Reading blogs

Reading is perhaps one of the most enriching actions any one can do. I must say, in reading I get entertained, learned a lot of new ideas and my creativity is ignited when I read something so descriptive and engaging.

Reading blog is one of the latest thing that I enjoy doing. I don't know why it is such a blessing to read other people's idea and thoughts pattern. Whether it is just simple expressions, reviews, experiences and simple wild outburst of emotion from a blogger, I enjoy it!

I wonder now, whether some of my readers enjoy my own write ups here and on some of my other online blogs. I hope they share the same experience of enjoyment as they read my stories.

Now, I'm ready to close my eyes. :-)

Weddings are special - reposted blog

A wedding is a ceremony that celebrates the beginning of a marriage or civil union. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. In some countries, cultures and religions, the actual act of marriage begins during the wedding ceremony. In others, the legal act of marriage occurs at the time of signing a marriage license or other legal document, and the wedding is then an opportunity to perform a traditional ceremony and celebrate with friends and family. A woman being married is called a bride, a man called a bridegroom, after the ceremony they become a wife and a husband, respectively.

Source: Wikipedia website

I have been attending weddings ever since I was a child. I am inspired to write about weddings today. Lately, I have been thinking about settling down. But to no avail, I know it's not going to happen. At least because that is what I want. I am not the marrying type of guy, who aside from my preference sees no point of having to marry any one. Will I continue to feel this way? I have yet to see.

Pressures from your kinsmen, friends and society sometimes lead someone to find someone to marry. A person marries by his own will, as part of his religion, and of course by virtue of the power of Love. Wikipedia had its own definition as I showed above this blog.

In my lifetime, I think I have attended like 10 wedding ceremonies: Aunt Tina's wedding, Aunt Meynee's wedding, Kuya Arnel's wedding, Diko's wedding, Sangko's wedding, Rochie's wedding, Weng's wedding, Mae's wedding, Yuri's wedding, Shindie's wedding and just recently Sharon's wedding. All these weddings have one thing in common, it's warm.

When I was younger, I had my own share to become a ring bearer. Then I grew older and had my share to become a secondary sponsor. At some point, I was part of the simple rites of offertory.

The march of the wedding entourage is something that's always been anticipated by everyone. This is where the tears and excitement are starting to mount. I remember this is one of the best part of the wedding.

After the church ceremony, we go to reception where we celebrate the newly weds. Aside from the food, we look forward to seeing the program, the traditional wedding cutting of the cake, wine ceremony, doves, garter and bouquet.

Weddings, bonds, love, commitment or whatever anyone may call it, it's really something. Even in the older times, we regarded weddings so highly. Even gays engage into weddings, nuptials, 2 become 1 sessions with their promises of love.

I love weddings. After Sharon's wedding, I was thinking how many wedding ceremonies will I still attend. Maybe more weddings and I will truly be honored to be part of the wedding rites, ceremony and celebration.

Happy. Dreamy. Just attended wedding. So warm. Inspiring. :-)

Multiply

So I have joined the bandwagon. I have initiated my Multiply account. I just want to let everyone know that it's now activated and as an official initial offering I have featured my Iwriteagain Blog in here with my latest posting about my Sagada trip.

Banaue - Sagada Trip na Trip - January 2008

When I was younger, I would always look at the postcards I see in National Bookstore selling Banaue Rice Terraces photos and Sagada caves. Now, it's not just postcards that I saw. I am really happy to embarked on a spontaneous journey to Banaue and Sagada, Mt. Province.

It was a quick plan with two good friends of mine. They mentioned that they wanted to repeat the kind of trip that we did last 2006 to Mt. Pulag. So we all agreed to reach Sagada and do the adventure caving and hiking. The side trip in Banaue is also a blissful experience.

On to Banaue - January 4, 2008
We decided to take the Banaue - Bontoc - Sagada route in order to reach Sagada. In doing so, we took the bus trip via Victory Liner in Kamuning at 10:45 PM towards Banaue. It's a 9-hour drive which had 2 or 3 stop overs in Bulacan, Nueva Vizcaya and Lagawe. The trip is quite long and really tiring. Nonetheless, we arrived at Banaue around 7 AM. On our way up, you can feel the cold chill inside the bus so you'll know that you're up and far away from the city.

BANAUE - January 5, 2008 Arrival

First impression of Banaue (town proper), was a bit old I thought. It's a small town with lots of local people. We saw some group of tourists as well going to Sagada and some are planning to do their adventure trip in Banaue first.


Banaue is famous for the world-renowned rice terraces built by our forefathers. It was an amazing feat for men to build rice plantation alongside the sturdy and fierce mountains of Cordillera. The rice terraces in Banaue were recognized by UNESCO as heritage site. In Banaue, you will have to visit all of the main points there is to see.

Since Banaue is not our main destination, we just contented ourselves with the view of the viewpoint #7 where you could see the rice terraces. It's one of our side trip on our way to Sagada.


TIP: Going to Sagada, local jeep trip to Bontoc leaves daily at 8:30 AM and then from Bontoc you take another jeep ride to Sagada. Be aware that sometimes when jeeps are all full in capacity you might have to rent the next jeep. According to the locals, only one jeepney trip goes to Bontoc from Banaue. So you really have to make it there in Banaue by 8 AM.

The Mt. Polis - View of amazing Cordillera mountains
So, it's given that our group had to rent the jeep for Php 2,500.00 'cause we were left behind by the local jeep. The only good side to renting the jeep is that we had stop overs which took us to different points along the way to Sagada. First stop was the VIEW POINT # 7 and then second stop is the MT. POLIS view.

I don't actually know why it's called Mt. Polis. Nonetheless, it's quite thrilling to see the mountains of Cordillera. The green view, the astounding sunlight striking the misty clouds.

On this stop over, we had the chance to take some photos with the large statue of the Virgin Mary erected in the Mt Polis vicinity. We even had the chance to see some vegetable plantation terrain.


Bay Yo Rice and Vegetable Terraces


Third stop on our way to Sagada was the Bay Yo village. It had an amazing view of the village and the rice terraces along the side as well as the vegetable plantation.

Going down further the slope, you can see the wild river cutting through the mountains. It's really amazing to note that in these vast array of mountain ranges you will find villages sprawling. These are like hidden civilizations that are far from the spoils of the urban jungle.

Bontoc - town proper
It's getting late in the afternoon when we passed by Bontoc town proper. From this point, it will be another 1 hour before we reach Sagada proper.


Bontoc is a small town, complete with the basic elements of a progressive community. I saw life and progress taking place in that area. I saw beautiful concrete houses in the middle of the rice fields which led me to think that the people of Bontoc are not mere ordinary locals. They have something to brag and to be proud of. They were vibrant, fresh looking and you'll be surprise that they know how to converse in English. Well, this is the same with the rest of the locals in Banaue and Sagada.

As we go out of the town proper, we passed by Bontoc Rice Terraces which is so fresh and green. It's one of the good view of Bontoc where you will see the wild river running down the slopes of the mountain nourishing Bontoc and it's people.


SAGADA - Final destination
After a long hour of drive and stop overs, we reached Sagada around 1 PM on January 5, 2008. The road trip was tiring so we asked the jeep to take us to Rock Inn and Cafe where we checked in. It's a place far from the town proper where you had an amazing view of the mountain mist, orange orchard and cool feeling of the wind blowing peacefully.


My friends and I are quite tired so we freshened up and draw our itenerary from that point. We decided to just refresh, then hike towards the town. By 3 PM in the afternoon, we were hiking towards the town proper in anticipation of seeing the town first hand.


Along the way to the town we passed by houses and inns. We also passed by Masferre's Photograph museum. We also passed by Sagada Weaving house. After 30 - 40 minutes of hiking we reached the town. We first looked for the Tourist Information Center in order to inquire about the places we can visit. We also had to register in the tourist center. We paid Php 10.00 each for the registration. In the tourist center, we were greeted warmly enough and we inquired. From there, any tourist of Sagada can get a great deal of information to help them go around the places. There is a map being sold for Php 25.00 that will show you the places you can visit. Also, the tourist center has the information to help you get tour guides and transportation.

Our first day in Sagada is coming to an end. By 6 PM, it starts to get even colder. Our group, decided to just inquire more on some accommodation 'cause we decided to transfer from Rock Inn to the town proper on the second day. After inquiring, we went to Log Cabin, one of the famous eating places recommended by a friend. Every Saturday, with advance reservation, they have French Buffet which is only costing around Php 300.00. We were unfortunate 'cause at that time the reservation is already full. So what we did is reserve for Sunday dinner preparation but this time it's no longer buffet.

Our group ended eating in Masferre Cafe and Restaurant. The food was good tasting. It was freshly prepared especially the salad and vegetable meals. We had dessert at the famouse Yogurt House later that evening.

It was getting late so, we headed back to Rock Inn to turn the leaf for the day. On our day 2, we have lots of things to do.

SAGADA - Morning Hike From Rock Inn - January 6, 2008
The morning in Sagada is indeed a chill. I could remember that at the earliest morning hours I woke up with headached due to cold temperature. It was 6 AM when our group got up and headed for some hiking experience.

Hiking is one of the to do things in Sagada. If you have lots of hiking experience, you'll love it there in Sagada. In the first hour of the day, our group warmed up by strolling around the Rock Inn vicinity. The place is far from the town proper. It has a big space, orange orchard, and quite far from the main road. The inn is an ideal place for short term hiker.

After our group had initial hike, my friend RJ and I earlier planned to hike and discover the famous Bokong Falls.

Bokong Falls - "Small Falls"

From Rock Inn, we hike for around 20-30 minutes. Good thing that the inn is near the vicinity of the fall. Since it's morning and the temperature is quite cold, it was a very good hiking time. Literally, our bodies warmed and sweat so we had to open our jackets to make the sweat evaporate.

After some minutes of phase walking, we reached the falls. The way to Bokong Fall is not that hard. You'll pass by a small road on your way there. And then on a small wooden gate there's a trail that leads to the fall. On your way to Bokong Falls you'll hear the water rush and you have a good view of the nearby rice field. It's truly awe-inspiring.

We reached Bokong fall and took pictures. I even had the chance to play in the cold water. It's blood rushing and exciting.

We headed back to the inn and had our sumptuous mountain breakfast. We checked out of Rock Inn and planned to move to the town proper. We transfered to Sagada Resthouse which is nearer the tourist center where we would need to get our tour guide and transportation to take us to our next destination.


Two Burial Caves and Sumaging Cave - January 6, 2008
It was around 10 AM, we headed to the tourist center and ask for assistance to take us to Sumaging Cave. In the tourist center, any tourist would find help and information. It's quite easy. The locals know how to converse in English so it's easier for them to talk and explain everything.


We left the town proper and headed to the Sumaging Cave. But before we read Sumaging, we had two stop overs. Two burial caves that local tribes used to use during the early times.


We also passed by Sagada Rice Terraces. During this time of the year, the rice terraces is not so aesthetically appealing. It's not yet planting season so it's not all green. Nonetheless, it's quite nice to see the beautiful rice terraces of Sagada.

The road to Sumaging cave is about 20 minutes drive from the town proper. Alas! we reach Sumaging Cave point.

Sumaging Cave adventure


Inside the cave you will see interesting cave patterns. At the first portion of the cave it's not so interesting but there's a pungy smell in the air due to the shit drops of the bats inside the cave.

You have to wear mojo sandals or good shoes to protect your feet. But at a point, you will have to take off your footwear because you will have to get wet as you go futher down the cave.


There are so many interesting rock formations inside the cave. They were formed several years ago and it continues to grow as the age goes on.

At the middle portion of our spelunking we started to hear the water rush and true enough we witnessed clear water rushing down. At the end of the cave road, we are experiencing cold water.

The Sumaging cave is indeed one of the best cave I ever had the chance to go inside in.


SAGADA TRIP ETCETERA

We had our last few adventures in Sagada after Sumaging. There's the famous lemon pie. Also, the ever famous food of Log Cabin. Too bad, we didn't had the chance to partake in the French buffet they offer every Saturday night. But then again, Sunday Log Cabin dinner is one of the best served dinner I ever tasted.


There are so many other interesting points in Sagada. We need to go back here and continue the adventure. Soon!


SAGADA going back to MANILA
On your way back to Manila, you can opt to take two routes: SAGADA - BONTOC - BANAUE - MANILA or SAGADA - BAGUIO - MANILA.

It will be up to you which route. Either way you will enjoy the experience. Happy trip!