrolympics held near MOA.

Rice shortage. I underestimated the power of exhaustion that can lead to more rice consumption. Mhay's pack of Skyflakes biscuit was a life-saver!

As a result, we ended up pigging out at the Boracay de Cavite: tahong soup, grilled pork chops, ensaladang talong, pineapple and green mango from late lunch. A few dip, a few bottles of Tanduay ice and Red Horse, and we were good to go. I'm glad for the company of my growing tribe.

Getting High and Hot for Love

KALADKARIN's PHOTOWALK
Venue: 17th HotAir Balloon Fiesta
Clark Airfield, Pampanga
Trip Date: February 12, 2012

We were supposed to have some drinking spree a few hours before traveling to Pampanga, but I got to the meeting place a few minutes before 11pm, so we headed for the bus terminal soon after everyone had arrived instead. The next trip of Victory Liner was around 2:30am, so we went to another bus terminal which had a bus that would take us to Dau the soonest. W settled to the idea that everyone was going to take a nap the whole travel time, but we just missed one another too much that we had an exchange of chit chats and before we knew it, we had already arrived in our destination.

We landed at Dau Mcdo for some very early breakfast. We then took a jeepney ride to the site. And since I was able to purchase only 5 tickets and the couple who was with us had two--we needed to buy four more tickets. I volunteered to fall in line with the other three. It was time for more small talk because the it was my first time to meet Milady, Ellidel, and Mike. When we finally got inside, we waited for a little while and then the air show started soon.

Since the day started early, and I didn't get any sleep the night before, I fell asleep in the middle of the show. Haha! I think I missed some interesting balloons. It didn't matter because in my dream, I was riding in one of them. We went around to check out some exhibits and booths, bought some valuable stuff--I got my "Mrs Beckham" jersey! Harhar!

By lunch time, we decided to leave the place to look for the famous sisig place of Aling Lucing. It took us two jeepney rides and an empty stomach before we finaly found it--and were greeted by the news that they were serving the next sisig plate at 2:30pm. It was around 1pm and we were too hungry to wait up. We ended up at some Mang Inasal joint and had ourselves a pigging out session.

We were anticipating a bad traffic later that day, so we had decided to head for Manila after lunch. BITIN, but we had fun. truly, being in good company really counts...

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.

Climb 023: Christmas Dayhike

DESTINATION: Mt. Malipunyo 1,005 MASL
JUMP-OFF POINT: Brgy. Talisay, Lipa, Batangas
SPECS: Minor Climb, Difficulty 3/9, Trail class 2-3
CLIMB DATE: December 25, 2011

Climb 022: Floating in the Sea of Clouds

DESTINATION: Mt. Pulag 2,922 MASL
JUMP-OFF POINT: Brgy. Doacan, Kabayan, Benguet
SPECS: Major Climb, Difficulty 7/9, Trail class 3
CLIMB DATES: December 2-4, 2011


PRELOGUE: My last climb with KYT BAJADO