Simple...

Lifeless… but Alive

Crossing the street...

Those days in college were spent walking from one building to another. First class was Mathematics at 7 am to 8:30 am. Next class was Chemistry at exactly 8:30 am. The Mathematics building and the Chemistry pavilion were 10 to 15 minutes away by jeep. I always took the shortcut. I walked.

UP Sunken Garden

Some students find solace sitting here at the Sunken Garden – maybe after a difficult exam, a failed subject, a terrible professor, or anything. I used to play soccer here, and I enjoyed it when It rained. Those were the good old days. The kid in the background seemed to enjoy playing with the piece of cloth. People came here to play, relax, and to think. Ironically, I never found myself sitting on the grass. Not until today. So this is what I have been missing!

UP Sunken Garden

One more shot before I go

I am actually not feeling well on this day I visited my alma mater. “One more shot!.” I said to myself. It was sunny but it began to drizzle. I had to go back home.

Untill my next visit

This is the entrance to the University of the Philippines. I found myself looking back to take one more photograph. How did I feel today? I felt nothing. Maybe because Im just tired. But definitely not jaded.

I will come back. Soon.

View looked good from here

View from the top

So here it goes. I’ve always wanted to escape from the city and go somewhere else. It was one boring day at the office when my barkada and I were thinking about going out of town for some nature tripping until we landed our feet to a paradise called Anawangin Cove in Zambales. Imagine blue waters, white sand, and pine trees on the beach on a blue sky and mountain backdrop. Now this is paradise. Seeing the place gave me goosebumps.

View from the mountain

Not knowing exactly where to go, or even how to get there, we packed our stuff and met on a thursday morning in Accenture in Cybergate 2 then took off in a bus from Boni Avenue to Victory Liner Bus station in Monumento. I remembered the TV program called Lonely Planet as we went to that unfamiliar place. I wish we had everything caught on video but with all the excitement, who would like take the role of the cameraman? Good thing we had plenty of snapshots. I took my tiny sony ericsson cybershot camera phone with me. I even wrapped it in zip-lock knowing that we’ll gonna get wet!

To Capones Island we go!

Sadly, we did not get the chance to hike to the old Lighthouse in Capones because we landed on the other side of the island. Manong Bankero said these blue waters is a shark haven but with the scorching heat of the sun and the breath taking view, I for once, forgot that I am afraid of sharks! Have I mentioned that we’ve been to this place twice in one year? The first time was March 2008 and the second was only a month after! That was how we loved the place!

how to get there?

We took the Victory Liner Bus from Monumento, Caloocan headed to San Antonio Zambales.

Fare rate: around 250 php each person

When we reached the town proper of San Antonio, we took a ride to Pundaquit via chartered tricycles.

Fare rate: 40 php each person

Tricycle ride to Pundaquit

The tricycle ride was the most fun tricycle ride one could ever have. Yes we have tricycles in Manila, but hey this is Zambales! Passing by the single lane bridge was an experience in itself. An SUV had to give way to our tricycle as the brigle is a one-way bridge. Hehe.

We got tired going to Pundaquit and so we ate in a hotel-resto called Nora’s. Food was great and inexpensive. We loved the Adobo so much! The chop suey was just as great. We needed to wait an hour or so because they cooked the food only after we placed our orders. It was worth the wait though. The food was great.

We decided to go to the market to buy some food to cook for our overnight stay at the cove knowing that there is nothing in Anawangin cove but plain nature and nothing to eat. Half of the group stayed to watch for our luggage while the other half went back to San Antonio town Market to buy some hotdogs, chicken, and rice. Our group decided to haggle with the Bankeros to get the cheapest fare for the banca ride so we could go straight to Anawangin as soon as the other group arrives. One banca can acocmodate five to six persons. We contracted three bancas. Two for us humans, and one for our luggage. Hehe.

Banca ride from Pundaquit to Anawangin

fare: 1200php/banca equivalent to 200php/person

From Pundaquit

To Anawangin

This is it. This picture was taken when we set foot to Anawangin the second time around. I remember it was night time when we first came to the cove in March 2008. Approcahing the cove at night was spectacular. It was a sight to behold. Camera flashes were seen from afar as though those were fireflies. It was magical. If only I was able to take photos of that then it would have been great! Anyhow, I will never forget how that looked like.

Look at the mountains - picture perfect!

What to do there?

We came there to swim at the beach of course! But we discovered that there’s more to the place than just the beach. First things first. We had to set up our tents.

At the shady campsite near the beach

Done with the tents and the sun is totally up!

And have something to eat! We cooked all our food in the bonfire.

Tengo Hambre!

Night time has never been this serene.

Sunset by the beach

The following morning was a good time to take a walk. We were at the beach the day before and we decided to walk inwards towards the woods this morning. We walked through the sticks until we discovered this lagoon. I wondered, “is there something living in that lagoon like the Loch Ness monster?” Me and my wild imagination. Hehe…

Looks like an enchanted lagoon

On the other side of the lagoon is the sea...

It was funny that we saw Tamaraw poops a few meters away from our campsite as we went deeper into the woods. I could not believe that those Water-Buffalo like beasts were so close to us the night before and we did not even notice them. I wondered, “are they such gentle animals that we did not even hear them at all?” I would have taken pictures of those creatures if I had the chance. Here’s the poop anyway. Hehe..

Poop witn a mushroom on top

The woods looked like an enchanted place early in the morning. The sun is about to rise as we made our way towards the sticks. The place appeared like it wasinhabited by fairies, elves, or maybe even ghouls. We even came accross a dead river bed and some smaller lagoons. The place was so quiet as we felt the eerieness of the place. Suddenly, one cracks a joke and we all laughed as we trudged deeper into the woods. Let’s take a peek.

Where have all the people gone?

Into the Twilight Zone

Dead river bed

Shaky hands did the trick

We went back to the campsite on sunrise. We had more adventures after that… The boat ride to Capones and the hike to the mountain top was one of the best. We did some island hopping to Camara island where there was supposed to be a sandbar – a strip of sand that serves as a bridge so we could go from one island to another on foot! More white sand beaches, deep blue waters, and sunny blue skies!

to be continued… with more pics to come.