"The world is too big," she said, "but that doesn't mean we stop searching."
I haven’t had the time to grieve properly since you left, though for some macabre way, I am glad you left the way you did — at peace, as the sun rose, lying on your side, the way you’d always do when you’re completely at rest. I guess that's why I used this photo of… Continue reading An Ode to a Friend
To the Filipino hiker, Mt. Kinabalu isn't as hard the way conventional Filipino mountains are hard. Where Filipino mountains rely on natural trails (a root becomes a step, a branch, your foothold), Mt. Kinabalu is 80% stairs. This means the best way to train for Kota is not exactly to run hills, or to climb… Continue reading Kota: Tips and Tricks (and Stuff I Wish I’d Known)
The end of every year shows Twitter in a flurry of activities: people tweeting about the things they're grateful for; about things they wish they had done, or done better; about lessons they learned or lessons they wish they were taught. On my part, I decided to go on a sharing spree about the good… Continue reading Great Balancing Act
I write this sitting next to 3 other people poring over their journals, scribbling furiously to translate into writing the words playing around in their head, some resorting to doodles only they can understand: an attempt to remember things -- trips and falls, bumps and scratches, summits and jump offs. I write this slumped… Continue reading Of family
This is the part, you've got to say all that you're feeling, feeling Packing a bag, we're leaving tonight when everyone's sleeping, sleeping Let's run away I'll run away with you P H O T O D U M P
Bakun is a relatively small poblacion in Benguet, and, like many of the towns in that part of the county, is quaint, quiet, and quite wonderful. (I like alliterations, so sue me.) --- On June 12-14, a group of acquaintances-turned-friends and I decided to climb three mountains dubbed as the Bakun Trio, famously called as… Continue reading On Independence
i. Midnight — clambering on a bus; speedy entrances to nighttime vehicles, people. Dozens: asleep, dreaming, clutching a phone, or a bag, or an umbrella, or a memory. ii. Dawn — a sudden jolt. Arms stretched, waters drank, bags repacked, fist bumps exchanged, dialogues made: “Are you… Continue reading Traverse in verse (Balingkilat/Nagsasa)
Some days, you just wake up and realize this is how you'd rather spend forever. Happy Friday, everyone.
Anyone who knows me know full well how much of a camera fan I am, and how I would prefer being behind it than in front. And while I am nowhere near good at what I love to do, I think it's nice to have a place where I can keep track of the… Continue reading Another space for me
[I haven't written in a while, but I've been seeing a lot of mountain photos on my feed, and I hope this can serve as a reminder to leave no trace.) About a month ago, a group of friends and I climbed Mt. Maculate in Cuenca, Batangas, a very easy dayhike with a spectacular view… Continue reading An attempt at remembrance
Of perpetual finds 