The Mt. Pamitinan and Mt. Hapunang Banoi Day Hike

On March 26, 2017 at Wawa, Rodriguez, Rizal, the extra-hot hike happened.

As early as 4AM on that day, we (Me, Maki, Ariz and Chano) gathered right in front of the FX lay-over at Cubao, just beside Jolibee in MRT Cubao Station.

We were supposedly departing at exactly 4AM but our harkor friend Ariz took alot of time preparing his meals (haha!), so yeah we departed around 4:20AM riding the FX going to Rodriguez for 50.00 each. 

Around 5:30AM, we arrived at Eastwood in Montalban. We then rode a trike for 15.00 each going to Wawa. 

It was almost 6AM that we arrived at Wawa, we then contacted our guide, Kuya Romeo, to assist us in the processing of the registration. We only have to pay 25.00 per mountain per person for the registration fee at the barangay hall of Wawa. 

Just a few minutes past 6AM, we started our twin day-hike.

Past the jump-off is the Wawa Bridge, in early years, this bridge is not yet available hence climbers had to cross the river in order to proceed to the hike.


We traversed Mt. Pamitinan first so that we will not be stranded when the peak time comes in, starting 8AM.

Mt. Pamitinan is a simple hike, although an hour after the start of hike, you will have to climb rocks in order to continue the climb. Mt Pamitinan has alot of lime stones, and also very sharp rocks that are not so safe if you will climb barefoot and barehands, hence you need to wear a durable footwear and a gloves. No worries! Gloves are available at the jump-off from 40.00 pesos to 60.00 pesos a pair.

It took us about an hour and a half to arrive at the peak of Mt. Pamitinan. The landscape is truly overwhelming. The scorching heat did not bother us taking pictures at the summit. Each of us did the live-or-die pose at the summit, which the Mt. Pamitinan is famous for.

Around 9AM, we started descending back to the junction to continue with our 2nd mountain, the Mt .Hapunang Banoi.


Hapunang Banoi is coined from two tagalog words, hapunan which means dinner, and banoi which means bird, specifically the Philippine eagle. Yes, in the past, the said mountain is where eagles hunt for food.

Mt. Banoi is no different to Mt. Pamitinan, only that it has another route which our guide called the "mas masaya" route, a bit difficult as the stones are more sharper and getting alot thinner than it used to, so we had to be careful in our every step.

We reached the summit of Mt. Banoi at around 10:30AM, the heat of the sun is already felt by our very skins, but the scene is truly majestic. Every inch of the view is remarkable and rewarding.


We planned on going for a trilogy hike, adding to it the Mt. Binacayan on the opposite road, however, me and Chano felt pain in our knees, restricting us to continue with the trilogy.

Everything ended well past noon, yes, that's right, we are that fast. We were back at the registration area before 2PM.

So that is all for this one day hell-of-a-twin-hike adventure! To more twin-hikes in the future! 😎


*photo credits to Maki, Ariz and Chano.

*If you are in need of a guide, you may contact Kuya Romeo, he's a photographer/guide, at 09101668471. (Guide fee is regulated at 500.00 per mountain, maximum of 7 persons per guide).

My first solo out-of-the-country trip: BORNEO!

Yes you heard that right! Borneo, a.k.a Kota Kinabalu.

Details on the trip will be posted here soon :)

Sorry for being away for a year!

Heeeeeeeey! Sorry guys, i have been in hiatus in this food and travel blog site for a year or so, just because i was really busy with my professional work.

But do not worry! I'll be back the soonest :)

Wait for it!⦽

Mt. Pinatubo - Botolan, Zambales trail. Rain or shine we go!

28th May 2016 - 2:30 am. Me and my three travel folks (Jeff, Cheenee and Meve) traveled by bus to Metro. We opted to get a tour package so we will not be of hassle.

Our tour group almost did not make it to the tour that day as there is a cut off at base camp because our bus' tires got burnt during the 4 hour trip. Thankfully, the 4x4 vehicles were sent to us at the area. So yeah, we were able to have a 4x4 ride for 2 hrs instead of 1hour and 30mins.

1 hour and 30 minutes - a very bumpy and dusty ride. All i can say is it was more tiring than having to trail the crater. I promise. 

It was also a wet ride. Hehe.

We had a stop over at the sea of ​​lahar (probably 30mins away from the basecamp).

 Our trek started around 9:20 am that day. The sun was up. It was hot. Our pace during the trek was a slow one as we were on a big group (39 head count).

After an hour or so, we were able to reach the entrance to the crater. This was a few walks past the small aeta village.

The weather started getting moody around 10:30 am. We felt raindrops and the sky was all gloomy.

We reached the final point before going to the crater at around 11am. So there's this post that we had to take a picture at.

Where do you think we belong? Young age? Middle age? Or senior citizens? None of those three. Haha. We were already zombies probably as it took us 30mins to reach the crater.

Ohh yeah. We conquered Mt. Pinatubo .

Magestic landscape right there.

Not even lahar can stop us reaching the crater. hehe

Selfie of Achievement

Selfie of achievement # 2 lol

We had our lunch after those picture taking. We stayed atop for around 30mins and had to go down earlier than expected as the weather started to go bad. Dark sky was all over the place and a very strong rain may hinder us from traversing back.

30mins at the traverse, the rain fell. It was really strong. We all got soaked. Thankfully I had an umbrella with me (I am always on the go. Hahaha).

We reached the basecamp at around 3:30 am, all wet. We had to change outfits before leaving for the 4x4 ride again.

The bumpy and dusty ride was again experienced by us. 

We were able to reach the pick-up / drop-off point of the 4x4 vehicles at around 6pm already.

Proof of purchase. Este, of completion. Haha.

Special thanks to TRIPINAS for the whole trip. We may not be able to experience this one without you guys, especially Mr. Tee.

For complete itinerary and details of our group's trip, just go to tripinas.com.ph.

And I quote from my FB profile pic, "Not even lahar can stop me." Hehe.


Thanks for reading! Till the next.

El Nido on a Budget

Are you finalizing and achieving your El Nido trip but would want to spend less so as to save money for your future? Here's a guide that you'll surely be printing out anytime soon.

El Nido, Palawan: 3-days Itinerary (Mnl-Pps-Mnl)

 

➢ Day 1. Travel from your place to Puerto Princesa.  Then,

 

• Flag down trike for P50.00 to the bus terminal.

• Travel to El Nido via Ord. Bus (P450.00)/AC Bus (P550.00)/Shuttle (P600.00). Buses travel time is 6 hours while shuttle is 5 hours. Negotiate to get cheaper fare.

 

➢ Town Hopping.El Nido, Palawan (DAY 1)

 

• Hire trike for a day tour around the place for P1500.00 (1000.00)

• Morning hike at a hill near Nacpan Beach.

• Back to town to eat lunch. Check-in at OMP Hostel(P350.00/head a night with breakfast) or El Taraw Inn ( P500.00 a night good for 2 w/o breakfast).

• Swimming until sunset at Marimegmeg Beach. (We may rent Kayak for P500.00/day or P350.00/half day).

•  

➢ Island Hopping – El Nido, Palawan (DAY 2)

 

• Grab an island hopping tour. Standard package is 1200-1400 per tour plus 200.00 environmental fee. Alternative: private tour. (P3000.00 for tour A or D; P4000.00 for B or C – best tour. Secret Beach and Hidden Beach, Helicopter Island, Matinloc Shrine and Star Beach)

 

 

➢Travel back to Puerto Princesa (DAY 3)

 

• Tour around Puerto Princesa until it's your time to go back home.

 

 

Estimated Expenditure (worst case scenario)

​​

Trike travel	120.00
Bus Travel	1200.00
Island Hopping	1000.00
Land Tour	350.00
Kayak	500.00
Food	1000.00
Lodging 2 days	1000.00
TOTAL	5170.00

Estimated Expenditure (budgeted)

Trike Travel	120.00
Bus Travel	900.00
Island Hopping	500.00
Land Tour	250.00
Food	1000.00
Lodging 2 days	1000.00
TOTAL	3770.00

*Airline ticket not included.

So what are you waiting for? Hop on the backpacker's wagon and see the world you dream of.

Christmas Recipe: Freestyle Cheesecake (No Bake)

So, it's about time I post this recipe. After all, it's christmas! Christ is coming and a good food to celebrate it isn't something unjustly.

Presenting, the no bake Cheesecake!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pack Crushed grahams

1/2 butter (big size. I used Magnolia)

1 whole cream cheese (big size. I used Magnolia too)

1 pack gulaman powder (i used colorles. No flavor)

2 pcs egg

3 pack Nestlè cream

1 small can condensed milk

1/2 can evaporated milk (small Alpine)

Any topping (i used ube halaya. It's great if you use blueberry preserves)

Utensil to use:

Non-stick removable-bottomed pan

Some spatulas

Bowls

How to!!

1. In a small bowl, mix gulaman with evaporated milk. 

2. In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, condensed milk and nestle cream. Mix until smoothen.

3. In another separate bowl, combine crushed grahams with butter. For easy mix, heat up the butter so it would melt.

4. Relax, and pull out your non stick pan. Press the crushed graham mixture into the pan - as it will be the base of your cake.

5. In a cooking pan, open your stove and heat it up with moderate fire. Put slowly your nestle cream and cream cheese mixture. Never stop mixing to avoid getting it burnt. After 3 minutes, put in the gulaman mixture. Heat up until it's bubbling. Then, pour in the eggs. Then mix thoroughly for 30 seconds then remove from the pan. Set aside for 1 hour for it to cooldown.

6. Pour the mixture in #5 into your cake pan. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

7. Pour your toppings. Then refrigerate for 10 hours.

Enjoy and have a sweet christmas!

30 day Pre-christmas weight loss challenge

Christmas is in the air again. Alongside, christmas parties will be everywhere by the time December comes in. Everybody, in my honest opinion, is pretty excited to attend one party or two - to be able to wear amazing and impressive outfits that will really look good on you. Tight skirts, boddy hugging tees, slim-cut jeans, leggings, crop-top, long-sleeve polo and more. However, there are times when these outfits does not look good on you, especially when you get in touch with buffet parties / "inuman" (hard drinks) sessions every week or you wanted to eat anything you have not tasted yet, hence, adding up pounds on you making you look bulgy and big. 

I say no worries, because it's not impossible to lose enough weight for you to look more amazing on those outfits in just 30 days.

5-RULES-IN-30-DAYS-FOR-A-SLIMMER-YOU PLAN (that's hella long. lmao.)

These are just simple rules you had to follow  in order to get the desired result.

1. NOT MEANT FOR YOU, BUT IT WILL BE.

- This is really the first step so I had to make it the first rule. Buy the outfit you want to wear (on next month's party) which you could not wear because it is too small for you. This will be your motivation along the way. You won't waste money on something you cannot use, so cope with the differences by doing the next four rules.

2. FORGIVE AND FORGET.

- Sodas, beers, burgers, fries, instant coffees, cakes and desserts, extra rice - these things are really tempting that will help us gain weight abnormally (and it isn't a good way too). Forgive these things for adding up pounds on your body. Then, forget them all. Avoid eating any of these within 30 days (you will surely have to eat or drink any of these on christmas parties).

3. ONE CUP IS ENOUGH FOR A RICE, MAN. 

- I know this line is a bit corny but I will put it anyway (lol). Always set the bar for carbs intake. A cup of rice a day is what is ideal. Anything more of that is subject to rule # 2. You can have a cup of rice only during lunch, or you may have half a cup on breakfast and also half a cup at lunch.

4. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.

- Health is life. Good health means good life. Bad health leads to death (scary! 😱). Getting into a diet scheme is good, but adding up exercise into it is way much better. Instead of watching TV during night time, or getting up late in the morning, put on your running shoes and have a walk or run. This way, you will shed off fats stored beneath your skin.

5. PLANS ARE MEANT TO BE IMPLEMENTED.

- You don't plan just because you want a plan. It won't be a success unless you implement or apply it. Implement the four rules prior to rule # 5 and you will surely have a great and fit christmas!

This way, you will enjoy more the yuletide celebrations! 🎅🎉❄️⛄️🎁

Penned by: Eric Generalao Tandog