A Mole of Thanks DudeZ!

A mole is 6.02 times 10 to the power of 23 particles. It is the number that approximates the count of stars that are visible on a cloudless, clear night sky. That also assumes the amount of thanks I told to dudeZ before, I and the rest of the gang who went to Malubal last Saturday, left the place yesterday.

Last Friday (Nov 8), audZ skillfully convinced me to go with them to Malubal. He told that there's a high and big waterfalls. Everyone in the group knows how crazy I am for nature tripping. dudeZ was there when he did that. audZ knew how busy I would be by Saturday. I should be present for the awarding ceremony of the 2008 Ipil District Meet, commentator on a weeding mass and guitarist for the Interlude choir's singing at 5:15 pm mass. But what made me plan to go with them was what dudeZ told me: his mother anticipated for my coming to their place. At past 4 am Saturday, I woke up and ask my sis Engr. Pedragosa to take my place as wedding mass commentator. Thank God she said yes. I drove off to the groom's place to inform him and he told me it was OK. Then I proceeded to Kuya Manny's house to ask him to accompany the choir, because I couldn't be present. He too was positive.

Everything worked as planned so I, JenZ (with her digicam), audZ, armZ and rambo went off with dudeZ (the cool host) from Ipil to RT Lim. We got there at around 9:10 am. Then via habal-habal, we got to Malubal at 10:00 am. dudeZ's mother was so welcoming when we got at dudeZ' home. After some conversations, she got the table ready and served us delicious, nutritious, hot and whole native chicken soup. We ate and ate and it was so right to do to get our selves so ready for the adventure of a lifetime!

The Adventure: Day 1 "From the Big Waterfall to the Smaller"
(Survivors: armZ, dudeZ, jenZ, rambo, me, audZ, edZ)

By 11:15 a.m, we packed up and started hiking toward the falls. 11:55 a.m it was, when we landed our feet on the cool water of the falls. It wasn't that challenging trek since the way to the falls was just a little grassy and bushy. The only steep path was a 30 - meter way to the big waterfall. The first great sight we saw was a rapid along the river. We hurriedly sat down through its rocks and took pictures of ourselves. The water was very cold. dudeZ lead the way with his cousin edZ in moving down through slippery, inclined rocks, which were constantly splashed with volumes of bubbly, white waters that rush down an 80 - meter slope of rugged rock formation. We did some picture takings at some safe and nice points. The sight from the top was breathtaking. But to simply marvel at what we saw wasn't the challenge: it was getting to the bottom of the waterfalls uninjured and with all the stuffs we have intact! We were kind of systematic with what we did. With a big help of a strong vine, we lined down the right side of the falls and passed our things person-to-person. After everything was in place, we took our first jump at the falls. Earlier, dudeZ was jumping like three times already before we got there (at the "board"). edZ kindly took pictures of us when we were jumping, staying, swimming, hanging and making all sorts of fun at the falls. It is truly hard to tell what we felt and did, but our pictures could tell a lot. At around 2:44 pm, we moved down further to get to the smaller waterfalls. After a distance of around 12 meters, we came across a top of another waterfall. But it could not be seen completely as it dropped almost perpendicular to its base. added to that was the very steep large rock formations that seemingly hide its magnificence. I told them: "we can't have it all". With dudeZ as our guide, we climbed up a steep forest. I have an acrophobia but I had to walk on with the group as we had limited time to get to the smaller, twin falls. It was at such journey that I felt the spirit of adventure. I was really looking around and I saw sorts of plants that were mostly wild. After passing through a portion of the forest area, we had to move down through stony river, with many tiny falls. We stopped at some point, to again, take pictures. After a while, dudeZ signalled that we were nearing the "small falls". We didn't see it entirely at first sight because we were starting at its top. dudeZ slid right away through the smaller part. It was so amazing to note that a waterfall can be a sliding board at the same time. We all followed him, and once all our things were safely placed on the river's side, we started making fun in the small waterfalls. I told dudeZ that I liked it better because of its strong water drops. At around 4:30 pm, we packed up and started to walk back dudeZ' home. At the time, I was like drained of my energy reserve. That was so untimely as we had to trek through the steepest, longest forested path we passed along that day. Edz earlier told that passing there would be like walking with our chin and knees, meeting together. Indeed it was the hardest for me. We were half way through the path when I felt a very painful muscle cramp on both of my thighs. Every time I step up, the pain just occurred and there came a point that the group had to stop with me for a while. Audz cheered me up strongly, but the pain recurred as we climbed up. We stopped like four times, and walked after each time the pain subsided a bit. I was really needing water at the time. dudeZ walked as fast to get to a house, to ask for water. Once we got to the "plain", the pain was totally not felt anymore. What was needed by me at the time was water. Audz was walking ahead but close to me. He kept on shouting at dudeZ, but the latter could not be seen and did not reply. Earlier dudeZ pointed at a tree, of which he told was where we could get water. Audz and I kept walking while looking at the tree. We thought it was that near, but we had to walk through a muddy, grassy-bushy path to get there. Once we got there, dudeZ brought a glass of water and it was truly quenching my thirst. There was a little brook on that place and we washed our feet in there. We were really nearing the place of dudeZ as we already saw the National High School of Malubal. Once we got to the highway, we took pictures of ourselves. We took a cool bath at dudeZ' place and his kind mother prepared us a very healthy dinner - veggies and rice. After the dinner, we moved to the other (nearby) house of dudeZ, where the group had a real good time. Afterwhich, we slept at dudeZ' house - giving ourselves a break, for another adventure by the next day. Rambo went back to Ipil because he has a friend to attend to importantly.(Sunday, November 9, 2008) We woke up early, with jenZ getting herself ready to go back to Ipil for a while to give the digicam to her sis as it would be used for an important occasion. dudeZ mother prepared coffee for us, afterwhich a nice breakfast of dried fish and paksiw. That really got me loaded! I, armz and audz, together with edZ, walked to Ma'am Virgie Gonzalo's palace. (Ma'am Virgie is our surrogate supervisor and she is the Filipino teacher of jenZ, audz, dudeZ and armZ). JenZ was on her way to Ipil. Ma'am Virgie offered as iced tea with biscocho. We were talking a lot of things. At around 10:00 am, jenZ arrived back, bringing another digicam (my sis').

We took pictures around and then soon enough, we headed to the Malubal National High to get signal for our mobile phones. There we sent text messages and then head back dudeZ' place. DudeZ was there along the way with edZ's little bro, who was also geared to go with us for the day 2 adventure. As we arrived dudeZ' home, we found out that another WMSUan, Jeanny, a comsci student was there near the house. We called her up and she joined us. But she couldn't accompany us with the day 2 journey to the falls because her father would not allow her so. dudeZ packed up rice, armZ and edz prepared the buko; the water containers were filled, and so we started walking for the day 2 adventure. We stopped at a store and bought canned sardines and corned beef for our lunch.

Adventure: Day 2 "From the smaller to the bigger waterfalls" Survivors: armZ, auDz, dudeZ, edZ, edZ little bro, jenZ & me.

The way, which we used as the exit in day 1 became the road we took to get to the smaller waterfalls. AudZ headed the group as he was geared up with a pair of boots and a bolo. As we walked through, I came to remember my ordeal the past day. The sharply edged grasses just wouldn't hurt me anymore because I was wearing a sweater that dudeZ lent to me. Then we came to the muddy path, with thick fern vegetation side-by-side. Then we finally got to the steep forest. Most of us had to walk bear-foot as the dried leaves-covered forest soil was moist and slippery. dudeZ was at the last in line so he took pictures of our actions going down and down the lush, sloped forest. I was packed with enough energy, having taken multivitamins and it was yet the time when I started to really burn up calories and so, though my thighs were really working that hard, it did not cause any cramps. We stopped by a big tree and took pictures of ourselves. It was like dramatic because the ray of the sun was directed to us. Then, we started hearing the rushing of the water, giving the sign that we were almost there. As I looked around, I could see glossy, dark blue dragonflies, along with a variety of wild plants growing just anywhere. When we got to the river, I got the camera and took picture of the waterfalls at once. I, dudeZ and edZ's little bro were the first to jump unto the refreshing water.

In this particular journey, we brought with us a rope, (lent to us by dudeZ' mama) which audZ and armZ tied on a big rock at the top and dropped the rest of the rope along the slope of the falls. I took the challenge of climbing up the falls using the rope. I made it! Jenz was supposed to take picture of my climbing but the cam was not ready. AudZ took his turn and he made it too. At the time, I sat on where the water dropped. It caused a decrease in the volume of water drops. The next challenge was to jump from the top of the falls to its base. dudeZ, armZ, audZ and edZ small brother made their successful jumps. My acrophobia caused me a second thought about jumping. The group tried to cheer me up but I was already like creating an image of an extended rock formation just at the base of the falls, making me decide not to take the risk. I contented my self on just sliding down the falls. After some swimming and jumping, the group got the lunch ready. We shared on a limited food and it was good for in that way, we'd be trekking with a not-so-heavy sensation. We had shredded buko as our dessert. We took some rest at a log, which was lying on the rocks across the river. Then, we refreshed back at the shaded part of the river and took lots of pictures. At around 3:15pm, we got all our things brought to the top of the falls and got ready for another round of walking.

The river was indeed fascinating. As we were walking against the flow of the water, I saw many beautiful sights just anywhere - the rocks, the wild plants, the gentle flow of the water were all wonderful. Then we got to the part where we had to climb up a forest and walk through its edge. The rope was so helpful as it was used as an added support in climbing up the cliff. If one would accidentally fall, the destination would be a shallow river! But we successfully passed through the forest, with the cover of the picher as the sole mortality. It fell down on the waterfall that we could not see completely. It was also the part where the tall waterfalls was near. Just a few meters away, we saw again the majestic waterfalls. We swam across it and got to its base to take a cold shower. At the time, I was already missing the place. We took some pictures of the place and at 4:30 pm, we climbed up further to go back dudeZ' home. ArmZ was the most helpful because he had to go first to tie up the rope at the higher portion. He had also to rush untying it for we still had some more slopes to pass. As soon as we got to the plain, we started talking many things. We even jokingly said: "Is there any hard way here?!" "Where's the difficult road?"On the way home I came to realize many things about taking adventures:

1. Use energy wisely. Do not overuse it and reserve some for the final journey.

2. Bring and drink just enough water. Just take one shot at a time to quench thirst and save an amount for the last km.

3. While on the cliff or steep, slippery path, never let go of the thing that supports. Make sure that it is strong enough to carry your weight.

4. Don't be unreasonably pathetic. Everyone is struggling to survive and so be kind to the group.

5. Eat less. Eating a lot is a no, no as one might feel heavy while walking/trekking.

6. Wear protective gears - on a grassy path, sweater is really ideal. Rubber sandals are also good for walking on a rocky river. The cloth one wears should also be light enough. Baggy clothing can get heavy when wet.

I know I'll have some more, but this one's really the most important:

7. Pray, pray and pray. God still holds our fate. His blessing and guidance keep us safe and sound.

When we reached the Public Market, we saw Ma'am Virgie. She served us cold Coke and pie bread. It was a nice refreshment after the long walk! Then we proceeded to dudeZ' house and got our selves ready to go back home to Ipil. As we were about to leave, I told dudeZ' mother: "te, I really don't know how to thank you for your kindness, but thank you, thank you so much!" She replied: "I'll welcome you here, just as how God welcomes his guests". It was so heart-warming. Then the habal-habal were already outside. It was drizzling a bit, but we had to wait for edZ to say goodbye. As soon as she arrived, we bid adieu. We got to RT Lim at past 6 pm. Then we took a ride on a Rural Bus and when we arrived Ipil, we parted our ways with each of us bringing the spirit of Malubal adventure we'll always be proud of and never put to oblivion.