Why the Mt. Daguldol Hike was one of the most memorable trips of 2008

Contrary to what you might be thinking, my continuous raving about the Mt. Daguldol hike really wasn’t because of the sponsorship. Don’t get me wrong — it was great to get the free gear, but it was the people and the experience that made this trip so unforgettable.


Me, AJ, Ricky, Phoebe, Jayvee and Ferdz
Photo by Dino de Leon

 
It was my first trip out of town with this group. It was even my first time to meet Phoebe and Ferdz, and my first time to really get to interact with AJ and Jayvee, whom I both met in previous events. It’s actually like a school field trip. You get to know the people you share your classes with outside of the classroom.


Jump!
Photo by Dino de Leon

 
Also, just like field trips, there are those moments when you act really immature and take photos of people sleeping. XD (No, I’m not posting sleeping photos here because I’m not *that* evil. But you can see them over at my flickr or my multiply XD)

Paparazzi in the mountains
Shooting Phoebe and AJ‘s fasyon spread

 
This was also my first real camping experience. The last time I slept inside a tent was the time my cousins and I stayed overnight at the cemetery during Halloween. We weren’t really roughing it because Halloween and All Saint’s Day in the Philippines is more like a huge outdoor party — there are long lines at the toilet and a Pizzahut kiosk right beside our tent. Prior to that was the camping we had for scouting back in grade school. We only camped inside the school grounds, and the school was only one street away from my house, so it wasn’t much of an experience. Though I think I did see a white lady in one of the classrooms… THIS was real camping though. With tents, camp stoves, peeing in the bushes. -_-

Halo lang.
Dino’s Halo-halo

 
Then there’s the halo-halo. On the way back down to San Juan, we stopped by Mang Lizardo’s for halo-halo. One high-maintenance hiker who shall remain nameless ordered a high-maintenance halo-halo: no kamote, no munggo, no pinipig and only one scoop of sugar.

Me and Ricky at the big boulder
With Ricky, Columbia Sportswear’s Megamall branch manager

 
That started the teasing the high maintenance hiker got all the way back to Manila. Of course, this high maintenance hiker made things worse by commenting on the “local ice cream.” In fairness, masarap ang local ice cream! Remember, Creamline is the official ice cream of high maintenance hikers!

Phoebe and Jayvee
Phoebe, Jayvee and Phoebe’s bucchi

 
High maintenance hikers aside, there was one blogger who made a great display of his strenght during this climb. While everybody was huffing and puffing from the exertion, this blogger was huffing and puffing away on his cigarettes. Winner! He kept up a running commentary, even singing Broadway hits, which kept us entertained and kept our minds off from the strain of the hike. To further show off his manly prowess, this tough guy pulled our van out of the muddy ditch it got stuck in on the drive back to Laiya. It’s a shame nobody got a video of this amazing display of strength.

Me & Ferdz
Me and Ferdz

 
Another highlight for me was learning how to skip rocks! Though I still lack practice, I was able to get them to skip three times. Thanks for the lessons, Ferdz!

IMG_0001
My 10,000th photo with the Ixus 75! (Pardon the cheesy poses)

 
It was also during this trip that I reached the 10,000th mark on my digital camera. It took me almost three years to reach 10,000 in my old A70, but with the Ixus 75, it only took seven months. I was initially planning some elaborate shoot to celebrate the 10K, but I’m glad that the 10,000th photo was a sort-of spontaneous happy shot. As my friend said, “at least it has someone wearing a shirt that says “I’m too horny.””


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15 responses to “Why the Mt. Daguldol Hike was one of the most memorable trips of 2008”

  1. Badet Avatar

    Hi there! Great pics! I’m a mountaineer too… Gulugod Baboy is on top of my list though. Enjoy the climb. =)

  2. cayce Avatar
    cayce

    that is such a cool shot of you guys jumping! I’ve always wanted to take a photo of myself jumping but could never stay in mid-air long enough…. ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. backpacking philippines Avatar

    nyay. i thought you knew and met ferdz way before. been quite a while since i climbed a mountain except my mountain of workload

  4. nina Avatar

    Badet: Ehehehe. A mountaineer I’m not. I’m more of a beach person actually ๐Ÿ™‚

    Cayce: Believe it or not, we got that shot in one take!

    Backpacking philippines: Hehe, we just stalk each other’s blogs, but this is the first time we actually met in person. Good luck on that mountain of work! Onti onti ring mababawasan yan ๐Ÿ˜‰

  5. davidd (aka puuikibeach) Avatar

    Love the “jumping” shot! Girl, you got some serious air in that leap! Is snowboarding in your future?

    Skipping rocks is a skill you’ll definitely want to cultivate. Lakes, rivers, beaches… they’re all good places to skip rocks! Practice whenever you get the chance!

    I enjoyed your amusing asides about your earlier camping exploits. A “white lady” in one of the grade school classrooms, huh? Interesting… is the White Lady some kind of Philippine ghost or legend? Kids at the school where I used to work, where most of the students are Filipino kids, talked about the White Lady who haunted one of the restrooms. Giggling girls used to scream and claim they saw her in the mirror.

    I hope you have more “memorable trips” throughout 2008. And make sure to include more “trekking” and “hiking.” (Maybe get them city kids like Ry and Khursten out there on the trail… that’d be fun!)

  6. nina Avatar

    Snowboarding? Ahahahaha. Sure, when it starts snowing in the Philippines ๐Ÿ˜› I’ve yet to experience snow, actually. Hmm, that should be in my to do list.

    Yup, a white lady is this female ghost that is… well, white. I saw her inside one classroom, and I thought she was a teacher because she was sitting at the desk. But who in their right mind would sit writing at the desk without any lights on? When I passed by again, she was standing at the window, looking over the campsite.

    I’ll have to think long and hard about the trekking and the hiking, though I have to admit I’m looking forward to wearing my convertible pants again. And yes! There’s going to be a summer outing with Ryan, Khursten and the other Kalye Pinky crew! Though not in the great outdoors XD

  7. Baklang AJ Avatar

    Thanks for putting up with my out-of-tune Broadway hike concert! lolz!

  8. donG hO Avatar

    great scene and great opportunity to have been part of the Columbia sponsored climb. never hiked daguldol yet. maybe soon.

  9. nina Avatar

    AJ: Haha, naku no, it was the best motivator ever ๐Ÿ˜‰ It really took our minds off the trail ๐Ÿ˜€

    Dong Ho: Good luck on your climb then ๐Ÿ˜€ Say hello to the horsies for me lol

  10. Tahn Avatar

    love the pics. Looks like so much fun!

  11. Ivan Avatar

    Wanna join our hiking trips? Hehe! Pero pag balik ko na in July ๐Ÿ™‚

  12. nina Avatar

    Ivan: Ahahahahaa. Kailangang pagisipan ng masinsinan yan lol

  13. […] (both his blog and his photos) , and I was so happy that I was able to meet and travel with him three weeks ago. His photos, from what I’ve seen in his blog and his flickr are simply breathtaking. […]

  14. Carla Avatar

    Nice post and pictures; I am into mountain related activities; Also, the jumping picture looks cool

  15. […] but I guess after tallying it, I passed out because it was pretty darned expensive. I *am* quite a high maintenance traveler. I can rough it out, but as long as I’m traveling with people who doesn’t mind […]

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