Clear Blue Skies: Hiking to Palati Falls for the Second Time
Traversing a muddy trail for two hours just to see the beauty of Palati Falls in Libertad is more than worth it. It was only a week ago when we hiked to Palati Falls, but I have to hike there again for the second time around on July 28th.
A second hike was planned and organized by one of the members of RBM after he failed to come home early from Manila and wasn’t able to hike with us, so I have informed my cousins and neighbors about the hike. They have asked me when will be our group returning to Palati Falls hence they were interested to come with us upon seeing the photos I have uploaded in my Facebook account.
Unfortunately, they were not able to go because it is a workday, but my younger first cousin was very interested that he keeps asking for the event time, so I told him to be ready at 5:30 in the morning because the group will leave at 7 o’clock from the meeting point in town. I didn’t take him seriously because I thought he was just kidding, and that night I accidentally trampled in the hollow-blocks while feeding my cats resulting to laceration in one of my toes so I really have no plan to hike again to Palati Falls, but my cousin showed up early in the morning with his swollen eyes while I am still asleep, I am about to tell him that we are not going but my mother and sister says, I gave my cousin hope last night so I shouldn’t cancel it, so I told him to get ready because we are leaving soon, I just have to prepare my bag and I have to bath.
Well, I could easily tell my cousin that I can’t go, but I feel bad about it. He doesn’t feel good and he isn’t looking good, it was last night when he passed by our yard going to their house crying like crazy, my Uncle or his father told us that his son’s girlfriend broke up with him without apparent reason, according to some chit-chat outside the girl found another guy.
Anyway, he patiently waited for me with his father, whom I think very much concerned for his well-being. We went to town using their motorcycle, I have to buy food in town for my lunch since I wasn’t prepared for this hike. We waited a bit for other interested hikers before heading to Sitio Boliganay in Panique.
The road to Boliganay wasn’t that muddy like a week ago since it didn’t rain frequently anymore, we used the same trail. If we are 18 hikers a week ago, this time we are only 7 people making our pace quicker. My cousin was already feeling tired when we started going upward the hill, he keeps stopping and drinking his bottled water. I wasn’t able to ask him to take photos of me because he keeps complaining he is too tired to do it (lol).
Unlike my previous hike where I felt too tired and slow, on my second hike the trail was already easy for me, I am able to run upward without getting tired, I wonder if it is because I used different bag and shoes. My hiking bag was too heavy to carry so I have used a school bag making everything lighter, I took my shoes off when we are already in the stream heading to the falls, and I jump along the large rocks like a frog.
The wound in my toe was hurting especially when we are going down the slope because it is hitting against the wall of my shoes, but I have no time to complaint nor cry about it.
There was a clearing, the sky wasn’t gloomy and within less than two hours, we are able to reach Palati Falls but it was a downer because there were no twin falls, there was only one falls. We took some photos, create a vlog, ate our lunch and rested a bit before going down, we traversed the same path again last week, we headed to the stream to find our way home.
Getting Lost in Nature: Hiking to Palati Falls, Tablas Island
One of my mountaineering friends (RJ) shared an event on Facebook and it caught my interest because RBM already went over there and unfortunately I wasn’t able to go because of the bad weather.
Well, I was caught in between which event should I go with, because my training class (Tourism Promotion Services or TPS) had planned to do round Tablas on the same day (July 21th), but I got help from above when Sir Gab had a prior commitment in the morning so the whole plan of TPS will not materialize.
As planned, the group meets up at Children Paradise at 6:00 AM. I was a late comer, but they waited for me and while preparing to hit the road, a classmate and friend (MJ) from TPS went near me, it turns out she went to the training center, but it was closed and she happened to see me, so I asked her if she wanted to go with us. She’d like to, so I informed RJ about it, and they find someone from the group for her to back ride.
Brgy. Libertad is subdivided into four sitios, and one of them is Palati, which was my destination the day after my TPS group visited Mainit Falls, it is the most interior part of the Barangay and its name means second growth forest. Palati Falls is located in Libertad, but our jump-off was in Sitio Boliganay of Brgy. Panique, a barangay after Libertad if you are coming from the town. The road to Boliganay is under-construction so as expected, it is muddy during the rainy season, if you don’t want to be stuck in the mud you really need to drive carefully.
When we arrived at the jump-off, we did only a short prayer and there was no stretching because the young guys were saying not to stretch anymore. We started walking up hill, gladly MJ went with me or else I have to walk a little bit slower to walk with the sweeper who’s accompanying the hikers that were a bit slow.
The trail was muddy, it is combined of uphill and downhill. There was no clearing so you can’t appreciate the view that much, the sky is gloomy. Nevertheless, all of us enjoyed the abundance of water in the streams, as well as the presence of guavas along the way.
MJ and I were in the middle together with two highschool students who are just a few meters away from us, ahead of us were my fellow RBM members. We reached the point where we are not able to see the first group, we have waited a bit where the two highschool students met us, and since MJ and I were both impatient waiting for the last group so we head on and followed the trail leaving behind the two young girls.
(MJ #feelingtired)
We reached a place where there are three houses, where we have asked where to go, the woman in the last house informed us that there was a path going to Palati Falls behind the smokehouse, so we did and I carefully examined the mud, and I was sure it was the right path since I am seeing fresh footprints of shoes in the soil and when we climb upwards, it was all grass and the footprints were gone, I looked around and found an almost hidden path behind the thick cogon grasses. We traversed it and we both realized where moving away from the sound of swift flowing water, we end up to a small shaft with a pig tied in the yard and dogs barking at us. We called out, but no one is answering so we decided to return to the smokehouse, and there we found two paths. One is going to the left and the other one is going upward, but we are sure when we passed by at that point that there was no other path other than the path we took. You know, what is bothering me, when we passed by a coconut leaf fell from the tree on the left side, I don’t know what does it mean. If someone tried to warn us that we are heading to a wrong path or someone blocked the left path so we will choose the path upward?
Anyway, we decided to try the left path and we end up in a rocky stream, I have told MJ that maybe if we follow the stream we will not be lost, since the water will be surely coming from the falls. Maybe due to fear and excitement, I slid on the rocks not just once, but twice, and the second one was almost fatal because I slid into the water with my phone. It scares the hell out of me because I don’t know how deep the water was, as we continue to walk the rocky stream I have seen people ahead of us, giving us a relief that we are on the right path to the falls.
When we are nearing RJ meet us half-way, he said they just arrived as well and he is about to look for us because he didn’t see us around. I have told him, we got lost. The first group ahead of us were sorry that they left us when I told them we are just behind them, they also said they also almost get lost and they asked one of them to check the path upward if it is the right path or not, I didn’t inform them anymore about the coconut leaf that fell because my mind is not on its proper place, I was feeling scared, nervous and unwell for my phone. It is the second Asus Selfie phone I accidentally dropped in the water, the first one died after it swam in the salt water when it was not a year old yet and this second one is just less than two months old and it swam in the water too.
We reached Palati Falls for about over two hours, including the time where MJ and I got lost. If you walk faster you can reach Palati Falls in one and one half hours.
Palati Falls was on its beauty when we decided to visit it, there was a lot of water because of non-stop rain on the past few days. We rested a bit and decided to eat our lunch together, afterwards endless photo shoots. We stayed for about an hour and descended together. We took a different trail going home, we traversed the river heading to the dam site where heavy rain fell on us, making us all soak.
Palati Falls isn’t for the frail of heart, but seeing it with your own eyes is very fulfilling so you must see it once in your life . You can hire a motorcycle from downtown town and it is up to you to haggle, but ₱40-₱50.00 is enough to reach the Barangay Hall of Libertad, where you can ask for help or guide, or if you need someone to guide you, don’t hesitate to contact me I can maybe help you to find one depending on the availability of my fellow mountaineers. The jump-off is located at Sitio, Boliganay of Brgy. Panique, Odiongan, Romblon. You must remember that hiking to Palati Falls takes about two hours, the trail is slippery when raining so wear proper shoes to avoid meeting an accident.
Group Visit to Mainit Falls (Odiongan)
It has been over ten days since the training for Tourism Promotion Services has started, a lot of things had happened and I have learned a few things from it. A few, because being a traveler and a blogger I knew most of our topics.
At the end of our training, we are required to create an output as a solo or as a group. I choose the group despite that I knew I will be just the one who will do the technical work. We have to create a video or a magazine style or pamphlet promoting tourist destination in our town.
One of the tourist destinations I or we included in our output is the Mainit Falls in our barangay. We went there as a group on July 20th, with the help of my younger cousin as a guide, it was a bit struggle to cross the river because it has been raining for a week and the rain has just stopped that afternoon.
Mainit Falls is about 40 minutes from the main road, the falls have been popular because of its warm water. When we arrived there were kids enjoying the water, they are still wearing their uniforms and have their bags with them. It looks like they decided to swim at the falls before heading home.
We only took pictures and videos for our documentation and head home, I went nearby the water falls to have my photo taken that’s why I got soaked, I have expected a good picture, but when I check my phone, my classmate whom I have asked to take my photo zoomed it out, getting only me and not the waterfalls as the background (lol). Gladly, I have asked another classmate to take another photo of me which is seen above.
Mainit Falls isn’t that hard to reach, all you have to do is get/hire a motorcycle in town, you can find them in front of Children Paradise or just across the Odiongan Tourist Information Center beside the Odiongan Town Plaza. Fare isn’t costly, ₱20.00 per person and if you are alone ₱30-50.00 will already make the driver smile. Tell the driver to bring you to Brgy. Pato-o, Sitio Mainit or you can directly tell them that you are going to Mainit Falls. Mainit Falls is just 40 minutes walk from the main road. If you don’t know where to start your trek you can either ask a local or go directly to Barangay Hall of Pato-o so they can help you out.
The Training Is Cancelled Due to Bad Weather, Bad Roads
Today should be the start of the training for Tourism Promotion Services but it was cancelled again due to bad weather (a typhoon is expecting to landfall inside Philippines territory today) or should I say because of disappointing numbers of trainees who showed up. As I have blogged previously, only ten trainees attended the orientation last week and today that ten trainees, became six and what’s funny the sixth trainee was a new one, which means out of ten only five of us returned to the training center.
We’ve just submitted the requirements, do chit chatting, watched television, took selfies and laugh. It was quite fun because we already developed camaraderie at each other, my hesitation of returning to university to take the educational unit so I can teach if I got lucky was gone, if I can only enrol right away I will, but I guess I have to wait until the next semester.
We are permitted to go home, but we can’t go because it is raining hard, we waited for the rain to stop a bit and left through a public vehicle. In town, I bought food for lunch at a restaurant and waited at the front of the town signage. My mother asked my BIL to pick me up after he went home from school, he left early, but came just on time because it turns out the motorcycle died along the way, I guess it is from the cold weather brought by the cold rain. We stopped by at my sister’s work place so she could fix the vehicle and the three of us went to the gasoline station to fueled up and then went to Bread and Butter Bakeshop to buy some snacks, I have ordered eight of their burgers, two siopao’s and a 3.5 liters of black forest ice cream, but my mother asked us through messenger why we wanted ice cream when it was raining hard, so my sister returned the ice cream and I decided to get three of their caramel delights, which one of them was brought by my sister to work.
As expected, it was a bit hard going home because some dickheads destroyed the concrete road when the alternative route isn’t finished yet, and when they have no plans to start reconstructing it right away and most especially when they knew it was wet season already. The roads they have destroyed for reconstruction have been sitting like that for almost a month already.
Chicken Cooked in Coconut Milk with Okra
Cooking is one of the things I enjoy the most when I have plenty of time, but now a days, I seldom cook at home because today, it is my younger sister’s duty to cook at home, it has been the norm since I left the house for another life many years ago.
It was been years, so what’s ironic, how your family forget that you know how to cook and you was the one who cooked for them way back then. I am flabbergasted every time my mother will tell people that I don’t know how to cook, so I have reminded her every now and then that I know how to cook and if I don’t know how to cook, who cooked their food way back then when my younger sister was still little? I reminded her again and again, that the spaghetti recipe that my sister is cooking when there is occasion was from me. Then she will rephrase it that I am lazy to cook that she starved when she is left in my care, I guess she called it starving when I order food she like in a restaurant instead of cooking late, that I gave her money to buy snacks in town in her gladness.
[Forgot to make it presentable before snapping a photo]
Anyway, two days ago my sister wasn’t able to cook the viand because she is running late in her work. With this, she left the cooking to us, to me. It was nearing lunch so I started cooking, and your guess is right as mine. My mother went to the kitchen instructing me what to do, so I stopped, and told her I know what I am doing, she should stop teaching me so she left.
Lunch time. My mother keeps complaining that my cooking was too oily but as I can see she enjoys it, my father says maybe I cooked it for too long but he didn’t complain with the taste, he ate a lot too. I told them, the coconut we’ve used is quite old and that viand was cooked differently from the normal “Filipino Chicken Curry“
My brother in-law was being silent, but as what I am seeing he is enjoying the food because he ate a lot, maybe because it was cooked differently from the cooking he used to know growing up, he is the one who finishes the viand and my sister even blurted out when she came home from work that he seems enjoys it.
Boredom, Happiness and Free Medicines
It was been a long time since I posted in my blog, if I we weren’t asked to share or to let others know the location of the training center, I wasn’t able to update this blog. Wish me luck that in a few days before the training I can do backlogs, back dated posts.
Well, there are times I felt bored, I felt bored with the slow internet connection that I wanted to fly to Mars (lol), felt bored reading horror stories because they sounded like just the same old story, watching Korean drama series and even living at times I felt bored (lol), in short I felt bored talking to myself alone (haha), I wanted someone to be friends with and to talk with. Then, I remember I have created a profile online and after guessing many times what was my password I was able to login and saw many messages I wasn’t able to open and replied back then. If you think, I have opened them, well I let them as they were and started to browse profile to profile from males to females, young to old ones. It was entertaining knowing people in their profile, giving them encouragement, praising and applauded them for the things they have accomplished like helping a community and etc., It was good thing at first but it becomes tiring browsing and browsing and no one to talk too (well I do talk to one). I just felt I need to recharge, sleep a lot and maybe in a few days, a one or two I will have a full battery again (lol).
Anyway, my younger sister came home yesterday with sets of tablets and capsules. It turns out they were given to them, each employee was given different kinds of medicines and since they are too many for us, we have to share them in our neighborhood. Their office owned a pharmacy and a store, but it is going to close because it wasn’t performing well. They will just focus on space rentals and loans. As I look through the medicines they were for colds, pain relief and fever, I wish there is a medicine to be happy and to be comforted because the world needs it.
Receiving a Poor Direction Through a Text Message – Searching for Rubix in Budiong
When traveling, I am always fascinated looking at our tour guide because I found their job very appealing. There are times I mimicked them and acted like I am tour guide too, so when I have read online through the FB page of Mayor Trinal Firmalo (Mayor of Odiongan) that there will be a free training for Tourism Promotion Services through TESDA I eagerly sign-up at the Mayor’s Office, less than 30 minutes since it was posted (lol).
It was over a week, Friday late in the evening when I received a text message that the training will finally start, it was exciting but somehow head banging…
“Good day pls be informed that the training for tourism promotion servicing ncII will start on July 2 (monday) 8 am at brgy budiong (s my dating rubix). Thank you”
The question is where is this place they called Rubix before? I have asked few FB friends whom I know to be working in the municipal hall, friends that were residing at barangay Budiong and even my sister asked her friends and coworkers who live at Brgy. Budiong but they have a unanimous answer “What is Rubix?”, “Never heard of it”, “There isn’t no Rubix here”.
On Sunday, we decided to look around Brgy. Budiong to find this place called “Rubix” my sister and her workmate concluded the meeting place, maybe is in the barangay court where it was near the bar called “Amigos” which is called “Cubes” before, so the texter might be pointing to “Rubix Cubes”? Realizing that, we return to downtown, but me feeling unsatisfied requested to return to Brgy. Budiong again to find this place called “Rubix” and maybe until to Brgy. Canduyong to my sister’s disappointment, that she has to drove around again.
We didn’t find any, but going back to downtown Odiongan my sister saw a van with “Rubiks” in it and upon glancing I have read from their very cute building signage “Citadel Training Center” so this might be the “Rubix” we are looking for. I blurted out that I already saw the van awhile ago, but wasn’t able to read what is painted because I thought the building was a private home.
Monday, the supposed to be start of the training day. When I arrived at exactly eight in the morning, there were only two people waiting, I have asked first if I was in the right place to the person in authority. To cut the story short, there were only 10 participants present for the said training out of 25 expected trainees and as expected, they also got lost finding for “Rubix”.
We are requested to return at one o’clock in the afternoon and guess what nothing has changed with our number, there are still 10 trainees to be trained, the facilitators were disappointed but the show must go on. A short orientation was done, headed by Ms. Rochelle from TESDA and Mr. Ramos from the Office of the Mayor.
Well, the training was rescheduled next Monday to wait for more trainees or participants. If you are one of those people who sign-up and received a text message, but couldn’t find where is this place called Rubix in Budiong, please look for Rubiks Manpower Training Center, Inc because technically speaking it is Rubiks and not Rubix. It was just about 500 meters or more after Amigos Bar, you can see it on your right if you are coming from downtown Odiongan.
On giving proper direction through a text message, I hope someone must not shortcut or encrypt the name of the place because it doesn’t help at all, people tend to get lost than to find the place, this is a must do especially if you are relying an information or giving direction to people unfamiliar with the place.
Business 101: Being One of the Top Sellers
Owning a business isn’t easy like one, two, three. It was been a year since I officially started my own business at home, registering it to the municipal hall and pay my due taxes. It started well, but there are really some people who are abusive and you couldn’t trust when it comes to money. I have more than 13 dealers and one by one they started becoming a headache, they don’t return items on time, they didn’t pay on time and much worst they didn’t pay at all unless you complain them to barangay court. I visited two different barangay court so I could get my money back, one settled her account after a few days, but one is still unsettled until today when she was given more than a month to pay and the others they are paying bit by bit.
My sister had told me to learn how to say no and just don’t let them get items when they have past due accounts, but the dork me doesn’t listen because I just can’t say no and I just don’t know how to be tough. In this regard, I stopped ordering and getting new products so I will not have a problem saying no, or they don’t have new items to get at my store.
Anyway, the outlet operator in town called for a meeting yesterday, but I wasn’t able to go because I am expecting a dealer to pay that day as we agreed in the barangay court. So it was only my mother and sister attended the meeting for me, where they told me I was one of the top seller and in top 4. Maybe if, I didn’t stop I can be in top 3 or 2 and I received more expensive gift than a stand fan. Aside from the fan, my name was picked randomly for the advance payments, I got a new blender and some small things.
Well the dealer came late in the afternoon, but she wasn’t able to pay fully and requested if I can give her another month to pay, so I agreed.