13thwitch site was hi-jacked

My 13thwitch site was hi-jacked and I cannot log in.  Worse, google tagged it as a malware site :( this made me decide to go back and revive this blog. sigh. all those posts i've lost...anyways, i'm glad to be back :)

4 reasons why i like Guada's Villa

Tired from a 3-hour ride from Davao to General Santos City, I was determined to crawl into whatever surface that will allow me a few hours of sleep before the Blogfest 2.0 the following day.  Avel, Blogfest 2. organizer and Socksargen Bloggers leader, ushered us to this fab place that eventually charmed me that I wish it was my home sweet home. Below are the reasons why:

1. The Space

  Guada’s Villa is small enough for privacy and big enough to accommodate a big family.

The space is not crampy to accommodate families.  Three families could share the Villa.  The rooms are spacious enough for people to be comfortable even if there are more than eight people present.  It is spacious but not big enough to lose family members, especially rowdy children.

Zabadini Escapade

Apparently, everyone has heard of Zabadini except for me.  It was my first time in the persian restaurant and I instantly fell in love with the ambiance.  I love that we can sit on the carpet, play with the pillows and even eat on a low table as if we are cozily hanging out at home.  The restaurant manager told us that Zabadini means “Core of Goodness”…oh goody goody good.

Zabadini has its own in-house persian cat. he is 7 weeks old and flirty as hell. hehe

Lj's Graduation

My brother demanded that I be present in his kid’s graduation.  Normally, I’d be flattered, but he wants me there not as a guest but as his photographer. ugh!  When he first sent me a message, I did not answer.  To get his point across, he camped in my house and informed me we are to leave 9am the next day.  That’s the thing with little brothers — they are pretty insistent.

LJ is my little nephew who graduation in kindergarten last saturday. He was one of the students who graduated with merits.

Street Bubbles

I recently attended Discover Davao Photography Workshop by Jojie Alcantara and Rhonson Ng last March 19-20.  During the workshop Rhonson Ng showcased his photography works and one shot that captivated me was this photo of a person, on a sunset , blowing bubbles.  I said to myself that I would get one and opportunity came when my little brother invited me– well not really invited, but rather mandated me to take photos of his son graduating in – ehem – kindergarten.

National Bloggers Association (?)

A movement without structure cannot last. Fragmented movements self-destruct.  Eventually, bloggers will need to come together around particular issues. So, the formation of a National Bloggers Association (NBA) was no surprise. However, many bloggers across the Philippines find blogging personal not business.

The NBA was suggested in the aftermath of the "Big Bad Blogger Issue".  The issue concerned a marketing group earning hundreds of thousands of pesos by exploiting a blogger while paying him a only a few thousand pesos to gather fellow bloggers for events and encouraging them to write reviews. From this perspective, the unethical behaviour of the marketing group needs regulating.  They effectively sold the results achieved by the blogger without disclosing this and without fair compensation. So, was "Big Bad Blogger" really the culprit?  If anything, he is ignorant or naive--this blogger performed work without understanding the terms and the context undervalueing his worth as an "organizer" when the PR firm hired him not solely as a blogger but rather as a someone to deliver the results for their clients.

Filipino Accent Tutorial by Mikey Bustos

I find this video interesting.  It's amazing how simple, and funny, things like this sheds light to some trivial little misconceptions.  Yes, it was done in jest and what he talks about may not be accurate but it paints a certain picture as to why pinoys' accent, sometimes, is such.

1. Spanish colonialism - 300 years of spanish colonialism added influence to the pinoy's persepective and language.  The spanish language is heavily mandated by accent.  Words ending in a vowel; n or s are stressed on the first syllable -- e.g. libro, mesa, lunes.  Words ending in consonant (not N and S), the stress is on the last syllable -- e.g. papel, verdad

2. The Filipino Alphabet - Alibata,  our very own alphabet do not have an F or a TH

Conquering Mt. Apo

Mount Apo is the largest active (but sleeping) volcano in Mindanao and the highest mountain in the Philippines. The mountain has three peaks , a flat top and it is capped by a 500-meter-wide volcanic crater (that contains a small crater lake).  It is also a source of geothermal energy and has around 270 species of birds.

Mt. Apo is the highest peak in the Philippines and is a popular climbing destination in Mindanao.  The earliest recorded climb was in the 1880's led by Don Joaquin Rajal. 

Down South, during our climb was led by Social Climbers, a climbing group that caters to crazy outdoor fanatics wishing to make their lives exciting and difficult by engaging in near-impossible outdoor activities.

Social Climbers arranged our climbing trip and had, because of our inexperience, chosen the easiest route they could map out for the group.  The easiest route via Kidapawan is by no means easy in my vocabulary.  The - ehem- easy route was a, more or less, eight hour climb, half of which you do by almost crawling your way to the top.

Mauro all geared up

I would have to advise newbies who wish to experience climbing for the first time, that it is important to never look back while climbing, especially when you are already on on your last four hours.  The girl in red stilettos made the mistake of checking her progress by looking back and almost instantly saw her life flashback in seconds.  Yes, it was steep and of course, it was dangerous...it was motivational as well.  I am sure, after that, Liam (the girl in red stilettos) climbed with a new determination of staying alive.

Mauro and Sherwin

on our way down

I find death in the mountain appalling... 
because it displays your stupidity, hanging on for dear life...

Reminds me of Catch 22 --only humans are stupid enough to climb crazy peaks to prove they can and by doing so,  proving they are not stupid but if they cannot and slip off the cliff breaking their neck in the process, it validates the stupidity that fueled the stupid idea into action, making them doubly stupid -- hmmm that gives new definition to the word force majure - we are inevitably stupid and cannot avoid if stupidity befalls.  But, because our team was able to climb the peak, you are free to negate our stupidity --no matter how stupid it seems to be.

Social climbers in the first camp site.

But no worries, we are all alive.  Social Climbers made us sign a waiver though...sheesh! But no...we were in no grave danger at all...the waiver was just proof that if, by any chance, something bad happened to us at all, it's nobody's fault but ours.

I did not worry, being blamed comes secondary after death.  Studies show that 90% of all accidents that result in death happen inside the house...and climbing is sooo outdoor, which means there is only but a 10% chance of someone dying to ruin the fun.  Yes, homebuddy, you are more likely in danger compared to us swinging from vine to vine, prancing from rock to rock, singing our hearts out because suddenly there are no neighbors ready to complain and fines to pay because we disturbed the subdivision's golden silence.

Sherwin and Mauro looking at the offering some mountaineers
leave for the spirit of the mountains.

The team's theme song while climbing is "I've finally found someone" by Barbra Streisand because of the "this is it'  line in the chorus and the conviction of tone when singing it.  "This is it!" we'd exclaim as all in the team were scared and the phrase connotes the fact that "this is it", we are in fact climbing now, no use to look for excuses to avoid this circumstance.  As for the other lines that follow-- they were rendered irrelevant hehehe!  Mauro Carmona of Motorcycle Diaries, finds Sheryl Cruz's Mr. DreamBoy comforting though...that is--- after he informed everyone that "Ice Ice Baby" had been running in his head for a while now. Yes the mountains can make you weird as well. 

There are five of us --- Mauro is that red patch behind sherwin.

The weirdest one in our group is Mark Limbaga with his crazy hair and one liner phrases.  We find him to be really fun and this high fashion member of the team was the only one, aside from the social climbers, who was able to climb Apo before this trip.  Mauro, Liam, Sherwin, and I were first timers...ok make it ignorant first timers. 

May I also inform everyone that Liam conquered Apo in black tights with neon colored splatters and she was also my clothing consultant who said that I wouldn't need a jacket at the top. Thank goodness Sherwin has a spare.  Being the girls, we were able to mooch jackets from Sherwin who was left to die in the cold.  Good thing he survived...he got back by keeping the people awake in the middle of the night putting us in forced watch as he slept.

good morning apo. sunrise was around 5.27am

But lack of sleep could not ruin the beautiful sunrise and the scenery that greeted us in the morning.  Nor did it dampen our enthusiasm and excitement to be on Mt. Apo.  Our near death experiences and the imagined epiphanies suddenly seemed so distant as we all fell in love with Mt. Apo.  The grass, the smell in the air, the sunlight, the beautiful rock formations, even the wild berries and the mud...they are all so majestic that you become humbled in their presence.  No net, no cars, no malls...it's just you --there, in the middle of nowhere, intimate with nature.

While climbing, when asked if we are ok, Mauro would say, physically yes, but mentally -- not sure...  We got our psyche scrambled as we found our way up...it's like being torn apart while climbing.  You can never be composed while hanging on for dear life...and to survive you just have to sorta break down (except maybe for Sir Assler who managed to stay immaculately clean and posh while climbing up and back).We crawled in the mud, hugged rocks, slumped on the earth, rested on barks, and found comfort in the wet grass.  Dirty, cold, and privately dreaming of helicopters to take us to the peak, we managed to go up in shatters and come down with a whole new perspective of ourselves. It's suffering we wouldn't normally look for but its experience we know we would never trade for any other ^.^

Liam's partner advised her before we took off  that she has to take in the climbing experience as a spiritual journey because it is something bigger than her...And I guess he is right...  Suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, we become no one.  

Told Liam that KT is very sweet to have sent the message...It's a far more romantic farewell message compared to my BWL and his glaring message of "are you having fun yet?"...  but my guy knows me too well... apparently he's learned that any romantic message makes me cringe...had he left one, I would have remembered it and cringed while climbing making me fall to my demise.  And in that sense, he has saved my life (silly goose, now you are in my post when you are not supposed to be included in here!).

This climb was organized by Down South Magazine, 

a magazine that showcases everything Mindanao from scenic spots, culture, 

people, and business, and by Social Climbers, an outdoor organization 

of professionals who render quality outdoor tours for outdoor enthusiasts and adventurous people.

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our campsite at the peak

Mark Limbaga as he tried to capture the sunrise

porters

cam.trekking shoes.gliders.
mountain backpacks...and five-toe-socks?

Lake Venado is the old crater lake in Apo
and one of the highest lakes in the Philippines.