Weekend Warrior: Sightseeing at Liliw

After the climb to Nagcarlan, Geland took charge of our itinerary for the following day. From Calauan, we took a jeepney to Liliw.

We spent the night at a local resort, Batis ng Liliw. The room was a bit pricey but we didn't have any other option that night. I was also fatigued from the climb earlier that day, so I didn't argue much on where we stay as long as there's a decent bed.

Liliw is, according to local references, the tsinelas capital of the country.

Liliw's church is an awesome landmark. Because the town is a bit small and tight, the church isn't visible from afar. What makes it a great sight is that the church looks clean (fresh?) inside and out. The brick facade is a great contrast to the sky. It's a great place to take photos!

After hearing the 8 am mass (awesome choir and great church service!), we walked along the town's main street to do some window shopping. The main street is lined up with stores selling slippers of all sizes, shapes and colors. A lot of local tourists were at the town, buying slippers here and there. Santol and lansones fruits were also sold along the street (cheap!), and we bought a few kilos of each.

One of the town's secrets is ARABELLA'S, a nice little Italian restaurant. They serve excellent pasta and pizza. Geland and I got lasagna, fettucine, a kesong puti pizza, and chocolate milkshakes! Wahoo, food trip! And what's great about it is that the price is very affordable. Just 295 pesos for all of that!

After lunch, we packed our stuff and took a jeepney to Nagcarlan's underground cemetery. It was our rotten luck that the cemetery is closed on Sundays and Mondays, so we had to be content with taking photos from the outside.

After the photo ops, we took a couple of bus rides to get back to Batangas.

Have I mentioned that the commute is also an adventure for me? Hehehe. Haven't done that much commuting in a long, long time.

The weekend has been a great break from the stresses of work. Breathe nature, see local life. =)

Weekend Warrior: Climbing Mt. Nagcarlan

I received an invitation a couple of weeks ago for a daytrip climb at Mt. Nagcarlan in Laguna from some of my mountaineer friends and I readily accepted it. The climb was last Saturday (Aug 25th). Geland, one of my colleagues, joined me and since we were already in the vicinity, he suggested that we do some sightseeing at the nearby towns of Nagcarlan and Liliw after the mountain trek.

The two of us left Batangas at four-thirty in the morning of Saturday and took a bus to Calamba. A couple of jeepney rides and 2-1/2 hours later, we were at the town of Calauan to meet up with the rest of the climbers.

Mt. Nagcarlan is a little under 700 meters in elevation and is a level 1 climb. However, the trails were muddy and slippery because of the rainy season. That and the lack of a breeze made the ascent quite difficult for our group. Also, I've gained about 6 pounds since my last climb activity -- I could feel my 'extra weight' making its toll on my physical condition.

We started from the jump-off point at around 730 in the morning. The first half hour was a relatively easy hike, afterwhich the slope gradually increased. An hour later, we encountered our first major problem: someone in the group was forced to abandon the climb because he was feeling dizzy. After some discussion, the group decided to leave him at a waystation and come back for him later in the afternoon when we descend.

The next two hours of hiking was pretty hard and challenging. Firstly, the slope was becoming more steep and the trail was becoming more slippery. Secondly, the pace that we were trying to maintain is a challenging one. We had to take 4 breaks during the ascent to allow some members of the group to regain their breaths.

As for myself, I had one predicament during the climb: I didn't expect that the sun would be out that day. I thought that it would be cloudy at best, rainy at worst, so I only brought 3 liters of fluids for my personal consumption. By the time we reached the summit, I've nearly emptied my Camelbak. Good thing that other members of the group had water to spare.

We reached the summit at 1130 am. We got a great view of the 7 lakes that Laguna is very famous for. A wooden cross marks the summit and we decided to have lunch there.



Going down, all of us had to brace our footing to prevent slipping and sliding down the trail. I slipped four times (haha!) and landed squarely on my butt once. Ouch. We passed by the waystation where we left one of our group behind, and he was okay.

I enjoyed the climb. Even with the aching legs, sunburnt shoulders and scratches on my arms. =)

[pictures to follow]

Lucban Weekend

It's been 20 years since I've last been to Lucban, Quezon. Geland invited me to tag along with him to Lucban last Sunday for his brother's birthday celebration and the town's fiesta.

It's a 3 hour drive from Batangas City. The good thing about Lucban is that it's a small town, and everything is within walking distance. I got to see the church, the town cemetery, the tiangge, the palengke, the schools and the plaza.

And no trip to the province is complete without the obligatory food trip. Lots and lots of food: handaan, pansit lucban, pansit habhab, kakanin, kalderatang kalabaw, adobo, lucban longganisa, halo-halo, tilapia, sinigang softdrinks, beer, coffee and pizza. Many many thanks for Geland's aunt for the awesome hospitality.

On the way home we paid a visit to VIA DOLOROSA, a grotto with a 40-foot image of Christ at the hill's peak. Catholics flock to this grotto in search for healing intervention (and miracles for some) for their various ailments.

And of course, pictures!


Clockwise from top left: (1) Geland with cousins at Cafe Rizal (2) Battle of the Bands showcase (3) Via Dolorosa (4) Lucban Cemetery (5) longganisang Lucban (6) Lucban church (7) Rizal Avenue, Lucban

Z.Z.Z. : 5 Stars

I was browsing at Powerbooks last Saturday, and I chanced upon the collected comics edition of Carlo Vergara's Ang Kagilas-gilas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni ZSAZSA ZATURNNAH. My college-friends-slash-Literature-majors highly recommended the stage play but I hadn't had the opportunity to see it, so I decided to browse the comic book. A few pages into the short comic novel, I was snickering at the bookstore.


imagine swallowing that rock everytime you need to be a superhero... wehehehe!

I finished reading the comic book last night, and it was absolutely hilarious. Never mind that it seems like it's gay literature --- a good comic book is a good comic book. I enjoyed it so much that I plan to buy a few more copies next weekend and hand it out to a few friends FREE. The world could use a little bit more happiness.

My Typhoon Mis-Adventures

I think yesterday was a record-holding day for me, in terms of the most number of expletives and curses I've churned out in one afternoon.

Blame it on the rain.

I spent more than 4 hours inside my car at SLEX (Bicutan area) yesterday morning/afternoon in a standstill traffic situation.

And as luck would have it, my car's fuel tank was almost empty.

The situation for me and my car yesterday was hopeless, so I left my car at SLEX, left the hazard lights 'on', placed a wheel lock in my steering wheel and removed all valuable items from the car.

I had to walk (with my laptop in tow) from Bicutan all the way to Villamor Air Base. And I haven't even had breakfast or lunch yet. It took me about one-and-a-half hour of walking, avoiding muddy puddles along the way. At Villamor Air Base, I was able to get a tricycle and spent another hour onboard it before we got to our house in Baclaran.

Dammit dammit dammit. Hungry, wet and tired. Plus the worry that my car might be towed or stolen or stripped off its wheels.

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At around 9 pm last night, I and my elder brother got to my car. I had to siphon off gasoline from the container we brought along and hose it to my car's fuel tank. (Did you know that the fuel tanks have a check valve?)

The gasoline vapors made me feel wretched the rest of the night. I wanted to vomit.

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Wasn't able to report to work this morning. I arrived at Batangas at around 1030 am today.

Weekend Celebrations

So many things happened last Saturday... whew. Congratulations are in order to the following:

1. Dylan Noah, for celebrating his 1st birthday. Happy birthday, Dylan!

2. Lorraine is sporting a new accessory. Kung hindi ko pa napansin, nobody would know. Woohoo! Congratulations, Lorraine!

3. Papa Gabs gets redundated, and a week later gets hired by their competitor. Pramis ni Papa Gabs: dinner for the warriors. Whoopee!! (p.s. do we get to pick the place?)

4. Niks gets promoted to manager on September. Yeah Niks! You deserve the promotion! :D And for that, Niks treated everyone for coffee last Saturday.

5. Teacher Annelle and Coach Jayjay: Congratulations! The "promise rings" now have a new friend --- an "engagement ring"! Yip-yip-yip!!!

Hey, Saturday was fun! It's been a long time since I took time off to meet up with my friends, and for very special occasions at that!

Congratulations, everyone!

[pictures to follow]

Record 001

I decided to run AND swim earlier this evening. I went for a short run --- 3 laps around the compound (so that's 3.6 km) in 31 min. So that puts my pace at roughly 9 min per kilometer. I'm still 1 minute away from my target pace. And there's still the endurance portion that I need to do.

At the pool, I swam 5 laps to cool off and practice on my strokes. =)

Mamayang gabi, tatakbo ako uli. Target ko is 4 laps in under 45 min without slowing my pace to a walk. Need to build up on the endurance. :D

Two Women, Two Crusades, Two Passions

It's amazing how some of the people you know casually have the makings of being a great member of the society.

CARMELA: Biking For Life

I've been an avid reader of her livejournal, cyber-witnessing her very athletic endeavors. I got acquainted with Carmela through some friends a couple of years ago, and our blogs/livejournals serve as our main communication channel. She just completed a 3-km swim for her team in the O2 Triathlon (O2 = twice the Olympic distance) held last weekend at Clark. She's also a running enthusiast and a serious mountain/road bike hobbyist. She volunteered as a bike marshall for this year's Tour of the Fireflies.

photo of Carmela (in her cycling outfit) with friend, snagged from her livejournal

And her latest project? It's a 1500 km cycling tour from Manila to Davao to support the Cancer Warriors Foundation. I smiled in pride of this lady's zeal for worthy causes. She's not merely advocating it. She is going to participate in it.

In support of her project, I'm posting the details of the Bike for Life Tour 2007 here.

Friends,

We need all the help we can get. I will be embarking on an activity that will combine my love for cycling and my passion for cancer awareness. I will be cycling from Manila to Davao from Sept 16-30 to help the Cancer Warriors Foundation. The foundation is headed by James Auste who is a cyclist and a brain cancer survivor. My father passed away due to breast cancer and it is something that I feel I have to do something about. I have saved my leaves from work so I can allocate it to this worthwhile cause.

The Bike for Life Tour 2007 is a journey that will start in Metro Manila and will go all the way to Davao . There will be a core group of riders headed by James Auste, the executive director of the Cancer Warriors Foundation who himself is a cancer survivor. We will be riding together with 10 parents of pediatric cancer patients who are wards of the Cancer Warriors Foundation.

At the end of the day after each leg a forum on cancer awareness will be held with the message that Cancer can be Beaten. The tour is not a race, but you are most welcome to join and ride with us on any of the legs.

With determination, passion, perseverance and faith in God, cycling 1500 kilometers is possible. Likewise, giving a child a fighting chance to beat their cancer is achievable.

Maraming salamat po! Let's make this our fight!

Carmela Serina =)

More details of the Bike For Life can be seen here: http://www.c-warriors.org/projects/bike4life/

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MARICRIS: Yabang-PINOY!

She's looking for volunteers to promote what Pinoys can make and do!

The last time I saw Maricris was back in college. Not sure if she still remembers me, but we had the same tenure in the University's Student Council.

She's a member of the Children's Environmental Awareness and Action Foundation. If you happened to browse a Haribon magazine at your nearest Starbucks early this year, chances are you'd seen a picture of Maricris promoting tree-planting. :D

And here's my plug for her:

taken from the Philippine Daily Inquirer

Yabang Pinoy—an advocacy fast-becoming legendary for its unyielding support and campaign to raise consciousness and amplify Filipino people's philosophy and pride through a piece of braided abaca band among other creations—in its budding emergence, now holds a tie that day by day binds one and every Filipino.

And this cool Pinoy revolution doesn’t just stop there. On October 21 at Rockwell Tent, the campaign for Pinoy pride goes to a brand new level with Global Pinoy Bazaar—a one-day fair that brings together both on-the-rise and professional Filipino entrepreneurs who have globally competitive Pinoy products to exhibit.
Living up to the organization’s mission, the bazaar aims to assemble original products—made by Filipinos for Filipinos—that not only further promotes our God-given craftsmanship but also unites Filipinos to build a SUPPORT & BUY PINOY advocacy.
Primary beneficiaries for this project include Yamang Isip library for Barangay Bagumbayan in Daraga Albay, Ecological Livelihood for Barangay Balanti in Tarlac and Barangay Ilaya in Muntinlupa.

For interested participants, entrepreneurs, media partners and sponsors, email yabangpinoy@gmail.com or contact 0917-5277141 or 0917-8151513. For more information, visit www.yabangpinoy.com.

Yabang Pinoy is a project of Children's Environmental Awareness and Action Foundation (CEAAF) whose thrust is environmental education on the richness of biodiversity in the Philippines.

Mid Week Ghost Story

I need to write about this. Today is Wednesday, just a few minutes shy from midnight.

I’m doing some engineering drawings at my room in the housing compound since 10 o’ clock this evening. My personal deadline to finish these drawings is by lunchtime tomorrow, so I’ve planned on doing some work tonight and complete it the following day at the office.

My workdesk is at the corner of my room. I only had two mood lamps and the laptop screen as light sources for the whole room (at nights and when in my personal space, I prefer working in the dark). I was seated facing the windows and my back against the rest of the room: a bookshelf filled with a motley of horror, action and fantasy literature, a 2-seater sofabed, the TV rack housing my prized 29” Sony Trinitron, video game console, DVD player and an assortment of DVDs, and the kitchen area.

Ricky Martin was singing “Shake Your Bon-Bon” on my IPOD speakers, and the ancient airconditioning unit in my room was making that buzzing-humming sound in the background. I was in MY zone, totally shut-out from everything else except the music, the airconditioning, and my work. I was deciding on the color assignments that I’ll be using for each addition that I will make on the engineering diagram I was working on, when a high pitch blip from behind me sounded off and made me jump from my seat.

In a split-second, I looked back and saw the TV turn on by itself! That’s when I went, “Shit!”

And in the next split second as the television bathed the 2-seater sofa in its eerie-white glow, I thought I saw someone (or something?) sitting on the sofa. He/She/It was in an ‘attenshun’ posture, not slouching, and staring at the TV. It looked eerily familiar; it looked like a couple of my acquaintances. And I went “howley shit....”. And I blinked my eyes.

And then he/she/it wasn’t there anymore. But the TV was still on.

I got off my chair, turned off the TV and removed its plug from the socket.

And I went back to my work, listening to Gwen Stefani. But I can’t help but glance at the TV and the sofabed every so often.

Volunteerism Damages

I spent a good amount of time last Saturday pounding soil, lugging sacks of dirt and mixing cement for the GK Build Activity at Ambulong in Batangas. I did about 4 batches. One batch is composed of 1 sack of cement, 3 sacks of sand, 3 sacks of aggregates and about two pails of water.

I didn't learn that at school, by the way. What I learned at school is that a good cement mixture is 1:3:2:2.

Anyway, I got some opportunities to snap some photos in-between mixing cement.




Volunteerism is alive.

But here's a problem that I see: do the volunteers do more harm than good?

Not all of the volunteers are skilled in mixing cement or laying hollow blocks properly. I saw a lot of the other houses being worked on, and some of them are showing "problems" already: a leaning wall, poor compaction of the cement, gaps here and there. The volunteers have the enthusiasm and the energy, but not the skill and direction.

Several areas, if I were a Quality Control director or a Building Safety specialist, will be for potential rework.

This is one area that the GK volunteer community can improve on. The community needs to identify members who can act as leaders who are knowledgeable in the tasks that needs to be done for a BUILD activity. Organization, logistics and task assignments are key areas for improvement.

Maybe in future GK Builds, I can volunteer as a 'structural consultant' to the other volunteers.

Starting with Fingerplucking

Two weeks ago, my younger brother gave me a book he got from his recent trip to Singapore as a pasalubong. It was a compilation of music sheets with fingerplucking tablatures for some easy guitar pieces. The book was labelled as "For intermediate" players. He even lent me one of his guitars so I can test it out.

It was a mischievous trick on me by my brother.

Firstly, I hated the guitar the most among the musical instruments that's at our Baclaran house. In order of preference, I would pick the flute, clarinet, piano, violin and lastly, the guitar. Secondly, he knew that I've the tendency to get frustrated whenever I strike the guitar strings and produce a buzzing sound (indicating that I'm not pressing on the frets properly). Lastly, I'm not familiar with guitar tablature. What made him think that I knew how to read fingerplucking tabs?

So last night, I opened the book for the first time and read through the first few pages.

There was little instructional detail in the book. It took me an hour to figure out what the numbers meant in the tabs, and another half-hour to convince myself that I have the fingers assigned logically for each string and fret.

Greatly frustrating.

Patience, Stip. Music in all its forms has its rewards. Patience, patience, patience.