only i exist

Then I heard him rolling down and Barbie screamed. "Oh my God! Renz!" I screamed back. There was a moments silence. I thought of how I can bring him back to town without a stretcher. What would his mother say to me? The one responsible for bringing her kids there. It was dark and we only had pen lights. Only three of us were hiking back to town. It was the dangerous part of the trek. The one where we had to climb big boulders one on top of the other. If you fall you're seriously injured, if not dead. Renz was pulling his sister up the rock. He wasn't sure footed so he got dragged down. Luckily his sister was holding his arm and managed to stop his fall. He seriously could have died. After ... read more

Sometimes when faced with big problems and major decisions to make, its nice to take a breather. Get away from it all to postpone the inevitable and think. So I went away to Bohol. Supposedly to think and meditate on the things that I'm going to lose and how to start all over again, but I was too busy to do that! But somehow its all clear now. Now I know what to do. We were picked up by the driver that we prearranged in Manila. Our plane arrived shortly after noon so we proceeded straight to the tour. We only planned to see three sites on day 1. Loboc river, Chocolate Hills and Tarsiers. The tour usually includes the hanging bridge, the oldest church in Bohol, the biggest Python in Bohol and some kind of ... read more

Twas my first time to travel alone. Just wanted to see what all the Gringos are up to. Because for a Filipino, travelling alone is sad. We always travel abroad in groups. Fetched by a tour bus every morning where everyone is Filipino and we follow a man with a flag and a portable PA system. We wear identical stickers and sometimes even matching caps. I never thought that was weird at all until I met Dutch backpacker Maaike while diving in Donsol. I've never travelled alone. I usually just follow the smart one in the group whenever I'm at the airport. I never had to pay travel tax on my own. Being the youngest child in the Philippines means everyone takes care of you. So there are a lot of things that I didnt know ... read more

We opted for a package tour that included transfers from one place to another coz its apparently cheaper that way. 168 USD for a 4day 3 nights stay in a nice hotel (Rambler Garden) with free daily breakfast, with tickets to disney resort and ocean park with tour guide and a shuttle thats takes us everywhere and back to the hotel. The city tour was blah. I dont even remember much of it but the package tour said its mandatory. Thats because they take you to stores that theyre affiliated with. Like the souvenir shop that had expensive stuff. They also took us to a Jewelry store that the travel agency said sponsored the tour thats why its dirt cheap. We went to a harbour which was where one of the james bond movies was filmed. ... read more

Lau and Shelli were still undecided last wednesday when i asked them if we were good to go. so i looked for a travel buddy in travbuddy dot com and found victor. seems like a nice enough guy whos about my age. checked his facebook page to make sure that hes not a creep. he turned out ok. so i decided to meet up with him in donsol. but Lau and Shelli decided to go in the last minute. so the three of us went together. it was my first time to go to the Bicol region. my first time in Araneta bus station. it was absolutely crazy! all the good buses were fully booked. we we ended up in a crappy bus with cramped seats. the trip was supposed to take only 10 hours but ... read more