Apo: 2nd Largest Reef in the World (O ha!)

It's been on my bucket list for two years now and I'm really glad I finally crossed it out. Wagi hindi ba? Thank you Chyng for always inviting me. ^_^ Suki na ko sayo. lol!

I planned to do solo backpacking here before since I saw it on Lakwatsero's page. Naudlot ako dahil sa mahal ng boat. I can't afford to pay 8000.00+ no! Ang dami ko ng mararating sa perang yun (at ilang rebond na ang magagawa nun sa buhok ko.) No way! hihihi! Chyng must have had an idea it was a dream for me kaya sinama niya ko. hihihi!

Everytime I join trip, my excitement meter is always at its best. You know.. the idea of meeting new people.. experiencing place that is new to us.. meeting readers.. co-bloggers... yummy boylet (charot!). hahaha! Being an introvert kid, this is something I can be proud of. (Ang hindi maniwala mababaog)

Sunrise up above

Since its a holy week, airport is expected to be jam packed so for the record, I religiously followed the 2-hour allowance rule. Ayokong maiwan ng plane though I know a way how to sneak in if you're late. hihihi! (Dun ako sa employees entrance dumadaan at nag-aabot ng bente sa guard. hihihi!) Bribery? Heller! E ano ba mas mahal, yung bente o yung rebook?

I met Donnie, Peng, Otep, Jeng and Chyng at the airport. It was the first time I met all of them except for Chyng of course. At kamusta naman ang luggage pang camping. hahaha! Sha ako na ang hindi marunong mag pack light. The others went by bus + RORO. All the while I thought riding an airplane will save us from traveling long hours by land. I was wrong...

Ang cute ng clouds no?

We need to endure a 2-hours bus ride going from the airport to Sablayan.. paksiyet! hahaha! There we met the others - Gladys, Kendra, Aisa, Jay and Kate.

♫ Sa bukid walang papel.. uy! Ikiskis mo sa pilapil! uy! ♫

At hindi pa dun natapos ang lahat... Another 2-3 hours boat ride going to Apo reef itself. You better be gorgeous or else... uhmm.. wala lang.. wala naman na akong magagawa ke maganda ba siya o hindi. hihiih! Nandun na ko e. Sa sobrang tagal ng biyahe, pakiramdam ko wala ng kong pwet pagdating namin.

Meet my new found friends (Lto R) Aisa, Kendra, Gladys, Kate, Jay, Jeng, Otep, (oops! that's me), Peng, and pouting Donnie. I grabbed this from Chyng, obviously. hihihi!

First glimpse of Apo

Splash at Last: Water Tubing in Saranggani

Pagkatapos naming lulain ang mga sarili namin sa zipline adventures in Balakayo, we headed to Amigotel to take our lunch and change for Water Tubing in Saranggani. We left the hotel mga after lunch na. Maitum, Saranggani is 2 hours ride from Gensan. Pero pag nasakyan mo yung sinakyan namin, aabutin ng isang araw. (Char! Ang OA lang.) hihihi! Mga almost 3 hours.

Nagkanda-untog na ko sa salamin ng van sa tagal. Marami kang angry birds na makakasabay so better plug in those earphones. hihihih! Nakarating naman kami. Around past 3pm na yun. I don't know if there are jeepney routes going there from Gensan. Hassle kasi yung akyat baba ng pasahero sa van. At kung ipagsiksikan ang tao parang wala ng bukas. Maximize kung maximize. Imagine apat ang pasahero sa harap. Kulang na lang mag-kandungan sila.

We decided to take the last trip back to Gensan. We crossed the street from the drop off point and ask the drivers on the terminal. I was shocked to find out that the last van will go in 30 minutes. Buti kung pwede ng tumalon agad sa tulay at magpaanod sa ilog para lang masabi na nakapag-water tubing kami.. Kaso hindi. 45 minutes pa, via tricycle or habal habal, yung papuntang New La Union. Dun yung start ng rapids. Panic mode kami. Sa tagal ng binyahe namin na yun tapos ganun lang ang sasabihin nila?!?! Paksiyet. Lugmok na lugmok si Marx. hahaha! Hindi halos makausap. Daig pa na-engkanto. lol! Sabi ko ok lang. Next time na lang. Ayun. Sumakay na kami at ibinaon na sa limot ang naudlot na pangarap...

Ang bigat ng paa namin pagbalik sa hotel. Nagtataka pa kami kung bakit ba wala man lang bukas na Restaurant ng Tuna nung gabing yun. Pampalubag loob sana kung makakasakmal kami ng tuna. Kaso mailap ang kapalaran Ate Charo. Sabi ni Marx, skip na lang namin yung Home stay sa mga T'boli. So before we left Gensan on the last day, we found ourselves heading to Saranggani once again. 2nd attempt was a breeze. Sacrificing a very good sleep was worth it. We woke up at 4am and took the first trip to Saranggani. Splash! 

Isinusumpa ko na ang habal habal so we opted to ride a tricycle going to New La Union. Watch out coz it's raining marbles every where. hahah! Ang ingay ng kaha ni manong.

Mapapa-Super Saiyan ako pag hinabal habal namin ang daang to..

We were the first guests. Naman! Sa sobrang aga naman ewan ko na lang kung may mauna pa no. Nauna pa nga kami sa mga manok dun e.

Gensan: 5th Mountain Balakayo Adventure Park

Oo 5th mountain talaga. Marami e. hahaha! Don't ask me what to see in 1st to 4th. Tinanong ko rin sila niyan at wala akong napala. lol! 

Since Marx already gave me our itinerary a week before we went to Gensan, I already had an idea what to expect. I was surprised to see few habal habal rides going to each destinations. It would be my first time since I really wouldn't ride one while in the metro. Ayaaaaw! 

I'm a zipline addict. Whenever there is and if money permits, hindi ako kailangang pilitin (pero pinauna ko si Marx nung nag zipline kami. lol!)

Kuya: Ang bigat ng likod...

Me: Ha? Ano yun kuya.. may sinasabi ka?!?! hmm?

Marx: (laughs)

Hmp! Hindi pa ko diretsuhin ni kuya. Badtrip. hahaha!

Some of my accidental shots while riding a habal-habal..

Have you tried Kadang-kadang?

Riding kadang-kadang used to be one of the skills I learned during my PE class. Yes I was able to try one on my younger years. Bravo hindi ba?! hihihi! It's good to know that it still exists and that kids are familiar with it. Bangas na bangas ang tuhod ko dahil sa larong to. hahaha!

After about 40 minutes, kuya said one must get off since the road is much more bumpy. He would just go back to that spot to pick up the other. I was so tired so even if we decided to leave Marx first, I got off too for a while. My legs were numb. I couldn't stand up straight. Remember Angelina Jolie's pose that became viral on the net? Ganun. hahaha! Ang sagwa lang..

peek a boo. hihihi!

I'm on a high

After a while, Kuya driver left to pick up Marx. I was with the 2 zipline guides on a waiting shade. Then they approached me with..

Kuya 1: Taga san po kayo ma'am?
Me: Manila pa po.
Kuya 2: Ilan po kayo?
Me: Dalawa lang, may isa pang darating. Di daw kami kaya iahon ng sabay e.
Kuya 1: Ha?! Dalawa lang? E anong gagawin nyo dito?!
Me: Uhh.. Ehh...... Mag zizipline po?

Tumawa lang sila. Ewan.. hihihi!

Care to have lunch?

Marx: Ate! May pagkain po ba dito?

Ate: May manok po kami? Kaya lang po isang buo po dapat ang oorderin nyo.. Di po kami nag luluto ng tingi.

Nakakapagtaka lang. Baka magkapakpak na kami pagkatapos kumain ng sangdamukal na manok at hindi na kailanganin pang mag zipline. Tiis ganda na lang sa Gardenia Ube and Cheese flavor (kailangan talaga sabihin ang flavor e no? lol!).

We were the first guests to arrive. They told us they were experiencing energy crisis that time (brownout lang in short). So we taught we need to wait for the electricity before we start flying. Flying talaga. Hindi nakatiis si ate. 

Ate: Uhm Ma'am.. Sir.. Ready na po kayo?
Kami: E brownout po diba?

Ate: Hahaha! Naku sorry po. Hindi po kailangan ng kuryente para mag zipline. Nag-aantayan lang po pala tayo.

Mag iisang oras na kami ngumangatngat ng tinapay at chichirya. Hayz!

We need to trek for a bit to reach the launch pad. Torture talaga at naguumapaw sa init ang araw. I hate trekking to death.

That's Marx.. Na nakangiti sa lahat ng pictures. lol!

Naaalala ko si Cedie, ang munting prinsipe, sa kanya.. Ayan at aliw na aliw pa habang tumatakbo

Woot woot! Here we go!

Scary. Promise. Kaya nga pinauna ko si Marx. lol!

I told you.. nakangiti siya lagi. hihihi! I'm sure.. kabog kung kabog ang dibdib niyan

Sha ikaw na! ^_^

salumpwet ^_^

We proceeded to the the other launch pad. Ito yung para makabalik ka na sa pinanggalingan. This time we rode in tandem.

Kandong shot. hahahaha!

Sabit ^_^

We also tried riding the open air cable car. At least we got to do sight seeing in relax pace. Wala talagang habas ang pinawis ko sa zipline na yan. Free flowing.

Open air cable car

We were charged around P450.00 for the dual zipline and cable car. (Sorry, memory gap ako. Marx magkano nga?) We paid another P30.00 for the entrance fee (yan sigurado ako).

We went down and found this spot. Parang mini Baguio lang...

Si Marx at ang asong pakalat kalat na handa akong lapain anytime. Kainis! Amoy aso ba ko?!?!

At dahil usisera ako, I forced Marx to take a picture of me in the veranda. Sumunod din siya. hihihi! May nakulong na ba sa trespassing?

We had so much fun though the habal habal ride sucks. Ang sakit sa singit. hahaha! We headed straight to Amigotel to eat lunch and change for Water Tubing in Saranggani. Dito nyo na malalaman kung bakit 10 minutes lang kami nag stay sa Saranggani at umuwi din agad. Abangan....

Note: For the record. This is the longest gap from the last entry. Excited na ko para sa ibang lakwatsa kaya ayoko na ng backlogs. Recently, I thought of giving up blogging just because I felt it is required or something. I almost forgot the reason for creating it. I blog to store memories while on the road.. so I could show it to my future children, so I could escape my what-ifs, so I could fulfill my childhood dream na maging writer kuno. Minsan nakakabagot lang.. I'm no longer excited to blog. Ngayong taon na lang to. I promise. Whew! Pero nagpapasalamat talaga ako sa mga iilang tagasubaybay. Nagiging emo na ko. hahaha!