Trip to Mt. Makiling

I wrote this post in my tumblr blog two years ago. ;)

If life was easy, where would all the adventures be?

Mt. Makiling hiking adventure! :)

Climbing a mountain was an item in my bucket list. It was a lifetime achievement for me – an experience that I will cherish. It made me glad that once in my life I got to experience reaching the peak of a mountain.

I was excited when I learned that our class will be going to Peak 2 of Mt. Makiling. I went hiking at Mt. Makiling last summer, but I only reached the Mud Springs.

It was a requirement in NASC 10. I quite enjoyed it. I never thought hiking could be that fun. This semester, I took up SFFG 111 and got surprised when I saw its course outline. Looks like I’ve another shot at reaching this infamous mountain’s peak. 

The call time was 5:30am. I’m a morning person so I didn’t have any trouble waking up early. After all, I’m used to such call times. But I guess my friends weren’t. I had to wait up for them.

As soon as I woke up, I immediately sent a text message to my classmates Czinni, Aislynn, Sittie, Nash and Jireh. They’re also my orgmates.  That’s why I’m much closer to them compared to my other classmates. 

At the first few stations, I felt it was easy climbing the mountain. The pathway was wide and wasn’t that rough. After a few hours of walking, I felt my feet becoming weary. It didn’t bother me much so I just kept on walking. A couple of hours more and I soon realized that everything’s becoming steeper – and also way muddier if you ask me. It started to become exhausting. We were fighting against gravity. Our own weight was our enemy. Lucky I had Aesen along. He carried our bag, which had all our stuff in it. Whenever I got thirsty, he’d offer me one of the big water bottles we bought at 7 11. I am blessed, indeed!

The walk may have taken a long time but we had limatiks to keep us company. Every 15 minutes someone would scream because hordes of these tiny minions would stick up to their legs and necks. I personally found it very entertaining. I don’t get it why my fellow hikers found these little things scary and disgusting. Yep, it may require quite an effort to jiggle them off, but the thing is when it all comes down to it, they’re just harmless freaks of nature.

Amidst all these tiring physical effort, I still managed to notice and observe the different kinds of species on our way. Mt. Makiling is a diverse mountain indeed. I took pictures of the plants and insects that were new to me. I couldn’t help myself; I wrote a blog about it.

           I commend the foresters and forest guards in charge of conserving and governing the forest. As our trek guide said, the trek was now improved. The Mt. Makiling is well taken care of.

            I’m glad that I took SFFG 111 as a technical subject. I’ll be able to apply the things I learned here in writing feature articles and producing audio visual materials. I would really recommend it to my org mates.

            Of all the course activities I’ve experienced, hiking at Mt Makiling is the best. I’m glad that my boyfriend and I celebrated our fourth month nature tripping. J

Trip to Hundred Islands, Pangasinan

Okay, this blog post is kinda outdated. I've been to Pangasinan last May 2014. And this is my story. :)

It's been five years since our last family out of town trip. Our vacations every summer stopped when mom got pregnant. Since our baby girl is now ready for a long drive, we're now ready to have vacations every summer. Yay!

We rented a van from UV express with a driver so that we can all enjoy the trip. Dad can't drive for long hours. (signs of aging) hahaha! :)

We left Dasma at around 8pm and we arrived there at 5am. We stayed in my mom's high school friend, sister Emily.

I still can't believe that the high school friend of my mom became a nun. LOL.

Here's a picture of us before we rode a boat to the islands. I don't look like I'm the eldest here. ;)

You can have your "photo op" in the tourism office. They'll ask you to pay for the entrance fee, which is very cheap. I think it's less than 50 pesos.

 
My brother and I enjoyed the boat ride. We were able to take lots of "couple" pictures. :))

I met this guy who really looks like Apl de Ap. He calls himself Buko de Ap because he sells buko juice in one of the islands.  

Here's another "couple" picture of us. Oh how I wish I brought my boyfriend there. Oh wait, I don't have a boyfriend. HAHAHA!

We saw an island with a secret cliff. Hey, It's my first time to jump off the cliff!

We also went to an island where there's a replica of Dyesebel. That's the setting of the first Dyesebel movie.

I love the cave adventures. And oh, some bats are visible in the caves.

My siblings and I really enjoyed the island hopping... 

...and the photo shoot! (Thanks mom! haha)

This little girl is the happiest. :)

I'm ending this post with a family picture. <3

Trip to Nagsasa Cove, Zambales

 It's not my first time to be in Zambales. I was here three years ago but not in Nagsasa Cove. :) 

18 year old Karla :)

I went there with my mom and dad. Or the other way around. They went there with me. It was supposed to be their summer trip with some family friends. I'm thankful that they allowed me to join them. (I payed for my own expenses. HUHUBELS!)

Nagsasa Cove is a one hour boat ride from Pundaquit. Put on a sun block if you don't what to have sun burns. I didn't have it so I said "Hi" to my tan lines. :)

The Sitio Nagsaza is so simple. It is not commercialized. There are no hotels present there. You can only rent some nipa huts and tent. 

The people there are very accommodating. The Aeta community are the ones who sell some souvenirs and clean the area. 

Someday, I'll go back there and teach these kids. I really want to teach children who cannot afford to pay their tuition.

Here are some pictures of the accommodations:

These are their nipa huts. It's just 100 peso per head. 

 

We slept in a tent. Tents are for rent if you don't have one.

 We bought a hammock. It's very relaxing to sleep there. :)

Jet ski! <3

 Here are some of our pictures in Nagsaza Cove. We literally rotated 360 hahaha!

I'm really thankful to experience summer again after four years in college! 

Thanks for reading! See you on my next blog post! :)

Trip to Mt. Pinatubo

It's been a year since I last logged in into this blog. So many things have changed. I may have lost my travel buddy, but it won't stop me from going to a new adventure. So here I am again, telling a story about my adventures. :)

Waiver at the tourism office of Capas, Tarlac

  

 I'm really thankful that my parents allowed me to join their trip. It was supposed to be their trip with some friends. They allowed me to join, provided that I have to pay for my own expenses. #financiallyindependent.

My first 4x4 ride was awesome. It was one of my bucket list to ride that kind of car. It's like I'm strolling in a safari. I hope few years from now, I will be able to visit a safari! :)

 The 4x4 ride lasted for an hour. The driver allowed us to have a stop over and take pictures on the road. 

Red, and yellow, black and white. They are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world

 I like this selfie of my dad. I'm an ultimate photobomber! 

 Here's a picture showing the trails we took while riding a 4x4. The place is very dusty because of Lahar.

It's a very different trail from Mt. Makiling. Oh I forgot to make a blog about my Mt. Makiling adventure! We spent hours walking in these dusty trail. The temperature is really high. I wore long sleeves to prevent sunburn. 

 After a long period of time, I was able to experience being an only child again! All of us were really tired when we arrived at this point but yes, we have to take a picture. LOL.

 The trail near the crater is more beautiful than the previous trail. It is surrounded by plants and a little bit of water.

I thought that it is the end of the trail but I'm glad that we we're able to go down the lake. 

 

 We were in Tarlac when we started hiking. I was surprised that the crater is located in Zambales! Imagine, we traveled from one province to another just by walking! It's an achievement, indeed.

 The long walk is really worth taking. The crater was breath taking. I've never seen this kind of place before. This is one of the highlights of my summer.