Sagada, Mt. Province

Sagada, at last! After traveling for more than four hours on the long and winding (and winding and more winding) road including a brief stop at the border in Mt. Polis and a photo-op in front of the Bontoc Museum, we were 5,000 ft above mean sea level surrounded by pine trees and mountain scenery. God's wonderful creation. Our lunch meal consisted of a vegetable salad with fresh strawberries. Perhaps it is a regular offering of the restaurant with the same name. It tasted so good that we ordered another serving.

Our tour in the afternoon started with hiking in the rain to the echo valley where we viewed from a distance the hanging coffins of Sagada.  Then we rode to the burial caves and finally, went on spelunking in Sumaging Cave.  The guides strongly advised us to use our butts and tightly hold on to the rocks as we went down the slippery trail. The experience aroused mixed emotions. So many what-ifs. No one minded getting wet and dirty for safety. It was all worth it as we looked at, touched, and stepped on the chocolatey formations inside the cave. Stalagmites and stalactites.

Yes! We survived the Sumaging Cave adventure and most of all, we conquered our fears. In the end, many of us bought souvenir shirts printed with "Survivor Sagada". I'm proud to have experienced climbing, hiking, and spelunking in Sagada, Philippines.

Banaue, Ifugao

After almost two hours of travel from Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, we reached our lodging house in Banaue, Ifugao. We decided to stay there for lunch because we had to leave early in the afternoon for Bangaan Village.

The must-see destination in the area is the Batad rice terraces but since we only had one afternoon for the tour, we were led to the Bangaan rice terraces. The marker says that the public elementary school is 120 m below the road and the village (3,500 ft above mean sea level) is perhaps 5 m lower and much farther in terms of horizontal distance. Despite the exhausting walk,  it felt good to actually step on the terraced paddy fields, smell the cool breeze, and more importantly, meet the village locals.

It was more exhilarating and breathtaking (more literally, we were gasping for air) as we braved the steps back to the road and our waiting jeepney.

Indeed, "going downstairs and upstairs" is more fun in the Philippines!

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

This year's "lakbay aral" of our college covered four provinces, namely: Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, Mt. Province, and Benguet.

The first stop was at Nueva Vizcaya State University, Bayombong Campus where we were introduced to their major fruit crop which is also the pride of the province - citrus. We also saw the research laboratories and support facilities for the production of citrus seedlings.

Bobby and I got the chance to chat with a fellow scholar during our college days who happens to be a director of the university. After a brief campus tour, we were off to our next destination.

Blessing

After teaching for almost 25 years, the Lord blessed me with an award in my profession. When I submitted the supporting documents relative to my nomination, I thought that my humble accomplishments were not outstanding enough to merit national recognition. I was wrong.

I traveled all by myself to Puerto Princesa City not to explore its God-given beauty (it was my fifth time) but to attend the national convention of my profession. It was during the closing ceremony that I received the award along with award recipients in other fields of agricultural engineering and the most coveted Maramba Award.

As I shared in my testimony in church, with this award I hope to be more inspired to do what I've been doing. And hopefully, make a difference to those around me.

Thank you, Lord. To God be the glory!

Boracay Twists

I thought we would get a late afternoon glimpse of the beach after a 4-hour sailing from Roxas, Oriental Mindoro but we were almost near the port of Caticlan when the captain announced that the boat could not dock because there was no available space. We had to wait for the departure of another ferry boat and that took one and a half hours of waiting. It was past 8 p.m. when we checked into the resort. All of us were too hungry and we ended up eating in a fast food restaurant noted for its eat-all-you-can rice. Going back to the resort much as I wanted to stroll and check what was new in the place, I finally called it a day.

The following day after breakfast, we immediately hurried to the beach for the early morning swim. It was low tide but I was disappointed to see the shore lined with algae. Algal bloom? Nutrient enrichment of a water body? Where did the nutrients come from? Uh oh. We walked several meters to select a spot to dip and that was a quick one because the algae remained even as the tide began to rise. Enough for that.

Good thing we decided to hire a multi-cab to check out two of the most expensive resorts on the island as recently featured in "Ang Pinaka". I liked the contemporary structure of "DSB" and the serenity of the "Shang". And these are the places that I could not afford to stay in. At least, I was able to take a peek.



The last stop was at Mt. Luho which is the highest point on the island. The view deck is made of bamboo poles that could accommodate 20 pax at a time but it was so windy that time and our fear of height was truly aggravated. The sisters were "pegged" on the platform tightly holding to the railing and the youngest of us just kept on screaming every time the wind blew. Despite the fear, we truly admired the bird's eye view of the beautiful island of Boracay.