127 hours: Morbidity In Its Truest Sense

As I was browsing the movie list, I got curious about 127 hours which was directed by Danny Boyle of Slumdog Millionaire. I never heard of it nor seen its trailer so I thought it was about rock climbing adventure. Adventurer as I am, I watched it in the hope of learning some rock climbing techniques. While watching it, I envied the scene wherein he with the two ladies let go between the rocks of Grand Canyon and ended up diving on a hidden oasis at the under  the two high rise boulders. I really wish I could go to that place and experience the thrill. However, as the movie progressed and the lead actor got his right arm stuck between the rocks, I had second thoughts of experiencing his adventure. Well, to cut the movie short, he decided to cut his stuck arm after a couple of days. [If I were him], I wouldn't wait that long specially if I know that I'm in the middle of nowhere and I wouldn't get help from anyone. 

Islam vs. Catholic Beliefs

Sunday. June 5, 2011. 

6pm Mass. At a small church in Imus, Cavite.

Lately, I felt really lazy to go to church. Not that I don't have the faith anymore but I don't think priests nowadays are the best instrument to disseminate God's words.

The reproductive health bill (RHB) which is a rampant topic in print media and televisions are also part of the Sunday's homily in a church near my tita's house where I am staying right now. For me, every people is entitled to their own opinion and not all Catholics attending the mass are anti-RHB so priests should also respect that and not let us [pro-RHB] feel that we don't deserve to be there since we are against them.

So this week, I decided to let alone pray instead of attend the mass. But then, my aunts asked me to come with them and since I have no choice but to follow, I attended the mass thinking that maybe the priest will be different and the homily is not about politics.  When the homily started, I was readying myself for the same RHB homily that the same priest always delivers. Thankfully, that didn't happen. But he lectured us on the faith of Muslims to Allah as compared to Catholics on God. He said, 99% of the total population in Malaysia are Muslims. Their dedication to their religion is incomparable to us.  They wake up at as early as 5am to say their prayers. They carry big handkerchiefs which are not used for their sweat but for worship. When I was taking up History 2 at the University of the Philippines Los Banos, I came to appreciate the Muslim culture since my professor, Ms. Pena who was taking up Islamic Studies at UP Diliman that time was telling us some things which made us understand that religion. And because of this very few knowledge on Islam culture, I was disappointed at the officiating priest, Fr. Erwin dela Cruz (if I'm not mistaken) when he chanted the Muslim prayer as "Allalalalalah bili-bili na kayo balut penoy" for the morning prayer and "Allalalalla taho taho" for the noon prayer. I almost walked out of the church for hearing such mockery against other religion. Take note: it was from a priest - a known person who disseminate the goodness of the Lord. For him-to-make-fun-of-other-people's-religion is not a good example to the kids who are listening to his words. What did the others do upon hearing that? They laughed with him - the priest! If a Muslim heard that, they will surely get mad at him. Having a priest like that should make a Catholic think twice if this is the appropriate religion for him/her... just like what I am feeling right now.

I don't know if praising their virtues and gestures towards their religion after the mockery would make me feel good about his sermon. Even though he gave those uplifting words towards Muslims while scolding at us, Catholics, which he quoted as not-Catholic-enough and not-Catholic-by-heart for lacking the commitment to be one, I still see him as someone who don't deserve to lecture us on goodness for he is not the right example for that. 

We might have different religions, call God in different names such as Jesus, Buddha, Allah, but still I think we are just worshiping the same person. So, who are we to mock other religion?

West Visayas Adventure (Day2)

Day 2 is for Camp Kasal. It was so far the most unique wedding I've ever attended. Well, I wasn't surprised since Kei and Wilson really have creative minds and great ideas. We woke up early that day. We were so busy setting ourselves up (since we are part of the entourage). Everybody complied with the theme, Chucks and Corduroy, of course. We stayed at Buenos Aires Mountain Resort but the wedding was conducted at Lunao Springs in Maao, Bago City, a private mountain refuge of Kei's mom, Tita Tess, which is around 15 minutes away from where we stayed.

Buenos Aires Mountain Resort

While waiting for the sugar cane truck.

Ride to the wedding.

 The mountain wedding was so unique and solemn. It was done at the foot of Mt. Kanlaon. A lot of people came eventhough the place was remote. I was one of the people who wouldn't miss this momentous event. I witnessed how they love each other over the years that I've known them. We weren't suppose to shed a tear during the entourage but we did. The moment Kei walked down the aisle, I felt really happy for them. I thought I was the only one crying, but then again, when I turned to my former mousemates, they were also crying. haha! It was bad to cry when you'll know that you will ruin your make up and worse if you even forgot to bring tissue or hanky with you. Haha.

The cute scouts for the wedding.

we are the groomsman and bridesmaid aka junior scouts.

The wedding kiss <3

This is our group picture. Most people on the left side are the Baguio
friends and on the right are the Elbi friends.

Our chucks.

I just love this picture.

After the ceremony, we indulged in their breakfast buffet. I particularly love the dried tapa with pinakurat and lechon Bacolod that I barely ate other food. As we were eating, we were serenaded by the Edralins. They sang classic pop music. Their Beatles-inspired look and great music are the best. Check them out here and their music here.

The Edralins

 There are different stations in the wedding, I particularly enjoyed the DIY (Do It Yourself) and Snap Station. The DIY is where we made our own souvenirs of our choice based on wooden beads and other materials available. We took a picture of us in the snap station, I think the newly weds will  collect the photos as their souvenirs as well. We went back to the Buenos Aires Mountain Resort in the afternoon to prepare for the night's event.

Cameraaaaas! *_*

I enjoyed this station so much.

 The night of the wedding was the bonding time for the visitors. We spend the night jamming, getting to know each other, sharing stories, taking pictures, requesting songs, drinking... and more drinking. Thanks to San Miguel for the drinks.

Bon Fire

This is how to end a great celebration.

Congratulations Kei and Wilson! We wish you all the best. We love you! :)

The W+K Camp Kasal was also featured in Rock n Roll Bride and in the Manila Bulletin. Check out this link.

West Visayas Adventure (Day1)

We were looking forward to this year's summer, not only for the exciting trip that awaits us but also to witness my former mousemate's (Kei Mamangun), wedding to her long time boyfriend, Wilson Sison. We've been waiting for promo ticket sales of different airlines, been busy saving up money for the event, and been readying ourselves for the most-awaited event of our summer 2011.

We left for Bacolod at 2:45 in the afternoon and arrived about an hour after the leaving Manila. So because of the Zest Air promo fare, I only spent around Php. 900.00 for my round trip ticket (Manila - Bacolod Silay Airport, vv) plus 400 airport tax (200 one way). 

Upon arrival at Silay Airport

This was taken while we were looking for the W+K bus.

 A bus waiting for us [Camp Kasal people] at the airport parking lot took us to Buenos Aires Mountain Resort where we checked in for the anticipated wedding. We had two long hours of tiring trip to Bago City because of the heavy traffic caused by the road construction. Unlike in Manila, most vehicles I saw were sugar cane trucks. I really felt that I was really in Negros since on our way were lots of sugar cane fields and we saw typical movie-like farmers manually carrying sugar canes to train carts. Also, this bus sign paved away my exhaustion.

Dinner was served when we got there. They called it "Welcome to Negros" dinner since dishes served were Negros delicacies like batchoy (noodle soup), kadios (black beans soup), apan-apan (veggie dish) and the famous inasal (grilled chicken). All dishes were delicious but I was really hooked at eating the batchoy and inasal. Yum! I slept really full that night. I forgot to take pictures of the food because of hunger. :))

Biyaheng Puraran, Catanduanes

Catanduanes is the island on the eastern part of Bicol. In order to get there, you need to ride at Tabaco Port in Albay. The fare costs around 250 pesos (ordinary fare as of 2010 of RORO Penafrancia Shipping Corp.). You have to get there as early as 5:30am so that you won't miss the ship. It took us around three hours. I got bored since there's nothing to do while on the ship but to chat and look at the endless sea. But the boredom was lessen upon seeing the beautiful island of Catanduanes. I never realized that I can still see a different kind of place in Bicol such as this. I should really explore my province then.

Catanduanes after three long hours! yehey! Photo by CG Guerta.

First sight of Catanduanes. photo by JedRosell

When we got to Virac Port, we took the old school jeep-like bus to Baras, Catanduanes (fare:45pesos/head). 

Photo by Jed Rosell. He was riding on top of the jeep.

When we reached Baras, my skimboard fell from the top load of the jeep so we searched for a hardware and found only one hardware exists in that place. We were hungry and there was no food available in the carinderia. Thank God there was only one open sari-sari store where we bought softdrinks, biscuits and canned food. Tip; bring lots of food if you will go there. Since we were new in that place, we didn't know that there are only two trips to and from Puraran so if you miss it, you need to wait till morning in order to get there. We didn't like to stay in Baras so we took the tricycle and paid 150 pesos. The driver took us to Puraran so we can save our time, get to the beach and follow our schedule so we could go back to Albay in the following day. The trip was really exhausting. We really should have gone to Caramoan or any beach near our place.

Upon arrival at Puraran, we ended up renting a cottage worth 300pesos (which is cheaper than we expected) at a resort we thought as Puraran Beach Resort (the one Jed saw in the internet) but it was just an unknown resort beside it. 

Miko in the hut. Photo by Jed Rosell

The beach was about 10 to 15 meters from the hut. As usual, seeing the nice Pacific Coast and knowing I was at the eastern-most part of the Philippines was really breath-taking. We swam, skimmed, took photos until late afternoon. 

The beach. Photo by CG Guerta.

Out of curiosity, we crossed the slippery cliff just to get to the part where a monument is placed.

Slippery cliffs.

The climb-able rocky side of the seaside mountain with the creepy monument. Photo by CG Guerta.

The monument.

There was this monument which served as a warning for people that a Japanese tourist died in that area upon falling off the cliff. So people who go there should be very careful. 

The dangerous cliff according to the monument.

This is me with the famous Puraran "rock" background.

Things were getting really creepy so after taking some souvenir pics, we headed to the safer side of the beach. Note: The waves were crazy at around 4-5pm onwards so don't swim if you don't want to drown. The undertow was really scary. Even the natives were not swimming. We spent the night taking photos and eating (We bought our meal at the canteen of Puraran Beach Resort), drinking and stargazing

Great place for skimboard practice! Fine sand +great waves. Photo by CG Guerta.

Surf boarding competition was also held at this place during late summer. My friends wanted to try surfing but there was no instructor available at that moment.

Stary night in Puraran Catanduanes. Photo by Jed Rosell.

The following morning, we spent the day swimming. 

Sunrise. Photo by JedRosell.

We left Puraran at around 9am to catch the 11am jeep to Barac and 1pm ship to Tabaco City, Albay. While waiting for the ship to depart, we ate at seafood restaurant at the pier.

The seafood restaurant at the pier.

The ship from Virac to Tabaco was OVERLOADED! as compared to Tabaco-Virac trip. I know that there was only one ship trip per day but they are not allowed to accommodate passengers that are more than their capacity. My gosh. It was an exhausting trip back to Albay. We were looking for a place where we could get some fresh sea breeze and not sweat breeze so we ended up sitting on a truck. 

On top of a cargo truck.

Though we enjoyed the beach, I think I will explore other beaches on the other side of Catanduanes next time.