ETTI DOES TUGUEGARAO!!!

  
A futile attempt to recount her past 72 hours.  (I suspect this will be long.  Sorry tracy.  But I have to be as detailed as possible for my benefit.  Knowing my memory, I will forget this sooner or later.)
 
Of course she was late
 
Ets being ets tried to pull yet another ‘beam me up scottie’ escape that desperately failed.  What would have been a 5-minute joy ride from hit to SM turned into a 30-minute jam ride that ended with the cab driver politely asking her to vacate his vehicle as his gas gauge was blinking already.  Not his fault.  Stubborn and stupid ets forced some last minute bonding with the chums when she should have been at the mrt station already, as agreed with riya, headed for Annapolis where leslie was to pick them up. 
 
She lies to riya of course and makes up some sorry ‘client called last minute’ excuse which she knows she’s too smart to buy.  (Sorry tita riya, I lie sometimes but I do love you endlessly)
 
45 minutes later than scheduled, ets and riya meet up and hauled ass to the northbound tracks. 
 
This was gonna be a long night.
 
The four missed the 8:00 pm bus (the 4th person being betina.)  This is actually a big deal because the 8 bus was the good bus.  The double decker bus with seats that recline fully.  They had to take the 830 bus, which was still pretty decent compared to others but cramped and dirty nonetheless.
 
An hour into the trip, the flaming hot cheetos was gone, riya and betina were sleeping like lard left out in the cold and leslie was busy fidgeting with her palm doing something academic or text twisting.
 
Left in the dark with nothing to do and no one to talk, ets did what she seldom does.  She sleeps on a road trip.
 
This was gonna be a very long night.
 
Breakfast with anton
 
His reputation preceded him a year too early.  He was suppose to take ets and the kids to an adventure trip post camp last year.  This, due to several reasons which includes an eleven-year-olds broken heart, did not push through.  Riya, along with several other CISV mothers,  said he was absolutely charming, definitely crushable.  Leslie said okay lang.
 
He picked them up from the bus terminal and took them home for breakfast.  Ets decided riya was right.
 
Absolutely charming.  Definitely crushable.
 
Gollum, is that you?
 
“Are you guys fit?” anton asked as they drove to the resort.  The girls kept silent.  Ets was about to say “well as a matter of fact, I gym regularly” when he said “some of the caves you’re gonna climb are really steep so if you’re not fit, you will have a hard time.”  The girls remained silent.
 
Thirty minutes later, dressed in their suits and footed in their mojos, the girls with cute assistant ben headed for the caves.
 
The first was the famous Callao cave.  The trek was easy and the view was magnificent.  A mass was being offered inside the cave at the time. Perfect, ets thought, if I die, a priest is here to send me off to heaven.
 
The second cave was much much more interesting.  Ben stopped in the middle of a cemented road, pointed to a bunch of trees and said we had to go up there.  Where I thought cos there was nothing but a pathless jungle.  There was this.
 
The entrance to the sierra cave was bolted and locked, antons team being one of the few who had a key.  The mouth was a six foot, 80 degree drop below ground level.  Ets stubbed her hand when she held on to a gross-infested rock as she took her first step down.  Her gripping paranoia would later cause her to imagine numbness and nausea.  Death, she thought, was upon her.
 
This cave, unlike the callao, was blanketed in darkness.  Our view of it ended with the beam of our flashlights.  Ets, of course, did not have one and had to rely on the light of others to guide her through (take this to be a metaphor if you wish.) 
 
This trek here was more difficult.   It was apparently, like most caves, a hangout for bats and, incidentally, snakes.  Its darkness, unexpected twists and turns made ets expect to run into shelob at any given time.  In fact, she could almost see gollum and bilbo playing their riddle game for the one ring. 
 
Precious.
 
Adi’s worst nightmare
 
Halfway to the end of the cave, the ground turned from rock solid to gooey mush that left us buried knee deep in putik.  Adi, don’t vomit just yet.  Like a perfectly choreographed dance, the four took turns ungracefully falling into the mud, face or butt first.  Wait, not yet adi.  And in their efforts to save the stalactites which they weren’t allowed to touch, they had to crawl through the mud to get to the exit.  Okay adi, you can puke now. 
 
Strangely enough though and in contrast to adi’s reaction, ets thought this whole scene, given the right company, could be very erotic. 
 
Sick sick ets.
 
Drach’s worst nightmare
 
After spelunking, after lunch, after wading on the river, after a short nap, after a rather insufficient clinic from the great anton, they headed up river (a good hour banca ride) to begin their next adventure:  kayaking.
 
Their task, as they chose and paid to accept it, was to go down river to where they had lunch.  This was not going to be a boat ride in burnham park, they had to pass 9 raging rapids to get back.
 
Ets was doing wonderfully, save for a few boo-boos here and there, until the fatal rapid #5.
 
A rock was smack right in the middle of the waters for crying out load and ets, owing to her female directional skills, kayaked right into it.  She imagines she flew a good two feet.  As she hit the waters, antons words echoed in her head don’t fight the rapids, just relax and let it carry you.  That’s exactly what she did.  except this rock, that was put on this earth solely to bring her misery, apparently fell in love with ets, held on to her shorts and refused to let go. 
 
Playing the rope in nature’s tug of war between rock and water, ets, true to her pinoy heritage, took on a bahala na attitude and waited.  The river finally won the war as it completely tore ets’ shorts apart and freed her from the rocks tight embrace.
 
Her great fear was finally realized, she was now just really in her two-piece bikini in front of several people, many of them strangers.  Fear galore!!! 
 
Unfazed by this, she went back on her kayak, breezed through 3 more rapids until she fell for the second time.  Completely exhausted, ets just hailed a banca to bring her back to shore.
 
This ends her adventure.
 
Ang galing ni God.  Super!
 
We were nestled in the heart of the sierra madres.  Prisoners to the temper of the pinalaokan river.  Here and now, ets was put in her place yet again.  The world does not revolve around her.
 
As they headed back to the resort, the group witnessed the circadian flight of a gazillion bats.  From where they were, they looked like moths headed towards the light.  Five majestic eagles circled above them, swooping down regally every now and then as it claimed its dinner. 
 
Elton John put is so beautifully when he sang It’s the circle of life and it moves us all.
 
God rocks!!!
 
I love the daffodils
 
Sunday was CISVs seminar camp open day.  22 delegates from 11 countries, 1 of which was an Italian goddess, danced to the makapagbagbagdamdamin otso-otso.  The foreigners thought it was our national dance by the way.  Shame.
 
Saw jose again.  I truly truly love this kid.  And I instantly fell in love with his parents too.  The coolest folks I’ve ever met.
 
Other highlights 
 
Food that drove me to orgasm – native longganisa, a concoction of bagoong, onions and tomatoes, vegetable lumpia, bagnet and their version of tikoy.  Oh, and of course, the wine and cheese that was served us grudgingly.
Bus ride home – we did get to ride on that double decked bus on the ride home.  Better.

This lovely elderly couple behind us that restored my faith in endless love.  They were in their 80s and white.  Before they fell asleep, she said nighty night sweet daddy.  He said nightly night sweet mommy. In my head, I saw him kiss her gently on her forehead right before she closed her eyes.
 
Notting hill maybe right after all, some people do spend their lives together. 
  
hay salamat, tapos na to.