i live: to experience.to hope.to love.and to die.

glitter-graphics.com

after 40 days of a sequestered sedentary lifestyle which i thought would extend until the 11th month of this year, i was treated to an enlivening break with nature and a bunch of heart-warming people..

DAY 1: first encounter

on the 28th of May, i woke up excitedly to catch up an early trip to naga where i would meet edu's siblings who came straight from manila to join them for another trip from naga to legazpi.

after a whole lot of vomiting,(i got a suka-filled plastic,which i threw instantly and ewwwily after i got out of the van) mama and i arrived at naga city around 11noon.

After lunch, i met up with tata, mek (edu's siblings) and kuya toto (husband of edu's sister) at SM. It was inexplicably hilarious for me because we hardly know each other and in fact this was our first meeting ever, no wonder why as i approached them what they had were blank unaware faces. If i ain't got wrong, only mek got a little familiarity of me since we are facebook friends. hehe (lucky me, i was already familiar with all their faces, since 2007 i already had their photos through edu stored in my computer) Mama bid me goodbye, as i got into the car.

to legazpi..

naga to legazpi supposedly was a 2 hour-drive but the heavy rain prevented as and slowed our pace. we arrived at legazpi after almost 3 hours and we met up with edu, ate mich(edu's sister) and li an(ate mich's 2 1/2-year old son) at alicia hotel. we would supposedly check in to the hotel for overnight in legazpi but plans were hurled into change and instead drove straight to gubat after our halo-halo and goto merienda at Bigg's(everyone was a Bigg's first timer except for edu and i who were a consistent diners of this Bicol's local restaurant.

to gubat..

it was already 11 years since i took this route. Our clan was a constant visitor of gubat, sorsogon. Even when i was still a baby, i already had photos of me taken on the grayish-white sand beach of Rizal. We spent almost every holy week tanned in the sunny shores of rizal.

And yes after long years, i finally was there again, reminiscing.. though i could no longer remember the exact strokes and twitch of the route to sorsogon, the nipa plants still never failed to signal me that i am nearing the coast of rizal.

at 6:30pm we arrived at gubat, at the Uy's residence. And eventually, after many invites, i was able to land my feet on their yard, on their home. I had this unborn joy as i slid my steps to their home. I was all along there, i was all along passing by the road along their house, only unfamiliar of the future that'd become the present. and it felt like a home or a retreat from my real home.

i met their mom, who was undeniably kind and generous. finally i experienced taking lounge on their living room, i got to adore personally the masterfully done paintings of ate mich. I was only able to admire those paintings on photos but at that moment, i was able to have a touch and stroke them, i was able to feel the texture, and i was caught completely amazed, i wished i had hands as good as hers. What's nice was we were both architecture graduate and had the same interests and passion. It was really nice of her to give me all her Board exam reviewers which she really took effort to find and bring all the way from australia. Ate mich a one nice, generous sister. edu didn't fail to remind me of that ever since, and i got to taste first hand, her sister's kindness and generosity.. Ü

dinner..

there were kalabasa, sinabawang seashell (unaware of the shells'name) and crabs.
edu had to ask me, "kumakain ka ba nyan?"
well, i should admit, i am not a fan of tahong, or any shells, i didn't like kalabasa since i was a child, hated crabs for at all times it never failed to wound my fingers first before i could completely indulge on its meat, thankfully, years ago did i found out, i was allergic to them.
but hey, hey, i couldn't take to turn my back from the table and skip the meal for the night.
i grabbed my plate, filled it with kalabasa and indulge with the paghila sa laman ng shell. oh my, you wouldn't bet! i ate them all, and discovered they tasted better that what i thought. they were perfectly cooked, masarap at nakarami ako, though i snubbed the alimango, i really got a complete delightful meal. ayos, aprub..Ü

and at sleep, i got the zzzzzzzz's again with panget dadudz.. one full and filled day was over..

May 29, 2010 Saturday

DAY 2: Orok Cold Spring at San Binon, Bulusan

i was given a good holla as panget rose from the bed. Surprisingly, I notice it was just 6:30am and they were all wide awake and active. Woosh, and think of me?, i was really not a morning person, i would normally get up at 9 or 9:30 am, and when i still had work i would wake up at 7:30 which for me was already a morning torture.. and at work i would feel sleepy at that tick of 10 at the clock. This was a good challenge, the one that needed a really great bending of the spine, which i managed to carry on until the end of my stay at their home. Thankfully, i carried on with the good habit of waking early until i got back here at daet. From 9-9:30, i successfully reorganized my waking schedule from 9:30 to 8:00 am, one good way to start the day right.

By 9:00 we, kuya toto, ate mich, li an, kuya pater (the driver), j-r(edu), tata, mek, tintin (their cousin) and i arrived at the scenic, orok cold spring.
wow! lovely cold spring. ate mich, tintin and i, plunged half of our bodies on the super cold water while being seated on large rocks. nah, did we notice, there were free massages offer under the seeping water, the tiny little fishes gathered on our feet, biting and tickling, an unsolicited massage, oh good!

tata brought his snorkling gears plus a pair of blue flippers which fuled j-r's sarcasm, "nano man kay dinara mo pa yan" accusing his brother of being crazy for bringing snorkkling stuffs on a spring. oh well, walang pakialamanan, eduardo! :) and there, they all went loco under orok's cold water. Because ate mich and kuya toto had to attend a wedding in legazpi, we had to say adios to orok at 10:30am. it was a short taste of winter, in summer, but i loved loved loved it.

lunch time..

bicol's own,pili.been trained since i was a child to

delightfully appreciate its taste. both the pulp and nut

taste fantastically oh WELL! Ü

kusido.any soup, cream or clear, never failed to

satiate my appetite.

a first time. sorta seeweed. forgot its name. it looked

like tiny grapes which tasted way too different from a

real grape. edu urged me to try it, "tikman mo

masustansya yan" and i grabbed a bunch from his hand,

and ate. i had eaten sea weeds before the one which

looked like a jelly straw. This one, it tasted pretty nice,

and tasted naturally salty but i preferred to

indulge myself with my favorite pili, and kusido(i am a

fan of any ulam na may sabaw).

after my nap time. i spent the whole afternoon at their terrace with li an and edu and watched them as they go loco with their silly plays and got entertained by their improvised music with the empty water container as their drum set and li an's untiring crazy dances.. cute little li an, so adorable at makulit.

good thing he didn't cry as he noticed his mommy had gone elsewhere. no mimi time as he approached me and sat at my lap, smiled and uttered, "mimi time?"..

at dinner..

at dinner, tata, mek, edu and i, had sinigang na isda and

ginisang ampalaya with beef (isn't that rhyming? sinigang

at ginisang? hehe) which tata had generously cooked for

our hungry stomachs.

li an had his "boom boom" ulam for dinner -

fried dried pusit, his favorite.

then lights off after watching a movie on HBO.

another day had ended.

May 30, 2010 Sunday

DAY 3: Paguriran Beach, Bacon, Sorsogon

our plight arrived at this sunny, windless beach around 11am. this beach

was unexplainably windless, hot hot hot! we could had brought a fan for

everyone, even under the shade, my goolay there was no cool moving air.

dae lamang nagahiro ang leaves kang mga coconut trees.

fill that up.. lunch first Ü

but before the exploration of this yet to be discovered attraction, we had to fill our

growling stomach first. ate mich's beef teriyaki and tata's broiled chicken were the

stars of our delighted mouths.

ate mich's beef teriyaki.while lot'sa people go loco and loca over

any beef dish,i had to silently admit, i do not eat beef. i hated it, in fact.

but who would have thought this vacation could turn my taste buds asking

for more beef teriyaki.or was it just ate mich's culinary marvels that turned beef

so palatable for me? oh well, my wishing well, i could only toss a coin

and wish all beefs would taste this good. this dish? - unbelievably

and undeniably, SARAP!

tata's broiled chicken. roasted. grilled. broiled. fried. curried. tinola.

ginataan. afritada. no matter how a chicken is cooked, i never turn

my back from it. naman! i can live with having chicken as my food alone.

and tata's own broiled chicken was a treat! masarap kahit walang

sawsawan :)

paguriran discovery flints..

it was low tide so we had to walk quite a distance to experience the

waters of paguriran. there were mangroves. coral sand. rocky surface.

you wouldn't dare walk to the lagoon barefooted unless you wished to bless yourself

with scratched, burnt, and bruised feet. plus. sunscreens were a must! you woudn't want to be fried or grilled as you explore its sites.

the beach was breathtakingly beautiful.. picturesque. but compared to rizal beach, you cannot really enjoy swimming here if swimming was your real goal for coming. you can only soak half of your body unless you'd be brave enough to swim with tata, mek, edu and al-al

as they braze themselves with sea snakes at paguriran's deeper surface. well, i chose to stay in the lagoon and take shade on its huge cave-like rocks.

paguriran suits those adventure freaks out there, but for those who would only want to swim and soak fried under the sun while on water, or just wanna play volleyball, just try rizal beach. hehe.but everyone, you must try to see yourself this astounding picturesque beauty of paguriran, it'd be worth all the bumps on the road.

(ako and edu)

so long paguriran! at 4:00, we headed to our next stop, the Uy's fish pond. Back to Gubat.

we took the shorter lead via prieto diaz instead of the route we took to get at paguriran. thought the prieto diaz route was shorter, oh my, it was more bumpy and rocky. a long stretch of yet to be developed roads, sabotaged the car's air condition kaya, operation bukas bintana na lang.. hehe..

Uy's Fish Pond

we arrived at our next stop around 5:30 pm. woops! here came my vomit attacks again! after i got out of the car,i blew the 'suka' again.. oh well."o, j-r! j-r! nagsuka si pia", ate mich called edu for rescue. the very nice and perfect road bumps successfully twisted and turned my
stomach. hooray!

(from left: ako, edu, ate mich, tata and kuya toto)

i loved the cool wind as we all sat sardinas-like on the bench under a bamboo tree. Presko! :) i wondered though, why was it called a 'fish pond'

when literally, fishes weren't grown there but crabs? edu answered plainly, "nakasanayan na kasi."

after a while, edu called me and escorted me to the "payag-payag" then left. I sat there with edu's mom, and finally after years edu's dad had finally been revealed to me. hehe. before this vacation, i was somehow familiar with the faces of edu's family because of photos shown to me years before, but how edu's dad's looked was uncertain, unfamiliar and a mystery to me, but not anymore. Eduardo Jr's eyes were from Eduardo Sr's, that was of no doubt. His dad was a man of few words yet his aura was so poweful, he looked

so intelligent, very aloof. pero wag ka, edu waas all along been really proud of his dad's cooking which i got to finally taste that evening.

early dinner with the flying kutitobs..

eduardo sr's native tinolang manok and fried shrimp marinated on sprite according to edu's mom were served for dinner.as we ate, we were startled with a sudden fire which grew so large eating up the grasses 50meters form the pond. this probably was the reason why 'suddenly it's magic!' the flying kutitobs were on attack.

they were as well on feast! flying all over, and hovering on our foods. panira. well anyway, ako, deadma..

i ate everthing on my plate, tinola's my favorite pa naman and i hardly eat shrimps at home because my mom and brothers are asthmatics, so no way did i allow those flying kutitobs get my way of eating well. by the way, kutitob is a bicol-gubat for ants, i thought those insects where gamo-gamo, but they were flying ants according to eduardo jr.

as were approaching the road to their house, the santa cruzan's flickering candle lights awakened lian's energy so he and tata hurried out of the car to join the kids on procession.

as i got so very tired, early lights off for me.

another fun-packed day was over.

May 31, 2010, Monday

DAY 4: Bulusan Lake and Palogtok Falls

another merry trip. I loved this trip more compared to the trips we had from day 1 to 3. I marveled at the long strip of coast we passed by, they were almost endless. The best was when were already driving up, where the view as its full, sarap to see the beach, the scene was so soothing and calming that the bumpy road did not bother me at all.

our first short stop was the bulusan lake. I had been here 12 years ago, but the park was not yet well developed. but as we visited them recently, everything seemed new to me. there was already a huge gate and entrance fee, a well developed park, and kayaking! :)

for 100php/head kayaking can already be enjoyed at its fullest. Partner "kayakers" were kuya toto and edu and, tata and al-al.

next stop.. Palogtok Falls

we had a long walk before we reached Palogtok at 12noon. And there were lots of climbing of stairs involved. cutesie falls, cutsie palogtok falls. it had cool deep water, which was good for diving and swimming enthusiasts. its water temperature was more tamed compared to the "mega cold" water of orok, good reason i spent extra hours submerged under its relaxing coolness. The bathe pool was not so huge compared to the natural pools i had visited before, but this one stood unique because of the privacy it offered. It was like a pool resting at the center of rainforest, somewhat close to that because of the vast trees that covered the pool area. sarap magbabad dito buong araw, surely you won't get sun burned because of the shade from those friendly trees.

at lunch..

there were mangoes, boiled eggs, pinangat, atsara and grilled fish.

All were yummy!

last super shorty stop.. Rizal beach

rizal beach feels like.. HOME.

one last stop to and end and say adieu..

then back to home to rest ourselves for the early trip to legazpi the next day.

we had another yummy broiled chicken for dinner. sarap!

and then wash up and lights off.. early to bed, early to rise the next day at 4 am.

June 01, 2010, Monday

DAY 5: Back to base

ok. the point of no return had to wake and call us up.

at 4:00 am we all hurried to rise and prepare for the next trip - back to where we belong. hehe.

after an early breakfast, we had this short family photo session. yee, and i was included.

then we hiked on the car and bid goodbye to edu's mom. waay.

we arrived at legazpi before 7am. Ate mich and li an were scheduled for a legazpi-manila flight at 7:30, so sfter some restroom trips, we all had our farewells for everyone. For, kuya toto, mek, tata and kuya pater, they had a long drive back to manila. And for edu and i, legazpi will always be our second home. I stayed with edu for 11 days to give myself time to settle my clearances and employment records with my former employer.

the whole experience with edu's family was devastatingly fulfilling and encouraging.

They welcomed me warmly. They were so generous, very friendly and accommodating.

I am blessed to be given the chance to meet them. It was a good and memorable encounter.

This tie, i guess shall leave footprints and heartprints forever. So happy to be welcomed by

one such happy family.

The photos attached in here are not the actual photos taken on the trip. I haven't asked ate mich for a copy of the set of photos taken during the duration of our vacation.

photo credits to:

rizal beach photo

blistree.com

http://carloloy.multiply.com/photos/album/102/Paguriran_Island

http://carloloy.multiply.com/photos/album/151/Paguriran_Island_Revisited

http://www.facebook.com/ephraimaguilar

http://ascientistinthekitchen.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/seaweed.jpg

http://www.quick-easy-chinese-recipes.com/images/fried_shrimp.jpg

http://babesrose21.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/tinolang_manok.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExAA8co3gEj3iTuA-hSYtaNb7fBDigeNuBxRrYxyhnMMJCHAJdFxxGNmeCbVb7gswqz6-YaLECRQ-jeNcVbC2JMSxOD26arCyyfBmROXnD8zR9e9pkdfzs4PnK507ivml7R_5qv3kF3w/s400/tilapya.JPG

http://profiles.friendster.com/95883946

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/images/2008/04/19/04132008_012.jpg