for a Cause

Baler, Aurora

kalipulako — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 23:17:00 GMT

Last week, we went on a weekend getaway on a not so obscure part of Luzon's east coast, on the Province of Aurora. on the way, we were greeted by winding roads and one of a kind view of the Sierra madre Mountain Range. as the mountain roads became flat, we knew we we're near. the town of Baler, on the east end of Central Luzon, is a community most contemprarily known as a surfing spot. historically, It was the last stronghold, the Spaniards held in the islands, where the Spaniards withheld a yearlong siege against the Philippine Revolutionary Army.

today, the town is a buzz with activities, it's transformation from a quiet, rural town, into one of the busiest beaches come the amihan season (northeast monsoon) unfortunatelly for us, being almost all of us, first timers in the area, we went during the time of habagat (southwest monsoon) and the waves are smaller than anticipated. but it all ended up in our favor, being first timers on trying out surfing. we didn't have a hard time. we hired instructors to teach us the basics, and before we know it, we were... well, surfing, in an amateur way though, but it still feels good! not long after, it was time for our instructors to leave us on our own. (we only hired them for an hour) and the other hour, we did it on our own.

our first tries were futile, and we almost ended up just lying on our board letting each wave pass us.but then, we realized, it will take a few months in order for us to be able to do surfing again, so we decided to give it another shot. Not dar from us, i noticed a few local surfers are also waiting for a swell, I went near them, and to my surprise, they were our Instructors, and they were off duty already, but that didn't stop me from taking a few pointers from them. I decided to stick close. As soon as I see them paddling for the shore, i paddle with them. shure enough, my persistence bore fruit, and they gave me additional pointers; on the house!

"as soon as we saw a swell on the horizon, paddle like your life depended on it!" that was the pointer! and I did as they did, as soon as I felt the wave carrying the board. i went from my ready position straight into a stand, and roade it almost to shore, wave and board! it was on e of the best feeling I have ever felt in my life! of course, i didn't waste my time to brag about it to my friends who we're watching. I looked back at them and made a Shaka pose, tounge out. as we went back to our rooms, I was still smiling, remembering the time how i got to do it on my own. one of my friends explained to me that that is what it felt to be stoked! all this time, I have been hearing the word, but I do not have the slightest idea what it meant. so that's what stoked meant. it feels great!

A 'place' I have visited

kalipulako — Mon, 1 Jul 2013 17:29:18 GMT

My name is Hendrik Lerios, I'm 25 years old. I live in the Philippines. I have extreme passion for the outdoors, and a love affair with nature. I have been climbing mountains since my childhood, and became oriented in the mountaineering discipline during my days in College. I have just recently brought my camera up on a mountain along with my tripod to capture the night sky, and loved it!

Photography has been in my blood for more than two decades now. I have been known to Irritate my father because I always wanted to take a look through the viewfinder, myself. be it our old nikon film camera or our handheld videocamera. (which at the time, were very expensive. you can imagine my fathers irritation every time I want to take a look and take a shot.) I always want to document things through stills, for I captures a moment, an exact moment which can never be repeated again.

I think I should be chosen because; These are two of my passions, and It would be great to bring them together. to be able to do what I love and still get paid for it. for so long, I secretly have been dreaming to be a Photographer for National Geographic. I just needed some place to start and a good mentor.

Photos: mixed travels

kalipulako — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:29:00 GMT

a jumble of different photos I took during my travels

Stairway to the land of the old Gods- Banaue Rice Terraces and Sagada

kalipulako — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:28:00 GMT

In the Philippines, where culture in the lowlands had hit an all time low, especially in the cities, and the urban areas, culture is an extremely rare find. Many may find it hard to understand, but in the past few decades, the country had been forgetting more of its heritage in the name of modernization. A lot of cultural buildings in the city had been demolished, or are in disrepair. So much so that when we see old houses in the countryside, we often get amazed at how they were preserved and how they are still used today. While the common country folk are willing to demolish it and change to a concrete design as soon as their sons or daughters who were working abroad, sent the money needed for the renovation.

such a thing like this are among the reasons that drives me to go places, far away from the capital city, the farther away from the city, the better the scenery.

There was one time, back in 2007, when me, along with a group of my friends, joined a race that is to take place at the legendary, Banaue Rice Terraces, up in Ifugao Province. then we thought, since we are going up there, why don't we maximize it? so we decided to go to Sagada as well, an old, sleepy town famous for its hanging coffins, caves, good food and it's good people. then off to Baguio City, the biggest city in all of the cordillera region as a final jump-off before going home.

Banaue rice terraces was nothing like what you'll see in the postcards, it was way better in real life! it was carved out of the face of several mountains by the natives of the Ifugao Province thousands of years ago for the plantation of their staple food, rice. the idea was, from almost the top, down, to make the whole face of the mountain, suitable for planting, while leaving the top portion of the mountains, forested, for the waters from the irrigation of the plantation came from the streams from high above the mountain. and it also serves as a hunting ground for their meat, for the mountaintops are the breeding ground for various animals such as bucks, and wild boars, which serves as a constant supply of game and protein for the highlanders.

race day came, and we had to navigate through the entire area, using only map, and compass as our guide. this gave me the chance to see the famed terraces up-close. we ran in and around, up and about these terraces trying to find all fifteen control points to finish the race. it was one of the most breath taking experiences that I had ever had. for as the normal tourist would just get to see these sights from the highway, the most one could do is walk among the topmost paddy from the road, but we ran through it! and we got to see and to interact with the locals, and we did get to see the dubbed "eight wonder of the world" from different perspectives. Needless to say, me and my teammate got lost along the way, trying to find point 2 of the race, and we got cut off at point 10 going to point 11. We didn’t finish the race, bet we knew in hour hearts, we won, not the race, but the experience was enough to declare yourself a winner. Well… at least, that’s what I felt.

The next day, we are off to Sagada, from the town of Banaue, we took a Jeep (not to be confused with the American army jeep. these ones are bigger, bus like versions of the original, and can also take on rough terrain.) going to Bontoc City, then from there, another jeep to Sagada. Seeing as we are all first timers in the area, we decided to ride the top load of the jeep. So we sat on the roof, and waved our hands happily at the town of Banaue as we went our way.

The view going up mountainous roads are captivating, contouring roads line up the mountain faces which, if you follow on, you would realize that that road is where we will be, a few moments on. Rough roads, sudden drops of cliffs on the side of the road, high mountaintops no the right hand side that blocks off the early morning sun and gives us chills every time we are under it’s shadows, it was a first time experience for me that I’ll never forget.

Few hours later, we came to the town of Sagada. It was a small town, but very green and eco friendly. The first time I saw the place, I was reminded of the film the Lord of the Rings. The place reminded me so much of The Shire, except, this one was a shire of the Highlands. we managed to get ourselves settled at a home on a hilltop that was for rent to tourist. It was great, not to mention the view was indescribable, my initial reaction was slack jaw amazement. Pine trees, hundreds of years old, lineup the hills around the town, including the place where we are staying, ragged limestone rock formation compliment the soft look of the town. In fact, some of the locals decided to build their houses among the limestone.

The town center was awesome, they have complete accommodation for a tourist, they have restaurants, a tourist registration center, a church, marketplace, and souvenir shops and, would you believe it? A yoghurt shop.

We get to go around for two days in sagada, they offer a lot for tourist, so much more for the adventure junkies. It’s trails are fit for mountain biking and downhill bikes, they got rock formation, which our local guide says was fit for rock climbing activities, beginner level of spelunking, and hiking for those who wants to go on it on foot, and for the more extreme hiker, there is a trail there that leads to the province of Ilocos Sur, via the historical Tirad Pass.

for the common tourist who wants to enjoy the peace and quiet and the scenery, the local tourist registration can give you a map, so you can go try and check things out yourself. I heard they also have two waterfalls near town, but I haven’t had the chance to check it out due to time constraints.

As we went on our daily schedule, we learned that they do not sell houses nor lands to outsiders. It is a lesson they have learned from the now congested Baguio City. I find it as a good thing, for it will preserve the beauty and charm of Sagada, all the more. And to top it all off, during the summer months of April, minutes after the sun has set and the dark has settled, the roads outside town center are riddled with lights. But these lights aren’t from any lamppost or houses from afar, nay, they are near, nearer than you expect. As I look up, I realized that the road I’m walking on are riddled with fireflies’ green light, flickering, moving up and down, and on and out. It felt like I was on Christmas lane, only the lighting was from Mother Nature herself. I walked back to our cabin with the green dim light of the fireflies lighting my way. It was ecstatic.

In the long run, I could say that I fell in love with the place, the wonderful climate, beautiful sceneries, and beautiful people, inside and out, and the lowland politics doesn’t seem to affect them at all, and the laid back lifestyle.

With a heavy hearts, We went home on the third day, leaving Sagada behind, with me, looking back, the whole way. It was curious; it was like leaving a loved one behind as she bids you farewell and is expecting you to come back for her. I myself know, I will come back someday, although I might find her forever changed in either a small or big way. I know deep inside, My heart and soul was captivated by Sagada, and I will continue to Love her, no matter how much she changes in the years to come.

My Scholarship entry - A local encounter that changed my life

kalipulako — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:45:00 GMT

Two years ago, as I was going about my daily business as a student, a friend of mine invited me to an event organized by a local outdoor shop here in Manila. The event was supposed to benefit a few kids in a rural school of Quezon province called, sitio bangkong kahoy (Wooden Bench Sector ) and we decided to join in, it is, after all, for charity. but that didn't graze my mind, not much anyway, for I was looking forward to the scheduled climb that comes after the charity ceremony in S.B.K.

being young, I didn't pay much attention to such things, I didn't quite put to my head what the event was about.

then came the day when the scheduled event was set.

we arrived at the meeting place at 6:00 A.M. we were supposed to ride a jeep to get to the place, which came to me as no surprise. a lot of the rural communities here are only accesible by rough roads. but was surprised however when we took to the road. It rougher than I expected, there were no houses for miles, as if it was not enough, a steep climb had to be taken for another two miles in order to get to our destination.

when we finally arrived at our destination, I saw this almost run down school. at an estimated elevation of 600 MASL. these kids greeted us with smiles that is unparalleled by anything I ever seen. we saw the local teacher and got to chat with her a while, and learnt that the benefit climb is for her salary. that she hasn't been earning her salary but continued to teach for three more years. they were about to shut the school down, but the event (scheduled to go ever month) saved the community and the kids, my heart sank deep for the good deed we did that day, which i didn't realize until later in the day. as we left the place, the teacher, along with the kids, told us in unison "Salamat, salamat, salamat!" (Thank you!) We climbed up that day, with heavy loads on our back, but with a light, unexplainable feeling in our hearts, knowing well that the school will go on for another month.