This is the second installment of my 2010 Summer Adventure in Dumaguete, Oriental Negros. :) As I mentioned in my first installment, I went back to my hometown last May 12 to spend time with my family and celebrate the completion of my undergraduate experience. I was resolved to making the most out of this vacation (READ: thoroughly researching tourist spots and landmarks in the internet for a couple of months) since I have not visited my hometown for a whooping two consecutive years, due to my studies. I saved three months worth of salary from my part-time job just so I can spend lucratively, visiting places and exploring the wild. 

Two days after I arrived, I persistently bugged my cousins to think of a place where we can go. I was really itching to go out of the house and discover some of the things that I rarely see in dirty polluted Metro Manila. My cousin Ryan  suggested a place and after a little discussion, we finally decided where destination number one will be! 

My cousins were actually a little hesitant since they think of me as this city girl who might not be able to deal with the type of transportation that we have to take in order to go to that place. They mentioned that we have to ride a habal-habal (look at the side picture for explanation) for 30 minutes because there are no other vehicle that goes there since it is very far up  in the mountains.  I laughed at them real hard and told them that they are being ridiculous. It is the type of adventure that I have been looking for. I want to try something different, something I don't usually get to do in Manila. 

                                                                  

 A habal-habal is a ridiculously long motorcycle common in some provinces in the Philippines. It is a motorcycle modified to seat more that two people and trek far and rock-strewn places in the countryside. The fare depends on the distance of your destination or it can also depend on kayo-na-ang-bahala (lit.translated to it's up to you) system. The latter is basically giving the amount you think is appropriate for the trip. I hate this system because sometimes you will feel bad for the driver and give him more than the appropriate fare. For more info on the habal-habal, click here. :)

My cousins were actually glad that I am not the bratty, finicky girl that they expected me to be and so we decided to go to destination number one: Markbelt, Nasig-id. I did not have any idea how or what it looks like because as far as my cousins described it, the only picture that I can form inside my head is a bare dam with a barren hill on the sidelines. This was actually due to the fact that in Cebuano, mountains are referred to as bukid which has a totally different meaning in Tagalog (bukid= ricefield/farm).




To tell you frankly, I was actually nervous to go there since I was not sure if I will really enjoy that kind of place. My aunt also warned me that we should be careful and not make noises there because the place is inhabited by supernatural beings like engkantos, which are like the Filipino version of dwarfs and elves. 

And so after we had lunch, me and my cousins Sherry Mae, Eldrick, Ryan and Lloyd went off to Markbelt. I brought my very multipurpose shawl just to cover me from the burning heat of the sun. We had to walk from our house up to the highway so we can get a tricycle (look at the side picture for more info about this) to bring us to the habal-habal terminal at the town center, Zamboanguita.

A tricycle is one of the most common mode of public transportation in the Philippines. It , as it's name describes, is a motorcycle with a side car attached to it. It can usually seat 5-6 people and is often used for short distance travels. The normal fare for a tricycle ride is PhP 7. 

For more info on tricycles, click here. 

Fortunately, we easily found a tricycle when we reached the highway. We embarked on a ten-minute ride to the town center and took pictures in the process.  Below is a picture I took of me and my cousin Eldrick. 

                                                                                                             

When we reached the town center, my cousin Lloyd, being a habal-habal driver himself once, arranged an agreement with another habal-habal driver about how much it will cost us to go to Markbelt. They agreed on a Php20 per person fare, a total of PhP100 for the five of us, just one way. My heart leaped as I climbed on the habal-habal, ready to take the first ever habal-habal trip of my life. I sat between my cousin Ryan and Sherry Mae. Lloyd sat on the tank, the place in front of the driver, something all of us really found funny.On the right is  a picture I took before we started the trip. 

The trip took about 45 minutes and believe me, it was a great deal of fun! It was the most insanely enjoyable 45 minutes of my life. The path was stony so we rocked like crazy. It felt dangerous and at the same time amusing. I do believe that 1/4 of the fun of this whole adventure is because of that insane habal-habal ride. I took pictures of the farms and barren land while we were on board . I also took videos of Eldrick who was trying to explain the sceneries to his imaginary viewers.

The countryside was quite fascinating. There were ricefields everywhere, carabaos grazing under the heat of the sun, and behind us, a majestic view of the sea can be seen. It was breath-taking. It was like something taken out of a photograph and I have never imagined to see something like that in my life. I also found it very interesting that the farther we go, the bigger the ships in the sea looked. Maybe it was a simple law of Physics or something but I didn't have any idea what it is because I hated my science subjects in the university. It could have been diffraction, refraction or something, who cares, right? Haha. 

It seemed like a never-ending ride on a steepy hill. I had no idea where we were already because it seemed like we were totally far from civilization. Nipa huts were everywhere. There was not a single trace of public vehicles (except for the habal-habal of course) and all I can see were trees and dry land surrounding us. It was like a whole new country for me...I was really really amazed.


After the long and bumpy ride, we finally reached a cemented path that curved its way to a secluded place surrounded by more luscious trees, bamboos and coconuts. There were a few houses and most of the inhabitants there were sitting outside our house, staring at us as we passed by, probably recognizing that we are outsiders. Well, we were kinda noisy during the whole ride, laughing and screaming like crazy, enjoying the time of our lives. The motorcycle slowed down on what seemed to be the edge of a cliff and it came to an abrupt stop just in time for me to see a vast valley, its sloppy hills bare. We got off the motorcycle and went down a steep hill towards the dam. I could not see the damn at first, only a cliff with a very rocky bottom. We walked for about five minutes and right after we made a turn, the beautiful view of a peaceful lake welcomed us. I was so  amazed with the scenery in front of me and I could not even find the right words to describe the place. I took a picture just to save myself from the trouble of explaining it.


Below is the picture of the dam. According to a sign there, it is 430 feet. ( Wow, grabe lang di ba?)

Below is another picture of the dam. On normal occasions, it is usually full instead of having that greenish much that you can see. We actually went down there. God, it was so scary while we were going down that very  steep path, it feels like you can fall anytime. (Imagine gumugulong ka downwards..iskeri. ) But the hardest part is the way up. It took forever because it was uphill and you can't see the top. My cousins climbed with ease thought coz they're used to these kind of places. 

I asked my cousin to take a photo of me just for souvenir. Forgive my vanity. 

We rested for a while under a tree. Despite how sunny it may seem, we cannot really feel the heat because the wind was blowing so hard. It was quite relaxing. We ate our nutritious baons which consist of junk food while my cousins Ryan and Eldrick made their very own music video. After that, we had our photo session. :)

Around 4pm, we decided to go home already. It was so hard to find a habal-habal because they rarely go this place. It is advisable (if you ever go here) to bring your own vehicle and avoid waiting for 48 years for a ride back home. Here is a picture of me and my cousin Sherry Mae while we were waiting for a ride.

All in all, the trip was super enjoyable. It was one adventure I will never forget and I will surely go back here once I am finally able to buy my own vehicle. Hihi. 

 When you were a child, all you ever dreamed of is fulfilling your ambition of becoming a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher or  whichever God-knows-what career your parents have brainwashed you to aspire.


 You go through sixteen years of education (which is practically a combination of boredom, procrastination, loss of self esteem, excitement and sleepless nights) and finally, you climb that stage while your college dean hands you that dip-freaking-ploma which signifies the end of the nightmare you have endured for so long; your parents are beaming at you from below the stage, that awful Pomps and Circumstance song by Sir Edward Elgar is playing in the background and you feel like you are the most important person in the whole wide universe for getting past through more than a decade of stuDYING. 

And then the dilemma starts. You now face the most difficult university of them all, the UNIVERSITY OF LIFE and there are no curricula than you can follow, no syllabi to tell you which book to read or when the examinations will be and the worst, you will be pit against a never-ending series of final examinations that can really make or break you as a person. There are no marks or grades to measure your capacity, no report cards after the end of every year, your professor is practically non-existent, if not invisible and you can't just skip classes when you want to. It definitely sucks but there is nothing you can really do about it but push through. 

So what is the battleplan? 

Nothing really. It depends on how you would want your life to be in the next couple of years. You can either grab the bull by its horns or just stand on the sidelines and watch the beast take its course. 

Now the first step that you have to do is to find a way to survive. You cannot really depend on your parents now to give you the weekly allowance like they used to when you were still a student. You are basically on your own in this jungle and you have to catch your own food, you young cub. 

   Finding a job is probably one of the most important thing a person should accomplish in her/his life. Unless you are an offspring of a multimillionaire who owns probably half of the country where you are staying or a celebrity even before you were born, you will, at one point in your life, be subjected to that equally stressful job hunting  which I may tell you, can literally dishearten you and wipe away that happy bubbly feeling you had when you graduated. 

It's like freshman year all over again, the only difference is that you haven't found yet which clique you will belong to or which organizations you will take part of. You try to test each and every single option available, you try to prove yourself and tell them that you deserve to be picked and be part of the prestigious group that they belong to. Some will take notice and some won't. Sometimes you will be entertained while others will not give you as much as a flicker of hope that you can be part of the group. And it will hurt. It will hurt badly but the sad thing is, you will always end up with the number one rule of life : It's life, there is nothing you can do about it so learn to deal with it. 

I have had my own share of disappointments being a fresh graduate this year. Being a UP graduate (and not just a graduate but a cum laude), one would conclude that I can find a job so easily. But that statement is always proven to be wrong. UP grad or not, you get no special treatment in the world of unemployment. I, personally, have been turned down by several companies that I have applied to, either because of lack of experience or because the "position has already been filled". It just simply tells you that one lucky bitch out there is a bazillion times much better than you are so "Sorry honey, thanks for trying."

The most recent rejection letter that I got is from the company I am working for right now as an English tutor (which name I will not mention in case it might ruin my future chances of being part of the company). I got the email probably two hours ago and a part of it went something like this:

Dear Ms. Partosa, 

 This is to acknowledge our receipt of your resume.Thank you for expressing interest in applying for the position .However, please be informed that at of this moment, we have put the application on-hold, as we have been able to acquire interns during our screening period last week. We are keeping your resume for future reference.

We will be contacting you for the status of your application once the position is opened once again. Should you have other concerns / inquiries, please feel free to contact us. Thank you very much. 

And so it went yada yada yada. It actually hurt because I really wanted the position and I was really waiting for the response for like two weeks now.But unfortunately, I am not good enough or so they think. So what am I to do now? Actually deep in my heart, I am praying that the position will be reopened again and I get the chance to just even be interviewed because right then I would know that I tried my best to get the job. Unfortunately, I got turned down. It sucks. It really does. And it is just one of the hundreds of emails that I have received saying that i am "not good enough" for them. 


Then what am I to do? I have been spending almost three months now at home, doing nothing, spending my days unproductively, just watching reruns of my favorite TV shows, sleeping and eating when I want to. I wonder how my father feels about me now. I know he is not saying anything just because I am still earning from the part time job that I have at night.


To tell you frankly, I am happy being a tutor. If I were given a choice I would want to continue this for the next couple of years. The thing is, I feel that this isn't enough to justify the four years worth of sleepless nights that I spent in UP. I need something more to make me feel that I am worth something. I honestly don't know what to do now that my recent "dream job" has turned me down. But as I always say, I have to move on. There is no use crying over spilled milk right? I just have to find another job and hope to God that I finally find that clique where I belong. 


So there, hello world of unemployment. Probably I am here to stay for a couple of months. I hope you get tired of me. 




P.S. Sorry for the incoherence of the blog. That is just the way I write. XD

So here is the thing, I am not really used to writing a blog. I am not even used to writing at all. Of course I did countless of essays and research papers when I was a university student but those do not really count because they are mere products of academic pressure. I only finished them or even wrote them in a daily basis just to get a college degree.

But why am I starting a blog?

I don't actually know. I was sifting through my Tumblr account when I suddenly felt an urge to find a place where I can document all of the silly encounters that I am having (which is roughly rare because I don't really go out of the house recently) and preserve them for future necessity's sake [whatever that means]. I am pretty sure that my blogs will not be interesting as I am not very creative with my outputs. I am not also fond of writing long blogs coz I easily get tired typing on my computer. Most of the entries will be my own personal rants and some will be stories about my daily experiences and what-nots.

And with that, I end this first blog.