Climb 034: Exploring the Land of the Falls

DESTINATION: Mt. Romelo 300 MASL

JUMP-OFF POINT: Brgy. Macatad, Upland Siniloan, Laguna

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

CLIMB DATES: April 27-28, 2013

PRELOGUE: Ito ang kaganapan ng aking pagiging "mountaineer." Bagaman at nakapag-Apo na ako, di pa rin daw ako maituturing na isang montenara sapagkat upang matawag na tunay na mountaineer, ay nangangahulugang nakapag-Romelo at Maculot na. Tatlong taon kong plinano--ngunit, subalit, datapwat--dahil sa iilang narirnig kong nakawan at pananambang sa mga mamumundok sa lugar na ito ay makailang beses akong nabigo...

We were supposed to meet up at Robinson's Galleria in Ortigas before lunch time, but due to the fact that packing takes time and I came from a night shift, we met up at Alabang after lunch, instead.

We arrived at Los Baños around 3pm and we decided to eat while waiting for the jeepney that will get us to Siniloan. We rode the jeepney at 4pm and arrived at the jump-off point around 5:30pm. 

It was going to be the first time for the six of us to climb Mt. Romelo. We hired a guide to help us find the campsite in a night trek. We only had one headlamp and a flashlight to help all seven of us find the trail. At the first ascent, our full stomachs made it difficult for us, so we had to take few rests.

After 3 hours of petiks climb, we heard noises and knew that we were nearing campsite. I hurriedly found my way to the small community. I was greeted by many with this question: "Ikaw ba si Ella?" and was guided to the hut in which I had earlier reserved a slot.

At the front of the hut, a group of Barangay Tanods and mountaineers and guides greeted us and invited us for a drink. We excused ourselves to have some decent dinner. After dinner, I went to the group to have socials with them. Before the night was over, I got an invite for our group to join the falls exploration the following day by a mountaineer named Rommel, a seaman who bought most of the pieces of land in the area. He also owns a nipa near the trail that is willing to accommodate mountaineers who had to do an e-camp.

We started for the falls exploration around 8:30am. We planned to go fishing at Sampaloc Falls. While the others went through the traditional trail, I went with the few who were headed for the more difficult one. We passed along Batya-Batya Falls and rock scrambled through the strong currents of the waterfalls in Batya-Batya. We arrived at the fishing area around 10am.

We headed back to the campsite around 11:30 to wash up, pack up and leave. Around 1pm, we were climbing down Mt. Romelo under the scorching heat of the sun. I hated the fact that we had to climb down too soon as I wanted to stay a little longer. Buruwisan was dried up, so I told myself that I will go back there to rappel and when the waterfalls was "working."

Rode an FX taxi from Siniloan to Ortigas. The road was winding and it churned my stomach upside down. I forced myself to sleep to prevent myself from puking in the poorly-ventilated vehicle. Got to Ortigas around 6:30pm. The sun was still up, must be part of the summer solstice, wherein the daytime was longer than the nighttime. 

Reggae Night at Burot Beach

with Vertikal Outdoor (Gears)
Location: Burot Beach, Calatagan, Batangas
Getaway Dates: April 20-21, 2013

T'was a reggae-filled chillax beach bummin' weekend with Vertikal peeps. Cool people. Good and free-flowing food. Clean fun. Beach camp. Sea dipping. Stargazing. Poi dancing. Drum tapping. People watching. Country music. Screaming red swimsuit. Surprises. And the grand prize! "Bigyan ng jacket yan!" Thanks to my good friends, Tem and Ces for inviting me to this summer getaway.

Climb 033: My Supposed-to-be Solo Climb

DESTINATION: Pico de Loro 644 MASL

JUMP-OFF POINT: Magnetic Hill, Ternate, Cavite

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

CLIMB DATES: April 4-5, 2013

I had always been vocal about my desire to go trekking alone. Although it poses some kind of danger, especially to a female hiker like me, I still itch in tickling this off my bucket list. I found the perfect timing. I was going thru something emotional, and I was having the weekdays off. I decided to pack and just be gone and have an alone time in the wilderness. 

Many people discouraged me from doing so, but I was too proud to ask if anybody would want to join in. 

Then two of my coworkers, Lennie and Ron had decided to do a quick packing and tagged along... T'was one of my most fun climbs I ever had. Thanks for the intimate company, sa akun ya nga mga trupa...  Plus the fact that it happened in my beloved Pico de Loro...

Sometimes, I like to play dead, especially when LIFE tries to do some tricks on me.
That way, it would stop picking on me.

Extreme Adventure 006: My 32nd Birthday Getaway

Sisiman Extreme Adventure Rappeling (Book 9) with Elle Viajera

Venue: Mt. San Miguel
Brgy. Sisiman, Mariveles, Bataan
Trip Dates: March 16-17, 2013

PRELOGUE: "Once in while, you'll get an opportunity to see what the birds see, feel how the mountain goats feel, and silently scream how the winds scream." -Marc Gana

The plan had long been sent, the event page had long been posted, many had already registered--but up to the last few hours of the event itself, I had been dancing the Cha-cha. I had told Marc that I am not attending. He threatened to cancel the event, disregarding the fact that all the other 20 of the participants had already made their payments.

I actually wanted to go, but we had this love-hate thingy that's been going on for quite sometime and I didn't want my birthday getaway to get ruined, which I think will be an eventuality since we will both be together for two days straight.

One line got me, though. "Mag-impake ka na." That's all I probably wanted to hear. That he set the mood to a ceasefire, swallowed his pride, and smitten the little lost kitten. Packing had been such a difficult thing for me, but this time I was doing it with gusto and surprisingly, I was able to pack in less than an hour.

I was actually excited for the trip, with my lontgtime friend, Vae and Pao tagging along. A bunch of new people will be there, too. I just love meeting new potential friends in an adventure.

We gathered at Cubao around 1am. I was lucky enough. Marc drove his way to our house to pick me up. It felt like JS prom, really.

At the bus station, Marc tasked me to look after the participants while they (the facilitators) will be taking his car in getting to the venue. I got hurt. I wanted to be with him the whole 4 hours of trip. We have time to be together, he assured me. I obliged myself.

We arrived at the destination at 6am. The majestic Mt. San Miguel was standing there. It was such a breath-taking view to set eyes on at such an early time of the day. Marc and his crew went up to set up the place for rappelling.

By 9:30am, we were doing a rehearsal at the campsite. Marc asked me to be the belayer. I was like, "What?!" He said that I could do it, so I assumed the role that he gave me. It was fun as we worked like a team. He facilitated the rehearsal jump up there, I belayed down there.

He handed me his gift--the harness I requested for my exclusive use!

At around 11:30am, the first set of jumpers rappelled at the top of a 100-meter rock face. By 2pm, we had lunch before having the second set and the third set jump.

We were done for the day by 5:30pm. After dinner, some went to their respective tents to take some rest, but I called on to them to gather around and have socials. Jill prepared Mojitos to tickle our alcohol tolerance. Francis ordered some beer. We had cake for pulutan. Everyone went to bed by 1am. Around 2am, a drunk stranger went to disturb our peace. The commotion woke me up. John, Jowi and I went to the Barangay Hall to fetch the Tanods. We had to file a formal Barangay complaint. John escorted the Tanods, while Jowie and I were left at the Barangay Hall. After 30 minutes, peace was restored at our campsite, the barangay compalint had been filed and Jowie and I headed back to the campsite. On our way back, I saw Marc walking alone, headed towards us. "Pinag-alala mo ako." I explained why I had to be away that long. He was silent. I gazed upon him through the dark of the night. "This man cares," I said to myself, "but he is too proud to admit it and he has difficulties showing it."

I had to wash up when we arrived at the campsite and Marc escorted me at the dark washroom. We shared some thoughts. It's been months since we've had some decent talk. I went to sleep in his tent, while he slept outside.

I woke up early. I went to explore the area. It was one of the most beautiful coasts I have ever seen, but the beach wasn't at all inviting. It was rocky, the sand wasn't magnificent. I didn't even take a dip. It's rare that I don't take a dip whenever I get a view of the sea. The mermaid in me wasn't summoned by the uninviting seawaters of Sisiman.

After breakfast, the jumping session resumed. I was able to gather some strength to do the Aussie type of rappelling. It wasn't as scary as the one I did at the bridge, probably because my feet weren't dangling.

By 3pm, awarding of certificates had been done, the rappelling gears had been safely packed back in the car. We were getting ready to head back for Manila. The traffic was terrible, but I was sitting next to the man who was making me happy--his head was resting on my left shoulder. I didn't mind at all that I was going to be late for my shift.

By 9pm, we arrived in Quezon City. I was already late for my shift. We decided to have dinner. After dinner, Moymoy fetched his car and the rest rode with him. There was only Marc and I left at the car. There was some awkward silence. One thing that Marc didn't like is that I would skip work for him, he hated having to carry that burden of guilt. I could not understand that. I wanted him to appreciate the gesture, the sacrifice.

We arrived at my doorstep past midnight. We were still arguing. Marc just wanted to rest. I didn't invite him in. He slept in his car, while I slept in the couch. By 6am, I woke him up and he drove home. It was like the scene 10 moths before that night. I hated the feeling...

Learning the Ropes

Ropesmanship and Knot-Tying Workshop

with Marc Gana

powered by: MCAP, Inc

Venue: Bali Hai, Visayas Ave., Quezon City

Trip Date: January 27, 2013

It was my first time to attend an MCAP (Mountain Climber's Alliance of the Philippines)'s event and what better way than have Marc invite me?

He was to conduct a workshop regarding knot-tying and ropesmanship for free. We met up at the MRT station of Buendia and took the train to Trinoma and took a cab to the venue.

I got to meet in person a few mountaineer friends whom I had been interacting with at FB.

Marc's a natural in teaching. We was able to teach us the basics about ropes and how to tie knots in an easy and fun manner. He had a sense of humor that got us all engaged. The learning was a memorable one. we learned how to tie 20 types of knots and loops.

In between teaching, we would need stuff and I would provide him with those. While in the middle of lecture, he would drink his soda and would offer some to me. During break time, Sir Andrew Ternate order pancit for everyone. Marc was served his share since he was the speaker. Marc took another plate, filled it up with pancit and handed it to me. I was grossly moved. Here is a man who wasn't saying anythign and yet his actions spoke so loudly, the message got to my core in no time.

We had dinner at the venue before leaving to meetup with Sir Edwin Padrilanan to get the stuff I ordered and then headed back to Buendia MRT station, where Marc got off with me to see me report to the office for my shift.

Climb 032: YearEnd Blast

DESTINATION: Mt. Manalmon 196 MASL

JUMP-OFF POINT: Sitio Madlum, Brgy. Sibul, San Miguel

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

CLIMB DATES: December 29-30, 2012

What better way to end the year than to go outdoors with the person closest to my heart? We had a fight the night before. I had gone crazy, I slept sobbing in one of his plastic boxes piled downstairs. He woke me up, telling me that if his left ankle could only allow him, he would carry me up to our bed.

It was such a moving scene...

The following day, it was raining hard in San Pedro, but we were advised by the advance party that it was all sunny in Bulacan. We packed our stuff around 3pm. We were to meet up other peeps who were joining us at 7pm in Cubao. At 5pm, we were tidying up. We left San Pedro at 6pm. We arrived at Ayala, Makati around 7pm and instantaneously, he decided to have me take a taste of the street food, Pares. What better way to do something new than do it with the most special man in the world? Time seemed to have stopped as we enjoyed the ox brain soup seasoned with soy sauce.

We took the taxi to get on time in Cubao. We had to wait for the others, of course. We had to wait for the bus going to our destination as well. We arrived at the jump-off point around midnight and we decided to pitch our tents there. We had our socials--the balut edition until 3am.

We woke up early the following day. We could not decide whether to climb to the summit of Mt. Manalmon or wait for the advance party to climb down first so that Marc will have company. I decided to wait for them who camped at the summit. So we had breakfast first. The way up took only an hour and a half. The way down took less than an hour. 

Jon and I took the harder route back to the jump-off point. We had to swim and rock scramble. Now, swimming is one of the skills that I have that I am not very confident at. I can swim perfectly well at shallow waters. But in those deeper than my neck, I tend to panic. Marc was watching me swim through the shallow parts of the Madlum River, and when I got to the deeper side, I had some difficulties. He stood in panic and showed me a worried look. I knew that even though how much he wanted, he wouldn't be able to save me from drowning because of his injury. It was enough to keep me going--I swam hard and got myself to a safe part. I saw relief in his eyes, I saw love in mine... Whew!

We let the time pass by having videoke and balut session at the jump-off point. It was some relaxed weekender and a yearender with a big bang!

Extreme Adventure 005: BREV

Bridge Rappeling with Elle Viajera

Venue: Bitbit Bridge, Norzagaray, Bulacan

Trip Date: November 17, 2012

I was having some hesitations. I knew for a fact that some TEAZone intimates do not like me that much. A bigger part of it is obviously caused by Marc's ex-girlfriend, SC, who is a TEAZone intimate herself. Marc assured me that it wasn't at all true and that everything's going to go perfectly fine. Still, I was worried sick...

But the date had been set, people had already registered, my friends are coming, and Marc had to stay home because of his injury. And I had to go as the lead facilitator in his place.

The event went surprisingly well. The TEAZone intimates had been accommodating and friendly. I didn't feel any awkwardness. Marc had been right. Sometimes, I just have to trust his words and live by it. I need to trust him fully.

It was the first time for them as well to facilitate an event without Marc, and everyone needed some encouragement, which Marc had been been sending through text messages.

The event ended well. Some had to leave early. As for us who were left together until we reached Cubao, we had dinner together to celebrate its success.

One of the Events for a Cause I organized for the injured man who resides in my heart.

Climb 031: Climb for the Master's Cause

DESTINATION 1: Mt. Batulao 811 MASL

JUMP-OFF POINT: Evercrest Golf Course, Nasugbu, Batangas

SPECS: Minor climb, Difficulty 4/9, Trail class 3

SIDE TRIP: Chateau Royale

CLIMB DATE: November 11, 2012

With Marc being in a house arrest due to his injury, I took the initiative to organize events for his cause to raise funds for his upcoming surgery. It was pretty difficult to get people to respond to it because the people in TEAZone group page didn't know me and had not met me in person yet.

Still, I diligently sent out invites and even sent them a private message in FB. Most of these invites and messages ended up ignored. The people whom I had sent the invites and messages were probably had this in mind, "Why her?"

Marc was silently listening to my updates regarding pledges that some had placed. I asked the help of other TEAZone intimates such as Allan Ostrea, Jefferson Aligato, and Lei Inciong. And they have actively helped me out. Some wanted to be anonymous because of the fact that there was an obvious tension between Marc's ex-gf, who is closely associated with TEAZone intimates and participants as she is an active facilitator herself. marc didn't want to entertain the negativity and was merely focusing on the positive side and was asking me to do the same. I heeded his advice.

The day came and I was able to gather 5 people (namely: Lorna, Joseph, Jill, Meggy and Pauline) to climb with me. We were to do a dayhike and were to end the event at a man-made rock for some rock-climbing adventure. It would depict Marc a lot.

We were behind the schedule but were luckily able to squeeze the rock-climbing activity in the event, thanks to my connections in the mountaineering society.

We had some bulalo dinner in Tagaytay before heading back to Manila. I went straight to Marc's house and was surprised that he had his college friends as visitors. He introduced me to them and I only shared a thought or two before heading towards the bed as I so tired from the climb.