MAN-SIZED HIKE V: Lutopan to Mantayupan Falls

THERE COMES A TIME when you have to take another huge step. A very bold one. Something that hinge too much on the absurd. Too big a step for others to dream about and too mind-boggling to attempt at such a plan. Blazing a real statement in a hype-saturated outdoors community is a commodity that is rare nowadays.

For most Cebu-based people, Cebu is lacking in challenge, whatsoever, in their outdoor pursuits and would rather spend much on money and time to other places where their thirst for adventure are realized. For me, I have nowhere to go except on my own island; yet Cebu has much to offer if you know how to release your creativity and capture everyone’s imagination.

Anyways, here I am again doing my own familiar stuff on places in Cebu where only a few dared think of. I am currently embarking on my CEBU HIGHLANDS TRAIL PROJECT in full steam and doing a lot of ranging. This time, I aim to explore a route that will start from Lutopan, Toledo City and, hopefully, end this on the fourth day at Mantalongon, Dalaguete.

Supporting me is Camp Red, your only Philippine bushcraft and survival guild south of Subic Bay. I am Camp Red and so are Raymund Panganiban, Glenn Pestaño and Silver Cueva who all are coming with me. This would not be possible without a good guide who is very familiar with my chosen route and I found one in the person of Antonio Vergara, who offered his services at my bidding.

I will dissect the whole activity in journal fashion for easy reading and understanding:

DAY 1 – March 22, 2012

• Leave the Cebu South Bus Terminal at 5:00 AM.
• Arrive at Lutopan, Toledo City at 6:30 AM.
• Leave Bunga, Toledo City at 7:00 AM. Weather: mild.
• Arrive at Lamac, Pinamungahan at 9:00 AM after a 13-kilometer walk. Take a 30-minute rest at the Hidden Valley Mountain Resort. Glenn’s foot suffer from blisters caused by an ill-fitting “desert storm” boots which have not been broken in for long walks. As expedition leader, these pair of unwanted heavy shoes pass on to mine as added cargo that would eventually put a strain on my shoulders and the whole journey.
• Stop at Sibago, Pinamungahahan at 11:00 AM after an 8-kilometer hike to prepare lunch. Food prepared are dried anchovies fried in oil with brown sugar, heated pork and beans and milled corn. I am the only one carrying a 250-gram butane gas tank and, instantly, I am the official cook. Lunch at 11:30 AM.
• Leave Sibago at 12:30 noon. Weather: very hot.
• Arrive at the boundary of Pinamungahan and San Fernando at 1:30 PM. Stop for cold refreshment for 30 minutes.
• Leave boundary road at 2:00 PM and follow an old “carabao highway”. I begin to feel a tell-tale sign of a rash in one of my inner legs. Backpack with unwanted cargo is heavy causing me disorientation and a scowl is etched in my forehead.
• Stop at Anislag, San Fernando at 3:00 PM for refreshment of green coconuts.
• Arrive at Tubod, San Fernando at 4:00 PM after a 7-kilometer hike. Make courtesy call to village head. Pitch tents and prepare supper. Food prepared are heated tuna flakes, mung bean soup, pork adobo and milled corn. Dinner at 6:30 PM. Heavy rainshowers at 8:00 PM force me, Raymund and Glenn to evacuate to a nearby chapel. Conversation with village folks over coffee. Rain stops at 10:30 AM. Taps at 11:00 AM.
• TOTAL KMS WALKED: 28

DAY 2 – March 23, 2012

• Wake-up at 4:30 AM. Coffee at 5:00 AM. Start to break camp at 5:30 AM. Prepare food for breakfast at 6:00 AM. Food prepared are last night’s left-over food of mung beans and pork adobo with milled corn. Breakfast at 7:00 AM. Glenn skipped breakfast for want of bread.
• Leave Tubod, San Fernando at 7:30 AM. Weather: mild.
• Stop at Mamaypay, San Fernando at 8:15 AM. Take a 15-minute break so Glenn could buy bread from a small store and eat a quick cold breakfast. Proceed journey at 8:30 AM.
• Stop at Balungag, Carcar for water at 9:00 AM. Reposition Glenn’s heavy boots on my Habagat Venado backpack for better balance. Blister on my inner thigh opens up while two other spots begins to get sore. Pass by watershed forest of Can-asuhan. Weather: very hot.
• Stop at Sacsac, Carcar at 9:30 AM for cold refreshment. Leave at 10:00 AM.
• Stop at Buenavista, Carcar at 11:00 AM after a 10-kilometer hike to prepare for lunch. Food prepared are scrambled eggs, heated braised pork mixed with beans and milled corn. Lunch at 11:30 AM. Glenn insists to eat meal at 12:00 noon but is overruled.
• Leave Buenavista at 12:30 noon.
• Stop at Valencia at 1:45 PM for rest. Leave at 2:15 PM. Weather: extremely hot.
• Stop at Tapal, Carcar at 2:30 PM for cold refreshment. Leave after 15 minutes.
• Arrive National Road at Guadalupe, Carcar at 3:30 PM. Cross boundary between Carcar and Barili. Arrive Mantalongon Livestock Market, Barili at 4:00 PM after a 12-kilometer walk. Make a courtesy call to market administrator who offered free use of sleeping spaces and access to public toilet. Change of diet by eating in small restaurants for supper. Ring our sleeping area with mosquito coils. Taps at 8:30 PM.
• TOTAL KMS WALKED: 23

DAY 3 – March 24, 2012

• Wake up at 2:30 AM to take an early morning bath and wash my bicycle shorts free of microscopic salt crystals which caused me rashes. Start a small fire on a mound of rubbish to help ward off mosquitoes. Go back to sleep at 3:30 AM. Wake up again at 5:30 AM.
• Eat breakfast in a small restaurant at 6:30 AM.
• Leave Mantalongon at 7:30 AM. Weather: hot.
• Pass by Bravo Company Headquarters of the 78th Infantry Battalion to make a courtesy call. Leave after 15 minutes. Climb the hills above Mantalungon.
• Stop at a house of Antonio’s long-lost friend at 8:15 AM. A happy reunion after 42 years. Leave at 8:30 AM. Weather: very hot.
• Stop at Hunob, Carcar at 9:00 AM for cold refreshment and beer as electrolyte substitute. Leave at 9:30 AM. Forage green papaya for food. Rainshowers at 9:45 AM in a route that intrude into Sibonga. Rain stops at 10:30 AM. Weather: mild.
• Stop at Lamac, Barili at 11:30 AM for cold refreshments after a 20-kilometer hike. Leave at 12:00 noon.
• Stop at Mayana, Barili at 1:45 PM to prepare lunch after a 4-kilometer hike. Food prepared are heated adobo mixed with beans, noodle soup and milled corn. Donated part of of our stash of food to a kind family who offered their firewood and hearth for our cooking. Eat late lunch at 2:30 PM. Siesta. Leave at 3:00 PM.
• Arrive at Mantayupan Falls, Barili at 4:00 PM after a 3-kilometer hike. Douse thirst with bottles of cold beer while singing with a videoke machine at the resort. Prepare supper at 6:00 PM. Food prepared were heated braised pork and milled corn. Dinner at 6:30 PM. Glenn refused to eat dinner for want of chicken soup and insist to rent a cottage. I pay my share of the cottage but refuse to sleep indoors so the rest can share sleeping space inside the small room. Taps at 8:00 PM.
• TOTAL KMS WALKED: 27

DAY 4 – March 25, 2012

• Wake up at 5:30 AM. Leave Mantayupan Falls at 8:00 AM.
• Arrive Shamrock Restaurant, Barili at 8:30 AM. Breakfast at 9:00 AM.
• Leave Barili at 10:15 AM.
• Arrive Cebu South Bus Terminal at 11:30 AM.
• TOTAL KMS WALKED: 0

The original objective of climbing Osmeña Peak before reaching Mantalongon, Dalaguete on the fourth day have not been realized by factors brought on by mistake in team selection, heavy-loaded backpacks, a disappointing footwear, slow strides, skin sores, fatigue, planning error and unknown routes. The route was aborted instead due to the seemingly impossible distance going to Mantalongon from Mayana.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Expedition team elements should be physically and mentally fit and should not crack under pressure.
• Light backpacking is encouraged. Exclude unnecessary gears and other items.
• Equipment should be tested beforehand to prevent unsatisfactory results that would undermine the pace and outcome of expedition.
• Canned goods are discouraged.
• Everyone should eat the same food.
• Everyone should equally share and contribute manual labor.
• Composition of the present expedition team will undergo changes for the next scheduled segment.
• Expedition leader has the final say on who will come, what to bring or wear, what to eat and when to rest.

MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL

I NEVER KNEW IT is Mother’s Day. Why? Because May 13, 2012 was designated as a Mother’s Day and all I know is that it is traditionally held on a May 10. It is not a holiday though but people have reserved that day as if it is a holiday.

So, my wife Vilma got a treat from her daughters Laila and Lovella. I was invited to come along so I go. Most of the time, I spend Sundays in the mountains teaching grassroots bushcraft to like-minded people and, fortunately for all, I am home for this Sunday.

Lovella, together with grandson Gabriel, led me and Vilma to Park Mall in Mandaue City. We were too early for the 10:00 AM opening so Lovella asked us to accompany her to the second level of the mall where shops are located. Lovella and Gabriel entered a spa while Vilma and I waited outside.

In a short while, Lovella ushered us inside the Langkawi Discovery Spa where attendants requested us to sit above square wells after removing our respective footwear. It was kind of uneasy for me to have people wash my feet since I truly believed I possessed a pair of ugly feet. Just my opinion only.

I thought it’s just only a feet washing but, no, that’s not the end of it. After a few timid steps, Vilma and I got ourselves inside small rooms and given towels each. We lie face down and attendants do a full body massage to us. It is the first time that Vilma and I got ourselves massaged from head to toe with scented oil.

After an hour, we walk out of the spa very refreshed and strangely recharged and go down into the restaurant belt of the mall. We all sit inside Da Vinci’s Pizza and eat a meal of pizzas, fried chicken and spaghetti. Our youngest son, Cherokee, came over and joined us on the table.

We transferred to Jollibee and joined on the long table where Laila and husband Miguel; grandsons Kurt and Jarod; and our eldest son Gringo are waiting. They were partaking of lunch while I take interest of the cold chocolate drinks served.

After lunch at Park Mall, we all decide to go home and enjoy siesta. It is a hot afternoon but the trees I planted in my backyard shielded the heat away. The lower level in our house is cool and that is where everybody are resting so I go upstairs and tried hard to sleep but could not. I continue reading instead the Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv and finished Chapter One.

When 4:00 PM came, we all go to watch a dog agility competition at the Asiatown IT Park. I could see a very good rapport and coordination between dogs and their handlers as each team follow an obstacle course composed of bars, tunnels, planes, platforms and a ring.

The last event is a Frisbee-throwing competition wherein dogs would race with the thrown disk and catch this in mid-air. Some dogs get distracted by flashes of camera lights though and some camera users flashed their lights irresponsibly.

We leave the park for JY Square and sit ourselves around a long table at Razon’s. We consume dinner of pancit palabok, pancit Canton and their specialty – a local dessert called halo-halo. We leave the place in time to attend the last scheduled Eucharistic Celebration at the St. Therese Parish in Wilson Street.

Before we leave, Vilma and I decide to visit my mother at nearby La Guardia and greet her a Happy Mother’s Day. Cousin Ian and wife are there to deliver a gift of puppy for me. The pup is of mixed breed but it is a handsome dog. The boys will be happy to have a canine companion in the house at last.

The puppy will be of help to me someday, when it grow to a dog, to guard again my house against burglars which have victimized me recently. The last dog before him – Carlo – had effectively protected my home. What name to give the puppy is the greatest debate right now inside my home.

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BUSHCRAFT BUHISAN XII: Circles

NEED TO GO OUT to the wilderness of Buhisan and Baksan today, April 22, 2012. Camp Red needs also to exercise their domain of bushcraft and survival by going on a foraging hike and doing a campsite location and development. Got new guys with me, as well as old reliables Silver Cue and Jhurds Neo.

Need to teach the new bushmen traditional land navigation today. I am going to re-visit my jungle wonderland and I am going to take Dominikus Sepe, Glenn Abapo and Mr. Bogs in there. My first target would be the place called The Portal. It had rained hard during dawn and it made the ground wet. Such downpour in summer are rare and it makes my foraging of dry fire tinder rarer still. So collecting dry things are out of the question.

We start from the south gate of Guadalupe church at 7:10 AM. I could feel the draining heat of the sun at this early hour of the day at Heartbreak Ridge. I could only imagine what the others might have felt at this deceptive stretch. It is a gentle slope of 30-degrees or more yet devoid of any vegetation. In summer, it is brown like cocoa and dotted with black patches of burnt out grass.

We walk over the highest hump of this serpentine-looking range of hills scarred by a high-end housing project on the east that do more bad than good to the lowland residents of Cebu City. Beyond that ugly earth-moving activity and unseen from the urban areas are lush vegetation that provide food and livelihood to the poor mountain folks and thick stands of timber that is home to birds and other living creatures.

This private-capital urban-development project is dangerously close to the Buhisan Watershed Area and, someday in less than twenty years, I believe that more developments will intrude into lands classified as timberland and where my only jungle wonderland in the city is found. Along the route, I stop by to pick up leaves and buds from wild basil that I may need later to season our noontime meal. 

 

Once I reach the enclave of trees, I could feel my energy returning. My steaming body gets cooled and the silence is so soothing to the spirit even when it is pierced by the constant chirping of birds. I follow the path that I called Bebut’s Trail. The star apple tree I photographed intentionally burned at its lower trunk by an unknown firewood gatherer sometime in May 2010 to hasten its death have finally succumbed. The limbs were now missing and only the dry trunk remained and will soon be firewood.

Up ahead, some person cut two big branches of an ancient tamarind tree. Nearby is a charcoal pit where all the missing branches are found and charred black. Summer heat always put a strain on farms and produce and complicates a farmer’s livelihood where, most likely, he is bound to cut trees to feed his family. I pass by a Spanish plum tree and a copse of breadfruit trees and all are left untouched.

I reach The Portal at 8:30 AM. This is a hub of seven trails and I let everyone take rest and drink their water. After a short briefing, I follow the rest of Bebut’s Trail. It is over a year since the last time I passed by this path. I believe the previous year have deposited a lot of rainwater as the greens have not wilted yet as this is in the middle of summer although this season is one of the hottest I have felt.

My long absence from this part of the trail have taken a toll on me as I miss the branch of the path that I usually take. I make a detour when I notice I followed a different route and retrace myself back. I looked for the stunted palm tree on the left that marked the branch but it had grown long stems which I failed to notice. When I do found the true path I estimate I have already wasted about ten minutes of reconnoitering and of doubling back and forth. It would have been longer if I have a larger party with me.

The day turns hot and I’m sweating hard as well; my mind working full-time to analyze, guess and second-guess this trail that have become elusive to my eyes and feet. I am tired and I miss again the route when I pass by an unfamiliar landmark and I have to stop and recover my wits. I have heard of a sinkhole in Baksan but I have not seen it until I became stupid.

I found the sinkhole and it is dangerously so close along the path. It has a squarish hole of about five feet by five feet and is quite deep that I could not clearly see the bottom for fear of falling into it. I see plastic and rubbish snagged among exposed roots of trees that found its way into the sinkhole’s mouth. I shiver at the thought of someone walking this part of the path in the dark.

I take another trail hoping to make a circle and I assumed it did when I reach another route crossing mine. I follow this trail until persistence brought me to the second Portal at 9:20 AM but I just lost fifteen minutes. Found deep in the forest, it is another hub of six trails marked by three boulders. The presence of a tamarind tree gives me assurance that it is a path that forest residents regularly use when they go to Buhisan to forage and hunt. We use the shade and the good ground clearing to rest and rehydrate.

I found the trail behind the boulders and start to follow it when I encountered another snag. The route seems to have been obscured now by thick vegetation and I go back again to where I came from so I could study the reference points and recollect hard. I lost another ten minutes here trying to discern the route and I found it passing by a decaying and stunted giant ipil tree and amongst spotted-leaf agave plants.

The grade of the path ascends onto a saddle and then follow the contours of the mountain range, crossing several ravines, and it climb again into another saddle and I stop to recover my breathing. Infront of me is Starbucks Hill. I will climb it and make my coffee there. This hill is sort of a fable among those whom have not gone with me on my sorties here and all of my companions will, finally, have the chance to scale her.

Thick vegetation choked the lower ramparts but I go around it and squeeze myself in between small clearings which I assume is a trail. My judgment got better of me as I reach the crown and I am rewarded with a cool breeze. Starbucks Hill is in the middle of a natural wind channel as it is in between Mount Lanipao and Baksan Hills. Behind Starbucks is a ridge that goes straight into Lanipao.

I follow that ridge so I could make coffee at the “coffee bar” - a small clearing underneath a huge tamarind tree. Since vegetation have obscured so much of the trail, I , again, failed to follow the true path. I am tired of making circles and retracing my route until I pass by a knife-edged ridge and this is most scary. I just leave it at that - following the wrong way - until I stop at a very small valley at 11:30 AM.

Below the shade of a teak tree, we claim a spot for rest. I am thirsty but I control myself to drink indiscriminately as I need the rest of my water for cooking and washing. I am just bringing one liter of water and I have only consumed less than a tenth of that in four hours of laborious hiking. I am the best in the field when talking about water discipline and I intend to keep it that way no matter how tempting.

I boil water for coffee first to pep up our sagging stamina. I intend to drink stronger coffee before proceeding with the business of preparing our meal for lunch. Silver helped me with the preparation of the mixed vegetables while I concentrated on the milled corn. Meanwhile, Mr. Bogs produce some commercial pre-cooked food in pouches which we heated.

It is a respectable meal, and hot, and everyone take several servings of milled corn and the viands. After the meal, we rest a few minutes more to nurse back our strength which is more than enough. This small valley leads to a dry watercourse which goes down into heavy jungle and, probably, a stream. Lack of breeze make this place oven hot.

We leave at 1:30 PM. I follow a faint trail into a knoll. Behind the knoll, the path becomes just a smudge on the ground that goes into an almost-impenetrable vegetation. The footprints are devoid of thread-like patterns describing that the man, whomever he may be, is wearing rubber flip-flops. It follows a steep hill until I see a lot of footprints everywhere going in circles.

I follow a path that trod into difficult terrain and I am getting confused until Silver gets my attention when he saw animal snares just above of the very place where the footprints are going in circles. I see four animal snares and, between them, are barriers. The snare maker intends to catch his prey by channeling it into the snares.

Two meters away are two holes on the ground whose mouths showed signs of use. What’s inside of those holes could either be the home of monitor lizards, pythons, forest rodents or palm civets. I pass by slowly across the snares, taking careful steps not to disturb the triggers or the limb spring.

There is another faint path going up and it connects to a discernible trail. I need to gain height and I follow the ascending route into a hill where a slight break from the forest offered me a view to observe landmarks or the very form of the land contours. Onward is more of high ground which might lead me back to Baksan but I noticed a branch of a trail which I just passed by a few minutes back that goes down into something familiar or some kind of terrain with similar vegetation.

I gambled on this trail and it lead to a stream which I crossed and re-crossed and landed on Camp Damazo, the site of last year’s Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp (PIBC). After a delay of two hours, I begin to start my search for another camp site for this year’s PIBC. The day is late and I may have to discard campsite development and stocking of firewood.

Crossing another stream, I follow Lensa Trail uphill and found my new Camp Damazo. The place is thick with straight-growing trees offering good camp ground in between these. This is the best site and very far from any riparian area and is abundant of firewood and tinder. I am elated to have come across this place after seeing old remains of fire on the ground on two sites. Further up ahead is a spring that may supply the drinking needs of PIBC participants.

After trekking for an hour, we reach the edge of the Baksan Forest Reserve. There is a road going up to Pamutan or going down to Sapangdaku but I prefer to follow across the trail to Lanipao Rainforest Resort. This is mango country and I could see all the mango trees blossoming with flowers. I spotted also star apple trees bearing fruits but they were too high and with great effort we were able to bring down one fruit which is very sweet.

Going down further and further, we reach the resort. There are many guests and we continue on a road to a store beside a dirt volleyball court. The owner sells cold soda drinks but I prefer beer. After finishing three big bottles of that, we push on for Napo and reach it at about 4:30 PM. We take a ride on motorcycles-for-hire for Guadalupe and transfer to Red Hours where our post-activity discussions were set in motion.

The day is complete with the location of the new Camp Damazo and I may need to explore further the areas around the site. I will need to develop the periphery of the camp like the location of the latrines and the campfire area and stock it of firewood and water. The concrete preparation of PIBC MMXII goes on full steam with this activity.

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NIGHT OF LOSSES & STUPIDITY

I AM A RECENT victim of burglary on the early dawn of May 2, 2012 where an Acer Aspire laptop and a Sony Cybershot digital camera had been stolen. My wallet with different ID cards and ATM card had been stolen also but had been recovered by me during a search. The thief had been contemplating to steal my black Baikal 35-liter backpack along with its contents but the thief did not push through with it.

That was an incident that had given me goose bumps and a loss that caused me so much stress. Who wasn’t? But I had overcame that and life had to go on, with or without those stolen items. So my life went on with its semi-regimented activities of rising in the morning to work and going home in the evening to claim my bed. In between are the ingredients that justify my existence either as a robot or as a human being.

On the night of May 8, 2012, I decide to be a human being again. It is the fiesta celebration of Mandaue City and I greatly welcomed the chance to celebrate the yearly affair after being invited by a friend who lives in Ouano Street. After two repeats of roast-pig and pork innards servings, I drink glass after glass of strong beer to help digest the food as well as to socialize with other guests.

There comes a time when I held a glass on one hand and a microphone on the other hand. The video karaoke player provided entertainment in the house and I sang to my heart’s delight since it is raining anyway. For more than three hours, I stayed in the house as a guest until I noticed that the night is getting late and vehicle traffic has slackened.

Retaining still the good manners, I bade farewell to my host. I am bringing the Baikal backpack with me and I unfolded its rainfly sheet to protect it from a light shower. Then came a heavy downpour and I parked the motorcycle behind a car. Immediately, I removed my backpack and place it at the back hood of the car and retrieve a windbreaker.

I donned it and went away to the safety of my home seven kilometers away travelling at 20 KPH since visibility is not so clear. As I parked the motorcycle, I noticed a lightness behind my back and I discovered that the backpack was not with me. Oh, Jesus! Not again! Please help me.

I called up my friend to inform him that my bag got left where he last saw me stopping to don the windbreaker. Meanwhile, I sprinted at 50 KPH back towards Ouano Street under the heavy rain but the car was already gone. My friend had also found the car gone when he went to investigate earlier. With nothing more to do, I will just have to report this to the police station as a lost item.

My beloved Baikal 35-liter backpack, which had been with me since April 2009, is finally gone from my hands. It is a regular fixture in my daily activity, much more so with my travels to other places and in my bushcraft jaunts in the mountains. It had been featured in my blog – Warrior Pilgrimage. The good thing about the Baikal is that I am the only one who has this type of bag in Cebu, perhaps the whole Philippines, and this makes it easy to recover from whomever is carrying it.

Inside the Baikal were other items which have endeared to me as well like the Mantrack survival knife, the Sheffield 12-in-1 tool set and the Coleman compass. The Mantrack knife had been with me during my “warrior pilgrimage” years in 2000. It had also been given a review in my blog. The compass had helped me to navigate myself out of lost situations many times while the multi-tool had made tinkering with things easy for me.

The Geoffrey Beene wallet is lost for the second time and gone for good along with my company ID, ATM card, driver’s license, mobile-radio operator’s license, government health-insurance membership ID, government housing-fund membership ID, some old but still relevant IDs and a booklet containing contact numbers. The ATM card, I instantly blocked and rendered it useless for anybody to cash in on the situation.

Among the things that got lost is an emergency cash which I stashed hidden inside the water-bladder compartment; a carabiner; a LED flashlight; two 4-gigabytes USB memory containing very important data; a pair of Kirkland sunglasses with container; a pair of reading glasses; a knife sharpener given by Thomas Moore; assorted keys; a Camp Red special edition patch; 76 pieces Camp Red stickers; and a travel organizer.

Assessing the real value of the whole lot wasn’t that much but the inherent value is so great that it caused me another round of stress in just a matter of days. I could not blame anybody but me along with my stupidity. This growing stress could easily be turned into anger but keeping it contained for long makes me unhealthy just because I have nobody to blame but me.

Writing this in my blog is my way of releasing stress. Well, I have done this stress-release method several times and I feel good after that. But I am also writing this incident to inform people that I am just a human being prone to lapses in judgment. Well, considering that I write this article honestly to accept my weakness, I may consider it also good even if it exposes me to ridicule.

Some can’t understand better my position but others can. I am a Cebu native and we look at things in a different light, even dire ones, and make light of it. Yes, I may initially sulk at the loss but I don’t aim to keep that memory and the emotions that follow as a part of me for the rest of my life. I will release it with a shake of the head and laugh about it. That’s all I can do for now.

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