but i knew i loved you even before i met you

.o0 ('i knew i loved you before i met you.'
i ♥ batanes! if batanes were a person -- male --
papakasalan ko na s'ya, walang arte-arte. Ü )
-- my tweet for the 23rd of february 2010, a week and a day after i got back from batanes

♥ the oh-so-splendid view from vayang rolling hills ♥

finally, i can say that i have been to my ultimate dream destination in the philippines. after just merely thinking of reaching it for so long and keeping myself satisfied with the photos and features that i got to see and read about it and the ivatans since i was, maybe, 12 years old, i was finally able to see, touch, smell, feel, and experience batanes. wow! it feels great that i finally made it MY batanes.

it used to be just a 'forever distant dream'. however, i learned from my recent batanes trip that even being there also feels like a dream. you'll be tempted to pinch yourself, close your eyes, shake your head... just to make sure that everything you're seeing and feeling is really, really real -- the place is unbelievably beautiful, too beautiful. all the other beautiful places i've been to fade -- not only pale but fade -- in comparison.

the views are undeniably awesome -- the seas are as blue as awesome blue can be, the hills are as green as delightful green can be, and, even in some areas where there are patches of gold and brown, everything just seems to fit perfectly -- even the winds in batanes can sing!

this dream come true overwhelmingly exceeded my expectations. see, before i reached batanes, i already had high expectations about the place, the people, and the experience of seeing it with my own eyes. when i went to batanes, i was rewarded with favor overflow because the experience that i had was wonderfully far more than what i imagined or ever dreamed. it was, to say the least, totally mind-blowing!!!

batanes is more than the place, more than the people, more than the language, more than the underrated hype, more than all of them combined. it is not in any picture or magazine article -- the real batanes is an experience. i can only try but i cannot really describe it for you, you have to experience it for yourselves.

having accomplished that goal of reaching my local dream destination, i am now ready to start saving for switzerland (with france for a side-trip) and israel (with, maybe, egypt for a side-trip).

---
p.s. i sort of thought that maybe i'll write about the trip when i'm finally done uploading to multiply the photos i took. however, i took so many and it'll take long before i finish sharing them 1000+ pics so let me just post this one ahead. i'll improve this when i... wait, did i already say i love, love, love, love batanes? ;-D this goes with saying that batanes won't be out of my future travel list. we're definitely going back there next year!

p.p.s "we're definitely going back there next year!" we, who? kaming mga never na magtatanong ng mga PTL questions gaya ng (1) batanes?! saan yun? (2) batanes?! anong meron dun? (3) batanes?! may dagat ba doon? (4) batanes?! may daan ba papunta doon? ;-D

manila bay

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy —
think about such things."
-- Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

i have seen manila bay in good light. this is how it looks like.


this is the philippines' manila bay
yes, it looks as awesome as that. i took this picture one early november morning last year. sure, it does not have the cleanest seawater but under good natural lighting conditions and under clear blue skies, manila bay gives one's eyes a truly amazing sight to behold.


picture was taken using a nikon d60
manual exposure
time stamp: 2009:11:01 06:49:01

tsinelas

"In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary."
--Aaron Rose

what can you say about a five-year old pair of everyday slippers? that it was black, ordinary, and other than the 'summer walk' embossed on its soles, it was as brandless as no-name-recall. that it was mine and that, just this morning, it gave up on me.

my 5-year old brandless pair of everyday slippers gave up on me today. there, i've written it down. that's something i just have to let out. wear-and-tear finally succeeded at severing the right half at its weakest link.

it was with me -- it was my everyday wear -- during my UP diliman days. it traveled with me to mindanao, accompanied me back to manila, stayed with me in laguna, transferred with me to batangas, and, today, it reached its end of duty.


old meets new
goodbye, tsinelas.

you have served me well. i knew when i first saw you that you were not designed for abuse. nevertheless, i bought you for that purpose and you lived up to that. you've demonstrated a staying power that earned my amazement. you even put my merrell pair of shoes to shame -- that merrell pair which i could no longer use since one year and eight months ago because it hated surviving mud and bowed out of active duty by cracking open in the wrong places.

i'll say it again and for the last time: goodbye, tsinelas.

you now have a successor. it is white, ordinary, and other than the "palm beach" embossed on its soles, it is as brandless as no-name-recall like you are. but it is mine and, beginning today, it is the new everyday pair for my feet and it shall have the burden of living up to your feat.

p.s. erich segal, the guy who wrote the book, love story, died this week. he started that book this way: "What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me." that, in a way, makes the first paragraph of this write-up familiar.

local travel list/wishlist

happy. life. under the tropical sky.


batanes (february 2010! tuloy na 'to!)

ilocos (vigan and pagudpud)

apo reef

masbate

romblon

anawangin, zambales

donsol, sorsogon for encounter with the butandings and the fireflies

bohol-siquijor (by 2010 mid-year or after; if there's a side-trip to cebu island, too, why not?)

tubbataha reef (but this will probably be more likely only after i get a scuba diving license)

i don't mind going back to palawan. i love it there.

i don't mind going back to bukidnon, either (gotta try that 840-m long zipline 4000 feet above mean sea level; i read about it on inquirer)

tawi-tawi

in and around panay island

mt. pulag

any of those mountains in batangas for some climb training

babuyan islands

those parts of the philippines and then the world!


jumpin' high

DARE TO TOUCH THE SKY!
This photo was taken at Tamaraw Beach in Sabang, Puerto Princesa, Palawan last August 27, 2009. While others were busy taking pictures closer to the water, I celebrated my first few hours on the sands of truly beautiful Puerto Princesa by playing with the wind, jumping happily, and giving the Palawan sky a well-deserved high five.

now, what did i miss?

a small wish come true

".o0 (happy thoughts, happy thoughts. holidays are coming!
all in a row, all in a row --
11, 18, 25, 1 | wish kong makita si piolo :D)"
-- my tweet of the day for 8th of december 2009

on december 13, 2009, sunday, my tweet of the day was:
.o0 (i got my wish! i finally saw piolo in person, nakausap ko pa. if ang gwapo n'ya sa tv & print, super gwapo n'ya sa personal.)

proof? oooops! i was sooo starstruck -- i forgot about having my photo taken with him or even just taking a close-up photo of him. i got him to sign my copy of his decades album though. here, originally posted in my facebook account on 13th of december 2009:


signed album package
this is what we call christmas and birthday gift
thank you, kuya piolo!!!

---

Val,

Merry Xmas!
Happy Birthday!

Piolo

---

Piolo: Val... na walang malay? :-)
Val: Hahaha, hindi. Syempre meron! :D

bicol trippix and through it all

11.27-30.09
a long weekend spent in the philippines' bicolandia
http://kulitjr3.multiply.com/photos/album/538/bicol_trippix

sharing 86 of the 1000+ pics (gasp!) taken while visiting caramoan, camarines sur and legazpi city in albay and the places in between and along the way with anthony and don and our new friends -- neil and rachel

places hit: naga city. sabang. guijalo. el centro, caramoan. paniman. lahos island. matukad island. balinan island. minalagos island. tabgon. lahuy island. cotivas island. sapitang lahi island. malilipot. legazpi city. daraga.

i missed the action in CWC but was able to catch up with the group in naga city (i told anthony and don that if they don't show up and meet me in naga for the caramoan-then-legazpi trip, i won't hesitate to have their names included in bicol's police blotter :D haha!)

why caramoan? it's the place of choice of survivor spain, survivor france, survivor israel, and survivor bulgaria -- yep, survivor the reality tv show

why legazpi city? to see mt. mayon in full glory and to try the zipline in lignon hill!

we have plans of going back to bicol for more of CWC, to see the butandings in donsol, sorsogon, and to explore parts of mayon while riding ATV's. hehe.

see you in my multiply for the rest of the photos and see you in the next trip(s) -- batanes days 2010 are coming near!

meanwhile, you gotta love experiencing,living, singing, hearing, and humming this...

You are forever in my life
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness

11.21.09 thank you, Lord for this big beautiful rainbow
picture was taken using my mobile phone while i was making my way out of batangas for manila | vantage point for this particular scene: the spacious vacant lot of the pamilihang bayan ng sto.tomas, batangas

And I look to You
And I wait on You

11.27.09 wow, rainbow!!! | sabang, camarines sur

I will sing to You, Lord
A hymn of love
For Your faithfulness to me

11.28.09 another rainbow sighting on a saturday afternoon | as seen from sapitang lahi island, caramoan, camarines sur

I'm carried in everlasting arms
You never let me go
Through it all

11.28.09 through it all! | the sky gifted us with this awesome sight of the sun rays as we raced for paniman from sapitang lahi island, caramoan, camarines sur

-- Through It All, Hillsong

taal trek happiness!

"Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember,
and remember more than I have seen."
--Benjamin Disraeli

after i first set foot on tagaytay and got the feel of the place in 2002, there was never a year that i missed visiting the place. i've experienced the birth of many life-long bonds and heartwarming moments there -- intangible stuff which, aside from the uniquely tagaytay ambience, i look forward to in every visit.

i relish experiencing the beauty of tagaytay and the wonderful sights to see there and from there. from the numerous viewdecks (each one of them unique, i say) of tagaytay, one gets to see the taal lake and the islands in it -- one truly inspiring sight to behold, especially in the early mornings when the fogs let up and reveal the distant islands and during sunset when darkness slowly creeps and blends seemlessly with the mesmerizing scenery making it fade, but with the promise of being seen again along with the next rising of the sun.

with my yearly visits to tagaytay, those distant islands in the lake always caused me to wonder and to imagine a lot of great things. seeing them always reminded me of those times when i used to look into my sibika at kultura book in grade school and i'd be lost in those pages where pictures of the volcano in a lake are printed. for me, back in grade school, the sight was reachable and can be viewed only, at best, in full-colored postcards. needless to say, that changed and i got to see with my own eyes what i only used to see in pictures -- a lake and, in it, distant islands, beckoning.

taal lake as seen from the ridge

one of those distant islands in the lake and the most popular of them all -- by name, at least -- is the taal volcano, reputed to be the world's smallest active volcano. if that does not make taal volcano interesting enough, read what the travel guides say about it. it is believed to be a volcano within a lake within a volcano -- the ridges of tagaytay being remnants of a big, old crater of what used to be a big, big volcano in the biggest island (luzon) of this volcanic archipelago (the philippines) in this part of asia (southeast asia).

last october 11, 2009, which was a sunday -- and a sunshiny sunday to boot -- i laid my what-ifs and what's-in-that-island-thoughts to rest. i set foot on taal volcano and walked all the way to where i could get a full view of the crater, which is hidden when viewed from tagaytay.

setting foot on taal volcano | following the path to see the crater

it was a 4-kilometer uphill walk under the direct heat of the mighty sun with the awesome company of equally adventurous and travel-loving people, most of whom i first met and made friends with in el nido, palawan. for us, a trek is a trek is a trek is a trek...

taal trek buddies!

while most other tourists would opt to rent horses to reach the taal volcano viewpoint, we went for the old school alternative. we spared the horses and exercised our legs and lungs instead.

part of the 4-km regular path going to the crater of the taal volcano

we chose to walk the 4-kilometer regular path up and the 4-kilometer regular path down -- encountering earthworms, mountain snails, crows, malnourished papaya plants, one dead baby cobra, and lots of horse manure along the way. the volcano is gently sloping so the trek isn't really difficult. in fact, our tour coordinator walked with us on her wedge sandals. yes, wedge sandals! way to go.

the taal volcano crater

the sight of the crater is breathtaking. what's interesting about it? it has an island. imagine this: an island (vulcan point) within a crater (taal crater) within an active volcano (taal volcano) within a lake (taal lake) within an old volcano.

vulcan point in taal crater

apart from the sulfuric-smelling steam steadily coming out from some of the rocks we passed by, there's not much to see along the way that i haven't seen in other places. maybe, it's because it's the regular path, after all. i believe taal's secret trail (yes, there is a so-called secret trail which is not really so secret but so named because only a few people opt to take that less popular but more challenging path) would be something else and would reveal a lot of things that are really uniquely taal. there's always a next time, right?

two-hulled sailboats | taal lake yacht club

oh, i love, love, love the boat ride and the sight of colorful catamarans (two-hulled sailboats) in talisay's taal lake yacht club. the lake looked so big and blue and yet so calm; crossing it on our bright yellow boats felt so perfect.

crossing the taal lake on board the yellow boats from the yacht club in talisay

when our boatman lost control of our boat, dalag, and we hit the rear of pawikan (the other boat) even before we could reach taal volcano, i had the time of my life. it was one of those could-have-been very dangerous moments that i ended up enjoying because i had so much faith that the boats will hold together and the big, deep lake will not dare eat us up.

taal trek happiness!

p.s.
(1) may tumalo sa tour coordinator namin... inakyat ang taal na naka-fishnet stockings and high heels! winner!
(2) na-dehydrate ako that day kasi nakalimutan kong uminom ng tubig during the uphill hike. ano ba? haha
(3) mabibilis kami maglakad pero tumagal lang kami sa trek path kasi picture kami ng picture.
(4) ok, ok, enough of this... next trip!