The Trek

I have no idea how hard the climb was to get to Aninuan Falls or how long it will take to get there. I’m not mountaineer nor I have a real workout for months. Worse, I’ve been smoking for over a month now.

The sun was almost high up when we started the climb so imagine how I sweated like buckets. Halfway towards the falls, I could’ve opted not to proceed – I was already a walking waterfalls. But no matter, I kept on walking. It was a hard climb but not agonizing. You still get the constant reward of a wonderful view of the mountains and the sea and of clean fresh air.

The Falls

The waters of Aninuan Falls were cold! With reckless abandon, I waded in right away. I was hot and sweaty and the clean cool waters were just what I needed.

I would’ve stayed longer; Mang Islaw won’t mind. But I just worry that if I starve myself much – it was noon when we got there – I wouldn’t have enough energy to trek back to White Beach. I don’t really want to slid of some of those narrow paths if I’m weak-kneed with hunger; my fall would be painful.

Next time, I would bring packed lunch so I could stay longer and we could cry longer… (Sinong emo??) At this point, you could see how I failed attaining my first objective – to forget. I guess I could never forget; hopefully, the tears can heal… (Isa pa – sinong emo??)

I so wanted to go back to that waterfalls again!

Mang Islaw

I would definitely look for Mang Islaw if I decide to visit Aninuan Falls again. I enjoyed chatting with him; he knows when to talk and when to keep quiet. He starts on a topic and keep it going not just for the sake that we were talking.

I told him of my reason for being there. He assured me that I seem to be ok – mukhang mabait, baka nasobrahan lang sa bait. But mostly, I let him do all the talking. He talked about the many jobs he has been through – as a fisherman in the seas of Palawan, a marble quarryman, a construction worker, a magic ’shrom jam maker, he worked at the forestry, as a repairman, etc, etc, etc. He also talked about his first love – his wife, and their 10 kids. Unfortunately, someone advised against his wife getting a ligation kaya dumami! He talked about wanting to leave his nagger wife or find himself a few more girls but wouldn’t entertain the thoughts longer than necessary nor act on it; he worries about his kids. Anyway, he says, he has no choice.

I’ve reflected on that one thought that I’ve heard from Islaw the Guide: of course we have a choice. Sometimes we feel that we don’t have a choice because what we are, what we want for ourselves, what we say or do, is completely different form what the society or our very own friends and families says is acceptable. We drop what we want as not an option; we go for what your community says is good; therefore, there’ll be no choice but that one. But are we being true to ourselves? We could have also already conceded defeat to the hard path to take you there. We take the easier path and convince ourselves that that is what we really wanted; that we are contented with our choice…

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Oh! I could go on and on. But I’ll have to stop, I just think too much. I’ll post accompanying pictures on this entry next time. <3

Have you heard about this –> 12 dead in Batangas sea mishap ?

M/V Commandos was my preferred ride from Batangas Pier to Puerto Galera. I’ve read in a few blogs that their boats were new and are well-maintained. I’ve researched as much as what bus and boat to ride. All the rest, I’ve left it to my quirky whim; I was still undecided to which beach I would head to – White Beach or Talipanan – up until the boat reached the shores of White Beach. The boat’s next stop is Talipanan but I let my feet take me to White Beach instead.

I slept a little past 10PM on Friday night, forced myself to wake up by 3AM. I even pondered for a bit if I could just leave by 8 or 9 AM but decided I’ll have to start moving or else I might change my mind on leaving. That is the best perk of traveling alone, time is in your hands. So I left my dear abode by 4AM, waited for a LRT Leveriza bus in front of Mercury Drug Crossing, got off at LRT Gil Puyat station (P20 from Crossing to LRT Gil Puyat), crossed the pedestrian over pass to the otherside of the road and rode an RRCG bus in front of 711 to Batangas Pier (P167). How detailed can I get? When I got there, I was kind of lost as to which terminal to head to but of course you’ll just have to follow the throng of people heading for the same direction. I quickly spotted the M/V Commandos ticket booth and bought a round trip ticket for P450, and paid for an environmental fee of P50 and a terminal fee of P10.

The boat ride to White Beach was fairly smooth. We even spotted a swarm of dolphins swimming near our boat when we left the Batangas port and a yellow butterfly was fluttering near the outrigger on the side I was sitting on while we were nearing White Beach. The sky was blue, the sun was shining bright; it promised me a very beautiful Saturday. Perfect!

Only abycruz knew of my real destination. I only disclosed my real whereabouts to 3 more of my friends after my massage by the beach because I was wondering if they could recall the name of the masseuse we hired 2 years ago on that same beach.

Imagine my shock when I watched the Breaking News on tv that night. They reported first on the boat headed for Puerto Galera with engine failure; nothing’s really tragic about that, everyone got back to shore safe. Immediately after that was the report on the M/V Commandos boat that sunk. There were casualties.

12 died. [let's pause for a few moments to pray for their souls]

It happened early Saturday afternoon on a good weather. It is so morbid to think what if I were the 13th casualty; this crazy girl checked in on room 12 should have been the 13th tragic death of that sea mishap, with only 1 dear friend knowing of her whereabouts. I only told 3 other friends where I was around 5:30-6PM after my massage. I’ve heard it on the evening’s breaking news around 10PM; Kat called right away after the news finished.

I wondered… what if, what if…

I’m not yet really sure what to think of it. I’m wondering if it were a wake up call on at least letting my family know where I truly am when I am on such trips. Or if I shouldn’t really be going out of town alone.

Still, a lot of people are doing this all the time, haven’t they? I mean, look at Dora the Explorer, does she really still go home to tell her parents that they’ll be going to the Toy Maker’s house to bring Robot back home? Oh, yeah, at least she has Boots for a companion. Still, how old is she? And a monkey for a companion?

Even if the trip was a bit of a fail (staying in an accomodation in direct plain view of a place that I should have stayed clear off), I would love to do it again. When and where, I’m not yet sure. Any suggestions?

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Can you guys help determine for me if the person on the right is the same person as on the left? I can’t decide!

Okay! Not the same person!

:p

Weird lang kasi if they were the same person. Kasi I only got to chat with Nanay Lydia towards the end of my massage because I was so busy chilling-listening to songs on Poppy. During the few moments that we chatted she shared a little about her kids, about two of the six being deaf… I had the strangest feeling of deja vu; I think I’ve heard of the same kwento from before.

If it were, I’ll continue on expressing my surprise. But if it weren’t, let’s leave this post on an honest mistaken identity. And I’ll just extend my many thanks to Nanay Lydia for the relaxing well needed massage after my almost 1-hour trek to the falls and another hour back to White Beach. Next time you get to visit there and would want a good massage by the beach, maybe you could ask for her.

The damage to my wallet for a massage by the beach was P200 and I even got a free bracelet, so I won’t forget her daw next time I’ll decide to visit there again.