Childhood Memories

I am a preserver of moments and memories! At dahil dyan, let me share cute photos of our 2011 La Union bakasyon. Same as our childhood tradition, every school break, nagbabakasyon kaming magkakapatid sa Damortis at may side trip sa Baguio. Ngayon, mostly Baguio na lang at  hindi na kami nakakadaan ng Damortis, ang init kasi talaga don, mas mainit pa dito sa Laguna, hindi kayang mag-stay dun, kaya eto, sa pictures na lang muna. 

Masayang bakasyon sa probinsya, kung saan nakaka-try silang maglaro sa mga hindi nila normally nakikita sa bahay, kagaya nyang paragos, nakakakita ng kalabaw, kambing, baka at nakakakita ng taniman ng gulay, tabako at palayan at malawak na taniman ng mangga.

Mga simpleng kaligayan ng mga kulits, mga experiences na they get to share. Sana maaalala nila yan at maging masayang memories na babalikan, kagaya namin noon.

May unlimited access din sa beach pag andito kami, LIBRE lang at kahit every gising or every after dumilim, pwede mag-swimming, ikaw ang magsasawa.

favorite nila talagang kalaro si Lolo, ayan, siksikan sila

After mag-beach, ayan, tambay naman sa bahay ni Amang, manginginain ng kung anu-anong prutas ang meron sa paligid, or mga baong chitchirya. Time din para matulog, para ready ulit sa pagsabak sa anumang maisipang activities for the day. Dagat ba ulit? o bukid?

nanginginain si Nanay ng langka na hinog sa puno, kakakatay lang ni Uncle Andrew

At ayun na nga, ang naisipan nilang gawin ay mamasyal sa bukid, hindi yan sa'min, nakiki-pasyal lang.

At dahil nasa probinsya, hindi din sila nakaka-isip manood ng TV, mas gusto nilang maglaro kahit gabi na. Kaaliw si Buyboy (Coco na ngayon) dito, sya ang favorite na taya kasi bulol sya sa pagsasabi nung Tagu-taguan...eto ang version nya: Tadu-taduan, maliwanag ang buwan, pagkabiyang kong tatyo, nakatago na tayo! Kaya naman, kahit hindi na sya ang taya, sinasabi pa ding ikaw ulit ang taya, payag naman sya.

Maagang nagsigising kasi mag-beach muna ulit bago mag-prepare sa pag-akyat sa  Baguio, nasa paanan pala kami ng paakyat ng Baguio (either Kenon or Marcos highway), kaya mabilis lang ding umakyat, at dahil wala kaming matutuluyan sa Baguio (madami kasi kami), balikan lang kami usually, mamamasyal lang dun then baba ulit sa La Union para dito ulit matulog. Bakit noon, hindi naman sya mahirap at kasya pa kami sa 2 sasakyan, although nagko-commute pala ang ibang oldies para comfortable ang mga kulits.

At typically ang pasyal lang naman namin sa Baguio ay ang Burnham Park, nagba-bike lang sila at naglalaro sa Children's Playground. Pag napagod na sila jan, kakain at maya-maya baba na kami ulit. Ang simple lang talaga ng buhay, pero ansaya-saya na nila.

kasama ang overprotective na Papa, kaya ayan si Buyboy, parang bored =P

ayan, nakabawi naman sa laro with Kuya Utoy

napagtripan ang chicharon, pwede na silang mga mowdels

ganun ba talaga kasarap?

At kinabukasan, nakuha pa naming mag-resort, dahil nga sa sobrang init, naghanap kami ng aircon, kaya nag-resort, para syang Pansol pero may dagat =) at kasama na namin ang mga kamag-anak from Baguio, yan din sila usually bumababa sila pag andito kami, isang salu-salo at swimming then akyat na din ulit silang Baguio.

Ang aming mga kulits wala silang sawa talaga, basta may tubig, enjoy na enjoy. Tapos ang lalakas kumain after mag-swimming, after kumain, swimming ulit, ulit-ulit lang yan. Pag napagod, tulog at ayun, magliligalig sa sakit ng katawan, ligalig habang natutulog.

ano kayang iniisip ni Kuya dito? ayaw pang umuwi?

Ansaya balikan ng mga larawan at mabuti na lang masipag kaming manguha ng pictures ni Barok, nung mga panahong willing pa silang mag-pose, nakadami na din naman kami ng shots. These are mementos, precious moments captured. Mabuti na lang!

Playground of the Gods

My first time in Pulag was in 2003 with Mark, Al, Glenn, Uro, Ellen, Crisel, Dee, Sheila, May, and our mountaineer friend Tantan. My only practice hike then was in Mt. Makiling, so this is my first ever major hike and it's already on what they consider then as Luzon's highest peak and the second highest peak in the country. I don't have a camera and photos of my own and it's still on paper, no digital copy yet, I wasn't able to blog about it then. So, now that I got a scanned copy, let me share our first Pulag experience with you. 

That's a public bus that took us to Bokod, Benguet where the registration office for Pulag hikers is located. I think we went down because there's a problem with the bus, good thing they were able to fix it otherwise we would be stranded on the road.

these are the sights that would greet you on your way to Bokod

Ambuklao Dam can also be seen our your way here

Mt. Pulag is part of the National Integrated Protected Areas Program (NIPAP) so registration and orientation are required. We met the Park Superintendent, Ms. Emerita Tamiray. Then after the orientation, they assigned us a guide and a jeep that took us on a grueling ride in Badabak Ranger's Station. Here in the ranger's station, this is our last preparation area, after this, it will be all walk to reach the campsite, and this is also our last chance to take a bath but the water is so cold, so you have to brave the cold for the last chance of bath. And since we rode public transport, I took the challenge and took a bath (so brave =P).

our jeepney ride to the ranger's station

We took the AMBANGEG trail since this is the easiest trail, beginner's trail as they call it. But even if it's the easiest trail, 7-8 hours of the hike is not easy, but because it's our first hike and we were younger then and we were adventurous, we survived the long hours of hiking. The weather on our way up is so beautiful, we are expecting a good view of the sea of clouds, which was Mt. Pulag's enchantment. 

I remember Mark wanted to spend his birthday on top of the mountain, that's why he arranged this hike but we keep on moving the date because of typhoons. I already forgot when we were finally able to do this but what's funny is that we still encounter the typhoon when we are already in the camp area of Pulag. We were pitching our tent then when it was already raining, the boys prepared dinner while the girls are resting in our tents. It's already cold in Pulag but because of the typhoon, it was even more colder, the rain and the wind add to the cold on top of this beautiful mountain. 

It was a long windy night, we can hear from the radio from our guide, and communication from the base, they were monitoring our situation and giving updates also on how the storm was. We couldn't sleep because we are already wet and it was so cold, me and my tentmate May used the candles as a campfire to warm our hands. It was a long night, but as in everything will not last, morning came. Since the rain is still pouring, and sea clouds will not be possible in this weather, we decided to just visit the summit to complete our Pulag expedition. 

you cannot see this marker now in Mt. Pulag, it was taken out because it violated the "Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time." 

We were not able to witness the sea of clouds but we were able to run free in the dwarf bamboo fields of Mt. Pulag. That is why we came back, click here: Pulag Take 2 to see my second Mt. Pulag experience.

our group photo in Lake Tabeyo

Photos from Al, Sheila, and Uro (I think)