What the Pak!

The bus that I was riding was packing as much passenger as it can. When we got to Ayala MSE loading station it gobbled up some more passengers and after a few minutes of being jam packed, it was still not moving forward. I was sitting beside a common looking guy in his late 30s to early 40s wearing a maong pants, short sleeves polo, carrying a small plastic :D

Suddenly, the guy sitting beside me started ranting.
Guy: (shouting to the driver) Hoy puno ka na (hey the bus is already full). Let's go!

Then started mumbling words which I tried to ignore as much as I can. A few seconds later, I was able to determine the cause of hold up. Turns out, the police officer was already talking to the driver about the bus being over loaded. As the bus started to move forward, another dialogue occurred between the driver and a passenger.

Passenger: Pakulo lang nila yan. (It's just a show)
   Probably referring to the Kotong modus of some traffic enforcers
Bus Driver: Oo nga eh, Original naman yung resibo ko (I agree, I was showing him an original receipt)
    Probably the driver was showing that he was already penalize and his license was already confiscated.
Guy (trying to make his scene): Hindi pare, puno ka na eh, Makati ito ginagawa mong Quiapo. We're late! What the Pak
(No man! Your bus is already full! We're in Makati, not in Quiapo! probably he means f*ck). 

Guy still mumbling some other english words but all i hear is BLAH BLAH BLAH

Me thinking: while bus != Paseo stop
           {ignore the guy}
       exit bus and laugh;

At that time, I was really trying to stop myself from laughing. I have nothing against the p and f syndrome (I admit I have it sometimes). But come on! If you're gonna rant, at least pronounce it right! That way, if you can't get your co-passenger's sympathy, they may take you seriously and won't end up bursting in laughter or disbelief.

Unfortunately, the bus didn't make it to the other side of Paseo and Ayala intersection and had to wait for the green traffic signal.
Guy to the bus driver: O? anu pa inaantay mo, Come on we're late! Puno na yung bus eh. (What are you waiting for? Come on your bus is already full!)

Then he started to look stresses.

Finally, we're at the bus stop. The guy stood up and tried to go down even though his path is still blocked. He was sitting on the far end of the 3 sitter chair
Guy: Excuse
Me : Saglit po, bababa din ako (One sec, I'll alight here as well)
Guy: Let's go! Lousy..
Me (disbelief): Kuya, liparin mo kaya pababa?!?! (Why don't you try flying out of the bus?!?!)

I tried to tell my story in english for a wider audience but heck I cried out of laughter when I told this story to Pau over the phone in my native tongue.

Magalawa Island

Photo Credits (Axel, Petot and Nil/Angel)
LOBO Mountaineers January Celebrants birthday bash

After 5 hrs of travel from Caloocan City and 20min boat ride from Masinloc Port, I've finally saw Magalawa Island just before the break of dawn.

The shores of Magalawa

Why Magalawa:

       I found out about Magalawa from my sister's friend who went there before we did. The only beach in Subic I know are: The crowded Anawangin, the less crowded Nagsasa and the futher Silangin Cove (thought I know there's one more cove much further than Silangin). We chose this island as an alternative destination for Calaguas in Bicol because it is closer to Manila, we only had 2 days for vacation and our initial computation is much cheaper compared to Calaguas.

How we prepared:

     This trip was organized to serve as birthday celebration for our dear mountaineering friends Marina, Third and Hazel (we just found out that she's also a January celebrant on the day of our departure). After much internet research, we decided to go to Ruiz resort because of the unfriendly feedback we've heard from the Armada resort. We decided to go there with our tents, have our own food and drinks (we decided we can buy the rest on the island), stay there overnight and relax like a bum!

underwater

 

What to do in Magalawa:

 Magalawa in its raw form is like Nagsasa only a bit better. Its sand feels nicer, has few rocks near the shore, has lots of starfish and crabs and the sea is abundant of its resources providing food and income source for the Island dwellers.  Snorkling is one of the nice things they offer. You can also visit the "Mayor's House" which was build in the shallow part of the sea which made it seem like the house is floating in the middle of the ocean (although if you ask me, they should restrict the people who goes there because human waste, biological and non bio greatly affects the beauty of this place). Another thing is you can ask the locals for boating experience, they lend my friends a boat which they paddled as far as they can and back (just didn't know if that was for a cost). You can also wait for the fishermen with their catch early in the morning. I felt so happy to see how abundant their sea is with all the different fishes they've caught. Also, you can go pass the Armada side of the beach to see the mangroves. For the sunrise, it'll be quite a disappointment as Mt. Tapulao covers the sun's view from the island. You'll have to walk a bit further from Ruiz Resort going to the community area to get a glimpse of the sunset. Don't forget to bring your hammock if you prefer to sleep off the sand. Also, smile and be friendly as the locals are doing their best to be as hospitable as possible so you'll enjoy your stay with them. By the way, the resort also has their own generator to light up the place after dark. Another plus is a common restroom for the guest.

Fresh fishes for breakfast

Mayor's House

boat riding

Restroom for Him, Her and the generator

 Reminders:

There's quite a colony of ants there because of the left over food, so do your part by properly keeping your food and your left overs. For additional protection, bring insect repellant to counter the gigantic mosquitoes (most of them are located in the CR area). The locals usually burn dried leaves to produce smokes which the mosquitoes find unappealing leaving the vicinity for quite sometime. Also, I think it will be best to contact Mang Mulo as he and his wife are the actual care taker of the resort. Make sure that you get clear price from them so you won't be surprise of sudden change of prices base on the web sites and the actual price.

The resort offers meal sets. Kindly ask Mang Mulo or his wife for the group meals :)

How we got there:

We rode a bus bound to Sta. Cruz at Victory Caloocan. The bus left at 11:45pm, we got off in front of Masinloc Mall past 4am where we waited Man Mulo who then guide us to his boat near the coast of Masinloc Market. We rode the boat to Magalawa for another 20-30 minutes. Going back to Manila, we rode the boat back to Masinloc port, rode a jeep for an hour to Iba terminal where we rode the 7pm bus bound to Victory Caloocan. As of writing this, Victory Iba only have buses bound to Caloocan from 6-10.30pm. They have an 11:30pm Pasay bound bus though.

Expenses:

Food was c/o Marina, Third and Hazel (LOTS of THANKS Guys!)

Bus to Masinloc: 408

Round trip Boat ride from Masinloc Port: 200/head

Overnight fee per head: 100

Tent fee: 100 per tent

Nipa Hut: 500

Snorkling: 100 w/o mask; 200 w/mask rental (but they gave us a discount of 150/head depending on the number of group)

Jeep to Iba: 35/head

Bus from Iba to Manila: 300++

Mang Mulo's #: 09294670505 -> it would be better if you call him instead of waiting for his reply.
By the way: don't forget to visit Masinloc Church while you're there :)

Masinloc Church

Traveller's Request:

I know we can't help but be curious as human  but I appeal to you as a fellow traveller, as another human, for the sake of future travelers and our future generations to please: 

 

1. Refrain from playing with the starfish, picking them up and letting them die from exhausting heat of the sun away from the sea just so you can take a picture of them. Also, do not pick up corals ans sea shells along the shore. Time will come that there will be no more corals and sea shells to see. Please let them be! Just take a picture if you want.  

2. Please be kind to the animals, there are a lot of dogs there who may want to have a share of your food. If you don't want them to bother you just ignore them or gently shoo them away.  

3. Plan the food that you'll bring and segregate trash properly. You can leave the empty bottles for the locals but if you can be kind enough to bring back your trash to Masinloc or Luan Port. I trust that they have better trash collection there.

4. Bring dish washing sponge instead of disposable utensils. 

Let's all practice the leave no trace principle and help us preserve the beauty of this place. :) Enjoy Magalawa!

L.O.B.O. girls

Doomsday 2012

Hello 2012. So called the year that the world will end. I'm currently listening to a documentary based on Mayan Calendar, the tribe who predicted doomsday. Experts says that the beginning date of the Mayan "long count/calendar", where the doomsday was calculation was based, equates to Aug 13, 3114 BC and ends 5,125 years later, Dec 21, 2012.

So yeah, I and we can't do anything about it as told by our wise pastor.  So what can I do?


Enjoy life while it last. Right now, I am aiming to travel more. To see all of the Philippines for the first and maybe the last time. To climb as many mountains as I can. To dance as long as I can. To learn as much as I can. To run as far as I can. To love, to be happy, to enjoy my journey to the end, and to serve my creator till my days on earth ends :)