Switch off your lights, Saturday 8:30 – 9:30 PM Local Time.
March 2009
Monthly Archive
March 28, 2009
March 24, 2009
Optimism peaks when you’re seated on a beach lounge chair enjoying a watermelon shake.
Optimism wanes when you realize there’s nothing that can be done to stop another workweek from bursting your bubble.
Picture taken in Subic, March 1, 2009.
March 22, 2009
Six gruelling hours. That’s how much time I spent next to a portly woman who had no qualms about elbowing my ribcage everytime she rummaged her purse for some godforsaken thing. When I lined up at the bus station, I didn’t realize the ticket I bought only afforded me three quarters of a seat. Unscrupulous elbow woman brazenly took over the rest and along with it, my personal space. Peeved as I was, I resorted to leaving my elbow rest in an upright position and blocking the aisle with my knees.
I’m afraid she didn’t stop there. She also sang to every insipid Air Supply song that played from the speakers. Relentless! At that point, a nice camel ride would’ve made for a more comfortable means of transport. No offense to camels but then again they don’t read blogs. So there.
Incidentally, as I am writing this, the resort “lounge singer” is busy obliterating a Nora Jones song (much to the Beached Bear’s chagrin). This I think is the reoccuring theme of my entire trip to La Union: unsolicited aural assaults.
But the sunset was incredible and the food was excellent. For that, you lot can sing all you want. Besides, it’s nothing my wee MP3 player can’t handle.
March 19, 2009
Travel log reads as follows:
February 21, 2009. Approximately 10:30 AM.
Location: Sumaging Cave, Sagada, Mountain Province.
Persons involved: Dan, sure-footed caving guide. Gela, friend from work. Myself, klutz extraordinaire.
Before us was a slightly damp rock formation that plummets into the earth at an almost 90 degree angle. The cave had its mouth agape, seemingly ready to gobble up feeble tourists by the truckload. Beyond that, a dark void. Very ominous. How and why I get myself into these things considering how traction-impaired I am is beyond me.
In a few minutes, Dan was done gassing his lamp and we were off. Already I was flipping through my mental rolodex for reasons to cut and run. Ok, maybe “run” is too liberal a term. More like grovel up the 50-odd steps that lead from the cave to the road above us. Even then, I’m sure the two would have caught me by the scruff of my neck before I got too far.
After an arduous descent we found ourselves slithering our way through shafts of limestone, rappelling down and splashing into pools of ice cold water. One very interesting fact about the place was that it was nicknamed the “porn cave” by the locals and we soon found out why. Alongside naturally sculpted elephants, snakes and what-nots were formations that unabashedly resembled…**coughs into her fist**…boy and girl parts. Seeing as we refuse to be labelled prudes, we had our pictures taken. Now we have something unique to educate the grandkids with.
After about two hours we finished all three stages of Sumaging and even opted to go beyond which involved squeezing through a small tunnel about two and a half feet in diameter. I am proud to report that despite huffing through the obstacle course and cutting circulation from Gela’s arms with my constant gripping, I emerged intact. Although as I approached the oncoming groups of tourists on the way out, I watched their expressions change from upbeat to apprehensive. Behold the foreboding guano-stained trainwreck, folks! Welcome to Sagada!
You can imagine how stiff we were in the morning. I never regarded stairs (or the low toilet seat for that matter) with as much derision as I did then. But I felt like a graduate. This klutz is no more.
March 12, 2009
You would think that going places would give me material to write about. Instead it resulted into an unprecedented lapse in blog entries. Can’t decide whether it’s severe writer’s block or just sheer laziness. Regardless, I’ve spent the past couple of days recouping my mojo for another entry and will have a substantially longer one posted soon.
Just as a quick 411 on the goings-on this past month:
A. The biggest klutz in human history managed to survive a caving expedition with all bones intact. You have my permission to applaud.
B. Who would’ve thought that a spur-of-the-moment trip to Subic would turn out to be the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
C. Seventy needle pricks per second right on your shoulder blade = a truckload of pain that radiates all the way down to your elbow. Why we choose to subject ourselves to this ordeal? Up next on Sick Sad World.
