Mt. Makiling Traverse (Sipit trail)

Sigh Makiling, I don't even know where to begin haha! There were many firsts that took place on this climb and I must say, they were all memorable. I was once called weak by my ex before, so after the break up, I told myself no boy would ever EVER say that to me again (naks) haha and so I started pushing myself to the limits. Whenever there's a major climb and someone would tell me I won't make it, the more I become eager to reach the summit. So when I heard about Mak-trav and all the glorious stories about its climb I instantly wanted to climb it (plus the fact that I always see it as a backdrop of SLEX). Eventually, I got an invitation from a mountaineer friend and thanks to that invite, I was able to experience Mak-trav. And it was one bloody (literally), tearful, jolly, and memorable experience. :)

Here's a short flashback of the traverse:

• Our jump off point was at Sto. Tomas, Batangas and our exit point was UP's college of forestry in LB.
• We trekked our way through Sipit trail, it's the trail that is seldom used.
• We started trekking 5.30AM and was able to finish the traverse at 10PM that was how long the trek was minus our 1 hr. delay due to getting lost haha and oh, we only reached peaks 2 and 3 because apparently, nobody goes to peak 1 daw.
• I enjoyed all the rope segments it was swabe! Climbing those walls was fun:)
• A limatik (leech) went inside my eyes. It stayed there for about 45 mins. and I cried for about 45 mins. Many thanks to my hero: Jojo for rescuing me yet again. And many thanks to Elren who was there to keep Jojo and I calm. And many thanks to dear Jay for lending her eye-drops and to Alvin's tweezers just so Jojo could get the freaking limatik out of my eyes. And many, many thanks to Topher who trekked quickly his way to our location just to deliver to Jojo those remedies supra. Whew! That's the tearful part of the climb I was talking about by the way. hehe
• Because I was too traumatized by my plight, I trekked with my shades on even when the moon's up already. None of them was able to talk me out of it. haha shades on a night freaking trek. Swabe. :))
• Reached LB's forestry, removed our muddy trek shoes, and behold! I also had a bloody feet! Those limatiks had a feast with my blood's expense.
• Thank God for habal-habal. If it weren't for those rides, we would've had walked our way out of the LB trail for another good 3 hrs.
• Was able to meet new friends in the outdoor world and they're all a bunch of fun as always. :P
• Went straight to Pansol for relaxation and had our dinner at 3AM 
• I cried, yes. But that's not being weak. I finished the traverse in spite and despite of me shaking for the fear of limatik and wearing shades on a night trek haha
• Will I go back to Makiling? That, I am not sure. hahaha Told myself I won't climb a limatik infested mountain ever again. :P

Our group shot with the Makiling backdrop:

And I was still excited then:

Dencio with his retiring trek shoes. Temporary remedy: Duct tape Pero galing, it didn't give up on Makiling. He threw the shoes when we reached Pansol. :)

Gabbie's also retiring shoes. Served her for 3 mountaineering years. :)

Alvin, Eumir, Ren, and Topher

The rich forest of Makiling:

Getting lost in the the forest :)

First rope segment... I think

Crying time with the limatik

Nearing the peak 3

Lunch time:

They were eating while I was just staring. Stone-cold. Traumatized.

Finally reached peak 3!:D

Spotted a pitcher plant just after the 2nd rope segment and on our way to Melkas ridge:

All smiles. Finally done with the traverse. No photo taken at the peak 2 though because it was already raining and getting dark. With Gabbie:

Tired and relieved faces

Removed my shoes and surprise! Limatiks having a feast!

We survived Makiling traverse shot!!:D

And off we went to have some fun in Pansol

What's next for us? Arayat traverse day hike! and SoLE's 2nd anniversary climb at mt. Balagbag!:D It's so Sunny!! :D

Tagaytay To Go

Spent the weekend packpacking again with Jojo in one of my favorite places to go in the South: Tagaytay! It's our second time to backpack  in Tagaytay so Jo asked me if there's still a place in that city that I haven't been to and I could only think of 2 places: A. Java Jazz and B. People's Park or the Palace in the Sky. He gave those a go and come Friday night we were already heading for Tagaytay and on our first stop: Java Jazz

Java Jazz coffee and lodge:
A high-school fella told me about the place some medieval age ago, I think she's aware of my love for coffee, hence the recommendation of the said cafe. I saw some pictures of Java Jazz and I've read some blogs featuring the cafe and boy I must say there were a lot of hype towards the place, which brought my curiosity all the way to the top. With further researching about the place, I found out that they also have a lodge in place below their cafe so I booked a room for us the minute I learned that their rooms are offered at  such a cheap price--oh the things that backpackers love hahaha! Plus I didn't want to look for other inns anymore to have an ultimate Java Jazz experience. All the arrangements/reservations took place through text message and they were very pleasant in all aspects of service, this I have to say.

Java Jazz is just a small place situated at Calamba road, Sungay West Tagaytay City, it's so small  you shouldn't wander your eyes around because you might miss it. Look at this tiny Java Jazz signage that you should spot when looking for the cafe:

We arrived at the place at around 8PM. Just in time for our hungry stomachs.

First thing we did was to check out the room and check our backpacks in. The room looked decent and okay, I just don't like the idea of having it connected with the other room beside ours through a connecting bathroom.  

After settling down our things inside the room, there was nothing else to do but to start checking out the rest of the cafe. As we entered, I headed for the paintings on the wall because I love paintings. Just a quick-o unsolicited Samantha-Trivia: I like to go on painting sales. I wouldn't buy one though, I would just go marvel their art. I cannot miss out on looking for paintings that are for sale. Here are some of the paintings you'd see inside:

Spent some time appreciating the art pieces and the small cafe as we waited for our food. 

There are two areas where you can dine in Japanese style tables and of course I opted for it. Poor boyfriend had a hard time eating just to give in to his girlfriend's childlike ways hahahaha  =*

Now it was time for dinner. Jo ordered Beef Binagoongan and I ordered Tuna Pesto in tomato sauce (Pasta lover here), and of course I wouldn't miss tasting their hot latte.

Our accommodation includes a free breakfast with their signature coffee so it's a Yay!:D We chose to have omelette partnered with rice for Jojo, while I prefer it w/ bread. Yes, I can live in bread alone, bread is my favorite ever!!! haha Before going to our room after dinner, they asked us what time would we want to have our breakfast served and we told them at around 9AM but come morning, we were dumbfounded after learning that they have locked us hahaha as in literally padlocked because apparently, none of them stays there 24hrs, no guards, no room service in the middle of the night, no nothing, so they had to padlock the gate towards the rooms. The thing is, we got up early because we want to go for a morning walk but we obviously could not go out. We even actually considered climbing our way out through the walls hehe because we figured they might be coming and unlocking us just in time for our breakfast. Good thing though that we have their contact number so we called them up and asked to unlock ze gates. :))

The owners  and the staff are really nice but I'm just not happy with the whole padlocking thing, no guards, no-nothing, and opening up at exact time that the breakfast are to be served. I felt  unsafe with it, like what if there was fire and we couldn't run out because we were locked up, or what if there's a bad person who entered the vicinity w/o our knowing and none from Java Jazz was there to settle matters, and just like what happened to us, our morning walk got delayed. Oh well... tiny glitches that I noticed. :) So anyway, here's our breakfast:

Java Jazz by morning

After our breakfast we headed out then came back to wash up and have our lunch. This time, we ate at the long table and Jo was very much happy having to eat properly. :)) I enjoyed lunch better. Maybe because the pasta that I ordered this time is more delish than the previous one. Jo ordered Lechon Kawali while I ordered Creamy Pasta with Kesong Puti, and their siganture Tsokolate-eh! with toasted mamon.

Lunch was the end of our Java Jazz experience. Here are some photos of the place's interior:

Okay, so did I like Java Jazz?  The cafe is okay. Not great but just okay. At first I thought it was overrated but later I realized that maybe I just expected more than what I saw. But hey, the place is good-- nice ambiance plus the whole jazz music playing would make you relax while eating.

Did I like their lodge in? No. The covers are a bit dusty. The padlock episode still remains in my memory bank hahaha really did not appreciate it. And the shared bathroom too. But yeah, it was a decent place to sleep if it's really just for backpacking because seriously, I've slept and had it worst before naman.

Am I going back to Java Jazz? Their food are relatively good. Most of their food are priced at 99.Php only plus they offer a wide range of menu and obviously, I have only tasted a few. So yes, I shall come back, I want to take my folks there.

They are also selling pasalubong pastries but their packaging are also kind of dusty already. I think it would be better to wipe their merchandise at least once a day before they open up.

Till next Java Jazz!

The 2nd place that's on our IT to visit and the one place that I haven't seen in Tagaytay after numerous times of being there is the People's Park/Palace in the Sky:

Okay, I'm disappointed hahaha. Jojo kept laughing and seemed to be enjoying seeing my disappointed duck face hahaha... The place looks like a junk :( I'm so sorry, I really am sad. That place has a lot of potential if only they will clean it. And well maybe another reason I got disappointed is because I've already seen awesome high peaks that's why there's already comparison stirring up my brain and eyes. 

Doesn't look like a palace, it's more like a haunted palace in the sky to me. :(

View from top

Some the viewing bench, DOST-PAGASA's doppler radar, and an old tower.

And just when I thought I've seen all there is to see in Tagaytay, my mountaineer friend recommended another place that she says Jojo and I should visit and that is the Bag of Beans and Sonja's hahaha I don't know where else to squeeze in those two with our BER scheds though. My calendar of weekends are already full. Maybe next year na lang. :)

Music Thursday

Behold! I give you Kina Grannis :)
I discovered this really good artist and I got hooked the first time I listened to her music.  Now, her songs are my daydreaming, on-the-go, and bed lullaby. If you're a fan of Colbie Caillat or Michelle Branch, I think you're also going to like Kina Grannis because they sound alike (in my opinion).

Some of my favorites:
The One You Say Goodnight

Message from the Heart

Valentine

In Your Arms

I love her voice. It makes my day so sunny and orangey. I could only wish I had the same voice haha :)

Spontaneous Surprise Baby Shower

After the school 's Buwan ng Wika culmination, it was time to go home but we didn't know that something spontaneous was bound to happen. Just when we were all about to leave the school, we decided to give our beloved nurse Cha a surprise baby shower on that same day!:) Of course, I was very up for it! I'm always up for surprises and DIY things whenever there's an occasion, so yes I got excited. So off we went planning the surprise on one of the classrooms while nurse Cha was inside the teacher's room being entertained by our 6 year old accomplice, Leiko. :)

Teacher Roxy and her daughter had to go somewhere to buy some things, teacher Apple also had to go home to get ready, while teachers Rache, Mags, and I prepped up some things for the surprise. I got assigned with games, hence I was dubbed as ze "game master", which I actually liked because I won't have to join the games hahaha :P And because of too much excitement, napa-drawing ako ng 'di oras to make some designs for the baby shower. Seriously, I'm the last person you would want to ask to draw something kasi even my Sun drawing, napagkamalan pang "tick" ng boyfriend ko! ehem Jojo, ehem! ANYWAY, with so much inspiration to pull off the surprise, I was able to manage to draw circles that would look like a baby hahaha! Another fun part was the name tags that teacher Roxy got from the mall, and the gifts we had for baby Xavien! Yes, Xavien is the name of nurse Cha's future daughter (can you feel my excitement as I type? This blog post have no cohesion already), I also love the food especially the "kwek-kwek" :)) I also like the fact that 4 kiddos joined the baby shower. But the best part of all was seeing nurse Cha's epic shocked, confused face!:D Here are some photos from teacher Rox's Fb page again. :)

Nurse Cha with the kids that joined the baby shower, and yes, that's the background that I made hahaha!

Our food and gifts. One thing that I love about being in school is being able to have art materials available, hence the balloons which also served as our party hats.

Our Spongebob name tags:)

The cake that I baked... ECHOS! Of course I didn't. (nyer, okay last ko na haha)

First game: Guess the mommy's tummy size:

And the winner: Cai :)

2nd game: How many baby stuff  can you name? (Such an intense game! No cheating :P )

Cai having a hard time this time... hahaha but she got the cutest answers!:)

The winner: T. Mags and her prize:

3rd game: Make a baby :))

Everyone was so serious hahaha! I love this game:D

The winner: T. Rache:)

Nurse Cha and the game master herself bwahahahaaha!:D

Nurse Cha's baby shower was so simple yet it was so fun and full love and care from everyone. This is why I love where I work, it's not just a place where you earn money, it's our second home and seriously, it's not everyday you get to have great friends, awesome boss, and a happy working environment. :) 

And oh, thanks to Google for the awesome game ideas! Shameless Plug--->So if you're planning to have a baby shower, bridal shower or any events, you may contact me and I'll be more than willing to give you my service.  :P

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's Sunneh! :D