walk, jump and zip

First of all... posting pictures can be a pain.

Niweis... on to my blabbering...

WALK
One thing I forgot to mention in my previous entry was our trip to Intramuros. Since we didn’t have a chance to go to Subic or anywhere outside of town, I half-dragged Jan to try the walking tours by Carlos Celdran. After contacting him, we were set to walk down the Intramuros memory lane on the day of Pacquiao’s fight.

The day of the tour, we were several minutes late. Upon seeing a large group with Carlos Celdran, I was having second thoughts joining the tour. Five hundred bucks plus entrance fees to where we were going was not easy on the pocket, especially since I have already spent so much for the trip to Manila.

With a sneaky plan, we decided to join in for the first five minutes and see if it would be interesting or just another excursion trip. It didn’t even take three minutes of Carlos Celdran’s litany on the geographic landmarks of Intramuros to convince us that despite the steep fee, we would be re-learning old and new things about Filipino history.

Carlos Celdran does aim for an elite market with his rates (and imagine, there were are least 30 people there and he gave a discount of P450… how much he is earning in one tour!). His stories require some basic knowledge about popular history and current events (e.g. the Philippines then is the Baghdad now).

After three hours down memory lane, there were many things I have learned. Many of those things were never discussed in any of my history classes in high school or college. Some were old knowledge unearthed. Carlos Celdran was able to say good and not-so-good things about our heritage. But said in a way that was matter-of-factly, maybe with a little judgment, but just making the indio (to which I belong) all the more lovable. At the end of the tour, I began to look at Intramuros and the Philippines with more pride and less exasperation. If each Filipino understood what the nation went through, not just as stated in a text book, but walking through it… then we may just have better respect for each other.

So if you have time and some dough, I recommend that you join in one of Carlos Celdran’s tours and learn a thing or two. If you think about it, five hundred bucks is just one night out with friends.

*****
JUMP AND ZIP
Between a sportscaster and an athlete, I'm closer to being an athlete. Thus, I'll let the pictures do the talking about the davao gang's zipline adventures in Mapawa Nature Park in Cagayan de Oro City.

Full course zipline with monkey bridge - P150.00
Trampoline for 10 minutes - P20.00
A great time (even when sick) with friends - Priceless

A photojournal:

Gameface as Tatit, Jerry and I get ready for the zipline course.

But first, an intimate moment with Paolo Bediones, fellow Atenean.

How many monkey's did you see? Me on the monkey bridge with some singit in the corner.

Rapeling down from zipline tree. Thanks Tatit for letting me have your share. Was a bit nervous at first because as some may not know, I'm afraid of heights. But hey... once you get the hang of it... ang saya-saya!

Jumpity-jump on the trampoline! And making a silly-face at the whole thing.

Ay. Didn't post the actual zipline picture. Oh well... It's almost like flying. Wish it were longer though because it was bitin. Nonetheless, it was really fun. Next time we are coming back for the canyoneering and will try the zipline on the other side of town (Makahambos).

Saya ng buhay namin no? (Imagine what we have to go through to have that much fun!)