Date: March 31, 2010
Destination: Patling, Tarlac (Gem’s Place – my husband’s co-worker)
ETD: 9:00 pm but we rode the Dau Bus thru Victory Liner by 11:30pm
ETA: Unknown since we reached the place by 4:00 am.
Me and my husband first planned to visit home in Tagaytay but changed his mind up to last minute to try some place… for a change. He was invited to take a trip in Tarlac to spend the Holy Week and so we did. Luckily, our company outing was rescheduled for a big purpose... I thought so haha! Maybe to give way for more adventurous one.
A night before the trip we packed our things to get ready. On the said date, after office hours I went back home coz I left something and headed immediately to our meeting place, Dulcinea Rockwell, where my husband is currently working. We still stayed there for another one hour after his duty and left by 10:00 pm. We then went to Victory Liner in Pasay to start our trip and where we also met their boss Sir Xander who also has his own companions Ate Malyn (his wife), Mitchie (his wife’s sister) and Ruzzel (Mitchie’s boyfriend). We were nine travelers so it wasn’t boring at all. From there, instead riding Gua-gua bus, we took the Dau to keep ourselves from waiting until the next day. It will take four rides to reached Patling. By the way, bus fare is Php. 159 from Pasay to Dau. I took a nap while we were in a bus coz I was soooooo sleepy. Then from Dau, we rode a jeep going to Capas, Tarlac for Php. 35.00/ each. After Capas, we took another ride and we hopped in a tricycle that was Php. 50/each to reach Patling. Upon knowing the next day, we traveled 18kms, from Capas to Patling! Our jaw literally dropped to our amazement and realization. Haha! No wonder why we felt we’ve been in a road like forever! Finally, we stopped to our destined place by 4:00 am.
THE ANCESTRAL HOUSE
After eating our “very late dinner and really early breakfast”, Gem guided us to our place to stay, their family’s Ancestral House. To keep you informed, the house was built in the year 1941 if I’m not mistaken. So you can already imagine how old it is. And to our amusement, the said house was not the only one more than 50 years existing. There was also an antique dresser, an altar at the second floor, a single almost-looked-like hospital bed, television etc. Old and new photos, painted family pictures with really old diplomas were all over the walls! My hubby said there was an old slippers he saw.. Mitchie and I were awe with our total amazement while Ate Malyn was scared.. Can’t blame her, coz I was scared myself too. It was my first time to sleepover in a very very old house! That was total cool…… yet creepy.. (Peace out Gem ^^, hehe). I expected on having a hard time to get some sleep coz I have this “namamahay” thing whenever I’m in another house but it was the other way around. Well maybe because of I’m totally exhausted, tired and all. Thank god I did!
THE 15-MINUTES IS EQUIVALENT TO 2 HOURS??? FOR A HOT SPRING
After lunch, we were can’t wait to see the hot spring. It won’t be that tiring coz it will only cause us 15 minutes of walking to be there… hmmmm, why not give it a try? And so we did. With our bag packs and extra short and shirt, we left then the house by past 11:00 am. The path walk was like a desert with full of ashes from Mt. Pinatubo’s last eruption. With the heat of the sun slipping through our skin, everyone’s longing for some water, yet that didn’t stopped us from missing our chances to take pictures. We stopped from time to time for some photo session. There was this not-so-tall mountain we passed through which as per Gem it saved the Patling from the wrath of the eruption. It was like their shield.
A beautiful river is lying behind the said mountain. Countless video shoot was taken there.
So we kept going and pass through the Brgy. Bueno but since we were all tired and thirsty we looked for a sari-sari store and had something to wet our dried lips and throat. We continued walking not wanting to waste more time. But wait… did someone mentioned it’ll only take us 15 minutes to get there?? How come we’ve been walking for a lifetime??!! Haha! It’s been past one hour and yet no trace of “hot spring” can be seen. And so we asked Gem how long we still need and told us in 5 minutes we’re there…. Yeah…Really huh??
Then there was another road uphill and so here it goes. That so-called 5 minutes he said turned into 30-45 minutes I guess before we finally see the hot spring. Silly and naughty caught us there. And guess what? It wasn’t the typical one we saw in television. Turned out it actually looked like a really big well, see the attached image.
In fairness to this one, the water is really really hot.
We were also warned to low down our voices and
avoid some noise to disturb the villagers who are
praying (nagpapasyon). We stayed in this place long
enough to compensate all our effort and tiredness.
It felt good though. So we went home after awhile.
THE GOAL: MT. PINATUBO CRATER
That night everyone had some drink to relax. The plan for the next day was settled. We then prepared for the biggest adventure. That is to see the Mt. Pinatubo crater. April 2, 2010 at 4:30 in the morning we started our journey and rode the 4x4 truck. With rough road, there was nothing you can see but darkness and endless mountain range. Kuya Joseph told me, the road we were taking was the long gone 50 ft deep river that was actually connected to the Pangasinan Sea which was ravaged and destroyed by the Mt. Pinatubo’s angst. I can barely imagine how beautiful it was, now all that’s left was memory and I felt sad. I cannot remember how many hours we’ve travelled that road coz I kept myself busy from filling my eyes with the wonderful views. Kuya Joseph took the one they called “skyway” since the other way was not passable. We then reached the Aeta’s village on time as expected. They’re the one who lives at the top of the mountain range near the Pinatubo. It was also said that many of them were vanished from the eruption. From that place, our awaited adventure started. When I saw the signage saying that “Welcome to Mt. Pinatubo and your trek starts here” I can feel my energy rising to the highest level. This is it! I cannot believe I am almost there!
With our own different reasons and same on some ways, we continued. When only few steps to take, I can hear my own heart beating fast… Then I saw it. The postcard picture perfect view of the Mt. Pinatubo crater is there standing in regal before me. I cannot contain my eyes with just one look. It took me few minutes or so to get over with it… But I guess I’m still not, until now. And because we were not yet satisfied to what we were seeing, we went down to the crater’s lake. The lake was so peaceful in color green and blue. It was so serene.
Countless tourists, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, and Americans were there to see the majestic mountain’s crater who will have their own shares of stories after their visit. No one can ever imagine how this beautiful creation of God destroyed many things in just one snap of finger. We’ll ne’er know. Maybe god has his own purpose we hardly understand.
Leaving this place left something in us, more than just a memory. And more than just these photos we took. It was something that will live with us until our own days end and will be kept in the deepest side of our hearts. As I was taking my steps away from there, I was teary-eyed from happiness and sadness for some reasons unknown to me. I went and left that place with more respect and gratitude realizing we should not miss something that is worth our time….. either a long walk.
“My own share” Yna 040410 @ 8:30pm
Destination: Patling, Tarlac (Gem’s Place – my husband’s co-worker)
ETD: 9:00 pm but we rode the Dau Bus thru Victory Liner by 11:30pm
ETA: Unknown since we reached the place by 4:00 am.
Me and my husband first planned to visit home in Tagaytay but changed his mind up to last minute to try some place… for a change. He was invited to take a trip in Tarlac to spend the Holy Week and so we did. Luckily, our company outing was rescheduled for a big purpose... I thought so haha! Maybe to give way for more adventurous one.
A night before the trip we packed our things to get ready. On the said date, after office hours I went back home coz I left something and headed immediately to our meeting place, Dulcinea Rockwell, where my husband is currently working. We still stayed there for another one hour after his duty and left by 10:00 pm. We then went to Victory Liner in Pasay to start our trip and where we also met their boss Sir Xander who also has his own companions Ate Malyn (his wife), Mitchie (his wife’s sister) and Ruzzel (Mitchie’s boyfriend). We were nine travelers so it wasn’t boring at all. From there, instead riding Gua-gua bus, we took the Dau to keep ourselves from waiting until the next day. It will take four rides to reached Patling. By the way, bus fare is Php. 159 from Pasay to Dau. I took a nap while we were in a bus coz I was soooooo sleepy. Then from Dau, we rode a jeep going to Capas, Tarlac for Php. 35.00/ each. After Capas, we took another ride and we hopped in a tricycle that was Php. 50/each to reach Patling. Upon knowing the next day, we traveled 18kms, from Capas to Patling! Our jaw literally dropped to our amazement and realization. Haha! No wonder why we felt we’ve been in a road like forever! Finally, we stopped to our destined place by 4:00 am.
THE ANCESTRAL HOUSE
After eating our “very late dinner and really early breakfast”, Gem guided us to our place to stay, their family’s Ancestral House. To keep you informed, the house was built in the year 1941 if I’m not mistaken. So you can already imagine how old it is. And to our amusement, the said house was not the only one more than 50 years existing. There was also an antique dresser, an altar at the second floor, a single almost-looked-like hospital bed, television etc. Old and new photos, painted family pictures with really old diplomas were all over the walls! My hubby said there was an old slippers he saw.. Mitchie and I were awe with our total amazement while Ate Malyn was scared.. Can’t blame her, coz I was scared myself too. It was my first time to sleepover in a very very old house! That was total cool…… yet creepy.. (Peace out Gem ^^, hehe). I expected on having a hard time to get some sleep coz I have this “namamahay” thing whenever I’m in another house but it was the other way around. Well maybe because of I’m totally exhausted, tired and all. Thank god I did!
THE 15-MINUTES IS EQUIVALENT TO 2 HOURS??? FOR A HOT SPRING
After lunch, we were can’t wait to see the hot spring. It won’t be that tiring coz it will only cause us 15 minutes of walking to be there… hmmmm, why not give it a try? And so we did. With our bag packs and extra short and shirt, we left then the house by past 11:00 am. The path walk was like a desert with full of ashes from Mt. Pinatubo’s last eruption. With the heat of the sun slipping through our skin, everyone’s longing for some water, yet that didn’t stopped us from missing our chances to take pictures. We stopped from time to time for some photo session. There was this not-so-tall mountain we passed through which as per Gem it saved the Patling from the wrath of the eruption. It was like their shield.
A beautiful river is lying behind the said mountain. Countless video shoot was taken there.
So we kept going and pass through the Brgy. Bueno but since we were all tired and thirsty we looked for a sari-sari store and had something to wet our dried lips and throat. We continued walking not wanting to waste more time. But wait… did someone mentioned it’ll only take us 15 minutes to get there?? How come we’ve been walking for a lifetime??!! Haha! It’s been past one hour and yet no trace of “hot spring” can be seen. And so we asked Gem how long we still need and told us in 5 minutes we’re there…. Yeah…Really huh??
Then there was another road uphill and so here it goes. That so-called 5 minutes he said turned into 30-45 minutes I guess before we finally see the hot spring. Silly and naughty caught us there. And guess what? It wasn’t the typical one we saw in television. Turned out it actually looked like a really big well, see the attached image.
In fairness to this one, the water is really really hot.
We were also warned to low down our voices and
avoid some noise to disturb the villagers who are
praying (nagpapasyon). We stayed in this place long
enough to compensate all our effort and tiredness.
It felt good though. So we went home after awhile.
THE GOAL: MT. PINATUBO CRATER
That night everyone had some drink to relax. The plan for the next day was settled. We then prepared for the biggest adventure. That is to see the Mt. Pinatubo crater. April 2, 2010 at 4:30 in the morning we started our journey and rode the 4x4 truck. With rough road, there was nothing you can see but darkness and endless mountain range. Kuya Joseph told me, the road we were taking was the long gone 50 ft deep river that was actually connected to the Pangasinan Sea which was ravaged and destroyed by the Mt. Pinatubo’s angst. I can barely imagine how beautiful it was, now all that’s left was memory and I felt sad. I cannot remember how many hours we’ve travelled that road coz I kept myself busy from filling my eyes with the wonderful views. Kuya Joseph took the one they called “skyway” since the other way was not passable. We then reached the Aeta’s village on time as expected. They’re the one who lives at the top of the mountain range near the Pinatubo. It was also said that many of them were vanished from the eruption. From that place, our awaited adventure started. When I saw the signage saying that “Welcome to Mt. Pinatubo and your trek starts here” I can feel my energy rising to the highest level. This is it! I cannot believe I am almost there!
With our own different reasons and same on some ways, we continued. When only few steps to take, I can hear my own heart beating fast… Then I saw it. The postcard picture perfect view of the Mt. Pinatubo crater is there standing in regal before me. I cannot contain my eyes with just one look. It took me few minutes or so to get over with it… But I guess I’m still not, until now. And because we were not yet satisfied to what we were seeing, we went down to the crater’s lake. The lake was so peaceful in color green and blue. It was so serene.
Countless tourists, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, and Americans were there to see the majestic mountain’s crater who will have their own shares of stories after their visit. No one can ever imagine how this beautiful creation of God destroyed many things in just one snap of finger. We’ll ne’er know. Maybe god has his own purpose we hardly understand.
Leaving this place left something in us, more than just a memory. And more than just these photos we took. It was something that will live with us until our own days end and will be kept in the deepest side of our hearts. As I was taking my steps away from there, I was teary-eyed from happiness and sadness for some reasons unknown to me. I went and left that place with more respect and gratitude realizing we should not miss something that is worth our time….. either a long walk.
“My own share” Yna 040410 @ 8:30pm
