I am such a bad judge of age. :)



You should never put your laptop on your lap's bare skin when your back is resting on your metal window frame. Unless you want to get a kick out of it though.



I guess I should now post my Banahaw experiences. Yeah, it's long overdue, but who cares, right?



So it all started with my panicking. Nothing really bothers me more than waking up to find out I've overslept (which I have been doing lately, btw). I planned on waking up at around 4 o'clock (we were supposed to leave at 6:30) so I have time to prepare myself, fix my things, and hit Starbucks before I go to school. Alas, the sun was already up when my melatonin levels went down (obviously). So I panicked and realized that it was summer and the days are longer! So it was only 5. No biggie. After about 40 minutes of preparation time, I was ready! So imagine my surprise (and dismay?) when I went out to see people STILL DRINKING on the streets. These people are committing slow suicides. :(



Anyway, when the bus left I closed my eyes for a bit. After opening them, voila! I am completely lost. No, not really lost. I just don't know where we were, that's all. I am so getting tired of typing already. :(



Anyway, when we stopped to pick up the some people, we decided to eat breakfast!



So zoom na to the Banahaw experience already! :)



When we arrived (at last), our butts were already sore and we couldn't wait to get out. Realizing that someone special was singing on the screen (yes we were watching Les Miserables on the bus), Danni exclaimed "Uy, si Lea!" Yeah, right. It was just her nth appearance and he just noticed. :D



So our first stop was to the ________ (okay I forgot the name of the...uhm...religion? sect?). The group's one of the Rizalistas in the place. Anyway, we were just sitting there listening to him drone on, waging war against OUR own religion. The conclave wasn't an election, so the guy said. Oh really now. Whatever.



And there was this group (Ciudad Mystica de Dios, but the formal name was so much longer) led by a matriarch. Finally, something different. Anyway, they call her Suprema and we weren't able to meet her because I guess she was off attending to some Suprema business.



Before heading to the Mystica house though, we stopped to eat blessed dirty ice cream. They weren't really blessed though. But you would think if you spent n hours under the sun. :D The guy selling the stuff had really long nail. And they were painted. With 2 colors. Amaaaaaazing.



So next was lunch. We had fried chicken and sinigang. The soup was transferred from _________ (what do you use to cook soup?) to the bowls with a dipper. Yes, tabo. But we really didn't care. We were hungry, and we were cranky. Ha, and there tables didn't have any more space to accommodate the rest of us! So we had to improvise. Basta, mahirap kumain.



After lunch we were STRONGLY advised to have our bathroom breaks because we can't do it on the mountain. So off we went (Joanne, Ced and moi) to find acceptable bathrooms. And the trail led us back to the Mystica house. And for the second time in my life, I had to line up to go potty. Very inconvenient, but whatever. I wasn't looking forward to urinating against a wall.



Unfortch for us, we got lost. Yes, the three of us. Ms. Guide-in-Green told us to go somewhere and we found a place with Star Margarine drapes. So we thought that was the entrance to the mountain. How grand. :D But apparently, it was just an entrance to a pig sty. So we were really lost. I thought we were going to the caves together.  And now were lost. So we had to make friends with the other NBPs or else us three would have to be alone. Yey, 2 weeks of PI already gone and it was just then when we got lost did we have the guts enough to make friends. Yey us.



So we decided to go to the caves alone. Sans Ms. Guide-in-Green (this girl with us already went before though why she was with us for her second time I have no idea). But luckily, as we were walking towards the mountain "entrance" Ate Green decided to show up. Hurrah!



So off we went blazing trails. We were so excited! At last, a REAL field trip. We were looking forward to being in the mountain proper. And all the while we were shouting the class cheer with only 3 people. Great. At last when we thought we have covered enough distance already, we decided that we were already in the mountain proper. But alas, water pipes were still present. So walk on we did.



When we arrived at the shed (there are two: one at the exit and one at the entrance of the cave; we went the exit shed first), we were told by baggage personnel Joan and Lorraine to leave everything behind. So after that we went to the entrance shed. And voila! Everyone was there. Apparently the girls had to go first (the rationale escapes me) so the boys had to stay behind. I was so happy to be reunited with the rest of the class. :D



The going was slow and just when there were about 15 people left outside the cave, it started to rain hard. So we went back to the shed. When we thought that we, the dry ones, were the only left outside the cave we decided to push through. Wrong decision though. Marami pa pala yung hindi nakakapasok and it was too late to go back because we were already wet. So we just had to wait while being wet by the brutal downpour. It was so cold so we just had to entertain oursleves. Miggy told stories about us having powers. Basta amazing yung abilities ko. :D



At last, pwede na kaming pumasok. So there we were. Danni, moi, Miggy, Dindong, and Ivan. And it was not easy. Husgado (or is it with a "J?") is a very narrow passage that we had to go through. When you emerge without any scratch, then you are said to be pure. But when emerge with any, kahit maliit, makasalanan ka daw. I thought it was just hole though rocks on level ground. But no! There were ups and down, left's and right. And it was really scary. But anyway, I made it with 3 scratches thought. So I'm a sinner. What's new? :)



Danni went before me so I got to see how it was supposed to be done. His ass was stuck between rocks along the way, but I was as suave as hell. HAHAHA. I was just a few seconds behind him and when we were out of the cave, familiar faces greeted us. Joanne, Ced, and the baggage ladies were waiting for us but Miggy, who went after me, was nowhere in sight. So when we decided na grabe antagal ni Miggy makalabas, Danni went back to help. And after a few minutes, out came a harassed Miggy. :D And after a few seconds Dingdong, Ivan, NBPs and the guides emerged to. So off to the falls for a shower!



But along the way to the falls Miggy realized he lost his wallet. He had to go back while the rest of us moved on. And when were near the falls we saw houses! Yes, civilization! And before we braved the downwards stairs leading to the river and falls, we encountered stores who sold A LOT. Interpretation: they sold anting-anting-looking stuff, food, shorts and even underwear. Some people can be so unprepared that these people foresaw the need to sell these stuff? I guess.



Needless to say, the stairs were narrow and steep. And there were a lot of steps. So after what seemed like and eternity, we heard voices and saw people. At last, the river! But it was all brown and sludgy and stuff. But I declared that it was just the rain that stirred up the mud, so off we jumped to the water, clothes and pants on!



There were mini rapids there and we decided to make them improvised jacuzzis. Yes we can be so innovative at times. :D



The rest were leaving but lalalala. We can't here anything. But when this text-crazed guide decided to start to leave us, we had to scamper for our things and leave. I had to change clothes right then and there, too. Needless to say, the climb back to civilization was a harder task. But the girls managed to do it even with we clothes on.



Apparently, there was a short cut from the falls to where our buses were parked. We took the long way because of the cave! So imagine our dismay when we realized that. But there was still the question of where to change. So we decided to go to a random house and ask if we could use the bathroom. The owner was kind enough to allow us. She even offered us water. It's nice to see that no matter what suffering us humans go through, some can always afford to be kind. :D



So nung bumalik na kami sa bus, we were beat, and when the engine was humming, so did we. Unfortch for us, we had to see this film starred by Erap and Coseteng. Ech. Nobody gave a damn, and everyone was asleep. Or so I wished. Some VERY HAPPY people were shouting all the way to Manila. Snaps for your virtue of URBANITY.



Anyway, I never thought I could be so happy to see the Supreme Court. Or UPM. Or PGH. Or even Malate. Dorm Sweet Dorm.

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