Mt. Pico de Loro

To start off, let me manage your expectations. This blog is not a mountaineering blog, nor a travel blog so don't expect me to hand over itineraries and whatnot. I am just a happy hitch hiker who goes from one adventure to the next without thinking things through. So don't expect much from me. haha! To put it simply, this blog is where I dump off random brain farts accompanied by three pictures I shot. Kaya nga count-to-three title ng blog na to e. hahaha!

I know you're bored. Why else would you be here? So let me waste some of your time once more. Let me present to you: In Photos - Mt. Pico de Loro!

Pico de Loro or Parrot's Peak can be found in Ternate Cavite. It is about 660 meters above sea level, which can take you about 6 to 8 hours to the summit and back if you are planning to do a dayhike. Story goes that Spanish Galleons passing to and from the Manila Bay noticed this stickin-like-sore-thumb of a mountain that looks like a parrot's beak waiting to be fed with a gigantic earth worm by its equally gigantic momma parrot.  

Look at that. I really think something's fishy here. I think a Parrot Super
Mega Zord is hidden there waiting to be called by a Power Ranger.

A Date With Maria Makiling

Having been a student of UP Los Baños, I was always a big admirer of Mt. Makiling. She was overlooking our campus and gives us conducive climate for learning (as if I was really a dedicated student. hahaha). Anyway, I did not have the chance to climb Peak 2 (the summit, 1090 meters above sea level) during my 4 years' stay on elbi, mainly because I have other interests and priorities that time. 

I had a chance to ask her out last July 6. Not that good date to pick though, because we are already at the onset of the rainy season and that a typhoon has just left which will make the trail slippery and muddy. I just took my chances and just went through with the climb, making a calculated risk. Let me relate this experience to real life - dating real people. To start off, here's a Bob Marley quotation I got over the net:

"If she's amazing, she won't be easy. If she's easy, she won't be amazing. If she's worth it, you won't give up. If you give up, you're not worthy. ...Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for."

In keeping with this blog's count-to-three tradition  (that's why it was named as such), we'll dissect this quotation into three. So here it goes.

Images from #PROJECTJOMALIG wave 3.0

As a starter, let me answer some frequently asked questions: 

(a) What is Project Jomalig? 

Project Jomalig is an effort to lift up the island as 2011 and 2012's most nutritionally depressed municipality in the Philippines through a series of feeding program (for a period of six months) through the effort of volunteers. Some may argue that this effort may not amount that much, but it is our hope that this small step will make ripples and it is our duty to spread the word. For details about the project, here's James' site: http://journeyingjames.com/2013/03/project-jomalig-feed-the-kids-change-the-world/

(b) Where is Jomalig, Quezon?

From Real, Quezon which is about 2 to 3 hours from Manila, you will board a boat which ferries goods, cargo and passengers bound for Patnanungan Island. This will take about 5 hours. From there you have to transfer to a smaller boat which will take another hour or less. If you are lucky enough, you can catch a boat which ferries directly to Jomalig for about 6 hours. Now, you get the picture. It is quite hard to reach and it will take real effort to go there. That is the prime reason why it is nutritionally depressed - it is hard to reach. 

Being a photography enthusiast and an amateur adventurer, here are three pictures I'd like to share to you  during my June 14-16 Project Jomalig stint:

Project Jomalig wave 3 team with the children of Brgy. Apad, Jomalig